Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittees.

Among the several bills proposing to move the Coast Gause into a new Department of Homeland Security are the Administration's proposal, as reported by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs on June 24, 2002.

This report provides information about the Background and Issues for Congress on Homeland Security Coast Guard Operations which is a military service and a branch of the armed forces,within the navy upon the declaration of war or when President directs until the president by executive orders it back to DHS

Auditors are regulated by both governmental agencies and professional organizations, though many now question whether this oversight is adequate. Enron’s auditor, Arthur Andersen, has been investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), several congressional committees, and other agencies, and it is facing numerous law suits. A federal jury convicted the firm on obstruction of justice charges on June 15, 2002. Other corporations and their auditors are also under scrutiny. Numerous accounting and audit reforms have been proposed, including some by the accounting industry. The House passed an audit reform bill (H.R. 3763) on April 24, 2002. The Senate passed an amended version of its bill (S. 2673) on July 15th. The SEC published proposed reform rules June 26th; on the 28th it required top executives in companies with revenues exceeding $1.2 billion to personally certify that filed reports are complete and accurate

This report discusses the issues for Congress related to fruits & vegetables. The contents include federal activities, programs, farm bill issues, & trade issues.

This report discusses intelligence issues for Congress including narcotics trafficking, conflicts between Israel and Palestine, in Iraq, and among the former Yugoslav states, and North Korean missile capabilities. Updated July 11, 2002.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974. Greek Cypriots, nearly 80% of the population, live in the southern two thirds of the island. Turkish Cypriots live in the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (recognized only by Turkey), with about 30,000 Turkish troops providing security. U.N. peacekeeping forces maintain a buffer zone between the two. Members of Congress have urged the Administration to be more active, although they have not proposed an alternative to the U.N.-sponsored talks.

This report provides information on and analysis of the current situation in Afghanistan, taking into consideration the country’s essential characteristics and political developments since about the time of the overthrow of the last Afghan King, Zahir Shah, in 1973, and sketches out four possible scenarios for Afghanistan’s future. Finally, the report identifies and analyzes factors that will influence Afghanistan’s political future, and discusses three policy areas in particular in which actions by the United States could be crucial to the achievement of the U.S. goal of a peaceful, stable, democratic, and terrorist-free Afghanistan. An appendix contains key documents relating to the December 2001 Bonn Agreement, which is the framework for current efforts to create a stable and democratic Afghanistan.

This report provides information on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Circular A-76, “Performance of Commercial Activities,” and the impact of a related reform initiative, the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR) of 1998, within the Department of Defense. The Circular defines federal policy for determining whether recurring commercial activities should be outsourced to commercial sources, Governmental facilities, or through inter-service support agreements. The FAIR Act creates statutory reporting requirements for federal executive agencies, by requiring Federal executive agencies to identify activities “not inherently governmental” and consider outsourcing through managed competitions. However, FAIR does not require that agencies contract out these activities.

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This report summarizes support for the U.S. war against terrorism from the open-source material. It will be updated as necessary. For additional information on the U.S. response to terrorism, as well as the further country and regional information.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since the Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs began, much has changed and continues to change in medicine, technology, the economy, and societal views and expectations of people with disabilities. GAO found that scientific advances, changes in the nature of work, and social changes have generally enhanced the potential for people with disabilities to work. Medical advances, such as organ transplantation, and assistive technologies, such as advances in wheelchair design, have given more independence to some individuals. At the same time, a service- and knowledge-based economy has opened new opportunities for people with disabilities, and societal changes have fostered the expectation that people with disabilities can work and have the right to work. GAO further found that DI and SSI disability criteria have not kept pace with these advances and changes. Depending on the claimant's impairment, decisions about eligibility benefits can be based on both medical and labor market criteria. Finally, some steps to incorporate these advances and changes can be taken within the existing programs' design, but some would require more fundamental changes."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Section 738 in the fiscal year 2001 Agriculture Appropriation Act prohibits the Department of State from selling residences purchased to house agricultural attaches without approval from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and requires the department to use the proceeds from such sales to purchase residences for these attaches. Legislation currently before Congress would repeal section 738 since it limits the Department of State's authority to implement cost-effective decisions about sales of unneeded overseas property and the use of sales proceeds. Because of section 738's restrictions, State has delayed two property sales valued at nearly $4 million that appear to be in the government's best interests. FAS is concerned that if section 738 is repealed, selling these properties will result in increased costs since it would have to lease housing for attaches who previously lived rent-free in government-owned housing. Although section 738 applies only to residences purchased for agricultural attaches, the Office of Management and Budget and State are concerned that it could lead to fragmented and less cost-effective management of overseas property if other agencies seek similar treatment for their senior representatives. Section 738's restrictions do not appear …

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, Congress directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify products made with recycled waste materials or solid waste by-products and to develop guidance for purchasing these products. The act also requires procuring agencies to establish programs for purchasing these products. Procuring agencies, which can include contractors and state and local government grantees, are exempt from this requirement only under certain conditions and must document their reasons for not purchasing recycled-content products. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy is responsible for coordinating the act's requirements with other federal procurement policies, and for reporting to Congress every 2 years on federal agencies' progress in implementing these requirements. Twenty-five years after passage of the act, the success of this effort is largely uncertain. EPA accelerated its designation of recycled-content products in the 1990s. However, procuring agencies acknowledge that EPA's designation of recycled-content products, by itself, cannot ensure that the products are purchased, and efforts to promote awareness have been limited."

Standard Leadframes used in surface mount technology are finished with a layer of eutectic SnPb for passivation and for enhancing solder wetting during reflow. When eutectic SnPb is replaced by Pb-free solder, especially the eutectic SnCu, a large number of Sn whiskers are found on the Pb-free finish. Some of the whiskers are long enough to become shorts between the neighboring legs of the leadframe. How to suppress their growth and how to perform accelerated test of Sn whisker growth are crucial reliability issues in the electronic packaging industry. In this paper, we report the study of spontaneous Sn whisker growth at room temperature on eutectic SnCu and pure Sn finishes. Both compressive stress and surface oxide on Sn are necessary conditions for whisker growth. Structure and stress analyses by using the micro-diffraction in synchrotron radiation are reported. Cross-sectional electron microscopy, with samples prepared by focused ion beam, are included.

This report reviews the statutory changes that DSHEA contained and the status and impact of their implementation by the federal agencies responsible, particularly the Food and Drug Administration(FDA), within the Department of Health and Human Services.

In response to the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, a number of countries and organizations pledged various forms of support to the United States in its campaign against the Al Qaeda network and the Taliban in Afghanistan. This report summarizes support for the U.S. war against terrorism from open source material.

This report discusses the issues for Congress related to fruits & vegetables. The contents include federal activities, programs, farm bill issues, & trade issues.

This report discusses the creation of a new auditor oversight board, Stock Analysis, corporate boards and other provisions.

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The progression of this project from a general demilitarization activity to the development of a new production of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) is described. There are four major synthetic routes to TATB. Only one of these routes has been used in the industrial production of TATB. There is a need to replace this route, which employs relatively harsh reaction conditions (elevated temperatures, strong acid) and a halocarbon starting material, with a less expensive and more environmentally friendly process. The Livermore process, which uses chemistry based on the vicarious nucleophilic substitution (VNS) of hydrogen and employment of relatively inexpensive feedstocks, is described and compared with other routes to TATB. Process development studies and the issue of TATB purification are also discussed.