Other Transaction (OT) Authority (open access)

Other Transaction (OT) Authority

An other transaction (OT) is a special vehicle used by federal agencies for obtaining or advancing research and development (R&D) or prototypes. An OT is not a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement, and there is no statutory or regulatory definition of "other transaction." Only those agencies that have been provided OT authority may engage in other transactions.
Date: July 15, 2011
Creator: Halchin, L. Elaine
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress

This report discusses Special Operations Forces (SOFs), which are elite military units with special training and equipment that can infiltrate hostile territory through land, sea, or air to conduct a variety of operations, many of them classified.
Date: July 15, 2011
Creator: Feickert, Andrew
System: The UNT Digital Library
State and Local Economic Sanctions: Constitutional Issues (open access)

State and Local Economic Sanctions: Constitutional Issues

This report considers the Constitutionality of states and localities enacting their own sanctions on foreign countries, particularly Iran and Sudan.
Date: July 15, 2011
Creator: Grimmett, Jeanne J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Primer on Energy Derivatives and Their Regulation (open access)

Primer on Energy Derivatives and Their Regulation

This report presents basic information about over-the-counter(OTC) markets, the instruments traded, the regulatory framework, speculation, and current legislative proposals.
Date: July 15, 2008
Creator: Jickling, Mark
System: The UNT Digital Library
Alternative Minimum Taxpayers by State: 2005, 2006, and Projections for 2008 (open access)

Alternative Minimum Taxpayers by State: 2005, 2006, and Projections for 2008

This report
Date: July 15, 2008
Creator: Maguire, Steven
System: The UNT Digital Library
Violence Against Women Act: History, Federal Funding, and Reauthorizing Legislation (open access)

Violence Against Women Act: History, Federal Funding, and Reauthorizing Legislation

This report discusses the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2000 which reauthorized most of the original act’s programs and created new grant programs to prevent sexual assaults on campuses, assist victims of violence with civil legal concerns, create transitional housing for victims of domestic abuse (administered by HHS), and enhance protections for elderly and disabled victims of domestic violence. VAWA 2000, also, created a pilot program for safe custody exchange for families of domestic violence.
Date: July 15, 2004
Creator: Laney, Garrine P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements (open access)

Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements

This report is categorized into six categories: (I) Introduction, (II) Arms Control Between the United States and States of the Former Soviet Union, (III) Multilateral Nuclear Nonproiferation Activities, (IV) Non-Nuclear Multilateral Endeavors, (V) Conventional Technology Controls and (VI) Weapons Control and Elimination Conventions.
Date: July 15, 2013
Creator: Woolf, Amy E.; Kerr, Paul K. & Nikitin, Mary Beth D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Clean Air Issues in the 113th Congress: An Overview (open access)

Clean Air Issues in the 113th Congress: An Overview

This report discusses EPA's regulatory actions on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that have been one focus of congressional interest. It also points out Emissions of other Pollutants from Power Plants.
Date: July 15, 2013
Creator: McCarthy, James E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Block Grants: Perspectives and Controversies (open access)

Block Grants: Perspectives and Controversies

This report provides an overview of the six grant types with criteria for defining a block grant and a list of current block grants. It also examines competing perspectives concerning the use of block grants versus other grant mechanisms to achieve national goals, provides an historical overview of the role of block grants in American federalism, and discusses recent changes to existing block grants and proposals to create new ones.
Date: July 15, 2014
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay & Boyd, Eugene
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Security: The Lump-Sum Death Benefit (open access)

Social Security: The Lump-Sum Death Benefit

This report provides a brief description of the Lump-Sum Death Benefit and discusses the number of benefit payments and total spending.
Date: July 15, 2014
Creator: Meyerson, Noah P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments During the 111th Congress, 2009-2010 (open access)

Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments During the 111th Congress, 2009-2010

This report explains the process for filling positions to which the President makes appointments with the advice and consent of the Senate (also referred to as PAS positions). It also identifies, for the 111th Congress, all nominations to full-time positions requiring Senate confirmation in the 15 executive departments.
Date: July 15, 2014
Creator: Carey, Maeve P. & Greene, Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
Managing Disaster Debris: Overview of Regulatory Requirements, Agency Roles, and Selected Challenges (open access)

Managing Disaster Debris: Overview of Regulatory Requirements, Agency Roles, and Selected Challenges

This report addresses debris resulting from a “major disaster” or “emergency” declared by the President. First, it discusses the types of debris commonly generated during and after a disaster and selected factors that can make “debris removal” such a costly, complex operation. Second, it discusses the roles of federal, state, and local agencies after a disaster has been declared — with regard to both funding debris removal and the actual physical process of removal.
Date: July 15, 2008
Creator: Luther, Linda
System: The UNT Digital Library
China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress

This report focuses on the potential implications of China's naval modernization for future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The report particularly discusses how potential United States responses to China's military modernization effort -- including its naval modernization effort -- have emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning.
Date: July 15, 2014
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
China-U.S. Trade Issues (open access)

China-U.S. Trade Issues

This report provides an overview of U.S.-China economic relations, surveys major trade disputes, and lists major legislation in the 110th that seeks to address these issues.
Date: July 15, 2008
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foods (open access)

Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foods

This report covers the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) system implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Canada and Mexico say that the (COOL) system is unfair and does not meet its original objectives, while Congress is considering legislation that would further expand labeling requirements.
Date: July 15, 2010
Creator: Jurenas, Remy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Highway Bridges: Conditions and the Federal/State Role (open access)

Highway Bridges: Conditions and the Federal/State Role

This report examines the federal and state roles in the maintenance, inspection, reconstruction, and replacement of the nation's highway bridge infrastructure, as well as the emergency response and reconstruction role of the Department of Transportation (DOT). The report first describes what is known about the condition of the nation's bridges and whether the problem of structural deficiency is improving or worsening. It then briefly describes the programmatic and budgetary context, including federal efforts to reduce the number of deficient bridges, and examines highway bridge spending. The report discusses issues Congress is facing face in light of the I-35W bridge collapse and the emergence of questions about the appropriateness and effectiveness of related federal infrastructure policies, programs, and spending. Finally, the report describes a number of legislative initiatives that have been proposed.
Date: July 15, 2008
Creator: Kirk, Robert S. & Mallett, William J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bitcoin: Questions, Answers, and Analysis of Legal Issues (open access)

Bitcoin: Questions, Answers, and Analysis of Legal Issues

This report has three major sections. The first section answers some basic questions about Bitcoin and the operation of the Bitcoin network and its interaction with the current dollar-based monetary system. The second section summarizes likely reasons for and against widespread Bitcoin adoption. The third section discusses legal and regulatory matters that have been raised by Bitcoin and other digital currencies.
Date: July 15, 2014
Creator: Elwell, Craig K.; Murphy, M. M. & Seitzinger, Michael V.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests (open access)

Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests

This report discusses the current political and economic conditions in Russia, focusing on the impact of Vladimir Putin's leadership and the leadership of his successor/protégé, Dmitriy Medvedev, both of which have steered Russia away from democratization. The report also discusses the state of the economy since the Soviet collapse in 1999, how the recent global economic downturn has affected Russia, the state of Russia's military, and the current relationship between Russia and the United States.
Date: July 15, 2010
Creator: Nichol, Jim
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Order: Answers to Questions (open access)

Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Order: Answers to Questions

This report discusses Executive Order 13673, Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, which has the stated intent of increasing “efficiency and cost savings” by ensuring that executive branch procurement contractors understand and comply with labor laws.
Date: July 15, 2015
Creator: Perry, Rodney M. & Manuel, Kate M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Abortion: Justice O'Connor's Opinions (open access)

Abortion: Justice O'Connor's Opinions

This report examines Justice O'Connor's notable opinions on abortion, and explores her role in the development of the undue burden standard, adopted in 1992. Under the new standard, a reviewing court would consider whether an abortion restriction has the effect of imposing an "undue burden" on a woman's right to obtain an abortion.
Date: July 15, 2005
Creator: Shimabukuro, Jon O.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assistance to Firefighters Program: Distribution of Fire Grant Funding (open access)

Assistance to Firefighters Program: Distribution of Fire Grant Funding

The report is categorized into eight categories: (I) Background, (II) FY2001 Grants, (III) FY 2002 Grants,(IV) FY 2003 Grants, (V) FY 2004 Grants, (VI) Program Evaluation, (VII) Distribution of Fire Grants and (VIII) Activities in the 108th Congress.
Date: July 15, 2004
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Highway Assistance to U.S. Territories: Legislative/Funding History and Reauthorization Options (open access)

Federal Highway Assistance to U.S. Territories: Legislative/Funding History and Reauthorization Options

None
Date: July 15, 2003
Creator: Kirk, Robert S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fatherhood Initiatives: Connecting Fathers to Their Children (open access)

Fatherhood Initiatives: Connecting Fathers to Their Children

This report briefly examines the role of the CSE agency in fatherhood programs and discusses initiatives to promote and support father-child interaction outside the framework of the father-mother relationship.
Date: July 15, 2011
Creator: Solomon-Fears, Carmen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order: Questions and Answers (open access)

Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order: Questions and Answers

None
Date: July 15, 2015
Creator: Manuel, Kate M. & Perry, Rodney M.
System: The UNT Digital Library