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The Abandoned Mine Land Fund: Grants Distribution and Issues

Description: The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA, P.L. 95-87), enacted in 1977, established reclamation standards for all coal surface mining operations, and for the surface effects of underground mining. It also established the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program to promote the reclamation of sites mined and abandoned prior to the enactment of SMCRA. To finance reclamation of abandoned mine sites, the legislation established fees on coal production. These collections are divided into federa… more
Date: March 26, 1997
Creator: Bamberger, Robert L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Abortion Procedures

Description: This report discusses the Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 1997 (H.R. 1122). The report summarizes the legislation and why President Clinton vetoed it. Moreover, the report includes President Clinton's recommendation to amend the bill for him to pass. The report also suggests that little data has been created on the issue, but that it utilizes what data has been created.
Date: November 17, 1997
Creator: Stith-Coleman, Irene E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Abortion Procedures

Description: The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997, H.R. 1122 was vetoed by President Clinton on October 10, 1997. This legislation would have made it a federal crime, punishable by fine and/or incarceration, for a physician to perform a partial birth abortion unless it was necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury. The partial-birth abortion legislation has stimulated a great deal of controversy. This report provides a brief overview of … more
Date: November 17, 1997
Creator: Stith-Coleman, Irene
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Adoption Promotion Legislation in the 105th Congress

Description: This report discusses the type of adoption legislation in the 105th Congress. Specifically, the report tackles the idea that children are kept in foster care too long and that this may cause lower adoption rates. The report also discusses the enormous support for this legislation in the Senate and the House.
Date: November 24, 1997
Creator: Spar, Karen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Adoption Promotion Legislation in the 105th Congress

Description: President Clinton signed the Adoption and Safe Families Act into law on November 19, 1997, after the House and Senate approved final versions of the legislation on November 13. The new law (P.L. 105-89) is intended to promote adoption or other permanent arrangements for foster children who are unable to return home, and to make general improvements in the nation’s child welfare system. The House initially passed legislation (H.R. 867) on April 30 by a vote of 416-5, and the Senate passed an ame… more
Date: November 24, 1997
Creator: Spar, Karen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Alien Eligibility for Public Assistance

Description: This report details the changes in public assistance policy that the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. It established new restrictions on the eligibility of legal immigrants for designated means-tested public assistance, and also broadened restrictions on public benefits for temporary workers and people on work or school visas.
Date: December 18, 1997
Creator: Vialet, Joyce C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Amtrak Reauthorization: S. 738

Description: The report discusses the bill that was introduced on May 14,1997, by the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on surface Transportation and Merchant Marine, and the bill was referred to that committee.
Date: July 3, 1997
Creator: Thompson, Stephen J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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APEC and the 1997 Summit in Vancouver

Description: This report is categorized into seven categories: (I) The Issue, (II) Background, (III) The APEC Process and Activities, (IV) The Osaka Action Agenda, (V) The Manila Action Plan for APEC (MAPA), (VI) The 1997 Vancouver Meetings and (VII) Conclusion.
Date: December 8, 1997
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Attorneys' Fees in the State Tobacco Litigation Cases

Description: Some states have hired private attorneys to file complaints against the tobacco companies in court to recover Medicaid costs towards treating citizens for tobacco related illnesses. This report mentions the fee agreements between the states and private counsel.
Date: September 23, 1997
Creator: Contrubis, John
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Attorneys' Fees in the State Tobacco Litigation Cases

Description: In the past few years, many states have filed complaints against the tobacco industry in state court to recover Medicaid costs paid by the states to treat their citizens for tobacco related illnesses. The states are also attempting to recover other damages, such as punitive damages, against the tobacco industry. For various reasons, the states have hired private attorneys to assist the state Attorneys General in prosecuting these cases. In most cases, the retention of private counsel has includ… more
Date: September 23, 1997
Creator: Contrubis, John
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Budget Enforcement Act of 1997

Description: President Clinton signed two reconciliation acts into law in August 1997 as part of a plan to balance the budget by FY2002. To ensure compliance with this goal, enforcement procedures were included in one of the acts in a title referred to separately as the Budget Enforcement Act (BEA) of 1997. The BEA of 1997 extends procedures under the Budget Enforcement Act (BEA) of 1990 through FY2002
Date: October 8, 1997
Creator: Keith, Robert
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Financing: Highlights and Chronology of Current Federal Law

Description: Current law governing financial activity of campaigns for federal office is based on two principal statutes: the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971, as amended in 1974, 1976, and 1979, and the Revenue Act of 1971. These laws were enacted to remedy widely perceived shortcomings of existing law, the Corrupt Practices Act of 1925, and in response to reports of campaign finance abuses over the years, culminating in the 1972-1974 Watergate scandal. This report provides a summary of major p… more
Date: December 8, 1997
Creator: Cantor, Joseph E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Central American Asylum Seekers: Impact of 1996 Immigration Law

Description: This report discuses issues related to the significant portion of the Central Americans affected by the IIRIRA revisions still have asylum cases pending and may obtain legal permanent residence by that avenue if they demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution. The Attorney General also has the discretionary authority to grant blanket relief from deportation, but the discretionary forms of relief do not entail legal permanent residence. There is considerable interest in this issue in the 105… more
Date: November 21, 1997
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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China: U.S. Economic Sanctions

Description: This report presents a history of U.S. economic sanctions imposed against the People's Republic of China for foreign policy reasons since 1949. It highlights sanctions that are currently active and details occasions on which those restrictions have been modified, waived or permanently lifted. The report provides citations for Presidential authority in current law and the Administration's issuance of regulations and administrative orders.
Date: October 1, 1997
Creator: Rennack, Dianne E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act and TMDLs

Description: Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act requires states to identify waters that are impaired by pollution, even after application of pollution controls. For those waters, states must establish a total maximum daily load (TMDL) of pollutants to ensure that water quality standards can be attained. Implementation of this provision has been dormant until recently, when states and EPA were prodded by numerous lawsuits. The TMDL issue has become controversial, in part because of requirements and costs … more
Date: September 11, 1997
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Issues in the 105th Congress

Description: For the 105th Congress, reauthorization of the Clean Water Act may be a priority in the second session. The Act was last amended in 1987 and authorizations expired on Sept. 30, 1990. Clean water was a priority for the last two Congresses, but no legislation was enacted. In the 104th Congress, the House passed a comprehensive reauthorization bill, but during House debate and subsequently, controversies arose over whether and how the Act should be made more flexible and less burdensome on regulat… more
Date: August 21, 1997
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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DOE Laboratory Restructuring Legislation in the 104th Congress

Description: Interest in restructuring (including eliminating) the Department of Energy (DOE) and its laboratories has increased since the end of the Cold War, and especially since the beginning of the 104th Congress. A number of non-legislative proposals and activities to this end are reviewed, including DOE's own proposals for "alignment and downsizing" of the Department and its laboratories.
Date: March 14, 1997
Creator: Boesman, William C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Drug Control: International Policy and Options

Description: Over the past decade, worldwide production of illicit drugs has risen dramatically: opium and marijuana production has roughly doubled and coca production tripled. Street prices of cocaine and heroin have fallen significantly in the past 20 years, reflecting increased availability. Despite apparent national political resolve to deal with the drug problem, inherent contradictions regularly appear between U.S. anti-drug policy and other national policy goals and concerns. The mix of competing dom… more
Date: January 7, 1997
Creator: Perl, Raphael F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Economic Sanctions to Achieve U.S. Foreign Policy Goals: Discussion and Guide to Current Law

Description: This report provides background on the range of actions that might be termed foreign policy sanctions and the events that might necessitate their use. Criteria are offered that legislators might consider to judge when sanctions might be appropriate, approaches that might be effective, aspects of the use of sanctions that are sometimes overlooked or not considered fully. The report provides an uncomplicated "map" of where sanctions policies and options currently lay in U. S. law.
Date: October 20, 1997
Creator: Rennack, Dianne E. & Shuey, Robert
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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