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open access

Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance

Description: Report that discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government. Election fraud and corruption in Afghanistan are also discussed.
Date: January 21, 2011
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
open access

Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy

Description: This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, focusing particularly on the influence of the Taliban and other militant groups and on the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. This report also discusses the U.S.-Afghanistan relationship, in both the short and long term, and U.S. efforts under the Obama Administration to provide military, reconstructive, and stabilization aid.
Date: December 21, 2011
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
open access

ATPA Renewal: Background and Issues

Description: The Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) extends special duty treatment to certain U.S. imports from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru that meet domestic content and other requirements. This report outlines the various aspects of the ATPA, including significant dates and modifications.
Date: January 21, 2011
Creator: Villarreal, M. Angeles
open access

Bahrain: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy

Description: This report discusses the current state of Bahrain, which has undergone substantial political reforms since the late 1990s, but which still suffers from tension between the Shiite majority and the Sunni-led government. This report focuses particularly on Bahrain's relationship with the United States and with regional issues.
Date: March 21, 2011
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
open access

Brazil’s WTO Case Against the U.S. Cotton Program

Description: The so-called "Brazil cotton case" is a long-running World Trade Organization dispute settlement case initiated by Brazil - a major cotton export competitor - in 2002 against specific provisions of the U.S. cotton program. This report details the overview of the case, background on the U.S. cotton sector, Brazil's dispute settlement case against the U.S. cotton program, panel and appellate body recommendations, implementation of those recommendations, World Trade Organization compliance panel r… more
Date: June 21, 2011
Creator: Schnepf, Randy
open access

Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress

Description: 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. The Coast Guard's two heavy polar icebreakers-Polar Star and Polar Sea-have exceeded their intended 30-year service lives, and neither is currently in operational condition.
Date: April 21, 2011
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
open access

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies: FY2011 Appropriations

Description: This report provides an overview of actions taken by Congress to provide FY2011 appropriations for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS). It also provides an overview of FY2010 appropriations for agencies and bureaus funded under the CJS bill.
Date: March 21, 2011
Creator: James, Nathan; Gonzales, Oscar R. & Williams, Jennifer D.
open access

Community Development Block Grant Funds in Disaster Relief and Recovery

Description: This report discusses the CDBG program, which administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the federal government’s largest and most widely available source of financial assistance to support state and local government-directed neighborhood revitalization, housing rehabilitation, and economic development activities.
Date: September 21, 2011
Creator: Boyd, Eugene
open access

Considerations for a Catastrophic Declaration: Issues and Analysis

Description: This report examines concerns expressed by policymakers and experts that current Stafford Act declarations are inadequate to respond to, and recover from, highly destructive events, and presents the arguments for and against amending the act to add a catastrophic declaration amendment.
Date: June 21, 2011
Creator: Lindsey, Bruce R. & McCarthy, Francis X.
open access

Conventional Prompt Global Strike and Long-Range Ballistic Missiles: Background and Issues

Description: Prompt global strike (PGS) would allow the United States to strike targets anywhere on earth with conventional weapons in as little as an hour. This report provides an overview of the rationale for the PGS mission and the possible deployment of conventional warheads on long-range ballistic missiles in support of this mission. It then reviews the Air Force and Navy efforts to develop these systems. It summarizes congressional reaction to these proposals, then provides a more detailed account of … more
Date: April 21, 2011
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
open access

Corporate-Owned Life Insurance (COLI): Insurance and Tax Issues

Description: This report provides information about the Insurance and Tax Issues of Corporate Owned Life Insurance (COLI).These policies are distinct and separate from typical from group life policies offered to many employees.
Date: January 21, 2011
Creator: Webel, Baird
open access

The Department of Defense's Use of Private Security Contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq: Background, Analysis, and Options for Congress

Description: This report examines current private security contractor (PSC) trends in Afghanistan and Iraq, steps the Department of Defense (DOD) has taken to improve oversight and management, and the impact that using private security personnel can have on military operations. It also reviews steps Congress has taken to exercise oversight over the use of PSCs and includes options for Congress.
Date: February 21, 2011
Creator: Schwartz, Moshe
open access

Egypt in Transition

Description: This report provides a brief overview of the transition underway and information on U.S. foreign aid to Egypt.
Date: September 21, 2011
Creator: Sharp, Jeremy M.
open access

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Claims of Property Rights “Takings”

Description: This report outlines the Endangered Species Act (ESA) provisions most relevant to the act's impacts on private property and surveys the major ESA-relevant principles of Fifth Amendment takings law. The report then proceeds to summarize the court decisions on whether particular government actions (or inaction) based on the ESA "take" private property.
Date: April 21, 2011
Creator: Meltz, Robert
open access

Energy and Water Development: FY2011 Appropriations

Description: This report covers key budgetary issues involving the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, which provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy (DOE), and a number of independent agencies.
Date: March 21, 2011
Creator: Behrens, Carl E.
open access

EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track?

Description: This report provides background information on recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemaking to help address dissenting concerns from critics and the EPA. It examines 43 major or controversial regulatory actions taken by or under development at EPA since January 2009. The report also discusses factors that affect the timeframe in which regulations take effect.
Date: March 21, 2011
Creator: McCarthy, James E. & Copeland, Claudia
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