The 107th Congress will consider and seek to influence trade issues with implications for the U.S. agricultural sector. Trade in agricultural commodities and food products affects farm income and rural employment, and it also generates economic activity beyond the farm gate. With agricultural export sales accounting for one-quarter of farm income, policymakers view U.S. efforts to develop market opportunities overseas as vital to the sector's financial health. Decisions taken by the Bush Administration, and actions taken by Congress, thus will affect the outlook for agricultural trade.

This report considers the events of Chandler v. James in 1997. The case was a federal district court ruling in Alabama holding up a statute to violate the establishment of religion of the First amendment. The Governor attempted to appeal the court's position to both the Supreme Court and the circuit court but was denied.

This report discusses Amtrak, an intercity railway transit system that being operatios in 1971. Amtrak receives considerable criticism for its inability to make a profit. The central policy issue, which this report addresses, is the following: Given that a national system of passenger rail service appears to be inherently unprofitable, as is the case for other public services, do we as a Nation wish to preserve our system or to liquidate it?

This report covers the status and legislative issues of the coastal non-point program.

This report describes types of CRS products and a selection of the most frequently used printed and online reference sources available in the reading room and research centers for use by congressional staff.

This report describes types of CRS products and a selection of the most frequently used printed and online reference sources available in the reading room and research centers for use by congressional staff. These deal with legislation and public policy; bills, congressional documents, laws, and regulations; Congress, elections, and politics; the federal government; directories of organizations, associations, corporations, state agencies, educational institutions, and the media; biographical information; data on foreign countries and international affairs; quick facts and statistics; and special collections such as quotations.

The U.S. tax code’s Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC) provisions provided a tax benefit for U.S. exporters. However, the European Union (EU) in 1997 charged that the provision was an export subsidy and thus contravened the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. A WTO ruling upheld the EU complaint, and to avoid WTO sanctioned retaliatory tariffs, U.S. legislation in November 2000 replaced FSC with the “extraterritorial income” (ETI) provisions, consisting of a redesigned export tax benefit of the same magnitude as FSC. The EU maintained that the new provisions are also not WTO-compliant and asked the WTO to rule on the matter.

This report analyzes four instruments and provides rough estimates of the relative magnitude of each.

Congressional Research Service (CRS) report entailing information about Qualified Zone Academy Bonds vs. traditional tax-exempt bonds in regards to funding school renovations. The report goes over the side effects of the $1.6 billion Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB), like revenue loss. Tables begin on page 4, and the report ends with a summary concluding that the QZAB program is more beneficial to tax payers and borrowers than traditional tax-exempt municipal bonds.

This report discusses the market-based strategies to reduce greenhouse gases for global climate change.

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The President of the United States has available certain powers that may be exercised in the event that the nation is threatened by crisis, exigency, or emergency circumstances (other than natural disasters, war, or near-war situations). Such powers may be stated explicitly or implied by the Constitution, assumed by the Chief Executive to be permissible constitutionally, or inferred from or specified by statute. Through legislation, Congress has made a great many delegations of authority in this regard over the past 200 years.

This report provides background information and a brief history of nutrition labeling information on the labeling issue of fresh meats proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on January 18, 2001.

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This report discusses the Social Security recipients that receive a costof- living adjustment (COLA) in January of each year. An automatic Social Security benefit increase reflects the rise in the cost of living over roughly a 1-year period

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