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"Don't Ask, Don't Tell": A Legal Analysis
This report provides a legal analysis of the various constitutional challenges that have been brought against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)".
Date:
August 6, 2013
Creator:
Feder, Jody
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues
This report examines debates regarding what constitutes an "unfunded federal mandate" and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995's (UMRA) implementation. It focuses on UMRA's requirement that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issue written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in legislation, its procedures for raising points of order in the House and Senate concerning unfunded federal mandates in legislation, and its requirement that federal agencies prepare written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in rules. It also assesses UMRA's impact on federal mandates and arguments concerning UMRA's future, focusing on UMRA's definitions, exclusions, and exceptions which currently exempt many federal actions with potentially significant financial impacts on nonfederal entities.
Date:
August 29, 2013
Creator:
Dilger, Robert Jay & Beth, Richard S.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues
This report examines debates regarding what constitutes an "unfunded federal mandate" and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995's (UMRA) implementation. It focuses on UMRA's requirement that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issue written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in legislation, its procedures for raising points of order in the House and Senate concerning unfunded federal mandates in legislation, and its requirement that federal agencies prepare written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in rules. It also assesses UMRA's impact on federal mandates and arguments concerning UMRA's future, focusing on UMRA's definitions, exclusions, and exceptions which currently exempt many federal actions with potentially significant financial impacts on nonfederal entities.
Date:
December 12, 2013
Creator:
Dilger, Robert Jay & Beth, Richard S.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Members' Representational Allowance: History and Usage
This report provides a history and overview of the Members' Representational Allowance (MRA) and examines spending patterns over three years--2005, 2006, and 2007. The data exclude non-voting Members, including Delegates and the Resident Commissioner. Members who were not in Congress for all of the first session of a Congress, whether the Member left Congress prior to the end of the year or entered any time after the beginning of the session, were also excluded.
Date:
November 25, 2013
Creator:
Brudnick, Ida A.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The G-20 and International Economic Cooperation: Background and Implications for Congress
This report discusses the G-20, an international forum for discussing and coordinating economic policies among major advanced and emerging economies. Previous summits have, for example, focused on financial regulatory reform, global imbalances, funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), voting power of emerging economies in international financial institutions, and fossil fuel subsidies.
Date:
November 7, 2013
Creator:
Nelson, Rebecca M.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The New START Treaty: Central Limits and Key Provisions
This report provides an overview of the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (START), including a comparison to the original START Treaty, the belief of the Obama Administration and outside analysts that New START will enhance U.S. national security, and the criticisms of those who say that New START is a distraction from more important items on the nonproliferation agenda.
Date:
December 5, 2013
Creator:
Woolf, Amy F.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Small Business Administration HUBZone Program
This report examines arguments both for and against targeting assistance to geographic areas with specified characteristics, such as low income, high poverty, or high unemployment, as opposed to providing assistance to people or businesses with specified characteristics. It then assesses the arguments both for and against the continuation of the HUBZone program
Date:
December 17, 2013
Creator:
Dilger, Robert Jay
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Carbon Capture: A Technology Assessment
This report is a brief summary of what carbon capture and storage (CCS) is, how it is supposed to work, why it has gained the interest and support of some members of Congress, and what some of the challenges are to its implementation and deployment across the United States.
Date:
November 5, 2013
Creator:
Folger, Peter
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Rare Earth Elements: The Global Supply Chain
This report provides a discussion of the major issues and concerns of the global supply chain for rare earth elements (REEs), their major end uses, and legislative and other policy proposals that Congress may consider to improve the U.S. rare earth position.
Date:
December 16, 2013
Creator:
Humphries, Marc
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Geoengineering: Governance and Technology Policy
This report is intended as a primer on the policy issues, science, and governance of geoengineering technologies. The report will first set the policy parameters under which geoengineering technologies may be considered. It will then describe selected technologies in detail and discuss their status. The third section provides a discussion of possible approaches to governmental involvement in, and oversight of, geoengineering, including a summary of domestic and international instruments and institutions that may affect geoengineering projects.
Date:
November 26, 2013
Creator:
Bracmort, Kelsi & Lattanzio, Richard K.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Samantar v. Yousef: The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) and Foreign Officials
This report provides an overview of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), followed by a consideration of the remaining options for foreign officials who seek immunity from lawsuits, as well as some of the questions that may emerge from each option. The report also discusses legislation addressing the immunity of foreign officials (the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, H.R. 3143 and S. 1535).
Date:
December 16, 2013
Creator:
Elsea, Jennifer K.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Expiring Unemployment Insurance Provisions
This report discusses several key provisions related to extended federal unemployment benefits that are temporary and, therefore, scheduled to expire. This report describes the consequences of these expirations for the financing and availability of unemployment benefits in states. It also summarizes the last three laws that have extended these expiring provisions: P.L. 112-240, P.L. 112-96, and P.L. 112-78.
Date:
November 22, 2013
Creator:
Isaacs, K. P.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Expiring Unemployment Insurance Provisions
This report discusses several key provisions related to extended federal unemployment benefits that are temporary and, therefore, scheduled to expire. This report describes the consequences of these expirations for the financing and availability of unemployment benefits in states. It also summarizes the last three laws that have extended these expiring provisions: P.L. 112-240, P.L. 112-96, and P.L. 112-78.
Date:
October 30, 2013
Creator:
Isaacs, K. P.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress
This report includes updated material that emphasizes the issues most prominently before the 113th Congress. It also discusses foundational information about major elements of campaign finance policy.
Date:
November 7, 2013
Creator:
Garrett, R. S.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track?
This report provides background information on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory activity during the Obama Administration to help address these issues. It examines major or controversial regulatory actions taken by or under development at EPA since January 2009, providing details on the regulatory action itself, presenting an estimated timeline for completion of the rule (including identification of related court or statutory deadlines), and, in general, providing EPA's estimates of costs and benefits, where available. The report includes tables that show which rules remain under development, and an appendix that describes major or controversial rules that are now final.
Date:
December 12, 2013
Creator:
McCarthy, James E. & Copeland, Claudia
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Proposals to Eliminate Public Financing of Presidential Campaigns
This report discusses the Presidential campaign funding and provides a brief policy overview and raises potential issues for congressional consideration.
Date:
December 9, 2013
Creator:
Garrett, R. S.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations
This report examines the possibility of the federal government reaching its statutory debt limit and not raising it, with a particular focus on government operations. First, the report explains the nature of the federal government's debt, the processes associated with federal borrowing, and historical events that may influence prospective actions. It also includes an analysis of what could happen if the federal government may no longer issue debt, has exhausted alternative sources of cash, and, therefore, depends on incoming receipts or other sources of funds to provide any cash needed to liquidate federal obligations.2 Finally, this report lays out considerations for increasing the debt limit under current policy and what impact fiscal policy could have on the debt limit going forward.
Date:
November 21, 2013
Creator:
Levit, Mindy R.; Brass, Clinton T.; Nicola, Thomas J. & Nuschler, Dawn
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues
This report describes the Keystone XL pipeline proposal and the process required for federal approval. It summarizes key arguments for and against the pipeline put forth by the pipeline's developers, federal agencies, environmental groups, and other stakeholders. The report discusses potential consistency challenges faced by the State Department in reviewing the pipeline application given its recent prior approvals of similar pipeline projects. Finally, the report reviews the constitutional basis for the State Department's authority to issue a Presidential Permit, and opponents' possible challenges to this authority.
Date:
December 2, 2013
Creator:
Parfomak, Paul W.; Pirog, Robert; Luther, Linda & Vann, Adam
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Past Government Shutdowns: Key Resources
This report provides an annotated list of historical documents and other resources related to several past government shutdowns. The report also includes links to full-text documents when available. There is limited information and guidance related to shutdowns, and it is difficult to predict what might happen in the event of one, but information about past events may help inform future deliberations.
Date:
November 25, 2013
Creator:
Nagel, Jared Conrad & Murray, Justin
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Unemployment Insurance: Consequences of Changes in State Unemployment Compensation Laws
This report analyzes several types of recent changes to state Unemployment Compensation (UC) programs. Three categories of UC state law issues are considered: (1) changes in the duration of state UC unemployment benefits; (2) changes in the UC weekly benefit amount; and (3) the enactment into state law of two trigger options for the Extended Benefit (EB) program.
Date:
October 30, 2013
Creator:
Isaacs, Katelin P.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
U.S.-Taiwan Relationship: Overview of Policy Issues
This report is a succinct overview of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship including an analysis of issues. For decades, Taiwan has been of significant security, economic, and political interest to the United States. While the United States does not diplomatically recognize Taiwan, it is a significant autonomous actor in the world.
Date:
November 6, 2013
Creator:
Kan, Shirley A. & Morrison, Wayne M.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
U.S.-Taiwan Relationship: Overview of Policy Issues
This report is a succinct overview of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship including an analysis of issues. For decades, Taiwan has been of significant security, economic, and political interest to the United States. While the United States does not diplomatically recognize Taiwan, it is a significant autonomous actor in the world.
Date:
November 18, 2013
Creator:
Kan, Shirley A. & Morrison, Wayne M.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Intelligence Spending and Appropriations: Issues for Congress
This report discusses the historic trend in intelligence spending, as well as broader issues concerning the intelligence budgeting process, and may help Members of Congress contextualize information concerning the FY2013 budget.
Date:
September 5, 2013
Creator:
Erwin, Marshall C. & Belasco, Amy
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Internet Governance and the Domain Name System: Issues for Congress
This report provides a definition regarding Internet governance and how the Internet is currently governed. The report discusses the role of United States government and future model of Internet governance.
Date:
November 13, 2013
Creator:
Kruger, Lennard G.
System:
The UNT Digital Library