Report concerning a variety of issues faced by the 112th Congress. Topics include trade negotiations with South Korea, Panama, Colombia, and China, export controls and sanctions, and international financial institutions.

Report that looks at budget requests for the Army's Future Combat System (FCS) program, Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program, and brigade combat teams (BCTs). It ends with a discussion of potential issues for Congress.

Report that addresses some of the questions that have been raised about the changes made by the Federal Highway Administration to certain standardized street and highways signs.

Report that discusses the levying of a value-added tax (VAT), a broad-based consumption tax, to potentially assist in resolving United States fiscal problems. It considers the experiences of the 29 nations with value-added taxes (VATs) in the 30-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which are relevant to the feasibility and operation of a possible U. S. VAT.

Report describing the federal procedures and attendant legal provisions generally associated with the prosecution of cases regarding the killing and attempted killing of federal officers and employees in the performance of their official duties.

This report reviews the intelligence appropriations process, describes various changes that have been proposed, and analyzes the issues associated with the proposals.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Navy's proposal to homeport a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN) at Mayport, Florida. Economic and homeland security concerns are discussed.

This report looks the background, and current methods of, sending mail to troops serving overseas via subsidized postage.

This report analyzes relevant provisions in enacted legislation and selected pending bills relating to the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a facility in which alleged enemy belligerents are detained.

This report outlines the eligibility requirements and benefit levels for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and related policy issues.

Report describing the structure and responsibilities of the Committee on the Budget in the House of Representatives.

Report that examines debates over what constitutes an unfunded federal mandate and the implementation of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) of 1995.

This report discusses what constitutes a "disadvantaged" small business for purposes of federal and federally funded contracting programs and how firms are certified or otherwise designated as such.

Report summarizing the 2011 Fiscal Year budget request for research & development (R&D) funding, including comparisons to R&D funding requests in the FY2010 budget. In addition, this report breaks down the various aspects of the President's FY2011 R&D funding request.

Report discussing the United States Navy's plan to develop and design a class of 12 next-generation ballistic missile submarines, or SSBN(X)s, as replacements for the 14 Ohio class SSBNs currently in operation. The report explores the affordability of the project and its potential impact on other Navy shipbuilding programs, alternatives to the program, and which shipyard or shipyards will build the proposed ships.

This report explores the potential economic impact of military closures on communities, especially rural communities, which are more heavily affected by such closures and suffer from slower economic recovery times in such instances.

Report that provides an estimate of the initial impact of the changing oil prices on the nation's merchandise trade deficit.

Report that details the Navy's irregular warfare (IW) and counterterrorism (CT) activities.

Report that discusses the process of naming Navy ships, which have traditionally been chosen and announced by the Secretary of the Navy. Congress in recent years has proposed, and sometimes passed, legislation regarding the naming of specific ships.

Report concerning food safety, the resources required to ensure food safety, and whether federal food safety laws themselves, first enacted in the early 1900s, have kept pace with the significant changes that have occurred in the food production, processing, and marketing sectors since then.

Report that discusses the background of cluster munitions in the U.S. military, and the current Department of Defense (DOD) and Obama Administration stances on the topic. It also discusses the two major international initiatives to address cluster munitions: the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) and negotiations under the U.N. Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).

U.S. trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), World Trade Organization agreements, and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) have been approved by majority vote of each house rather than by two-thirds vote of the Senate - that is, they have been treated as congressional-executive agreements rather than as treaties. The congressional-executive agreement has been the vehicle for implementing Congress's long-standing policy of seeking trade benefits for the United States through reciprocal trade negotiations. This report discusses this topic in brief.

This report discusses the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a free trade agreement that includes nations on both sides of the Pacific. Original members of the TPP were Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore. The United States, Australia, Peru, and Vietnam have committed themselves to joining and expanding this group. This report discusses similar trade partnerships, the importance of Asia to U.S. trade and security interests, and U.S. participation in the TPP.

The National Intelligence Council (NIC), composed of some 18 senior analysts and national security policy experts, provides the U.S. intelligence community's best judgments on crucial international issues. It is the purpose of this report to describe the statutory provisions that authorize the NIC, provide a brief history of its work, and review its role within the federal government. The report will focus on congressional interaction with the NIC and describe various options for modifying congressional oversight.