This report provides an overview of Egyptian politics and current issues in U.S.-Egyptian relations. It briefly provides a political history of modern Egypt, an overview of its political institutions, and a discussion of the prospects for democratization in Egypt.

This report discusses the political history of Iran, U.S. strategy in Iran, and the Obama Administration's policies for dealing with Iran, especially with regard to the previous administration's policies.

This report covers the contentious travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba from the 1960s to the present time. It includes background on the restrictions, enforcement of restrictions, and arguments for or against maintaining travel restrictions. It also provides background on relevant legislative initiatives during the 106th through the 111th Congresses.

This report briefly discusses the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs appropriations legislation and then provides a short description of the various funding accounts as they appear in the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L. 111-8).

This report discusses the reasons that Iran is considered a threat to U.S. security, including Iran's nuclear program, involvement with terrorist organizations, and involvement with neighboring countries' local governments. The report also discusses ways which the U.S. hopes to modify Iran's behavior with sanctions, and the effectiveness of these sanctions.

This report discusses §1611, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which requires companies receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funding to comply with the more rigorous labor market rules of H-1B dependent companies if they hire foreign workers on H-1B visas.

This report discusses the issue before Congress of whether to continue the federal prosecution of medical marijuana patients and their providers, in accordance with the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), or whether to relax federal marijuana prohibition enough to permit the medicinal use of botanical cannabis products when recommended by a physician, especially where permitted under state law.

Annual report of federal funds expended by the state of Texas including financial statements and reports from auditors related to fiscal year 2008.

This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, focusing particularly on the influence of the Taliban and other militant groups and on the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. This report also discusses the U.S.-Afghanistan relationship and U.S. efforts under the Obama Administration to provide military, reconstructive, and stabilization aid.

This report discusses the current political and economic conditions in the country of Panama, which has made notable political and economic progress since the 1989 U.S. military intervention that ousted the regime of General Manuel Noriega from power. The United States has close relations with Panama, stemming in large part from the extensive linkages developed when the canal was under U.S. control. This report describes the U.S.-Panama relationship at length, including trade relations.

This report discusses issues related to peace in the Middle East, including post-Gulf War negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon; U.S. interest in these and continuing negotiations and peacetalks between Middle Eastern countries; and the role of the U.S., the U.N., the European Union, and Russia in Middle Eastern relations.

The first year of this cooperative agreement focused on the following elements: curriculum development and presentation, curriculum maintenance, enhancements, and effectiveness, and smart card initiative. During the second year of this grant, with redirection from DOE, the IUOE modified its mission statement under the cooperative agreement. It states: 'The mission of the IUOE is to provide expertise to provide best practices, information sharing, and develop scenarios and conduct exercises ranging in size and complexity from table top to national level to prepare all stakeholders to protect and restore energy infrastructure should an event, terrorist or natural, occur'. The Program developed a number of products under this Cooperative Agreement. These products include: FOSTER (Facility Operations Safety Training Event Response) Curriculum and Training Models, Alternative Energy Supply - Generators Training Module, Liquefied Natural Gas Training Module, Education Program - Distributed Generations, Compendium of Resources and References, Energy Security and Restoration Training Manual, Manual of Situations and Scenarios Developed for Emergency Exercises, Manual of Best Practices/Lessons Learned for Energy Load Management, Training Plan, Strategic Information and Exercise Plan, National Certification Plan Report, and a Smart Card Project Report.

.A testing program evaluating actual tank waste was developed in response to Task 4 from the M-12 External Flowsheet Review Team (EFRT) issue response plan. The bulk water-insoluble solid wastes that are anticipated to be delivered to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) were identified according to type such that the actual waste testing could be targeted to the relevant categories. Eight broad waste groupings were defined. Samples available from the 222S archive were identified and obtained for testing. The actual waste-testing program included homogenizing the samples by group, characterizing the solids and aqueous phases, and performing parametric leaching tests. The tributyl phosphate sludge (TBP, Group 7) is the subject of this report. The Group 7 waste was anticipated to be high in phosphorus as well as aluminum in the form of gibbsite. Both are believed to exist in sufficient quantities in the Group 7 waste to address leaching behavior. Thus, the focus of the Group 7 testing was on the removal of both P and Al. The waste-type definition, archived sample conditions, homogenization activities, characterization (physical, chemical, radioisotope, and crystal habit), and caustic leaching behavior as functions of time, temperature, and hydroxide concentration are discussed in this report. …