This report provides a basic explanation of how to calculate the federal estate tax for a taxable estate of any given size, using the schedule of marginal tax rates and the applicable credit amount for the year of death.

This report discusses the Deepwater program, which is a 20- to 25-year acquisition effort to replace or modernize 93 aging Coast Guard ships and 207 aging Coast Guard aircraft. The program’s estimated total acquisition cost is $19 billion to $24 billion. On March 25, 2005 the Coast Guard submitted to Congress a revised implementation plan for the program that alters the planned capabilities and numbers of Deepwater assets and the schedule for acquiring or modernizing them. Some Members of Congress have criticized the revised implementation plan. The Coast Guard’s proposed FY2006 budget requests $966 million for the program.

This report provides background information for three types of attacks against computers (cyber-attack, physical attack, and electromagnetic attack), and discusses related vulnerabilities for each type of attack. The report also describes the possible effects of a coordinated cyberattack, or computer network attack (CNA), against U.S. infrastructure computers, along with possible technical capabilities of international terrorists.

While introduction of energy legislation in the 109th Congress is pending, it remains unclear what its course may be. Some believe that the results of the fall 2004 election have heightened prospects for opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development, and the Republican leadership has indicated that ANWR is to be included in the budget resolution that will come before Congress. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici has indicated that the committee will mark up a comprehensive bill in February. However, Senator Domenici also expressed openness to considering individual bills; he and others are interested in legislation to establish a long-term leasing plan for natural gas resources.

This updated report summarizes the debate on the government policy regarding industrial competitiveness and technological advancement and its influence on the U.S. economy. It discusses the most recent developments, dives into the background and analysis of the topic, and talks about Congress' plans and approach.

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y In the 108th Congress, companion bills were introduced (S. 1668/H.R. 3213) that, if enacted, would have established a Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies (CARFA). The proposed CARFA Act would have required this 12-member presidentially appointed commission to review non-defense, non-entitlement federal agencies and programs to determine if any agencies or programs are duplicative, wasteful, inefficient, outdated, irrelevant, or failed.

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In January 2005, Viktor Yushchenko became Ukraine’s new President, after massive demonstrations helped to overturn the former regime’s electoral fraud, in what has been dubbed the “Orange Revolution,” after Yushchenko’s campaign color. The “Orange Revolution” has sparked a great deal of interest in Congress and elsewhere. This report examines the current political climate in Ukraine and policy issues for the U.S.

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From a public policy perspective, the goals are to ensure that broadband deployment is timely, that industry competes fairly, and that service is provided to all sectors and geographical locations of American society. The federal government -- through Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) -- is seeking to ensure fair competition among the players so that broadband will be available and affordable in a timely manner to all Americans who want it. While the FCC's position is not to intervene at this time, some assert that legislation is necessary to ensure fair competition and timely broadband deployment. One proposal would ease certain legal restrictions and requirements, imposed by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, on incumbent telephone companies who provide high speed data (broadband) access. Another proposal would compel cable companies to provide "open access" to competing Internet service providers.

This report reviews the historical context which forms the background for renewed consideration of consumer reform legislation, including a review of the current law and a survey of selected issues that have been the focus of legislative debate in the part, such as the scope of the homeland exemption, nondischargeability for liability current by violent activity, and the protection of child support payments.

This report addresses defense transformation from a DOD-wide perspective. The Bush Administration identified transformation as a major goal for the Department of Defense (DOD) soon after taking office and has since worked to refine and implement its plans for defense transformation. Defense transformation can be defined as large-scale, discontinuous, and possibly disruptive changes in military weapons, concepts of operations (i.e., approaches to warfighting) and organization. The issue for the 109th Congress is how to take the concept of defense transformation into account in assessing and acting on Administration proposals for DOD.

On August 5, 2004, the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic signed the Dominican Republic- Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, or the DR-CAFTA. The DR-CAFTA was negotiated as a regional agreement in which all parties would be subject to the “the same set of obligations and commitments,” but with each country defining its own separate schedules for market access. It is a comprehensive and reciprocal trade agreement, which distinguishes it from the unilateral preferential trade arrangement between the United States and these countries as part of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), as amended. It liberalizes trade in goods, services, government procurement, intellectual property, investment, and addresses labor and environment issues.

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This report provides a summary of U.S. penal policy at the federal level. The report then discusses legislation that created the current federal sentencing structure, the different types of sentencing guidelines, and analyses of departures from the guidelines under the federal system and of possible policy options the 109th Congress may wish to consider if it chooses to address this issue.

This report includes a detailed recitation of factual information and of the Guideline and statutory provisions which the officer believes relevant and applicable.

This report provides a table of casualties that was compiled by the Department of Defense (DOD), as tallied from DOD press releases. Table 1 provides statistics on fatalities during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19, 2003, and is ongoing, as well as on the number of fatalities since May 1, 2003.

Since 1996, American victims of international terrorist acts supported by certain States designated by the State Department as supporters of terrorism — Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and until recently, Iraq — have had the option of bringing suit in federal court to seek monetary damages. Holders of judgments against these States, however, have encountered difficulties in their efforts to collect, despite congressional efforts to make blocked (or “frozen”) assets of such States available for attachment by judgment creditors. A recent court decision invalidating plaintiffs’ cause of action under the 1996 law raises uncertainties about the future of lawsuits against terrorist States. This report provides an overview of these issues, including a summary of a lawsuit against Iran by former hostages, Roeder v. the Islamic Republic of Iran, and a lawsuit against Iraq by former prisoners of war (POWs), Acree v. the Republic of Iraq, as well as a brief synopsis of relevant legislative proposals (H.R. 1321, H.R. 865, H.Con.Res. 93). These issues are covered in greater depth in CRS Report RL31258, Suits Against Terrorist States By Victims of Terrorism.

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