Flexible spending accounts are employer-established benefit plans that reimburse employees for specified expenses; they first began in the 1970s. Medical savings accounts are tax-advantaged individual savings accounts that can also be used for unreimbursed expenses; they became available under a demonstration that began in 1997. This report contains information regarding flexible spending accounts, medical savings accounts, and comparing the two.

Nearly one out of seven Americans were without health insurance for all of 2000. This was the second consecutive annual decrease in the percentage of uninsured people. The largest gain in health insurance coverage was in the employment-based coverage. This report examines the characteristics of both the insured and the uninsured populations in the United States.

Falling agricultural exports and declining commodity prices led farm groups and agribusiness firms to urge the 106th Congress to pass legislation exempting foods and agricultural commodities from U.S. economic sanctions against certain countries. In completing action on the FY2001 agriculture appropriations bill, Congress codified the lifting of unilateral sanctions on commercial sales of food, agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical products to Iran, Libya, North Korea, and Sudan, and extended this policy to apply to Cuba (Title IX of H.R. 5426, as enacted by P.L. 106-387; Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000). Related provisions place financing and licensing conditions on sales to these countries. Those that apply to Cuba, though, are permanent and more restrictive than for the other countries. Other provisions give Congress the authority in the future to veto a President's proposal to impose a sanction on the sale of agricultural or medical products.

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Report covering U.S. support for the transition to democracy and free market economics in the states of the former Soviet Union (FSU), the United States, since December 1991, has offered roughly $8.2 billion in grants for economic and technical assistance to the region. Most of the grant assistance has been provided through the Agency for International Development (USAID). In addition, $4.8 billion has been provided in food aid through the Department of Agriculture, and $2.9 billion by the Department of Defense for nonproliferation purposes. The United States has also subsidized guarantees for more than $12 billion in credits from the Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Department of Agriculture.

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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.

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This is one part in the series of reports that provide a background and analysis, and most recent developments regarding broadband or high-speed Internet access. The report starts out by answering questions; what is broadband and why is it important? This report also discusses broadband technologies, the status of broadband deployment and the related policy issues, as well as the legislation in congress.

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This report is intended to provide a brief overview of the various potential restrictions or regulations on lobbying activities of non-profit organizations. Public charities, social welfare organizations, religious groups, and other non-profit, tax-exempt organizations are not generally prohibited from engaging in all lobbying or public policy advocacy merely because of their tax-exempt status.

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Sub-Saharan Africa has been far more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. The United Nations reports that 25.3 million adults and children are infected with the HIV virus in the region, which has about 10% of the world's population but more than 70% of the worldwide total of infected people. This report discusses this issue in detail, including the cause of the African AIDS epidemic, the social and economic consequences, response and treatment, and U.S. policy.

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This report provides information about the Human Cloning where a human embryo produced via cloning involves the process called somatic cell nuclear transfer. The nuclear of the egg is removed and replaced with a mature body cell.

This report presents an abbreviated legislative history of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, providing information on the sequence of events leading up to passage and references to related legislative proposals.

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