A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. dairy farmers produced 167.7 billion pounds of unprocessed, raw milk in 2000. Federal and state dairy programs influence the minimum prices paid to farmers for raw milk. These prices are based on how the raw milk is to be used. Minimum prices set for raw milk to be used for making drinking milk (fluid milk) are higher than those for milk used for manufacturing cheese, butter, and other dairy products. About 70 percent of the raw milk produced in the United States is regulated under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) federal milk marketing order program. The 1996 farm bill established another pricing program -- the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact (NEDC) -- which is run by a commission that sets a minimum price for raw milk sold as fluid milk in six New England states. The NEDC works in conjunction with federal and state dairy programs to establish an alternative minimum price for raw milk in the Compact states. When the monthly NEDC minimum price exceeds the federal marketing order or state minimum price, the NEDC price becomes the minimum price. Congress is now considering …

U.S. policy-makers once saw Zimbabwe as a source of political and economic stability in southern Africa, but with the failure of Zimbabwe’s economic reform program and mounting unrest in the 1990s, U.S. assistance levels fell sharply. Aid now focuses on programs to strengthen democracy, raise living standards among the poor, and fight the AIDS epidemic. In 2000, the United States strongly criticized pre-election violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe. In June 2001, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs warned that the United States and Zimbabwe could not have normal relations until the violence and intimidation end and the rule of law is restored.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "About 80 means-tested federal programs assisted low-income people in 1998. GAO reviewed 11 programs that assisted families and individuals with income, food, medical assistance, and housing. Despite substantial overlap in the populations they serve, the 11 programs varied significantly in their financial eligibility rules. At the most basic level, the dollar levels of the income limits--the maximum amounts of income an applicant can have and still be eligible for a program--vary across programs. Beyond this, differences exist in the income rules, such as whose income and what types of income are counted. The variations and complexity of the federal financial eligibility rules, along with other factors, have led to processes that are often duplicative and cumbersome for both caseworkers and applicants. Overall, federal, state, and local entities have made little progress in simplifying or coordinating eligibility determination processes. States realigned some of the financial rules, but only to a limited extent. Another approach uses computer systems to establish joint eligibility determination processes that a single caseworker can administer. Efforts to simplify or better coordinate eligibility determination processes confront many obstacles, including restrictive federal program statutes and …

The formation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as methanol, in kraft mills has been an environmental concern. Methanol is soluble in water and can increase the biochemical oxygen demand. Furthermore, it can also be released into atmosphere at the process temperatures of kraft mill-streams. The Cluster Rule of the EPA now requires the control of the release of methanol in pulp and paper mills. This research program was conducted to develop a computer simulation tool for mills to predict VOC air emissions. To achieve the objective of the research program, much effort was made in the development of analytical techniques for the analysis of VOC and determination of vapor liquid partitioning coefficient of VOCs in kraft mill-streams using headspace gas chromatography. With the developed analytical tool, methanol formation in alkaline pulping was studied in laboratory to provide benchmark data of the amount of methanol formation in pulping in kraft mills and for the validation of VOC formation and vapor-liquid equilibrium submodels. Several millwide air and liquid samplings were conducted using the analytical tools developed to validate the simulation tool. The VOC predictive simulation model was developed based on the basic chemical engineering concepts, i.e., reaction kinetics, vapor liquid equilibrium, …

The formation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as methanol, in kraft mills has been an environmental concern. Methanol is soluble in water and can increase the biochemical oxygen demand. Furthermore, it can also be released into atmosphere at the process temperatures of kraft mill-streams. The Cluster Rule of the EPA now requires the control of the release of methanol in pulp and paper mills. This research program was conducted to develop a computer simulation tool for mills to predict VOC air emissions. To achieve the objective of the research program, much effort was made in the development of analytical techniques for the analysis of VOC and determination of vapor liquid partitioning coefficient of VOCs in kraft mill-streams using headspace gas chromatography. With the developed analytical tool, methanol formation in alkaline pulping was studied in laboratory to provide benchmark data of the amount of methanol formation in pulping in kraft mills and for the validation of VOC formation and vapor-liquid equilibrium submodels. Several millwide air and liquid samplings were conducted using the analytical tools developed to validate the simulation tool. The VOC predictive simulation model was developed based on the basic chemical engineering concepts, i.e., reaction kinetics, vapor liquid equilibrium, …

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This report discuss issues that received congressional attention in the 107th Congress, such as The impact of air quality regulations, key water quality issues, superfund, solid/hazardous wastes, multibillion dollar cleanup and compliance programs, climate change, pesticides, EPA budget, and Science and Technology.

This report discusses the context of India- U.S. relations, and its bilateral issues.

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The purpose of this report is to review the status of the Democratic Republic of the Congo peace process, provide background on recent conflicts in the Congo; briefly summarize the political history that led to these conflicts; and assess prospects for the future. U.S. Congo policy and congressional involvement are also described.

Since the United States imposed a comprehensive trade embargo against Cuba in the early 1960s, there have been numerous policy changes to restrictions on travel to Cuba. The embargo regulations do not ban travel itself, but place restrictions on any financial transactions related to travel to Cuba, which effectively result in a travel ban. This report reflects legislative or other major developments , including a listing and discussion of legislative initiatives in the 107th Congress.

The report describes the Interim Digest, which is a compilation of interim committee action. In general, committees were given interim charges and have reported their recommendations to the 77th Legislature. The Interim Digest summarizes several recommendations for the next legislature.

This report provides a side-by-side comparison of the charitable choice provisions of H.R. 7 with those of the 1996 welfare reform law (P.L. 104-193) and of later laws that extended charitable choice rules to the Community Services Block Grant Act (P.L. 105-285) and to substance abuse treatment and prevention services under the Public Health Service Act (P.L 106-310 and P.L. 106-554).

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The United States and its allies are helping Afghanistan emerging from more than 22 years of warfare, although substantial risk to Afghan stability remains. Before the U.S. military campaign against the orthodox Islamist Taliban movement began on October 7, 2001, Afghanistan had been mired in conflict since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The defeat of the Taliban has enabled the United States and its coalition partners to send forces throughout Afghanistan to search for Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters and leaders that remain at large, including Osama bin Laden. As the war against remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban elements winds down, the United States is shifting its military focus toward stabilizing the interim government, including training a new Afghan national army, and supporting the international security force (ISAF) that is helping the new government provide security.

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Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittees.

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Report providing summaries of significant legislative actions conducted by the 77th Texas Legislature, broken down by topical categories.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

This is a directory of sources that congressional offices may use to obtain publications from the Executive Office of the President, the executive departments, and the independent agencies and commissions of the federal government. Also included is information on the Superintendent of Documents, the U.S. Government Printing Office, and the federal government’s printing policies; suggestions on what to do when a publication is out of print; and information on where copies of government publications may be obtained on the Internet. The information for each agency includes address, telephone number, fax number, and Internet e-mail address and Website, where available