This report provides a summary of the structure of the Abandon Mine Land (AML) program, distribution of funds, and discusses major proposals considered in the 108th Congress.

This report summarizes the work done during the fifth quarter of the project. Effort was directed in two areas: (1) Further development of the model on the role of connectivity on ionic conductivity of porous bodies, including the role of grain boundaries and space charge region. (2) Fabrication of porous samaria-doped ceria (SDC) and investigation of the effect of thermal treatment on its conductivity. The model developed accounts for transport through three regions: (a) Transport through the bulk of the grain, RI, which includes parallel transport through space charge region. (b) Transport through the space charge region adjacent to the neck (grain boundary), RII. (c) Transport through the structural part of the neck (grain boundary), RIII. The work on the model development involves calculation RI, RII, RIII, and the sum of these three terms, which is the total resistance, as a function of the grain radius ranging between 0.5 and 5 microns and as a function of the relative neck size, described in terms of the angle theta, ranging between 5 and 45{sup o}. Three values of resistivity of the space charge region were chosen; space charge resistivity greater than grain resistivity, equal to grain resistivity, and lower than grain …

A project to develop non-intrusive active sensors that can be applied on existing aging aerospace structures for monitoring the onset and progress of structural damage (fatigue cracks and corrosion) is presented. The state of the art in active sensors structural health monitoring and damage detection is reviewed. Methods based on (a) elastic wave propagation and (b) electro-mechanical (NM) impedance technique are sighted and briefly discussed. The instrumentation of these specimens with piezoelectric active sensors is illustrated. The main detection strategies (E/M impedance for local area detection and wave propagation for wide area interrogation) are discussed. The signal processing and damage interpretation algorithms are tuned to the specific structural interrogation method used. In the high-frequency EIM impedance approach, pattern recognition methods are used to compare impedance signatures taken at various time intervals and to identify damage presence and progression from the change in these signatures. In the wave propagation approach, the acoustic-ultrasonic methods identifying additional reflection generated from the damage site and changes in transmission velocity and phase are used. Both approaches benefit from the use of artificial intelligence neural networks algorithms that can extract damage features based on a learning process. Design and fabrication of a set of structural specimens …

The federal government has a long history of providing credit assistance to farmers by issuing direct loans and guarantees, and creating rural lending institutions. These institutions include the Farm Service Agency (FSA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which makes or guarantees loans to farmers who cannot qualify at other lenders, and the Farm Credit System (FCS), which is a network of borrower-owned lending institutions operating as a government-sponsored enterprise. This report discusses legislation regarding this credit assistance expected in the the 110th Congress. Appropriators will consider funding for FSA’s farm loan programs, and the agriculture committees may consider changes to FSA and FCS lending programs. The 2007 farm bill is expected to be the venue for many of the authorizing issues, although stand-alone legislation may be used for extensive reforms.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been far more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. The United Nations reports that 25.3 million adults and children are infected with the HIV virus in the region, which has about 10% of the world's population but more than 70% of the worldwide total of infected people. This report discusses this issue in detail, including the cause of the African AIDS epidemic, the social and economic consequences, response and treatment, and U.S. policy.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) relied on its 11 coal-burning plants to supply 60 percent of its electric power in fiscal year 2001. These plants account for almost all of TVA's emissions of two key air pollutants--sulfur dioxide (SO2), which has been linked to reduced visibility, and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which contribute to the formation of harmful ozone. To meet an increase in demand of 1.7 percent annually through 2010, TVA estimates that it will need to expand its current generating capacity of 30,365 megawatts by 500 megawatts annually. Building new generating capacity can produce more emissions, which raises environment concerns. To lessen the need for new capacity, TVA and other electricity suppliers promote the efficient use of electricity through "demand-side management" programs, which seek to reduce the amount of energy consumed or to change the time of day when it is consumed. Even though TVA intends to increase its capacity to generate electricity through 2005, it also expects to reduce its SO2 and NOx emissions during the same time period, primarily by burning lower-sulfur coal, installing devices to control emissions at its existing plants, and …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony focuses on the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), its interaction with the regular tax system, and its projected growth in coverage. GAO found that (1) AMT was designed to ensure that high-income individuals do not avoid significant income tax liabilities--for tax year 1997, about 14,000 taxpayers would not have paid any income taxes absent AMT, (2) AMT operates as a separate tax system that parallels the regular individual income tax system but with different rules for determining taxable income, different tax rates for computing tax liability, and different rules for allowing the use of tax credits, (3) AMT affected about one percent of taxpayers in 2000 and accounted for about $5.8 billion in additional tax revenue; by 2010, it is expected to increase the tax liabilities of about one out of six taxpayers and account for about $189 billion in tax revenues over the period, (4) the projected increase in AMT coverage is, for the most part, attributable to inflation and to the scheduled expiration of legislation temporarily excluding some tax credits from AMT rules, and (5) AMT's impacts include increased taxpayer compliance burden; increased Internal Revenue …

This report discusses the process of amending bills in the Senate.

This report is a guide to the Interior and related agencies appropriations bill, including funds for the Department of the Interior (DOI), except for the Bureau of Reclamation, and for some agencies or programs within three other departments - Agriculture, Energy, and Health, and Human Services.

Argonne performs research and development in many areas of science and technology. General fields of research at Argonne include, but are not limited to, biosciences, biotechnology, chemical engineering, chemistry, decision and information sciences, energy systems and technology, high energy physics, materials science, math and computer science, nuclear reactors, physics, and environmental science. Argonne is not, and never has been, a weapons laboratory. Several missions provide focus for Argonne scientists. Basic research helps better understand the world, and applied research helps protect and improve it. For example, the prairies of Argonne provide sites for environmental studies that provide valuable information about invader species and the food webs within ecosystems. Argonne also operates world-class research facilities, such as the Advanced Photon Source (APS), which is a national research facility funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Scientists use high brilliance X-rays from the APS for basic and applied research in many fields. Argonne also seeks to ensure our energy future. Currently, scientists and engineers are developing cleaner and more efficient energy sources, such as fuel cells and advanced electric power generation. Argonne has spent much of its history on developing nuclear reactor technology. That research is now being applied to American …

This report is a sketch of the arrest of material witnesses in a federal criminal case.

This report is an overview of the law under the federal material witness statue which authorizes the arrest of material witnesses, permits their release under essentially the same bail laws that apply to federal criminal defendants, but favors their release after their depositions have taken.

This report includes a brief description regarding funding for the arts and humanities as a perennial issue in Congress. Although arts funding represents less than 1% of the Bush Administration’s FY2006 total estimated budget authority, Congress continues to address the concern of whether federal funding is crucial to sustain arts institutions.

Monthly newsletter discussing news and activities related to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, articles about weather and atmospheric phenomena, and other related topics.

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report examines how best practices offer improvements to the way the Department of Defense defines and matches weapon system requirements to available resources such as cost, schedule, and mature technologies. GAO identified three factors that were key to matching needs and resources before product development began. First, developers employed the technique of systems engineering to identify gaps between resources and customer needs before committing to a new product development. Second, customers and developers were flexible. Leeway existed to reduce or defer customer needs to future programs or for the developer to make an investment to increase knowledge about a technology or design feature before beginning product development. Third, the roles and responsibilities of the customer and the product developer were matched, with the product developer being able to determine or significantly influence product requirements. In cases where these factors were not present at program launch, product development began without a match between requirements and resources. Invariably, this imbalance favored meeting customer needs by adding resources, which resulted in increased costs and later deliveries."

This report shows that while lawmakers work towards final passage of new authorizing legislation, Congress has appropriated more than $3 billion to the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase bioterrorism preparedness at the federal, state, and local levels. HHS anti-bioterrorism funding was included in the FY2002 Labor-HHSEducation appropriations bill and in the $20 billion emergency spending package that was attached to the FY2002 Defense appropriations bill. Until the new authorizing legislation is enacted, HHS is dispersing the funds according to existing authorities and the broad parameters set out in the appropriations bills.

The September 11th attack and subsequent intentional release of anthrax spores via the U.S. postal system have focused policymakers’ attention on the preparedness and response capability of the nation’s public health system. The anthrax attacks put a tremendous strain on the U. S. public health infrastructure, an infrastructure that many experts argue has been weakened by years of neglect and under-funding. To better understand the preparedness gaps that exist, as well as the disparate functions and agencies that define public health in this country, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), in conjunction with George Washington University’s National Health Policy Forum (NHPF), convened a seminar on October 26, 2001, entitled, The U.S. Health Care System: Are State and Local Officials Prepared for Bioterrorism? How Should the Federal Government Assist?

Results are presented for the decays of B {yields} J/{psi}{eta}K and B{sup {+-}} {yields} DK{sup {+-}}, respectively, with experimental data collected with BABAR detector at PEP-II, located at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). With 90 x 10{sup 6} B{bar B} events at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance, we obtained branching fractions of {Beta}(B{sup {+-}} {yields} J/{psi}{eta}K{sup {+-}}) = [10.8 {+-} 2.3(stat) {+-} 2.4(syst)] x 10{sup -5} and {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} J/{psi}{eta}K{sub S}{sup 0}) = [8.4 {+-} 2.6(stat) {+-} 2.7(syst)] x 10{sup -5}; and we set an upper limit of {Beta}[B{sup {+-}} {yields} X(3872)K{sup {+-}} {yields} J/{psi}{eta}K{sup {+-}}] < 7.7 x 10{sup -6} at 90% confidence level. The branching fraction of decay chain {Beta}(B{sup {+-}} {yields} DK{sup {+-}} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0}K{sup {+-}}) = [5.5 {+-} 1.0(stat) {+-} 0.7(syst)] x 10{sup -6} with 229 x 10{sup 6} B{bar B} events at {Upsilon}(4S) resonance, here D represents the neutral D meson. The decay rate asymmetry is A = 0.02 {+-} 0.16(stat) {+-} 0.03(syst) for this full decay chain. This decay can be used to extract the unitarity angle {gamma}, a weak CP violation phase, through the interference of decay production of D{sup 0} and {bar D}{sup 0} to {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0}.

This report contains a brief review of the budget sequesters.

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) new rule on the distribution of fiscal year (FY) 2000 Indian Reservation Roads Funds. GAO noted that: (1) the new rule is published as a temporary one and requires distribution of one-half of the FY 2000 Indian Reservation Roads funds to projects on or near Indian reservations using the Relative Need Formula adopted in 1993; and (2) BIA complied with the applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Mining Law Administration Program (MLAP) is responsible for managing the environmentally responsible exploration and development of locatable minerals on public lands. The program is funded through mining fees collected from the holders of unpatented mining claims and sites and by appropriations to the extent that fees are inadequate to fund the program. Congress and program managers need accurate cost information in order to make informed program and budgeting decisions. However, GAO found that BLM's financial records did not accurately reflect the true costs of its programs because the costs of labor and a number of contracts and services costs were charged to MLAP and not to the appropriate program. As a result, other subactivities benefited from the charging of these improper costs and fewer funds have been available for actual MLAP operations. BLM has taken steps to make correcting adjustments for improper charges to MLAP contracts and services; however, additional adjustments are needed to correct for labor costs that were improperly charged to MLAP. Until these adjustments for improperly charged labor are made, Congress and program managers can place only …

This is one report in the series of reports that discuss the campaign finance practices and related issues. Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. The report talks about the today’s paramount issues such as perceived loopholes in current law and the longstanding issues: overall costs, funding sources, and competition.

This report provides a summary of major provisions of federal law and a chronology of key legislative and judicial actions.

Current law governing financial activity of campaigns for federal office is based on two principal statutes: the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971, as amended in 1974, 1976, and 1979, and the Revenue Act of 1971. These laws were enacted to remedy widely perceived shortcomings of existing law, the Corrupt Practices Act of 1925, and in response to reports of campaign finance abuses over the years, culminating in the 1972-1974 Watergate scandal. This report provides a summary of major provisions of federal law and a chronology of key legislative and judicial actions.