This report contains the coverage of vision services under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

This report provides Emergency an Overview and Options for Congress on Emergency Management Preparedness Standards which includes major recommendations like adoption and use of emergency response standards, mutual aid provisions, private sector preparedness.

This report includes information regarding various agriculture issues surrounding mad cow disease. Topics of discussion include risk analysis, previous and current safeguards, as well as trade implications.

This report provides an overview of the legal issues surrounding Indian reserved water rights disputes.

This report provides analysis of Current law and Legislative proposals related to Foreign investment and Tax incentives.

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This report discusses policy and legislation regarding fish and marine mammals. These animals are important resources in open ocean and nearshore coastal areas. Commercial and sport fishing are jointly managed by the federal government and individual states. Many laws and regulations guide the management of these resources by federal agencies.

This report outlines the commercial navigation system, how the federal government finances the system, some of the proposals to change federal financing, and challengess to the then future of harbors and inland waterways.

This report is designed to provide facts and figures about the United States defense budget in order to help answer frequently asked questions about defense spending. The answers to these questions are based on analysis of recent and historical trends in the defense budget up to and including the fiscal year (FY) 2005 budget request.

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This report discusses arguments surrounding the proposed position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI), a replacement for the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), who would oversee the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the U.S. Intelligence Community. Updated August 12, 2004.

This report provides a brief description of the substantive criminal law and procedures provisions of the House-passed version of H.R. 10 and Senate passed S.2845.

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This report presents the tax thresholds for various families for tax year 2004.

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This report is a chronological list of these proclamations for 2003 and 2004, indicating the proclamation number and its Federal Register citation.

This report is on Anti-Tax-Shelter and Other revenue-raising Tax Proposals.

This report provides the historical effective marginal tax rates on capital income.

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Medicaid is a joint federal-state entitlement program that pays for medical services on behalf of certain groups of low-income persons. It is the third largest social program in the federal budget, exceeded only by Social Security and Medicare and is typically the second largest spending item for states. This report discusses prescription drug policies under the program.

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In 1994, 34 Western Hemisphere nations met at the first Summit of the Americas, envisioning a plan for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by January 2005. Nine years later, the third draft text of the agreement was presented at the Miami trade ministerial held November 20-21, 2003. Deep differences remain unresolved, however, and, as reflected in the Ministerial Declaration, have taken the FTAA in a new direction. It calls for a two-tier framework comprising a set of “common rights and obligations” for all countries, augmented by voluntary plurilateral arrangements with country benefits related to commitments. A follow-up meeting in Puebla, Mexico was unable to clarify the details of this arrangement and negotiations will continue in late April 2004, when it is hoped that specific commitments will be defined. This report provides background and analysis for Congress on the proposed FTAA and will be updated.

This report is a guide to appropriations of Department of Homeland Security for FY2004.

The sudden and unexpected collapse of Enron Corp. was the first in a series of major corporate accounting scandals that has shaken confidence in corporate governance and the stock market. This report briefly examines the accounting system that failed to provide a clear picture of the firm's true condition, the independent auditors and board members who were unwilling to challenge Enron's management, the Wall Street stock analysts who failed to warn investors of trouble ahead, the rules governing employer stock in company pension plans, and the unregulated energy derivatives trading that was the core of Enron's business.