This report summarizes the FY2011 budget request for research & development (R&D) funding, including comparisons to R&D funding requests in the FY2010 budget. Congress will play a central role in defining the nation's R&D priorities, especially with respect to two overarching issues: the extent to which the Federal R&D investment can grow in the context of increased pressure on discretionary spending and how available funding will be prioritized and allocated. This report breaks down in detail the various aspects of the President's FY2011 R&D funding request.

The Navy's FY2011-FY2015 shipbuilding plan calls for procuring an 11th and final San Antonio (LPD-17) class amphibious ship in FY2012. FY2011 issues for Congress include whether to approve, reject, or modify the Navy's proposed funding profile for procuring the 11th LPD-17, and whether to provide the Navy with any direction concerning the design of the LSD(X) or procurement of LPD-17s beyond the 11th ship. Congress's decisions on these issues will affect, among other things, Navy and Marine Corps funding requirements and capabilities, and the shipbuilding industrial base.

This report discusses the Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA), which was signed into law in 2002 with the intention of increasing financial accountability in the federal government, thereby reducing wasteful spending.

Protests of high-profile awards and reports that the number of protests is increasing have recently prompted congressional and public interest in bid protests, particularly bid protests filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). This report is one of two providing Congress with background on the GAO bid-protest process. It provides an overview of the timeframes and procedures in a GAO bid protest, including several issues enumerated in the report's introduction.

Iraq's political system, the result of a U.S.-supported election process, has been increasingly characterized by peaceful competition, as well as by attempts to form cross-sectarian alliances. However, ethnic and factional infighting continues, sometimes involving the questionable use of key levers of power and legal institutions. This report discusses the current political climate of Iraq and also explores speculations as to what will happen after U.S. troops completely withdraw from the region at the end of 2011.

This report discusses the state of poverty in the United States, including how poverty is measured, selected poverty-related demographics, and certain federal aid efforts to those who are impoverished.

This report provides a descriptive analysis of both nonmonetary and monetary burial veterans' benefits and national cemeteries. It addresses congressional and constituent issues, such as who is eligible to receive burial benefits; who can be buried in a national cemetery; what plans does the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have to build new or expand existing national cemeteries; and what benefits does the VA provide, among others.

This report identifies areas where changes in existing policies and practices may facilitate achievement of the important goals for emergency communications that Congress and others have identified. Why these goals have become important, and recent planning efforts to achieve these goals, is discussed first. Next, possible barriers to achieving these goals are identified and described. The conclusion revisits key options presently under consideration by Congress.

This report examines the political and economic environment in Latin America and the Caribbean and U.S. policy toward the region in the 115th Congress, highlighting congressional interest and legislative action.

This report begins with a discussion of the overall level of President Trump's FY2019 R&D request, followed by analyses of the R&D funding request from a variety of perspectives and for selected multiagency R&D initiatives. The remainder of the report provides discussion and analysis of the R&D budget requests of selected federal departments and agencies that, collectively, account for approximately 99% of total federal R&D funding.

This report reviews the budget authority provided to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for FY2018, requested by the Trump Administration for FY2019, as well as the funding levels proposed in Senate and House Appropriations Committee-reported legislation for FY2019. It examines net discretionary annual appropriations for DHS--a perspective on the net impact of legislation funding DHS on congressionally tracked budget totals--and also provides a more inclusive look at the resources available to DHS components to perform their missions.

This report is designed to provide an overview of key reserve component personnel issues. The term "Reserve Component" refers collectively to the seven individual reserve components of the Armed Forces: the Army National Guard of the United States, the Army Reserve, the Navy Reserve, the Marine Corps Reserve, the Air National Guard of the United States, the Air Force Reserve, and the Coast Guard Reserve.

This report discusses Qatar's governmental structure and politics, economy, foreign policy and regional disputes with other Gulf countries, U.S.-Qatar relations and security collaboration, and human rights issues.

This report discusses the Army's Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs) and the transport and reconnaissance vehicles being developed for their use, as well as information about the FY2019 budget request for the program.

This report discusses the sanctions the U.S. employs against Venezuela related to terrorism, drug trafficking, trafficking in persons, antidemocratic actions, human rights violations, and corruption.

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This report provides data on current Latin American and Caribbean leaders and the date of their last election as well as the next scheduled election.

This report consists of two tables, preceded by a brief narrative. The first table summarizes the annual funding provisions, by program, in (1) current law, (2) H.R. 2419 as passed, and (3) the Bush Administration's farm bill proposals. The second table compares FY2007 authorized and actual funding levels for programs authorized in the 2002 farm bill with FY2008 and FY2012 funding levels that would be authorized in the 2007 House-passed farm bill.

WRDA is the main legislative vehicle for Corps civil works authorizations. This report considers the current status of WRDA and major issues shaping WRDA consideration in the 110th Congress, including changes to Corps project development practices and policies, coastal Louisiana wetlands restoration activities, Upper Mississippi River Illinois Waterway (UMR-IWW) investments, and Everglades restoration projects.

This report presents information on poverty for demographic groups (by family structure, age, race and Hispanic origin, and work status) and for states. In this report, the numbers and percentages of those in poverty are based on the Census Bureau's estimates