Congressional Research Service Reports - 117 Matching Results
Search Results
- Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians
- This report collects statistics from a variety of sources on casualties sustained during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which began on October 7, 2001, and is ongoing. OEF actions take place primarily in Afghanistan, but OEF casualties also include American casualties in other countries, listed within this report.
- Nuclear Nonproliferation Issues
- No Description Available.
- Military Pay and Benefits: Key Questions and Answers
- No Description Available.
- U.S. Military Stop Loss Program: Key Questions and Answers
- Stop Loss is a frequently misunderstood DOD force management program that retains servicemembers beyond their contractually agreed-to separation date. Because of the involuntary nature of this extension, some critics have referred to the program as a "backdoor draft" or "involuntary servitude". This report outlines the history of Stop Loss, current issues relating to Stop Loss, and the possible future directions of the program.
- Congressional Nominations to U.S. Service Academies: An Overview and Resources for Outreach and Management
- This report describes statutory requirements for allocating congressional nominations to service academies. It also identifies the qualifications that must be met by potential nominees, as established by statute and each academy. Finally, sample documents that could be used by congressional offices at various stages of the nomination selection process are included.
- Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2010
- This report lists hundreds of instances in which the United States has used its armed forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict or for other than normal peacetime purposes. The listing contains references, especially from 1980 forward, to continuing military deployments such as U.S. military participation in multinational operations associated with NATO or the United Nations.
- Vieques, Puerto Rico Naval Training Range: Background and Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- Military Child Development Program: Background and Issues
- This report traces the development of DOD-sponsored childcare services and discusses these issues in greater depth in order to support Members of Congress in their oversight role. The next section gives an overview of DOD's justification for the CDP program and demand for services. Next is a discussion of current CDP components, policies, and funding. This is followed by the legislative history of DOD-sponsored childcare in the military. The final section discusses issues and options for Congress related to oversight and funding of military childcare programs.
- Africa Command: U.S. Strategic Interests and the Role of the U.S. Military in Africa
- This report provides a broad overview of U.S. strategic interests in Africa and the role of U.S. military efforts on the continent as they pertain to the creation of AFRICOM. Although the command is still in the early stages of its development, a discussion of AFRICOM’s mission, its coordination with other government agencies, and its basing and manpower requirements is included.
- How Long Can the Defense Department Finance FY2008 Operations in Advance of Supplemental Appropriations?
- This report analyzes war funding for the Defense Department and tracks funding for USAID and VA Medical funding.
- Peacekeeping Options: Considerations for U.S. Policymakers and the Congress
- This report provides a frame of reference for considering the relative merits of using these organizations in peace and security operations. It first reviews the types of actions and activities available to deal with situations ranging from low-level tension to open conflict to post-conflict transition. It then examines, for each of the organizations, the major considerations, i.e., effectiveness, advantages, and disadvantages, and other important issues for U.S. policy makers in their use.
- Military Officer Personnel Management: Key Concepts and Statutory Provisions
- This report provides an overview of selected concepts and statutory provisions that shape and define military officer appointments, assignments, grade structure, promotions, and separations. It also provides a set of questions that policymakers may wish to consider when discussing proposed changes to current law.
- Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills: FY1970-FY2015
- This report is a research aid which lists the Department of Defense authorization bills and appropriations bills for FY1970-FY2015. This report includes all the pertinent information on the passage of these bills through the legislative process: bill numbers, report numbers, dates reported and passed, recorded vote numbers and vote tallies, dates of passage of the conference reports with their numbers and votes, vetoes, substitutions, dates of final passage, and public law numbers.
- Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs).
- Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV): Background and Issues for Congress
- This report discusses the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), which is an Army-led, multi-service initiative to develop a family of light tactical vehicles as a successor to the High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs). It includes background information; a description of the JLTV program, program history, and program activities; information about the JLTV contract, Lockheed Martin's protest to the program, budgetary issues, and potential issues for Congress.
- Military Uniform Procurement: Questions and Answers
- This report discusses military uniform procurement through the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), an agency of the Department of Defense.
- FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Policy Issues
- This report discusses military personnel issues that typically generate significant interest from many Members of Congress and their staffs. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) selected a number of the military personnel issues considered in deliberations on the House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2010. This report provides a brief synopsis of sections that pertain to personnel policy. This report focuses exclusively on the annual defense authorization process.
- U.S. Nuclear Weapons: Changes in Policy and Force Structure
- The Bush Administration conducted a review of U.S. nuclear weapons force posture during its first year in office. Although the review sought to adjust U.S. nuclear posture to address changes in the international security environment at the start of the new century, it continued many of the policies and programs that had been a part of the U.S. nuclear posture during the previous decade and during the Cold War. This report, which will be updated as needed, provides an overview of the U.S. nuclear posture to highlight areas of change and areas of continuity.
- "Fast Track" Legislative Procedures Governing Congressional Consideration of a Defense Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) Commission Report
- This report outlines the "fast track" parliamentary procedures that have governed congressional consideration of the recommendations of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) commission in prior rounds and that have been included in the Department of Defense's recent request for authority to conduct a 2015 BRAC round
- The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA): An Explanation
- This report provides a section-by-section summary of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), which provides civil protections and rights to individuals based on their service in the Reserve and National Guard military units.
- Display of the Confederate Flag at Federal Cemeteries
- This report discusses policies regarding the display of the Confederate Flag at national cemeteries. If a state observes a Confederate Memorial Day, NPS cemeteries in the state may permit a sponsoring group to decorate the graves of Confederate veterans with small Confederate flags. Additionally, according to the National Park Service (NPS) reference manual, such flags may also be displayed on the nationally observed Memorial Day, to accompany the U.S. flag on the graves of Confederate veterans.
- Project BioShield
- No Description Available.
- Proposed Federal Income Tax Exclusion for Civilians Serving in Combat Zones
- No Description Available.
- Homeland Security and the Reserves: Threat, Mission, and Force Structure Issues
- This report examines the relationship between threat identification and U.S. military strategy, and the related issue–one dependent on the resolution of the first–of whether more reserve assets should be configured to deal with homeland security threats.
- Authorization and Appropriations for FY2004: Defense
- This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Energy and Water. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity. The report lists the key CRS staff relevant to the issues covered and related CRS products.
- Defense Research: DOD's Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Program
- Congress supports the research and development efforts of the Department of Defense (DOD) with a Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The appropriation primarily supports the development of the nation’s future military hardware and software and the technology base upon which those products rely. It is the federal government’s single largest research and development account. Besides supporting the nation’s military needs, some of the technology developed with RDT&E funds spills over into the commercial sector. For these reasons, RDT&E funding draws a considerable amount of attention within Congress each year.
- Unemployment Compensation (Insurance) and Military Service
- No Description Available.
- National Emergency Powers
- This report the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601-1651) that eliminated or modified some statutory grants of emergency authority, required the President to declare formally the existence of a national emergency and to specify what statutory authority, activated by the declaration, would be used, and provided Congress a means to countermand the President's declaration and the activated authority being sought.
- Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV): Background and Issues for Congress
- The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is currently being developed by the Army and the Marine Corps as a successor to the 11 different versions of the High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) that have been in service since 1985. There are concerns about the affordability of JLTVs and its redundancy with other tactical wheeled vehicles.
- Service by a Member of Congress in the U.S. Armed Forces Reserves
- This report will analyze the legal issues related to Members of Congress serving in the Armed Forces Reserves during their congressional tenure. It will discuss previous congressional action regarding Members' simultaneous service as well as federal legislation addressing the status of Reservists. It will also analyze court decisions related to challenges to simultaneous service.
- Immigration-Related Worksite Enforcement: Performance Measures
- The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for immigration-related worksite enforcement, or enforcement of the prohibitions on unauthorized employment in Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The INA §274A provisions, sometimes referred to as employer sanctions, make it unlawful for an employer to knowingly hire, recruit or refer for a fee, or continue to employ an alien who is not authorized to be so employed. This report looks at enforcement measures of this act.
- The Marines' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV): Background and Issues for Congress
- The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) is an armored amphibious vehicle program that originated two decades ago to replace the 1970s-era Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV). The EFV has experienced a variety of developmental difficulties, resulting in significant program delays and cost growth. While the Marine Corps and Department of Defense remain optimistic about the future of the EFC program, there continue to be major concerns about the EFV's reliability and escalating costs.
- Peacekeeping and Related Stability Operations: Issues of U.S. Military Involvement
- No Description Available.
- Appropriations for FY1999: Military Construction
- Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Legislative Branch Appropriations.
- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Background and Current Developments
- This report discusses the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans all nuclear explosion and was in 1996 adopted by the U.N. General Assembly but rejected by the U.S. Senate in 1997. This report discusses the Obama Administration's stated goal of pursuing U.S. ratification of the CTBT, although the Administration has mainly focused on securing Senate consent to ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). This report also discusses other nuclear weapons-related issues as well as the long history of nuclear testing.
- China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress
- This report focuses on the potential implications of China's naval modernization for future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The report particularly discusses how potential United States responses to China's military modernization effort -- including its naval modernization effort -- have emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning.
- The Open Skies Treaty: Issues in the Current Debate
- This report discusses the current debate surrounding the Treaty on Open Skies, which the United States, Canada, and 22 European nations signed on March 24, 1992. The treaty entered into force on January 1, 2002, and now has 34 member states. Each participant must permit unarmed observation aircraft to fly over its entire territory to observe military forces and activities.
- Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Acquisition: Issues for Congress
- This report discusses Congressional issues regarding Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) systems, which are integral components of both national policymaking and military operations, including counterterrorism operations. ISR systems are costly and complicated, and the relationships among organizations responsible for designing and operating these systems are equally complicated.
- China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress
- This report focuses on the potential implications of China's naval modernization for future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The question of how the United States should respond to China's military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning.
- Navy Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism Operations: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report discusses the U.S. Navy's efforts in recent years to strengthen its ability to carry out irregular warfare (IW) counterterrorism (CT) activities. Some of the activities and organizations explored in this report are the creation of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC), the Navy's riverine force, the Navy Irregular Warfare Office, and the Global Maritime Partnership. The report also discusses what potential oversight issues the Navy's IW and CT activities pose for Congress, including budget priorities.
- Congressional Use of Funding Cutoffs Since 1970 Involving U.S. Military Forces and Overseas Deployments
- This report provides background information on major instances, since 1970, when Congress has utilized funding cutoffs to compel the withdrawal of United States military forces from overseas military deployments. It also highlights key efforts by Congress to utilize the War Powers Resolution, since its enactment in 1973, to compel the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from foreign deployments. In this review, legislation expressing the “sense of the Congress” regarding U.S. military deployments is not addressed.
- Terrorist Attacks and National Emergency Declaration
- No Description Available.
- The Middle East Peace Talks
- No Description Available.
- Proliferation Control Regimes: Background and Status
- No Description Available.
- The Middle East Peace Talks
- No Description Available.
- United Nations Peacekeeping: Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- The Middle East Peace Talks
- No Description Available.
- Abortion Services and Military Medical Facilities
- In 1993, President Clinton modified the military policy on providing abortions at military medical facilities. Under the change directed by the President, military medical facilities were allowed to perform abortions if paid for entirely with non-Department of Defense (DOD) funds (i.e., privately funded). Over the last three decades, the availability of abortion services at military medical facilities has been subjected to numerous changes and interpretations.
- DOD Leases of Foreign-Built Ships: Background for Congress
- This report briefly discusses the Department of Defense leasing foreign-built ships, the opponents of this practice, and related legislation.
- Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and presents potential issues for Congress concerning the Navy's ship force-structure goals and shipbuilding plans. The planned size of the Navy, the rate of Navy ship procurement, and the prospective affordability of the Navy's shipbuilding plans have been matters of concern for the congressional defense committees for the past several years. Decisions that Congress makes on Navy shipbuilding programs can substantially affect Navy capabilities and funding requirements, and the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base.