This report provides an overview of the implementation phase of the department organization and management of the Homeland Security.

This report describes how the government enforces budget resolutions using the Congressional Budget Act (C.B.A.) of 1974.

This report discusses federal authority over water, and federal "reserved" and non-reserved water rights. Based on the language of the act and its legislative history, it appears that the act creates federal water rights. The act does not specify the quantity of the right. The amount of the federal right is likely to vary from river to river depending on the river's flows, the unappropriated flows in the river at the time of designation, and the values for which the river is being protected.

This report describes how the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is ineffective under the tax reductions of 2004-2007.

This report summarizes requests from individual committees and funding levels reported by the Committee on House Administration, and compares 110th Congress-reported levels to authorizations for House committees in the 109th Congress.

An archaeological survey report of the proposed Grand Prairie water pipeline route in Dallas and Tarrant Counties, Texas, performed to determine whether any historic resources were located on the proposed construction sites.

A report of and archaeological survey of the proposed Hardin Road, White avenue, and 12 acres of overflow swale to be excavated in Wilson Creek's floodplain.

This report discusses VH-71 presidential helicopter, which has experienced noteworthy cost increases and schedule delays, which have generated controversy and scrutiny. The VH-71 is intended to replace the President's current operational fleet of helicopters, consisting of 11 VH-3D Sea Kings and 8 VH-60N Night Hawks.

This report examines three main categories of tax reform: fundamental tax reform, tax reform based on the elimination of the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT), and proposals for reforming the corporate income tax in the 111th Congress.

This report discusses recent actions taken by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in support of housing and financial markets, including: a temporary increase in deposit insurance as required by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-343), the resolution of bank failures, the development of the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP), and efforts to reduce foreclosures.

This report focuses on the federal government's regulation of high containment laboratories. It explains the concepts of biosecurity and biosafety, including the mechanisms by which the federal government oversees their implementation; describes the proliferation of high-containment laboratories; discusses issues facing federal policymakers; and identifies policy options for congressional consideration.

This report discusses some of the arguments surrounding the proper size of government that are economic in nature, including the questions of what role the state plays in economic activity and how the economy is affected by government intervention.

This report will provide a brief overview of the prohibition on the use of funds by institutions of higher education, including proposals considered by the House and Senate before the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, P.L. 111-5) was enacted. It will also analyze the constitutionality of the distribution of federal money to religious schools in the context of common questions raised by these provisions.

This report examines the Air Force's F-22A Raptor program, including costs and schedule; considers several key issues, and concludes with a synopsis of recent legislative activity on the program.

This report surveys military courts' jurisdiction, the structure of appellate review for military cases, interactions between military and civilian courts, and legislative proposals.

This report surveys how question periods are conducted in Britain and other parliamentary democracies, examines previous proposals for question periods in the United States, considers potential advantages and disadvantages of a question period, and outlines some legislative considerations for policymakers considering a question period for Congress.

This document provides information on the rates of teenage pregnancies in Texas during 1998.

This report offers background information on Ukraine's current political and economic situation. The report covers the country's "intensified dialogue" with NATO regarding membership and also discusses U.S. policy, U.S. aid to Ukraine, the congressional response, and related legislation.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Decennial Census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and provides vital data that are used, among other things, to reapportion and redistrict congressional seats. In March 2008, GAO designated the 2010 Decennial Census a high-risk area, citing a number of long-standing and emerging challenges, including weaknesses in the Census Bureau's (Bureau) management of its information technology (IT) systems and operations. In conducting the 2010 census, the Bureau is relying on both the acquisition of new IT systems and the enhancement of existing systems. Thoroughly testing these systems before their actual use is critical to the success of the census. GAO was asked to determine the status of and plans for testing key decennial systems. To do this, GAO analyzed testing documentation, interviewed Bureau officials and contractors, and compared the Bureau's efforts with recognized best practices."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "President Bush has identified the success of global trade talks launched in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001 as one of the United States' top trade policy priorities. Known as the Doha Development Agenda, the talks are an important means of spurring global growth and development. Completing the talks in 2006 was considered essential for an agreement to qualify for streamlined congressional consideration under the U.S. Trade Promotion Authority. However, the talks collapsed in late July 2006 in the face of wide differences over the extent of agricultural reform and how best to promote economic development in poor countries. Efforts to break the deadlock continue. Given the tenuous state of this central plank of U.S. trade policy, GAO updated its series of prior reports. In this report, we assess (1) the overall status of the Doha Round negotiations now and the progress that had been made prior to and since the breakdown of the talks, (2) the substantive divisions among key World Trade Organization (WTO) members that led to an environment of deadlock and the eventual suspension of the negotiations, and (3) the possible economic and other …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress established the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community (EZ/EC) program in 1993 and the Renewal Community (RC) program in 2000 to provide assistance to the nation's distressed communities. To date, Congress has authorized three rounds of EZs, two rounds of ECs, and one round of RCs. The Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 mandated that GAO audit and report in 2004, 2007, and 2010 on the EZ/EC and RC programs and their effect on poverty, unemployment, and economic growth. This report describes (1) the features of the EZ/EC and RC programs, (2) the extent to which the programs have been implemented, and (3) the methods used and results found in evaluations of their effectiveness."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In July 2001, GAO reported that outstanding criminal debt, as reported in Department of Justice (Justice) statistical reports, had increased from about $6 billion as of September 30, 1995, to more than $13 billion as of September 30, 1999. Although some of the key factors that contributed to this increase were beyond Justice's control, GAO concluded--after accounting for such factors--that Justice's criminal debt collection processes were inadequate. Accordingly, in the 2001 report, GAO made 14 recommendations to Justice to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its criminal debt collection processes. To follow up on the 2001 report, GAO was asked to (1) provide information on the amount and growth of criminal debt for fiscal years 2000 through 2002, (2) examine the extent to which Justice has acted on GAO's previous recommendations, and (3) review Justice's collection efforts for selected criminal debt cases related to white-collar financial fraud. This report addresses the first two objectives; GAO will report separately on its ongoing work to address the third."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued flight restrictions to prevent flights over certain areas, to include stadiums, in response to increased concerns about the threat posed by terrorists using aircraft as a weapon. Beginning in December 2001, FAA's Air Traffic Division Director of Air Traffic Services, and later the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), implemented processes to allow certain pilots and aircraft to operate over these events by waiving flight restrictions. However, in February 2003, Congress passed legislation that for 1 year prevented aerial advertising pilots from flying near stadium airspace during certain sporting events by suspending the waiver process. In January 2004, Congress passed legislation continuing this restriction indefinitely. In the event that the restriction on waivers for aerial advertising near stadiums is repealed, the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, asked that we (1) describe the results of FAA and TSA threat assessments conducted relevant to aerial advertising operations and (2) identify FAA's and TSA's processes for mitigating the identified threat, determine whether established processes were followed, and identify factors that may limit their effectiveness."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For decades, the United States has worked toward the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, most recently under the 2003 Roadmap for Peace, which calls for an independent Palestinian state coexisting peacefully with the State of Israel. Since fiscal year 1993, the United States has provided more than $2.2 billion in assistance to the West Bank and Gaza to support the Middle East peace process and encourage progress in reforming the Palestinian Authority. In fiscal years 2005 and 2006 alone, the United States provided over $420 million in Economic Support Funds for the West Bank and Gaza; this funding is primarily administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In the conference report accompanying the 2005 supplemental appropriation legislation, the Congress directed that the assistance be allocated to two broad development categories--economic revitalization and infrastructure development--each with five subcategories. In January 2006, Hamas--designated a terrorist organization by the United States and others--won a majority of the seats in the Palestinian parliament. On January 30, 2006, the United Nations (UN), the United States, the European Union, and Russia--known as the Quartet on the Middle East--stated that they would provide …