This report provides a brief overview of the existing statutory authority and implementing regulation. It describes several policy issues raised in previous debates regarding chemical facility security and identifies policy options for congressional consideration.

This report discusses the VRA that was enacted under Congress's authority to enforce the 15th Amendment, which provides that the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous servitude.

This report discusses the statutory prohibitions that may be implicated, including the Espionage Act; the extraterritorial application of such statutes; and the First Amendment implications related to such prosecutions against domestic or foreign media organizations and associated individuals.

The earned income tax credit, established in the tax code in 1975, provides cash assistance to lower-income working parents and individuals through the tax system. The earned income tax credit will be higher in 2012 and 2013 than it was in 2011. An increase in the size of the earned income tax credit will occur because the maximum amount of earned income used to calculate the credit and the phase-out income level and indexed for inflation. The increases reflect the inflation adjustment.

This report outlines the required minimum functions of exchanges, and explains how exchanges are expected to be established and administered under ACA. The coverage offered through exchanges is discussed, and the report concludes with discussion of how exchanges will interact with selected other ACA provisions.

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This report identifies two types of labor enforcement issues: those that relate to the free trade agreements (FTA) provisions themselves, including their definitions and their enforceability, and those that relate to executive branch responsibilities, such as resource availability and determining dispute settlement case priorities.

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This report discusses the application of antidumping and countervailing duty law to the goods of nonmarket economy (NME) countries, including the decision of the Department of Commerce (DOC) in 2007 to change its long-standing policy and apply CVD law to such goods; reviews China's successful case in the World Trade Organization challenging the U.S. application of CVDs to Chinese products and the status of U.S. compliance efforts in the case; examines the December 2011 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in GPX Int'l Tire Corp. v. United States holding that the U.S. CVD law does not authorize DOC to apply CVDs to NME country goods; summarizes the subsequently enacted P.L. 112-99, signed March 13, 2012, a statute authorizing DOC to apply CVDs to such products; and notes recent developments in the GPX litigation.

This report offers background information on Ukraine's current political and economic situation, and foreign policy towards NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the European Union, and Russia. It also discusses U.S. policy, U.S. aid to Ukraine, the congressional response, and related legislation.

This report is designed to provide Congress with a perspective on the contemporary political system of China, the only Communist Party-led state in the G-20 grouping of major economies. China's Communist Party dominates state and society in China, is committed to maintaining a permanent monopoly on power, and is intolerant of those who question its right to rule.

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This report provides an overview of the federal role in water resources development, management, and protection, including a discussion of the two major federal water resources agencies and related legislation. It also discusses overarching policy issues, such as flood and drought management and response; project funding and authorization priorities; and aquatic ecosystem restoration.