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Environmental Protection Agency: FY1998 Budget

Description: EPA appropriations are included in the annual VA-HUD-Independent Agencies Appropriation Bill. Two major issues were whether Superfund cleanups should be accelerated in the absence of statutory reforms and whether the requested state assistance funds are adequate. Because the House and Senate were in agreement on not granting the requested 50% increase in Superfund and in passing increased state funds, the chief conference issue was expected to focus on the roughly $225 million difference betwee… more
Date: October 14, 1997
Creator: Lee, Martin R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Continuing Appropriations Acts: Brief Overview of Recent Practices

Description: This report provides information on the history of continuing resolutions; the nature, scope, and duration of CRs during the last 30 years; the various types of CRs that have been enacted; and an overview of those instances when budget authority has lapsed and a funding gap has resulted.
Date: October 25, 2002
Creator: Streeter, Sandy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Grants to State and Local Governments: A Brief History

Description: This report discusses the history of the federal grants-in-aid system, which predates the Constitution. he grants-in-aid system assumed its current form when President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated his New Deal programs. Since Roosevelt, the grants-in-aid system has expanded, especially in the number and dollar amount of categorical grant programs.
Date: October 10, 2000
Creator: Canada, Ben
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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First Responder Initiative: Policy Issues and Options

Description: Following the terrorist attacks of September 2001, Congress has given considerable attention to the role of first responders in the nation’s homeland security efforts. This report discusses the “First Responder Initiative”, a recent proposal by the Bush Administration to help state and local first responders prepare for possible terrorist attacks.
Date: October 7, 2002
Creator: Canada, Ben
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Budget for Fiscal Year 2005

Description: The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) January 2004 budget report for FY2005 (the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2005-2014) estimated the FY2005 baseline deficit at $362 billion. CBO’s report provided estimates of the costs of selected alternative policies (measured from the baseline), such as estimates of the cost of extending the tax cuts, reforming the AMT, and discretionary spending growing at various rates.
Date: October 12, 2004
Creator: Winters, Philip D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Argentina's Sovereign Debt Restructuring

Description: The U.S. Congress has held numerous hearings to evaluate the causes and ongoing repercussions of Argentina’s financial crisis. This report analyzes Argentina’s debt situation in support of this interest and will be updated periodically.
Date: October 19, 2004
Creator: Hornbeck, J. F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Funding Gaps: A Brief Overview

Description: This report briefly discusses federal funding gaps. The routine activities of most federal agencies are funded annually by one or more of the 13 regular appropriations bills. When action on the regular appropriations bills is delayed, a continuing resolution (CR) is used to provide interim funding. During the past 48 years, CRs have been enacted for all but four fiscal years (FY1953, 1989, 1995, and 1997). For some fiscal years, a series of as many as six CRs have been enacted.
Date: October 18, 1999
Creator: Keith, Robert
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Overview of the Authorization-Appropriation Process

Description: A PRIMARY AVENUE FOR EXERCISING CONGRESS'S POWER OF THE purse is the authorization and appropriation of federal spending to carry out government activities. While the power over appropriations is granted to Congress by the U.S. Constitution, the authorization-appropriation process is derived from House and Senate rules. The formal process consists of two sequential steps:
Date: October 22, 1999
Creator: Heniff, Bill, Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Spending: Statutory and Congressional Rules

Description: Under the Budget Enforcement Act (BEA), there are statutory limits (caps) on the level of federal discretionary spending, enforced by across-the-board spending cuts, known as a sequester. If, however, spending is designated as emergency by both the President and Congress, it will not trigger a sequester, because the caps are adjusted automatically by an amount equal to the emergency spending. Since the BEA was first enacted in 1990, both the House and Senate have supplemented its provisions wit… more
Date: October 3, 2001
Creator: Saturno, James V.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Tobacco Settlement: Issues

Description: Since 1994, 41 states and Puerto Rico have sued the tobacco industry to recover the medical costs of treating smokers. On June 20, 1997, a group of state attorneys general and industry lawyers announced that they had reached a settlement that would protect the tobacco companies from civil liability in return for annual industry payments of $365.5 billion over 25 years to reimburse states for their tobacco-related medical costs, and pay for tobacco control programs to reduce tobacco use among te… more
Date: October 16, 1998
Creator: Redhead, C. Stephen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Internet and E-Commerce Statistics: What They Mean and Where to Find Them on the Web

Description: Statistics indicating Internet usage are imprecise. It is difficult to measure the scale of the Internet (or the World Wide Web), calculate the number and types of users (age, sex, race, gender, location, etc.), or forecast future growth. This report discusses the inherent complexities of estimating Internet and electronic commerce growth and describes various types of Internet statistics, discussing how to evaluate them and providing Web addresses for locating them. In addressing these topics,… more
Date: October 24, 2000
Creator: Tehan, Rita
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Steel: Key Issues for Congress

Description: No Description Available.
Date: October 7, 2002
Creator: Cooney, Stephen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Pornography: Constitutional Principles and Federal Statutes

Description: The Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996, P.L. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009- 26, added a definition of “child pornography” that include visual depictions of what appears to be a minor engaging in explicit sexual conduct, even if no actual minor was used in producing the depiction. On April 16, 2002, in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, the Supreme Court held this provision unconstitutional to the extent that it prohibited pictures that were not produced with actual minors. (This case is discuss… more
Date: October 15, 2003
Creator: Cohen, Henry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Care Issues in the 107th Congress

Description: This report includes recent developments in federal child care programs and tax provisions. The report discusses several federal programs that support child care or related services, primarily for low-income working families. In addition, the tax code includes provisions specifically targeted to assist families with child care expenses. The report presents the legislative activity in the 107th Congress in regard to child care legislature and provisions.
Date: October 29, 2002
Creator: Gish, Melinda
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Reducing Teen Pregnancy: Adolescent Family Life and Abstinence Education Programs

Description: Congressional Research Service (CRS) report entailing information about Adolescent Family Life (AFL) and Abstinence Education programs in regards to reducing teen pregnancy. Topics include, purpose of the programs, allowable projects, evaluations and research, etc.
Date: October 4, 2004
Creator: Solomon-Fears, Carmen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Medical Records Privacy: Questions and Answers on the HIPAA Final Rule

Description: This report discusses the issue facing Congress on whether to continue to support the executive branch’s prosecution of medical marijuana patients and their providers, in accordance with marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, or whether to relax federal marijuana prohibition enough to permit the medical use of botanical cannabis products by seriously ill persons, especially in states that have created medical marijuana programs under state law.
Date: October 3, 2002
Creator: Redhead, C. Stephen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction

Description: This report discusses the complicated body of rules, precedents, and practices that governs the legislative process on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Date: October 2, 2003
Creator: Rybicki, Elizabeth & Bach, Stanley
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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