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Afghanistan: Post-War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy

Description: This report considers the transition in government meant to stabilize Afghanistan. Specifically, the report covers the increasing amount of insurgency in the region. The south in particular has seen a rise in insurgency due to the lack of economic progress made. The report also discusses the NATO led troops in the region.
Date: October 6, 2006
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Age Dependency Ratios and Social Security Solvency

Description: As highlighted by the Social Security Administration (SSA), the aging of the (United States) population, hastened by the impending retirement of the huge baby-boom generation, has caused policy-makers to question whether the U.S. Social Security system can meet the demands for retirement benefits in the future. Because the current system largely pays benefits through taxes paid by current workers, the financial health of the system is sensitive to the ratio of dependents to workers—sometimes ca… more
Date: October 27, 2006
Creator: Shrestha, Laura B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agricultural Disaster Assistance

Description: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers several permanently authorized programs to help farmers recover financially from a natural disaster, including federal crop insurance, the non-insured assistance program and emergency disaster loans. In recent years, Congress frequently has made supplemental financial assistance available to farmers and ranchers on an ad-hoc basis, most notably in the form of direct crop disaster payments and emergency livestock assistance. Congress provided an e… more
Date: October 6, 2006
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agricultural Issues in the 109th Congress

Description: A number of issues affecting U.S. agriculture have been or are being addressed by the 109th Congress. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171), enacted in February 2006, included a net reduction in spending on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) mandatory programs of $2.7 billion over five years, and the reauthorization of a dairy income support program. Other issues of importance to agriculture during the second session of the 109th Congress include the consideration of emergency far… more
Date: October 6, 2006
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality: EPA’s 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard

Description: In order to better understand EPA’s actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency’s final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of a more stringent alternatives analyzed. The report concludes by highlighting concerns and issues raised regarding the revisions to the particulates standards, including those of the science advisory committee (Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, or CASAC), and actions in Congress.
Date: October 31, 2006
Creator: McCarthy, James E. & Esworthy, Robert
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality Issues and Animal Agriculture: A Primer

Description: This report reviews the types of air emissions from livestock and poultry operations and their human health and environmental impacts. It then discusses provisions of several federal laws concerned with environmental impacts, beginning with the Clean Water Act, because protecting water resources has been the primary regulatory focus regarding livestock and animal operations.
Date: October 18, 2006
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality Issues and Animal Agriculture: EPA’s Air Compliance Agreement

Description: This report discusses a plan announced by EPA in January 2005, called the Air Compliance Agreement, that would produce air quality monitoring data on animal agriculture emissions from a small number of farms, while at the same time protecting all participants (including farms where no monitoring takes place) through a “safe harbor” from liability under certain provisions of federal environmental laws.
Date: October 11, 2006
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Alternative Fuels and Advanced Technology Vehicles: Issues in Congress

Description: Key components of federal policies to reduce fuel consumption include the promotion of alternatives to petroleum fuels and the promotion of more efficient vehicles. This report provides an overview of current issues surrounding alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles — issues discussed in further detail in other CRS reports referred to in each section.
Date: October 19, 2006
Creator: Yacobucci, Brent D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Assistance to Firefighters Program

Description: This report contains the Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG) Program, also known as the FIRE Act grant program. The program provides federal grants directly to local fire departments and unaffiliated Emergency Medical Services (EMS) organizations to help address a variety or firefighter-related and EMS needs.
Date: October 12, 2006
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Berry Amendment: Requiring Defense Procurement to Come from Domestic Sources

Description: The Berry Amendment requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to give preference in procurement to domestically produced, manufactured, or home grown products, notably food, clothing, fabrics, and specialty metals. In order to protect the U.S. industrial base during periods of adversity and war, Congress passed domestic source restrictions as part of the 1941 Fifth Supplemental DOD Appropriations Act; these provisions later became the Berry Amendment. This report examines the original intent and… more
Date: October 24, 2006
Creator: Grasso, Valerie Bailey
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Berry Amendment: Requiring Defense Procurement to Come from Domestic Sources

Description: The Berry Amendment requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to give preference in procurement to domestically produced, manufactured, or home grown products, notably food, clothing, fabrics, and specialty metals. This report examines the original intent and purpose of the Berry Amendment, legislative proposals to amend the application of domestic source restrictions, as well as options for Congress.
Date: October 24, 2006
Creator: Grasso, Valerie Bailey
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Brief Summaries of Federal Animal Protection Status

Description: This report contains brief summaries of federal animal protection statutes, listed alphabetically. It does not include treaties, although it does include statutes enacted to implement treaties. It includes statutes concerning animals that are not entirely, or not at all, animal protection statutes. For example, it includes a statute authorizing the eradication of predators, because one of the statute’s purposes is to protect domestic and “game” animals; and it includes statutes to conserve fish… more
Date: October 16, 2006
Creator: Cohen, Henry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Brief Summaries of Federal Animal Protection Statutes

Description: This report contains brief summaries of federal animal protection statutes, listed alphabetically. It includes statutes enacted to implement treaties, those that protect certain groups of animals (e.g., protection of "game" animals rather than predators), statutes to conserve fish, statutes that allow the disabled to use service animals, and statutes aimed at acts of animal rights advocates (the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992, and the Recreational Hunting Safety and Preservation Act o… more
Date: October 16, 2006
Creator: Cohen, Henry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Broadband Internet Access and the Digital Divide: Federal Assistance Programs

Description: This report discusses the "digital divide," a term that has been used to characterize a gap between those Americans who use or have access to telecommunications technologies (e.g., telephones, computers, the Internet) and those who do not. It particularly discusses one important subset of the digital divide debate concerns high speed Internet access or broadband.
Date: October 31, 2006
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G. & Gilroy, Angele A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Brownfields Tax Incentive Extension

Description: The brownfields tax incentive expired on December 31, 2005. Enacted in 1997, the provision allowed a taxpayer to fully deduct the costs of environmental cleanup in the year the costs were incurred, rather than spreading the costs over a period of years. The provision was adopted to stimulate the cleanup and developers of less seriously contaminated sites by providing a benefit to taxpaying developers of brownfield properties. This report contains information on the background of brownfields, su… more
Date: October 17, 2006
Creator: Reisch, Mark
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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