UNT Libraries Government Documents Department - 464 Matching Results

Search Results

open access

Speakers of the House: Elections, 1913-2017

Description: This report provides data on elections of the Speaker in each Congress since 1913, when the House first reached its present size of 435 Members. During that period (63rd through 115th Congresses), a Speaker was elected five times with the votes of less than a majority of the full membership.
Date: January 4, 2017
Creator: Beth, Richard S. & Heitshusen, Valerie
open access

Trade Negotiations During the 109th Congress

Description: This report discusses trade issues in the 109th Congress. For over 50 years, U.S. trade officials have negotiated multilateral trade agreements to achieve lower trade barriers and rules to cover international trade. During the 108th Congress, U.S. officials negotiated and Congress approved four bilateral free-trade agreements with Australia, Chile, Morocco, and Singapore.
Date: December 16, 2004
Creator: Fergusson, Ian F. & Sek, Lenore M.
open access

Social Security Reform

Description: This report examines the debate over the future of the Social Security system. It includes discussion of recent developments; background and analysis with information about the basic debate, specific area of contention, reform initiatives; and relevant legislation.
Date: December 9, 2004
Creator: Nuschler, Dawn
open access

Safe Drinking Water Act: Implementation and Issues

Description: This report discusses key drinking water issues in the 108th Congress involving water infrastructure funding and problems caused by specific contaminants, such as the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), perchlorate, and lead in drinking water. Congress last reauthorized the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in 1996, and although funding authority for most SDWA programs expired in FY2003, broad reauthorization efforts were not pursued as EPA, states, and water utilities continued … more
Date: December 8, 2004
Creator: Tiemann, Mary
open access

Clean Water Act Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses issues regarding the Clean Water Act. Prospects for legislative initiatives to comprehensively amend the Clean Water Act (CWA) have stalled for some time over whether and exactly how to change the law, and Congress has recently focused legislative attention on narrow bills to extend or modify selected CWA programs, rather than taking up comprehensive proposals. For example, the 108th Congress enacted one bill amending the CWA, legislation to reauthorize the National Estuar… more
Date: December 6, 2004
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
open access

Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses the Superfund program for cleaning up the nation's worst hazardous waste sites, created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). It includes recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Date: October 27, 2004
Creator: Reisch, Mark
open access

Federal Research and Development: Budgeting and Priority-Setting Issues, 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses federal funding for research and development. National R&D funding continues to grow, but the federal R&D share has declined to less than 30% of the total. Debates focus on which fields of federal R&D should be increased and how to set priorities and to "balance" health and nonhealth fields.
Date: December 1, 2004
Creator: Knezo, Genevieve J.
open access

The Davis-Bacon Act: Issues and Legislation During the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses the debate surrounding the Davis-Bacon Act (1931, as amended), which requires, among other things, that not less than the locally-prevailing wage be paid to workers employed in federal contract construction. Through recent decades, the Act has become a continuing source of contention, particularly regarding its impacts, whether it should be modified, strengthened, or repealed, and if it is being administered effectively.
Date: March 19, 2004
Creator: Whittaker, William G.
open access

Major Tax Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: This report provides an overview of major tax issues. It begins by describing three aspects of the economic context in which the tax policy debate during 2004 is likely to occur: the general state of the U.S. economy; the position of the federal budget; and the level of taxes in the United States.
Date: December 2, 2004
Creator: Brumbaugh, David L.
open access

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses one major element of the energy debate in the 108th Congress, which has been whether to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in northeastern Alaska, and if so, under what conditions, or whether to continue to prohibit development to protect the area's biological resources. The Refuge is an area rich in fauna, flora, and commercial oil potential. Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge.
Date: November 1, 2004
Creator: Corn, M. L.; Gelb, Bernard A. & Baldwin, Pamela
open access

Fishery, Aquaculture, and Marine Mammal Legislation in the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses policy and legislation regarding fish and marine mammals. These animals are important resources in open ocean and nearshore coastal areas. Commercial and sport fishing are jointly managed by the federal government and individual states. Many laws and regulations guide the management of these resources by federal agencies.
Date: December 16, 2004
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.
open access

Soil and Water Conservation Issues

Description: This report discusses soil and water conservation, which were prominent farm policy topics in the 108th Congress as the Administration implemented provisions in the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171). This farm bill increased spending and expanded the scope of the conservation effort by reauthorizing and amending most existing conservation programs and enacting new ones through FY2007.
Date: November 24, 2004
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
open access

Amtrak Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses a number of issues connected with Amtrak that Congress may consider. Amtrak does not earn enough revenue, or receive enough assistance, to cover its operating costs and capital needs. As a result, Amtrak is regularly on the verge of insolvency.
Date: February 20, 2003
Creator: Peterman, D. R.
open access

Medicare Prescription Drug Proposals: Estimates of Aged Beneficiaries Who Fall Below Income Criteria, by State

Description: This report discusses bills related to Medicare benefits, which include additional assistance for low-income beneficiaries. The assistance would have been in the form of reduced, subsidized or eliminated premiums, deductibles and other cost-sharing. Proposals in the 108th Congress will probably also include some of these features for low-income beneficiaries.
Date: February 11, 2003
Creator: Peterson, Chris L. & Morgan, Paulette C.
open access

Energy Tax Policy

Description: This report discusses the history, current posture, and outlook for federal energy tax policy. It also discusses recent energy tax proposals, focusing on the major energy tax provisions that were debated as part of omnibus energy legislation in the 108th Congress (e.g., H.R. 6), which may be reintroduced in the 109th Congress.
Date: April 22, 2005
Creator: Lazzari, Salvatore
open access

Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy

Description: This report provides background on Free Trade Areas (FTAs) including: definitions of Free Trade Areas, why countries form FTAs, FTAs in the context of U.S. trade policy, Bush Administration policies and recent developments, the economic impact of FTAs, whether FTAs create trade or divert it, FTAs the the WTO, debate points related to FTAs, relevant legislation, and final conclusions and implications for Congress.
Date: January 3, 2003
Creator: Cooper, William H.
open access

Estate and Gift Taxes: Economic Issues

Description: This report discusses how the estate and gift tax works and examines various policy options. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA, P.L. 107-16) repeals the estate tax after 2009. In the 108th Congress, some policymakers have proposed eliminating the sunset provision in the EGTRRA, thus making repeal of the estate tax permanent.
Date: January 31, 2003
Creator: Gravelle, Jane G. & Maguire, Steven
open access

Endangered Species: Difficult Choices

Description: This report discusses various measures being considered by Congress that propose to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Major issues in recent years have focused on whether to incorporate further protection for property owners and reduce regulatory impacts, whether to increase the protection afforded listed species, or whether to modify various aspects of the ESA, such as the role of science in decision-making.
Date: June 14, 2004
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.; Corn, M. L. & Baldwin, Pamela
Back to Top of Screen