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This report briefly discusses recent political, economic, and security issues in Turkey, especially relating to Turkey's relationship with Greece, the European Union, and the United States.

This report discusses the reauthorization of excise tax revenues for the airport and airway trust fund, which has been a contentious issue for the last two years. Most of the concern during this period was about future funding needs for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The issue, somewhat unexpectedly, became an element of the tax plans embedded in House and Senate FY1998 budget reconciliation proposals. The House proposed a major structural change in how aviation taxes would be imposed.

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This report provides citations to provisions in 1997 reconciliation acts canceled under the line item Veto Act.

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This report reviews the basic issues and past legislation concerning the joint requirements oversight council as a context for understanding ongoing policy debates.

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Wetland protection is controversial because the federal government regulates activities on private lands and because the natural values at some of these regulated sites are being debated. This controversy pits property owners and development interests against environmentalists and others who seek to protect the remaining wetlands. Mitigation banking, which allows a person to degrade a wetland at one site if a wetland at another site is improved, has been identified as a potential answer to this shrill and seemingly intractable debate.

This report goes into detail about the Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992. It relays the benefits of the act, as well as discuss the flaw in regards to other forms of drug development.

Legal immigration to the United States has increased sharply in recent years, and shows no signs of slowing down. The question of why immigration has grown so rapidly and the implications of this growth for the future are expected to be issues in the 105th Congress. Primarily because of legislation enacted in 1980 and 1986, the numerical restrictions of the basic family and employment-based immigration preference system became less significant. The growth in legal immigration during the past 15 years came in three groups admitted outside these numerical limits -- legalized aliens, refugees, and numerically exempt immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. For example, about 2.8 million illegal or undocumented aliens were "legalized" between 1981 and 1995.

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Report detailing the sharp growth in U.S. legal immigration from 1981 to 1995, including statistics, charts, priorities, and more.