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This report contains he measures of costs of military commitments abroad and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each overseas costs.

This report presents Background and Issues of Border Environment Cooperation Commission and North American Development Bank.

This report provides Congressional Budget Resolutions related to Budget for FY1996.

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This report analyzes environmental issues at a pivotal period, between the Democratic-controlled 103rd Congress and the Republican-led 104th Congresses.

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This report discusses the variety of roles African Americans have played at the United Nations, and their impact. Moreover, the report details several distinct cases in which African Americans played key roles in peace talks.

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This report summarizes the fact that northern right whale is the most endangered among all the whale species. The National Marine Fisheries Service is taking extra measures to protect these whales from any negative human interactions.

The House Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (103rd Congress) requested that Congressional Research Service (CRS) hold a workshop on the tools and techniques of ecosystem management. The purposes of this workshop were to demonstrate tools and techniques used in scientific research on ecosystems and to address technological aspects of developing and administering a national policy for ecosystem management.

On July 29, 1994, the United States signed the Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982. This agreement substantially reforms the seabed mining provisions of the 1982 Convention, which the United States found objectionable. In signing the Agreement, President Clinton accepted provisional application of it which enables the United States to participate in the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and its organs and bodies. On November 16, 1994, the U.N. Law of the Sea Convention entered into force without accession by the United States.The treaty document was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations late in the 103d Congress and awaits committee action in the 104th Congress.

An individual transferable quota (ITQ) is an allocated privilege of landing a specified portion of the total annual fish catch in the form of quota shares. This differs from the traditional open-access approach to commercial fisheries. ITQs divide the total annual catch quota into smaller individual portions. ITQs are generally transferable, which means fishing vessel owners can sell their ITQ certificates or buy others' certificates or, in some cases, lease their quota shares depending on how much (or whether) they want to participate in the fishery. ITQs are not considered property, but a privilege to catch a share of the total allowable catch of fish or shellfish in a given year. The initial allocation criteria for ITQs are controversial decisions established by Regional Fishery Management Councils, usually based on the historical catch of vessels, to benefit current active fishing vessel owners.

Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) central contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The MTPE program provides scientific information so policymakers and scientists can formulate strategies to mitigate human impacts on Earth's environment, such as ozone depletion, deforestation, and possible global warming.

Japan's banking sector currently is carrying between $400 billion and $800 billion in non-performing loans that threaten the solvency of certain financial institutions and weaken the Japanese financial system. This problem is of interest to the United States because the stability of Japan's banking system affects the health of that nation's economy, its rate of economic growth, and international capital flows. This, in turn, may affect American exports to, imports from, and investments in Japan. It also has affected Japanese investments in the United States and may affect the resolution of issues being negotiated or recently agreed to with that nation under the Framework Talks.

After four years of decline, foreign direct investment in the United States showed sharp gains in 1993 and 1994. Japan remained the largest foreign direct investor in the U.S. economy in 1993, despite a sharp slow down in investments by Japanese firms compared with British firms, the second largest direct investors. The overall foreign direct investment position in U.S. businessesand real estate - or the accumulated book value of all foreign investments - increased by $20 billion in 1993, nearly three times faster than the amount recorded in 1992. Preliminary data indicate that foreigners' investments could surpass $30 billion in 1994. Economists generally believe that foreign direct investment yields positive net benefits to both the recipient and the investing countries. For some American firms, foreign investments have been especially beneficial, because they supplied the firms with funds during times when many U.S. commercial banks were unwilling to finance them.

The term "sustainable agriculture" is used to designate both a reduced-chemical approach to farming and an alternative political viewpoint on the distribution of economic and social benefits in the farm sector. In practice, sustainable agriculture is characterized by the substitution of more intensive farm resource management--generally involving more labor--for purchased inputs of fertilizers and pesticides. It comprises a range of practices that include integrated pest management (which may include pesticide applications), nonintensive livestock production, crop rotations for pest, disease, and erosion control, and alternative tillage and planting practices to reduce soil erosion.

This report discusses resource conservation topics, which are a part of the farm bill debate. Debate on existing programs focuses on reauthorization of the Conservation Reserve Program and possible amendments to the reserve, swampbuster, and conservation compliance.

On April 10, 1995, President Clinton signed P.L. 104-6, which contained a provision that rescinds the Federal air quality implementation plan (FIP) for the South Coast, Ventura, and Sacramento areas of California.(1) As a result, the FIP issued by EPA has no further force and effect, and California will continue pursuing approval of its own State implementation plan (SIP) in lieu of the FIP. Promulgation of the FIP was perceived by some within the State as having a detrimental effect on California's industries and economy resulting from costly and burdensome air pollution control measures contained in the plan.