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H.R. 1417, 108th Congress, first session, was introduced on March 25, 2003 and passed by the House on March 3, 2004. If enacted, this bill would make extensive changed to the procedural framework for adjudicating royalty rates for compulsory licenses under the Copyright Act. This report details the background and legislative action on the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004.

This report outlines the provisions of the Conventions as they apply to prisoners of war and to civilians, and the minimum level of protection offered by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. There follows an analysis of key terms that set the standards for the treatment of prisoners that are especially relevant to interrogation, including torture, coercion, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, with reference to some historical war crimes cases and cases involving the treatment of persons suspected of engaging in terrorism. Finally, the report discusses and analyzes some of the various interrogation techniques approved or considered for use during interrogations of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

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This report discusses the background of COOP planning, discusses elements of an effective COOP plan, and reviews the current policies governing COOP planning in the executive branch. The final two sections address issues and policy questions, including, among other matters, the status of agency preparedness, maintaining COOP preparedness, congressional committee oversight of COOP activity, and funding for contingency planning.

At present, the United States has two main programs for temporarily importing low-skilled workers, sometimes referred to as guest workers. Agricultural guest workers enter through the H-2A program and other guest workers enter through the H-2B program. Employers interested in importing workers under either program must first apply to the U.S. Labor Department for a certification that U.S. workers capable of performing the work are not available and that the employment of alien workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. Other requirements of the programs differ.

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This report discusses policy and legislation regarding fish and marine mammals. These animals are important resources in open ocean and nearshore coastal areas. Commercial and sport fishing are jointly managed by the federal government and individual states. Many laws and regulations guide the management of these resources by federal agencies.

This report describes relevant treaties, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1483, current U.S. law, and proposed legislation, including H.Con.Res. 113, the Iraq Cultural Protection Act (H.R. 2009 and H.R. 3497), and the Emergency Protection for Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2004 (S. 1291 and S. 671, the latter of which has passed the Senate as an engrossed amendment to H.R. 1047, the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004).

This is a report on the backgroud an public policy issues with the fuel, Ethanol.

This report discusses a category of congressionally chartered nonprofit organizations that have as their purpose the promotion of patriotic, charitable, educational, and other eleemosynary activities . Title 36 of the United States Code, where such corporate organizations are listed with their charters, was re-codified by law in 1998 (EL 105-225).

This report lists civil suites filled by federal regulatory agencies charging individuals and corporations with violations related to these scandals. The list is limited to corporations and their offices or employees that fit within the Enron pattern. That is, these are cases that display one or more of the following: irregular accounting and auditing, management self-dealing, conflicts of interests between firms and financial advisors (or Wall Street firms and their costumers), and manipulation or abusive trading in energy markets.

This report discusses Congresses plans for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the amendments made to the due process and provision of free appropriate public education (FAPE). On November 21, 2003, the Senate agreed to limited consideration of S. 1248 to certain amendments such as attorney's fees.