Homeland Security: Defending U.S. Airspace (open access)

Homeland Security: Defending U.S. Airspace

This report discusses about Air Defense Challenge, Command & Control, Intercept and Surveillance.
Date: October 13, 2004
Creator: Bolkcom, Christopher
System: The UNT Digital Library
Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation (open access)

Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation

This report opens with an overview of visa issuances, with sections on procedures for aliens coming to live in the United States permanently and on procedures for aliens admitted for temporary stays. It includes a discussion of visa screening policies, including inadmissibility, databases, an analysis of visa refusals, biometric visas and other major visa policy procedures. Summaries of key laws revising visa policy enacted in the 107th Congress follows. The final section analyzes selected issues in the 108th Congress, notably the 9/11 Commission recommendations, visa revocation and removal, new technologies, potential impact on business, and other security concerns.
Date: October 13, 2004
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Phosphorus Mitigation in the Everglades (open access)

Phosphorus Mitigation in the Everglades

This report discusses the FY2004 appropriations provisions that condition federal funding for Everglades restoration on compliance with water quality standards, provides a side-by-side analysis of pending appropriations legislation, and provides background and a timeline of efforts to address Everglades phosphorus pollution (from Summary).
Date: January 13, 2004
Creator: Sheikh, Pervaze A. & Johnson, Barbara
System: The UNT Digital Library
Israeli-United States Relations (open access)

Israeli-United States Relations

Israeli-U.S. relations are an important factor in U.S. policy in the Middle East, and Congress has placed considerable emphasis on the maintenance of a close and supportive relationship. The main vehicle for expressing support for Israel has been foreign aid; Israel currently receives about $3 billion per year in economic and military grants, refugee settlement assistance, and other aid. Congress has monitored aid closely along with other issues in bilateral relations, and its concerns have affected Administration’s policies.
Date: December 13, 2004
Creator: Mark, Clyde R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Vietnam-U.S. Normalization Process (open access)

The Vietnam-U.S. Normalization Process

U.S.-Vietnam diplomatic and economic relations remained essentially frozen for more than a decade after the 1975 communist victory in South Vietnam. Over the past decade, Washington and Hanoi have normalized relations incrementally. Congress has played a significant role in the normalization process.
Date: December 13, 2004
Creator: Manyin, Mark E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm Commodity Programs: Direct Payments, Counter-Cyclical Payments, and Marketing Loans (open access)

Farm Commodity Programs: Direct Payments, Counter-Cyclical Payments, and Marketing Loans

This report discusses federal law that has authorized farm income and commodity price support programs for over 70 years.The 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) authorizes the current programs for the 2002-2007 crop years. The payment framework combines direct payments of the 1996 farm bill (P.L. 104-127) with counter-cyclical payments of prior laws. Subsidies continue for wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, and rice, and soybeans and peanuts are added to the list of major crops. Dry peas, lentils, and chickpeas were added to the loan program, and wool, mohair, and honey were reinstated. This report covers grains, cotton, oilseeds, and peanuts. These commodities have similar rules, and generally account for about two-thirds of CCC outlays.
Date: December 13, 2004
Creator: Monke, Jim
System: The UNT Digital Library
Distribution of the Tax Burden Across Individuals: An Overview (open access)

Distribution of the Tax Burden Across Individuals: An Overview

This report discusses in the first section different philosophies about how the tax burden should be distributed, and what those philosophies imply for the shape of the tax system. In particular, it addresses the question of the justifications for a progressive tax system (one where the share of income collected as a tax rises as income rises). This section is presented for the interested reader, but is not a necessary preliminary to examining the analysis in the second section, which presents estimates of the distribution of the federal and total U.S. tax burden. The third section of the report discusses the measures that can be used to characterize the distributional effects of tax changes.
Date: December 13, 2004
Creator: Gravelle, Jane G. & Shvedov, Maxim
System: The UNT Digital Library
Open Ocean Aquaculture (open access)

Open Ocean Aquaculture

This report discusses open ocean aquaculture, which is defined as the rearing of marine organisms under controlled conditions in exposed, high-energy ocean environments beyond significant coastal influence, is one possible option for meeting increasing consumer demand for marine products and offering new and alternative employment opportunities.
Date: December 13, 2004
Creator: Borgatti, Rachel & Buck, Eugene H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Campaign Financing: Highlights and Chronology of Current Federal Law (open access)

Campaign Financing: Highlights and Chronology of Current Federal Law

This report summarizes major provisions of federal law and offers a chronology of key legislative and judicial actions which govern financial activity of federal election campaigns. The laws are based on two principal statutes: the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971, as amended in 1974, 1976, 1979, and 2002, and the Revenue Act of 1971.
Date: December 13, 2004
Creator: Cantor, Joseph E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicle R&D: FreedomCAR and the President’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative (open access)

Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicle R&D: FreedomCAR and the President’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative

This report discusses the organization, funding, and goals of the Freedom CAR and Fuel partnerships, and discusses legislation relevant to the partnerships.
Date: August 13, 2004
Creator: Yacobucci, Brent D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act Requirements: Money Services Businesses (open access)

Enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act Requirements: Money Services Businesses

None
Date: December 13, 2004
Creator: Brooks, Nathan
System: The UNT Digital Library
National Emergency Powers (open access)

National Emergency Powers

This report describes Presidents emergency. Federal law provides a variety of powers for the President to use in response to crisis, exigency, or emergency circumstances threatening the nation. Moreover, they are not limited to military or war situations.
Date: May 13, 2004
Creator: Relyea, Harold C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress (open access)

Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress

This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Date: October 13, 2004
Creator: Reisch, Mark
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act of 2003 (H.R. 3214): A Section-by-Section Analysis (open access)

The Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act of 2003 (H.R. 3214): A Section-by-Section Analysis

This report summarizes the Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act (H.R. 3214). Additionally, the report covers each title of the act such as title one expanding the ability to qualify for the DNA Backlog Grant Program.
Date: July 13, 2004
Creator: Velez Pollack, Estela I.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Can Public Policy Raise the Saving Rate? (open access)

Can Public Policy Raise the Saving Rate?

This report discusses a brief accounting of national saving, household saving, business saving and public saving.
Date: December 13, 2004
Creator: Cashell, Brian W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
NAFTA at Ten: Lessons from Recent Studies (open access)

NAFTA at Ten: Lessons from Recent Studies

This report provides an analytical summary of the economic lessons reached in support of Congress's role in the trade policy process, especially the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Date: February 13, 2004
Creator: Hornbeck, J. F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fiscal Year 2005 Homeland Security Grant Program: State Allocations and Issues for Congressional Oversight (open access)

Fiscal Year 2005 Homeland Security Grant Program: State Allocations and Issues for Congressional Oversight

None
Date: December 13, 2004
Creator: Reese, Shawn
System: The UNT Digital Library
Stem Cell Research (open access)

Stem Cell Research

This report provides background on the research and potential applications of research that uses embryonic and adult stem cells. It also provides information about the current federal and state regulatory landscape, related Congressional and international actions, and relevant ethical concerns.
Date: August 13, 2004
Creator: Johnson, Judith A. & Williams, Erin
System: The UNT Digital Library
NAFTA at Ten: Lessons from Recent Studies (open access)

NAFTA at Ten: Lessons from Recent Studies

This report provides an analytical summary of the economic lessons reached in support of Congress's role in the trade policy process. On January 1, 2004, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) completed its tenth year and most of its provisions are now implemented. NAFTA is a free trade agreement (FTA) that effectively added Mexico to the U.S.-Canada FTA completed in 1989. Its anniversary has sparked numerous evaluations, which are particularly relevant as the United States pursues free trade agreements with multiple Latin American countries. Most studies found that NAFTA's effects on the U.S. and Mexican economies to be modest at most.
Date: February 13, 2004
Creator: Hornbeck, J. F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Stem Cell Research (open access)

Stem Cell Research

This report provides background on the research and potential applications of research that uses embryonic and adult stem cells. It also provides information about the current federal and state regulatory landscape, related Congressional and international actions, and relevant ethical concerns.
Date: December 13, 2004
Creator: Johnson, Judith A. & Williams, Erin
System: The UNT Digital Library