Congressional Research Service Reports - 23,951 Matching Results
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- Agriculture: A List of Websites
- This list provides a sampling of the rapidly proliferating number of agricultural resources available on the Internet. It is not intended to be exhaustive. It is divided into 27 categories.
- The Consumer Price Index: Recent Improvements and Prospective Changes
- As part of a long running effort to make the Consumer Price Index (CPI) a better measure of price change, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor has made a number of changes in recent years which have affected actual measures of inflation and hence both federal outlays and receipts. This report summarizes those changes, presents estimates of their effect on measured inflation, and expands what other changes are expected for the CPI.
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI): Fraud Reduction Provisions in the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-169)
- No Description Available.
- Budget FY2000: A Chronology with Internet Access
- This report consists of a chronology with internet access with budget FY 2000.
- User Fees: Applicable Budget Enforcement Procedures
- No Description Available.
- Electricity Restructuring and Tax-Exempt Bonds: Economic Analysis of Legislative Proposals
- Tax-exempt bonds reduce public power's interest cost on debt and enable it to lower the price of electricity. This subsidy makes taxpayers better off only if the private market fails to provide the correct amount of electricity. In general, the private market can provide the correct amount of electricity; in those cases when it can not, the tax-exempt bond subsidy is unlikely to correct the problem. Tax-exempt bond legislation has been consistent with this perspective that an interest subsidy for electricity production does not correct a market failure; its focus has been to prohibit the spread of subsidized public power beyond its traditional service areas.
- Appropriations for FY2000: Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies
- 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 the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies.
- Child Labor and the International Labor Organization (ILO)
- This short report discusses the International Labor Organization (ILO) against the exploitation of children in the labor market and the rapidly growing ILO technical program that is geared toward reducing child labor around the world.
- S. 625, The Bankruptcy Reform Act, in the Senate: Selected Amendments
- From Summary: "This report surveys selected amendments to the bill which were passed prior to adjournment. On November 4, 1999, before adjournment of the first session of the 106th Congress, S. 625, 106th Cong., 1st Sess. (1999), the Bankruptcy Reform Act, was brought to the floor of the Senate for consideration. More than 300 germane and nongermane amendments were offered."
- Appropriations for FY2004: Energy and Water Development
- This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It summarizes the status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity, and is updated as events warrant.
- Air Quality and Electricity: Enforcing New source Review
- This report discusses seven law suits that the Justice Department filed against electric utilities in the Midwest and South in violation of the New Source Review (NSR) and Clean Air Act (CAA). The EPA is attempting to use the NSR and CAA to reduce emissions, even thought they believe that some sources are evading NSR requirements.
- Congress and the Fusion Energy Sciences Program: A Historical Analysis
- The U.S. government has been funding research into controlled thermonuclear fusion since 1951. Since 1957, when the program was declassified, a public record is available in the form of appropriations and authorization reports presenting congressional decisions about fusion research. This report analyzes that record in order to assess how the program may fare in the future. The program recently underwent a major restructuring at the direction of Congress, and is currently establishing plans about how to proceed toward the goal of developing a practical fusion powerplant. These plans are likely to be the subject of close congressional scrutiny during review of the FY2001 budget request from the Department of Energy
- Food and Drug Administration: Selected Funding and Policy Issues for FY2000
- This report discusses funding and policy issues regarding the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is responsible for ensuring the safety of foods, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, and other products.
- Debt Reduction: Initiatives for the Most Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
- This report offers a broad overview of the debate concerning debt reduction for poor developing countries. It profiles the scope and structure of debt and reviews previous debt relief strategies and the current HIPC Initiative. It analyzes and compares competing alternatives endorsed by the Administration, congressional activists, NGOs, and other G-7 governments. Several key issues, such as costs, impact, and conditionality, of pending proposals are also assessed.
- Ecuador’s Brady Bond Default: Background and Implications
- No Description Available.
- Federal Grazing Regulations: Public Lands Council v. Babbitt
- This report discusses new regulations on livestock grazing on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management became effective August 21, 1995. Many aspects of the new regulations were challenged in Public Lands Council v. Babbitt. A federal district court upheld many of the regulations, but struck down four of them and enjoined their implementation. At the appellate level, only the new regulation allowing conservation use to the exclusion of livestock grazing for the full term of a permit was held invalid. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case and argument has been set for March 1, 2000.
- Going to Conference in the Senate
- This report discusses the steps that the Senate must take, and one more step that it may take, as it arranges to send a bill to conference committee.
- Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms: Economic, Program, and Policy Issues
- While many policymakers believe that free trade provides benefits to all trading partners, reducing barriers to trade forces firms and industries to adjust to stiffer global competition. For some, the adjustment process can be difficult and Congress, in recognizing this problem, has authorized programs to assist trade-impacted firms, industries, and workers.
- Medicare Beneficiary Access to Care: The Effects of New Prospective Payment Systems on Outpatient Hospital Care, Home Health Care, and Skilled Nursing Facility Care
- This report discusses the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA 97), which required that prospective payment systems replace retrospective cost-based reimbursement systems for Medicare beneficiaries receiving care in hospital outpatient departments, from home health care agencies, and in skilled nursing facilities.
- NAFTA: Estimated U.S. Job “Gains” and “Losses” by State Over 5½ Years
- No Description Available.
- Senate Committees: Categories and Rules for Committee Assignments
- No Description Available.
- Senate Committees: Categories and Rules for Committee Assignments
- No Description Available.
- EPA's Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program: Highlights of Proposed Changes and Impacts on Agriculture
- In August 1999 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed regulations to clarify and strengthen the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Section 303(d) requires states to identify surface waters for which wastewater discharge limits are not stringent enough to achieve water quality standards and to allocate further required pollutant reductions among sources in order to attain those standards. This report discusses the major changes in EPA's proposals, compared with existing regulatory program requirements, and potential impacts on agriculture and forestry sources, which have been controversial.
- Global Climate Change: The Role for Energy Efficiency
- This report reviews the role of energy efficiency in federal policies to curb CO2 emissions. In particular, it discusses targets for CO2 reductions, projected energy efficiency impacts, strategies for measuring impacts, and legislative proposals that would affect support for energy efficiency programs.
- Appropriations for FY2000: Department of Transportation and Related Agencies
- 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 Subcommittees on Transportation of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.
- Campaign Finance: Constitutional and Legal Issues of Soft Money
- Soft money is a major issue in the campaign finance reform debate because these generally unregulated funds are perceived as resulting from a loophole in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Generally, soft money is funds that are raised and spent according to applicable state laws, which FECA prohibits from being spent directly on federal elections, but that may have an indirect influence on federal elections. This Issue Brief discusses three major types of soft money: political party soft money, corporate and labor union soft money, and soft money used for issue advocacy communications.
- State Department and Related Agencies FY2000 Appropriations
- No Description Available.
- 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.
- Madrid Protocol Implementation Act: Overview of H.R. 769
- No Description Available.
- Trade Legislation in the 106th Congress: An Overview
- No Description Available.
- Export Controls: Analysis of Economic Costs
- No Description Available.
- House Committee Organization and Process: A Brief Overview
- This report provides a brief overview o the six features of the committee system in the House: organization, hearings, markup, reporting, oversight, and publications.
- Military Health Care: The Issue of “Promised” Benefits
- In the debate over the Department of Defense policy on military health care benefits, many military personnel and retirees say that they were promised “free health care for life” when they entered the armed forces. What benefits are available and who is eligible to receive these benefits are matters determined by Congress. This report discusses the issue of “promises” of lifetime health care benefits made to military retirees.
- The Level of Taxes in the United States, 1941-1999
- No Description Available.
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology: An Overview
- No Description Available.
- The Administration's Lands Legacy Initiative in the FY2001 Budget Proposal - A Fact Sheet
- The fact sheet compares the FY2001 funding request for the Administration's Lands Legacy Initiative to the FY2000 request and the enacted FY2000 appropriation.
- Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Policies
- This report discusses the Bicycle and Pedestrian Legislation, Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act Of 1991 (ISTEA), Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century,and Funding under ISTEA and TEA21.
- Clean Water Action Plan: Budgetary Initiatives
- In October 1997, Vice President Gore directed federal agencies to develop a Clean Water Initiative to improve and strengthen water pollution control efforts. The multiagency plan was released on Feb. 19, 1998, and identifies nearly 100 key actions. Most are existing activities, now labeled as part of the Initiative. The President's FY1999 budget requests $2.2 billion for five departments and agencies to fund implementation of the Plan. While Congress is considering appropriations bills to fund the Plan, federal agencies are beginning or accelerating activities to carry out the actions under the Plan.
- Methane Hydrates: Energy Prospect or Natural Hazard?
- No Description Available.
- World Heritage Convention and U.S. National Parks
- From Summary: This paper describes the operation of the UNESCO Convention and will be updated periodically.
- Mandatory Student Fees and the First Amendment: Background and Analysis of Issues in Southworth v. Grebe
- No Description Available.
- Tracking Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Basic Sources
- This report introduces selected basic sources that are useful in obtaining background information or specific facts on the status of federal legislative or regulatory initiatives. It includes telephone, online, and media sources are included, as well as pertinent directories, such as those of organizations that track areas of interest. Annotations describing each source's contents and organization are included so that researchers can select those that most closely fit their needs. Internet addresses usually provide information about the items, rather than access to them.
- Tracking Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Basic Sources
- This report introduces selected basic sources that are useful in obtaining background information or specific facts on the status of federal legislative or regulatory initiatives. It includes telephone, online, and media sources are included, as well as pertinent directories, such as those of organizations that track areas of interest. Annotations describing each source's contents and organization are included so that researchers can select those that most closely fit their needs. Internet addresses usually provide information about the items, rather than access to them.
- Internet: An Overview of Key Technology Policy Issues Affecting Its Use and Growth
- The growth of the Internet may be affected by issues now being debated by Congress. This report summarizes several key technology policy issues.
- Water Quality Initiatives and Agriculture
- RL30437: Water Quality Initiatives and Agriculture Claudia Copeland Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy Resources, Science, and Industry Division February 16, 2000 ABSTRACT Agriculture, which has been a relatively minor component of national water quality policies and programs, especially regulatory policies, is currently involved with several recent Administration water quality initiatives. This report provides background on three ongoing initiatives with potential to affect agriculture: the Clean Water Action Plan, the Unified National Animal Feeding Operations Strategy, and implementation of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) provisions of the Clean Water Act. The report includes a glossary of terms and a chronology of the key deadlines in the initiatives and identifies other CRS reports for additional information. It will be updated as developments warrant. Summary Congress most recently enacted amendments to the nation's water quality law, the Clean Water Act (CWA), in 1987. But national water quality policy has evolved in the intervening years, as a result of implementation of the 1987 amendments and related Administration initiatives intended to fulfill the requirements and meet the goals and objectives of the Act. Agriculture, which has been a relatively minor component of national water quality policies and programs, especially regulatory policies, is now involved in several aspects of three recent initiatives.
- Court Rulings During 1998 on Constitutional Takings Claims Against the United States
- This report addresses court rulings during 1998 on Constitutional takings claims against the United States.
- Wetlands Regulation and the Law of Property Rights "Takings"
- When a wetland owner is denied permission to develop, or offered a permit with very burdensome conditions, the property's value may drop substantially. Wetlands programs also may impose costly development delays. For these reasons, federal and state wetlands regulation continues to generate "takings" lawsuits by land owners. Such suits allege that by narrowing or eliminating the economic uses to which a wetland can be put, the government has "taken" (permanently or temporarily) the wetland under the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause.
- 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.
- Military Base Closures: Where Do We Stand?
- No Description Available.
- Veterans' Issues in the 106th Congress
- No Description Available.