This report describes the freestanding Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) re-authorization and the child welfare-related provisions in welfare reform. This report also briefly discusses the child welfare block grants that were considered but not enacted.

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This report briefly reviews the setting in which the farm bill was passed, then describes the provisions in Title III -- Conservation.

Congressional interest in the leadership change and economic transformation underway in China has grown substantially over the past few years. Leading congressional concerns focus on how economic conditions in China pose opportunities for U.S. enterprise and how the evolution of conditions in China fosters U.S. security, economic, and political interests. Congressional concern with China grew in 1995 and 1996 as a result of reports of the serious decline in the health of senior Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. Present conditions in China include; A vibrant but sometimes overheated economy, A less divided central political leadership.

The 104th congress enacted significant changes to the Federal Insecticide, fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), governing U.S. sale and use of pesticide products, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), which limits pesticide residues on food. The vehicle of these changes was H.R. 1627, the "Food Quality Protection Act of 1996" (FQPA), enacted August 3, 1996, as Public Law 104-170. Under FIFRA, the new law will facilitate registrations and reregistrations of pesticides for special (so-called"minor") uses and authorize collection of maintenance fees of support pesticide reregistration. Food safety provisions will establish a single standard of safety for pesticide residue on raw and processed foods; provide information through large food retail stores to consumers about the health risks of pesticide residues and how to avoid them; preempt state and local food safety laws if they are based on concentrations of pesticide residues below recently established federal residue limits(called"tolerances"); and ensure that tolerances protect the health of infants and children.

Recent political and military tensions between China and Taiwan have focused new attention on U.S. economic interests in the region. The volume of trade and investment between the United States and Taiwan and China has soared during the last 10 years. This trend has helped forge closer ties between the United States and the two economies, but has also been the source of friction. U.S. economic relations with China and Taiwan are likely to be of concern to Congress during the annual debate over U.S. renewal of China's most-favored-nation (MFN) status. This report analyzes U.S. economic ties with China and Taiwan, including trends, the major issues, and future prospects. It also examines the growing economic ties between China and Taiwan

In the months approaching China's resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, policy analysts are trying to assess how the territory will fare under Chinese rule. The answer is important to U.S. interests because of the enormous U.S. economic presence in Hong Kong; because any adverse developments in Hong Kong are likely to affect U.S.-China relations; and because China's promise to give Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy under the "one-China, two-systems" policy has major implications for Taiwan. But given the political situation, the American ability to affect the course of events in Hong Kong seems marginal unless the U.S. decides to confront Beijing more directly. Developments in U.S.-China relations in 1994-1995 suggest Washington might be hesitant to do so.