This report provides background information on federal regulation of firearms. The report discusses the legislative and executive developments in the 113th Congress, as well as universal background checks, gun trafficking, and possession of military style firearms.

This report contains a compilation of commissions and boards that demonstrates the range of alternative membership-appointment structures. It includes any statutorily created advisory entity (boards, advisory panels, etc.) whose membership scheme mandates the participation of members of Congress either as potential members or as participants in the process of appointing the membership. For each entity, information on the purpose, duration, appointment structure, and term of appointment is provided. Finally, information on the involvement of members of Congress in the appointment process is presented in a series of tables.

This report discusses the potential benefits and adverse effects associated with the fluoridation of drinking water supplies. It also discusses the regulation of fluoride in drinking water to protect against adverse health effects from exposure to higher levels of fluoride, and it reviews the status of federal efforts to update the health risk assessment for fluoride and the primary drinking water standard for fluoride.

This report focuses on Titles I and II of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), both of which authorize programs to provide job search, education, and training activities for individuals seeking to gain or improve their employment prospects.

This report covers a background of provisions in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 for planning, building, and managing a new, nationwide, broadband network for public safety communications.

Courts have been confronted with the question of whether federal laws can be applied to intrastate possession and intrastate transfers of firearms, or whether such application exceeds the authority of Congress. This report explores these cases and how courts have analyzed these as-applied challenges under the Supreme Court's Commerce Clause jurisprudence primarily set forth in United States v. Lopez.

This report provides background information about the Berne Union, or the International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers. It is an international organization comprised of more than 70 public and private sector members that represent both public and private segments of the export credit and investment insurance industry.

This report provides background information and potential issues for Congress on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a relatively inexpensive Navy surface combatant equipped with modular "plug-and-fight" mission packages for countering mines, small boats, and diesel-electric submarines, particularly in littoral (i.e., near-shore) waters.

This report provides a summary of official development assistance (ODA), discusses coordination goals established by donors at international development policy forums, and provides an overview of U.S. policy and efforts to meet these goals. The report concludes by identifying key issues in donor coordination, including the growing role of non-traditional donors, such as China, in development cooperation.

This report discusses the new defense strategy, which was unveiled by senior Department of Defense (DOD) leadership based on a review of potential future security challenges, current defense strategy, and budgetary constraints. This strategy will rebalance the Army's global posture and presence, emphasizing where potential problems are likely to arise, such as the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.

This report explains the procedural options for resolving differences through amendments between the houses, and to discuss the procedural effects of resolving differences through this process as an alternative to conference committee.

This report is a research aid which lists the DOD authorization bills (Table 1) and appropriations bills (Table 2) for FY1970-FY2013. It includes key definitions and all the pertinent information on the passage of these bills through the legislative process: bill numbers, report numbers, dates reported and passed, recorded vote numbers and vote tallies, dates of passage of the conference reports with their numbers and votes, vetoes, substitutions, dates of final passage, and public law numbers.

This report is categorized into four categories: (I) Consolidation and Initial Stability, (II) Reorganization and Multiple Changes, (III) Renewed Stability and (IV) Major Changes.

This report discusses that framework and proposals to amend more than 30 acts of Congress that are part of or relevant to it.

This report examines current conditions in Honduras as well as issues in U.S-Honduras relations.

This report is categorized into four categories: (I) Introduction, (II) Methodological Difference Between the standard CPI AND THE C-CPI-U, (III) Statistical Difference between the CPI AND C-CPI-U and (IV) Policy Consideration.

This report provides background information on the boycott and U.S. efforts to end its enforcement.

This report provides background information on recent EPA regulatory activity to help address these issues.