Congressional Research Service Reports - 51 Matching Results
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- Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate: Marine Mammal Issues
- After global warming became a concern in the mid-1950s, researchers proposed measuring deep ocean temperatures to reveal any significant trends in core ocean warming. Acoustic thermometry can detect changes in ocean temperature by receiving low-frequency sounds transmitted across an ocean basin because the speed of sound is proportional to water temperature. Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate, or ATOC, is an international program involving 11 institutions in seven nations. It is designed as a 30-month "proof-of-concept" project to provide data on possible global climate change, with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Defense. A debate has arisen over ATOC's impact on marine mammals versus the benefits of better global warming information derived from ATOC. This report dicusses the ATOC program and related concerns.
- State Techniques to Blunt the Governor's Item-Veto Power
- The Line Item Veto Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-130) authorizes the President to cancel discretionary budget authority, new entitlements, and limited tax benefits. This authority became available on January 1, 1997; will Congress now resort to a variety of techniques and strategies to circumscribe the President's power? Legislators and legislative committees at the state level have used various tactics to counteract, blunt, or neutralize the governor's item-veto power.
- Environmental Protection Agency: FY1998 Budget
- EPA appropriations are included in the annual VA-HUD-Independent Agencies Appropriation Bill. Two major issues were whether Superfund cleanups should be accelerated in the absence of statutory reforms and whether the requested state assistance funds are adequate. Because the House and Senate were in agreement on not granting the requested 50% increase in Superfund and in passing increased state funds, the chief conference issue focused on the roughly $225 million difference between the House and Senate versions.
- Manufacturing, Technology, and Competitiveness
- This report discusses increases in the productivity of American firms to maintain competitiveness in the international marketplace.
- Special Rules in the House of Representatives
- The House Rules Committee enables the House to debate and vote on major legislation that is not privileged for floor consideration and that cannot pass by unanimous consent or under suspension of the rules. The Committee reports resolutions, known as rules or special rules, to make individual bills in order for floor action and to affect the procedures for debating, amending, and voting on the bills, usually in Committee of the Whole.
- One-Minute Speeches: Current House Practices
- No Description Available.
- Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992: Effects on Bringing New Drugs to Market
- No Description Available.
- Bosnia: Civil Implementation of the Peace Agreement
- Since Dayton Peace Accords, the civilian side of peace implementation has been challenged by the scope of the tasks, and by the lack of commitment demonstrated by the Bosnian parties to various aspects of the peace agreement. In addition, issues such as International Framework for peace implementation, formation of governmental institution, election, civil police task force and displaced persons are discussed in this report.
- Oil Imports: An Overview and Update of Economic and Security Effects
- No Description Available.
- Energy Efficiency: A New National Outlook?
- In 1992, the Nation spent $522 billion for energy ($1996 constant), while energy efficiency and conservation measures were saving the economy about $275 billion per year. Energy is conserved when technical means are employed to improve efficiency or to reduce energy waste. In 1996 constant dollars, conservation research and development (R&D) funding declined from $698 million in FY1979 to $198 million in FY1988 and then climbed to $486 million in FY1994, 31% below the FY1979 peak.
- The Commerce Clause as a Limit on Congressional Power to Protect the Environment
- Several times during the 1990s the Supreme Court struck down federal enactments as exceeding Congress' power under the Commerce Clause or Tenth Amendment. This report briefly reviews three of these decisions -- United States v. Lopez, New York v. United States, and Printz v. United States. Its focus, however, is how these cases have played out in subsequent lower-court challenges to federal environmental laws. The report shows that Supreme Court rulings in favor of these states notwithstanding, such laws have generally, though not always, been found within Commerce Clause and Tenth Amendment limits.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture: Appropriations for FY1997
- The FY1997 agriculture appropriations act (P.L. 104-180) was signed into law on August 6, 1996. P.L. 104-180 provides $52.84 billion in FY1997 budget authority for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and related agencies, an amount which is $5.60 billion below the Administration's FY1997 request and $10.25 billion below the FY1996 enacted level. Much of the reduction in funding from FY1996 levels is attributable to an $8.9 billion reduction in the reimbursement for net realized losses of the Commodity Credit Corporation, which is the funding mechanism for USDA's commodity programs. The act also requires recipients of the new farm bill-authorized market transition payments to use eligible land for farm production, or place it in a conserving use.
- Japan and NAFTA
- Japan, as an issue, has entered the debate over U.S. approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in several ways. The Clinton Administration has argued that Americans should support NAFTA because if it fails to pass Congress, Japan will rush to negotiate a similar arrangement with Mexico. Proponents of NAFTA also have argued that since Japan opposes NAFTA (because of its presumed protectionism and the benefits it provides to North American businesses), it must be "good for America." Opponents of NAFTA argue that the agreement would provide opportunities for Japanese manufacturers to invest in Mexico and export unfettered to the American market. Also, they assert that NAFTA would be like previous trade agreements, particularly with Japan, that have ended up hurting the U.S. economy. In either case, the effects of NAFTA on Japan would likely be small.
- Japan's Response to U.S. Trade Pressures: End of an Era?
- Over the past 30 years, U.S. trade negotiators have pressured Japan to open its market to foreign goods and services. These outside pressures, known as gaiatsu in Japan, have been based partly on economically coercive bargaining and partly on invitation. The coercive element, which has entailed threats of retaliatory market constriction should a satisfactory resolution of the market opening dispute not be forthcoming, generally has been a necessary ingredient in obtaining concessions from Japan. The invitational component, which has included requests for U.S. pressures from Japanese interests who favor reforms, generally has facilitated Japanese concessions and made the gaiatsu process unique.
- The U.S. Population: A Factsheet
- The Bureau of the Census estimated the U.S. resident population at nearly 262.0 million as of March 1, 1995, up 5.3% from 248.7 million in 1990, 15.6% from 226.5 million in 1980, and 73.1% from 151.3 million in 1950. The population has grown, on average, by slightly under 1.1% a year since 1990—faster than the world's developed countries overall (0.6%), but slower than the developing countries (1.9%,). Current projections indicate a possible U.S. population of 392.0 million by 2050—over 250% growth in a century and nearly a 50% increase from 1995.
- Immigration: Reasons for Growth, 1981-1995
- Legal immigration to the United States has increased sharply in recent years, and shows no signs of slowing down. The question of why immigration has grown so rapidly and the implications of this growth for the future are expected to be issues in the 105th Congress. Primarily because of legislation enacted in 1980 and 1986, the numerical restrictions of the basic family and employment-based immigration preference system became less significant. The growth in legal immigration during the past 15 years came in three groups admitted outside these numerical limits -- legalized aliens, refugees, and numerically exempt immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. For example, about 2.8 million illegal or undocumented aliens were "legalized" between 1981 and 1995.
- Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 105th Congress
- Immigration legislation enacted and considered in the 105th Congress can be divided into three categories: (1) legislation prompted by the major immigration and welfare legislation enacted in the 104th Congress; (2) legislation in response to the expiration dates of existing provisions; and (3) legislation which addressed emerging new issues -- issues that the 104th Congress did not address, or issues that arose since then.
- The Exchange-Rate System: Return to Bretton Woods?
- This report focuses on the exchange-rate system set up at Bretton Woods, its breakdown in the 1970s, the current system of managed floating and, finally, proposals to return part or all the way to a more fixed-rate system.
- Mining Law Reform: The Impact of a Royalty
- No Description Available.
- The Rural Abandoned Mine Program - A Fact Sheet
- The Rural Abandoned Mine Program (RAMP) was designed to restore agricultural land that has been disturbed by strip mining. The program is carried out by the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service at a current cost of about $10 million per year--a modest share of total Federal abandoned surface mining reclamation efforts that currently exceed $110 million per year, and that has been higher in the past. Critics contend that the RAMP program is inefficient and duplicates other Federal and State reclamation activities. Proponents contend that the effort has been underfunded and thus unable to fulfill its goals and to realize potential efficiencies. With the efforts of the 104th Congress to cut Federal expenditures and programs, the RAMP program appears highly vulnerable to being cut or eliminated.
- Wetland Mitigation Banking: Status and Prospects
- Wetland protection is controversial because the federal government regulates activities on private lands and because the natural values at some of these regulated sites are being debated. This controversy pits property owners and development interests against environmentalists and others who seek to protect the remaining wetlands. Mitigation banking, which allows a person to degrade a wetland at one site if a wetland at another site is improved, has been identified as a potential answer to this shrill and seemingly intractable debate.
- Utah Wilderness Legislation in the 104th Congress
- Legislation to designate wilderness areas on Federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management has been introduced in several recent Congresses. Bills in the 104th Congress include H.R. 1500, America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 1995, and H.R. 1745 and S. 884, Utah Public Lands Management Act of 1995 (identical as introduced). H.R. 1500 would designate 5.7 million acres of wilderness, and reserve Federal water rights. H.R. 1745/S. 884 would designate 1.8 million acres of wilderness, release areas not designated as wilderness, deny Federal reserved water rights, and provide management directions, some of which are exceptions to the standards established in the Wilderness Act.
- Mining in National Parks and Wilderness Areas: Policy, Rules, Activity
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: The Relationship of Taxes and Benefits for Past, Present, and Future Retirees
- In recent years considerable public attention has focused on Social Security's treatment of younger versus older workers. Analysts sometimes have addressed this issue by examining the value Social Security provides each generation of workers in relation to the Social Security taxes they pay. These are referred to as "moneys worth" analyses.
- Tax Code Termination Act: A Fact Sheet
- No Description Available.
- Spinning the Web: The History and Infrastructure of the Internet
- The Internet is an international, cooperative computer "network of networks" that links many types of users, such as governments, schools, libraries, corporations, hospitals, individuals, and others. No single organization owns, manages, or controls the Internet. However, the Internet is not free. The major costs of running the network are shared by its primary users: universities, national laboratories, high-tech corporations, and governments.
- Veterans Issues in the 105th Congress
- "This report focuses on policies, programs, and benefits of interest to veterans" (p. i).
- Turkey: Situation Update
- This report briefly discusses recent political, economic, and security issues in Turkey, especially relating to Turkey's relationship with Greece, the European Union, and the United States.
- The Kurds in Iraq : Status, Protection, and Prospects
- No Description Available.
- WIRETAPPING, TAPE RECORDERS & LEGAL ETHICS: QUESTIONS POSED BY ATTORNEYINVOLVEMENT IN SECRETLY RECORDING CONVERSATION
- No Description Available.
- Presidential Disability: An Overview
- No Description Available.
- Constitution of the United States; Recent Writings: Bibliography-in-Brief
- This bibliography contains recent publications discussing the history, development, and application of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
- Proposals to Eliminate the U .S . Department of Commerce : An Issue Overview
- No Description Available.
- Welfare Reform: Work Trigger Time Limits, Exemptions and Sanctions under TANF
- No Description Available.
- Credit Union Membership Act Implementation: Legal Issues
- This report examines the background and issues of the litigation regarding Regulations implementing the Credit Union Membership Act of 1998 that is being challenged in court as impermissively expansive.
- Tax Code Termination Act: A Fact Sheet
- This report discusses the Tax Code Termination Act, which would “sunset” (repeal) the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 on December 31, 2002 and would require that any new federal tax system that is adopted be approved not later than July 4, 2002.
- Aviation Taxes and the Airport and Airway Trust Fund
- This report discusses the reauthorization of excise tax revenues for the airport and airway trust fund, which has been a contentious issue for the last two years. Most of the concern during this period was about future funding needs for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The issue, somewhat unexpectedly, became an element of the tax plans embedded in House and Senate FY1998 budget reconciliation proposals. The House proposed a major structural change in how aviation taxes would be imposed.
- Bosnia: Civil Implementation of the Peace Agreement
- No Description Available.
- Regional Trade Agreements: Implications for U.S. Trade Policy
- No Description Available.
- Citations to Provisions in 1997 Reconciliation Acts Canceled Under the Line Item Veto Act
- This report provides citations to provisions in 1997 reconciliation acts canceled under the line item Veto Act.
- Wetland Mitigation Banking: Status and Prospects
- No Description Available.
- MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS’ ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND INFORMATION POLICIES: IMPACT OF THE PELOSI AMENDMENT
- No Description Available.
- Turkey: Situation Update
- No Description Available.
- Holocaust Survivor and Heir Lawsuits to Recover Swiss Bank Deposits
- This report provides an overview of the holocaust survivor and heir lawsuits to recover Swiss bank deposits.
- Defense Budget: Role of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council
- This report reviews the basic issues and past legislation concerning the joint requirements oversight council as a context for understanding ongoing policy debates.
- Veterans Issues in the 105th Congress
- No Description Available.
- Point & Click: Internet Searching Techniques
- No Description Available.
- Sulfur in Gasoline and the 106th Congress
- No Description Available.
- Lying to Congress: The False Statements Accountability Act of 1996
- No Description Available.
- Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992: Effects On Bringing New Drugs To Market
- This report goes into detail about the Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992. It relays the benefits of the act, as well as discuss the flaw in regards to other forms of drug development.