This report lists 234 instances in which the United States has used its armed forces abroad in situations of conflict or potential conflict or for other than normal peacetime purposes. It brings up to date a 1989 list that was compiled in part from various older lists and is intended primarily to provide a rough sketch survey of past U.S. military ventures abroad. A detailed description and analysis are not undertaken here.

Japan's sea shipment of a ton of plutonium from France to Japan on Nov. 7, 1992, faced strong public opposition, as did a previous one in 1984, from various public interest groups, independent analysts, and Members of Congress. The shipment arrived safely in Tokyo Jan. 4, 1993. Several more shipments at intervals of about 3 years are expected. While the plutonium is owned by Japanese utilities, it was produced from uranium enriched in the United States and supplied under a U.S.-Japan agreement for nuclear cooperation, revised in 1988. Although the agreement ties some strings to what Japan can do with nuclear imports from the United States, it also in effect gives to Japan a 30-year advance consent to ship plutonium subject to informing the United States.

This report briefly describes selected associations that have demonstrated strong and continuous interest in environmental protection policies of the United States. It provides background information on some of the active participants in national policy discussions. The set of organizations abstracted for this report is not comprehensive; many groups necessarily have been omitted, often because they failed to respond to our request for information. An attempt was made to balance divergent political opinions and to include groups with different perspectives. All associations included in the report have nationwide membership, maintain an office in the vicinity of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and actively seek to influence national (as opposed to international or regional) environmental policies. The financial information provided varies depending on what was available to CRS.

Congressional interest linking foreign aid more directly with commercial interests has grown in recent years as the U.S. budget becomes increasingly strained, constituent support for foreign aid dwindles, and U.S. industries seek Federal assistance. The Trade and Development Agency is one of several Government agencies involved in "aid for trade"--programs that combine development assistance and export promotion.

Most economists believe that the main economic benefit of NAFTA will be that, over time, it will increase productivity and incomes in the United States, Mexico and Canada. In this view, living standards of all three countries will be higher than without a NAFTA. In the near term, some reallocation of resources will occur within each country, generating gains for some producers and costs for others. New industries emerge, some industries expand, some contract, and some die. Since the Mexican and Canadian economies are small relative to the U.S. economy, it is expected that both the aggregate benefits and costs of the NAFTA to the United States will be relatively small.

This report discusses the issues of the U.S.-Japanese trade relations of the Reagan and Bush Administrations, and the Clinton Administration.

Aquaculture is broadly defined as the production of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants in a controlled environment. This report discusses the growth of U.S. aquaculture in the decade preceding 1993, and the subsequent debate about what role, if any, the Federal Government should play in supporting the industry. Relevant legislation and policies are also discussed.

The Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA), enacted in 1990, called for cleaner automotive fuels in order to upgrade air quality. This appeared to provide new market potential for ethanol, which is obtained from corn grown in the midwestern United States, and which is already in large-scale use in a blend of ten percent ethanol to ninety percent gasoline. The CAAA left specific details of the clean fuels program to be worked out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in consultation with the interested parties.

Sluggish U.S. economic growth over the past few years has raised concern in the United States over the state of U.S. "living standards." The focus of this concern is often centered on the position of U.S. "living standards" compared with those of other industrialized nations. However, there is no clear and precise definition of the standard of living concept, especially one that allows for international comparisons. This report analyzes the standard of living concept within an economic framework, where a nation's standard of living is measured according to its gross domestic product (GDP) on a per capita basis. For the purposes of international comparisons, per capita, GDP data are converted to a common currency using purchasing power parities. Based on this measurement, data indicate that the The United States currently maintains the highest standard of living among the world's top seven industrialized powers, also known as the G-7 countries, although it appears that other industrialized countries, including Japan, are quickly closing the gap.

Mexican spotted owls (MSOs) have the largest geographic distribution of the three spotted owl subspecies, with most occurring on National Forest lands in Arizona and New Mexico. Habitat loss and modification due to logging and fire prompted the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to list MSOs as a threatened species in March 1993. As required in Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Forest Service (FS) is consulting with the FWS on 125 timber sales proposed for the region. These consultations are to be completed in October 1993 and a critical habitat designation for the species is expected by November 1992

Mexican wolves were extirpated from the United States by the 1940s as part of the Predatory Animal and Rodent Control program (PARC); wild wolves are believed to exist in secluded areas in Mexico. Listed on the endangered species list in 1967, Mexican wolves exist in the United States only in captivity. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is currently developing plans to reintroduce the wolves into their historic habitat. The plans are controversial, and the species' conservation may be debated during reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

This report discusses employer trip reduction (ETR) programs, which would require large employers to implement certain transportation control measures as part of a national effort to combat air pollution, largely as a direct result of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

Dedicated excise taxes finance only a small number of the many activities undertaken by the Federal Government. The fourteen trust funds and special funds currently financed by excise taxes can be grouped under four programmatic purposes: nature conservation and recreation, transportation, environmental cleanup, and health damage compensation. In close parallel, the products currently subject to taxation on behalf of trust and special funds can be classified under the categories of hunting and fishing equipment; cargo transport and air passenger transportation; motor fuels; and materials potentially hazardous to the environment or human health.

Congressional Research Service: Issue Brief October 20, 1993 Chinese Missile and Nuclear Proliferation: Issues for Congress By Shirley A. Kan, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Divisi

On May 25, 1989, President Bush proposed that the United States undertake the Structural Impediments Initiative (SII), a series of discussions with Japan to address certain fundamental Japanese economic policies and business practices that the United States claims impede U.S. exports and investments. The SII was, in part, a Bush Administration response to the stubborn U.S. trade deficit and other problems that have caused friction in the U.S. trading relationship with Japan. It was also a response to congressional pressure to deal more aggressively with Japanese unfair trade practices and to calls from critics to adopt a "managed" trade policy toward Japan.

This report details the information related to Global Climate Change. The contents include the Greenhouse effect and Global warming, Greenhouse gases, international action, and Congressional interest and activities.

Report summarizing federal aid for elementary and secondary education, with a focus on the proposals of Goals 2000.

This report examines intellectual property right in pharmaceuticals in a particular context, namely, medicinal products and processes derived from the biodiversity resources of areas inhabited by indigenous peoples. This report discusses the international law regarding intellectual property rights in traditional knowledge and the American laws regarding traditional knowledge.

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