The Budget for Fiscal Year 2005 (open access)

The Budget for Fiscal Year 2005

The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) January 2004 budget report for FY2005 (the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2005-2014) estimated the FY2005 baseline deficit at $362 billion. CBO’s report provided estimates of the costs of selected alternative policies (measured from the baseline), such as estimates of the cost of extending the tax cuts, reforming the AMT, and discretionary spending growing at various rates.
Date: October 12, 2004
Creator: Winters, Philip D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Budget for Fiscal Year 2005 (open access)

The Budget for Fiscal Year 2005

The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) January 2004 budget report for FY2005 (the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2005-2014) estimated the FY2005 baseline deficit at $362 billion, not much different from that proposed by the Administration. Selected alternative policies included in the CBO report, estimates for the cost of extending the tax cuts, reforming the AMT, and letting discretionary spending grow at the rate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth, would increase the deficit, particularly in the years beyond FY2009.
Date: March 10, 2004
Creator: Winters, Philip D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Federal Government Debt: Its Size and Economic Significance (open access)

The Federal Government Debt: Its Size and Economic Significance

This report explains the different measures of the U.S. government debt, discusses the historical growth in the debt, identifies the current owners of the debt, presents comparisons with the public debt in other countries, and examines the potential economic risks associated with a growing federal debt.
Date: September 9, 2004
Creator: Cashell, Brian W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Higher Education Act: Reauthorization Status and Issues (open access)

The Higher Education Act: Reauthorization Status and Issues

This report provides an overview of postsecondary education (institutions and students), an overview of the Higher Education Act (HEA) with a focus on its most significant programs and provisions, and a discussion of major issues that have been, or may be, of interest to the Congress during the HEA reauthorization process.
Date: October 20, 2004
Creator: Stedman, James B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mad Cow Disease: Agricultural Issues for Congress (open access)

Mad Cow Disease: Agricultural Issues for Congress

This report discuses lumber imports from Canada and provides a concise historical account of the dispute, summarizes the subsidy and injury evidence, and discusses the current issues and events.
Date: October 27, 2004
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 108th Congress (open access)

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 108th Congress

This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge. This report addresses several legislative options on the issue, as well as policymakers' arguments for and against development, especially in the wake of increasing terrorism since 2000-2001.
Date: September 29, 2004
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne; Gelb, Bernard A. & Baldwin, Pamela
System: The UNT Digital Library
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 108th Congress (open access)

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 108th Congress

This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge. This report addresses several legislative options on the issue, as well as policymakers' arguments for and against development, especially in the wake of increasing terrorism since 2000-2001.
Date: June 14, 2004
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne; Gelb, Bernard A. & Baldwin, Pamela
System: The UNT Digital Library
Endangered Species: Difficult Choices (open access)

Endangered Species: Difficult Choices

This report discusses issues debated in the 108th Congress while is considering various proposals to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Major issues in recent years have included changing the role of science in decision-making, changing the role of critical habitat, reducing conflicts with Department of Defense activities, incorporating further protection for property owners, and increasing protection of listed species, among others. In addition, many have advocated including significant changes to ESA regulations made during the Clinton Administration in the law itself.
Date: October 26, 2004
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne; Buck, Eugene H. & Baldwin, Pamela
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol (open access)

Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol

This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.”
Date: October 27, 2004
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol (open access)

Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol

This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.”
Date: June 10, 2004
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Climate Change (open access)

Global Climate Change

This report briefly reviews the status of climate science, international negotiations, and congressional activity focused specifically on climate change.
Date: October 29, 2004
Creator: Justus, John R. & Fletcher, Susan R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agroterrorism: Threats and Preparedness (open access)

Agroterrorism: Threats and Preparedness

Although U.S. intelligence agencies have not identified any terrorist acts targeting agricultural production (i.e., agroterrorism) in the United States to date, the events of September 11, 2001 have awakened the nation to their possibility. Some experts estimate that a single agroterrorist attack using a highly contagious livestock disease could cost between $10 billion and $30 billion to the U.S. economy. This report addresses the use of biological weapons against agriculture, rather than the threat of terrorists using agricultural inputs for other purposes. It also focuses more on agricultural production than food processing and distribution.
Date: August 13, 2004
Creator: Monke, Jim
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm Labor Shortages and Immigration Policy (open access)

Farm Labor Shortages and Immigration Policy

This report first explains the connection made over the past several years between farm labor and immigration policies. It next examines the composition of the seasonal agricultural labor force and presents the arguments of grower and farmworker advocates concerning its adequacy relative to employer demand. The report closes with an analysis of the trends in employment, unemployment, time worked and wages of authorized and unauthorized farmworkers to determine whether they are consistent with the existence of a nationwide shortage of domestically available farmworkers.
Date: February 9, 2004
Creator: Levine, Linda
System: The UNT Digital Library
Soil and Water Conservation Issues (open access)

Soil and Water Conservation Issues

None
Date: September 16, 2004
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (open access)

Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003

None
Date: April 21, 2004
Creator: O'Sullivan, Jennifer; Chaikind, Hinda Ripps; Tilson, Sibyl L.; Boulanger, Jennifer & Morgan, Paulette C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Partial-Birth Abortion: Recent Developments in the Law (open access)

Partial-Birth Abortion: Recent Developments in the Law

None
Date: October 26, 2004
Creator: Shimabukuro, Jon O.
System: The UNT Digital Library