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Fast-Track Trade Authority: Which Environmental Issues are "Directly Related to Trade"?

Description: This report discusses fast-track negotiating authority, which provides that Congress will consider trade agreements within mandatory deadlines, with limited debate, and without amendment. Trade negotiating objectives have generally been included in fast-track legislation to establish priorities for trade negotiators.
Date: October 2, 1997
Creator: Wilson, Arlene
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Fast-Track Trade Authority Proposals: Which Environmental Issues are Included in the Principal Negotiating Objectives?

Description: This report discusses fast-track negotiating authority, which provides that Congress will consider trade agreements within mandatory deadlines, with limited debate, and without amendment. Environmental provisions are eligible for the fast-track procedure only if they meet at least one of the principal trade negotiating objectives.
Date: October 17, 1997
Creator: Wilson, Arlene
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Fast Track for Trade Agreements: Procedural Controls for Congress and Proposed Alternatives

Description: This report discusses the fast track trade procedures in the Trade Act of 1974 operate as procedural rules of the House and Senate, and the statute itself declares them to be enacted as an exercise of the constitutional authority of each house to determine its own rules. These procedures prevent Congress from altering an implementing bill or declining to act, but permit it to enact or reject the bill. By these means Congress retains authority to legislate in the areas covered, yet affords the P… more
Date: October 31, 1997
Creator: Beth, Richard S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The House Apportionment Formula in Theory and Practice

Description: This report has four major purposes: to summarize the constitutional and statutory requirements governing apportionment; to explain how the current apportionment formula works in theory and in practice; to summarize recent challenges to it on grounds of unfairness; and to explain the reasoning underlying the choice of the equal proportions method over its chief alternative, major fractions.
Date: October 10, 2000
Creator: Huckabee, David C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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House and Senate Chaplains

Description: This report discusses the two chaplains, one in the House, the other in the Senate, who are the official clergy of Congress. At the beginning of each Congress, the House chaplain is elected for a 2-year term. The Senate chaplain does not have to be reelected at the beginning of a new Congress. There have been 61 Senate chaplains and 59 House chaplains.
Date: October 9, 2001
Creator: Amer, Mildred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Disapproval of Regulations by Congress: Procedure Under the Congressional Review Act

Description: This report discusses the Congressional Review Act of 1996, which established expedited (or "fast track") procedures by which Congress may disapprove a broad range of regulatory rules issued by federal agencies by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval. For initial floor consideration, the Act provides an expedited procedure only in the Senate.
Date: October 10, 2001
Creator: Beth, Richard S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Grants Work in a Congressional Office

Description: Members of Congress often get requests from constituents for information and help in obtaining funds for projects. Many state and local governments, nonprofit social service and community action organizations, private research groups, small businesses, and individuals approach congressional offices to find out about funding, both from the federal government and from the private sector. The success rate in obtaining federal assistance is not high, given the competition for federal funds. A grant… more
Date: October 14, 2002
Creator: Gerli, Merete F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Social Security: The Cost-of-Living Adjustment in January 2003

Description: This report discusses the Cost-of-living Adjustments to Social Security in 2003. To compensate for the effects of inflation, Social Security recipients receive a cos-of-living adjustment (COLA) in January of each year. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), updates monthly by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is the measure used to compute the change.
Date: October 18, 2002
Creator: Koitz, David & Kollmann, Geoffrey
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Private Bills: Procedure in the House

Description: This report briefly discusses private bills, which are bills providing benefits to specified individuals (including corporate bodies). Individuals sometimes request relief through private law when administrative or legal remedies are exhausted, but Congress seems more often to view private legislation as appropriate when no other remedy is available, and when enactment would, in a broad sense, afford equity.
Date: October 21, 2004
Creator: Beth, Richard S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Senate Committee Reports: Required Contents

Description: This report briefly describes Senate rules and statutes that specify information that must be included as part of the written report about the purposes and provisions of a proposed measure. Senate committees also may include additional items in their reports.
Date: October 22, 2004
Creator: Carr, Thomas P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for the 109th Congress

Description: This report discusses the United States and Mexico relations and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The major issues discussed by Congress are trade, migration/border security, drug trafficking, and political issues.
Date: October 26, 2004
Creator: Storrs, K. Larry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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A User's Guide to the Congressional Record

Description: This report discusses use of the Congressional Record, which is a substantially verbatim account of remarks made during the proceedings of the House and Senate, subject only to technical, grammatical, and typographical corrections. It consists of four main sections: the proceedings of the House and Senate, the Extensions of Remarks, and the Daily Digest.
Date: October 27, 2005
Creator: Amer, Mildred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Homeland Security: Coast Guard Operations — Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses the Coast Guard as the lead federal agency for maritime homeland security. For FY2007, the Coast Guard is requesting a total of about $4.5 billion for missions defined in The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L., 107-296) as the Coast Guard's homeland security missions. The Coast Guard's homeland security operations pose several potential issues for Congress.
Date: October 25, 2006
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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House Contested Election Cases: 1933 to 2005

Description: This report provides a summary of contested election cases from the 73rd Congress through the 109th Congress, 1933 to 2005. The descriptions primarily provide information concerning the nature of the action and the disposition of the case. The summary is limited to only those cases that were considered by the House of Representatives; cases decided at the state level are beyond the scope of this report.
Date: October 26, 2006
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Congressional Record: Its Production, Distribution, and Accessibility

Description: This report briefly discusses how the Congressional Record is created and distributed. The Congressional Record is the most widely recognized published account of the debates and activities in Congress and it often reflects the intent of Congress in enacting legislation.
Date: October 27, 2006
Creator: Amer, Mildred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress

Description: This report discusses the 2007 restructuring of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program, as well as various financial information relating to the program. The report raises potential oversight issues for Congress relating to various aspects of the program.
Date: October 1, 2008
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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