This report addresses the Social Security Deficit in 1977 and the Administration Proposals for reducing it.

This report is on The Costs and Benefits of Residential Energy Conservation.

This report is a brief organizational history of the NSC and other components of the Executive office and their changing role in the national security policy process.

This report discusses the 1985 African famine situation, especially regarding U.S. emergency assistance at a time of U.S. domestic budgetary restraints, the adequacy of U.S. measures for monitoring and anticipating food emergencies, and the scale and nature of U.S. agricultural development programs intended to prevent future famines.

This report presents the issues discussed by Congress in regard to Conrail’s sale. In examining the issues in Conrail's sale, Congress most likely will consider the welfare of Conrail employees as affected by the terms and conditions of the sale. Should negotiations on labor conditions with the final bidder fail, Congress might be asked to include labor conditions as part of any legislation related to the sale of Conrail.

This paper provides background information about World Bank borrowing and lending activities and about U.S. participation in the Bank. Among other matters, it discusses where the World Bank borrows its funds, the amounts contributed by the United States and other countries, and changes i n World Bank priorities and loan policy.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation. and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, authorizes the Federal Government, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to clean up hazardous waste sites. There are currently about 1,200 sites on Superfund's National Priorities List, with remedial costs expected to be around $40 billion.

This report discusses the contentious issue of enforcing stringent national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter (PM), the opponents of which decry as harmful to the economy. The report discusses actions undertaken by the EPA, President Clinton's support of the NAAQSs, and the criticisms of opponents.

Electronic commercial transactions over the Internet, or “e-commerce,” have grown so fast over the last five years that many experts continue to underestimate its growth and development. Whether retail business-to-customer or business-to-business transactions, e-commerce shows no signs of slowing down. In turn, policymakers both in the United States and abroad are likely to face increasingly complex issues of security, privacy, taxation, infrastructure development and other issues in 2000 and beyond. This report will be updated periodically.

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This report the country of Syria following the rule of Hafiz al-Asad. Dr. Bashar al-Asad seems poised to succeed his father, the late President Hafiz al-Asad, following the latter's death from a heart attack on June 10, 2000; however, Bashar is untested and may face challenges from other leading figures or dissidents. No major changes in Syria's position on peace talks with Israel or relations with the United States seem likely while the successor regime consolidates its control.

This report contains the changing composition of the federal research and development portfolio.

This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for energy development. The report discusses arguments for and against such development and focuses especially on related pieces of legislation that directly affects the future of the ANWR.

Some policymakers, believing that disparities in broadband access across American society could have adverse economic and social consequences on those left behind, assert that the federal government should play a more active role to avoid a “digital divide” in broadband access. One approach is for the federal government to provide financial assistance to support broadband deployment in underserved areas. Others, however, believe that federal assistance for broadband deployment is not appropriate. Some opponents question the reality of the “digital divide,” and argue that federal intervention in the broadband marketplace would be premature and, in some cases, counterproductive.

This report provides a framework for understanding the paper-based and electronic components of the current U.S. payments system. It begins with a basic overview of the payments system, explaining the relative size and growth of various methods of payment. The report discusses paper-based payments and then examines the operations of wholesale and retail electronic payments. Finally, the report discusses some of the major policy issues concerning the regulation and supervision of electronic payments.

Omnibus energy legislation (H.R. 4) that is now in conference would expand energy tax incentives significantly. The House passed the bill on August 2, 2001, and the Senate approved its version April 25, 2002. Several energy tax issues are addressed in these bills: 1) tax incentives to increase the supply of oil and gas, and the demand for coal; 2) energy tax issues relating to energy conservation and energy efficiency; 3) energy tax issues relating to alternative fuels; 4) selected issues relating to electricity restructuring; and 5) expiring energy tax provisions.

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This report will examine the preemption provisions of ERISA, the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of these provisions, selected cases applying ERISA to state medical malpractice and negligence claims, and the congressional response to the issue.

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The United States recognized the independence of all the former Soviet republics by the end of 1991, including the South Caucasus states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The United States has fostered these states' ties with the West in part to end the dependence of these states on Russia for trade, security, and other relations. The FREEDOM Support Act of 1992 provides authorization for assistance to the Eurasian states for humanitarian needs, democratization, and other purposes. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, the Administration appealed for a national security waiver of the prohibition on aid to Azerbaijan, in consideration of Azerbaijan's assistance to the international coalition to combat terrorism. Azerbaijani and Georgian troops participate in stabilization efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Armenian personnel serve in Iraq.

The entry into force, on January 1, 1994, of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has eliminated the advantage that the beneficiaries of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and related provisions of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) had enjoyed in trade with the United States relative to Mexico, and gave Mexico an increasingly significant competitive edge over the CBERA countries. The scheduled further implementation of the NAFTA would have resulted in a substantial advantage to Mexico over the CBERA countries and vitiate in part the purpose of the CBERA.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) calls for disposal of spent nuclear fuel in a deep geologic repository that is unlikely to be disturbed for thousands of years. Low-level waste sites are a state responsibility under the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980. Pursuant to that act, 10 regional compacts for disposal of low level waste have been approved by Congress. Three commercial low-level waste sites are currently operating, in the states of South Carolina, Utah, and Washington.