The earned income tax credit established in the tax code in 1975, provides cash assistance to lower-income working parents and individuals through the tax system. The earned income tax credit for some earned income credit recipients will be higher in 2009 than it was in 2008. An increase in the size of the earned income tax credit will occur because the maximum amount of earned income used to calculate the credit and the phase-out income level are indexed for inflation.

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This report provides a summary of the federal agencies’ enforcement of and compliance with the prohibition against sex discrimination mandated by Title IX and Executive Order 13160. Specifically, this report discusses the implementation of regulations and procedures for enforcing the Title IX compliance of grant recipients and for enforcing the compliance of the federal agencies themselves with President Clinton’s Executive Order.

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This report provides an overview about Global Environment Facility (GEF) which was established in 1991, has served since then as a primary source of funding for several major international environmental concern.

The recent financial crisis contained a number of systemic risk episodes, or episodes that caused instability for large parts of the financial system. The lesson some policymakers have taken from this crisis is that a systemic risk or "macroprudential" regulator is needed to prevent similar episodes in the future. This report defines the potential duties and responsibilities of a systemic risk regulator, relating those duties to events that potentially contributed to the recent crisis. It then identifies the powers that would need to be given to a regulator to perform those duties, and compares those powers and responsibilities to the Fed's existing powers and responsibilities. It discusses advantages and disadvantages of giving those responsibilities to the Fed or the executive branch. The report also includes a brief overview of major elements of the Administration's proposal, H.R. 4173, which passed the House on December 11, 2009, and the Restoring American Financial Stability Act, which was ordered to be reported out of the Senate Banking Committee on March 22, 2010.

This report includes a chart comparing the provisions of the bills and current law. It also reprints the text of the five National Security Letters (NSL) statutes as they now appear and as they appeared prior to amendment by the USA PATRIOT Act (to which form they would have returned under some of the bills).

This report presents perspectives on African economic trends and provides an overview of U.S. trade and investment flows with sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It discusses the provisions of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the changes that have occurred since its enactment. It concludes with a brief discussion of issues of congressional interest.

This report provides an overview of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and describes its background, objectives, and structure, including the role of the Convention's monitoring body, the CEDAW Committee. It examines U.S. policy and issues in the U.S. ratification debate, including the Convention's possible impact on U.S. sovereignty, its effectiveness in combating discrimination, and its role as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy.

This report discusses the Domain Name System (DNS), which is the distributed set of databases residing in computers around the world that contain address numbers mapped to corresponding domain names, making it possible to send and receive messages and to access information from computers anywhere on the Internet.

This report describes Internet resources on internships, fellowships, and work experience programs within the federal government. It is intended as a selective guide for students of all levels: high school, undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate.

This report focuses on heritage areas designated by Congress, and related issues and legislation.

This report analyzes the costs and benefits of the Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's retained portfolios while they remain under conservatorship.

This report provides basic information on congressional salaries and allowances. First, the report briefly summarizes the current salary of Members of Congress, limits on their outside earned income and honoraria, and applicable health insurance and retirement benefits.

This report provides information about a Legal Analysis of the Performance Rights Act of 2007 (H.R. 4789 and S. 2500) on Expanding the Scope of the Public Performance Right for Sound Recordings.

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This report provides background on the International Military Education and Training Program (IMET). It discusses the program's main features and purposes, perspectives of the IMET's supporters and critics, and recent issues surrounding the program and its implementation.

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This report provides information about the General Services Administration Prospectus Thresholds for Owned and Leased Federal Facilities which is a federal government primary federal real property and assets management agency.

This report highlights certain non-criminal regulatory requirements of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).