This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Columbia-class program, a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy's current force of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs. The Navy has identified the Columbia-class program as the Navy's top priority program, and wants to procure the first Columbia-class boat in FY2021.

This report describes the government and political structure, economy, and the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela as well as U.S. policy towards Venezuela and recent humanitarian assistance offers made by Congress.

This report discusses the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the U.S. and Russia which bans all land-based missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. This report outlines the original treaty provisions and then discusses compliance concerns for both Russia and the U.S., as well as possible responses to the situation by the U.S.

This report discusses various types of banks and legislative proposals regarding how to tailor regulations to banks of different sizes.

This report discuses FEMA's (Federal Emergency Management Agency's) Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program (AFG) and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program (SAFER) and the reauthorization process in Congress. Unless legislation is passed by both the House and Senate by January 8, 2018, sunset provisions will come into effect for the programs.

This report describes Haiti's political structure and government, economy, police and army, and human rights and immigration issues. It also discusses UN missions in Haiti and U.S. relations with Haiti, including a a table outlining foreign aid amounts for Haiti from the U.S. for FY 2010-FY2018.

This report discusses asylum and withholding of removal immigration cases, and the application of the "one central reason" rule which dictates that asylum claimants demonstrate that an approved persecution grounds is one of the central reason they are claiming asylum. The same standard has been used in withholding of removal claim cases but a recent ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court stated that the "one central reason" rule does not apply to withholding of removal cases creating a split in opinion among courts.

This report discusses the net neutrality debate and the recent ruling by the FCC to repeal a rule which classified internet providers as telecommunication providers and thus required them to provide equal service to all. It also discusses Congressional activity in the 115th Congress regarding the issue.

This report provides resources to help answer frequently asked questions regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It includes information and links for topics such as the individual mandate, private health insurance, exchanges and subsidies, employee-sponsored coverage, Medicaid and Medicare, specific populations, behavioral health, state innovation waivers, taxes, costs and statistics, and regulatory issues.

This report discusses the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 10) and the FY 2018 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3354, Division D). The Senate Appropriations Committee released an FY2018 FSGG chairmen's mark on November 20, 2017, but further action has yet to occur on the bill. Much of the federal government, including agencies covered by FSGG appropriations, has been operating for the first part of FY2018 under a continuing resolution effective through December 8, 2017.

This report discusses the tax deduction for out-of-pocket teacher expenses and the proposals to eliminate or increase it that were made in the House and Senate draft tax bills. The final bill left the deduction at its current rate.

This report focuses on one pillar of the Dodd-Frank Act's (P.L. 111-203) response to addressing financial stability and ending too big to fail: a new enhanced prudential regulatory regime that applies to all banks with more than $50 billion in assets and to certain other financial institutions. Under this regime, the Federal Reserve is required to apply a number of safety and soundness requirements to large banks that are more stringent than those applied to smaller banks. These requirements are intended to mitigate systemic risk posed by large banks. This report also examines the question of which banks are systemically important.

First part of a report discussing the Treasury Department's recent report recommending revisions to the Financial Stability Oversight Council's (FSOC's) process for designating non-bank financial institutions as "systematically important financial institutions (SIFI's) also known as "Too Big to Fail" institutions. This part provides general background on the SIFI designation process

This report discusses the security environment of the world, how it has changed since the Cold War, and implications of the security environment for defense. The report also discusses issues for Congress concerning potential reassessment of U.S. defense.

This report discusses the Supreme Court's rejection of cases submitted by two detainees at Guantanamo Bay (Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul & Abd Al-Rahim Hussein Al-Nashiri) challenging the current military commission system under the Military Commissions Act (MCA). It discusses the merits of the cases, the various legal proceedings regarding them, and case law related to the issue.

This report provides a short overview of what would happen if the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) were not to be reauthorized by December 8, 2017, and was allowed to lapse.

This report discusses the Historically Underutilized Business Zone Empowerment Contracting (HUBZone) program, which provides participating small businesses located in areas with low income, high poverty, or high unemployment with contracting opportunities in the form of set-asides, sole-source awards, and price-evaluation preferences. It provides information about the program and it's structure; outlines arguments for an against targeting assistance and the continuation of the program; analyzes the program's administration; and examines related legislation.

This report identifies and summarizes the provisions of the Senate's standing rules, standing orders, precedents, and other directives that have general applicability to legislative activity in the Senate's standing committees. It covers four main issues: committee organization, committee meetings, hearings, and reporting.

This report discusses the case of "Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians v. Coachella Valley Water District" relating to groundwater water rights on federal lands. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case in July 2017.

This report first briefly summarizes key components of the child and dependent care tax credit (CDCTC), including reviewing eligibility requirements and how the credit is calculated. It also provides an overview of some characteristics of recipients and analyzes four potential selected policy changes: (1) making the current credit refundable, (2) converting the credit to a deduction, (3) increasing the credit rate, and (4) increasing the amount of qualifying expenses.

This report discusses the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) which aims to provide regulatory relief to banks, relax mortgage lending rules, and provide additional consumer protections related to credit reporting and other areas.

This report summarizes past nuclear and missile negotiations between the United States and North Korea, also known by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and highlights some of the lessons and implications that can be drawn from these efforts.

This report discusses a proposal by the U.S. in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations that would allow U.S. agricultural producers of certain fruits and vegetables to more easily file an injury claim regarding imports from Mexico. It includes details regarding the proposal, Mexican produce imports statistics, and arguments for and against the proposal.

This report discusses the federal procurement laws regarding federal agencies hiring contractors for disaster recovery work and the encouragement to use local contractors for the work to help the local economy recover.