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Tracking Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Basic Sources

Description: This report introduces researchers to selected basic sources that are useful in obtaining background information or specific facts on the status of federal legislative or regulatory initiatives. Printed, telephone, online, and media sources are included, as well as pertinent directories, such as those of organizations that track areas of interest.
Date: January 13, 2005
Creator: Davis, Carol D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Medical Records Privacy: Questions and Answers on the HIPAA Rule

Description: This report discuses the HIPAA privacy rule, which gives patients the right of access to their medical information and prohibits health plans and health care providers from using or disclosing individually identifiable health information without a patient’s written authorization except as expressly permitted or required by the rule.
Date: February 4, 2005
Creator: Redhead, C. S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Trade, Trade Barriers, and Trade Deficits: Implications for U.S. Economic Welfare

Description: This report provides an overview of the economics of international trade that may be helpful for consideration of many recurring international economic policy issues. It is intended as a general explanation of mainstream economic principles that may be considered in gauging the economic significance of trade issues as well as the trade-offs inherent in many policy choices. This report provides a brief interview of the economic arguments for free trade, common arguments for trade barriers, and t… more
Date: June 8, 2005
Creator: Elwell, Craig K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mad Cow Disease: Agricultural Issues for Congress

Description: This report discuses lumber imports from Canada and provides a concise historical account of the dispute, summarizes the subsidy and injury evidence, and discusses the current issues and events.
Date: June 28, 2005
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or "Mad Cow Disease") in North America: A Chronology of Selected Events

Description: This report provides a chronology of selected events leading up to and following the discoveries of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or “mad cow disease”) in North America. These are primarily regulatory, legal, and congressional developments that are frequently referenced in the ongoing policy debate. The chronology does not contain entries for the introduction of the many BSE-related bills introduced into this or previous Congresses, except for those in recent years where committee or f… more
Date: November 8, 2005
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or "Mad Cow Disease"): Current and Proposed Safeguards

Description: This report presents an overview of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or “mad cow disease”) in the United States. Shortly after the first case of BSE was announced, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other officials announced measures to improve existing safeguards against the introduction and spread of BSE. This report discusses trade restrictions, the live-stock “feed ban”, as well as the BSE surveillance and testing in cattle.
Date: October 13, 2005
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S. & Lister, Sarah A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Broadband Internet Access: Background and Issues

Description: From a public policy perspective, the goals are to ensure that broadband deployment is timely, that industry competes fairly, and that service is provided to all sectors and geographical locations of American society. The federal government -- through Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) -- is seeking to ensure fair competition among the players so that broadband will be available and affordable in a timely manner to all Americans who want it. While the FCC's position is not… more
Date: April 4, 2005
Creator: Gilroy, Angele A. & Kruger, Lennard G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Plan Colombia: A Progress Report

Description: No Description Available.
Date: April 12, 2005
Creator: Veillette, Connie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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California's San Joaquin Valley: A Region in Transition

Description: This report analyzes the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) counties and statistically documents the basis of current socioeconomic conditions. The report further explores the extent to which the SJV shares similarities with and differs from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) area and a 68- county Central Appalachian subregion which contains some of the most economically distressed counties in Appalachia. The report also examines the role of federal expenditures in the cities and counties of the S… more
Date: December 12, 2005
Creator: Cowan, Tadlock
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Regulation of Broadcast Indecency: Background and Legal Analysis

Description: Report on the regulations on broadcasting, including discussions of the Golden Globe and Super Bowl Halftime incidents, current regulations, Congressional response, and more.
Date: December 2, 2005
Creator: Welborn, Angie A. & Cohen, Henry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mad Cow Disease: Agricultural Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides information on how most of the countries banned United States beef after a single report of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a Canadian-born cow after the December 2003 U.S. report. This explains all the steps USDA has taken to reduce the positive cases of BSE by starting special programs. Updated May 25, 2005.
Date: May 25, 2005
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Economic Effects of Raising National Saving

Description: Raising the share of income we save is a frequent aim of public policy. That may be particularly apparent in debates about the size of the federal budget deficit, but concerns about the low household saving rate have also prompted policymakers to consider ways to encourage individuals to save more. How much individuals save will directly affect their future economic well-being, but from a macroeconomic perspective, the source of saving — be it households, business, or government — makes no diff… more
Date: October 4, 2005
Creator: Cashell, Brian W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Topics in Aging: Income and Poverty Among Older Americans in 2004

Description: Older Americans are an economically diverse group. In 2004, the median income of individuals age 65 and over was $15,199, but incomes varied widely around this average. Twenty-eight percent of Americans 65 or older had incomes of less than $10,000 in 2004, while 10% had incomes of $50,000 or more. As Congress considers reforms to Social Security and the laws governing pensions and retirement savings plans, it may be helpful to consider how changes to one income source would affect each of the o… more
Date: November 7, 2005
Creator: Whitman, Debra B. & Purcell, Patrick J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mad Cow Disease: Agricultural Issues for Congress

Description: Most countries banned U.S. beef after the December 2003 U.S. report of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease) in a Canadian-born cow. Several of these markets have partially reopened. However, Japan and Korea, which together had purchased 57% (by value) of all U.S. beef exports in 2003, remain closed.
Date: June 14, 2005
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Hydropower Licenses and Alternative Licensing Conditions in H.R. 6, 109th Congress

Description: In the next ten years, nearly 20% of the nation’s nonfederal hydropower projects will require new federal licenses to continue operating. New licenses will establish facilities’ operating parameters for the next 30 to 50 years. These operating parameters will affect the total quantity and timing of electricity production. They will also affect flood control, irrigation, municipal and industrial water supplies, recreation, fish and wildlife habitat, and transportation.
Date: May 12, 2005
Creator: Powers, Kyna
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act of 2005 (CURIA)

Description: On May 12, 2005, regulatory modernization legislation for credit unions was introduced as H.R. 2317. The three titles of the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (CURIA) would provide regulatory changes requested by credit union industry advocates. These changes would provide supervisory flexibility to the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the federal regulator for the credit union industry, enhance the ability of credit unions to provide loans to their members, and ease credit u… more
Date: July 29, 2005
Creator: Smale, Pauline
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Limiting Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's Portfolio Size

Description: Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary John W. Snow recently have urged the 109th Congress to pass legislation to limit the size of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s portfolio to reduce the risk to the federal government and the economy. In 2003, these government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) combined retained portfolio had risen to $1.6 trillion from $136 billion in 1990.
Date: October 21, 2005
Creator: Weiss, Eric
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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