Congressional Research Service Reports - 908 Matching Results
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- U.S. Motor Vehicle Industry: Federal Financial Assistance and Restructuring
- This report looks at TARP and federal government assistance to General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford Motors. In particular, the history of these transactions and how they were affecte by Congress, Senate, President Bush, and President Obama.
- Transportation Security: Issues for the 111th Congress
- This report discusses how best to construct and finance a system of deterrence, protection, and response that effectively reduces the possibility and consequences of another terrorist attack without unduly interfering with travel, commerce, and civil liberties.
- Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization: An Overview of Selected Provisions in Proposed Legislation Considered by the 110th Congress
- The report is intended to provide a brief summary and analysis of major legislative provisions in bills related to reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration and related aviation programs that were considered during the 110th Congress.
- Overview of the Air Carrier Access Act
- TThis report briefly discusses the Air Carrier Access Act's (ACAA) statutory provisions, accompanying regulations, relevant judicial opinions, legislation in the 110th Congress, and possible considerations for the 111th Congress.
- Surface Transportation Program Reauthorization Issues for the 111th Congress
- No Description Available.
- Ocean Piracy and Its Impact on Insurance
- This report examines the issue of piracy off the coast of East Africa in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The report looks into the impact of such piracy on the insurance industry and explains the available options for Congress to mitigate piracy's negative effects on the industry.
- Federal Loans to the Auto Industry Under the Energy Independence and Security Act
- This report examines various programs considered by Congress, including grants and loans, to help automakers with the increased cost of compliance with higher fuel economy standards.
- DOD Leases of Foreign-Built Ships: Background for Congress
- The Department of Defense (DOD) in recent years has leased some foreign-built cargo ships for total periods, including options and renewals, of almost 10 years - a length of time that some observers argue effectively circumvents a legal requirement that U.S. military ships be built in U.S. shipyards. These observers, particularly the American Shipbuilding Association (ASA), have proposed reducing the current five-year legal limit on ship leases to two years for foreign-built ships. DOD has opposed the idea, arguing that its ship leases are the most cost-effective way to meet its needs for the ships in question.
- Military Airlift: C-17 Program Background
- The C-17 Globemaster III is a long-range cargo aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force since 1993. To date, Congress has funded 190 C-17s for the Air Force. The C-17 program remains a key issue as Congress evaluates the needs of DOD's strategic airlift force. This paper provides program background for the C-17. For more detailed analysis of current issues regarding the C-17 acquisition, see CRS Report RL34264, Strategic Airlift Modernization: Analysis of C-5 Modernization and C-17 Acquisition Issues.
- Natural Gas Passenger Vehicles: Availability, Cost, and Performance
- Higher gasoline prices and concerns over U.S. oil dependence have raised interest in natural gas vehicles (NGVs). Use of NGVs for personal transportation has focused on compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative to gasoline. Consumer interest has grown, both for new NGVs as well as for conversions of existing personal vehicles to run on CNG. This report finds that the market for natural gas vehicles will likely remain limited unless the differential between natural gas and gasoline prices remains high in order to offset the higher purchase price for an NGV. Conversions of existing vehicles will also continue to be restricted unless the Clean Air Act (CAA) is amended or if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) makes changes to its enforcement of the CAA.
- DOD Leases of Foreign-Built Ships: Background for Congress
- The Department of Defense (DOD) in recent years has leased some foreign-built cargo ships for total periods, including options and renewals, of almost 10 years - a length of time that some observers argue effectively circumvents a legal requirement that U.S. military ships be built in U.S. shipyards. These observers, particularly the American Shipbuilding Association (ASA), have proposed reducing the current five-year legal limit on ship leases to two years for foreign-built ships. DOD has opposed the idea, arguing that its ship leases are the most cost-effective way to meet its needs for the ships in question.
- Navy Nuclear-Powered Surface Ships: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
- This report discusses the possibility of increasing the number of Navy surface ships powered by nuclear energy, including the Navy's planned CG(X) cruiser. The overall report has a specific emphasis on the planned CG(X) cruiser, and how the implementation of this cruiser may be delayed by current budget proposals.
- Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report discusses how Congress should respond to the Navy's proposed force structure and shipbuilding plans. Decisions that Congress makes on this issue could significantly affect future U.S. military capabilities, Navy funding requirements, and the Navy shipbuilding industrial base.
- Federal Railroad Safety Programs: Selected Issues in Proposed Reauthorization Legislation
- This report describes the major issues in the debate over reauthorization of Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in the 110th Congress. It also describes the major provisions of H.R. 2095 as passed by the House and as passed by the Senate.
- Highway Bridges: Conditions and the Federal/State Role
- This report examines the federal and state roles in the maintenance, inspection, reconstruction, and replacement of the nation's highway bridge infrastructure, as well as the emergency response and reconstruction role of the Department of Transportation.
- Surface Transportation Reauthorization: Selected Highway and Transit Issues in Brief
- No Description Available.
- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet, which performs a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions.
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2009 Appropriations
- This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity. The report lists the key CRS staff relevant to the issues covered and related CRS products.
- Highway Bridges: Conditions and the Federal/State Role
- This report examines the federal and state roles in the maintenance, inspection, reconstruction, and replacement of the nation's highway bridge infrastructure, as well as the emergency response and reconstruction role of the Department of Transportation (DOT). The report first describes what is known about the condition of the nation's bridges and whether the problem of structural deficiency is improving or worsening. It then briefly describes the programmatic and budgetary context, including federal efforts to reduce the number of deficient bridges, and examines highway bridge spending. The report discusses issues Congress is facing face in light of the I-35W bridge collapse and the emergence of questions about the appropriateness and effectiveness of related federal infrastructure policies, programs, and spending. Finally, the report describes a number of legislative initiatives that have been proposed.
- Highway Bridges: Conditions and the Federal/State Role
- This report examines the federal and state roles in the maintenance, inspection, reconstruction, and replacement of the nation's highway bridge infrastructure, as well as the emergency response and reconstruction role of the Department of Transportation.
- Public-Private Partnerships in Highway and Transit Infrastructure Provision
- This report begins with a brief discussion of the surface transportation system and its financing needs as background to the debate on public-private partnerships (PPPs). That is followed by sections describing the different types of PPPs, with details of a few prominent examples, and the development of federal legislation with respect to PPPs. The report then discusses the main issues of contention with the construction and longterm leasing of highways by the private sector, particularly as they relate to the funding, planning, and operation of the surface transportation system, before providing some policy options Congress may wish to consider.
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2009 Appropriations
- This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity. The report lists the key CRS staff relevant to the issues covered and related CRS products.
- Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and presents potential issues for Congress concerning the Navy's ship force-structure goals and shipbuilding plans. Decisions that Congress makes on Navy shipbuilding programs can substantially affect Navy capabilities and funding requirements, and the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base.
- The Department of Housing and Urban Development: FY2009 Appropriations
- This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity. The report lists the key CRS staff relevant to the issues covered and related CRS products.
- DOD Leases of Foreign-Built Ships: Background for Congress
- The Department of Defense (DOD) in recent years has leased some foreign-built cargo ships for total periods, including options and renewals, of almost 10 years - a length of time that some observers argue effectively circumvents a legal requirement that U.S. military ships be built in U.S. shipyards. These observers, particularly the American Shipbuilding Association (ASA), have proposed reducing the current five-year legal limit on ship leases to two years for foreign-built ships. DOD has opposed the idea, arguing that its ship leases are the most cost-effective way to meet its needs for the ships in question.
- Navy Nuclear-Powered Surface Ships: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
- This report discusses the possibility of increasing the number of Navy surface ships powered by nuclear energy, including the Navy's planned CG(X) cruiser. The overall report has a specific emphasis on the planned CG(X) cruiser, and how the implementation of this cruiser may be delayed by current budget proposals.
- Border Security: Key Agencies and Their Missions
- After the massive reorganization of federal agencies precipitated by the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there are now four main federal agencies charged with securing the United States' borders: the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the United States Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). This report briefly describes each agency's role in securing our nation's borders.
- Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization: An Overview of Selected Provisions in Proposed Legislation
- This report is intended to provide a brief summary and analysis of major legislative provisions under consideration in the ongoing Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization process. The report is organized into six major program areas: aviation system finance; airport finance; FAA management and organizational issues; system capacity and safety; environmental issues; and miscellaneous programs and provisions. In several cases, provisions that appear in various unrelated sections of proposed legislation have been rearranged in this report in an effort to group and discuss related items in an issue-driven or programmatic context. Since this report is primarily written as a means of communicating key legislative provisions under consideration in the ongoing FAA reauthorization process, it does not go into detail regarding the specific policy issues behind these legislative proposals.
- Transportation Fuel Taxes: Impacts of a Repeal or Moratorium
- The report includes an introduction regarding the increase in crude oil and refined product prices and discusses the proposals to offset effects of higher crude oil prices and the impact on markets and prices.
- Airport Improvement Program: Issues for Congress
- This report discusses the Airport Improvement Program and its complement, the passenger facility charge (PFC), within the broader context of airport capital development finance. After a brief history of federal support for airport construction and improvement, the report describes AIP funding, its source of revenues, funding distribution, and the types of projects the program funds
- Public Transit Program Funding Issues in Surface Transportation Reauthorization
- No Description Available.
- Repairing and Reconstructing Disaster-Damaged Roads and Bridges: The Role of Federal-Aid Highway Assistance
- This report describes Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) assistance for the repair and reconstruction of disaster damaged highways and bridges or catastrophic failures (such as a bridge collapse). It begins with a brief discussion of the legislative origins of federal assistance and describes the ER program in its current form. The report then discusses eligibility issues and program operation. Finally, the report briefly describes the major findings of a recent Government Accountability Office report on ER.
- Public Transit Program Issues in Surface Transportation Reauthorization
- No Description Available.
- Amtrak: Budget and Reauthorization
- This report discuses Amtrak, which was created by Congress in 1970 to provide intercity passenger railroad service. Without a yearly federal grant to cover operating losses, Amtrak would not survive as presently configured. This issue brief discusses reform proposals from both the Administration and Amtrak in the 109th Congress.
- Military Airlift: The Joint Cargo Aircraft Program
- This report describes the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) is a joint acquisition program between the Army and Air Force designed to procure a commercial off-the-shelf aircraft, capable of meeting Army requirements for "direct support" to maneuver units and Air Force requirements for "common-user" intra-theater airlift. The C-27J Spartan has already won the JCA competition. Issues for Congress include requirements and service "roles and missions."
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2008 Appropriations
- This report discusses the current legislative status of the appropriations bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity.
- Surface Transportation Congestion: Policy and Issues
- No Description Available.
- Highway Bridges: Conditions and the Federal/State Role
- This report examines the federal and state roles in the maintenance, inspection, reconstruction, and replacement of the nation's highway bridge infrastructure, as well as the emergency response and reconstruction role of the Department of Transportation.
- Railroad Retirement Board: Retirement, Survivor, Disability, Unemployment, and Sickness Benefits
- This report describes the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) eligibility requirements, benefit types and compensation amounts, and program financing.
- Transportation Security: Issues for the 110th Congress
- No Description Available.
- The Department of Housing and Urban Development: FY2008 Appropriations
- This report tracks the FY2008 congressional appropriations process and provides a detailed discussion of the funding and issues related to the majority of accounts in HUD’s budget.
- Labor-Management Relations and the Federal Aviation Administration: Background and Current Legislative Issues
- This report discusses labor-management relations at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the 2006 implementation of a new labor contract on air traffic controllers. The FAA's ability to implement the new contract with its controllers was arguably supported by a mediation procedure prescribed by federal law. This report provides background information on the mediation procedure, discusses litigation involving the FAA and two labor organizations, and examines legislative attempts to amend the existing system.
- Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Employment: National and State Trends and Issues
- The 110th Congress is addressing many issues that could have a major impact on the U.S. motor vehicle manufacturing industry. This includes adopting new fuel economy standards for automobiles and light trucks (P.L. 110-140), plus consideration of legislation that may be used to help promote the manufacturing of future generations of fuel-efficient vehicles (S. 2191). This report looks at four sets of issues that have received attention in Congress or among the public more widely, with respect to employment in the U.S. motor manufacturing industry.
- Aviation Congestion and Delay: System-Wide and New York-Area Issues
- This report addresses System-Wide and New York-Area Issues of Aviation Congestion and Delay.
- Advanced Vehicle Technologies: Energy, Environment, and Development Issues
- This report discusses four major vehicle technologies — electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and fuel cell vehicles — as well as advanced component technologies. Each technology is discussed in terms of cost, fueling and maintenance infrastructure, and performance.
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2008 Appropriations
- This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity.
- Public Transit Program Funding Issues in Surface Transportation Reauthorization
- No Description Available.
- Rail Transportation of Coal to Power Plants: Reliability Issues
- No Description Available.
- Extraterritorial Application of American Criminal Law
- Crime is ordinarily proscribed, tried and punished according to the laws on the place where it occurs. American criminal law applies beyond the geographical confines of the United States, however, under some limited circumstances. The federal exceptions to the general rule usually involve crimes like drug trafficking, terrorism, or crimes committed aboard a ship or airplane. State prosecution for overseas misconduct is limited almost exclusively to multijurisdictional crimes, i.e., crimes where some elements of the offense are committed within the state and others are committed abroad. The Constitution, Congress, and state law define the circumstances under which American criminal law may be used against crimes occurring, in whole or in part, outside the United States
- Public Transit Program Issues in Surface Transportation Reauthorization
- No Description Available.