This report briefly reviews the statutory Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) mandate and characterizes the context for the 2014 QDR. It also raises a series of issues that Congress may choose to consider in evaluating the QDR mandate, the 2014 QDR, and the Department of Defense (DOD) strategic direction more broadly.

The focus of this report is on legislative action with respect to abortion, and discussion of the various legislative proposals that involves an examination of the leading Supreme Court decisions concerning a woman's right to choose

This report discusses the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is a nonreciprocal trade preference program that provides duty-free treatment to U.S. imports of certain products from eligible sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.

This report discuses the issues that virtually every federal criminal statute has a hidden feature; helpers and hands-on offenders face the same punishment. This results from 18 U.S.C. 2, which visits the same consequences on anyone who orders or assists in the commission of a federal crime.

This report discuses the issues that virtually every federal criminal statute has a hidden feature; helpers and hands-on offenders face the same punishment. This results from 18 U.S.C. 2, which visits the same consequences on anyone who orders or assists in the commission of a federal crime.

This report discusses the Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014, which would address drought impacts in California and other states, and assist with drought response.

This report discusses the recent conflict in Syria including an overview of the situation, information about anti- and pro-Asad forces, background on chemical weapons and disarmament, plans for U.S. policy and assistance, and a general sense of the future outlook.

This report discusses the current state of Bahrain, which has undergone substantial political reforms since the late 1990s, but which still suffers from tension between the Shiite majority and the Sunni-led government. It focuses particularly on Bahrain's relationship with Iran and with the United States.

This report examines the original intent and purpose of the Berry Amendment, legislative proposals to amend the application of domestic source restrictions, and potential options for Congress.

This report discusses bonus depreciation as either a temporary stimulus provision or a permanent part of the tax code.

The purpose of this report is to explain the provisions of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 or FCRA; examine the implementation of credit reform, including credit reform provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105- 33, §1011; 111 Stat. 254,692); discuss proposed modifications of credit reform; and describe proposed legislation in the 113th Congress.

This report discusses the release of Burma's political prisoners and the role that plays in U.S. policy and Burma's political future.

This report provides background information regarding Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, and discusses the number of C-130s airlift aircraft, and C-130 modernization issues.

This report 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.

The report begins with a discussion of major findings. It then briefly describes the foster care population and their unique health-related issues. Next is an overview of the federal programs and policies in three areas--child welfare, Medicaid, and private health insurance--that directly or indirectly address some of the health care needs of such children and young adults. The report concludes with a discussion of issues pertaining to these federal policies.

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This legal sidebar discusses municipal efforts to block the federal enforcement of marijuana prohibition.

This report provides a legal overview of Section 2 of the VRA, a key provision affecting congressional redistricting, and selected Supreme Court case law. It discusses Sections 4 and 5, and the recent Supreme Court decision holding Section 4(b) unconstitutional, Shelby County v. Holder. Section 4 contained a coverage formula that identified states and jurisdictions that were required to gain federal approval or "preclearance" to proposed redistricting plans under Section 5. The report also provides an overview of selected legislation in the 112th and 113th Congresses that would establish additional requirements and standards for congressional redistricting.

The report discusses the Agricultural Act of 2014 that was enacted on February 7, 2014. It further discusses Agricultural Conservative Easement Program (ACEP), that retains most of the program provision in the repealed easement programs.

This report provides answers to 20 frequently asked questions regarding contractors and HealthCare.gov, the federal online health insurance portal called for by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (P.L. 111-148, as amended). Over 50 contractors, including CGI Federal and Quality Software Services, Inc. (QSSI), helped in building the site, which was reportedly largely unusable when it first became available to the public on October 1, 2013.

Over the past several years, Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has led a team of collaborators under the Department of Energy’s (DOE) nuclear hydrogen production program to develop the Hybrid Sulfur (HyS) Process. HyS is a 2-step water-splitting process consisting of high temperature decomposition of sulfuric acid to generate SO{sub 2}, followed by the electrolysis of aqueous SO{sub 2} to generate hydrogen and sulfuric acid. The latter is fed back into the high temperature reactor. SRNL designed and built an SO{sub 2}-depolarized electrolyzer (SDE) and a test facility. Over 40 SDE’s were tested using different catalysts, membranes and other components. SRNL demonstrated that an SDE could be operated continuously for approximately 200 hours under certain conditions without buildup of sulfur at the SDE’s cathode, thus solving a key technical problem with SDE technology. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APCI) is a major supplier of hydrogen production systems, and they have proprietary technology that could benefit from the SDE developed by SRNS, or some improved version thereof. However, to demonstrate that SRNL’s SDE is a truly viable approach to the electrolyzer design, continuous operation for far greater periods of time than 200 hours must be demonstrated, and the electrolyzer must be …

This report briefly discusses current requirements under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and two bills currently being considered by Congress that would revise the conditions and authority granted by FISMA.

This report reviews the status of the Democratic Republic of the Congo peace process, provides background on recent conflicts in the Congo, briefly summarizes the political history that led to these conflicts, and assesses prospects for the future. It also describes relevant U.S. policy and congressional involvement.

This report provides a graphical overview of historical trends in discretionary budget authority (BA) from FY1976 through FY2012, preliminary estimates for FY2013 spending, and the levels consistent with the President's proposals for FY2014 through FY2018 using data from President Obama's FY2014 budget submission that was released on April 10, 2013.