Since 1992, the United States has provided more than $26 billion in assistance to the 12 states of the former Soviet Union (FSU). It continues to provide nearly $2 billion annually. This report describes the broad framework of U.S. assistance programs and policies in the region and then focuses on the FREEDOM Support Act (FSA) account under the foreign operations budget which, encompassing all U.S. objectives in the region, has often been the means by which Congress has expressed its views and sought to influence policy.

Since 1992, the United States has provided more than $26 billion in assistance to the 12 states of the former Soviet Union (FSU). It continues to provide nearly $2 billion annually. This report describes the broad framework of U.S. assistance programs and policies in the region and then focuses on the FREEDOM Support Act (FSA) account under the foreign operations budget which, encompassing all U.S. objectives in the region, has often been the means by which Congress has expressed its views and sought to influence policy.

During the 1980s the U.S. banking industry has experienced a rapidly growing number of failures. Many factors have contributed to this trend including deregulation, technology, individual bank management, and economic conditions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) handles insured bank failures. Congress has been monitoring the recent trend and is concerned with the FDIC’s ability to continue to perform its supervisory and insurance operations. The present situation, information on key factors affecting the banking industry, and the FDIC’s role when a bank fails is discussed in this report. The reference section of this issue brief contains a list of CRS products providing background on the FDIC and legislative issues relevant to the agency.

This report discusses the issue of expanding intellectual property protections for geographical indications for wines, spirits, and agricultural products is being debated in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

This report covers funding and policy issues related to Foreign Operations, as addressed in the House and Senate, and State Department programs as debated in the Senate. The discussion and accompanying tables are designed to track the House Foreign Operations Appropriation measure, as well as the broader Senate State, Foreign Operations spending bill.

Fish and marine mammals are important resources in open ocean and nearshore coastal areas; many federal laws and regulations guide their management. This report discusses a variety of laws and legislation pertaining to this issue.

This brief discusses the major issues for Congress which include whether to increase inland waterway funding in the future (and by what amount); the appropriate type of revenue stream (e.g., fuel taxes or lockage fees) for the user-required portion of these projects; division of the cost-share responsibilities between the federal government and commercial users (e.g., 50/50 or some other division); and whether to initiate process-based recommendations that some argue will improve the delivery and efficiency of Corps-led IWTF projects.

This report discusses several issues relating to homelessness among veterans, which has become more prominent since the beginning of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This report looks at how the 112th Congress may consider reforms of the U.S. export control system.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO determined whether Medicare contractors participated in any improper or questionable practices that contributed to fraud, waste, or abuse in the Medicare federal health insurance program, focusing on: (1) recently completed cases of criminal conduct or False Claims Act violations committed by Medicare contractors; (2) the deceptive contractor activities set forth in those cases or alleged by investigating agents and former contractor employees; and (3) how these activities were carried out without detection by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on TRICARE centralized appointment scheduling, focusing on the: (1) proportion of appointments scheduled by TRICARE contractors for beneficiaries in the four TRICARE regions with centralized systems; and (2) factors that affect the contractors' ability to schedule appointments."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO responded to the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) statements regarding GAO's designation of HUD's programs as a high-risk area."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) oversight of its claims administration contractors, focusing on: (1) whether there are weaknesses in HCFA's contractor oversight activities that may make Medicare more vulnerable to fraud, waste, or abuse; and (2) changes in HCFA's contracting authority that may improve its ability to manage its contractors."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the timeliness of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) grant award process, focusing on the: (1) the number and dollar value of the agency-requested and congressionally directed grants awarded for fiscal years (FY) 1995-1998; (2) median award time for both types of grants, as measured by the number of days between the date of the fiscal year appropriation and the date of the grant award; and (3) major reasons for lengthy awards."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Deepwater Program includes efforts to build or modernize ships and aircraft and to procure other capabilities. In 2002, the Coast Guard contracted with Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) to manage the acquisition as systems integrator. After a series of project failures, the Coast Guard announced in April 2007 that it would take over the lead role, with future work on individual assets bid competitively, and a program baseline of $24.2 billion was set. In June 2008, GAO reported on the Coast Guard's progress and made several recommendations, which the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have addressed. In response to a Senate report accompanying the DHS Appropriations Bill, 2009, GAO addressed (1) efforts to manage Deepwater, (2) changes in cost and schedule of the assets, and (3) efforts to build an acquisition workforce. GAO reviewed Coast Guard and DHS documents and interviewed officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To provide accurate and timely weather forecasts, the National Weather Service (NWS) uses systems, technologies, and manual processes to collect, process, and disseminate weather data to its nationwide network of field offices and centers. After completing a major modernization program in the 1990s, NWS is seeking to upgrade its systems with the goal of improving its forecasting abilities, and it is considering changing how its nationwide office structure operates in order to enhance efficiency. GAO was asked to (1) evaluate NWS's efforts to achieve improvements in the delivery of its services through system and technology upgrades, (2) assess agency plans to achieve service improvements through training its employees, and (3) evaluate agency plans to revise its nationwide office configuration and the implications of these plans on local forecasting services, staffing, and budgets."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1995, the average price of natural gas in the United States has almost tripled as demand has grown faster than supply. Despite this increase, natural gas is regularly lost as it is burned (flared) and released into the atmosphere (vented) during the production of oil and gas. GAO was asked to (1) describe flaring and venting data and what the federal government could do to improve them; (2) report, on the basis of available information, on the extent of flaring and venting and their contributions to greenhouse gases; and (3) identify opportunities for the federal government to reduce flaring and venting."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Eighty percent of Afghans are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. Agricultural assistance is a key U.S. contribution to Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts. Since 2002, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded about $1.4 billion for agricultural programs to increase agricultural productivity, accelerate economic growth, and eliminate illicit drug cultivation. This report (1) describes the change in U.S. focus on agricultural assistance since 2002, (2) assesses USAID's performance management and evaluation of its agricultural programs, (3) analyzes the extent to which certain programs met targets, and (4) addresses efforts to mitigate implementation challenges. GAO reviewed USAID documents; analyzed program data; and interviewed program implementers and USAID officials in Washington, D.C., and Afghanistan. GAO has prepared this report as part of its ongoing efforts to monitor key aspects of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents our opinion on the financial statements of the Capitol Preservation Fund (the Fund) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003, and 2002. It also discusses our consideration of the Fund's internal controls and our tests of compliance with laws and regulations during fiscal year 2003. We conducted our audit pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 2084 and in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) new personnel system--the National Security Personnel System (NSPS)--will have far-reaching implications not just for DOD, but for civil service reform across the federal government. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 gave DOD significant authorities to redesign the rules, regulations, and processes that govern the way that more than 700,000 defense civilian employees are hired, compensated, promoted, and disciplined. In addition, NSPS could serve as a model for governmentwide transformation in human capital management. However, if not properly designed and effectively implemented, it could severely impede progress toward a more performance- and results-based system for the federal government as a whole. This report (1) describes DOD's process to design its new personnel management system, (2) analyzes the extent to which DOD's process reflects key practices for successful transformations, and (3) identifies the most significant challenges DOD faces in implementing NSPS."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enter into a 4-year contract with an entity to perform five duties related to health care quality measurement and authorized $40 million from the Medicare Trust Funds for the contract. In January 2009, HHS awarded a contract to the National Quality Forum (NQF), under which HHS will reimburse NQF for its costs and pay additional fixed fees. Established in 1999, NQF is a nonprofit member organization that fosters agreement on national standards for measuring and public reporting of health care performance data. This is the first of two reports MIPPA requires GAO to submit on NQF's contract with HHS. In this report, which covers the first contract year--January 14, 2009, to January 13, 2010--GAO describes (1) the status of NQF's work on the five duties under MIPPA; (2) the costs and fixed fees NQF has reported; and (3) what NQF and HHS do in order to help ensure that NQF's reported costs are proper. GAO reviewed relevant MIPPA provisions and reviewed HHS and NQF documents, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Following the 1991 Persian Gulf War, research and investigations into the causes of servicemembers' unexplained illnesses were hampered by inadequate occupational and environmental exposure data. In 1997, the Department of Defense (DOD) developed a militarywide health surveillance framework that includes occupational and environmental health surveillance (OEHS)--the regular collection and reporting of occupational and environmental health hazard data by the military services. GAO is reporting on (1) how the deployed military services have implemented DOD's policies for collecting and reporting OEHS data for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and (2) the efforts under way to use OEHS reports to address both immediate and long-term health issues of servicemembers deployed in support of OIF."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A critical element in the life cycle of a weapon system is the availability of the item's technical data--recorded information used to define a design and to produce, support, maintain, or operate the item. Because a weapon system may remain in the defense inventory for decades following initial acquisition, technical data decisions made during acquisition can have far-reaching implications over its life cycle. In August 2004, GAO recommended that the Department of Defense (DOD) consider requiring program offices to develop acquisition strategies that provide for future delivery of technical data should the need arise to select an alternative source for logistics support or to offer the work out for competition. For this review, GAO (1) evaluated how sustainment plans for Army and Air Force weapon systems had been affected by technical data rights and (2) examined requirements for obtaining technical data rights under current DOD acquisition policies."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) provides financing to support U.S. exports, and its support for environmentally beneficial exports has been of long-standing congressional interest. In fiscal year 2008, Congress directed Ex-Im to allocate 10 percent of its annual financing to renewable energy and environmentally beneficial products and services. For fiscal years 2009 and 2010, it directed Ex-Im to allocate 10 percent to renewable energy and energy efficient end-use technologies. In 2009, it directed GAO to conduct a review of Ex-Im's efforts to meet congressional directives concerning environmental exports financing. This report addresses (1) the extent of Ex-Im's financing of renewable energy, energy efficient end-use technologies, and other environmentally beneficial exports; (2) Ex-Im's definitions for, and its reporting on, these exports; and 3) the extent to which Ex-Im has followed strategic planning key practices in its planning efforts in these areas. GAO analyzed Ex-Im transaction data and planning documents and interviewed officials from Ex-Im, other U.S. agencies, state-level trade promotion agencies, environmental industry associations, and other industry experts."