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 the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies.

This short report discusses the International Labor Organization (ILO) against the exploitation of children in the labor market and the rapidly growing ILO technical program that is geared toward reducing child labor around the world.

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Once considered the nation's most regulated industry, the electric utility industry is evolving into a more competitive environment. Currently, the focus of this development is the generating sector, where the advent of new generating technologies has lowered both entry barriers to competitors of traditional utilities and the marginal costs of those competitors below those of some traditional utilities. This technological advance has combined with legislative initiatives, such as the Energy Policy Act (EPACT), to encourage the introduction of competitive forces into the electric generating sector.

The Forest Service (FS) returns 25% of the revenues from each national forest to the states for use on roads and schools in counties where the forests are located; the Bureau of Land Management shares 50% of its revenues with counties containing the Oregon & California grant lands. This report discusses the legislative concerns that have arisen because declining timber sales have reduced revenues.

Statistics indicating Internet usage are imprecise. It is difficult to measure the scale of the Internet (or the World Wide Web), calculate the number and types of users (age, sex, race, gender, location, etc.), or forecast future growth. This report discusses the inherent complexities of estimating Internet and electronic commerce growth and describes various types of Internet statistics, discussing how to evaluate them and providing Web addresses for locating them. In addressing these topics, it is important to understand how the statistics are compiled, how they are used, and what their limitations are.

The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA), enacted in 1998, placed a three-year moratorium on the ability of state and local governments to impose new taxes on Internet access, or to impose any multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce. The moratorium is scheduled to expire on October 21, 2001.

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SUMMARY The United States and Mexico have a special relationship under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which removes trade and investment barriers between the countries. The relationship has been strengthened by presidential visits, including President Clinton's February 1999 trip to Mexico and President Zedillo's upcoming May 23 trip to Washington, and by regular contacts between cabinet-level officials. Major issues of concern to Congress are trade, immigration, drug trafficking, and political rights.

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