Congressional Research Service Reports - 14,864 Matching Results
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- Child Support Enforcement: Program Basics
- This report discusses the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program that was enacted in 1975 as a federal-state program (Title IV-D of the Social Security Act) to help strengthen families by securing financial support for children from their noncustodial parent on a consistent and continuing basis and by helping some families to remain self-sufficient and off public assistance by providing the requisite CSE services.
- The First Responder Network and Next-Generation Communications for Public Safety: Issues for Congress
- This report discusses provisions in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 for planning, building, and managing a new, nationwide, broadband network for public safety communications.
- Argentina's Defaulted Sovereign Debt: Dealing with the "Holdouts"
- This report reviews Argentina's financial crisis, the bond exchanges of 2005 and 2010, ongoing litigation, prospects for a final solution, related U.S. legislation, and broader policy issues. These include lessons on the effectiveness and cost of Argentina's default strategy, the ability to force sovereigns to meet their debt obligations, and ways to avoid future defaults like Argentina's.
- Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues
- This report provides an overview of major legal issues likely to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to close the Guantanamo detention facility. It discusses legal issues related to the transfer of Guantanamo detainees, the continued detention of such persons in the United States, and the possible removal of persons brought into the country. It also discusses selected constitutional issues that may arise in the criminal prosecution of detainees, emphasizing the procedural and substantive protections that are utilized in different adjudicatory forums.
- Air Quality: EPA's 2013 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- This report summarizes Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) January 15, 2013, final and June 2012 proposed changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and includes comparisons with previous (1997 and 2006) promulgated and proposed standards. Key actions leading up to the agency's determination, and potential issues and concerns associated with changing the Particulate Matter annual standard, are also highlighted.
- Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues
- This report examines debates regarding what constitutes an "unfunded federal mandate" and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995's (UMRA) implementation, requirements, and costs. It also assesses UMRA's impact on federal mandates and arguments concerning UMRA's future.
- Cyprus: Reunification Proving Elusive
- This report provides a brief overview of the history of the reunification negotiations, a review of the negotiations since 2008, a description of some of the issues involved in the talks, and where things stand today.
- The Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA): A Legal Analysis
- This report discusses current laws that prohibit discrimination, in education, and continues with an analysis of the specific provisions contained in the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA), including provisions relating to coverage, prohibited acts, and enforcement and remedies under the proposed legislation.
- Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2014 Overview and Summary
- This report provides an overview of appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The first portion of this report provides an overview and historical context for reviewing DHS appropriations, highlighting various aspects including the comparative size of DHS components, the amount of non-appropriated funding the department receives, and trends in the timing and size of the department's appropriations legislation.
- Wildfire Management: Federal Funding and Related Statistics
- This report provides wildfire management statistics (e.g., number of wildfires, acres burned, select state wildfire activity, firefighter personnel), presents wildfire management (WFM) appropriations from fiscal years 2008 to the present, and discusses two related issues--wildfire suppression funding estimation and air tanker readiness.
- Reauthorizing the Office of National Drug Control Policy: Issues for Consideration
- This report provides a discussion of the National Drug Control Strategy, the National Drug Control Budget, and Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) evaluation of the National Drug Control Strategy implementation. It then provides an analysis of selected legislative and oversight issues that Congress may consider when debating the reauthorization of ONDCP.
- The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
- This report gives a brief overview of P.L. 110-49, the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007. Although both the President and Congress are directly involved in formulating the scope and direction of U.S. foreign investment policy, this law broadens Congress' oversight role; it also explicitly includes the areas of homeland security and critical infrastructure as separately-identifiable components of national security that the President must consider when evaluating the national security implications of a foreign investment transaction.
- China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress
- This report focuses on the potential implications of China's naval modernization for future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The report particularly discusses how potential United States responses to China's military modernization effort -- including its naval modernization effort -- have emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning.
- Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources, by Topic
- This report provides references to analytical reports on cybersecurity from CRS, other government agencies, trade associations, and interest groups. The reports and related websites are grouped under the following cybersecurity topics: policy overview; National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC); cloud computing and FedRAMP; critical infrastructure; cybercrime, data breaches and data security; national security, cyber espionage, and cyberwar (including Stuxnet); international efforts; education/training/workforce; and research and development (R&D).
- Cybersecurity: Cyber Crime Protection Security Act (S. 2111, 112th Congress)— A Legal Analysis
- This report discusses the Cyber Crime Protection Security Act (S. 2111) that would enhance the criminal penalties for the cyber crimes outlawed in the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Those offenses include espionage, hacking, fraud, destruction, password trafficking, and extortion committed against computers and computer networks. S. 2111 contains some of the enhancements approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee when it reported the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act (S. 1151), S.Rept. 112-91 (2011).
- Conflict Minerals and Resource Extraction: Dodd-Frank, SEC Regulations, and Legal Challenges
- This report discusses the two sections of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) that require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) to issue regulations to make public the involvement of U.S. companies in conflict minerals and in resource extraction payments.
- Ensuring That Traffic Signs Are Visible at Night: Federal Regulations
- This report provides background for the nighttime visibility maintenance standard and addresses some of the issues that have been raised about this standard.
- Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and presents potential issues for Congress concerning the Navy's ship force-structure goals and shipbuilding plans. The planned size of the Navy, the rate of Navy ship procurement, and the prospective affordability of the Navy's shipbuilding plans have been matters of concern for the congressional defense committees for the past several years.
- Foreign Assistance to North Korea
- This report summarizes U.S. assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK, also known as North Korea). It will be updated periodically to track changes in U.S. provision of aid to North Korea.
- Privacy Protection for Customer Financial Information
- This report discusses federal laws governing consumer financial information held by financial companies, Gramm-Leach-Bliley's privacy provisions, and public and industry reaction.
- Rwanda: Background and Current Developments
- This report discusses the current political conditions of Rwanda, including a brief historical overview. The report also includes information about the poor human rights conditions in Rwanda and U.S. Rwanda relations.
- The Military Commissions Act of 2009 (MCA 2009): Overview and Legal Issues
- This report provides a background and analysis comparing military commissions as envisioned under the revised Military Commissions Act (MCA) to those established by the MCA 2006. After reviewing the history of the implementation of military commissions in the armed conflict against Al Qaeda and associated forces, the report provides an overview of the procedural safeguards provided in the MCA. Finally, the report provides two charts comparing the MCA as amended by the MCA 2009 to the original MCA enacted in 2006 and to general courts-martial.
- Political Transition in Tunisia
- This report discusses Tunisia's pro-democracy movement; concerns over potential instability in a previously secure, pro-Western area; and U.S.-Tunisian relations.
- Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report focuses on the Ohio replacement program as a Navy shipbuilding program. This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy's current force of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs.
- EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track?
- This report provides background information on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory activity during the Obama Administration to help address these issues. It examines major or controversial regulatory actions taken by or under development at EPA since January 2009, providing details on the regulatory action itself, presenting an estimated timeline for completion of the rule (including identification of related court or statutory deadlines), and, in general, providing EPA's estimates of costs and benefits, where available. The report includes tables that show which rules remain under development, and an appendix that describes major or controversial rules that are now final.
- Block Grants: Perspectives and Controversies
- This report provides an overview of the six grant types with criteria for defining a block grant and a list of current block grants. It also examines competing perspectives concerning the use of block grants versus other grant mechanisms to achieve national goals, provides an historical overview of the role of block grants in American federalism, and discusses recent changes to existing block grants and proposals to create new ones.
- The 2013 Cybersecurity Executive Order: Overview and Considerations for Congress
- This report provides background information regarding the threats and consequences of cybersecurity. The federal legislative framework for cybersecurity is complex, with more than 50 statutes addressing various aspects of it either directly or indirectly.
- Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance
- This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government.
- NATO: Response to the Crisis in Ukraine and Security Concerns in Central and Eastern Europe
- This report addresses the NATO and U.S. military response to the crisis in Ukraine. It does not discuss political, economic, or energy policy responses.
- The Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations and Issues for Congress
- This report examines the issues related to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the state and substance of the negotiations (to the degree that the information is publically available), the specific areas under negotiation, the policy and economic contexts in which the TPP would fit, and the issues for Congress that the TPP presents.
- Status of the WTO Brazil-U.S. Cotton Case
- This report provides a description and status report on Brazil's challenge to certain aspects of the U.S. cotton program under the rules of the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) dispute settlement process in case DS267.
- U.S.-EU Cooperation on Ukraine and Russia
- This report discusses the United States, and European Union policies with Russia in response to the crisis in Ukraine.
- Europe's Energy Security: Options and Challenges to Natural Gas Supply Diversification
- This report focuses on potential approaches that Europe might employ to diversify its sources of natural gas supply, Russia's role in Europe's natural gas policies, and key factors that could hinder efforts to develop alternative suppliers of natural gas. The report assesses the potential suppliers of natural gas to Europe and the short- to medium-term hurdles needed to be overcome for those suppliers to be credible, long-term providers of natural gas to Europe. The report looks at North Africa, potentially the most realistic supply alternative in the near-term, but notes that the region will have to resolve its current political, economic, and security instability as well as the internal structural changes to the natural gas industry. Central Asia, which may have the greatest amounts of natural gas, would need to construct lengthy pipelines through multiple countries to move its natural gas to Europe.
- Social Security: The Lump-Sum Death Benefit
- This report provides a brief description of the Lump-Sum Death Benefit and discusses the number of benefit payments and total spending.
- Domestic Terrorism Appears to Be Reemerging as a Priority at the Department of Justice
- This document examines an apparent shift in priorities at the Department of Justice (DOJ) towards a renewed focus on domestic terrorism with the reestablishment of its Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee, which had been defunct for several years. The report considers why the shift in focus may be occurring and also briefly examines different types of domestic terror threats.
- The Proposed Equal Rights Amendment: Contemporary Ratification Issues
- This report examines the legislative history of the various proposals that ultimately emerged as the proposed Equal Rights Amendment and both identifies and provides an analysis of contemporary factors that may bear on its present and future viability.
- Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA): Frequently Asked Questions
- This report discusses the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) June 15, 2012 announcement that certain individuals who were brought to the United States as children and meet other criteria would be considered for relief from removal for two years, subject to renewal, under an initiative known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
- Legislative Options for Financing Water Infrastructure
- This report discusses several options being considered by Congress to address the financing needs of local communities for wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects, and to decrease or close the gap between available funds and projected needs.
- Canadian Oil Sands: Life-Cycle Assessments of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- This report discusses the basic methodology of life-cycle assessments and compares several of the publicly available studies of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data for Canadian oil sands crudes against each other and against those of other global reference crudes. As congressional concern over the environmental impacts of Canadian oil sands production may encompass both a broad understanding of the resource as well as a specific assessment of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the report surveys both the general scientific literature as well as the individual findings in the State Department's 2011 Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and 2013 Draft Supplementary EIS for the Keystone XL Project.
- A Unified National Security Budget? Issues for Congress
- This report describes and characterizes the unified national security budgeting school's broadly shared critique of the current system; describes and analyzes various proposed unified national security budgeting approaches; and offers a succinct list of considerations for Members and staff of Congress who may be interested in this issue.
- Public Health Service Agencies: Overview and Funding
- Within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), eight agencies are designated components of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS): (1) the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), (2) the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), (3) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), (4) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), (5) the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), (6) the Indian Health Service (IHS), (7) the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and (8) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This report gives a brief overview of each agency and summarizes its funding for FY2010 through FY2013, as well as its FY2014 budget request.
- The Role of Local Food Systems in U.S. Farm Policy
- This report looks at the growing popularity of locally produced foods, and how that popularity and regional/local food systems are affected by the reauthorization of the 2008 farm bill.
- Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues
- This report discusses Pakistan's nuclear proliferation and security issues. It discusses the steps that could enable Pakistan to undertake both quantitative and qualitative improvements to its nuclear arsenal. Whether and to what extent Pakistan's current expansion of its nuclear weapons-related facilities is a response to the 2008 U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement is unclear.
- Egypt and the IMF: Overview and Issues for Congress
- This report provides an overview of the economic situation in post-revolution Egypt and negotiations between Egypt and the IMF. It also analyzes why an IMF program is controversial in Egypt and the relationship between an IMF program for Egypt and U.S. foreign policy goals in the region. It discusses the IMF program from a congressional perspective, including how debt relief for Egypt has been tied to an IMF program and legislation that would condition U.S. bilateral economic assistance to Egypt on an IMF program.
- Drug Offenses: Maximum Fines and Terms of Imprisonment for Violation of the Federal Controlled Substances Act and Related Laws
- This report is a chart of the maximum fines and terms of imprisonment that may be imposed as a consequence of conviction for violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and other drug supply and drug demand related laws.
- Search and Seizure Cases in the October 2012 Term of the Supreme Court
- The Supreme Court decided four search and seizure cases during its October 2012 term: Florida v. Jardines, Florida v. Harris, Bailey v. United, and Missouri v. McNeely. This report discusses the prior precedents in each case as well as the decision reached by the Court.
- U.S. Citizens Kidnapped by the Islamic State
- This report briefly discusses the Islamic State's (IS, or alternatively, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, ISIL, or Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, ISIS) kidnapping of American citizens and the implications for congressional response.
- Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Programs and Unaccompanied Alien Children
- This report addresses possible sources of federal support for schools and local educational agencies that have enrolled unaccompanied alien children.
- Iran Sanctions
- This report analyzes U.S. and international sanctions against Iran, and provides examples, based on a wide range of open source reporting, of companies and countries that conduct business with Iran. It also discusses the effectiveness of sanctions on Iran.
- The U.S. Export Control System and the President's Reform Initiative
- This report discusses some of the proposed legislation and other issues related to the U.S. export control system.