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U.S. Postal Service Rolls Back Its Prices

Description: This report discusses the USPS drop in the price of First-Class "Forever" (or equivalent domestic letter) postage.
Date: April 13, 2016
Creator: Christensen, Michelle D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track?

Description: This report provides background information on EPA regulatory activity during the Obama Administration. It examines major or controversial regulatory actions taken by or under development at EPA from January 2009 to late 2016, providing details on the regulatory action itself, presenting an estimated timeline for completion of rules not yet promulgated (including identification of related court or statutory deadlines), and, in general, providing EPA's estimates of costs and benefits, where avaiā€¦ more
Date: December 30, 2016
Creator: McCarthy, James E. & Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Selective Service System and Draft Registration: Issues for Congress

Description: This report is intended to provide Congress with information about how the Military Selective Service Act (MSSA), the Selective Service System (SSS), and associated requirements for registration have evolved over time. It explains why the United States developed the SSS, what the system looks like today, how constituents are affected by the MSSA requirements, and what the options and considerations may be for the future of the Selective Service.
Date: April 11, 2016
Creator: Kamarck, Kristy N.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Unaccompanied Children from Central America: Foreign Policy Considerations

Description: This report examines policy considerations for Congress in response to the recent influx of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) from Central American countries being apprehended at the U.S. border. The report also discusses the current policy framework and the Obama Administration's diplomatic response.
Date: April 11, 2016
Creator: Meyer, Peter J.; Margesson, Rhoda; Seelke, Claire Ribando & Taft-Morales, Maureen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Export-Import Bank: Frequently Asked Questions

Description: This report addresses frequently-asked questions about the Export-Import (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: April 13, 2016
Creator: Akhtar, Shayerah Ilias; Carpenter, David H.; Driessen, Grant A. & Taylor, Julia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Puerto Rico's Current Fiscal Challenges

Description: This report discusses multiple challenges the government of Puerto Rico faces in the fall of 2015. Concerns regarding the sustainability of Puerto Rico's public finances have intensified over the past year, despite several measures taken by the island's government to reduce spending, increase revenues, and restructure its obligations. The Puerto Rican government outlined a medium-term strategy to address those challenges in a fiscal plan put forth in mid-September 2015.
Date: June 3, 2016
Creator: Austin, D. A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emission Trends and the Role of the Clean Power Plan

Description: This report examines recent trends in U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions -- particularly CO2 emissions from electricity generation -- and the factors that impact emission levels in that sector. In addition, this report examines the degree to which Clean Power Plan (CPP) implementation (or lack thereof) may impact CO2 emission levels from electric power plants.
Date: April 11, 2016
Creator: Ramseur, Jonathan L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements

Description: This report provides an overview of many of the key arms control and nonproliferation agreements and endeavors of the past 40 years, divided into three sections. The first describes arms control efforts between the United States and the states of the former Soviet Union. The second section describes multilateral nuclear nonproliferation efforts. The final section reviews treaties and agreements that address chemical, biological, and conventional weapons.
Date: April 13, 2016
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.; Kerr, Paul K. & Nikitin, Mary Beth D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Force B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Description: This report discusses the development of the new long-range bomber aircraft, the B-21 (previously known as LRS-B), and proposes to acquire 100 of them.
Date: April 14, 2016
Creator: Gertler, Jeremiah
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Campus Pride Report: Summary of UNT Libraries' Collections

Description: This report is the final output of an in-depth evaluation using the Campus Pride Index (CPI) and includes answers to the specific questions in the CPI survey, the full list of call numbers relevant to LGBT subjects, lists of links to LGBT-specific queries of the UNT Libraries catalog, and a list of subjects for which additional resources will be sought.
Date: January 2016
Creator: Condrey, Coby & Harker, Karen
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Surveillance of Foreigners Outside the United States Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)

Description: This report discusses the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-261), which created separate procedures for targeting non-U.S. persons and U.S. persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States under a new Title VII of FISA.
Date: April 13, 2016
Creator: Liu, Edward C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Internet Tax Freedom Act: In Brief

Description: This report discusses the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA; P.L. 105-277) enacted in 1998, which implemented a three-year moratorium preventing state and local governments from taxing Internet access, or imposing multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.
Date: April 13, 2016
Creator: Stupak, Jeffrey M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Defense: FY2017 Budget Request, Authorization, and Appropriations

Description: This report discusses the current administration's request of $523.9 billion to cover the fiscal year 2017 discretionary "base budget" of the Department of Defense (DOD).
Date: April 12, 2016
Creator: Towell, Pat & Williams, Lynn M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mens Rea Reform: A Brief Overview

Description: This report provides a brief background on the history of "mens rea," including an exploration of the Supreme Court's default mens rea rules; analyzes the various bills that intend to create new default rules; and applies these rules to various existing federal criminal offenses.
Date: April 14, 2016
Creator: Thompson, Richard M., II
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections

Description: This report provides information about the electoral college including its origins, who makes up the college today, the 2012 presidental election, and calls for the reform of the electoral college.
Date: April 13, 2016
Creator: Neale, Thomas H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Highway Bridge Conditions: Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses the nation's transportation infrastructure in general, and in particular the federal role in funding, building, maintaining, and ensuring the safety of roads and especially bridges in the United States.
Date: April 13, 2016
Creator: Kirk, Robert S. & Mallett, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. International Corporate Taxation: Basic Concepts and Policy Issues

Description: This report provides a general introduction to the basic concepts and issues relevant to the U.S. international corporate tax system. The explanations provided in this report emphasize the underlying concepts of the international tax system and are intended to be as simplified as possible.
Date: December 21, 2016
Creator: Keightley, Mark P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Creating a Federal Advisory Committee in the Executive Branch

Description: This report report provides a brief overview on how Congress can establish federal advisory committees, and provides some considerations as to why a federal advisory committee may or may not be an appropriate mechanism to assist a particular policy or funding question. The report also explores why Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) may or may not be appropriate for application to particular advisory committees. It presents data on the number of active FACA committees established by Congress ā€¦ more
Date: December 9, 2016
Creator: Ginsberg, Wendy & Burgat, Casey
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Central African Republic: Background and U.S. Policy

Description: This report provides an overview of the Central African Republic (CAR) social and political situation and has struggled to emerge from conflict and state collapse since 2013.
Date: December 1, 2016
Creator: Arieff, Alexis & Husted, Tomas F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

March-In Rights Under the Bayh-Dole Act

Description: This report reviews the availability of march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act. It begins by providing a brief overview of the patent system and innovation policy, then introduces the Bayh-Dole Act. The report also reviews specific details of the march-in authority provided to federal agencies, considers past efforts to obtain march-in authorization from NIH, and identifies potential issues for congressional consideration.
Date: August 22, 2016
Creator: Thomas, John R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

General Policy Statements: Legal Overview

Description: This report examines one type of guidance document of particular recent prominence: agency policy statements. It explores judicial doctrine regarding the difference between legislative rules and statements of policy; discusses when such statements are judicially reviewable; analyzes when courts will grant deference to agency interpretations contained in guidance documents; and notes the relative costs and benefits of potential judicial and statutory rules regarding their use.
Date: April 14, 2016
Creator: Cole, Jared P. & Garvey, Todd
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Social Security Primer

Description: This report provides an overview of Social Security financing and benefits under current law. Specifically, the report covers the origins and a brief history of the program; Social Security financing and the status of the trust funds; how Social Security benefits are computed; the types of Social Security benefits available to workers and their family members; the basic eligibility requirements for each type of benefit; the scheduled increase in the Social Security retirement age; and the federā€¦ more
Date: December 5, 2016
Creator: Nuschler, Dawn
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Broadband Internet Access and the Digital Divide: Federal Assistance Programs

Description: This report provides an overview of the "digital divide," which is a term used to describe a perceived gap between those Americans who use or have access to telecommunications and information technologies and those who do not.
Date: December 28, 2016
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G. & Gilroy, Angele A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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