This report discusses regulations forbidding the use of foreign money in U.S. election campaigns and various debates and recent actions surrounding enforcement of the rules.

Mortgage debt cancellation can occur when lenders restructure loans, reducing principal balances, or sell properties, either in advance, or as a result, of foreclosure proceedings. Exceptions have been available for taxpayers who are insolvent or in bankruptcy, among others- these taxpayers may exclude canceled mortgage debt income under existing law.

This report discusses Congress' establishment of the Essential Air Service (EAS), a program to ensure that small communities that were served by certificated air carriers before the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 would continue to receive scheduled passenger service, with subsidies if necessary. Deregulation gave airlines almost total freedom to determine which domestic markets to serve and what airfares to charge, which raised the concern that communities with relatively low passenger levels would lose service as carriers shifted their operations to serve larger and often more profitable markets.

This report provides a brief overview of the development of tactical teams at the state and local level and the concerns raised by their expansion. It then discusses the composition of these teams in the federal government. It concludes with a discussion of potential issues for policymakers to consider if they take up legislation or conduct oversight related to how the federal government uses tactical teams.

This report is a fact sheet on the U.S. catfish industry and foreign trade.

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This report begins with a brief discussion of relevant portions of the U.S. corporate income tax system before examining how inversions were commonly structured. The report then looks at how Congress and Department of the Treasury have reduced the benefits of inversions. The report concludes with an examination of methods that remain to invert and policy options available to prevent or limit these inversions.

This report provides a brief legislative history of the Elder Justice Act, summarizes elder justice provisions enacted as part of ACA, and administrative efforts related to implementation and funding. The report then describes several issues for Congress with respect to the act's reauthorization.

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This report explains the governments relationship with Ally Financial (formerly known as General Motors Acceptance Corporation, or GMAC). Under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) the government purchased preferred shares in Ally Financial, acquiring a 73.8% ownership state. This report discusses the reasoning behind this assistance to Ally and the ultimate costs.

This report examines current economic and political issues in Mongolia, including the country's democratic development, investment climate, military engagement and foreign relations.

This report provides an overview of the latest developments in Islamabad. The report discusses the recent political unrest in Pakistan and implications for the U.S. interest.

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This report looks at several bills addressing the Family Planning Program (Title X of the Public Health Service Act) which have been introduced in the 112th Congress, including: funding for abortion-providing entities, elimination of the program, and prohibitions on government spending for the program.

This report provides an overview of key legal issues raised by state laws regarding the denial or issuance of driver's licenses and other forms of ID to unlawfully present aliens. It also addresses the legal issues raised by local governments issuing ID cards to unlawfully present aliens, as well as by state and local approaches to recognizing foreign-issued ID documents.

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This report discusses the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Laws based on suspect classifications such as race or gender, however, typically receive heightened scrutiny and require a stronger, if not compelling, state interest to justify the classification.

Hanford tank wastes are chemically complex slurries of liquids and solids that can exhibit changes in rheological behavior during retrieval and processing. The Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) recently abandoned its planned approach to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) supported by testing at less than full scale to verify the design of vessels that process these wastes within the plant. The commercial CFD tool selected was deemed too difficult to validate to the degree necessary for use in the design of a nuclear facility. Alternative, but somewhat immature, CFD tools are available that can simulate multiphase flow of non-Newtonian fluids. Yet both CFD and scaled testing can play an important role in advancing the Hanford tank waste mission—in supporting the new verification approach, which is to conduct testing in actual plant vessels; in supporting waste feed delivery, where scaled testing is ongoing; as a fallback approach to design verification if the Full Scale Vessel Testing Program is deemed too costly and time-consuming; to troubleshoot problems during commissioning and operation of the plant; and to evaluate the effects of any proposed changes in operating conditions in the future to optimize plant performance.

This procedure implements portions of the requirements of MSC-MP-599, Quality Assurance Program Description. It establishes the Mission Support Alliance (MSA) practices for minimizing the introduction of and identifying, documenting, dispositioning, reporting, controlling, and disposing of suspect/counterfeit and defective items (S/CIs). employees whose work scope relates to Safety Systems (i.e., Safety Class [SC] or Safety Significant [SS] items), non-safety systems and other applications (i.e., General Service [GS]) where engineering has determined that their use could result in a potential safety hazard. MSA implements an effective Quality Assurance (QA) Program providing a comprehensive network of controls and verification providing defense-in-depth by preventing the introduction of S/CIs through the design, procurement, construction, operation, maintenance, and modification of processes. This procedure focuses on those safety systems, and other systems, including critical load paths of lifting equipment, where the introduction of S/CIs would have the greatest potential for creating unsafe conditions.

Neutron detection is an important aspect of materials protection, accounting, and control for transmutation (MPACT). Currently He-3 filled thermal neutron detectors are utilized in many applications; these detectors require high-voltage bias for operation, which complicates the system when multiple detectors are used. In addition, due to recent increase in homeland security activity and the nuclear renaissance, there is a shortage of He-3, and these detectors become more expensive. Instead, cheap solid-state detectors that can be mass produced like any other computer chips will be developed. The new detector does not require a bias for operation, has low gamma sensitivity, and a fast response. The detection system is based on a honeycomb-like silicon device, which is filled with B-10 as the neutron converter; while a silicon p-n diode (i.e., solar cell type device) formed on the thin silicon wall of the honeycomb structure detects the energetic charged particles emitted from the B-10 conversion layer. Such a detector has ~40% calculated thermal neutron detection efficiency with an overall detector thickness of about 200 ?m. Stacking of these devices allows over 90% thermal neutron detection efficiency. The goal of the proposed research is to develop a high-efficiency, low-noise, self-powered solid-state neutron detector system …

A series of experiments to monitor the aging performance of Viton® GLT O-rings used in the Model 9975 package has been ongoing since 2004 at the Savannah River National Laboratory. Seventy tests using mock-ups of 9975 Primary Containment Vessels (PCVs) were assembled and heated to temperatures ranging from 200 to 450 ºF. They were leak-tested initially and have been tested periodically to determine if they meet the criterion of leak-tightness defined in ANSI standard N14.5-97. Fourteen additional tests were initiated in 2008 with GLT-S O-rings heated to temperatures ranging from 200 to 400 ºF. High temperature aging continues for 23 GLT O-ring fixtures at 200 – 270 ºF. Room temperature leak test failures have been experienced in all of the GLT O-ring fixtures aging at 350 ºF and higher temperatures, and in 8 fixtures aging at 300 ºF. The remaining GLT O-ring fixtures aging at 300 ºF have been retired from testing following more than 5 years at temperature without failure. No failures have yet been observed in GLT O-ring fixtures aging at 200 ºF for 61 - 85 months, which is still bounding to O-ring temperatures during storage in KArea Complex (KAC). Based on expectations that the fixtures aging …

We have combined, in a single instrument, high spatial resolution optical microscopy with the chemical specificity and conformational selectivity of ion mobility mass spectrometry. We discuss the design and construction of this apparatus as well as our efforts in applying this technique to thin films of molecular semiconductor materials.

This report provides background information and potential issues for Congress on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a relatively inexpensive Navy surface combatant equipped with modular "plug-and-fight" mission packages for countering mines, small boats, and diesel-electric submarines, particularly in littoral (i.e., near-shore) waters.

This report discusses the reports of a mass casualty chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus and the possible punitive U.S. military action against the Asad regime.