After instability during the late 1990s, Bahrain undertook substantial political reforms, but the Shiite majority continues to simmer over the Sunni-led government's perceived manipulation of laws and regulations to maintain its grip on power. Bahrain's stability has long been a key U.S. interest; it has hosted U.S. naval headquarters for the Gulf for nearly 60 years. In September 2004, the United States and Bahrain signed a free trade agreement (FTA).

This report includes information regarding the relationship between Israel and the United States. Relations with U.S. administrations (beginning with the Carter Administration through the Bush Administration) and issues within Israeli-U.S. relations are among topics discussed in this report.

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This report describes the recent changes to file a federal income tax return as a head of household.

This report is on Anti-Doping Policies: The Olympics and Selected Professional Sports.

This report describes the gang problem in Central America, discusses country approaches to deal with the gangs, and analyzes U.S. policy with respect to gangs in Central America.

This report provides an overview of Jordanian politics and current issues in U.S.-Jordanian relations. It provides a brief discussion of Jordan's government and economy and of its cooperation in promoting Arab-Israeli peace and other U.S. policy objectives in the Middle East.

This report is designed to assist Members of Congress as they consider the costs and benefits of the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA.) It examines the provisions of the KORUS FTA in the context of the overall U.S.-South Korean economic relationship, U.S. objectives, and South Korean objectives.

This report first discusses the current state of the economy, including measures that have already been taken by the monetary authorities, and assesses the need for and potential consequences of fiscal stimulus. The second part of the report reviews the proposals discussed during debate on the recently enacted fiscal stimulus, both those adopted and those considered but not adopted. The various stimulus packages differed somewhat, and the report briefly describes those differences. This section also includes a discussion of the potential elements of a second stimulus proposal, and concludes with a discussion of the macroeconomic effects of the proposals. The final section of the paper discusses recent and proposed financial interventions.

This report provides an overview of the America COMPETES Act provisions, summarizes its legislative origin and the origins of some of the new programs it authorizes, analyzes selected America COMPETES Act programs that are the focus of appropriation discussions, and provides a comparison of the President's budget, congressional appropriations, and America COMPETES Act authorization levels for FY2008.

This report examines Latin America's current political environment and its apparent effect on energy production in the region. It also examines regional integration efforts, including Venezuela's oil programs offering oil to many Latin American and Caribbean countries on a preferential basis, the Mexico-led Meso-American Energy Integration Program, and the proposed South American natural gas pipeline. The report also examines policy approaches that have been proposed for increased hemispheric energy cooperation, congressional interest: in the topic of hemispheric energy security, and related legislative initiatives in the 109th Congress.

The 109th Congress will be deciding whether to continue to protect the ecosystem on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) or to open it to oil and gas drilling- with good prospects of finding economically recoverable amounts of oil. Less certain are the actual amounts of oi and gas to be found, impacts of development of the world of oil prices and on the U.S. economy, including employment- although recent substantial increase in oil and gas prices tend to boost estimates of economically recoverable oil.

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This report describes the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), specifically the number of people affected in the years 2004-2007.

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This report mainly provides information about the Frequently Asked Questions on the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) on Immigration which is a formula grant program that provides financial assistance to states and localities for correctional officer salary costs.

This report provides a Brief Overview of Recent Practices on Continuing Appropriations Acts. Most of the operations of federal departments and agencies are funded each year through the enactment of 11 regular appropriation acts.

The brownfields tax incentive expired on December 31, 2005. Enacted in 1997, the provision allowed a taxpayer to fully deduct the costs of environmental cleanup in the year the costs were incurred, rather than spreading the costs over a period of years. The provision was adopted to stimulate the cleanup and developers of less seriously contaminated sites by providing a benefit to taxpaying developers of brownfield properties. This report contains information on the background of brownfields, survey findings from brownfield tax incentive applications, and related figures.

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This report provides an overview about Digital Television.Digital Television is a new telivision service representing the most significant development in telivision technology since the advent of color telivision.

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This report describes the provisions of Superfund and EPCRA and enforcement actions under the then Current Laws and also addresses the Legislative Issues regarding Animal Waste and Hazardous Substances.