Animal identification refers to marking individual or groups of farm animals so that they can be tracked from birth to slaughter. Animal identification is one segment of meat traceability, generally the tracking of identifiable products through the entire marketing chain to the ultimate consumer. This report details an overview of animal identification in the U.S., current programs to enforce animal identification, development of a National Identification Plan, the Foreign Trade Commission, and other selected issues.

There is consensus that Border and Transportation Security (BTS) is a pivotal function in protecting the American people from terrorists and their instruments of destruction. The issue for Congress is how to achieve desired levels of security, while not compromising other important values in the process. This report addresses possible new approaches and policy options that might be explored by Congress to attain these goals. It is one of three CRS reports in a series that make use of analytical frameworks to better understand complex problems in BTS and to facilitate consideration of alternative policies and practices.

Border and Transportation Security (BTS) is a pivotal function in protecting the American people from terrorists and their instruments of destruction. This report addresses selected programs and policies now in place that seek to attain higher levels of BTS. It is the second in a three-part series of CRS reports that make use of analytical frameworks to better understand complex phenomena and cast them in terms that facilitate consideration of alternative policies and practices.

This report uses a series of graphical presentations to form one possible framework that might assist policy makers in understanding the complex nature of border and transportation security. It is the first in a three-part series of CRS reports that make use of analytical frameworks to better understand complex problems in border and transportation security and cast them in terms that facilitate the consideration of alternative policies and practices.

This report provides an overview of the current Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Review process and a discussion of state performance on available reviews conducted after the January 25,2000 rule's effective date.

Competitive sourcing is a government-wide initiative that subjects commercial activities performed by federal government employees to public-private competition. As a federal government policy, competitive sourcing debuted in 1966 with the publication of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76. Under the circular, commercial activities performed by federal employees are subjected to public-private competition.

Over time, the Senate has developed a series of procedures to deal with the concerns of its Members on nominations. First is the custom of senatorial courtesy, whereby Senators from the same party as the President might influence a nomination or kill it by objecting to it. This tradition has not always been absolute, but it has allowed Senators to play a fairly large role, particularly in the selection of nominees within a Senator’s home state, such as for district court judgeships.

This report discusses price support for wool and mohair, which became mandatory through legislation enacted in 1947 and in 1949. The National Wool Act of 1954 (P.L. 83-690) established direct payments for wool and mohair producers. The act’s stated purpose was to encourage production of wool because it was considered an essential and strategic commodity.

This report is about Health Insurance Continuation Coverage.

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If enacted, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act would subject prospective debtors under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to a means test to determine whether they could liquidate under chapter 7 or reorganize under chapter 13. Large outstanding medical expenses alone will not determine eligibility to liquidate or reorganize. They will, however, affect the means test in one of two ways. Prebankruptcy health care expenses are likely to raise the amount of a debtor’s unsecured debt. Health insurance premiums and ongoing costs for care of the debtor’s dependents may be deducted from the debtor’s monthly income to determine the level of disposable income.

This report is on Anti-Doping Policies: The Olympics and Selected Professional Sports.

An issue over the years has been the inaccurate rulemaking to carry out fuel economy ratings and the in-use fuel economy has failed to meet the rated fuel economy. Various amendments and acts are being passed to ensure the accuracy to the fuel economy readings and take other factors into account when measuring them.

This report provides a quantitative framework for policy considerations dealing with U.S. trade with China. It provides basic data and analysis of China’s international trade with the United States and other countries. Since Chinese data differ considerably from those of its trading partners (because of how entrepot trade through Hong Kong is counted), data from both PRC sources and those of its trading partners are presented. Charts showing import trends by sector for the United States highlight China’s growing market shares in many industries and also show import shares for Japan, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ).

The 107th Congress version of (H.R. 7), passed by the House, had eight new tax provisions designed to benefit charities and charitable giving, the most important one being the charitable deduction for non-itemizers.This report focuses on the economic effect of the deduction for nonitemizers, assessing the incentive such deductions would create for increased charitable giving.

This report provides committee funding requests for the 109th Congress and authorizations for House committees in the 104th - 108th Congresses.

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