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Financial Regulatory Reform and the 111th Congress

Description: Financial regulatory reform is being discussed in the 111th Congress, the continuation of a policy debate that began before the September 2008 financial disruption. This report reviews issues related to financial regulation. It provides brief descriptions of comprehensive reform bills in the 111th Congress that addresses these issues.
Date: December 30, 2009
Creator: Murphy, Edward V.; Webel, Baird; Shorter, Gary & Hanna, Andrew
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress

Description: Report that introduces the main steps through which a bill (or other item of business) may travel in the legislative process, from introduction to committee and floor consideration to possible presidential consideration.
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Congressional Redistricting and the Voting Rights Act: A Legal Overview

Description: This report provides a legal overview of Section 2 of the VRA, a key provision affecting congressional redistricting, and selected Supreme Court case law. It discusses Sections 4 and 5, and the recent Supreme Court decision holding Section 4(b) unconstitutional, Shelby County v. Holder. Section 4 contained a coverage formula that identified states and jurisdictions that were required to gain federal approval or "preclearance" to proposed redistricting plans under Section 5. The report also provā€¦ more
Date: August 30, 2013
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Casework in a Congressional Office: Background, Rules, Laws, and Resources

Description: Report that discusses House and Senate rules and guidelines, laws, and regulations affecting congressional casework, as well as the role of caseworkers. It also provides sample outlines and document templates for implementing and managing congressional casework.
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: Petersen, R. Eric
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Lame Duck Sessions of Congress, 1935-2010 (74th-111th Congresses)

Description: This report discusses how lame duck sessions occur, and the background of the lame duck sessions between 1940 and 2010. A ā€œlame duckā€ session of Congress occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the term of the current Congress ends.
Date: August 30, 2011
Creator: Beth, Richard S. & Tollestrup, Jessica
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Senate Rule XIV Procedures for Placing Measures Directly on the Senate Calendar

Description: When a Senator introduces a bill or joint resolution, the measure is usually referred to committee, pursuant to provisions of Senate Rules XIV, XVII, and XXV. This report describes the Senate Rule XIV, para. 2, which requires that bills and resolutions have three readings before passage, and that they be read twice before being referred to committee.
Date: November 30, 2009
Creator: Koempel, Michael L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Management Preparedness Standards: Overview and Options for Congress

Description: This report provides Emergency an Overview and Options for Congress on Emergency Management Preparedness Standards which includes major recommendations like adoption and use of emergency response standards, mutual aid provisions, private sector preparedness.
Date: August 30, 2006
Creator: Bea, Keith
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Secret Sessions of the House and Senate: Authority, Confidentiality, and Frequency

Description: This report discusses secret, or closed, sessions of the House and Senate, which exclude the press and the public. They may be held for matters deemed to require confidentiality and secrecy--such as national security, sensitive communications received from the President, and Senate deliberations during impeachment trials. Although Members usually seek advance agreement for going into secret session, any Member of Congress may request a secret session without notice.
Date: December 30, 2014
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Congressional Salaries and Allowances: In Brief

Description: This report provides basic information on congressional salaries and allowances and recent developments. First, the report briefly summarizes the current salary of Members of Congress; limits or prohibitions on their outside earned income, honoraria, and tax deductions; options for life and health insurance; and retirement benefits. Second, the report provides information on allowances available to Representatives and Senators to support them in their official and representational duties.
Date: December 30, 2014
Creator: Brudnick, Ida A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Senate Vacancies: Contemporary Developments and Perspectives

Description: This report discusses senate vacancies created by a member resigning, dying, or transferring to another position as well as the the procedures to fill them.
Date: November 30, 2017
Creator: Neale, Thomas H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Discharge Rule in the House: Principal Features and Uses

Description: This report discusses the "discharge rule" of the House of Representatives, which allows a measure to come to the floor for consideration, even if the committee of referral does not report it and the leadership does not schedule it. The rule permits either (1) the committee of referral to be discharged from the measure itself; or (2) the Committee on Rules to be discharged from a special rule for considering the measure.
Date: January 30, 2003
Creator: Beth, Richard S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Party Leaders in the United States Congress, 1789-2015

Description: This report briefly describes current responsibilities and selection mechanisms for 15 House and Senate party leadership posts and provides tables with historical data, including service dates, party affiliation, and other information for each.
Date: October 30, 2015
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction

Description: This report discusses the complicated body of rules, precedents, and practices that governs the legislative process on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Date: July 30, 1996
Creator: Bach, Stanley
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Amending Process in the House of Representatives

Description: The amending process on the floor of the House of Representatives gives Members an opportunity to change the provisions of the bills and resolutions on which they are going to vote. This report summarizes many of the procedures and practices affecting this process, which can be among the most complex as well as the most important stages of legislative consideration.
Date: January 30, 2001
Creator: Bach, Stanley
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill: Fact Sheet on Structure, Content, and Process

Description: This report discusses the legislative branch appropriations bill, which is one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress normally enacts each year for the fiscal year beginning on October 1. The report provides budget authority, which is statutory authority to spend specified amounts of money, for expenditures of the legislative branch for the fiscal year, including salaries.
Date: December 30, 1999
Creator: Tong, Lorraine H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Legislative Branch: FY2006 Appropriations

Description: This report is a guide to the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity.
Date: August 30, 2005
Creator: Dwyer, Paul E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Aiding Israel after the Iran Nuclear Deal: Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses recent indications from the Obama administration that the United States may provide Israel with additional military aid during the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran.
Date: October 30, 2015
Creator: Sharp, Jeremy M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Apportioning Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives Using the 2013 Estimated Citizen Population

Description: This report examines the impact on the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives if such a change were to occur, using an estimate of the 2013 citizen population in place of the 2010 apportionment population to determine the potential distribution of seats in the House of Representatives for the 114th Congress.
Date: October 30, 2015
Creator: Crocker, Royce
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Creation of Executive Departments: Highlights from the Legislative History of Modern Precedents

Description: This report describes the principal elements of legislative process used to establish these executive branch entities. Legislative histories of the organic acts of these Cabinet departments are set out in narrative form in the body of the report, and in tabular format in the appendix.
Date: July 30, 2002
Creator: Carr, Thomas P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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