Congressional Research Service Reports - 52 Matching Results

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527 Organizations: How the Differences in Tax and Election Laws Permit Certain Organizations to Engage in Issue Advocacy without Public Disclosure and Proposals for Change

Description: This report compares the tax and election laws relating to political organizations and political committees in an attempt to highlight the differences between them, and discusses some of the proposals in the 106th Congress to require additional reporting by organizations engaging in political activities. This report does not address the taxation of other tax-exempt organizations making political expenditures taxable under IRC § 527. The report will be updated as new proposals are reported.
Date: June 26, 2000
Creator: Morris, Marie B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Abandoned Mine Land Fund: Grants Distribution and Issues

Description: The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA, P.L. 95-87), enacted in 1977, established reclamation standards for all coal surface mining operations, and for the surface effects of underground mining. It also established the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program to promote the reclamation of sites mined and abandoned prior to the enactment of SMCRA. To finance reclamation of abandoned mine sites, the legislation established fees on coal production. These collections are divided into federa… more
Date: March 26, 1997
Creator: Bamberger, Robert L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Administration of Federal Student Loan Programs: Background and Provisions

Description: This report discusses the history and current status of federal student loan programs. Specifically, the report focuses on the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and the William D. Ford Direct Loan (DL). Moreover, the report highlights differences in the two programs such as that the FFEL is financed by private lenders, while the DL is financed by the federal government.
Date: January 26, 2006
Creator: Stoll, Adam
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Airport Finance: A Brief Overview

Description: This report considers how airports are managed and financed. Moreover, the report specifies how although airports are public enterprises, they are normally run as businesses.
Date: June 26, 1998
Creator: Kirk, Robert S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Airport Improvement Program: Issues for Congress

Description: 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
Date: February 26, 2007
Creator: Kirk, Robert S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Banking Policy Issues in the 115th Congress

Description: This report provides a broad overview of selected banking-related issues, including prudential regulation, consumer protection, "too big to fail" (TBTF) banks, community banking, regulatory agency structures and independence, and recent market and economic trends. It is not an exhaustive look at all bank policy issues, nor is it a detailed examination of any one issue. Rather, it provides concise background and analyses of certain prominent issues that have been the subject of recent discussion… more
Date: May 26, 2017
Creator: Perkins, David W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance: An Overview

Description: Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, long centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. Rising election costs had long fostered a sense in some quarters that spending was out of control, with too much time spent raising funds and elections "bought and sold." This report contains information on the evolution of the current system, campaign finance practices a… more
Date: January 26, 2007
Creator: Cantor, Joseph E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Canada's Financial System: An Overview

Description: This report discusses the relative stability of Canada's financial system in comparison to the financial systems of other nations around the globe that are suffering from the current financial crisis. This report presents an overview of Canada's financial system and its supervisory framework and draws some distinctions between that system and the current U.S. framework.
Date: June 26, 2009
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Capital Markets, Securities Offerings, and Related Policy Issues

Description: This report analyzes legislative proposals that would generally affect the terms and amounts of capital provided to companies by investors. It analyzes a number of current legislative proposals and agency actions to expand both public and private securities offerings through amendments to program design, investor access, and disclosure requirements, among other provisions.
Date: July 26, 2018
Creator: Su, Eva
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)

Description: This report gives a brief overview of P.L. 110-49, the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007. Although both the President and Congress are directly involved in formulating the scope and direction of U.S. foreign investment policy, this law broadens Congress' oversight role; it also explicitly includes the areas of homeland security and critical infrastructure as separately-identifiable components of national security that the President must consider when evaluating the national s… more
Date: September 26, 2012
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Community Services Block Grants (CSBG): Background and Funding

Description: The Administration's FY2012 budget would zero-out certain national activities related to Community Service Block Grant (CSBG), including Rural Community Facilities and Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals (JOLI). The budget requests $20 million for Community Economic Development (down from the FY2010 level of $36 million but more than the final FY2011 level of $18 million), and would target these funds toward the multiagency Healthy Food Financing Initiative. The Administration would fu… more
Date: May 26, 2011
Creator: Spar, Karen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO

Description: This report describes how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) deal with the issue of currency manipulation. It also discusses apparent discrepancies in their charters and ways those differences might be addressed.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Sanford, Jonathan E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Dark Pools in Equity Trading: Policy Concerns and Recent Developments

Description: This report examines the confluence of factors that led to the rise of dark pools; the potential benefits and costs of such trading; some regulatory and congressional concerns over dark pools; recent regulatory developments by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which oversees broker-dealers; and some recent lawsuits and enforcement actions garnering significant media attention.
Date: September 26, 2014
Creator: Shorter, Gary & Miller, Rena S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The EMV Chip Card Transition: Background, Status, and Issues for Congress

Description: This report describes the financial harm caused by data breaches and explains how those breaches are carried out. It provides information about the effect of the transition in selected foreign countries. The report also discusses resolved and remaining impediments to completing the EMV ( Europay, MasterCard Visa) transition in the United States and identifies areas of potential congressional interest.
Date: February 26, 2015
Creator: Moloney Figliola, Patricia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Eurozone Crisis: Overview and Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides an overview of the causes, challenges, political dynamics, and other aspects of the Eurozone's economic crisis and discusses the related issues that Congress may address, such as: how this situation will impact the U.S. economy, IMF (International Monetary Fund) involvement, and how the US and Europe will cooperate to solve these issues. The report also contains supplemental figures and charts.
Date: September 26, 2012
Creator: Nelson, Rebecca M.; Belkin, Paul; Mix, Derek E. & Weiss, Martin A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Export-Import Bank Reauthorization: Frequently Asked Questions

Description: This report addresses frequently asked questions about Ex-Im Bank, grouped in the following categories: congressional interest and the Ex-Im Bank reauthorization debate; market context; international context; organizational structure and management; programs; statutory requirements and policies; risk management; budget and appropriations; implications of a sunset in authority; and historical and current approaches to reauthorization.
Date: November 26, 2014
Creator: Akhtar, Shayerah Ilias; Carpenter, David H.; Levit, Mindy R. & Taylor, Julia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal-Aid Highway Program (FAHP): An Overview

Description: This report looks at how the Federal-Aid Highway Program (FAHP) works, including its funding and administration by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
Date: October 26, 2012
Creator: Kirk, Robert S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financial Regulatory Reform: Consumer Financial Protection Proposals

Description: This report provides a brief summary of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 (the CFPA Act or the Act) and delineates some of the substantive differences between it and H.R. 4173, Title IV, as it passed the House, and S. 3217, Title X, as it passed the Senate. It then analyzes some of the policy implications of the proposal, focusing on the separation of safety and soundness regulation from consumer protection, financial innovation, and the scope of regulation. The report then r… more
Date: May 26, 2010
Creator: Carpenter, David H. & Jickling, Mark
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financial Regulatory Reform: Systemic Risk and the Federal Reserve

Description: This report defines the potential duties and responsibilities of a systemic risk regulator, relating those duties to events that potentially contributed to the recent crisis. It then identifies the powers that would need to be given to a regulator to perform those duties, and compares those powers and responsibilities to the Fed's existing powers and responsibilities. It discusses advantages and disadvantages of giving those responsibilities to the Fed or the executive branch. It also includes … more
Date: May 26, 2010
Creator: Labonte, Marc
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Foreign Investment in U.S. Securities

Description: This report analyzes the extent of foreign portfolio investment in the U.S. economy and assesses the economic conditions that are attracting such investment and the impact such investments are having on the economy.
Date: January 26, 2011
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Gasoline Prices: Issues for the 110th Congress

Description: This report discusses the high prices of Gasoline and issues for the 110th Congress.
Date: April 26, 2007
Creator: Behrens, Carl E. & Glover, Carol
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Government Assistance for GMAC/Ally Financial: Unwinding the Government Stake

Description: This report discusses government support given to Ally Financial, formerly known as General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC), which provides auto financing, insurance, online banking, and mortgage and commercial financing. This report looks at how -- or even if -- GMAC will be able to pay back the government for Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) funding.
Date: January 26, 2015
Creator: Webel, Baird & Canis, Bill
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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