This report lists the beginning and ending dates for "periods of war" found in Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations, dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It also lists and differentiates other beginning dates given in declarations of war, as well as termination of hostilities dates and armistice and ending dates given in proclamations, laws, or treaties. The dates for the recent conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq including the campaign against the Islamic State are included.

This report lists hundreds of instances in which the United States has used its Armed Forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict or for other than normal peacetime purposes. It was compiled in part from various older lists and is intended primarily to provide a rough survey of past U.S. military ventures abroad, without reference to the magnitude of the given instance noted.

This report is designed to assist Congress as it considers how to proceed with the proposed nomination of General (Ret.) James Mattis to be Secretary of Defense. After exploring the history of the statutory restriction and its evolution over time, it touches upon some of the broader questions that have recently been raised in the public debate on whether, and how, this proposed nomination might impact civilian-military relations and the principle of civilian control of the military.

This report highlights a series of Supreme Court rulings that have examined separation-of-powers-based limitations on the Exceptions Clause, congressional jurisdiction stripping, and the ability of Congress to amend laws with the purpose of directly impacting litigation. The Court's jurisprudence largely begins with the Reconstruction-era case "United States v. Klein", and leads to "Patchak v. Zinke", which is scheduled for oral argument before the Supreme Court in November 2017.

This report provides clarifications on five common debt limit contentions or questions which are: The United States had debt limits before 1917, Did the Federal government default in the 1970s?, Were "clean" debt limit increases once the norm?, Could a platinum coin avoid a binding debt limit?, Would the Fourteenth Amendment allow the President to act unilaterally?, and Is the debt limit obsolete?

This report provides data and an overview of the land owned by federal government, which is roughly 640 million acres, about 28% of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States.

This report is designed to provide an overview of key reserve component personnel issues through a series of questions and answers.

This report discusses the United Arab Emirates's (UAE) politics and governmental structure, economy, regional foreign policies including their part in the June 2017 isolation of Qatar due to their support for the Muslim Brotherhood, human rights concerns related to the UAE, and U.S. relations with the UAE.

This report provides an overview of Congress's powers under the Constitution and their role in interpreting the nation's founding document. It examines House Rule XII, clause 7(c), discussing the results of a recent study conducted by CRS of Constitutional Authority Statement (CAS) that were submitted during the last six months of the 114th Congress, and concludes by discussing trends with regard to the House's recent CAS practices and by providing considerations for congressional personnel drafting CASs.

This report provides a historical synopsis of the evolving nature of the federal grants-in-aid system, focusing on the role Congress has played in defining the system's scope and nature. It begins with an overview of the contemporary federal grants-in-aid system and then examines its evolution over time, focusing on the internal and external factors that have influenced congressional decisions concerning the system's development. It concludes with an assessment of the scope and nature of the contemporary federal grants-in-aid system and raises several issues for congressional consideration, including possible ways to augment congressional capacity to provide effective oversight of this system.

This report provides background regarding domestic terrorists--detailing what constitutes the domestic terrorism threat as suggested by publicly available U.S. government sources. It also illustrates some of the key factors involved in assessing this threat.