Congressional Research Service Reports - 148 Matching Results

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Detention of U.S. Persons as Enemy Belligerents

Description: The detainee provisions passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2012 affirm that the Authorization for Use of Military Force in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, authorizes the detention of persons captured in connection with hostilities. This report provides a background to the legal issues presented, followed by a brief introduction to the law of war pertinent to the detention of different categories of individuals. An overview of U.S. practice du… more
Date: April 11, 2012
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy Virginia (SSN-774) Class Attack Submarine Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides background information and oversight issues for Congress on the Virginia class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) program. The two Virginia-class boats requested for procurement in FY2013 are the final two in a group of eight covered by a multiyear procurement (MYP) arrangement for the period FY2009-FY2013. Issues for Congress include whether or not to approve the MYP arrangement request, whether to restore procurement of a second Virginia-class boat in FY2014, and the … more
Date: April 2, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: 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. The Navy's proposed FY2012 budget requested funding for the procurement of 10 new battle force ships. Issues for Congress include the appropriate future size and structure of the Navy in light of changes in strategic and budget circumstances, the sufficiency of the Nav… more
Date: January 6, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Peacekeeping/Stabilization and Conflict Transitions: Background and Congressional Action on the Civilian Response/Reserve Corps and other Civilian Stabilization and Reconstruction Capabilities

Description: This report provides background on the establishment of S/CRS, its functions, and its operations, as well as on the CRC. The report tracks S/CRS budget requests and congressional actions. It discusses four issues raised during the S/CRS years that may still be relevant for the CSO Bureau: S/CRS's effectiveness, the appropriate size for the CRC, flexible funding for stabilization operations, and funding for a reserve component.
Date: January 12, 2012
Creator: Serafino, Nina M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress

Description: This report provides background information and potential issues for Congress on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a relatively inexpensive Navy surface combatant equipped with modular "plug-and-fight" mission packages. The Navy's proposed FY2013 budget requests funding for the procurement of four LCSs. Current issues for Congress concerning the LCS program include the program's mission modules, the combat survivability of the LCS, hull cracking and engine problems on LCS-1, and corrosion on LCS-… more
Date: April 6, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress

Description: Special Operations Forces (SOF) play a significant role in U.S. military operations, and the Administration has given U.S. SOF greater responsibility for planning and conducting worldwide counterterrorism operations. This report covers SOF budgets for FY2013 and what the budgeted money could be used for.
Date: March 23, 2012
Creator: Feickert, Andrew
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism Operations: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: The Navy for several years has carried out a variety of irregular warfare (IW) and counterterrorism (CT) activities. Among the most readily visible of the Navy's recent IW operations have been those carried out by Navy sailors serving ashore in Afghanistan and Iraq. The May 1-2, 2011, U.S. military operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that killed Osama bin Laden reportedly was carried out by a team of 23 Navy special operations forces. The Navy's IW and CT activities pose a number of potential ov… more
Date: April 6, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Guam: U.S. Defense Deployments

Description: This report provides a basic overview of the island of Guam, including population and location, as well as the strategic significance of Guam for boosting U.S. deterrence and power projection in Asia.
Date: March 29, 2012
Creator: Kan, Shirley A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (CVN) Homeporting at Mayport: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Navy's proposal to homeport a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN) at Mayport, FL. Transferring a CVN from Norfolk, VA, to Mayport would shift from Norfolk to Mayport the local economic activity associated with homeporting a CVN, which some sources estimate as being worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
Date: April 6, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses the Navy's plan to develop and design a class of 12 next-generation ballistic missile submarines, or SSBN(X)s, as replacements for the 14 Ohio class SSBNs currently in operation. The report explores certain related issues for Congress, including the affordability of the project and its potential impact on other Navy shipbuilding programs, alternatives to the program, and which shipyard or shipyards will build the proposed ships.
Date: April 5, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region's future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests in the region. The Arctic has increasingly become a subject of discussion among political leaders of the nations in the region. In varying degrees, the Arctic coastal states have indicated a willingness to establish and maintain a military presenc… more
Date: February 27, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Rare Earth Elements in National Defense: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress

Description: Some Members of Congress have expressed concern over U.S. acquisition of rare earth materials composed of rare earth elements used in various components of defense weapon systems. On March 13, 2012, President Obama announced that the United States had joined with Japan and the European Union to bring a World Trade Organization joint dispute resolution case against China because of China's restrictive policies on rare earths and other minerals. Congress may encourage DOD to develop a collabora… more
Date: April 11, 2012
Creator: Grasso, Valerie Bailey
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FY2012 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Policy Issues

Description: This report focuses exclusively on the annual defense authorization process. It does not include language concerning appropriations, veterans' affairs, tax implications of policy choices, or any discussion of separately introduced legislation.
Date: January 5, 2012
Creator: Burrelli, David F.; Henning, Charles A.; Jansen, Don J. & Kapp, Lawrence
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell": Issues for Congress

Description: On December 22, 2010, President Obama signed into law legislation calling for the repeal of the existing law barring open homosexuality in the military by prescribing a series of steps that must take place before repeal occurs. One step was fulfilled on July 22, 2011, when the President signed the certification of the process ending the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which was repealed on September 20, 2011. This report considers issues that Congress may wish to consider as the repeal process pr… more
Date: April 5, 2012
Creator: Burrelli, David F.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Women in Combat: Issues for Congress

Description: This report looks at the history of women in US military roles and combat since the 1990's. It also discusses critic's views of exclusionary policy as a civil rights issue.
Date: April 5, 2012
Creator: Burrelli, David F.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The National Defense Authorization Act for FY2012: Detainee Matters

Description: The National Defense Authorization Act for FY2012 (2012 NDAA, P.L. 112-81) contains a subtitle addressing issues related to detainees at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and more broadly, the disposition of persons captured in the course of hostilities against Al Qaeda and associated forces. This report offers a brief background of the salient issues and provides a section-by-section analysis of the detainee provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2012.
Date: January 11, 2012
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K. & Garcia, Michael John
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Army Drawdown and Restructuring: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: On January 26, 2012, senior DOD leadership unveiled a new defense strategy based on a review of potential future security challenges, current defense strategy, and budgetary constraints. This new strategy envisions a smaller, leaner Army that is agile, flexible, rapidly deployable, and technologically advanced. This strategy will rebalance the Army's global posture and presence, emphasizing where potential problems are likely to arise, such as the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East. Potent… more
Date: April 20, 2012
Creator: Feickert, Andrew & Henning, Charles A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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In Brief: Clarifying the Concept of "Partnership" in National Security

Description: Over the last few years, the term "partnership" has spread like wildfire through official U.S. national security guidance documents and rhetoric. At the Department of Defense (DOD), which spearheaded the proliferation of the term, "partnership" has been used to refer to a broad array of civilian as well as military activities in support of national security.1 At other U.S. government agencies, and at the White House, the use of the term "partnership" has been echoed and applied even more broadl… more
Date: May 4, 2012
Creator: Dale, Catherine
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues

Description: Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances the national interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missiles that could deliver them. Recipients of China's technology reportedly include Pakistan and countries said by the State Department to have supported terrorism, such as Iran. This CRS Report, updated as warranted, discusses the security problem of China's role in weapons prolifer… more
Date: April 25, 2012
Creator: Kan, Shirley A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues

Description: Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances the national interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missiles that could deliver them. China has taken some steps to mollify U.S. concerns about its role in weapons proliferation. Skeptics question whether China's cooperation in weapons nonproliferation has warranted President Bush's pursuit of stronger bilateral ties. This report discus… more
Date: March 30, 2012
Creator: Kan, Shirley A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nonproliferation and Threat Reduction Assistance: U.S. Programs in the Former Soviet Union

Description: Congress passed the Nunn-Lugar amendment, authorizing U.S. threat reduction assistance to the former Soviet Union, in November 1991, after a failed coup in Moscow and the disintegration of the Soviet Union raised concerns about the safety and security of Soviet nuclear weapons. It has evolved from an emergency response to impending chaos in the Soviet Union, to a more comprehensive threat reduction and nonproliferation effort, to a broader program seeking to keep nuclear, chemical, and biologic… more
Date: March 6, 2012
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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