Congressional Research Service Reports - 109 Matching Results

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Clean Air Act Issues in the 109th Congress

Description: This report discusses major decisions on clean air issues facing the courts and the executive branch in 2006. One focus will be EPA's recent proposal to strengthen air quality standards for fine particles. Other issues of continuing interest are EPA's 2005 decisions limiting interstate transport of air pollution and establishing cap-and-trade systems for emissions from coal fired power plants, and the agency's proposed changes to New Source Review.
Date: January 3, 2005
Creator: McCarthy, James E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Flag Protection: A Brief History and Summary of Recent Supreme Court Decisions and Proposed Constitutional Amendment

Description: This report gives a brief history of the flag protection issue, from the enactment of the Flag Protection Act in 1968 through current consideration of a constitutional amendment. A second part briefly summarizes the two decisions of the United States Supreme Court -- Texas v. Johnson and United States v. Eichman -- that struck down the state and federal flag protection statutes as applied in the context punishing expressive conduct.
Date: January 3, 2005
Creator: Luckey, John
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Copyright Law: Digital Rights Management Legislation in the 107th and 108th Congresses

Description: Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to the technology that copyright owners use to protect digital media. This report surveys several of the DRM bills that were introduced in the 107th and 108th Congresses. Generally, the bills are directed at two separate goals. One goal is to increase access to digitally-protected media for lawful purposes. The other attempts to thwart digital piracy and would do so by enhancing civil and criminal sanctions for digital (and traditional) copyright infringem… more
Date: January 5, 2005
Creator: Jeweler, Robin
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Analysis of Changes Made by P.L. 108-446

Description: This report discusses the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA — 20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq.), which is both a grants statute and a civil rights statute. It provides federal funding for the education of children with disabilities and requires, as a condition for the receipt of such funds, the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE). The statute also contains detailed due process provisions to ensure the provision of FAPE. Originally enacted in 1975, the act responded t… more
Date: January 5, 2005
Creator: Apling, Richard N. & Jones, Nancy Lee
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
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 7, 2005
Creator: Relyea, Harold C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
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 (5 U.S.C. 552) and the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) — and two meetings access statutes… more
Date: January 7, 2005
Creator: Relyea, Harold C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Central Asia’s Security: Issues and Implications for U.S. Interests

Description: This report discusses the Central Asian States that faces common security challenges from crime, corruption, terrorism, and faltering commitments to economic and democratic reforms. It also points out the internal political developments in several bordering or close-by states that may have a large impact on Central Asian Security.
Date: January 7, 2005
Creator: Nichol, Jim
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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War On Drugs: Legislation in the 108th Congress and Related Developments

Description: This report covers significant legislative and oversight activities of the 108th Congress that concern domestic law enforcement aspects of federal anti-drug policy. It also includes an overview of significant executive branch actions and other current developments of likely interest to the congressional audience that follows this issue.
Date: January 10, 2005
Creator: Eddy, Mark
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mining on Federal Lands

Description: This report discusses the General Mining Law of 1872, which is the law that grants free access to individuals and corporations to prospect for minerals in public domain lands, and allows them, upon making a discovery, to stake (or “locate”) a claim on that deposit.
Date: January 11, 2005
Creator: Humphries, Marc
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Caribbean Basin Interim Trade Program: CBI/NAFTA Parity

Description: To provide an idea of the nature and scope of changes in trade competitiveness between the CBERA countries and Mexico that have resulted from the implementation of the NAFTA, this report describes the relevant preferential or special tariff treatments, as applicable. The aspects of trade policy that apply generally to all (or most) U.S. trading partners (e.g., most-favored-nation/normal-trade-relations status, or production-sharing provisions) are not included in any detail.
Date: January 12, 2005
Creator: Pregelj, Vladimir N.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Welfare Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses child welfare services that seek to protect children who have been abused or neglected or who are at risk of maltreatment. It also point out child welfare financing and other child welfare issues.
Date: January 12, 2005
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Cargo Security

Description: The air cargo system is vulnerable to several security threats, including: potential plots to place explosives aboard aircraft; illegal shipments of hazardous materials; criminal activities such as smuggling and theft; and potential hijackings and sabotage by persons with access to aircraft. This report discusses legislative efforts currently underway to improve air cargo system security.
Date: January 13, 2005
Creator: Elias, Bartholomew
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Naming Post Offices Through Legislation

Description: This report describes how the practice of naming post offices through public law originated and how it is commonly done today. House and Senate practices for approving legislation and procedures followed by the U.S. Postal Service in organizing a dedication ceremony, are also described. An increasingly common form of legislation is the naming of post offices for former Members of Congress or other figures of local or national renown. About one in six public laws passed by the 108th Congress wa… more
Date: January 13, 2005
Creator: Stevens, Nye
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Issues in the 109th Congress

Description: This report discusses various issues in the 109th Congress pertaining to water infrastructure and water quality standards. Legislative initiatives to comprehensively amend the Clean Water Act (CWA) have stalled for some time as interested parties have debated whether and exactly how to change the law. Congress has recently focused legislative attention on narrow bills to extend or modify selected CWA programs, rather than taking up comprehensive proposals.
Date: January 24, 2005
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Recess Judges

Description: This report discusses the recess clause and takes a look at the history of recess appointments. Under Article II of the Constitution, the President is empowered "to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session." Presidents have used the recess appointment power on more than 300 occasions to place judges on the district, appellate, and U.S. Supreme Court level. This practice slowed after the 195… more
Date: February 2, 2005
Creator: Fisher, Louis
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Insurance Regulation: History, Background, and Recent Congressional Oversight

Description: This report provides the historical background for examining the arguments in this debate. It shows that state regulation of insurance is largely a historical artifact, that Congress has become increasingly involved in both regulating insurance and overseeing states' regulation of insurance, and that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has assumed a national role.
Date: February 11, 2005
Creator: Webel, Baird & Cobb, Carolyn
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Revising Insurance Regulation: Policy Considerations

Description: This report discusses federal regulation of insurers — whether optional or mandatory — in the broader context of national interests. To assist that discussion, it traces the evolving rationale for regulation generally, explains insurers' roles as risk managers and financial intermediaries, and reviews briefly important aspects of the major lines of insurance.
Date: February 11, 2005
Creator: Webel, Baird & Cobb, Carolyn
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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