Congressional Research Service Reports - 42 Matching Results

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The Alternative Minimum Tax for Individuals: Legislative Activity in the 110th Congress

Description: The alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individuals was originally enacted to ensure that all taxpayers, especially high-income taxpayers, pay at least a minimum amount of federal taxes. However, the AMT is not indexed for inflation, and this factor, combined with recent reductions in the regular income tax, has greatly expanded the potential impact of the AMT. This report explains legislation for the FY2009 budget compromise, which includes an offset AMT patch.
Date: July 1, 2008
Creator: Maguire, Steven & Teefy, Jennifer
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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California Water Law and Related Legal Authority Affecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Description: This report provides a summary of California's dual system of water rights, which includes riparian and prior appropriation doctrines, and regulation of those rights by the state. In particular, the report discusses considerations used in the process of regulating water usage, including the public trust doctrine, the rule of beneficial use, and the no injury rule. The report discusses the California water projects, the projects' rights, and access to water by other users.
Date: July 1, 2008
Creator: Brougher, Cynthia
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Food Safety Provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill

Description: Food safety re-emerged as an issue in the 110th Congress following a series of widely publicized incidents -- including adulterated Chinese seafood and pet food ingredient imports, findings of bacteria-tainted spinach, meat, and poultry produced domestically, and several large food recalls. In 2008, Congress approved a new omnibus farm law that includes, among other provisions, several changes affecting U.S. food safety programs. This report outlines said provisions and explores the issue of fo… more
Date: July 1, 2008
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Enron Loophole

Description: The Commodity Exchange Act exempts certain energy derivatives contracts from regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). These exemptions are popularly known as the "Enron loophole." Soaring energy prices have raised concerns about whether the CFTC has enough information about these unregulated markets to monitor energy trading in a comprehensive manner. A number of other bills in the 110th Congress would impose new reporting or regulatory requirements on the bilateral energy… more
Date: July 7, 2008
Creator: Jickling, Mark
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Tort Reform Legislation: Constitutionality and Summaries of Selected Statutes

Description: This report considers the constitutionality of federal tort reform legislation, such as the products liability and medical malpractice reform proposals that have been introduced for the last several Congresses. Tort law at present is almost exclusively state law rather than federal law, although, as noted in the appendix to this report, Congress has enacted a number of tort reform statutes.
Date: July 7, 2008
Creator: Cohen, Henry & Burrows, Vanessa K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Merida Initiative: Proposed U.S. Anticrime and Counterdrug Assistance for Mexico and Central America

Description: In October 2007, the United States and Mexico announced the Mérida Initiative, a multi-year proposal for $1.4 billion in U.S. assistance to Mexico and Central America aimed at combating drug trafficking, gangs, and organized crime. This report outlines the various appropriations and other foreign aid measures outlined in the Mérida Initiative and what future actions regarding this ongoing effort will include.
Date: July 7, 2008
Creator: Cook, Colleen W. & Seelke, Clare Ribando
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Abortion Services and Military Medical Facilities

Description: The purpose of this report is to describe and discuss the provisions for providing abortion services to military personnel, their dependents, and other military health care beneficiaries at military medical facilities. The report describes the history of these provisions, with particular emphasis on legislative actions. Finally, this report discusses a number of proposals to modify the law, as well as other related legislative and administrative actions.
Date: July 10, 2008
Creator: Burrelli, David F.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Leaking Underground Storage Tanks: Prevention and Cleanup

Description: This report addresses a nationwide water pollution problem caused by leaking underground storage tanks (USTs). The report discusses key issue that state resources have not met the demands of administering the underground storage tanks (UST) leak prevention program.
Date: July 10, 2008
Creator: Tiemann, Mary
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Unemployment Compensation

Description: The Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program is a temporary unemployment insurance program that provides up to 13 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment compensation (UC) benefits. The program effectively begins July 6, 2008, and will terminate on March 28, 2009. No EUC benefit will be paid beyond the week ending July 4, 2009.
Date: July 11, 2008
Creator: Whittaker, Julie M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Liability for Flood Damage Related to Army Corps of Engineers Projects

Description: This report examines selected issues of the federal government's liability depending on the theory of the levee failures, and analyzes legal defenses available to the federal government. The report uses flood damage related to Hurricane Katrina as an illustration of these legal issues regarding federal liability, but the general principles in the analysis would apply to flood damage resulting from any such flood control project.
Date: July 11, 2008
Creator: Brougher, Cynthia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Animal Identification: Overview and Issues

Description: Livestock industry groups, animal health officials, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been working to establish a nationwide identification system capable of quickly tracking animals from birth to slaughter, to deal with animal diseases and/or to satisfy foreign market specifications. This report details information on what animal identification is and why is it used, animal health, commercial production and marketing, food safety, development of a national plan, and selected issues.
Date: July 14, 2008
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Lawsuits Against State Supporters of Terrorism: An Overview

Description: A 1996 amendment to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) enables American victims of international terrorist acts supported by certain States designated by the State Department as supporters of terrorism - Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and previously Iraq and Libya - to bring suit in U.S. courts to seek monetary damages. This report, which will be updated, provides an overview of these issues and relevant legislation (H.R. 5167).
Date: July 15, 2008
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Outer Continental Shelf: Debate Over Oil and Gas Leasing and Revenue Sharing

Description: Oil and gas leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) has been an important issue in the debate over energy security and domestic energy resources. The Department of the Interior (DOI) released a comprehensive inventory of OCS resources in February 2006 that estimated reserves of 8.5 billion barrels of oil and 29.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Congress has imposed moratoria of the OCS since 1982 through the annual Interior appropriation bills. Proponents of the moratoria contend that … more
Date: July 15, 2008
Creator: Humphries, Marc
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance Law and the Constitutionality of the "Millionaire's Amendment": An Analysis of Davis v. Federal Election Commission

Description: In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down a provision of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), also known as the McCain-Feingold law, establishing increased contribution limits for congressional candidates whose opponents significantly self-finance their campaigns. This provision is frequently referred to as the "Millionaire's Amendment." The Court found that the burden imposed on expenditures of personal funds is not justified by the compelling governmental interest of l… more
Date: July 17, 2008
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview

Description: This report provides an overview on the veto power vested in the President by Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution. The veto power has proven to be an effective tool for the chief executive in his dealings with Congress.
Date: July 18, 2008
Creator: Kosar, Kevin R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Implementation and New Challenges

Description: This report provides an overview of basic Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) provisions, briefly examines the history of TSCA implementation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and describes the legal, scientific, and technological developments that are being used to provide support to calls for TSCA reform.
Date: July 18, 2008
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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