This report summarizes the major provisions of the agreement between the by House and Senate negotiators on the Medicare provisions.

Farm commodity programs were a product of the Great Depression. This report discusses the history of farm commodity legislation. Since 1933, Congress has required the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to administer a variety of programs providing price support and income protection for the nations farmers.

This report discusses the enhancements to the crop insurance and revenue insurance programs that are expected to be considered by the 106th Congress in order to improve the farm financial safety net and preclude the need for ad hoc legislative assistance.

This report provides basic information on the science of food biotechnology. It discusses regulatory policies and issues of concern about the use of biotechnology to modify foods through genetic engineering. It describes the scientific processes used and current products available. It explains how all three major federal agencies - the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency - regulate these foods.

This report discusses price changes in the pork industry. In late 1998, the lowest hog prices in decades created a crisis in the pork industry and prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Congress to take a series of actions to assist producers, including direct cash payments, and the purchase of extra pork products to reduce market supplies. The industry sought additional aid as low prices persisted into 1999.

This report discusses "Section 32", which is a permanent appropriation that since 1935 has earmarked the equivalent of 30% of annual customs receipts to support the farm sector through a variety of activities. Today, most of this sizeable appropriation (now about $5.7 billion per year) is simply transferred directly into the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) child nutrition account to fund school feeding and other programs.

This paper shows how much the United States has contributed to these international agencies in recent years. It also shows how much the international agencies budget (and the source of those funds) for their administrative expenses and their operational budgets. This report will be updated periodically.

This report discusses the FY2000 budget, which includes several energy tax incentives intended to reduce greenhouse gasses linked to possible global warming.

This report discusses legislation and issues relating to global climate change, some legislation and some FY1999 appropriations bills were used as vehicles for explicit congressional direction to the executive branch about possible "back door" implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.

This report presents an analysis of the potential impacts of the Kyoto Protocol on U.S. energy demand. The analysis focuses on 27 common end-uses — light duty vehicles, residential space heating, industrial direct process heat, etc. — that describe the way energy is used in the United States

This report discusses the global climate change policy and proposals to allow credit for early actions to reduce emissions.

This report discusses the federal fiscal year which is the accounting period of the federal government.

The Congressional Budget Act (CBA) of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344), as amended, established the concurrent budget resolution as the centerpiece of the congressional budget process. This report discusses the budget resolution, which provides the framework for subsequent legislative action on the annual appropriations bills, revenue measures, debt-limit legislation, reconciliation legislation (if required), and any other budgetary legislation.

This report describes more than 35 print, electronic, and Internet sources of information on financial support, and lists a few of the current general guides to writing grant proposals.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on the District of Columbia.

This report discusses the Comprehensive Budget Process Reform Act of 1999, was introduced by Representative Jim Nussle on February 25, 1999, and referred to the Committee on the Budget.

This report briefly discusses federal funding gaps. The routine activities of most federal agencies are funded annually by one or more of the 13 regular appropriations bills. When action on the regular appropriations bills is delayed, a continuing resolution (CR) is used to provide interim funding. During the past 48 years, CRs have been enacted for all but four fiscal years (FY1953, 1989, 1995, and 1997). For some fiscal years, a series of as many as six CRs have been enacted.

The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) was created by P.L. 100-418, the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, to encourage public-private cooperation in the development of pre-competitive technologies with broad application across industries. This activity has been targeted for elimination as a means to cut federal spending. This report discusses the ATP and related issues of federal appropriations (or the lack thereof).

This report discusses increases in the productivity of American firms to maintain competitiveness in the international marketplace.

This report illustrates the difference between the concepts of “monopoly” and “monopolization” by touching on the monopoly/monopolization thinking in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as illustrated in (1) statements on merger enforcement made by recent antitrust enforcement officials (generally indicative of the agencies’ concerns about competitive conditions and the effect of various market transactions), (2) the 1992 Horizontal Merger Guidelines 2 and (3) some observations on the Government actions against the Microsoft and Intel Corporations.

This report discusses the federal role in regulating egg safety. Although the egg industry is primarily responsible for ensuring the safety of its products, four federal agencies hold statutory responsibilities for egg safety.

House Rules, especially Rules X-XIII, govern the authority and operations of its committees and subcommittees. This report identifies and summarizes these and other rules and directives affecting committee powers, authority, activities, and operations.

Markups provide Members on a committee an opportunity to change parts of a bill prior to its consideration by the full House. A number of administrative, procedural, and substantive steps must be undertaken in preparation for a markup, and other steps could or should be undertaken. Generally, the markup should be strategically planned to minimize controversy, provide Members with political dividends, and position the committee for future action. This report is intended as a guide for various tasks that could be accomplished by committee staff in order to prepare a smooth committee markup.

This report briefly discusses the factors that determine House committee jurisdiction and more specifically House Rule X.