This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government.

This report includes background information on Bolivia's political unrest, particularly regarding instability in shifting leaderships, economic situation, and relations with the United States.

This report consists of the budget reconciliation process with timing of legislative action.

This report describes substantive enforcement procedures associated withthe budget resolution explains the concept of a "deeming resolution" discusses House and Senate action on deeming resolutions, and provides information on a related topic, waiving a bar against the consideration of budgetary legislation for a fiscal year before a budget resolution for that fiscal year was adopted.

This report examines the procedures of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Division A of H.R. 1424, P.L. 110-343) and explains how they differ from the regular parliamentary mechanisms of the House and Senate. It will be updated as needed.

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Division A of H.R. 1424, P.L. 110-343) empowers the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase certain "troubled assets" as a means to stabilize the economy. This report examines this procedure and explains how it differs from the regular parliamentary mechanisms of the House and Senate.

This report describes recent developments in the assistance effort in post-authoritarian Iraq and key issues of potential interest to Congress.

This report identifies a number of issues related to establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) in the United States. It begins by defining the concept and administrative actions taken to provide spatial protection in marine areas. It then considers some of the key issues and potential benefits and costs of designating additional MPAs. It concludes by summarizing current congressional interest in the topic and legislation proposed during the 110th Congress.

This report covers the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and U.S.-Mexico drug trafficking. It also looks at migration, environmental issues, legislation in the 110th Congress, and the relationship between the Bush Administration and Mexico.

This report provides background information on DDG-1000 (Zumwalt) program. The issue for Congress for FY2009 was how to take the Navy's new position on destroyer procurement into account in marking up the Navy's proposed FY2009 budget.

None

None

This report provides an overview of the process for filling positions to which the President makes appointments with the advice and consent of the Senate. It also specifies, for the 109th Congress, all nominations to full-time positions on 33 regulatory and other collegial boards and commissions. Profiles of each board and commission provide information on their organizational structures, membership as of end of the 109th Congress, and appointment activity during that Congress. The organizational section discusses the statutory requirements for the appointed positions, including the number of members on each board or commission, their terms of office, whether or not they may continue in their positions after their terms expire, whether or not political balance is required, and the method for selection of the chair. Membership and appointment activity are provided in tabular form. The report also includes tables summarizing the collective appointment activity for all 33 bodies, and identifying Senate recesses during the 109th Congress.

This report discusses laws related to the protection of marine mammals when using mid-frequency active sonar including the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). The report discusses each of the laws generally, and then reviews the litigation surrounding the Navy's compliance with these laws in the context of using the sonar for training purposes off California's coast.

The central government's limited writ and perceived corruption are helping sustain a Taliban insurgency and feeding pessimism about the Afghanistan stabilization effort. However, ethnic disputes have been confined to political debate and competition, enabling Karzai to focus on improving governance, reversing security deterioration and on his re-election bid in the fall of 2009. See CRS Report RL30588, Afghanistan: Post- War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, by Kenneth Katzman.

This report is on The Americans with Disabilities Act: Supreme Court Decisions.

This report discusses the administrations' proposal to use reverse Dutch auctions to purchase troubled assets -- primarily mortgage-related securities from financial institutions.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko snuffed out Belarus's modest progress toward democracy and a free market economy in the early 1990s and created an authoritarian, Soviet-style regime. Belarus held parliamentary elections in September 2008. Supporters of the government won all of the seats in the vote, which was criticized by the U.S., EU, and OSCE as falling short of international standards. Belarus's economy is the most unreformed in Europe, according to most observers. This report contains an overview of Belarus, the political and economic situation, relations of the country with Russia, relations with Nato, the European Union, and Belarus, and U.S. policy and Congressional action.

This report provides information about the Funding and Re authorization of Community Services Block Grants (CSBG). CSBG administered by the department of health and human services(HSS), provides federal funds to states ,territories,tribes for distribution to local agencies for activities to reduce poverty.

This report discusses the conversion of employees from appointed (noncareer) positions to career positions in the executive branch. This practice, commonly referred to as "burrowing in," is permissible when laws and regulations governing career appointments are followed.

The Federal Protective Service (FPS) -- within U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) -- is responsible for protecting federal government property, personnel, visitors, and customers, including property leased by the General Services Administration (GSA). FPS currently employs over 15,000 contract security guards to protect federal property. DHS intends, according to its FY2009 budget justification, to continue the use of contract security guards to focus FPS activities on maintaining security policy and standards, conducting building security assessments, and monitoring federal agency compliance with security standards.

None

None

None