Congressional Research Service Reports - 151 Matching Results
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- Engrossment, Enrollment, and Presentation of Legislation
- Engrossment, enrollment, and presentation of legislation are technical components of the legislative process. They attest to the accuracy of bill texts, confirm passage by the House and Senate, and confirm delivery of the bills to the President for his review.
- Appropriations Supplemental for FY1999: Emergency Funding in P.L. 105-277 for Agriculture, Embassy Security, Y2K Problems, Defense, and Other Issues
- This report describes emergency supplemental initiatives for the year 1999. The initiatives include: agriculture, embassy security and counter-terrorism, year 2000 computer conversion, U.S. troops in Bosnia, defense readiness, and other topics.
- The Congressional Budget Process Timetable
- The Congressional Budget Act (CBA) of 1974 (P.L. 93-344), as amended, establishes the congressional budget process, which coordinates the legislative activities on the budget resolution, appropriations bills, reconciliation legislation, revenue measures, and other budgetary legislation. Section 300 of this act provides a timetable (see Table 1) so that Congress may complete its work on the budget by the start of the fiscal year on October 1.
- Debt-Limit Legislation in the Congressional Budget Process
- The gross federal debt consists of the debt held by the public plus the debt held by government accounts. Almost all of the gross federal debt is subject to a public debt limit, as set forth in statute (31 U.S.C. 3101).This report considers legislation needed to change the public debt limit.
- Messages, Petitions, Communications, and Memorials to Congress
- No Description Available.
- House Rules Affecting Committees
- House Rules, especially Rules X-XIII, govern the authority and operations of its committees and subcommittees. This report identifies and summarizes these and other rules and directives affecting committee powers, authority, activities, and operations.
- Amendments Between the Houses
- This report briefly summarizes the process of amendments between the House of Representatives and the Senate, which occurs if the House and Senate approve differing versions of a measure. An exchange of amendments between the houses resolves these differences.
- Floor Consideration of Conference Reports in the House
- This report explains the steps in the legislative process of the conference reports.
- Federal Holidays: Evolution and Application
- This report discusses the history of each federal holiday and explains its rationale where a public record exists.
- Proposed Budget Process Reforms in the Senate: A Brief Analysis of Senate Resolutions 4, 5, 6, and 8
- No Description Available.
- Bills and Resolutions: Examples of How Each Kind is Used
- This report provides background information regarding the bill and joint resolution, which must be passed by both houses in identical form, then presented to the President for his approval or disapproval.
- House Rules Governing Committee Markup Procedures
- This report provides general guidance to committees for conducting meetings to mark up legislation.
- Instructing House Conferees
- This report describes the process of reaching the final agreement between house and senate over the final version of a bill that the two houses have passes in different forms.
- Bills, Resolutions, Nominations, and Treaties: Origins, Deadlines, Requirements, and Uses
- In addition to bill and/or joint resolution this report presents two other acts of congress; 1) nominations and 2) treaties. It also discusses the characteristics and uses of six different kind of business before Congress, such as designation, origin, deadline for action, requirements for approval, and use.
- Committee System Rules Changes in the House, 106th Congress
- This fact sheet details changes in the committee system contained in H. Res. 5, the rules of the House for the 106th Congress
- House Committee Jurisdiction and Referral: Rules and Practice
- This report briefly discusses the factors that determine House committee jurisdiction and more specifically House Rule X.
- House Committees: Assignment Process?
- This report briefly discusses House Committee assignments, examining the process and assessing its effects.
- Sponsorship and Cosponsorship of House Bills
- No Description Available.
- House Committee Reports: Required Contents
- This report discusses house rules and statutes that detail several substantive requirements for items to be included in reports accompanying bills reported from committees. It provides a table that lists each rule with the requirement and applications.
- House Committees: Categories and Rules for Committee Assignments
- This report briefly discusses the rules and procedure regarding House committee assignments, and outlines the various categories of committees.
- Restructuring DOE and Its Laboratories: Issues in the 105th Congress
- Interest in restructuring (including eliminating) the Department of Energy (DOE) and its laboratories has increased since the end of the Cold War, and especially since the beginning of the 104th Congress.
- House Committee Markup: Amendment Procedure
- This report briefly discusses committee markups in the House of Representatives. The essential purpose of a committee markup is to determine whether a measure pending before a committee should be altered, or amended, in any substantive way. Of course, committees do not actually amend measures; instead a committee votes on which amendments it wishes to recommend to the House.
- House Committee Markup: Preparation
- Markups provide Members on a committee an opportunity to change parts of a bill prior to its consideration by the full House. A number of administrative, procedural, and substantive steps must be undertaken in preparation for a markup, and other steps could or should be undertaken. Generally, the markup should be strategically planned to minimize controversy, provide Members with political dividends, and position the committee for future action. This report is intended as a guide for various tasks that could be accomplished by committee staff in order to prepare a smooth committee markup.
- House Committee Markup: Reporting
- At the end of the amendment process, the chair normally entertains a motion to report a measure favorably to the House. This report addresses the procedural options committees have regarding the form of reporting, such as what happens to amendments adopted in markup, as well as other considerations at the time of reporting.
- Solid Waste Issues in the 105th Congress
- The 105th Congress adjourned without passing any legislation affecting solid waste management. Changes to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) cleanup program and bills to exempt from hazardous waste management requirements certain wastes generated by remediation of old waste sites had been considered possible until late in the second session. The House passed changes to the LUST program (H.R. 688) on April 23, 1997. A comparable Senate bill (S. 555) was ordered reported, amended, September 23, 1998; but it never came to the floor.
- Clean Water Act Issues in the 106th Congress
- In the 106th Congress, no comprehensive activity on reauthorizing the Clean Water Act occurred, although a number of individual clean water bills were enacted. Other issues have been debated recently, such as reforming the law to provide regulatory relief for industry, states and cities, and individual landowners. The debate over many of these issues highlights differing views of the Act and its implementation by some who seek to strengthen existing requirements and others who believe that costs and benefits should be more carefully weighed before additional control programs are mandated.
- Environmental Protection Legislation in the 105th Congress
- The 105th Congress enacted tax provisions relating to Superfund brownfields sites, transportation- and defense-related environmental provisions, a border smog bill, EPA funding as well as reinstating the tax that supports the Leaking Underground Storage Trust Fund. There were various actions on regulatory reform, the budget resolution, appropriations, highway- and defense-related environmental provisions, Superfund reform bills and underground storage tanks. It is too early to tell if these will be issues for the 106th Congress.
- The New Vacancies Act: Congress Acts to Protect the Senate's Confirmation Prerogative
- No Description Available.
- Clean Water Act Reauthorization in the 105th Congress
- In the 105th Congress, legislation to reauthorize the Clean Water Act was not been introduced, and no major House or Senate committee activity occurred. EPA and states' water quality inventories have identified wet weather flows (including agricultural runoff, urban storm water, and sewer overflows) as the largest remaining threat to water quality. EPA's clean water programs are now focusing to a large extent on solving wet weather pollution problems. These issues may be addressed legislatively, as well. At issue is whether and how to detail wet weather programs in the Act versus allowing flexibility that recognizes the site-specific nature of intermittent wet weather pollution.
- Holocaust-Related Legislation of the 105th Congress
- This report lists, describes, and analyzes a selection of Holocaust-related bills and resolutions of the 105th Congress.
- Congressional Budget Act Points of Order
- Title III of the Congressional Budget Act (CBA) of 1974 (P.L. 93-344), as amended, establishes the points of order that are used to enforce congressional budget procedures and substantive provisions of a budget resolution. These points of order prohibit certain congressional actions and consideration of certain legislation.
- Fast-Track Trade Negotiating Authority: A Comparison of 105th Congress Legislative Proposals
- This report provides a side-by-side comparison of H.R. 2621 and S. 2400, as reported, 105th Congress bills that would provide the President with trade negotiating authority and accord certain resulting agreements and implementing bills expedited -- or "fast-track" -- legislative consideration.
- The House Amendment Tree
- This report discusses the House amendment tree, a chart that depicts the maximum number and types of amendments.
- Censure of the President by the Congress
- Exploring a possible compromise between an impeachment and taking no congressional action, certain Members of Congress and congressional commentators have suggested a congressional “censure” of the President to express the Congress’ disapproval of the President’s conduct which has been the subject of an ongoing independent counsel investigation. This report provides and overview and discussion of the legal basis and congressional precedents regarding a congressional “censure” of the President.
- The Senate's Byrd Rule Against Extraneous Matter in Reconciliation Measures
- Reconciliation is an expedited process under the 1974 Congressional Budget Act used to change mainly entitlement and revenue laws in order to implement budget resolution policies.
- Constitution of the United States; Recent Writings: Bibliography-in-Brief
- This bibliography contains recent publications discussing the history, development, and application of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
- Congressional Overrides of Presidential Vetoes
- The President’s veto is effective not only in preventing the passage of legislation undesirable to the President, but also as a threat, sometimes forcing Congress to modify legislation before it is presented to the President. However, as a veto threat is carried out, Congress is faced with choices: letting the veto stand, the difficult task of overriding the veto, meeting the President’s objections and sending a new bill forward, or resubmitting the same provisions under a new bill number.
- The Presidential Veto and Congressional Procedure
- No Description Available.
- The False Claims Act and Health Care Fraud: An Overview
- The Federal False Claims Act provides for the judicial imposition of civil monetary penalties and treble damages for the knowing submission of false claims to the United States Government. This report contains information on the background of the Federal False Claims Act, current False Claims Act provisions, and health care fraud and the False Claims Act.
- Fast-Track Trade Negotiating Authority: A Comparison of 105th Congress Legislative Proposals
- This report provides a side-by-side comparison of the reported versions of H.R. 2621 and S. 1269, 105 Congress bills that would provide the President with trade negotiating authority and accord certain resulting agreements and implementing bills expedited -- or “fast-track” -- legislative consideration.
- Trade Agreements: Renewing the Negotiating and Fast-Track Implementing Authority
- Legislation authorizing the negotiation and, where required, fast-track implementation of trade agreements expired in early 1994. Action in the 104th Congress to renew the authority, prompted in part by the near-term prospect of the negotiation of a free-trade agreement with Chile, which might later be followed by other agreements, reached an impasse in late 1995 because of a disagreement between Congress and the Administration as to the inclusion of labor and environmental issues in agreements approved by fast-track procedure.
- Religious Persecution Abroad: Congressional Concerns and Actions
- The 105 Congress has sought to raise the priority of combating religious persecution worldwide among U.S. foreign policy objectives. The difficulty has been in agreeing on legislation that would effectively deal with religious persecution without adversely affecting other important U.S. interests. On May 14, 1998, the House passed H.R. 2431 (the Freedom from Religious Persecution Act of 1998) establishing in the State Department a Director of the Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring who is to issue an annual report assessing religious persecution abroad. The legislation places sanctions on countries and groups that carry out or permit such activities. The Senate may soon consider S. 1868 establishing an office in the Department of State to monitor religious persecution headed by an Ambassador at Large and requiring the President to take some action from a broad list of options against countries found engaging in or tolerating religious persecution.
- Transfer of Missile and Satellite Technology to China: A Summary of H.Res. 463 Authorizing a House Select Committee
- Report on trade between the U.S. and China of missile and satellite technology, including funding, how classified information is handled, jurisdictional concerns, and more.
- Congressional Liaison Offices of Selected Federal Agencies
- This is a directory of approximately 150 government agencies designed to assist congressional staff in contacting agencies of the legislative branch, cabinet departments and other executive branch agencies and boards and commissions. This directory contains names of congressional liaison officers, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and occasionally e-mail addresses. It is regularly updated each spring.
- China: Pending Legislation in the 105th Congress
- The 105 Congress has been active on issues involving China. This report, which will be updated as developments occur, tracks pending human rights legislation, including bills concerning: prison conditions and prison labor exports; coercive abortion practices; China’s policies toward religion; and more general human rights issues.
- China: Pending Legislation in the 105th Congress
- This report tracks pending human rights legislation, including bills concerning: prison conditions and prison labor exports (H.R. 2195, H.R. 2358); coercive abortion practices (H.R. 2570); China’s policies toward religion (H.R. 967, H.R. 2431); and more general human rights issues (H.R. 2095). Other bills concern Taiwan — in particular, Taiwan’s entry into the World Trade Organization (H.Res. 190) and the U.S. role in helping Taiwan with a theater missile defense system (H.R. 2386). Also, legislation is pending on China’s missile proliferation activities (H.Res. 188), Radio Free Asia broadcasting to China (H.R. 2232), China’s participation in multilateral institutions (H.R. 1712, H.R. 2605), and the activities of China’s military and intelligence services (H.R. 2647, H.R. 2190).
- Child Nutrition Issues in the 105th Congress
- This report covers proposed and enacted legislative initiatives to change child nutrition programs (including the WIC program) during 1997 and 1998.
- Kosovo and U.S. Policy
- No Description Available.
- Economic Sanctions to Achieve U.S. Foreign Policy Goals: Discussion and Guide to Current Law
- This report provides background on foreign policy sanctions and the events that might necessitate their use, criteria to consider when determining if sanctions are appropriate, approaches that might be effective, and aspects of the use of sanctions that are sometimes overlooked or not considered fully. The report also provides an uncomplicated map of where sanctions policies and options currently may be found in U.S. law.
- Fax-on-Demand Services Available from Federal Government Agencies
- This report provides information about the Fax-on-Demand Services Available from Federal Government Agencies where numerous associations and organizations are finding fax publishing an efficient way to distribute information to the public or targeted audience.