The National Institutes of Health is the focal point of federal health research. It uses its $17.8 billion budget to support more than 50,000 scientists working at 2,000 institutions across the United States, as well as to conduct biomedical and behavioral research and research training at its own facilities.

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This report chronicles major developments in U.S. - China relations during the Clinton Administration, and in the 103rd through the 106th Congresses, from late 1992 to 1999.

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This report covers the Foreign Aid Authorization: The Technical Assistance, Trade Promotion, and Anti-Corruption Act of 2000, which selectively authorizes a range of foreign aid activities, updates permanent foreign assistance laws, expands several aid initiatives, such as those to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, launches new initiatives, and repeals obsolete legislation.

This report provides an overview of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and discusses current legal and legislative developments.

After several years of consideration, on Friday, November 19, 1999, Congress gave final approval to a bill which makes major changes to the patent laws. On this day the Senate passed the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 as part of the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999, attached by reference to the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000. This report summarizes major provisions of the patent reform bill.

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The Clinton Administration is scheduled to decide by Fall 2000 whether the United States should begin deploying a National Missile Defense (NMD) system.This system could achieve initial operational capability by 2005 and would be designed to protect the United States from a limited attack by intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). As currently envisioned, the NMD system would operate as an integrated system that would rely on a variety of sensors to detect and track incoming missiles. One key program element is to upgrade the existing Early Warning Radars (EWR) so that they can detect and track the incoming missiles sooner. This report provides background information and technical details of these planned upgrades as well as their cost and schedule.

This report describes the Section 301 process (including the related Special 301 and Super 301 processes) and examines questions that arise from its use. Section 301 is one of the principal means by whichthe United States attempts to combat unfair trading practices and enforce U.S. rights under trade agreements

The National People’s Congress (NPC), a unicameral legislature, is the People’s Republic of China (PRC)'s counterpart to the U.S. Congress. In recent years, there has been increasing interaction between the two legislatures. This report briefly considers recent developments in the NPC, describes how the NPC works, and discusses exchanges between the two congresses.

This report summarizes the proceedings of a CRS seminar for congressional staff on appropriations for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), held September 23, 1999 against a backdrop of congressional deliberations over increases in National Institute of Health (NIH’s) budget.