This report discusses policy issues raised by Beck, and tracks legislation on the use of union dues for political activities that has come before the 105th Congress.

This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year.It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health, and Human Services, and Education. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, its major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity.

The 105 Congress has been active on issues involving China. This report, which will be updated as developments occur, tracks pending human rights legislation, including bills concerning: prison conditions and prison labor exports; coercive abortion practices; China’s policies toward religion; and more general human rights issues.

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This report discusses in general terms the basic process and time line for banking industry acquisitions and mergers and briefly discusses the May 4, 1998 application by Travelers Group to merge with Citicorp.

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This report considers the agricultural funding allocated in the FY1998 supplemental appropriations bill.

This report provides background information on the repeal of section 1706 of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, and the possible outcomes of the repeal, otherwise known as S.1924.

This report is intended to provide a brief overview of the various potential restrictions, rules or regulations upon lobbying activities of non-profit organizations.

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This report reviews recent efforts to limit youth access to cigarettes through enforcement of federal and state laws prohibiting tobacco sales to minors. Under the federal Synar Amendment, states must conduct compliance checks and enforce their minimum age-of-sale laws or risk losing block grant funds

This report provides background on veterans preference in federal employment, and discusses issues raised during deliberation in the 105th Congress of two bills to amend existing law.

Although there is a worldwide consensus that Iraq must comply with all applicable U.N. resolutions, international attitudes differ sharply on how to compel Iraq to comply with the U.N. program of eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. Some countries support U.S. threats to use force against Iraq as a necessary step to ensure that Iraq does not reconstitute banned weapons programs. Other countries believe that force would kill Iraqi civilians already chafing under seven years of international sanctions and could prompt Iraq to expel U.N. weapons inspectors. Meanwhile, during the week of February 23, the Senate is scheduled to consider S.Con.Res. 71, calling on the President to take all necessary and appropriate actions in response to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its lethal weapons program.

This report discusses in general terms the basic process and time line for banking industry acquisitions and mergers and briefly discusses the May 4, 1998 application by Travelers Group to merge with Citicorp. Among the issues discussed are: potential impact on consumers; whether the new entities would be too big to fail; and, whether competitive equity calls for financial modernization legislation with functional regulation of the securities, banking, and insurance sectors of companies offering customers a full range of financial products and services. Legislative developments on financial modernization issues in the 105th Congress are reported in CRS Issue Brief 97034, which is available on the Legislative Information System.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

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This report is intended to provide a brief overview of the various potential restrictions, rules or regulations upon lobbying activities of non-profit organizations.

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This report tracks pending human rights legislation, including bills concerning: prison conditions and prison labor exports (H.R. 2195, H.R. 2358); coercive abortion practices (H.R. 2570); China’s policies toward religion (H.R. 967, H.R. 2431); and more general human rights issues (H.R. 2095). Other bills concern Taiwan — in particular, Taiwan’s entry into the World Trade Organization (H.Res. 190) and the U.S. role in helping Taiwan with a theater missile defense system (H.R. 2386). Also, legislation is pending on China’s missile proliferation activities (H.Res. 188), Radio Free Asia broadcasting to China (H.R. 2232), China’s participation in multilateral institutions (H.R. 1712, H.R. 2605), and the activities of China’s military and intelligence services (H.R. 2647, H.R. 2190).