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Amtrak Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses a number of issues connected with Amtrak that Congress may consider. Amtrak does not earn enough revenue, or receive enough assistance, to cover its operating costs and capital needs. As a result, Amtrak is regularly on the verge of insolvency.
Date: February 20, 2003
Creator: Peterman, D. R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance: Issues Before the U.S. Supreme Court in McConnell v. FEC

Description: This report provides a summary of the issues presented by 12 groups of appellants in their jurisdictional statements in 2003. Shortly after the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), P.L. 107-155 (H.R. 2356, 107th Cong.) was enacted in March 2002 (also known as the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation), Senator Mitch McConnell and others filed suit in U.S. District Court for D.C. against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)… more
Date: June 20, 2003
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Drug Control: International Policy and Approaches

Description: This report discusses various U.S. international narcotics policy approaches meant to achieve two main goals: to reduce the supply of illicit narcotics flowing into the United States, and to reduce the amount of illicit narcotics cultivated, processed, and consumed worldwide.
Date: March 6, 2003
Creator: Perl, Raphael
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Revenue Legislation in the Congressional Budget Process

Description: This report discusses revenue legislation, which may include changes to individual and corporate income taxes, social insurance taxes, excise taxes, or tariffs and duties. Congressional consideration of revenue legislation is governed by various constitutional provisions and procedural rules.
Date: June 13, 2003
Creator: Heniff, Bill, Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Higher Education Act: Reauthorization Status and Issues

Description: This report provides an overview of postsecondary education (institutions and students), an overview of the Higher Education Act (HEA) with a focus on its most significant programs and provisions, and a discussion of major issues that have been, or may be, of interest to the Congress during the HEA reauthorization process.
Date: October 29, 2003
Creator: Stedman, James B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Postal Reform

Description: This report includes background and analysis of the United States postal reform. Causes of financial crisis, transformative plans, and activity from past congresses are also discussed in this report.
Date: February 25, 2003
Creator: Stevens, Nye
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Flow of Business: Typical Day on the Senate Floor

Description: Several authorities govern the daily chamber work of the Senate: the standing rules, the "standing orders," unanimous consent agreements, precedent, and tradition. Because these authorities have different influence at certain times, no Senate session day is truly typical. This report discusses procedures and business that usually occur every session day, and refers to certain business items that may occur less frequently.
Date: July 16, 2003
Creator: Rundquist, Paul S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Statutory Language and Recent Issues

Description: The Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA, provides broad nondiscrimination protection in employment, public services, public accommodations and services operated by public entities, transportation, and telecommunications for individuals with disabilities. The Supreme Court has decided fifteen ADA cases including four cases in the 2001-2002 Supreme Court term. This report will summarize the major provisions of the ADA and will discuss selected recent issues, including the Supreme Court cases… more
Date: January 21, 2003
Creator: Jones, Nancy Lee
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Committee Types and Roles

Description: This report contains information on the general structure of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate committee structure, types of committees, and subcommittees.
Date: April 1, 2003
Creator: Carr, Thomas P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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War on Drugs: The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign

Description: This report summarizes the Authorization of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, a multi-media federal program to persuade America's youth not to use drugs, expired at the end of FY2002. The 108th Congress is expected to consider the reauthorization of the campaign as part of the reauthorization of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The campaign's effectiveness has been questioned, and the program has engendered its share of controversy.
Date: April 10, 2003
Creator: Eddy, Mark
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Preparation for Senate Committee Markup

Description: This report outlines a Markup, which is the legislative stage during which a committee chooses the language of a measure it expects to report to the Senate. Markups are carefully planned in advance to insure that the requirements of Senate rules have been met, political decisions have been made, and administrative issues have been addressed.
Date: April 22, 2003
Creator: Carr, Thomas P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance Law: The Supreme Court Upholds Key Provisions of BCRA in McConnell v. FEC

Description: This report discusses the Supreme Court's decision in McConnell v. FEC. The court upheld against facial constitutional challenges key portions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), (P.L. 107-155, commonly known as the McCain-Feingold or Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform law).
Date: December 19, 2003
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Description: This report provides background on the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance program (LIHEAP), originally established in 1981 by Title XXVI of P.L. 97-35 and reauthorized several times. It is a block grant program under which the federal government gives states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and commonwealths, and Indian tribal organizations (referred to as grantees) annual grants to operate multi-component home energy assistance programs for needy households.
Date: January 27, 2003
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Support Enforcement: New Reforms and Potential Issues

Description: P.L. 104-193 (the 1996 welfare reform legislation) made major changes to the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program. Some of the changes include requiring states to increase the percentage of fathers identified, establishing an integrated, automated network linking all states to information about the location and assets of parents, and requiring states to implement more enforcement techniques to obtain collections from debtor parents. Additional legislative changes were made in 1997, 1998, and… more
Date: February 21, 2003
Creator: Solomon-Fears, Carmen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Access to Government Information In the United States

Description: The Constitution of the United States makes no specific allowance for any one of the co-equal branches to have access to information held by the others and contains no provision expressly establishing a procedure for, or a right of, public access to government information. Nonetheless, Congress has legislated various public access laws. These include two records access statutes — the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act — and two meetings access statutes — the Federal Advisory Com… more
Date: January 23, 2003
Creator: Relyea, Harold C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Limiting Court Jurisdiction Over Federal Constitutional Issues: “Court-Stripping”

Description: This report discusses various proposals that have been made to limit the jurisdiction of federal courts to hear cases regarding particular areas of constitutional law such as busing, abortion, prayer in school, and most recently, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Proposals of this type are often referred to as “court-stripping” legislation.
Date: December 11, 2003
Creator: Thomas, Kenneth R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Bills, Resolutions, Nominations, and Treaties: Origins, Deadlines, Requirements, and Uses

Description: In each chamber of Congress, four forms of legislative measure be introduced and acted on: bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and resolutions of one house. This report contains information on and a table of all forms of business on which Congress acts .
Date: August 4, 2003
Creator: Beth, Richard S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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