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open access

The Americans with Disabilities Act and Emergency Preparedness and Response

Description: This report discusses the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which provides broad nondiscrimination protection for individuals with disabilities in employment, public services, and public accommodations and services operated by private entities. Although the ADA does not include provisions specifically discussing its application to disasters, its nondiscrimination provisions are applicable to emergency preparedness and responses to disasters.
Date: June 30, 2010
Creator: Jones, Nancy Lee
open access

Asian Carp and the Great Lakes Region

Description: This report discusses four species of non-indigenous Asian carp that are expanding their range in U.S. waterways, resulting in a variety of concerns and problems. Three species--bighead, silver, and black carp--are of particular note, based on the perceived degree of environmental concern. Current controversy relates to what measures might be necessary and sufficient to prevent movement of Asian carp from the Mississippi River drainage into the Great Lakes through the Chicago Area Waterway Syst… more
Date: November 30, 2010
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.; Upton, Harold F.; Stern, Charles V. & Nichols, James E.
open access

Border Security: The Role of the U.S. Border Patrol

Description: This report includes some issues for Congress to consider which include the slow rate of integration between the United States Border Patrol's (USBP) biometric database of illegal aliens and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) biometric database of criminals and terrorists; the number of unauthorized aliens who die attempting to enter the country each year; the organized human smuggling rings that have proliferated as entering the country has become more difficult; and the threat posed … more
Date: July 30, 2010
Creator: Haddal, Chad C.
open access

Brazil's WTO Case Against the U.S. Cotton Program

Description: 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 DS267.1 The "Brazil cotton case" had its WTO origins in 2002 and has since evolved into a sprawling legal enterprise that is still ongoing as of mid-2010. The report begins by summarizing the most recent developments in the case. It then provides a detailed history of the case in chro… more
Date: June 30, 2010
Creator: Schnepf, Randy
open access

China’s Currency: An Analysis of the Economic Issues

Description: This report provides an overview of the economic issues surrounding the current debate over China’s currency policy. It identifies the economic costs and benefits of China’s currency policy for both China and the United States, and possible implications if China were to allow its currency to significantly appreciate or to float freely. It also examines proposed legislation in the 111th Congress that seek to address China’s currency policy.
Date: December 30, 2010
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M. & Labonte, Marc
open access

Credit for Military Service Under Civilian Federal Employee Retirement Systems

Description: Federal employees with permanent appointments earn pension benefits under one of two retirement plans. Employees hired after 1983 participate in the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). Employees hired before 1984 participate in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) unless they elected to transfer to the FERS during open seasons held in 1987 and 1998. This report discusses the changes in legislation that allowed veterans who subsequently became civilian federal employees to count t… more
Date: December 30, 2010
Creator: Isaacs, Katelin P.
open access

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Selected Issues for Congress

Description: This report summarizes provisions of selected legislation - enacted and proposed - that address oil spill policy issues raised after the April 20, 2010, explosion and resulting oil spill at the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. This report focuses primarily on oil spill policy matters that concern prevention, preparedness, response, and the liability and compensation framework.
Date: July 30, 2010
Creator: Hagerty, Curry L. & Ramseur, Jonathan L.
open access

Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities: A Summary and Issues for the 111th Congress

Description: This report summarizes several emergency management and homeland security programs, and identifies and analyzes potential issues for the 111th Congress. These issues include the purpose and number of assistance programs; the evaluation of the use of grant funding; the determination of eligible grant recipients; the programs' funding amounts; and the programs; funding distribution methodologies.
Date: April 30, 2010
Creator: Reese, Shawn
open access

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell": A Legal Analysis

Description: In recent years, several Members of Congress have expressed interest in amending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," (DADT) a legislation that requires those of homosexual orientation in the military to keep quiet about their orientation in order to maintain "morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion." At least two bills that would repeal the law and replace it with a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation - H.R. 1283 and S. 3065 - have been introduced in the 111th Congr… more
Date: September 30, 2010
Creator: Feder, Jody
open access

Energy and Water Development: FY2011 Appropriations

Description: This report discusses the energy and water development appropriations bill that provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy (DOE), and a number of independent agencies.
Date: September 30, 2010
Creator: Behrens, Carl E.
open access

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization: An Overview of Legislative Action in the 111th Congress

Description: This report tracks the status of ongoing legislative action and debate related to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization. It is organized into six major program areas: aviation system finance; airport financing; FAA management and organizational issues; system capacity and safety; environmental issues; and airline industry issues. In several cases, provisions that appear in various unrelated sections of proposed legislation have been rearranged in this report in an effort to grou… more
Date: March 30, 2010
Creator: Elias, Bart
open access

Federal Programs Available to Unemployed Workers

Description: There are four groups of federal programs that target unemployed workers: unemployment insurance programs, health care assistance, job search assistance, and training. This report describes these programs, how they interact with each other, and their funding.
Date: December 30, 2010
Creator: Isaacs, Katelin P.; Bradley, David H.; Mulvey, Janemarie & Topoleski, John J.
open access

Financial Regulatory Reform: Systemic Risk and the Federal Reserve

Description: The recent financial crisis contained a number of systemic risk episodes, or episodes that caused instability for large parts of the financial system. The lesson some policymakers have taken from this crisis is that a systemic risk or "macroprudential" regulator is needed to prevent similar episodes in the future. This report defines the potential duties and responsibilities of a systemic risk regulator, relating those duties to events that potentially contributed to the recent crisis. It then … more
Date: April 30, 2010
Creator: Labonte, Marc
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