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This report discusses the advantages and limitations of proposed approaches to stewardship contracting to reduce threats to national forests exacerbated by unnaturally high amounts of biomass.

This report examines the methods and formulas used to reapportion seats in the House of Representatives following a Census. Although modern Congresses have rarely considered the issue of the formula used in the calculations, this report describes apportionment options from which Congress could choose and the criteria that each method satisfies.

This report addresses assessments and policy implications related to China-U.S. aircraft collision incident of April 2001.

This report is categorized into four categories: (I) Some Basic Facts About the Child Care Workforce, (II) Job Growth and Turnover Among Child Caregivers, (III) Child Caregiver Wager and Wage Growth and (IV) Initiatives to improve the Compensation of the Child Care Workforce.

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Head Start is a federal program that has provided comprehensive early childhood development services to low-income children since 1965. Services provided to preschool-aged children include child development, educational, health, nutritional, social and other activities, intended to prepare low-income children for entering kindergarten. This report contains information on the background and funding of the program.

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This report discusses the Congressional Review Act of 1996, which established expedited (or "fast track") procedures by which Congress may disapprove a broad range of regulatory rules issued by federal agencies by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval. For initial floor consideration, the Act provides an expedited procedure only in the Senate.

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From a public policy perspective, the goals are to ensure that broadband deployment is timely, that industry competes fairly, and that service is provided to all sectors and geographical locations of American society. The federal government -- through Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) -- is seeking to ensure fair competition among the players so that broadband will be available and affordable in a timely manner to all Americans who want it. While the FCC's position is not to intervene at this time, some assert that legislation is necessary to ensure fair competition and timely broadband deployment. One proposal would ease certain legal restrictions and requirements, imposed by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, on incumbent telephone companies who provide high speed data (broadband) access. Another proposal would compel cable companies to provide "open access" to competing Internet service providers.

A sustained period of low farm prices has generated legislative interest in the effect of concentration and consolidation on U.S. agriculture. Questions have been raised about the federal government's role in pursuing cases of unfair competition or violations of antitrust laws. Legislative interest has risen because, while regulations target business practices, important issues associated with concentration and consolidation may not be adequately addressed by existing antitrust laws. Recent reviews by Congress have dealt with issues such as: (1) the adequacy and employment of existing federal antitrust statutes to protect farmers against anti-competitive practices; (2) the extent to which mergers influence farm prices and their impact on farmers and consumers, and (3) the appropriate role of the federal government in regulating agroindustry. This report briefly describes the federal statutes and agencies involved in antitrust regulation and reviews proposals offered in the 106th Congress to restrict mergers in agriculture.

This report addresses legal issues after the United States signed the Kyoto Protocol to the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The protocol is not yet in effect internationally and cannot be legally binding on the U.S. unless and until the Senate gives its advice and consent.

This report reviews past experience—principally with the Office of War Mobilization and its successor, the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion—and its possible significance for OHS; it will be updated as events recommend.

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Key water quality issues that may face the 107th Congress include: actions to implement existing provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA), whether additional steps are necessary to achieve overall goals of the Act, and the appropriate federal role in guiding and paying for clean water activities. Legislative prospects for comprehensively amending the Act have for some time stalled over whether and exactly how to change the law. If clean water issues receive attention in the 107th Congress, consideration of specific issues will depend in part on the CWA policy agenda of the new Bush Administration and on priorities of the key committees that have major jurisdiction over the Act.

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