Export-Import Bank: Overview and Reauthorization Issues (open access)

Export-Import Bank: Overview and Reauthorization Issues

This report provides: a general background of Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank; a discussion of the international context of the Bank; analysis of key issues that Congress may consider in a reauthorization debate; and the congressional outlook on Ex-Im Bank.
Date: March 25, 2015
Creator: Akhtar, Shayerah Ilias
System: The UNT Digital Library
Northern Ireland: The Peace Process (open access)

Northern Ireland: The Peace Process

This report provides background information regarding political violence and the peace process in Northern Ireland. It includes further information about the devolved government and recurrent crises (1999-2002, 2003-2007 and 2008-2010), implementation of police reforms, recent events and ongoing challenges, relevant U.S. policy, and recent legislation.
Date: March 11, 2015
Creator: Archick, Kristin
System: The UNT Digital Library
Terrorist Attacks in Europe and Mounting Security Concerns (open access)

Terrorist Attacks in Europe and Mounting Security Concerns

This report briefly discusses the European policy response to recent terrorist attacks.
Date: March 16, 2015
Creator: Archick, Kristin & Belkin, Paul
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S.-EU Cooperation on Ukraine and Russia (open access)

U.S.-EU Cooperation on Ukraine and Russia

This report briefly discusses U.S.-EU responses to the Ukrainian conflict, specifically focusing on the possible expansion of sanctions against Russia.
Date: March 13, 2015
Creator: Archick, Kristin & Mix, Derek E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Terrorist Attack in Tunis: Implications (open access)

Terrorist Attack in Tunis: Implications

This report briefly discusses the implications of the March 18 terrorist attack in Tunis which killed at least 20 foreign tourists visiting the national Bardo Museum, along with a Tunisian police officer.
Date: March 23, 2015
Creator: Arieff, Alexis & Humud, Carla E.
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: March 9, 2015
Creator: Austin, D. A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Debt Limit Since 2011 (open access)

The Debt Limit Since 2011

This report discusses the federal debt increase. Total federal debt can increase when the government sells debt to the public to finance budget deficits and acquire the financial resources needed to meet its obligations (increasing debt held by the public), or when the federal government issues debt to certain government accounts, such as the Social Security, Medicare, and Transportation trust funds, in exchange for their reported surpluses (increasing debt held by government accounts).
Date: March 26, 2015
Creator: Austin, D. A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Health Care for Veterans: Suicide Prevention (open access)

Health Care for Veterans: Suicide Prevention

This report focuses on suicide prevention activities of the Veterans Health Administration within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Date: March 19, 2015
Creator: Bagalman, Erin
System: The UNT Digital Library
Health Care for Veterans: Traumatic Brain Injury (open access)

Health Care for Veterans: Traumatic Brain Injury

This report focuses on current efforts of the VA's Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to understand, identify, and treat Traumatic brain injury (TBI) among veterans.
Date: March 9, 2015
Creator: Bagalman, Erin
System: The UNT Digital Library
Prevalence of Mental Illness in the United States: Data Sources and Estimates (open access)

Prevalence of Mental Illness in the United States: Data Sources and Estimates

This report briefly describes the methodology and selected findings of three large federally funded surveys that provide national prevalence estimates of diagnosable mental illness: the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A), and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). This report presents prevalence estimates of any mental illness and serious mental illness based on each survey and ends with a brief discussion of how these prevalence estimates might inform policy discussions.
Date: March 9, 2015
Creator: Bagalman, Erin & Napili, Angela
System: The UNT Digital Library
Many Aspects of the Affordable Care Act Would Not Be Affected by King v. Burwell (open access)

Many Aspects of the Affordable Care Act Would Not Be Affected by King v. Burwell

This report briefly discusses the possible effects of the King v. Burwell case on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) law. The case examines whether or not the ACA allows the IRS to make premium tax credits available to residents of states that decline to establish health insurance exchanges.
Date: March 3, 2015
Creator: Barry, Matthew B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
State Children’s Health Insurance Program: An Overview (open access)

State Children’s Health Insurance Program: An Overview

This report describes the basic elements of CHIP, focusing on how the program is designed, who is eligible, what services are covered, how enrollees share in the cost of care, and how the program is financed. The report ends with a brief discussion of the future of CHIP.
Date: March 20, 2015
Creator: Baumrucker, Evelyne P. & Mitchell, Alison
System: The UNT Digital Library
The "Islamic State" Crisis and U.S. Policy (open access)

The "Islamic State" Crisis and U.S. Policy

This report discusses the current crisis involving the Islamic State, which is a transnational Sunni Islamist insurgent and terrorist group that has expanded its control over areas of parts of Iraq and Syria since 2013.
Date: March 12, 2015
Creator: Blanchard, Christopher M.; Humud, Carla E.; Katzman, Kenneth & Weed, Matthew C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sudan (open access)

Sudan

This report provides a brief overview of political, economic, and humanitarian conditions in Sudan and examines the conflict dynamics that persist in the country. It also outlines U.S. policy and congressional engagement.
Date: March 23, 2015
Creator: Blanchard, Lauren P.
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
Offices and Officials in the Senate: Roles and Duties (open access)

Offices and Officials in the Senate: Roles and Duties

This report outlines the officers of the Senate, including brief information about the history of each office, examples of their roles and duties, and election or appointment information about the current incumbent.
Date: March 16, 2015
Creator: Brudnick, Ida A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Constitutional Analysis of Suspicionless Drug Testing Requirements for the Receipt of Governmental Benefits (open access)

Constitutional Analysis of Suspicionless Drug Testing Requirements for the Receipt of Governmental Benefits

This report provides an overview of the Fourth Amendment in order to effectively evaluate the constitutionality of laws requiring suspicionless drug tests to receive governmental benefits. It then reviews five Supreme Court decisions that have evaluated these programs. The report concludes with a synthesis of the various factors that likely will be important to a future court's assessment of the constitutionality of these laws.
Date: March 6, 2015
Creator: Carpenter, David H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Firearms at Army Corps Water Resource Projects: Proposed Legislation and Issues in the 113th Congress (open access)

Firearms at Army Corps Water Resource Projects: Proposed Legislation and Issues in the 113th Congress

This report examines the Corps current regulations, related legislative proposals, and firearms-related safety and security issues at Corps projects.
Date: March 16, 2015
Creator: Carter, Nicole T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
House of Representatives Staff Levels in Member, Committee, Leadership, and Other Offices, 1977-2014 (open access)

House of Representatives Staff Levels in Member, Committee, Leadership, and Other Offices, 1977-2014

This report provides staffing levels in House Member, committee, leadership, and other offices since 1977.
Date: March 19, 2015
Creator: Chausow, Lara E.; Petersen, R. Eric & Wilhelm, Amber H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Voting Rights Act of 1965: Background and Overview (open access)

The Voting Rights Act of 1965: Background and Overview

This report provides background information on the historical circumstances that led to the adoption of the VRA, a summary of its major provisions, and a brief discussion of the U.S. Supreme Court decision and related legislation in the 113th and 114th Congresses. Two identical bills--H.R. 3899 and S. 1945--were introduced in the 113th Congress that would have amended the VRA to add a new coverage formula, among other provisions.
Date: March 10, 2015
Creator: Coleman, Kevin J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Help America Vote Act and Election Administration: Overview and Issues (open access)

The Help America Vote Act and Election Administration: Overview and Issues

This report discusses the Help America Vote Act (HAVA; P.L. 107-252) enacted in 2002. It provides background information about HAVA and its provisions, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), funding for the agency and for state programs to improve elections, and a number of enduring election administration issues.
Date: March 9, 2015
Creator: Coleman, Kevin J. & Fischer, Eric A.
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
EPA and the Army Corps' Proposed Rule to Define "Waters of the United States" (open access)

EPA and the Army Corps' Proposed Rule to Define "Waters of the United States"

This report describes the March 25, 2014 proposed rule to define "waters of the United States," particularly focused on clarifying the regulatory status of waters located in isolated places in a landscape, the types of waters with ambiguous jurisdictional status following the Supreme Court's ruling. It includes a table comparing the proposal to existing regulatory language.
Date: March 20, 2015
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
System: The UNT Digital Library
EPA’s Vessel General Permits: Background and Issues (open access)

EPA’s Vessel General Permits: Background and Issues

This report is an overview of the revised VGP for large vessels and two key issues.
Date: March 2, 2015
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
System: The UNT Digital Library