This report is a proposal for a Congressional general counsel in the 89th Congress.

This report offers a brief background of the salient issues raised by the detainee provisions of the FY2012 NDAA, provides a section-by-section analysis, and discusses executive interpretation and implementation of the act's mandatory military detention provision. It also addresses detainee provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2013, P.L. 112-239, as well as detainee provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2014 (H.R. 1960, S. 1197).

This report provides an overview of selected bee species, and discusses importance of bee pollination, changes in bee populations, factors affecting bee health, and identifies future needs.

This report provides an overview of appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The first portion of this report provides an overview and historical context for reviewing DHS appropriations, highlighting various aspects including the comparative size of DHS components, the amount of non-appropriated funding the department receives, and trends in the timing and size of the department's appropriations legislation.

Report concerning the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), which is currently being developed by the Army and the Marine Corps as a successor to the 11 different versions of the High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) that have been in service since 1985. There are concerns about the affordability of JLTVs and its redundancy with other tactical wheeled vehicles.

This report discusses how the total debt of the federal government can increase, provides an historical overview of debt limits, and explains how the current economic slowdown has led to higher deficits and thereby a series of debt limit increases, also discusses the legislation related to these increases.

The report starts out with a brief overview and analysis of Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Other issues discussed briefly include roadless areas in the National Forest System, national forest planning, national forest county payments, BLM land sales, and grazing management.

This report examines the status and current issues surrounding Canadian softwood lumber imports since 2006. After providing background information on what constitutes softwood lumber, the stakeholders in the dispute, and the history of the dispute, the report introduces the 2006 SLA and analyzes its impacts on the U.S. lumber industry as well as on the trade relationship between the United States and Canada. Finally, the report discusses the potential issues Congress may consider when the agreement expires in 2015.

This report discusses §1611, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which requires companies receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funding to comply with the more rigorous labor market rules of H-1B dependent companies if they hire foreign workers on H-1B visas.

None

This report discusses the release of records pertaining to Judge Brett Kavanaugh's tenure in the George W. Bush Administration and the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr, which have been the subject of ongoing congressional interest since Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.

Conservation is playing a prominent role in the development of a farm bill by the 110th Congress. This report introduces some of the issues that are influencing the development of a conservation title. It then reviews the contents of the House-passed bill, H.R. 2419.

This report provides an overview of the first component of the essential health benefits (EHB) package--a core package of health care services required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA; P.L. 111-148, as amended) for non-group and small-group private health insurance markets. The report examines how the EHB are defined, regulations related to the EHB, state variation in the EHB, applicability of the EHB to health plans, and how the EHB interact with other ACA provisions.

This report discusses laws related to the protection of marine mammals when using mid-frequency active sonar including the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). The report discusses each of the laws generally, and then reviews the litigation surrounding the Navy's compliance with these laws in the context of using the sonar for training purposes off California's coast.

This report discusses "Dark Pools", relatively recent and controversial electronic stock trading alternatives to traditional exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and now account for about 15% of overall trading volume. The report discusses the pros and cons of "dark trading", civil suits in reaction to Dark Pools and recent Securities and Exchange Commission actions.

This report provides a section-by-section summary of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), which provides civil protections and rights to individuals based on their service in the Reserve and National Guard military units.

This report briefly discusses the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) that provides short-, medium-, and long-term blueprints for how to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives and values through the operations of both the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

This report provides an overview of the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (START), including a comparison to the original START Treaty, the belief of the Obama Administration and outside analysts that New START will enhance U.S. national security, and the criticisms of those who say that New START is a distraction from more important items on the nonproliferation agenda.

This report briefly discusses the Arab League's boycott of Israeli companies and Israeli-made goods since Israel's founding in 1948, as well as U.S. efforts to end the boycott and prevent U.S. firms in participating in the boycott.

This report introduces some of the issues that are influencing the development of a conservation title. It then reviews the contents of the House-passed bill, H.R. 2419. Some alternative proposals that the House considered are summarized in an appendix. The House-passed bill includes some elements of the alternative proposals (usually in modified form). This report is limited to the conservation title. However, conservation topics in recent farm bills have been increasingly addressed in other titles, and that trend continues with the House-passed version, which contains conservation provisions in the energy, forestry, and research titles, and others as well.

None

None

This report includes background, current issues, and legislation regarding national park management and recreation

None