Sub-Saharan Africa has been far more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. The United Nations reports that 25.3 million adults and children are infected with the HIV virus in the region, which has about 10% of the world's population but more than 70% of the worldwide total of infected people. This report discusses this issue in detail, including the cause of the African AIDS epidemic, the social and economic consequences, response and treatment, and U.S. policy.

This report discusses the Andean Regional Initiative (ARI), implemented by the Bush Administration in 2001 to provide economic and counter-narcotics assistance for Colombia and regional neighbors. The report discusses the goals of the ARI, as well as related appropriations.

The nation’s health, wealth, and security rely on the production and distribution of certain goods and services. The array of physical assets, processes and organizations across which these goods and services move are called critical infrastructures (e.g. electricity, the power plants that generate it, and the electric grid upon which it is distributed). Computers and communications, themselves critical infrastructures, are increasingly tying these infrastructures together. This report aims to address the concern that this reliance on computers and computer networks raises the vulnerability of the nation’s critical infrastructures to “cyber” attacks.

This report discusses different perspectives used to consider issues related to the global climate change and issues related to the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 1997 Kyoto Agreement.

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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 U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) is one of the largest energy conservation programs in the nation. The DOE program is implemented in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Native American Tribes. It weatherizes an average of 70,000 dwellings per year. The program strives to increase the energy efficiency of dwellings occupied by low-income persons in order to reduce their energy consumption and lower their fuel bills. It targets vulnerable groups including the elderly, people with disabilities, and families with children.

This report provides information about the Background and Legislative Issues on Export-Import Bank. The import-export bank is the U.S chief government agency that helps finance American exports.

This report discusses the Export-Import Bank (Ex-In Bank), the chief U.S. government agency that helps finance American exports of manufactured goods and services with the objective of contributing to the employment of U.S. workers. This report discusses the Bank's budget and related legislation, including the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, signed by President Barack Obama and authorizing spending limitations for the Bank.

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This report briefly discusses programs designed to provide income support, price support, and/or supply management for approximately 20 specified agricultural commodities. USDA farm support programs represent the heart of U.S. farm policy, by virtue of their longevity – they have existed since the early 1930s – and their cost.

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This report includes information regarding Pakistan. Information including historical background, Pakistan and U.S. relations, and U.S. aid to Pakistan is detailed in this report.

The events of September 11, 2001, have caused speculation that the U.S. stock market may crash when trading resumes. History, however, suggests that there is no uniform pattern in which bad news is followed by a stock market plunge. This report presents data on the stock market response to four episodes: Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy assassination, the October 1987 stock market crash, and the Asian financial crisis of 1997. There is, of course, no guarantee that the market will behave now or in the future as it did then.

The Constitution empowers the President to act as Commander in Chief of the armed forces and to see to the execution of federal law; it gives Congress the authority to make federal law including laws for the regulation of the armed forces. The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the use of the armed forces to perform civilian governmental tasks unless explicitly authorized to do so. There are statutory exceptions to ensure continued enforcement of state and federal law, to provide disaster assistance, and to provide technical support for law enforcement. There are constitutional impediments to the use of the military to nationalize an industry, to try civilians, and to compel state officials to perform federally-imposed duties.

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.

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This report explores the authority of BLM personnel regarding unauthorized cattle by reviewing the statutory authorities of BLM over the federal rangelands under its administration, and the regulations and administrative materials implementing those authorities in the context of grazing, trespass, impoundment and sale of unauthorized livestock.

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This report describes the background of the Export-Import Bank (Eximbank), which finances and promotes U.S. trade. The report also describes Eximbank's programs, developments, international agreements, and legislative issues.

This report discusses the Export-Import Bank (Ex-In Bank), the chief U.S. government agency that helps finance American exports of manufactured goods and services with the objective of contributing to the employment of U.S. workers.