Congressional Research Service Reports - 34 Matching Results
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- Agriculture, Nutrition, and Rural Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009
- This report analyzes the agriculture, nutrition, and rural provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, P.L. 111-5). The ARRA boosts government spending on various infrastructure programs and government benefits programs, and offers individual and business tax benefits.
- Attorneys' Fees in the State Tobacco Litigation Cases
- 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 included a fee agreement specifying the amount of compensation that these attorneys will receive for their services. These agreements are not uniform among the states, but most tend to provide some form of contingency fee arrangement. Some of these states have developed a sliding scale contingency fee schedule which varies with the amount of time spent on the litigation and whether a trial has begun. This report briefly summarizes the different fee agreements that the states have with private counsel.
- Bisphenol A (BPA) in Plastics and Possible Human Health Effects
- Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to produce certain types of plastic. Containers made of these plastics may expose people to small amounts of BPA in food and water. Some animal experiments have found that fetal and infant development may be harmed by small amounts of BPA, but scientists disagree about the value of the animal studies for predicting harmful effects in people. This report discusses this issue and relevant legislation, as well as inquiries into studies currently underway to determine the true harm inherent in BPA and the degree to which people are regularly exposed to BPA.
- Budget Enforcement for FY2002: An Overview of Procedural Developments
- This report is an Overview of Procedural Developments Budget Enforcement for FY2002.
- Budget Surpluses: Economic Effects of Debt Repayment, Tax Cuts, or Spending — An Overview
- This report examines economic and budget implications of alternative responses to them.It is basically an Overview of Economic Effects of Debt Repayment, Tax Cuts, or Spending related to Budget Surpluses.
- "Bunker Busters": Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Issues, FY2005 and FY2006
- The Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) program has been the most controversial nuclear weapon program in Congress for the last several years. Supporters argue that it is needed to attack hard and deeply buried targets (such as leadership bunkers) in countries of concern, thereby deterring or defeating challenges from such nations; critics assert that RNEP would lower the threshold for use of nuclear weapons and prompt other nations to develop nuclear weapons to deter U.S. attack. This report presents a brief technical background on RNEP, then discusses the history of RNEP in Congress and the Administration for the FY2005 and FY2006 budget cycles.
- Changes in Airport Passenger Screening Technologies and Procedures: Frequently Asked Questions
- This report addresses the frequently asked questions related to the new technologies and procedures deployed for screening passengers at airport checkpoints.
- Chemical Plant Security
- Facilities handling large amounts of potentially hazardous chemicals (i.e., chemical facilities) might be of interest to terrorists, either as targets for direct attacks meant to release chemicals into the community or as a source of chemicals for use elsewhere. Because few terrorist attacks have been attempted against chemical facilities in the United States, the risk of death and injury in the near future is estimated to be low, relative to the likelihood of accidents at such facilities or attacks on other targets using conventional weapons. For any individual facility, the risk is very small, but risks may be increasing with potentially severe consequences for human health and the environment. Available evidence indicates that many chemical facilities may lack adequate safeguards.
- Coal Mine Safety
- This report reviews the safety and health record of the mining industry, describes the regulatory regime, and analyzes current legislative and regulatory initiatives.
- Congress’s Power Under the Commerce Clause: The Impact of Recent Court Decisions
- This report will first review the current Supreme Court case law with respect to the Commerce Clause. Second, it will examine the analysis used and the results of the three lower court opinions. Finally, two areas of tension that appear to exist within the Court’s jurisprudence, and the potential implications that resolution of these conflicts may have on congressional power under the Commerce Clause will be examined.
- Cybersecurity
- This report details the information related to cybersecurity, its factors, legislative issues, and long-term challenges.
- Export-Import Bank: Legislative Mandate for Small Business
- No Description Available.
- Federal Government Corporations: An Overview
- This report provides an overview of federal government corporations, a category currently consisting of some 18 corporate agencies performing functions assigned to them in law. A government corporation, as defined in this report, is an agency of government, established by Congress to provide a market-oriented public service and intended to produce revenues that meet or approximate its expenditures.
- Federal research and demonstrations in new transit technology: The Morgantown ,west Virginia Project
- This report presents the Federal research and demonstrations in new transit technology between the west Virginia University and Morgantown ,west Virginia.
- Financing Political Campaigns: Selected References, 1913-1966
- This report cites the references which are related to Financing the Political Campaigns.
- Gasoline Prices: Policies and Proposals
- This report gives information related to Gasoline prices and also discusses Policies and Proposals.
- The Global Economic Downturn and Protectionism
- This report develops three scenarios to approximate different dimensions of the relationship between the global economic downturn and protectionism. The scenarios are not predictions, but descriptions of how and why pressures for protection could be manifested and transmitted under different circumstances and assumptions.
- Government printing Reform
- This report is about Government Printing Reform, pursued through the recodification of the public printing chapters of title 44, U.S. code.
- The Hill-Burton Uncompensated Services Program
- This report provides information on the Hospital Survey and Construction Act of 1946, commonly known as the Hill-Burton Act, which was enacted to provide federal financial assistance for the planning, construction, and improvement of health care facilities through grants, loans, and guaranteed loans under Title VI and later Title XVI of the Public Health Service Act. The report also covers the obligations and eligibility requirements for free care, and sources for further information
- "Hollowing Out" in U.S. Manufacturing: Analysis and Issues for Congress
- The health of the U.S. manufacturing sector has been a long-standing concern of Congress. Only a small proportion of U.S. workers are now employed in factories. U.S. factories have stepped up production of goods that require high technological sophistication but relatively little direct labor. In the context of national security, the fact that U.S. manufacturers of vital products are critically dependent upon inputs from abroad is frequently a subject of concern. International comparisons indicate that the United States is in no way unique in its dependence on foreign inputs to manufacturing.
- Insurance Regulation in the United States and Abroad
- This report will first give a statistical overview of various countries and then present a summary of U.S. insurance regulatory structure. This report also provides summaries of the systems in Canada, Australia, and Japan.
- Job Loss and Infrastructure Job Creation During the Recession
- The report examines trends in employment and job loss since the start of the latest recession then focuses on job creation estimates associated with increased spending on infrastructure, placing a heavy emphasis on explaining the limitations with the methodology that is often utilized to develop the estimates.
- Legal Authorities Governing Federal Contracting and Subcontracting with Small Businesses
- This report provides an overview of the various legal authorities governing small business contracting and subcontracting, as well as the relationship between them. It also explains the roles of the Small Business Administration (SBA), procuring activities, Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), Government Accountability Office (GAO), and other tribunals in implementing and construing the law governing federal contracting and subcontracting with small businesses.
- Legislation to Facilitate Cybersecurity Information Sharing: Economic Analysis
- This report analyzes the incentives for companies to share information about cybersecurity breaches with other companies and the federal government.
- Merger and Antitrust Issues in Agriculture: Statutes and Agencies
- No Description Available.
- An Overview of Air Quality Issues in Natural Gas Systems
- This report provides information on the natural gas industry and the types and sources of air pollutants in the sector. It examines the role of the federal government in regulating these emissions, including the provisions in the Clean Air Act and the regulatory activities of EPA. It concludes with a brief discussion of the aforementioned outstanding issues.
- Privileged Business on the House Floor
- This report discusses privileged business, which relates to the order or priority of business before the House and is defined in House rules and precedents as business that has precedence over the regular order of business.
- SBA Veterans Assistance Programs: An Analysis of Contemporary Issues
- This report opens with an examination of the current economic circumstances of veteran-owned businesses drawn from the Bureau of the Census 2007 Survey of Business Owners, which was administered in 2008 and 2009, and released on May 17, 2011. It also provides a brief overview of veteran employment experiences, describes the employment assistance programs offered by several federal agencies to assist veterans in their transition from the military to the civilian labor force, and examines related Small Business Administration (SBA) initiatives such as business development programs, efforts to assist veterans' access to capital, and veteran contracting programs.
- Selected Legal Mechanisms Whereby the Government Can Hold Contractors Accountable for Failure to Perform or Other Misconduct
- This report provides an overview of selected legal mechanisms that the federal government could rely upon in holding contractors accountable for deficiencies in their performance under the contract, or for other misconduct.
- Tariff Modifications: Miscellaneous Tariff Bills
- Importers often request that Members of Congress introduce bills seeking to suspend or reduce tariffs on certain imports on their behalf. This report discusses the current process by which duty suspension bills and other provisions are introduced, reviewed by several government agencies and committee staff, made available for public comment, and finally included in omnibus miscellaneous trade and technical corrections bills (MTB) legislation reported out by the committees of jurisdiction.
- Telecommunications Services Trade and the WTO Agreement
- No Description Available.
- Textile and Apparel Rules of Origin in International Trade
- No Description Available.
- The United Arab Emirates (UAE): Issues for U.S. Policy
- This report describes the open economy and society of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as U.S. concern over proliferation of advanced technology due to said open economy and the UAE's lax export controls. This report describes these issues in relation to a recently-signed U.S.-UAE civilian nuclear agreement. It also provides a general description of the UAE's government and political structure, as well as the effects of the recent global economic downturn on the UAE in general and on the city of Dubai in particular.
- United States’ Trade Remedy Laws and Non-market Economies: A Legal Overview
- This report contains an overview of the United States' trade remedy laws and non-market economies.