Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Report that discusses the funding for the growth of the Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) program. The Aegis BMD program, which is carried out by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy, gives Navy Aegis cruisers and destroyers a capability for conducting BMD operations.
Date: October 25, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
House Committee Chairs: Considerations, Decisions, and Actions as One Congress Ends and a New Congress Begins (open access)

House Committee Chairs: Considerations, Decisions, and Actions as One Congress Ends and a New Congress Begins

Report that addresses some of the critical matters a House committee chair confronts from the time of the early organization meetings in November to approximately the spring district work-period in March or April.
Date: October 25, 2012
Creator: Schneider, Judy & Koempel, Michael L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Climate Change and Existing Law: A Survey of Legal Issues Past, Present, and Future (open access)

Climate Change and Existing Law: A Survey of Legal Issues Past, Present, and Future

Report that surveys existing law for legal issues that have arisen, or may arise in the future, on account of climate change and government responses thereto.
Date: October 25, 2012
Creator: Meltz, Robert
System: The UNT Digital Library
Constitutionality of Retroactive Tax Legislation (open access)

Constitutionality of Retroactive Tax Legislation

Report that examines the constitutional provisions that might be implicated by retroactive tax legislation, including legislation that seems intended to punish past behavior.
Date: October 25, 2012
Creator: Lunder, Erika K.; Meltz, Robert & Thomas, Kenneth R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Proliferation Control Regimes: Background and Status (open access)

Proliferation Control Regimes: Background and Status

Report that discusses the nuclear nonproliferation regime that encompasses several treaties, extensive multilateral and bilateral diplomatic agreements, multilateral organizations and domestic agencies, and the domestic laws of participating countries. The chemical and biological weapons (CBW) nonproliferation regimes contain three elements: the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), and the Australia Group.
Date: October 25, 2012
Creator: Nikitin, Mary Beth; Kerr, Paul K. & Hildreth, Steven A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Air Force F-22 Fighter Program (open access)

Air Force F-22 Fighter Program

Report that discusses the procurement of Air Force F-22 Raptor fighters, which began in Fiscal Year 1999, and a total of 195 (177 production aircraft, 16 test aircraft, and 2 development aircraft) were procured through FY2009.
Date: October 25, 2012
Creator: Gertler, Jeremiah
System: The UNT Digital Library
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2013 Appropriations (open access)

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2013 Appropriations

This report looks at Congress's FY2013 budget allocations for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) appropriations subcommittee.
Date: June 25, 2012
Creator: McCarty, Maggie & Peterman, David Randall
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Authorization, Operation, and Drawdown Policy (open access)

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Authorization, Operation, and Drawdown Policy

This report looks at the history, purpose, and current status of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Date: April 25, 2012
Creator: Andrews, Anthony & Pirog, Robert
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Overview and Comparison of Senate Proposals to Extend the “Bush Tax Cuts”: S. 3412 and S. 3413 (open access)

An Overview and Comparison of Senate Proposals to Extend the “Bush Tax Cuts”: S. 3412 and S. 3413

This report provides an overview of the Bush tax cuts, followed by brief summaries of the Reid and Hatch proposals, respectively. Revenue loss estimates of certain provisions of these bills are also included, as well as a brief summary of H.R. 8. In addition, detailed summary tables comparing the Reid and Hatch proposals—to each other and to current law—are provided. Finally, this report concludes with a brief overview of the current policy debate surrounding the partial or full extension of the Bush tax cuts.
Date: July 25, 2012
Creator: Crandall-Hollick, Margot L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Obama Administration’s Proposal to Establish a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (open access)

The Obama Administration’s Proposal to Establish a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation

This report discusses the proposed creation of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), which would help accelerate innovation and support manufacturing technology commercialization. It includes an overview of the topic as well as discussion on the Administration's proposal, preliminary activities, legislative status, and issues for consideration.
Date: July 25, 2012
Creator: Sargent, John F., Jr.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The FDA Medical Device User Fee Program (open access)

The FDA Medical Device User Fee Program

None
Date: June 25, 2012
Creator: Johnson, Judith A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Security Administration (SSA): Budget Issues (open access)

Social Security Administration (SSA): Budget Issues

This report provides an overview of the SSA's mandatory spending but largely focuses on discretionary appropriations for the agency's administrative expenses. The size of the annual appropriations for administrative expenses affects the agency's ability to effectively administer the SSA's benefit programs as well as conduct program integrity activities designed to ensure that only eligible persons receive federal benefits.
Date: January 25, 2012
Creator: Szymendera, Scott
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (open access)

Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions

This report discusses that framework and proposals to amend more than 30 acts of Congress that are part of or relevant to it.
Date: July 25, 2012
Creator: Fischer, Eric A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The EPA Draft Report of Groundwater Contamination Near Pavillion, Wyoming: Main Findings and Stakeholder Responses (open access)

The EPA Draft Report of Groundwater Contamination Near Pavillion, Wyoming: Main Findings and Stakeholder Responses

None
Date: January 25, 2012
Creator: Folger, Peter; Tiemann, Mary & Bearden, David M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
How FDA Approves Drugs and Regulates Their Safety and Effectiveness (open access)

How FDA Approves Drugs and Regulates Their Safety and Effectiveness

This report is a primer on drug approval and regulation: it describes how drugs are approved and come to the market, including FDA's role in that process and FDA and industry roles once drugs are on the pharmacy shelves.
Date: June 25, 2012
Creator: Thaul, Susan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Domestic Content Legislation: The Buy American Act and Complementary Little Buy American Provisions (open access)

Domestic Content Legislation: The Buy American Act and Complementary Little Buy American Provisions

Congress has broad authority to place conditions on the purchases made by the federal government or with federal dollars. One of many conditions that it has placed on direct government purchases is a requirement that they be produced in the United States. The most well-known of these requirements is the Buy American Act, which is the major domestic preference statute governing procurement by the federal government. This report summarizes (1) the Buy American Act, what it does and does not cover; (2) the Little Buy American Acts found in permanent law, emphasizing what they govern, major exceptions and why Congress felt them necessary in light of the requirements of the Buy American Act; and (3) the temporary Little Buy American provision found in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Date: April 25, 2012
Creator: Luckey, John R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hydraulic Fracturing and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): Selected Issues (open access)

Hydraulic Fracturing and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): Selected Issues

This report provides an overview of two situations in which agencies are arguing that they do not need to conduct a comprehensive environmental review of hydraulic fracturing under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Date: April 25, 2012
Creator: Murrill, Brandon J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Subsidy Cost of Federal Credit: Cost to the Government or Fair Value Cost? (open access)

Subsidy Cost of Federal Credit: Cost to the Government or Fair Value Cost?

Since the mid-1980s, budget experts have debated whether the best method of measuring the subsidy cost of federal credit (direct loans and loan guarantees) is the cost to the government or the fair value cost. This report presents a chronology of this still unresolved debate, which dates from the mid-1980s.
Date: April 25, 2012
Creator: Bickley, James M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues (open access)

China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues

Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances the national interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missiles that could deliver them. Recipients of China's technology reportedly include Pakistan and countries said by the State Department to have supported terrorism, such as Iran. This CRS Report, updated as warranted, discusses the security problem of China's role in weapons proliferation and issues related to the U.S. policy response since the mid-1990s.
Date: April 25, 2012
Creator: Kan, Shirley A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Honduran-U.S. Relations (open access)

Honduran-U.S. Relations

This report examines current conditions in Honduras as well as issues in U.S-Honduran relations, including human rights, poverty, inequality, international support, democracy, security challenges, and international trade.
Date: April 25, 2012
Creator: Meyer, Peter J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Members of Congress Who Die in Office: Historic and Current Practices (open access)

Members of Congress Who Die in Office: Historic and Current Practices

Since 1973, 84 Members of Congress-69 Representatives, and 15 Senators-have died in office. When a sitting Member dies, the House and Senate carry out a number of actions based on chamber rules, statutes, and longstanding practices. This report discusses these actions.
Date: April 25, 2012
Creator: Petersen, R. Eric & Manning, Jennifer E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress (open access)

Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress

Congress has long maintained an interest in how Navy ships are named, and has influenced the naming of certain Navy ships. The Navy suggests that congressional offices wishing to express support for proposals to name a Navy ship for a specific person, place, or thing contact the office of the Secretary of the Navy to make their support known. Congress may also pass legislation relating to ship names. Measures passed by Congress in recent years regarding Navy ship names have all been sense-of-the-Congress provisions.
Date: April 25, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track? (open access)

EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track?

This report examines 40 major or controversial regulatory actions taken by or under development at EPA since January 2009, providing details on the regulatory action itself, presenting an estimated timeline for completion of the rule and provides the EPA's estimates of costs and benefits where available. It provides background information on recent EPA regulatory activity to help address issues raised by this activity, as well as factors that will affect the timeframe in which these regulations will take place.
Date: April 25, 2012
Creator: McCarthy, James E. & Copeland, Claudia
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S.-Mexico Economic Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications (open access)

U.S.-Mexico Economic Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications

This report provides an overview of U.S.-Mexico trade and economic trends, the Mexican economy, the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and major trade issues between the United States and Mexico.
Date: January 25, 2012
Creator: Villarreal, M. Angeles
System: The UNT Digital Library