This legal sidebar discusses recent bankruptcy court cases that suggest that one such risk may be the ultimate unavailability to both debtors and creditors of the protections, benefits, and predictability of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code when state-regulated marijuana businesses fail.

This report covers the period from the House's early organization meetings through the spring district work period, which normally occurs in March or April.

This report discusses background and issues for congressional oversight of ARRA Broadband Awards.

This report provides information about the Funding for Child and Family Services Authorized Under Title IV-B of the Social Security Act for child welfare.

This report discusses the health insurance exchanges established as mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).To fund the establishment of exchanges, the ACA authorizes the HHS Secretary to award grants to states through 2014. Each exchange is expected to generate its own funds to sustain its operations beginning January 1, 2015. This report provides a state-by-state breakdown of the grants awarded to date. It then briefly describes the requirement for exchanges to be self-sustaining, and concludes with a discussion of the sources and amounts of funding that HHS has used and plans to use to support FFE operations.

In March 2014, an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak was reported in Guinea, West Africa. The outbreak is the first in West Africa and has caused an unprecedented number of cases and deaths. The outbreak is continuing to spread in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia (the "affected countries"); it has been contained in Nigeria and Senegal, and has been detected in Mali. As of October 22, 2014, more than 10,000 people have contracted EVD, more than half of whom have died. This report focuses on the health impacts of the outbreak and discusses U.S. and international responses to those health challenges.

This report discusses the security problem of China's role in weapons proliferation and issues related to the U.S. policy response since the mid-1990s. China has taken some steps to mollify U.S. and other foreign concerns about its role in weapons proliferation.

The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the nation's highest award for military valor. It is presented by the President in the name of Congress and is often called the Congressional Medal of Honor. Since its first presentation in 1863, close to 3,500 MOHs have been awarded. In 1973, the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs issued a committee print, Vietnam Era Medal of Honor Recipients 1964-72, followed by the committee print, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1978, in 1979. Both committee prints list recipients and provide the full text of the citation, which describes the actions that resulted in the awarding of the medal. This report covers additions and changes to the list of recipients of the medal since the release of the committee print.

This report discusses the state of Iraqi politics, governance, and human rights, including the worsening relations between local Sunni and Shiite populations.

This report provides an overview of the current state of legal immigration policy in the U.S. In FY2013, just under 1 million aliens became U.S. legal permanent residents (LPRs).

To compensate for the effects of inflation, Social Security recipients usually receive an annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Benefits will be increased by 1.7% in 2015, following an increase of 1.5% in 2014. This report discusses how the COLA is determined.