This report talk about the Issues for Congress on Haiti where congress continues to express concern about a number of developments in Haiti,especially its stalled democratic process and increased violence and human right violations.

The 108th Congress has acted on a variety of disparate environmental measures; some of these represent proposals or issues that had been under consideration in the 107th Congress and earlier. Environmental issues considered by Congress tend to fall into several major categories: (1) funding issues — whether funding levels are adequate and focused on appropriate priorities; (2) expanding, renewing, or refocusing specific environment programs; (3) environmental issues that are important “subsets” of other major areas of concern, such as energy, defense, or transportation programs; and more recently, (4) terrorism and infrastructure protection in areas such as wastewater and chemical facilities.

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The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) - which includes the National Fire Academy (NFA) - is currently an entity within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The objective of the USFA is to significantly reduce the nation's loss of life from fire, while also achieving a reduction in property loss and non-fatal injury due to fire. This report describes and analyzes the Administration's FY2009 budget proposal, as well as related information and legislation.

Dumping in the United States is the selling of a product by a foreign producer at a price that is below the product’s sale price in the country of origin, or at a price that is lower than the cost of production. Under U.S. law such an action is considered an unfair trade practice. If that action is found to cause “material injury” to a competing domestic industry, an antidumping duty equal to the “dumping margin” will be levied against the foreign good.

This report provides background on how the cost-sharing and premium provisions under each bill would affect the amount that a beneficiary pays annually for prescription drugs. In addition, this report gives examples of how annual cost-sharing would differ for beneficiaries with various levels of total prescription drug spending in 2006 under the plans.

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Under provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA, P.L. 107-16, enacted June 7, 2001), the estate tax is scheduled to be repealed in 2010 but reinstated in 2011. All tax cut provisions of EGTRRA are scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2010. This report tracks actions in the 108th Congress to permanently repeal the estate tax or to retain but alter the tax.

This report begins with a comprehensive presentation of current economic conditions focusing on income growth, unemployment, and inflation. The posture of monetary and fiscal policy is surveyed as are the forecasts of economic activity. It concludes with data on the factors important for economic growth.

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An assessment has been made of the environmental effects that would occur from the operation of cooling towers at the SRP reactors. A more realistic numerical model of the cooling tower plume has been used to reassess the environmental impacts. The following effects were considered: (1) the occurrence of fog and ice and their impact on nearby structures, (2) drift and salt deposition from the plume, (3) the length and height of the visible plume, and (4) the possible dose from tritium.

The MERIT experiment, to be run at CERN in 2007, is a proof-of-principle test for a target system that converts a 4-MW proton beam into a high-intensity muon beam for either a neutrino factory complex or a muon collider. The target system is based on a free mercury jet that intercepts an intense proton beam inside a 15-T solenoidal magnetic field. Here, we describe the design and initial performance of the 15-T, liquid-nitrogen-precooled, copper solenoid magnet.

We discuss criteria for designing an optimal 'green field' proton driver for a neutrino factory. The driver parameters are determined by considerations of space charge, power capabilities of the target, beam loading and available RF peak power. A neutrino factory may be the best experimental tool to unravel the physics involved in neutrino oscillation and CP violation phenomena [1]. To have sufficient neutrino flux for acceptable physics results within 5 years requires about 10{sup 22} protons on target per year, which corresponds to 1-4 MW of proton beam power from the proton driver depending on the beam energy. In the past, there were individual proposals from different laboratories of a particular design of proton driver capable of delivering beam power from 2 to 4 MW, without consistent attention paid to the needs or requirements from the downstream systems. In this study, we try to identify the requirements from those down stream systems first, then see whether it is possible to design a proton driver to meet those needs. Such a study will also assist site specific proposals to further improve on their designs to better serve the need of a proton driver for neutrino factory applications.

The MERIT experiment, to be run at CERN in 2007, is a proof-of-principle test for a target system that converts a 4-MW proton beam into a high-intensity muon beam for either a neutrino factory complex or a muon collider. The target system is based on a free mercury jet that intercepts an intense proton beam inside a 15-T solenoidal magnetic field. A muon collider or neutrino factory requires intense beams of muons, which are obtained from the decay of pions. Pion production by a proton beam is maximized by use of a high-Z target such as mercury. A liquid jet target has the advantages over a solid target that a flowing jet can readily remove heat and that it is immune to radiation damage. However the proton beam energy disrupts the jet and the system could be operationally unstable. Efficient capture of low-energy secondary pions (for transfer into the subsequent muon accelerator complex) requires that the target system be immersed in a strong magnetic field of solenoidal geometry. This magnetic field should stabilize the mercury flow in regions of nearly uniform field, but it perturbs the liquid metal jet as it enters the field. Hence, the behavior of the mercury …

This report discusses the developments in Iranian foreign policy, including their assistance the U.S. in ousting Saddam Hussein, their involvement with terrorist organizations, the developments made with respect to weapons of mass destruction, and human rights concerns. It also details the Bush Administration's efforts to maintain the sanctions put in place by the Clinton Administration, as well as U.S. foreign policymakers division on which approach to take regarding Iran's political regime.