Under the Constitution, the Rules of the Senate, statutory law, and consistent Senate practices, an individual elected to the United States Senate during a session of Congress to succeed an appointed Senator may begin his or her term of office upon receipt by the Senate of "credentials" in proper form from the state, and by taking the constitutionally required oath of office in open Senate session. The appointed Senator who is being succeeded remains in the office until the new "Senator-elect" is qualified (i.e. is sworn in and seated as a "Senator" by the Senate). This report details the formal and informal rules in such cases.

This report discusses the Logan Act, which was intended to prohibit United States citizens without authority from interfering in relations between the United States and foreign governments.

This report provides an overview of the 2010 decennial census, and the Census Bureau that will attempt to count the total population of the United States. It discusses the possibility by some that have suggested excluding aliens, particularly those who are in the country unlawfully, from the census count, in part so that they would not be included in the data used to apportion House seats among the states and determine voting districts within them.

This report discusses about legislative goals for campaign finance reform. It further discusses about Political Speech, Mass Media and Communications and other issues.

This report provides a table which lists supplemental appropriations for Agriculture. From FY1989 through FY2009, 39 appropriations, authorization, or farm disaster acts added approximately $68.7 billion in supplemental funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs (excluding the Forest Service, which is funded annually under the Interior appropriations bill). Approximately $50.2 billion, or just under three-fourths of the total amount, was provided within the last 10 years.

Under the terms of the Federal Employees' Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-509), pay for civilian federal employees is adjusted each year to keep the salaries of federal workers competitive with comparable occupations in the private sector. The annual increases in federal employee pay are based on changes in the cash compensation paid to workers in the private sector, as measured by the ECI. Under certain circumstances, the President may limit the annual increase in federal pay by executive order. Federal law also requires Social Security benefits and the pensions paid to retired federal employees to be adjusted each year. The COLAs for both Social Security and civil service pensions are based on the rate of inflation as measured by the CPI.

This report discusses the trends driving global economic integration, sources of worker insecurity and policy approaches. There appears to be a range of views on the merits of each of these policy approaches and the extent to which they can be designed and implemented in a way that would reduce worker insecurity without undermining the benefits of globalization.

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This report describes the relationship between the United States and the Sultanate of Oman, especially with respect to Oman's support of U.S. efforts toward peace in the Middle East, the U.S. free trade agreement with Oman, and Oman's relatively close relations with Iran, the last of which seems incongruous with the other positive aspects of Oman's relationship with the U.S.

This report will examine the application of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Communications Act to online behavioral advertising in more detail. It is likely that in many cases these laws could be held to apply to such activities and that these methods of data collection would be forbidden unless consent is obtained from one of the parties to the communication.

This report provides a history and analysis of the rum cover-over program and current legislative efforts to modify the program. The congressional debate on this legislation could also lead to debate on the broader issue of the cover-over program more generally.

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This report looks at instances of trafficking in persons (TIP) in Latin America. It looks at current legislation in the U.S. to combat this problem.

This report provides an introduction to U.S. Foreign Trade Zones (FTZ). The report discusses the details of the Trade Agreement Parity (TAP) proposal, the potential winners and losers under the TAP proposal, economic studies on the TAP proposal, and policy analysis on the TAP proposal.

This report reviews the ongoing programs that will affect the expected size and shape of the U.S. strategic nuclear force structure. It begins with an overview of this force structure during the Cold War, and summarizes the reductions and changes that have occurred since 1991. It then offers details about each category of delivery vehicle, focusing on their current deployments and ongoing and planned modernization programs. The report concludes with a discussion of issues related to decisions about the future size and shape of the U.S. strategic nuclear force.

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This report discusses the budget for the 2008 Farm Bill, and its reauthorization. Moreover, the report discusses the increasing level of demand for fiscal constraint and the current large budget deficits.

This report discusses the current political state of Iran, focusing particularly on the influence of the Taliban and other militant groups and on the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. This report also discusses the U.S.-Iran relationship and U.S. efforts under the Obama Administration to provide military, reconstructive, and stabilization aid.

This report discusses about Green Procurement, Federal Green Purchasing Initiatives and Issues for congress. It also discusses about Market-Focused Programs and Agency-Focused Initiatives.

This report addresses a nationwide water pollution problem caused by leaking underground storage tanks (USTs). The report discusses key issue that state resources have not met the demands of administering the underground storage tanks (UST) leak prevention program.

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This report briefly discusses the context in which federal budget process changes are made and identifies selected reform proposals by major category. The identification of reform proposals in this report is not intended to be comprehensive.