Border Searches of Laptop Computers and Other Electronic Storage Devices (open access)

Border Searches of Laptop Computers and Other Electronic Storage Devices

This report discusses about Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), two agencies within the department of homeland security (DHS) that have roles in border securities.
Date: November 16, 2009
Creator: Kim, Yule
System: The UNT Digital Library
The U.S. Global Food Security Initiative: Issues for Congress (open access)

The U.S. Global Food Security Initiative: Issues for Congress

This report discusses the United States’ foreign food aid program. Agricultural development has been a component of the United States’ foreign aid program, but U.S. funding for such assistance has declined from about 20% of U.S. official development assistance (ODA) in 1980 to around 5% in 2007.
Date: November 24, 2009
Creator: Hanrahan, Charles E. & Ho, Melissa D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Senate Rule XIV Procedures for Placing Measures Directly on the Senate Calendar (open access)

Senate Rule XIV Procedures for Placing Measures Directly on the Senate Calendar

When a Senator introduces a bill or joint resolution, the measure is usually referred to committee, pursuant to provisions of Senate Rules XIV, XVII, and XXV. This report describes the Senate Rule XIV, para. 2, which requires that bills and resolutions have three readings before passage, and that they be read twice before being referred to committee.
Date: November 30, 2009
Creator: Koempel, Michael L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Overview of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Control Policies in Various Countries (open access)

An Overview of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Control Policies in Various Countries

This report summarizes the GHG control policies in effect or under consideration in the European Union (EU) and various other large countries, and offers a brief set of initial observations. It gives particular emphasis to how particular trade sensitive sectors may be treated in the context of each national program.
Date: November 30, 2009
Creator: Leggett, Jane A.; Lattanzio, Richard K.; Ek, Carl & Parker, Larry
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Global Financial Crisis: Analysis and Policy Implications (open access)

The Global Financial Crisis: Analysis and Policy Implications

This report provides a historical account and analysis of the crisis through November 14, 2009. While business contraction appears to have abated, unemployment is shown to be on the rise and many businesses and countries are still facing difficulties.
Date: November 25, 2009
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) (open access)

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)

This report covers the background and recent history on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). This committee has recently emerged from obscurity due to concerns involving foreign investments in U.S. companies and national security.
Date: November 6, 2009
Creator: Jackson, James K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act: Overview and Issues (open access)

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act: Overview and Issues

This report discusses the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) of 1986, which was enacted to improve absentee registration and voting for this group of voters and to consolidate existing laws.
Date: November 4, 2009
Creator: Coleman, Kevin J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Google Library Project: Is Digitization for Purposes of Online Indexing Fair Use Under Copyright Law? (open access)

The Google Library Project: Is Digitization for Purposes of Online Indexing Fair Use Under Copyright Law?

In December 2004, Google announced its Library Project, which was to entail digitizing, indexing, and displaying "snippets" of print books in the collections of five major libraries, among other things. The Library Project was not limited to books in the public domain (e.g., books whose terms of copyright protection had expired), and Google did not seek the permission of copyright holders, in part, because it asserted that its proposed uses were fair uses. Many authors, publishers, and other rights holders disagreed. This report provides background on the Library Project, legal issues raised by digitization and indexing projects, and the status of the litigation over the Library Project.
Date: November 27, 2009
Creator: Manuel, Kate M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Trade Agreements: Impact on the U.S. Economy (open access)

Trade Agreements: Impact on the U.S. Economy

This report examines the major features of economic models being used to estimate the effects of trade agreements. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the models as an aid in helping Congress evaluate the economic impact of trade agreements on the U.S. economy.
Date: November 10, 2009
Creator: Jackson, James K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Noncitizen Eligibility and Verification Issues in the Health Care Reform Legislation (open access)

Noncitizen Eligibility and Verification Issues in the Health Care Reform Legislation

This report focuses on this nexus of immigration law and health care reform in the major health care reform bills that are receiving action.
Date: November 10, 2009
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation: A Possible Role for Congress (open access)

Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation: A Possible Role for Congress

This report focuses on the creation of the Transatlantic Economic Council; the role of legislatures in the regulatory process; and the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue and its new role as an advisor to transatlantic regulatory efforts.
Date: November 18, 2009
Creator: Ahearn, Raymond J. & Morelli, Vincent
System: The UNT Digital Library
Noncitizen Eligibility and Verification Issues in the Health Care Reform Legislation (open access)

Noncitizen Eligibility and Verification Issues in the Health Care Reform Legislation

This report focuses on this nexus of immigration law and health care reform in the major health care reform bills that are receiving action.
Date: November 2, 2009
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance (open access)

Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance

This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government.
Date: November 30, 2009
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
System: The UNT Digital Library
Economic Stimulus: Issues and Policy (open access)

Economic Stimulus: Issues and Policy

This report discusses the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which included tax cut and spending provisions totaling at a cost of $787 billion in an attempt to mitigate the economic fallout of the housing and financial crises on the general economy. The report examines issues surrounding fiscal stimulus such as timeliness, the magnitude of stimulus, long-term effects and previously adopted policies.
Date: November 27, 2009
Creator: Gravelle, Jane G.; Hungerford, Thomas L. & Labonte, Marc
System: The UNT Digital Library
Strategic Arms Control After START: Issues and Options (open access)

Strategic Arms Control After START: Issues and Options

The United States and Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in 1991; it entered into force in December 1994 and expired in December 2009. This report provides background information about the START Treaty and reviews the discussions about a possible successor to START. It also presents a range of alternatives that the United States and Russia might consider if they choose to follow START with a new framework for the arms control process.
Date: November 18, 2009
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Economic Stimulus: Issues and Policy (open access)

Economic Stimulus: Issues and Policy

This report discusses the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which included tax cut and spending provisions totaling at a cost of $787 billion in an attempt to mitigate the economic fallout of the housing and financial crises on the general economy. The report examines issues surrounding fiscal stimulus such as timeliness, the magnitude of stimulus, long-term effects and previously adopted policies.
Date: November 10, 2009
Creator: Gravelle, Jane G.; Hungerford, Thomas L. & Labonte, Marc
System: The UNT Digital Library
Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance (open access)

Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance

This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government.
Date: November 2, 2009
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
System: The UNT Digital Library
Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues (open access)

Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues

This report provides an overview of major legal issues likely to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to close the Guantanamo detention facility. It discusses legal issues related to the transfer of Guantanamo detainees, the continued detention of such persons in the United States, and the possible removal of persons brought into the country. It also discusses selected constitutional issues that may arise in the criminal prosecution of detainees, emphasizing the procedural and substantive protections that are utilized in different adjudicatory forums.
Date: November 17, 2009
Creator: Garcia, Michael John; Bazan, Elizabeth B.; Mason, R. Chuck; Liu, Edward C. & Henning, Anna C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Trade Deficit and the Impact of Changing Oil Prices (open access)

U.S. Trade Deficit and the Impact of Changing Oil Prices

This report provides an estimate of the initial impact of the changing oil prices on the nation's merchandise trade balance.
Date: November 13, 2009
Creator: Jackson, James K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Foreign Investment in U.S. Securities (open access)

Foreign Investment in U.S. Securities

This report relies on a comprehensive set of data on capital flows, represented by purchases and sales of U.S. government securities and U.S. and foreign corporate stocks, bonds, into and out of the United States, that is reported by the Treasury Department on a monthly basis.
Date: November 18, 2009
Creator: Jackson, James K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Federal Budget: Current and Upcoming Issues (open access)

The Federal Budget: Current and Upcoming Issues

This report examines changes to the Federal Budget for Fiscal Years 2008-2010. The report considers the factors that have an effect on various budgetary functions and decisions. The report specifically focuses on the effect of the 2007-2008 financial recession on the budget, but also considers more long-term fiscal issues such as health care for retiring Baby-Boomers.
Date: November 25, 2009
Creator: Austin, D. Andrew & Levit, Mindy R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress (open access)

Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress

This report discusses the process of naming Navy ships, which have traditionally been chosen and announced by the Secretary of the Navy. Congress in recent years has proposed, and sometimes passed, legislation regarding the naming of specific ships.
Date: November 17, 2009
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
Immigration: The Effects on Low-Skilled and High-Skilled Native-Born Workers (open access)

Immigration: The Effects on Low-Skilled and High-Skilled Native-Born Workers

The report opens with a discussion of how to analyze the impact of immigrants on the pay and job opportunities of native-born workers. It then uses this framework to examine and interpret the empirical literature on the subject. The report concludes with a discussion of policy implications.
Date: November 5, 2009
Creator: Levine, Linda
System: The UNT Digital Library
Public Health, Workforce, Quality, and Related Provisions in H.R. 3962 (open access)

Public Health, Workforce, Quality, and Related Provisions in H.R. 3962

This report discusses health care reform, which was at the top of the domestic policy agenda for the 111th Congress, driven by concerns about the growing ranks of the uninsured and the unsustainable growth in spending on health care and health insurance.
Date: November 5, 2009
Creator: Redhead, C. Stephen
System: The UNT Digital Library