Congressional Research Service Reports - 73 Matching Results

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American Inventors Protection Act of 1999

Description: After several years of consideration, on Friday, November 19, 1999, Congress gave final approval to a bill which makes major changes to the patent laws. On this day the Senate passed the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 as part of the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999, attached by reference to the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000. This report summarizes major provisions of the patent reform bill.
Date: February 28, 2000
Creator: Seitzinger, Michael V.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Air Act Issues in the 106th Congress

Description: The Clean Air Act and its 1990 amendments appear to have contributed to a marked improvement in air quality nationwide. Of nearly 100 metropolitan areas not meeting air quality standards for ozone in 1990, more than two-thirds now do so. Even greater progress has been achieved with carbon monoxide: 36 of 42 areas not in attainment in 1990 now meet the standard. Nevertheless, EPA remains concerned about air pollution. In 1997, the Agency promulgated major revisions to its air quality standards f… more
Date: November 14, 2000
Creator: McCarthy, James E.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Pendulum Swings Back: Standing Doctrine After

Description: On January 12, 2000, the Supreme Court held in Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw that plaintiffs had standing to pursue a Clean Water Act citizen suit, despite the fact that (1) the company-defendant had achieved compliance prior to the district court's decision, (2) plaintiffs sought only civil penalties payable to the U.S. Treasury, and (3) plaintiffs had demonstrated only reasonable concern, not physical injury to the environment. In so holding, the Court appeared to retrench substantially fro… more
Date: March 14, 2000
Creator: Meltz, Robert
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance Debate in the 106th Congress: Comparison of Measures Under House Consideration

Description: On September 14, the House passed H.R. 417 on a vote of 252-177, as amended by three perfecting amendments: Bereuter/Wicker #6; Faleomavaega #1; and Sweeney #21. This report features two tables. Table 1 summarizes and compares the ten perfecting amendments, current law, and the Shays-Meehan proposal. Table 2 summarizes and compares current law, the Shays-Meehan bill, and the three substitute amendments.
Date: January 12, 2000
Creator: Cantor, Joseph E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance Bills in the 106th Congress: Comparison of Shays-Meehan, as passed, with McCain-Feingold, as considered

Description: On September 14, 1999, the House passed the Shays-Meehan bill--H.R. 417, the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 1999, as amended, by a vote of 252-177. Senate sponsors of the companion measure, S. 26 (McCain-Feingold), revised their proposal and, on September 16, introduced S. 1593, containing just four sections of H.R. 417 and S. 26. The Senate debated S. 1593 from October 13-20, culminating in unsuccessful cloture votes October 19 on two amendments: Daschle amendment 2298, substituting… more
Date: January 12, 2000
Creator: Cantor, Joseph E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Overview of NEPA Requirements

Description: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) establishes national environmental policies that apply to the federal government and also prescribes certain procedural requirements for federal agency actions. Except as otherwise provided by Congress, NEPA applies to all federal agency actions, although its requirements may vary depending on the nature of the action involved. This report provides an overview of NEPA's requirements. It is not anticipated that this report will be updated.
Date: July 6, 2000
Creator: Baldwin, Pamela
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC) Tax Benefit for Exporting and the WTO

Description: The Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC) provisions of the U.S. tax code permit U.S. firms to exempt between 15% and 30% of export income from taxation. FSC was enacted in 1984 to replace another tax benefit for exporting - the Domestic International Sales Corporation (DISC) provisions. U.S. trading partners had charged that DISC was an export subsidy, and so violated the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In 1998 the European Union (EU) complained to the World Trade Organization (WTO, G… more
Date: October 11, 2000
Creator: Brumbaugh, David L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Conservation Reserve Payments and Self-Employment Taxes

Description: Farmers enrolling their land in the Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) receive payments for refraining from farming their property and for engaging in certain conservation practices mandated by the Department of Agriculture. These payments are described in the contract with the Department of Agriculture as "rental payments." Farmers would like to treat the income as "rental income" because it would not be subject to self-employment taxes, but the Internal Revenue Ser… more
Date: May 1, 2000
Creator: Morris, Marie B.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Elementary and Secondary School Teachers: Action by the 106th Congress

Description: The quality and quantity of public elementary and secondary school teachers are of increasing concern to the 106th Congress. Although states and localities are responsible for most aspects of teacher preparation, recruitment, and employment, the federal government supports a wide array of programs for teachers. Several of these programs are being considered for amendment and extension by the 106th Congress including the Eisenhower Professional Development program and the Class Size Reduction pr… more
Date: August 22, 2000
Creator: Stedman, James B.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Economic Sanctions: Legislation in the 106th Congress

Description: This report tracks legislation relating to the use of economic sanctions in pursuit of foreign policy or national security objectives. Separate sections are given to the areas of greatest activity: sanctions imposed against India and Pakistan; exemptions of food and medicine exports; and sanctions reform. A separate table is included listing sanctions measures that were introduced but received no consideration, including measures pertaining to export controls, nonproliferation, drug certificati… more
Date: December 15, 2000
Creator: Rennack, Dianne E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Constitutional Constraints on Congress' Ability to Protect the Environment

Description: Federal protection of the environment must hew to the same constitutional strictures as any other federal actions. In the past decade, however, the Supreme Court has invigorated several of these strictures in ways that present new challenges to congressional drafters of environmental statutes. This report reviews six of these newly emergent constitutional areas, with special attention to their significance for current and future environmental legislation.
Date: September 8, 2000
Creator: Meltz, Robert
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Coastal Zone Management Reauthorization: An Overview

Description: Congress is considering legislation that would reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. This overview summarizes the programs created by this act and its amendments, and outlines issues associated with reauthorization. These issues include reauthorizing funding, altering grant programs, changing the National Estuarine Research Reserve system, funding to implement nonpoint water pollution requirements, protecting private property rights, expanding program evaluation efforts, and exam… more
Date: March 14, 2000
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Internet Tax Legislation: Distinguishing Issues

Description: The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA), enacted in 1998, placed a three-year moratorium on the ability of state and local governments to impose new taxes on Internet access, or to impose any multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce. The moratorium is scheduled to expire on October 21, 2001.
Date: November 24, 2000
Creator: Noto, Nonna A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Caribbean Basin Interim Trade Program: CBI/NAFTA Parity

Description: The entry into force, on January 1, 1994, of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has eliminated the advantage that the beneficiaries of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and related provisions of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) had enjoyed in trade with the United States relative to Mexico, and gave Mexico an increasingly significant competitive edge over the CBERA countries. The scheduled further implementation of the NAFTA would have resulted in a substantial … more
Date: November 21, 2000
Creator: Pregelj, Vladimir N.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Examination of the Issues Surrounding Biotechnology Patenting and Its Effect Upon Entrepreneurial Companies

Description: The biotechnology industry is notable both for its heavy concentration of small businesses and its weighty research and development (R&D) expenditures. Given the small size and heavy expenses of many biotechnology firms, their ability to raise venture capital may be of some consequence. The patent law has been identified as a facilitator of these R&D financing efforts. Congress may choose to exercise oversight on these issues. Such consideration would likely include examination of U.S. commitme… more
Date: August 31, 2000
Creator: Thomas, John R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance: Constitutional and Legal Issues of Soft Money

Description: As in the 105th Congress, many of the 106th Congress bills focus on political party soft money--subjecting contributions, expenditures, or transfers of national political parties to the limitations, prohibitions and reporting requirements of the FECA. Other bills would restrict corporate and labor union soft money. Another major reform proposal would subject certain types of advocacy communications to FECA regulation, either fully or just insofar as disclosure requirements.
Date: December 11, 2000
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Alternative Transportation Fuels and Vehicles: Energy, Environment, and Development Issues

Description: This report reviews several issues relating to alternative fuels and vehicles, mainly to combat dependence on petroleum imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The report discusses the advantages and drawbacks of various alternative fuels and vehicles, as well as related legislation.
Date: December 5, 2000
Creator: Yacobucci, Brent D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Patent Ownership and Federal Research and Development (R and D): A Discussion on the Bayh-Dole Act and the Stevenson-Wydler Act

Description: Two major laws govern the dispensation of patents associated with federal research and development (R&D) activities. Both P.L. 96-418, the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act, as amended, and P.L. 96-517, Amendments to the Patent and Trademark Act (commonly referred to as "Bayh-Dole" after its two main sponsors, former Senators Birch Bayh and Robert Dole), are the foundation for efforts to utilize patent ownership to encourage the commercialization of technologies and techniques that hav… more
Date: December 11, 2000
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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China's Accession to the World Trade Organization: Legal Issues

Description: The People's Republic of China (PRC) applied to resume membership in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1986 and continues to negotiate its accession to GATT's successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO). A country may join the WTO on terms agreed by the applicant and WTO Members if two-thirds of Members approve the country's accession agreement. A Member may "opt out" of WTO relations with another country by invoking Article XIII of the WTO Agreement, its "non-application" … more
Date: June 2, 2000
Creator: Grimmett, Jeanne J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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