Congressional Research Service Reports - 77 Matching Results

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Digital Searches and Seizures: Overview of Proposed Amendments to Rule 41 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure

Description: This report provides a brief overview of the proposed amendment to Rule 41. First, it provides a background on the origin of, and rationale underlying, the proposed amendment and a description of the rule as currently written. Second, it reviews the potential changes made by the proposed amendment and will survey various concerns commenters have raised with the proposal. Lastly, this report addresses efforts being made in Congress to alter, delay, or stop this rule change.
Date: June 29, 2016
Creator: Thompson, Richard M., II
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) FY2017 Appropriations: Overview

Description: This report discusses the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill, which includes funding for the Department of the Treasury (Title I), the Executive Office of the President (EOP, Title II), the judiciary (Title III), the District of Columbia (Title IV), and more than two dozen independent agencies (Title V). The bill typically funds mandatory retirement accounts in Title VI, which also contains additional general provisions applying to the funding provided agencies… more
Date: June 20, 2016
Creator: Webel, Baird
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The First Responder Network (FirstNet) and Next-Generation Communications for Public Safety: Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), which is a federal agency that includes private sector and other non-federal representation on its board of directors. FirstNet was created by Congress with provisions in Title VI (Spectrum Act) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-96) to ensure the deployment and operation of a nationwide, broadband network for public safety communications.
Date: June 28, 2016
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Trade-Based Money Laundering: Overview and Policy Issues

Description: This report discusses the scope of the trade-based money laundering (TBML) problem and analyzes selected U.S. government policy responses to address TBML. It includes a listing of hearings in the 114th Congress that addressed TBML.
Date: June 22, 2016
Creator: Miller, Rena S.; Rosen, Liana W. & Jackson, James K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Hypervelocity Projectile: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides background information and issues for Congress on three potential new weapons that could improve the ability of Navy surface ships to defend themselves against enemy missiles--solid state lasers (SSLs), the electromagnetic railgun (EMRG), and the hypervelocity projectile (HVP).
Date: June 17, 2016
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Overview of Air Quality Issues in Natural Gas Systems

Description: This report provides information on the natural gas industry and the types and sources of air pollutants in the sector. It examines the role of the federal government in regulating these emissions, including the provisions in the Clean Air Act and Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regulatory activities. It concludes with a brief discussion of the outstanding issues.
Date: June 1, 2016
Creator: Lattanzio, Richard K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Goldwater-Nichols at 30: Defense Reform and Issues for Congress

Description: This report is designed to assist Congress as it evaluates the many different defense reform proposals suggested by the variety of stakeholders and institutions within the U.S. national security community. It includes an outline of the strategic context for defense reform, both in the Goldwater-Nichols era and today. It then builds a framework to understand the DOD management challenge, and situates some of the most-discussed reform proposals within that framework. It concludes with some questi… more
Date: June 2, 2016
Creator: McInnis, Kathleen J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Slow Growth in the Current U.S. Economic Expansion

Description: This report summarizes the U.S. economic growth record and reviews a number of explanations forwarded by economists for why this expansion has featured slow growth. Some explanations focus on short-term factors that would not be expected to persist, while others focus on long-term changes to the economy. The report does not discuss labor market conditions, except in the context of how they contribute to the pace of GDP growth.
Date: June 24, 2016
Creator: Keightley, Mark P.; Labonte, Marc & Stupak, Jeffrey M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Expulsion, Censure, Reprimand, and Fine: Legislative Discipline in the House of Representatives

Description: This report discusses the processes of expulsion and censure in the House of Representatives. The House is expressly authorized within the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 5, clause 2) to discipline or "punish" its own Members. It is designed as a measure to protect the institutional integrity of the House of Representatives, its proceedings and its reputation.
Date: June 27, 2016
Creator: Maskell, Jack
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides background information and issues for Congress on China's naval modernization effort and its implications for U.S. Navy capabilities. The issue for Congress is how the U.S. Navy should respond to China's military modernization effort, particularly its naval modernization effort.
Date: June 17, 2016
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Spending and Tax Expenditures: Distinctions and Major Programs

Description: This report identifies the largest spending and tax expenditures across eight major categories of federal activity: (1) defense and international affairs; (2) general science, space and technology, natural resources and the environment, and agriculture; (3) commerce and housing, community and regional development, and transportation; (4) education, training, employment, and social services; (5) health, including Medicare; (6) income security; (7) Social Security and veterans' benefits; and (8) … more
Date: June 17, 2016
Creator: Driessen, Grant A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Does Foreign Aid Work? Efforts to Evaluate U.S. Foreign Assistance

Description: This report discusses the need to evaluate U.S. bilateral assistance (not on the work of multilateral aid entities, such as the World Bank) and methods of evaluation. It provides an overview of the history of evaluation, challenges, and how findings may be applied to policy. Additionally, it discusses current evaluation policies and issues for Congress.
Date: June 23, 2016
Creator: Lawson, Marian L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Inspectors General: History, Characteristics, and Recent Congressional Actions

Description: This report provides background on the statutory creation of federal offices of inspector general (OIGs) and provides historical context for contemporary debates about the strengths and limitations of the offices. Federal inspectors general (IGs) are authorized to combat waste, fraud, and abuse within their affiliated federal entities; to execute their missions, OIGs conduct and publish audits and investigations--among other duties.
Date: June 2, 2016
Creator: Ginsberg, Wendy & Greene, Michael
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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A Shift in the International Security Environment: Potential Implications for Defense--Issues for Congress

Description: This report briefly describes the shift in the international security environment that some observers believe has occurred, and identifies some defense-related issues for Congress that could arise from it. Congress's decisions on these issues could have significant implications for U.S. defense capabilities and funding requirements.
Date: June 8, 2016
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Display of the Confederate Flag at Federal Cemeteries in the United States

Description: This report discusses policies regarding the display of the Confederate Flag at national cemeteries. If a state observes a Confederate Memorial Day, National Park Service (NPS) cemeteries in the state may permit a sponsoring group to decorate the graves of Confederate veterans with small Confederate flags. Additionally, such flags may also be displayed on the nationally observed Memorial Day, to accompany the U.S. flag on the graves of Confederate veterans.
Date: June 23, 2016
Creator: Comay, Laura B. & Szymendera, Scott D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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A Retrospective of House Rules Changes Since the 110th Congress

Description: This report analyzes rules changes made on only the opening day of the 110th, 111th, 112th, 113th, and 114th Congresses, with references in footnotes to other selected legislation and actions during these Congresses that also affected House rules. One of the majority party's prerogatives is writing House rules and using its numbers to effect the chamber's rules on the day a new House convenes. Because all Members of the House stand for election every two years, the Members-elect constitute a n… more
Date: June 7, 2016
Creator: Koempel, Michael L. & Schneider, Judy
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Stafford Act Assistance and Acts of Terrorism

Description: This report provides a brief overview of Stafford Act declarations under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and the types of assistance they could authorize in response to terrorist incidents. This report also provides examples of Stafford Act declarations that have been issued for previous terrorist attacks.
Date: June 21, 2016
Creator: Lindsay, Bruce R. & McCarthy, Francis X.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Islamic State's Acolytes and the Challenges They Pose to U.S. Law Enforcement

Description: This report provides an analysis of publicly available information on homegrown violent jihadist activity in the United States since September 11, 2001, which suggests that the Islamic State (IS) and its acolytes may pose broad challenges to domestic law enforcement and homeland security efforts.
Date: June 13, 2016
Creator: Bjelopera, Jerome P.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mileage-Based Road User Charges

Description: This report examines mileage-based user charges as an possible source of highway funding. Federal highway and public transportation programs are funded mainly by taxes on motor fuel that flow into the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The tax rates, set on a per-gallon basis, have not been raised since 1993, and motor fuel tax receipts have been insufficient to support the transportation programs authorized by Congress since FY2008.
Date: June 22, 2016
Creator: Kirk, Robert S. & Levinson, Marc
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer

Description: This report provides a brief overview of three major topics related to nanotechnology: federal research and development (R&D) investments under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI); U.S. international competitiveness in nanotechnology; and environmental, health, and safety (EHS) concerns. It also discusses nanomanufacturing and public attitudes toward, and understanding of, nanotechnology.
Date: June 28, 2016
Creator: Sargent, John F., Jr.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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What's RICO?

Description: This legal sidebar briefly discusses the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) portion of Title 18 of the United States Code. In spite of its name and origin, RICO is not limited to "mobsters" or members of "organized crime" as those terms are popularly understood. Rather, it covers those activities which Congress felt characterized the conduct of organized crime, no matter who actually engages in them.
Date: June 20, 2016
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Membership of the 114th Congress: A Profile

Description: This report presents a profile of the membership of the 114th Congress (2015-2016). Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age, occupation, education, length of congressional service, religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, foreign births, and military service.
Date: June 10, 2016
Creator: Manning, Jennifer E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Future of Internet Governance: Should the United States Relinquish Its Authority over ICANN?

Description: This report discusses legislation relevant to the future of Internet governance that has been introduced in the 113th and 114th Congresses which would prevent, delay, or impose conditions or additional scrutiny on the transition of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA's) stewardship role and procedural authority over key Internet domain name functions to the global Internet multi-stakeholder community.
Date: June 10, 2016
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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