This report discusses how best to coordinate the Federal government's multi-agency efforts to curb illicit traffic in dangerous drugs has once again become an issue of major interest to the Congress. Critics of the Reagan Administration's anti-drug program contend that it lacks an overall strategy and that it suffers from the absence of a central mechanism for the formulation of general policy as well as for the broad direction of operations

Transportation has been substantially deregulated over the last 5 years and there is talk of enacting legislation during the 98th Congress to further deregulate transportation or to restore some of the regulation that recent legislation has removed. This mini brief gives an overview of the deregulation already enacted into law, and some of the ideas being considered for further legislation. The brief also refers to some sources for further reading.

Federal involvement in the education of the handicapped increased significantly with the enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (P.L. 94-142) in the 94th Congress. This legislation amended the provisions for State assistance under Part B of the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA, P.L. 91-230, title VI, as amended) to require that a "free appropriate public education" be available for all handicapped children age 3 through 21 by September 1980. P.L. 94-142 authorized increased Federal financial assistance along with new requirements for participating State agencies and local school districts. Current issues relating to Federal policy for the education of the handicapped include concerns about costs and responsibilities in educating the handicapped, about the level of Federal financial support, about the characteristics of handicapped children actually identified and served, about the implementation of P.L. 94-142 requirements by State and local school districts, and about Administration proposals to revise Part B regulations.

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Despite Federal efforts last year to curb production and dispose of surpluses, record production and continued high carryover stock levels for most commodities have depressed farm prices and significantly increased expected Federal outlays for agricultural price support programs. In an attempt to bring supply in line with demand, President Reagan announced on January 11, 1983, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would implement a payment-in-kind (PIK) program for the 1983 wheat, rice, corn, sorghum, and upland cotton crops. Recently, USDA announced a PIK program for the 1984 wheat crop.

The authorization for Federal refugee resettlement assistance provided by the Refugee Act of 1980 expires Sept. 30, 1983. The 97th Congress had extended this assistance authority for one year only pending a more thorough review of the entire Refugee Act including its admissions provisions. Admissions issues that have been of interest to Congress include the role of Congress and the executive branch in establishing annual numerical limits on refugee admissions, and the interpretation of the definition of a refugee. A new block grant refugee assistance program proposed by the Reagan The administration was addressed in hearings on the reauthorization of resettlement assistance; other continuing concerns are refugee dependency on cash assistance and the geographic distribution of refugees in the United states.

Mounting concern about the payment of social security Benefits to aliens living abroad resulted in the enactment of legislation this year adding new restrictions on the payment of benefits to certain aliens, P.L. 98-21.

On Mar. 24, 1983, the Congress adopted, as part of the Social Security Amendments of 1983 (P.L. 98-21), a measure to preclude virtually all incarcerated felons from receiving social security benefits of any kind, including retirement and survivor benefits. This action expanded previous legislation. In October 1980, legislation had been enacted (P.L. 96-473) that denied only social security disability benefits and student benefits to prisoners convicted of a felony.