The Swiss National Bank's Recent Currency Actions (open access)

The Swiss National Bank's Recent Currency Actions

This report presents the foreign exchange value of the Swiss franc relative to the euro and dollar.
Date: February 11, 2015
Creator: Jackson, James K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
CHIP and the ACA Maintenance of Effort (MOE) Requirement: In Brief (open access)

CHIP and the ACA Maintenance of Effort (MOE) Requirement: In Brief

This report discusses the Affordable Care Act (ACA) child maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement for children if federal CHIP funding expires. It begins with a brief background about CHIP, including information regarding program design and financing. The report then describes the ACA child MOE requirements for CHIP Medicaid expansion programs and for separate CHIP programs and discusses potential coverage implications.
Date: February 11, 2015
Creator: Mitchell, Alison & Baumrucker, Evelyne P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
United States Fire Administration: An Overview (open access)

United States Fire Administration: An Overview

This report discusses the United States Fire Administration (USFA), which aims to significantly reduce the nation's loss of life from fire, while also achieving a reduction in property loss and non-fatal injury due to fire.
Date: March 11, 2015
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA): Resources for Frequently Asked Questions (open access)

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA): Resources for Frequently Asked Questions

This report provides resources to help congressional staff respond to constituents' frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The report lists selected resources regarding consumers, employers, and other stakeholders, with a focus on federal sources. It also lists CRS reports that summarize the ACA's provisions.
Date: March 11, 2015
Creator: Napili, Angela
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conducting Foreign Relations Without Authority: The Logan Act (open access)

Conducting Foreign Relations Without Authority: The Logan Act

This report discusses the Logan Act, which was intended to prohibit United States citizens without authority from interfering in relations between the United States and foreign governments. There has been renewed interest in the Logan Act in 2015 as the result of a letter signed by 47 U.S. Senators to Iran suggesting that negotiations about a nuclear deal between the President and the Iranian leadership would be an executive agreement that another President or Congress would be able to abrogate.
Date: March 11, 2015
Creator: Seitzinger, Michael V.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Millennium Challenge Corporation (open access)

Millennium Challenge Corporation

This report discusses the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) which provides economic assistance through a competitive selection process to developing nations that demonstrate positive performance in three areas: ruling justly, investing in people, and fostering economic freedom.
Date: March 11, 2015
Creator: Tarnoff, Curt
System: The UNT Digital Library
Community Development Block Grants: Funding Issues in the 113th Congress (open access)

Community Development Block Grants: Funding Issues in the 113th Congress

This report is a review of the Community Development Fund (CDF) account's funding history from FY2000 to FY2014, as well as current funding in FY2015. It includes a discussion of the three primary components of the CDF account: CDBG formula grants; CDBG-related set-asides and earmarks; and CDBG-linked supplemental and special appropriations.
Date: March 11, 2015
Creator: Boyd, Eugene
System: The UNT Digital Library
Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foods and the WTO Trade Dispute on Meat Labeling (open access)

Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foods and the WTO Trade Dispute on Meat Labeling

This report covers the dispute between the U.S with its neighbors, Canada and Mexico, who say that the recent country-of-origin labeling (COOL) system implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is unfair and does not meet its original objectives. This dispute was brought before the WTO dispute panel and found to be valid. The report ends with a discussion of options for the U.S. in regards to modifying COOL to follow WTO rulings.
Date: June 11, 2015
Creator: Greene, Joel L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The 2015 National Security Strategy: Authorities, Changes, Issues for Congress (open access)

The 2015 National Security Strategy: Authorities, Changes, Issues for Congress

This report discusses a number of potential oversight questions raised by a National Security Strategy (NSS) document released by the Obama Administration.
Date: May 11, 2015
Creator: Lucas, Nathan J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Internet Tax Freedom Act: In Brief (open access)

The Internet Tax Freedom Act: In Brief

This report discusses the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA; P.L. 105-277), which enacted in 1998, implemented a three-year moratorium preventing state and local governments from taxing Internet access, or imposing multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.
Date: June 11, 2015
Creator: Stupak, Jeffrey M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Pension Sponsorship and Participation: Summary of Recent Trends (open access)

Pension Sponsorship and Participation: Summary of Recent Trends

This report discusses trends that will affect the economic well-being of future retirees.
Date: September 11, 2015
Creator: Purcell, Patrick
System: The UNT Digital Library
Membership of the 114th Congress: A Profile (open access)

Membership of the 114th Congress: A Profile

This report presents a profile of the membership of the 114th Congress (2015-2016). Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age, occupation, education, length of congressional service, religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, foreign births, and military service.
Date: June 11, 2015
Creator: Manning, Jennifer E.
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 provides an overview of many of the key arms control and nonproliferation agreements and endeavors of the past 40 years. It is divided into three sections. The first describes arms control efforts between the United States and the states of the former Soviet Union. The second section describes multilateral nuclear nonproliferation efforts. The final section reviews treaties and agreements that address chemical, biological, and conventional weapons.
Date: May 11, 2015
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.; Kerr, Paul K. & Nikitin, Mary Beth D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financing the U.S. Trade Deficit (open access)

Financing the U.S. Trade Deficit

This report provides an overview of the U.S. balance of payments, an explanation of the broader role of capital flows in the U.S. economy, an explanation of how the country finances its trade deficit or a trade surplus, and the implications for Congress and the country of the large inflows of capital from abroad.
Date: June 11, 2015
Creator: Jackson, James K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
War Funding and the Budget Control Act: In Brief (open access)

War Funding and the Budget Control Act: In Brief

This report discusses the FY2016 debate over defense spending levels. Congress is considering how to stay within the spending limits, or caps, set by the Budget Control Act (BCA). Under the BCA, all defense spending for the defense base budget--excluding amounts designated for "Overseas Contingency Operations" (OCO) or emergencies--is subject to annual BCA caps.
Date: June 11, 2015
Creator: Belasco, Amy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conference Reports and Joint Explanatory Statements (open access)

Conference Reports and Joint Explanatory Statements

This report discusses the function of conference reports and joint explanatory statements in Congress. The conference report presents the formal legislative language on which the conference committee has agreed. The joint explanatory statement explains the various elements of the conferees' agreement in relation to the positions that the House and Senate had committed to the conference committee.
Date: June 11, 2015
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
United States Fire Administration: An Overview (open access)

United States Fire Administration: An Overview

This report discusses the United States Fire Administration (USFA), which aims to significantly reduce the nation's loss of life from fire, while also achieving a reduction in property loss and non-fatal injury due to fire.
Date: March 11, 2015
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Procedures for Congressional Action in Relation to a Nuclear Agreement with Iran: In Brief (open access)

Procedures for Congressional Action in Relation to a Nuclear Agreement with Iran: In Brief

This report provides, in brief, analysis of the congressional procedural provisions laid out in the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-17). The act establishes a period for Congress to review any comprehensive agreement, during which certain presidential actions to provide relief from sanctions on Iran are barred.
Date: September 11, 2015
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie & Beth, Richard S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The FY2014 Government Shutdown: Economic Effects (open access)

The FY2014 Government Shutdown: Economic Effects

This report discusses the effects of the FY2014 government shutdown on economic output. It also reviews third-party estimates of the effects of the shutdown on the economy. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) does not plan to provide an independent estimate of the economic impact of the shutdown.
Date: September 11, 2015
Creator: Labonte, Marc
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Debt Limit Since 2011 (open access)

The Debt Limit Since 2011

This report discusses the federal debt increase. The accumulation of federal debt accelerated in the wake of the 2007-2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession.
Date: September 11, 2015
Creator: Austin, D. A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Employment for Veterans: Trends and Programs (open access)

Employment for Veterans: Trends and Programs

None
Date: May 11, 2015
Creator: Collins, Benjamin; Dilger, Robert Jay; Dortch, Cassandria; Grasso, Valerie Bailey; Lowry, Sean & Perl, Libby
System: The UNT Digital Library
Consumers and Food Price Inflation (open access)

Consumers and Food Price Inflation

This report provides information on the current status and outlook for U.S. food prices, measuring their changes and how such changes relate to U.S. consumers.
Date: May 11, 2015
Creator: Schnepf, Randy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Commercial Filming and Photography on Federal Lands (open access)

Commercial Filming and Photography on Federal Lands

This report discusses concerns congress attempts to address in regards to commercial filming and photography on federal lands.
Date: March 11, 2015
Creator: Comay, Laura B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress (open access)

Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress

The first section of this report discusses demographics and record keeping of missing adults and unidentified remains, as well as some of the factors that may contribute to the disappearance of adults. This section also discusses federally-funded databases that are used to track data on missing adults and unidentified individuals. The second section of the report describes the federal programs and initiatives to assist in locating missing adults, including funding data where applicable. Finally, the third section discusses issues about the federal role in missing adult cases.
Date: February 11, 2015
Creator: Fernandes-Alcantara, Adrienne L.
System: The UNT Digital Library