Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: Available Health Insurance Options (open access)

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: Available Health Insurance Options

Report that discusses the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), which provides health insurance coverage to about 8 million government workers.
Date: November 18, 2010
Creator: Chaikind, Hinda & Newsom, Mark
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Marines' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV): Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

The Marines' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV): Background and Issues for Congress

The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) is an armored amphibious vehicle program that originated two decades ago to replace the 1970s-era Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV). The EFV has experienced a variety of developmental difficulties, resulting in significant program delays and cost growth. While the Marine Corps and Department of Defense remain optimistic about the future of the EFC program, there continue to be major concerns about the EFV's reliability and escalating costs.
Date: November 9, 2010
Creator: Feickert, Andrew
System: The UNT Digital Library
Obstruction of Justice: An Abridged Overview of Related Federal Criminal Laws (open access)

Obstruction of Justice: An Abridged Overview of Related Federal Criminal Laws

This report briefly discusses obstruction of justice, which is defined as the frustration of governmental purposes by violence, corruption, destruction of evidence, or deceit. This is an abridged version of CRS Report RL34304, Obstruction of Justice: An Overview of Some of the Federal Statutes That Prohibit Interference with Judicial, Executive, or Legislative Activities, by Charles Doyle, without the footnotes, quotations, or citations to authority found in the longer report.
Date: November 5, 2010
Creator: Doyle, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Obstruction of Congress: An Abridged Overview of Federal Criminal Laws Relating to Interference with Congressional Activities (open access)

Obstruction of Congress: An Abridged Overview of Federal Criminal Laws Relating to Interference with Congressional Activities

This report briefly discusses obstruction of justice, specifically regarding Congressional activities. Obstruction of justice is defined as the frustration of governmental purposes by violence, corruption, destruction of evidence, or deceit. This is an abridged version of CRS Report RL34304, Obstruction of Congress: A Brief Overview of Federal Law Relating to Interference with Congressional Activities, by Charles Doyle, without the footnotes, quotations, or citations to authority found in the longer report.
Date: November 5, 2010
Creator: Doyle, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Obstruction of Justice: An Overview of Some of the Federal Statutes That Prohibit Interference with Judicial, Executive, or Legislative Activities (open access)

Obstruction of Justice: An Overview of Some of the Federal Statutes That Prohibit Interference with Judicial, Executive, or Legislative Activities

Obstruction of justice is the frustration of governmental purposes by violence, corruption, destruction of evidence, or deceit. It is a federal crime. In fact, federal obstruction of justice laws are legion; too many for even passing reference to all of them in a single report. This is a brief description of the some of the more prominent.
Date: November 5, 2010
Creator: Doyle, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Obstruction of Congress: A Brief Overview of Federal Law Relating to Interference with Congressional Activities (open access)

Obstruction of Congress: A Brief Overview of Federal Law Relating to Interference with Congressional Activities

Obstruction of justice is the frustration of governmental purposes by violence, corruption, destruction of evidence, or deceit. It is a federal crime. In fact, federal obstruction of justice laws are legion; too many for even passing reference to all of them in a single report. This is a brief description of those that outlaw interference with congressional activities.
Date: November 5, 2010
Creator: Doyle, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Role of Home State Senators in the Selection of Lower Federal Court Judges (open access)

Role of Home State Senators in the Selection of Lower Federal Court Judges

This report examines the role played by Senators in the selection of nominees to two kinds of lower federal court judgeships. Specifically, the judgeships in question, over which Senators have historically played a role in nominee selection, are those (1) in the U.S. district courts lying geographically within the Senators' states and (2) in the U.S. court of appeals circuits of which the Senators' states are a geographic part. This report also discusses several historical and ethical aspects related to Senators recommending judicial candidates.
Date: November 10, 2010
Creator: Rutkus, Denis Steven
System: The UNT Digital Library
Congressional Staff: Duties and Functions of Selected Positions (open access)

Congressional Staff: Duties and Functions of Selected Positions

The United States Congress conducts several types of activities for which it employs staff. These activities include assisting Members in official responsibilities in personal, committee, leadership, or administrative office settings. This report focuses on positions in House and Senate personal offices (Member staff), and provides sample position descriptions for 14 positions with similar job titles in each chamber. This report, which will be updated as warranted, is one of several CRS products focusing on various aspects of congressional operations and administration. Others are listed within this report.
Date: November 4, 2010
Creator: Petersen, R. Eric
System: The UNT Digital Library
Yemen: Background and U.S. Relations (open access)

Yemen: Background and U.S. Relations

With limited natural resources, a crippling illiteracy rate, and high population growth, Yemen faces an array of daunting development challenges that some observers believe make it at risk for becoming a failed state in the next few decades. As the country's population rapidly rises, resources dwindle, and terrorist groups take root in the outlying provinces, the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress are left to grapple with the consequences of Yemeni instability. As President Obama and the 111th Congress reassess U.S. policy toward the Arab world, the opportunity for improved U.S.-Yemeni ties is strong, though recurring tensions over counterterrorism cooperation and lack of U.S. interest in Yemen within the broader foreign policy community persist.
Date: November 1, 2010
Creator: Sharp, Jeremy M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) (open access)

Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI)

In May 2003, President George W. Bush formed the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) to increase international cooperation in interdicting shipments of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related materials. This report provides background information on the initiative, as well as a general overview and proposed changes and expansions to the initiative.
Date: November 5, 2010
Creator: Nikitin, Mary Beth
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Proposed U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA): Provisions and Implications (open access)

The Proposed U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA): Provisions and Implications

This report is designed to assist Members of Congress as they consider the costs and benefits of the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA.) It examines the provisions of the KORUS FTA in the context of the overall U.S.-South Korean economic relationship, U.S. objectives, and South Korean objectives.
Date: November 12, 2010
Creator: Cooper, William H.; Manyin, Mark E.; Jurenas, Remy & Platzer, Michaela D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Options for a Federal Renewable Electricity Standard (open access)

Options for a Federal Renewable Electricity Standard

This report discusses current ideas for a federal Renewable Electricity (or Energy) Standard (RES) and a broader Clean Energy Standard (CES). The goal of this report is to explore how such policies could potentially increase the amounts of renewable electricity generated in the United States, discussing other related public policy goals and rationales for renewable energy development, and the challenges/drawbacks of RES policy.
Date: November 12, 2010
Creator: Campbell, Richard J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Climate Change: A Negotiations Side-by-Side (open access)

International Climate Change: A Negotiations Side-by-Side

This report discusses various cooperative international efforts to address the issue of global climate change. The two major international agreements discussed in a side-by-side comparison are the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2010 Copenhagen Accord. The report discusses how many observers are hoping that initiatives carried out under the Copenhagen Accord may help bridge divides between the various tracks and economic groupings established under the Kyoto Protocol.
Date: November 18, 2010
Creator: Leggett, Jane A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Government Agencies Involved in Export Promotion: Overview and Issues for Congress (open access)

U.S. Government Agencies Involved in Export Promotion: Overview and Issues for Congress

This report provides an overview of the federal agencies that participate in U.S. export promotion efforts and the issues that they raise for Congress. It proceeds first by discussing the coordination, budgets, and functions of federal government agencies involved in promoting exports. Next, the report provides an overview of the missions and activities of key federal government agencies that support exports. The last section of the report discusses agency-related issues for Congress.
Date: November 19, 2010
Creator: Ilias, Shayerah; Hanrahan, Charles E. & Villarreal, M. Angeles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Litigation Seeking to Establish Climate Change Impacts as a Common Law Nuisance (open access)

Litigation Seeking to Establish Climate Change Impacts as a Common Law Nuisance

This report discusses recent legislative initiatives seeking to establish climate change impacts as a common law nuisance. The report explains what private and public nuisances are, the issues faced by policymakers when litigating a climate-change/nuisance suit, and also discusses five climate-chance/nuisance suits that are now or formerly active, as a basis of comparison. The report also explores arguments of those both for and against addressing the complex issue of climate change through common law suits.
Date: November 19, 2010
Creator: Meltz, Robert
System: The UNT Digital Library
Countering Terrorism in East Africa: The U.S. Response (open access)

Countering Terrorism in East Africa: The U.S. Response

This report provides an overview of current U.S. counterterrorism assistance programs and influence operations in East Africa and explores some of the strategies underpinning them. It also provides a brief description of the evolving terrorist threat in the region and explores the various roles of the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Treasury, Justice, and the U.S. Agency for International Development in implementing counterterrorism programs in the region. The report does not address covert or clandestine operations to collect intelligence or capture or eliminate terrorist targets in the region.
Date: November 3, 2010
Creator: Ploch, Lauren
System: The UNT Digital Library
Raising the Tax Rates on High-Income Taxpayers: Pros and Cons (open access)

Raising the Tax Rates on High-Income Taxpayers: Pros and Cons

This report focuses on the debate over whether the top two marginal tax rates should be permitted to rise back to their 2001 levels, once the temporary tax provisions known as the "Bush tax cuts" expire on December 31, 2010. The report discusses arguments for and against raising the tax rates.
Date: November 5, 2010
Creator: Noto, Nonna A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dominican Republic: Background and U.S. Relations (open access)

Dominican Republic: Background and U.S. Relations

This report provides background information on current political and economic conditions in the Dominican Republic, as well as an overview of some of the key issues in U.S.-Dominican relations.
Date: November 1, 2010
Creator: Seelke, Clare Ribando
System: The UNT Digital Library
Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments During the 110th Congress, 2007-2008 (open access)

Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions in Executive Departments During the 110th Congress, 2007-2008

This report explains the process for filling positions to which the President makes appointments with the advice and consent of the Senate (PAS positions). It also identifies, for the 110th Congress, all nominations to executive-level full-time positions in the 15 departments. Profiles of the departments provide information regarding their full-time PAS positions and related appointment activity during the 110th Congress.
Date: November 19, 2010
Creator: Hogue, Henry B.; Carey, Maeve P. & Bearden, Maureen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Committee Types and Roles (open access)

Committee Types and Roles

This report briefly describes the structure of the congressional committee system and the types of congressional committees, as well as congressional subcommittees.
Date: November 10, 2010
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Points of Order, Rulings, and Appeals in the House of Representatives (open access)

Points of Order, Rulings, and Appeals in the House of Representatives

This report briefly describes points of order in the House of Representatives. A point of order is a formal appeal made when a Member of House believes that the House's legislative procedures or are about to be violated in some way.
Date: November 10, 2010
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Guide to Individuals Seated on the House Dais (open access)

Guide to Individuals Seated on the House Dais

This report describes the House of Representatives officers who sit on the three tiers of the House chamber's central dais.
Date: November 10, 2010
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Veterans and Homelessness (open access)

Veterans and Homelessness

This report discusses several issues relating to homelessness among veterans, which has become more prominent since the beginning of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Date: November 4, 2010
Creator: Perl, Libby
System: The UNT Digital Library
Casework in a Congressional Office: Background, Rules, Laws, and Resources (open access)

Casework in a Congressional Office: Background, Rules, Laws, and Resources

This report, which will be updated as warranted, discusses House and Senate rules and guidelines, laws, and regulations affecting congressional casework, as well as the role of caseworkers. It also provides sample outlines and document templates for implementing and managing congressional casework.
Date: November 4, 2010
Creator: Petersen, R. Eric
System: The UNT Digital Library