Access to Broadband Networks: The Net Neutrality Debate (open access)

Access to Broadband Networks: The Net Neutrality Debate

This report discusses the current debate over "net neutrality." While there is no single accepted definition of "net neutrality," most agree that any such definition should include the general principles that owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network, and they should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Gilroy, Angele A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Overview of Proposals to Establish an Independent Commission or Board in Medicare (open access)

An Overview of Proposals to Establish an Independent Commission or Board in Medicare

None
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Services Block Grant (Title XX of the Social Security Act) (open access)

Social Services Block Grant (Title XX of the Social Security Act)

None
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO (open access)

Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO

This report describes how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) deal with the issue of currency manipulation. It also discusses apparent discrepancies in their charters and ways those differences might be addressed.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Sanford, Jonathan E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Emergency Communications: The Future of 911 (open access)

Emergency Communications: The Future of 911

This report discusses possible paths toward the modernization of the 911 infrastructure. Efforts to splice newer, digital technologies onto the aging infrastructure have created points of failure where a call can be dropped or misdirected, sometimes with tragic consequences.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Border Security: Key Agencies and Their Missions (open access)

Border Security: Key Agencies and Their Missions

This report briefly describes the role of various agencies in securing the borders of the United States. These agencies are the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the United States Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Haddal, Chad C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Disaster Relief Funding and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations (open access)

Disaster Relief Funding and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations

This report describes the various components of the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including (1) what authorities have shaped it over the years; (2) how FEMA determines the amount of the appropriation requested to Congress (pertaining to the DRF); and (3) how emergency supplemental appropriations are requested. In addition to the DRF, information is provided on funds appropriated in supplemental appropriations legislation to agencies other than the Department of Homeland Security. Aspects of debate concerning how disaster relief is budgeted are also highlighted and examined, and alternative budgetary options are summarized.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Lindsay, Bruce R. & Murray, Justin
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Law and Agreements: Their Effect Upon U.S. Law (open access)

International Law and Agreements: Their Effect Upon U.S. Law

This report provides an introduction to the roles that international law and agreements play in the United States. International law is derived from two primary sources--international agreements and customary practice. Under the U.S. legal system, international agreements can be entered into by means of a treaty or an executive agreement. The Constitution allocates primary responsibility for entering into such agreements to the executive branch, but Congress also plays an essential role.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Garcia, Michael J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bosnia: Current Issues and U.S. Policy (open access)

Bosnia: Current Issues and U.S. Policy

This report presents an overview of the economic and political situation in Bosnia. It starts out by describing the current situation, the negotiations on forming a new central government, the international role in Bosnia, and the last part discusses the implications of U.S. policy.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Woehrel, Steven
System: The UNT Digital Library
The European Parliament (open access)

The European Parliament

This report provides background on the Congress-European Parliament (EP) relationship and the role of the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue (TLD). It also explores potential future options that could strengthen ties between the two bodies.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Archick, Kristin
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparison of Rights in Military Commission Trials and Trials in Federal Criminal Court (open access)

Comparison of Rights in Military Commission Trials and Trials in Federal Criminal Court

This report provides a brief summary of legal issues raised by the choice of forum for trying accused terrorists and a chart comparing selected military commissions rules under the Military Commissions Act, as amended, to the corresponding rules that apply in federal court.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Climate Change and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS): Looking to 2020 (open access)

Climate Change and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS): Looking to 2020

This report discusses the European Union's (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is a cornerstone of the EU's efforts to meet its obligation under the Kyoto Protocol. It covers more than 10,000 energy intensive facilities across the 27 EU Member countries.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Parker, Larry
System: The UNT Digital Library
Internet Domain Names: Background and Policy Issues (open access)

Internet Domain Names: Background and Policy Issues

This report discusses the Domain Name System (DNS), which is the distributed set of databases residing in computers around the world that contain address numbers mapped to corresponding domain names, making it possible to send and receive messages and to access information from computers anywhere on the Internet.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Estimates of Carbon Mitigation Potential from Agricultural and Forestry Activities (open access)

Estimates of Carbon Mitigation Potential from Agricultural and Forestry Activities

None
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Johnson, Renée; Ramseur, Jonathan L. & Gorte, Ross W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Endangered Species Act: A Primer (open access)

The Endangered Species Act: A Primer

This report discusses the major provisions of the Endangered Species Act, both domestic and international, and also discusses some of the background issues, such as extinction in general, and the effectiveness of the statute.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne; Alexander, Kristina & Buck, Eugene H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparing U.S. and EU Program Support for Farm Commodities and Conservation (open access)

Comparing U.S. and EU Program Support for Farm Commodities and Conservation

This report compares farm support in the United States and the European Union, given available quantitative data and information for these two economies.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Johnson, Renée; Hanrahan, Chrales E. & Schnepf, Randy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Measuring and Monitoring Carbon in the Agricultural and Forestry Sectors (open access)

Measuring and Monitoring Carbon in the Agricultural and Forestry Sectors

None
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Rulemaking: The Role of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (open access)

Federal Rulemaking: The Role of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

This report discusses the paperwork Reduction Act of 1980. It also discusses Possible legislative issues involving OIRA.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Copeland, Curtis W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Early Childhood Care and Education Programs: Background and Funding (open access)

Early Childhood Care and Education Programs: Background and Funding

Several federal programs support child care, education, or related services, primarily for low-income working families. In addition, the tax code includes provisions specifically targeted to assist families with child care expenses. This report includes an update on FY2010 funding developments and the status of FY2009 appropriations in the early childhood care and education arena. This report also provides a six-year funding history and brief descriptions of the various related programs and tax provisions.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Lynch, Karen E. & McCallion, Gail
System: The UNT Digital Library
Local and Regional Procurement for U.S. International Emergency Food Aid (open access)

Local and Regional Procurement for U.S. International Emergency Food Aid

This report discusses the controversial issue of local or regional procurement (LRP) as an alternative to commodity donations as methods of international food aid. Experiences with LRP, such as the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), are evaluated in discussion with current LRP initiatives of the United States.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Hanrahan, Charles E.
System: The UNT Digital Library