This report addresses the impact of street lighting on crime and traffic accidents.

This report is a collection of writings, excluding newspaper articles, on desegregation in schools.

This report contains specific references about the large range of issues involving government and business relations.

This report discusses the nature of the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses, which has become the subject of debate. Included in this report are the survey programs adopted by several states and localities in their efforts to prevent indiscriminate farmland conversion, and describe legislation proposed in the 95th Congress.

This report includes the material on block grants, including a CRS Report on the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981, several articles, and a guide to State block grant implementation. For additional information and assistance, we have also included addresses of people to contact on the Federal (p. 59) and State levels (p. 70-104).

This report is a Guide to Information Sources on the Clean Air Act.

Women have become an integral part of the armed forces, but several issues remain. One is whether to reduce, maintain, or expand the number of women in the services as the total forces are being reduced. A second question is to what extent women should continue to be excluded from some combat positions by policy. A third question is whether or not women should be included if the draft is reinstated? Would national security be jeopardized or enhanced by increasing reliance on women in the armed forces? Should women have equal opportunities and responsibilities in national defense? Or do role and physical differences between the sexes, the protection of future generations, and other social norms require limiting the assignments of women in the armed forces? Opinion in the United States is deeply divided on the fundamental issues involved.

Japan-U.S. relations are more uncertain and subject to greater strain today than at any time since World War II. Longstanding military allies and increasingly interdependent economic partners, Japan and the United States have worked closely together to build a strong, multifaceted relationship based on democratic values and interests in world stability and development. But Japan today is our foremost economic and technological competitor. It consistently runs the largest annual international trade surplus with the U.S. ($59 billion in 1993). The end of the Cold War, lackluster international economic conditions, and the focus on economic issues in U.S. politics have raised new questions about the appropriate U.S. policy toward this Asian ally.

This paper examines three reasonably distinct starting points from which a U.S. response to the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change is being framed.

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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 passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Agriculture Appropriations.

The biotechnology industry is notable both for its heavy concentration of small businesses and its weighty research and development (R&D) expenditures. Given the small size and heavy expenses of many biotechnology firms, their ability to raise venture capital may be of some consequence. The patent law has been identified as a facilitator of these R&D financing efforts. Congress may choose to exercise oversight on these issues. Such consideration would likely include examination of U.S. commitments in international agreements along with other factors.

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Report on the programs and funding for social and nutrition services for older persons, including a list of the programs, grants, elder rights, and more.

On December 7, 1998, federal banking regulators proposed regulations that would have required banks and thrifts to develop formal policies and procedures to identify unusual transactions in customers’ accounts to report as suspicious activity in conjunction with the federal laws outlawing money laundering. Although there were varied proposals before the 106th Congress on the issue, no legislation was enacted. The issue likeliest to command attention in the 107th Congress is international money laundering. There have been recent instances in which banking regulators imposed corrective action, comparable to the Know Your Customer requirements, on several international banking institutions after unearthing potential money laundering activity.

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This report discusses the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that was passed to ensure by statute citizen access to government information. Nine categories of information may be exempted from disclosure. Three of the nine exemptions provide possible protection against the release of critical infrastructure information: exemption 1 (national security information); exemption 3 (information exempted by statute); and exemption 4 (confidential business information). Congress has considered several proposals to exempt critical infrastructure information from the FOIA.

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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.

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This report includes information regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons program. This information includes background, development, and analysis