On August 2, 2005, President Bush signed into law the bill to implement the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement, or DR-CAFTA (P.L. 109-53, H.R. 3045). In DR-CAFTA, the United States and six countries will completely phase out tariffs and quotas — the primary means of border protection — on all but four agricultural commodities traded between them in stages up to 20 years. The four exempted products are as follows: for the United States, sugar; for Costa Rica, fresh onions and fresh potatoes; and for the four other Central American countries, white corn. DR-CAFTA’s provisions, once fully implemented, are expected to result in trade gains, though small, for the U.S. agricultural sector. This report describes this agreement in detail, as well as the stances of both supporters and detractors.

Facilities handling large amounts of potentially hazardous chemical (i.e., chemical facilities) might be of interest to terrorists, either as targets for direct attacks meant to release chemicals into the community or as a source of chemicals for use elsewhere. For any individual facility, the risk is very small, but the risks may be increasing -- with potentially severe consequences for human health and the environment. Congress might choose to rely on existing efforts in the public and private sectors to improve chemical site security over time. Alternatively, Congress could expand existing environmental planning requirements for chemical facilities to require consideration of terrorism. Congress might also enact legislation to reduce risks, either by "hardening" defenses against terrorists or by requiring industries to consider use of safer chemicals, procedures, or processes.

China’s economy continues to be a concern to U.S. policymakers. On the one hand, China’s economic growth presents huge opportunities for U.S. exporters. On the other hand, the surge in Chinese exports to the United States has put competitive pressures on many U.S. industries. Many U.S. policymakers have argued that greater efforts should be made to pressure China to fully implement its WTO commitments and to change various economic policies deemed harmful to U.S. economic interests, such as its currency peg and its use of subsidies to support its SOEs. In addition, recent bids by Chinese state-owned firms to purchase various U.S. firms have raised concerns among Members over the impact such acquisitions could have on U.S. national and economic security.

Progress from the fourth quarter 2005 activity on the project ''Design and Evaluation of Ionic Liquids as Novel CO{sub 2} Absorbents'' is provided. Major activities in three areas are reported: compound synthesis, property measurement and molecular modeling. Last quarter we reported the first ever experimental measurement of SO{sub 2} solubility in an ionic liquid. We showed that SO{sub 2} was very soluble in the ionic liquid 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([hmim][Tf{sub 2}N]). This quarter, we have measured SO{sub 2} solubility in two more ionic liquids: 1-hexyl-3-methylpyridinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([hmpy][Tf{sub 2}N]) and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium lactate ([hmim][lactate]). As with [hmim][Tf{sub 2}N], we find very high solubility of SO{sub 2} in these ionic liquids, but the lactate compounds shows the highest affinity for SO{sub 2} at low pressure. CO{sub 2} solubility was measured in three new compounds: [boronium][Tf{sub 2}N], 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium acesulfumate ([hmim][ace]), and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium saccharinate ([hmim][sac]). We find relatively poor solubility of CO{sub 2} in the latter two compounds, and solubility comparable to [hmim][Tf{sub 2}N] in the boronium compound. We also synthesized four new ionic liquids this quarter and continued refinement of our molecular simulation technique for measuring gas solubility.

This document describes the development of a manufacturing process and the production of Cu EOS targets. The development of a manufacturing process for these targets required a great deal of research, because the specifications for the targets required a level of precision an order of magnitude beyond Target Fabrication's capabilities at the time. Strict limitations on the dimensions of the components and the interfaces between them required research efforts to develop bonding and deposition processes consistent with a manufacturing plan with a dimensional precision on the order of 0.1 {micro}m. Several months into this effort, the specifications for the targets were relaxed slightly as a result of discussions between the Target Fabrication Group and the physicists. The level of precision required for these targets remained an order of magnitude beyond previous capabilities, but the changes made it possible to manufacture targets to the specifications. The development efforts and manufacturing processes described in this document successfully produced a complete Cu EOS target that satisfied all of the fabrication and metrology specifications.

This report provides an overview of the waivers that have been granted by the Department of Education in response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes; three public laws that have been enacted, specifically to provide financial relief to postsecondary students and institutions of higher education; and education-related hurricane relief provisions included in FY2006 defense appropriations. For K-12 education, the latter provides several waivers of existing requirements and appropriates $1.4 billion, primarily to restart school operations in affected areas and to provide emergency impact aid grants to schools serving displaced students. For higher education, P.L. 109-148 provides waivers of existing requirements and makes available $200 million to provide assistance under various HEA programs.

This report provides information about The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings on Emergency Communications.EAS is one of several federally managed warning systems.

This letter report summarizes three activities that were undertaken in FY 2005 to gather information on the DRAGON code and to perform limited evaluations of the code performance when used in the analysis of the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) designs. These activities include: (1) Use of the code to model the fuel elements of the helium-cooled and liquid-salt-cooled VHTR designs. Results were compared to those from another deterministic lattice code (WIMS8) and a Monte Carlo code (MCNP). (2) The preliminary assessment of the nuclear data library currently used with the code and libraries that have been provided by the IAEA WIMS-D4 Library Update Project (WLUP). (3) DRAGON workshop held to discuss the code capabilities for modeling the VHTR.

In 2000, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) Environmental Protection Department, in coordination with Plant Engineering (PE), began dredging sections of the Arroyo Las Positas (ALP) to alleviate concerns about flooding of sensitive facilities within the mainsite of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In order to reduce potential impacts on the federally threatened California red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii), LLNL proposed to dredge sections of the ALP in a ''checkerboard pattern'', resulting in a mosaic of open water habitat and vegetated sections (Figure 1). The Arroyo Las Positas Management Plan (Plan) was coordinated with both state and federal agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), California Department of Fish and Game (CDF&G), San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (SFRWQCB), and the Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE). Water Discharge Requirements (WDRs) were issued for this project on December 30, 1999 (Order No. 99-086) by the SFRWQCB. Provision 19 of the WDRs outlined a five-year (2000 through 2004) Maintenance Impact Study (MIS) that LLNL began in coordination with dredging work that was conducted as part of the Arroyo Las Positas Management Plan. Provision 20 of these WDRs requires LLNL to submit a final report of the results of the Maintenance …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, agencies submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a Capital Asset Plan and Business Case--the exhibit 300--to justify each request for a major information technology (IT) investment. The exhibit's content should reflect controls that agencies have established to ensure good project management, as well as showing that they have defined cost, schedule, and performance goals. It is thus a tool to help OMB and agencies identify and correct poorly planned or performing investments. In its budget and oversight role, OMB relies on the accuracy and completeness of this information. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which selected agencies have underlying support for the information in their fiscal year 2006 exhibit 300s. From five major departments having over $1 billion in IT expenditures in that year, GAO chose for analysis 29 exhibits for projects that supported a cross section of federal activities."

This report analyzes the prospects for rebuilding an inclusive Iraqi security force that transcends Iraq’s various ethnic and sectarian communities. U.S. policy makers and Iraqi officials aim to create a unified Iraqi security force; however, the predominately Sunni Arab insurgency has hampered this effort, and many believe that the new Iraqi security agencies will ultimately be composed of mostly Shiite and Kurdish recruits with both communities separately maintaining their own militias.

The objective of this work was to obtain a stable materials system for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) capable of operating between 600-800 C with a power density greater than 0.2 W/cm{sup 2}. The solid electrolyte chosen for this system was La{sub 0.9}Sr{sub 0.1}Ga{sub 0.8}Mg{sub 0.2}O{sub 3}, (LSGM). To select the right electrode materials from a group of possible candidate materials, AC complex impedance spectroscopy studies were conducted between 600-800 C on symmetrical cells that employed the LSGM electrolyte. Based on the results of the investigation, LSGM electrolyte supported SOFCs were fabricated with La{sub 0.6}Sr{sub 0.4}Co{sub 0.8}Fe{sub 0.2}O{sub 3}-La{sub 0.9}Sr{sub 0.1}Ga{sub 0.8}Mg{sub 0.2}O{sub 3} (LSCF-LSGM) composite cathode and Nickel-Ce{sub 0.6}La{sub 0.4}O{sub 3} (Ni-LDC) composite anode having a barrier layer of Ce{sub 0.6}La{sub 0.4}O{sub 3} (LDC) between the LSGM electrolyte and the Ni-LDC anode. Electrical performance and stability of these cells were determined and the electrode polarization behavior as a function of cell current was modeled between 600-800 C. The electrical performance of the anode-supported SOFC was simulated assuming an electrode polarization behavior identical to the LSGM-electrolyte-supported SOFC. The simulated electrical performance indicated that the selected material system would provide a stable cell capable of operating between 600-800 C …

The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest award for military valor. Since its inception in 1863, 3,461 Medals of Honor have been awarded to a total of 3,442 individuals (there have been 19 double recipients). In 1979, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee issued the committee print, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863- 1978, which lists recipients and provides the full text of the citations describing the actions that resulted in the awarding of the Medal. This report describes and discusses changes to the list of recipients of the Medal since the release of the committee print. For further information, see CRS Report 95-519, Medal of Honor: History and Issues, by David F. Burrelli. This report will be updated as new recipients are named.

In May 2005, a group of petitioners led by the Northern Plains Resource Council (NPRC) submitted a petition to revise water quality requirements to the Montana Board of Environmental Review (BER). Under Montana law, the BER had to consider the petition and either reject it or propose it as a new regulation. In September 2005, the BER announced proposed changes to the Montana water quality regulations. The proposal, which included almost the exact language found in the petition, was directed toward discharges of water from coal bed natural gas (CBNG) production. The key elements of the proposal included: (1) No discharges of CBNG water are allowed to Montana surface waters unless operators can demonstrate that injection to aquifers with the potential for later recovery of the water is not feasible. (2) When operators can demonstrate the injection is not feasible, the CBNG water to be discharged must meet very strict technology-based limits for multiple parameters. (3) The Montana water quality standards for the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and electrical conductivity (EC) would be evaluated using the 7Q10 flow (lowest 7-consecutive-day flow in a 10-year period) rather than a monthly flow that is currently used. (4) SAR and EC would be …

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Since 1992, the United States has provided more than $26 billion in assistance to the 12 states of the former Soviet Union (FSU). It continues to provide nearly $2 billion annually. This report describes the broad framework of U.S. assistance programs and policies in the region and then focuses on the FREEDOM Support Act (FSA) account under the foreign operations budget which, encompassing all U.S. objectives in the region, has often been the means by which Congress has expressed its views and sought to influence policy.

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The pace of negotiations in the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations quickened in October 2005 as the December Hong Kong Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) approached. At Hong Kong, however, while WTO members agreed on a broad outline of negotiating objectives for further liberalizing global trade in agriculture, industry and services, they made only limited progress in determining precise numerical formulas (known as modalities) for meeting the Round’s aims. WTO members agreed to intensify efforts to reach agreement on modalities and conclude Doha Round negotiations by the end of 2006. This report assesses the current status of agricultural negotiations in the Doha Round; traces the developments leading up to the Hong Kong Ministerial; examines the major agricultural negotiating proposals; discusses the potential effects of a successful Doha Round agreement on global trade, income, U.S. farm policy, and U.S. agriculture; and provides background on the WTO, the Doha Round, the key negotiating groups, and a schedule of historical and upcoming events relevant to the agricultural negotiations.

Hydrocarbon oxygenate synthesis from photocatalytic reactions of CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O over various catalysts is a very attractive process. However, the formation rate of the hydrocarbons and oxygenates is significantly lower than conventional catalysis. One possible reason for the low rate of product formation is the presence of oxidation sites which reoxidize the products back to CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O. For further improvement of catalytic activity for the reduction process, it is essential to understand the oxidation reaction process. We have studied photocatalytic oxidation of methylene blue and found the oxidation rate is significantly higher than the reduction rate.

Hydrocarbon synthesis from photocatalytic reactions of CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O over various catalysts has been studied by UV-visible light. The quantum efficiencies suggest that Pd/TiO{sub 2} sol gel exhibits the highest activity for hydrocarbon synthesis from photocatalytic reactions. The in situ IR could successfully monitor the adsorbed hydrocarbon species. The UV-visible, IR spectroscopy and XRD techniques were used to characterize the catalysts to obtain the information of properties of the process and catalyst before/after reaction. The UV-visible spectroscopy provides the information about the surface band gap energy of each catalyst. In situ UV-visible studies reveals that TiO{sub 2}-supported catalysts require the higher energy (i.e. shorter wavelength) to pass through the water-thin film deposited on the surface to activate the photocatalytic reaction. XRD data show there is changes in the crystal structure of TiO{sub 2} sol gel from photon energy during photo reaction. The information from this study can lead to a better understanding of the nature of the catalysts and photoreaction processes, which might provide the information to develop better catalysts and reaction process for the hydrocarbon synthesis from photocatalytic reactions of CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O.