This report provides an introduction to the Volcker Rule, which is the regulatory regime imposed upon banking institutions and their affiliates under Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-203).

This report describes the March 25 proposed rule to define "waters of the United States," particularly focused on clarifying the regulatory status of waters located in isolated places in a landscape, the types of waters with ambiguous jurisdictional status following the Supreme Court's ruling. It includes a table comparing the proposal to existing regulatory language.

This report discusses the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), enacted in 1938 (P.L. 75-718), which is the federal legislation that establishes the general minimum wage that must be paid to all covered workers.

This fact sheet tracks the current heads of government in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. It provides the dates of the last and next elections for the head of government and the national independence date for each country.

The Uruguay Round Agreement reduced tariffs, brought services, intellectual property, and agriculture under the discipline of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and established the World Trade Organization. Multilateral trade issues for the future include continuing services negotiations, the relationship of the environment and labor standards to trade, and investment and competition policy.

This report begins with a brief discussion of the Russian oil and gas industries, including their efforts to purchase energy infrastructure in central and Eastern Europe and reduce energy subsidies to neighboring countries. A second section deals with the impact of recent Russian energy policy on neighboring countries, all of them formerly part of the Soviet Union, de facto or de jure, and all heavily dependent on Russian energy imports.

This report discusses the reprocessing of nuclear fuel that refers to the chemical separation of fissionable uranium and plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuel.

This report discusses law and proposed changes related to Country-of-Origin labeling for Foods.

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This report provides background information and policy analysis regarding the ways to develop that directly and indirectly convert coal into liquid fuel.

This report discusses recent actions taken by the FDIC in support of financial and housing markets, which include restoration of the Deposit Insurance Fund, the development of the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program, efforts to reduce foreclosures, and establishment of the proposed Public-Private Investment Fund. Legislation such as H.R. 786 (introduced by Representative Barney Frank); H.R. 1106, Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 (introduced by Representative John Conyers, Jr., with 24 co-sponsors); and S. 541, The Depositor Protection Act of 2009 (introduced by Senator Christopher Dodd with 12 co-sponsors) have also been introduced to increase the effectiveness of the FDIC’s efforts to respond to recent market weaknesses.

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This report discusses Guatemala's current political situation, anti-corruption efforts and large-scale investigations of the past and current president for corruption, relations with the U.S., and economic and social conditions.

This report discusses the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program which is a national network of centers established by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act (P.L. 100-418).

This report provides a brief overview and guide to military retirement plans and funding methods.

This report discusses whether Congress could grant the President a line-item veto. The report provides an overview of the Supreme Court's decision in "Clinton v. City of New York" in 1998 and examines what (if any) possibility exists for a constitutional, line-item veto authority for the President.

This report describes the process and rules governing sponsorship of bills in the Senate.

This report discusses economic relations between the U.S. and Mexico and recent issues and trends in the relationship including the renegotiation of NAFTA.

This report discusses the procedures for House Committee markups and provides a manual of House rules and procedure on the matter.

This report discusses The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and the distribution of grant funding as well as issues for Congress to consider regarding the program.

This report discusses the U.S. Fire Administration's structure, funding, and functions.

This report outlines the U.S. reporting requirements for foreign assets and accounts under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) along with the reporting requirements of the Foreign Bank Account Reporting (FBAR) under the Bank Secrecy Act. It also addresses the requirements imposed on foreign financial institutions and the agreements the United States has with other countries to cooperate in information reporting.