While introduction of energy legislation in the 109th Congress is pending, it remains unclear what its course may be. Some believe that the results of the fall 2004 election have heightened prospects for opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development, and the Republican leadership has indicated that ANWR is to be included in the budget resolution that will come before Congress. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici has indicated that the committee will mark up a comprehensive bill in February. However, Senator Domenici also expressed openness to considering individual bills; he and others are interested in legislation to establish a long-term leasing plan for natural gas resources.

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This report provides an overview of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and examines evolving U.S. policy toward the Convention, including past and current Administration positions and congressional perspectives. The report also highlights issues for the 111th Congress, including the Convention's possible impact on federal and state laws, U.S. sovereignty, parental rights, and U.S. family planning and abortion policy.

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This report outlines U.S. military operations in Bosnia and discusses issues such as U.S. and Allied Participation in Bosnia Peacekeeping (IFOR/SFOR), duration, cost, arms control and military assistance. This report also includes most recent development, background analysis, and legislation.

The CWC bans the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons by members signatories. It also requires the destruction of all chemical weapons stockpiles and production facilities. Neither the United States nor Russia will be able to meet the original CWC’s deadlines for destruction of their CW stockpiles, and have been granted extensions to at least 2012. The Convention provides the most extensive and intrusive verification regime of any arms control treaty, extending its coverage to not only governmental but also civilian facilities. The Convention also requires export controls and reporting requirements on chemicals that can be used as warfare agents and their precursors. The CWC establishes the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to oversee the Convention’s implementation.

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y In the 108th Congress, companion bills were introduced (S. 1668/H.R. 3213) that, if enacted, would have established a Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies (CARFA). The proposed CARFA Act would have required this 12-member presidentially appointed commission to review non-defense, non-entitlement federal agencies and programs to determine if any agencies or programs are duplicative, wasteful, inefficient, outdated, irrelevant, or failed.

This report discusses federal authority over water, and federal "reserved" and non-reserved water rights. Based on the language of the act and its legislative history, it appears that the act creates federal water rights.

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This report contains information on the general structure of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate committee structure, types of committees, and subcommittees.

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The foreign relations process dovetails with the annual appropriation process for the Department of State and foreign policy/foreign aid activities. Congress is required by law to authorize the spending of appropriations for the State Department and foreign policy activities every two years. This report contains information on foreign relations, defense trade and security assistance, and foreign assistance discussed by Congress in FY2004 and FY2005.

This paper discusses the Export Administration Act in terms of its evolution in the 20th century, its major features including the types of controls authorized by the act, the Commerce Control List and export licensing procedures, and issues concerning the maintenance of export controls under IEEPA. It then highlights several controlled commodities that have been featured prominently in export control discussions. Finally, it discusses competing business and national security perspectives concerning several of more contentious themes in the export control debate: the controllability of technology, the effectiveness of multilateral control regimes, the organization of the export control system, and the impact of export controls on the U.S. economy and business.

This report provides information about the Congressional Oversight and Related Issues Concerning the Prospective Security Agreement Between the United States and Iraq.

This report provides information aobut the Effects on Economic Recovery, Long-Term Growth, and the Stock Market on Dividend Tax Relief.

This report discusses the farm bill, which renewed about every five years, governs federal farm and food policy.

This report first describes the current select committees on intelligence and then the former Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, often cited as a model for a counterpart on intelligence.

The United States and its allies are helping Afghanistan emerging from more than 22 years of warfare, although substantial risk to Afghan stability remains. Before the U.S. military campaign against the orthodox Islamist Taliban movement began on October 7, 2001, Afghanistan had been mired in conflict since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The defeat of the Taliban has enabled the United States and its coalition partners to send forces throughout Afghanistan to search for Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters and leaders that remain at large, including Osama bin Laden. As the war against remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban elements winds down, the United States is shifting its military focus toward stabilizing the interim government, including training a new Afghan national army, and supporting the international security force (ISAF) that is helping the new government provide security.