This report discusses Supreme Court nominations that were not confirmed between 1789 and 2004 (comprising 34 nominations). Over the course of United States history, approximately one-quarter of the presidential nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court have failed to place a new Associate or Chief Justice on the bench.

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This report discusses the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) also know as mad cow disease, which is a degenerative, fatal disease affecting the nervous system in cattle. Worldwide, BSE has been found in 187,000 animals, 183,000 of them in Great Britain, where it was first detected in 1986.

Recently, credit card issuers began adjusting their minimum payment formulas, raising the amount of the required monthly payment. Congress has focused on the need to increase consumer awareness of the financial jeopardy that can result from paying only the required minimum. This report provides an overview of the issues and congressional action. It will be updated as events warrant.

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This report details the constitutional standards that currently apply to indirect school aid programs and summarizes all of the pertinent Supreme Court decisions, with particular attention to Zelman.

This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year.

The Air Force has expressed interest in developing a bomber variant of the F-22A Raptor to "bridge the gap" between today's bombers and a follow-on bomber in 2037. Questions exist regarding the FB-22's feasibility, cost, and combat potential.

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This report discusses the radio frequency spectrum that is used for all forms of wireless communications, including cellular telephony, paging, personal communications service, radio and television broadcast, telephone radio relay, aeronautical and maritime radio navigation, and satellite command and control.

This report discusses proposals for international tsunami early warning systems and examines U.S. policy regarding tsunamis.

This report discusses the child support enforcement program that promotes self-sufficiency of families in which one of the biological parents living outside of the home by ensuring that noncustodial parents meets their financial responsibility to their children.

Issues surrounding genetic discrimination and privacy in health insurance and employment are currently being debated in the 109th Congress. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the status of genetic testing in the United States.

This report describes The Assistance to Firefighters Program, or FIRE Act grant program, background, grants by fiscal year, and distribution of funds.

This report identifies and summarizes the provisions of the House of Representatives' standing rules and certain other directives that affect committee powers, authority, activities, and operations. It is organized under seven headings: (1) general, (2) establishment and assignments, (3) hearings, markups, and other meetings, (4) reporting, (5) oversight and investigations, (6) funding, staff, and travel, and (7) other duties.

This report discusses regulation issues affecting electricity today. Comprehensive electricity legislation may involve several components: Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) reform, PURPA's requirement that utilities purchase power from qualifying facilities (QFs), and reliability.

This report summarizes the extent of the disaster and relief effort and includes descriptions of the U.S. and international assistance efforts. It also examines protection mechanisms for children and separated orphans. A section is devoted to the situation in each of the affected countries followed by an analysis of selected issues for Congress.

An archaeological survey report of two proposed pipeline routes in Matagorda County, Texas, performed to determine whether any historic resources were located on the proposed construction sites.

An archaeological survey report of the proposed site of the Lake Granbury Boat Ramp in Granbury, Texas to determine whether any cultural resources were in the area.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Long-standing backlogs of immigration benefit applications result in delays for immigrants, their families, and prospective employers who participate in the legal immigration process. In response to a statutory mandate to eliminate the backlog, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) set a goal of September 30, 2006, to eliminate the backlog and adjudicate all applications within 6 months. This report examines (1) the status of the backlog, (2) actions to achieve backlog elimination and prevent future backlogs, (3) the likelihood of eliminating the backlog by the deadline, and (4) USCIS's quality assurance programs to achieve consistency of decisions while eliminating its backlog."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, the Department of Education (Education) proposed an update to the state and other tax allowance, a part of the federal need analysis for student financial aid. Most federal aid as well as some state and institutional aid is awarded based on the student's cost of attendance less the student's and/or family's ability to pay these costs--known as the expected family contribution (EFC). The allowance, which accounts for the amount of state and other taxes paid by students and families, effectively reduces the EFC. Given the potential impact of the allowance on the awarding of aid, we determined what factors have affected the updating of the tax data on which it is based, the effects the proposed 2003 update would have had on financial assistance for aid applicants, any limitations in the method for deriving the allowance, and strategies available to address them."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the 1990s, states sued major tobacco companies to obtain reimbursement for health impairments caused by the public's use of tobacco. In 1998, 46 states and four of the nation's largest tobacco companies signed a Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) that requires the tobacco companies to make annual payments to the states in perpetuity as reimbursement for past tobacco-related health care costs. The MSA commits the tobacco companies to pay the states approximately $206 billion over the first 25 years. Some of the states have arranged to receive upfront proceeds based on the amounts that tobacco companies owe by issuing bonds backed by future payments. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 requires GAO to report annually on the amount of MSA payments that states receive through fiscal year 2006. This fourth report provides information on (1) the payments the 46 states received in fiscal year 2004 and expect to receive in fiscal year 2005 and (2) states' allocations of these funds to various program categories and changes from prior years. To conduct this study, GAO surveyed the 46 states."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. intercountry adoptions nearly tripled from more than 8,000 to more than 22,000 between fiscal years 1994 and 2004. While the Department of State (State) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) manage the process, factors ranging from corruption to inadequate legal frameworks in foreign countries could lead to abuses such as the abduction of children. GAO (1) describes the U.S. intercountry adoption process, (2) assesses the U.S. government's efforts to manage the intercountry adoption process, (3) assesses U.S. efforts to strengthen safeguards and mitigate against the potential for fraudulent adoptions, and (4) describes the Hague Convention (Convention) and the statuses of U.S. and top sending countries' implementation of the Convention."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many countries, including the United States, are grappling with demographic change and its effect on their national pension systems. With rising longevity and declining birthrates, the number of workers for each retiree is falling in most developed countries, straining the finances of national pension programs, particularly where contributions from current workers fund payments to current beneficiaries--known as a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system. Although demographic and economic challenges are less severe in the United States than in many other developed countries, projections show that the Social Security program faces a long-term financing problem. Because some countries have already undertaken national pension reform efforts to address demographic changes similar to those occurring in the United States, we may draw lessons from their experiences. The current and preceding Chairmen of the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Committee on Ways and Means asked GAO to study lessons to be learned from other countries' experiences reforming national pension systems. GAO focused on (1) adjustments to existing PAYG national pension programs, (2) the creation or reform of national pension reserve funds to partially prefund PAYG pension programs, and (3) reforms involving …