Congressional Research Service Reports - 20 Matching Results
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- START II Debate in the Russian Duma: Issues and Prospects
- The Russian Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament approved ratification of the START II Treaty on April 14, 2000, after 7 years of debate and dissension. (The United States Senate approved ratification of the treaty in January 1996.) This report describes key concerns raised by Members of the Duma during their discussions of START II. These include concerns with treaty provisions, such as its ban on multiple warhead ICBMs and its warhead "downloading" provisions, and concerns with Russia's ability to maintain and finance its strategic nuclear forces in the future.
- The Airborne Laser Anti-Missile Program
- This report summarizes the Air Force's program to build an airborne laser (ABL) to destroy ballistic missiles in their boost phase. Furthermore, the report considers the history of the impact small nations can have with warheads and of the Gulf War. The Air Force suggests that the ABL will be able to destroy missiles from tens to hundreds of Kilometers away.
- Executive Order 12919: Emergency Powers of the President
- Executive Order 12919 concerns industrial preparedness during times of war and national emergency. This brief report uses simple language to describe what Executive Order 12919 does. It is intended to clarify common misunderstandings about the Order’s purpose and scope.
- Critical Infrastructures: Background and Early Implementation of PDD-63
- The nation's health, wealth, and security rely on the supply and distribution of certain goods and services. The array of physical assets, processes and organizations across which these goods and services move are called critical infrastructures (e.g. electricity, the power plants that generate it, and the electric grid upon which it is distributed or financial capital, the institutions that manage it, and the record- keeping and communications that move it from one institution to another).
- The Horn of Africa: War and Humanitarian Crisis
- An estimated 16-18 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the Horn of Africa region. Ethiopia is by far the most affected country with an estimated 10 million people at risk. More than one million people have been displaced due to the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Relief and United Nations officials have not yet called the situation in Ethiopia a famine. Moreover, an estimated 3.3 million people in Kenya, 1.2 million people in Somalia, 1.3 million in Eritrea, and 150,000 in Djibouti are in need of emergency food assistance. In Sudan, an estimated 1.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
- Army Aviation: The RAH-66 Comanche Helicopter Issue
- Although it has been a high priority Army program, a number of factors have complicated the RAH-66 Comanche program. Since its inception, the program has been restructured several times–postponing the initial operational capability (IOC) and increasing overall program costs. Presently, there is debate within the Army regarding whether the program should be reduced significantly to make funds available to pursue other modernization priorities.
- Military Airlift: C-17 Aircraft Program
- No Description Available.
- Defense Cleanup and Environmental Programs: Authorization and Appropriations for FY2001
- The Department of Defense operates six environmental programs: cleanup of past contamination at military facilities, acceleration of cleanup at military bases designated for closure, compliance with environmental laws and regulations that apply to ongoing military operations, pollution prevention, natural resource conservation, and environmental technology. In addition to these activities, the Department of Energy is responsible for managing defense nuclear waste and remediating contaminated sites. This report discusses the federal laws that established these programs, describes their scope and purpose, provides a history of appropriations, indicates the President’s budget request for FY2001, examines authorization and appropriations legislation for FY2001, and discusses other relevant legislation considered in the 106th Congress.
- U.S. Army School of the Americas: Background and Congressional Concerns
- No Description Available.
- Appropriations for FY2001: 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 Military Construction Appropriations.
- Appropriations for FY2001: 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 Military Construction Appropriations.
- NATO Burdensharing and Kosovo: A Preliminary Report
- No Description Available.
- Chechnya Conflict: Recent Developments
- This report examines military airstrikes and ground operations that Russia launched against its Chechnya region in late September 1999. It provides background information on earlier Chechen guerrilla attacks on the neighboring Dagestan region of Russia and on the unsolved terrorist bombing of several apartment buildings in Russia. Current problems of governance in Chechnya are discussed, as well as Chechnya’s response to the Russian offensive. The concerns of the United States and other Western governments about the conflict are examined. A map is included. This report supersedes CRS Report RS20358, Chechnya Conflict.
- NATO Applicant States: A Status Report
- On March 12, 1999, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary formally became members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; nine additional central and eastern European nations have applied to join the alliance: Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. There arc several general guidelines for evaluating nations seeking NATO membership; however, these guidelines are not a checklist that, when completed, would automatically guarantee membership. NATO members decide on the basis of consensus whether the admission of a state will serve the interests of the Alliance and promote European security and stability. This report, which was compiled from memoranda prepared in January 1999 at the request of Senator William Roth, contains brief assessments of the NATO applicants' qualifications, compared to those of the three new members, The report was updated in February 2000. The report will be updated as necessary.
- China: Suspected Acquisition of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Secrets
- This CRS Report discusses China’s suspected acquisition of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets, including that on the W88, the newest U.S. nuclear warhead, since the late 1970s. This current controversy, began in early 1999, raises policy issues about whether U.S. security is further threatened by the PRC’s suspected use of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets in its development of nuclear forces, as well as whether the Administration’s response to the security problems is effective or mishandled and whether it fairly used or abused its investigative and prosecuting authority.
- Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
- Preventing the acquisition of nuclear weapons is a longstanding goal of U.S. national security policy. Five countries are recognized as having legal status as nuclear weapons states: United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, and France. All five signed the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which recognizes only these five that tested nuclear weapons before 1968 as de jure nuclear weapons states. Three more: India, Israel, and Pakistan, have significant nuclear capabilities, but are not members of the NPT. India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons in May 1998.
- Peacekeeping: Issues of U.S. Military Involvement
- No Description Available.
- National Missile Defense: Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- Kosovo: U.S. and Allied Military Operations
- No Description Available.
- Military Technicians: The Issue of Mandatory Retirement for Non-Dual-Status Technicians
- This report describes the mandatory retirement provisions for certain “non-dual-status” military technicians contained in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (P.L. 106-65), discusses the stated rationale behind the policy, and quantifies the impact it will likely have on individual technicians.