Congressional Research Service Reports - 72 Matching Results

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Algeria: Current Issues

Description: Report discussing the Algeria's current political and social issues and the effects they have on United States and Algerian relations.
Date: July 29, 2014
Creator: Arieff, Alexis
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The American Opportunity Tax Credit: Overview, Analysis, and Policy Options

Description: This report provides both an in-depth description of this tax credit and an analysis of its economic impact. This report is organized to first provide an overview of the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), followed by a legislative history that highlights the evolution of education tax credits from proposals in the 1960s through the recent extension of the AOTC at the end of 2012. This report then analyzes the credit by looking at who claims the credit, the effect education tax credits have… more
Date: July 10, 2014
Creator: Crandall-Hollick, Margot L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Analysis of the Geographic Distribution of the Mortgage Interest Deduction

Description: This report analyzes variation in the mortgage interest deduction tax expenditure across states. Tax expenditures, such as the mortgage interest deduction, can generally be viewed as government spending administered via the tax code, or as tax incentives that are intended to achieve particular policy objectives. Regardless of the interpretation, tax expenditures provide a benefit to qualifying taxpayers by lowering their federal tax liabilities.
Date: January 30, 2014
Creator: Keightley, Mark P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Budgetary Treatment of Federal Credit (Direct Loans and Loan Guarantees): Concepts, History, and Issues for Congress

Description: The purpose of this report is to explain the provisions of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 or FCRA; examine the implementation of credit reform, including credit reform provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105- 33, §1011; 111 Stat. 254,692); discuss proposed modifications of credit reform; and describe proposed legislation in the 113th Congress.
Date: June 24, 2014
Creator: Levit, Mindy R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance: Constitutionality of Limits on Contributions and Expenditures

Description: The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law.... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." This provision limits the government's power to restrict speech. In 1976, the Supreme Court issued its landmark campaign finance ruling in Buckley v. Valeo. In Buckley, the Court determined that limits on campaign contributions, which involve giving money to an entity, and expenditures, which involve spending money directly for electoral advocacy, implic… more
Date: September 4, 2014
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Coal Loan Guarantees and Tax Incentives: Issues in Brief

Description: This report discusses certain federal financial incentive mechanisms for "clean coal" commercial projects; namely, loan guarantees and tax incentives. At issue for Congress is the extent to which the private sector has used these financial toolsto develop the technology needed for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions while continuing to use available domestic coal reserves for electricity generation.
Date: August 19, 2014
Creator: Folger, Peter & Sherlock, Molly F.
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: January 2, 2014
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Coordinated Party Expenditures in Federal Elections: An Overview

Description: This report examines campaign finance law in the context of political party committee expenditures. It discusses relevant Supreme Court precedent and recent legislative activity.
Date: May 15, 2014
Creator: Garrett, R. Sam
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Corporate Expatriation, Inversions, and Mergers: Tax Issues

Description: This report discusses relevant portions of the U.S. corporate income tax system and how inversions have commonly been structured. It also looks at how Congress and Department of the Treasury have reduced the benefits of inversions, including The American Jobs Creation Act, as well as post-2004 inversions and treasury regulations, and policy options.
Date: May 27, 2014
Creator: Marples, Donald J. & Gravelle, Jane G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Corporate Expatriation, Inversions, and Mergers: Tax Issues

Description: This report discusses relevant portions of the U.S. corporate income tax system and how inversions have commonly been structured. It also looks at how Congress and Department of the Treasury have reduced the benefits of inversions, including The American Jobs Creation Act, as well as post-2004 inversions and treasury regulations, and policy options.
Date: September 25, 2014
Creator: Marples, Donald J. & Gravelle, Jane G.
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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"Dark Pools" In Equity Trading: Significance and Recent Developments

Description: This report discusses "Dark Pools", relatively recent and controversial electronic stock trading alternatives to traditional exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and now account for about 15% of overall trading volume. The report discusses the pros and cons of "dark trading", civil suits in reaction to Dark Pools and recent Securities and Exchange Commission actions.
Date: August 27, 2014
Creator: Shorter, Gary & Miller, Rena S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Designating Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs)

Description: This report discusses congressional concerns regarding the Financial Stability Oversight Council's (FSOC) authorization to designate certain non-bank entities as Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFI).
Date: August 28, 2014
Creator: Labonte, Marc
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Efforts to Delay the Gradual Elimination of Flood Insurance Premium Subsidies

Description: This report examines legislative efforts in Congress to delay the gradual phase-out of subsidized flood insurance premiums, which is required under Sections 100205 and 100207 of P.L. 112-141, the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2012. This new law extended the authorization for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five years, through September 30, 2017, while requiring significant program reforms affecting flood insurance, flood hazard mapping, and flood… more
Date: March 3, 2014
Creator: King, Rawle O.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Debate

Description: This report discusses the ongoing debate regarding the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a federal government corporation which is the the official export credit agency (ECA) of the U.S. Government. The bank's statutory charter expires on September 30, 2014, meaning that its authority to obligations generally would cease and a wind-down of operations would be required. The report gives four possible scenarios for approaches Congress could take in regards to approaching the bank's future … more
Date: August 18, 2014
Creator: Akhtar, Shayerah Ilias
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: August 1, 2014
Creator: Akhtar, Shayerah Ilias; Carpenter, David H.; Levit, Mindy R. & Taylor, Julia
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: August 1, 2014
Creator: Akhtar, Shayerah Ilias; Levit, Mindy R. & Taylor, Julia
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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Financial Assets and Conflict of Interest Regulation in the Executive Branch

Description: This report discusses the federal regulation of potential "conflicts of interest" which may arise as a result of the personal financial holdings, assets, securities, property, and financial transactions in assets and securities of an official in the executive branch of the federal government.
Date: January 17, 2014
Creator: Maskell, Jack
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financial Services and General Government (FSGG): FY2014 Appropriations

Description: This report discusses the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill that provides funding for the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President (EOP), the judiciary, the District of Columbia, and more than two dozen independent agencies.
Date: January 7, 2014
Creator: Webel, Baird
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financing the U.S. Trade Deficit

Description: This report provides an overview of the U.S. balance of payments, an explanation of the broader role of capital flows in the U.S. economy, an explanation of how the country finances its trade deficit or a trade surplus, and the implications for Congress and the country of the large inflows of capital from abroad.
Date: March 24, 2014
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Foreign Holdings of Federal Debt

Description: This report presents current data on estimated ownership of U.S. Treasury securities and major holders of federal debt by country. Federal debt represents the accumulated balance of borrowing by the federal government.
Date: June 16, 2014
Creator: Labonte, Marc & Nagel, Jared C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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