Endangered Species Act and Legal Issues Regarding Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead (open access)

Endangered Species Act and Legal Issues Regarding Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead

This report discusses the resident fish, such as bull trout and Kootenai River white sturgeon, which are listed as threatened and endangered respectively under the ESA are affected by the FCRPS. This report focuses on Endangered Species Act (ESA) actions and litigation related to these species.
Date: July 16, 2008
Creator: Lane, Nic; Alexander, Kristina & Buck, Eugene H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Earthquakes: Risk, Monitoring, Notification, and Research (open access)

Earthquakes: Risk, Monitoring, Notification, and Research

This report describes estimates of earthquake hazards and risk in the United States; the current federal programs that support earthquake monitoring and that provide notification after a seismic event; and the programs that support mitigation and research aimed at reducing U.S. vulnerability to earthquakes.
Date: January 16, 2008
Creator: Folger, Peter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee (open access)

Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee

The report discusses the Child Support Enforcement. It is categorized into three categories: (I) Background, (II) New Annual CSE User Fee and (III) Implementation of CSE User Fee.
Date: December 16, 2008
Creator: Solomon-Fears, Carmen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Lebanon: Background and U.S. Relations. December 2008 (open access)

Lebanon: Background and U.S. Relations. December 2008

This report provides an overview of Lebanese politics, recent events in Lebanon, and current issues in U.S. - Lebanon relations.
Date: December 16, 2008
Creator: Addis, Casey L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Franking Privilege: An Analysis of Member Mass Mailings in the House, 1997-2007. April 2008 (open access)

Franking Privilege: An Analysis of Member Mass Mailings in the House, 1997-2007. April 2008

This report provides an analysis of House Member mass mailings.
Date: April 16, 2008
Creator: Glassman, Matthew E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Does the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Listing Provide More Protection of the Polar Bear? (open access)

Does the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Listing Provide More Protection of the Polar Bear?

None
Date: October 16, 2008
Creator: Alexander, Kristina
System: The UNT Digital Library
Judicial Salary: Current Issues and Options for Congress (open access)

Judicial Salary: Current Issues and Options for Congress

This report reviews the most common arguments that have been advanced in recent years for and against raising federal judicial salaries.
Date: September 16, 2008
Creator: Rutkus, Denis Steven
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Department of Housing and Urban Development: FY2008 Appropriations (open access)

The Department of Housing and Urban Development: FY2008 Appropriations

This report tracks the FY2008 congressional appropriations process and provides a detailed discussion of the funding and issues related to the majority of accounts in HUD’s budget.
Date: January 16, 2008
Creator: McCarty, Maggie; Perl, Libby; Foote, Bruce E.; Boyd, Eugene & Peterson, Meredith
System: The UNT Digital Library
Amendments in the Senate: Types and Forms (open access)

Amendments in the Senate: Types and Forms

The amending process is central to the consideration of legislation by the Senate. This report briefly describes the various types of amendments that take place in the Senate.
Date: April 16, 2008
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Endangered Species Act: A Primer (open access)

The Endangered Species Act: A Primer

The discussion on this report is expanded for four aspects of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and its implementation that have raised concerns and promoted debate—listing species, designating critical habitat, consulting on projects, and exempting projects.
Date: April 16, 2008
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne; Buck, Eugene H. & Alexander, Kristina
System: The UNT Digital Library
Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal (open access)

Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal

This report discusses the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), which calls for disposal of spent nuclear fuel in a deep geologic repository.
Date: April 16, 2008
Creator: Holt, Mark
System: The UNT Digital Library
Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foods (open access)

Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foods

This report discusses the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) as amended by the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246), which states that many U.S. retailers must begin providing country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for fresh produce, red meats, peanuts, chicken, ginseng, pecans, and macadamia nuts.
Date: September 16, 2008
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Electronic Rulemaking in the Federal Government (open access)

Electronic Rulemaking in the Federal Government

This report explores the Bush Administration's initiative of implementing electronic rulemaking (e-rulemaking) in the federal government, the questions regarding how this initiative is being funded, its overall structure, its costs and expected financial benefits, the functionality of some of the applications being used, and its effect on public participation in the rulemaking process.
Date: May 16, 2008
Creator: Copeland, Curtis W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Continuing Resolutions: Latest Action and Brief Overview of Recent Practices (open access)

Continuing Resolutions: Latest Action and Brief Overview of Recent Practices

This report is divided into two segments. The first segment provides the most recent developments on, and selected provisions of, the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2009. The second segment focuses on the (1) history and recent trends, including the nature, scope, and duration of continuing resoutions (CRs) during the past 35 years; (2) CR types by duration; (3) major substantive legislative provisions included in some CRs; and (4) funding gaps.
Date: October 16, 2008
Creator: Streeter, Sandy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense: FY2009 Authorization and Appropriations (open access)

Defense: FY2009 Authorization and Appropriations

This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense. For both defense authorization and appropriations, this report summarizes the status of the bills, their scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity. This report is updated as events warrant and lists the key CRS staff relevant to the issues covered as well as related CRS products.
Date: May 16, 2008
Creator: Towell, Pat & Daggett, Stephen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Veterans' Benefits: Issues in the 110th Congress (open access)

Veterans' Benefits: Issues in the 110th Congress

This report provides a general discussion of veterans' benefits issues that are part of the legislative agenda of the 110th Congress or are likely to be of legislative interest. Among those issues are disability compensation and pensions; education benefits; homelessness; life insurance; the status or eligibility of groups such as U.S. merchant seamen and World War II Filipino veterans for veterans' benefits; Reserve and National Guard eligibility for veterans' benefits; the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; and legal representation for veterans. For each issue, an overview is provided, along with summaries of pertinent pending legislation. In addition, an overview of the benefits and their eligibility requirements, demographics for both the veteran population and the benefit population, and summary data on the FY2008 budget for veterans' benefits are provided.
Date: October 16, 2008
Creator: Davis, Carol D.; Loane, Shannon S.; Scott, Christine; Perl, Libby; Smole, David P. & Weimer, Douglas Reid
System: The UNT Digital Library
Economic Development Assistance for Communities Affected by Employment Changes Due to Military Base Closures (open access)

Economic Development Assistance for Communities Affected by Employment Changes Due to Military Base Closures

This report is intended to discuss the geographic impact of base closures and realignments; summarize federal economic assistance programs for communities and individuals affected by military base closures and realignments (BRAC); and highlight issues for Congress.
Date: October 16, 2008
Creator: Gonzales, Oscar
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conventional Warheads for Long-Range Ballistic Missiles: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Conventional Warheads for Long-Range Ballistic Missiles: Background and Issues for Congress

This report provides an overview of the Administration's rationale for the possible deployment of conventional warheads on long-range ballistic missiles. It then reviews the Air Force and Navy efforts to develop these systems. It summarizes congressional reaction to these proposals, then provides a more detailed account of the issues raised by these concepts and programs.
Date: May 16, 2008
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
House and Senate Rules of Procedure: A Comparison (open access)

House and Senate Rules of Procedure: A Comparison

This report compares selected House and Senate rules of procedure for various stages of the legislative process: referral of legislation to committees; scheduling and calling up measures; and floor consideration. No attempt is made to present a comprehensive discussion of how both chambers operate.
Date: April 16, 2008
Creator: Schneider, Judy
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. International Trade: Trends and Forecasts (open access)

U.S. International Trade: Trends and Forecasts

This report provides an overview of the current status, trends, and forecasts for U.S. international trade. The purpose of this report is to provide current data and brief explanations for the various types of trade flows, particularly U.S. exports, along with a short discussion of particular trends and points of contention related to trade policy.
Date: October 16, 2008
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.; Ilias, Shayerah & Donnelly, J. Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Current Structure and Alternatives (open access)

Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Current Structure and Alternatives

This report first describes the current select committees on intelligence and then the former Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, often cited as a model for a counterpart on intelligence. The study also sets forth proposed characteristics for a joint committee on intelligence, differences among these, and their pros and cons. The report examines other actions and alternatives affecting congressional oversight in the field.
Date: September 16, 2008
Creator: Kaiser, Frederick M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
What Is the “Farm Bill”? (open access)

What Is the “Farm Bill”?

This report discusses the farm bill, which renewed about every five years, governs federal farm and food policy.
Date: May 16, 2008
Creator: Johnson, Renée
System: The UNT Digital Library
Charitable Contributions of Food Inventory: Proposals for Change (open access)

Charitable Contributions of Food Inventory: Proposals for Change

This report discusses the temporary change in the tax law governing charitable donations of food. Recent legislation expanded the existing tax incentive for firms that are C corporations to all businesses that donate food to charity
Date: January 16, 2008
Creator: Jackson, Pamela J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) (open access)

Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI)

This report looks at the background and current status of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which was formed to increase international cooperation in interdicting shipments of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Date: January 16, 2008
Creator: Nikitin, Mary Beth
System: The UNT Digital Library