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Federal departments and agencies are authorized to undertake a range of emergency management activities, including disaster relief and response efforts. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has primary responsibility, but other departments and agencies provide grants and loans to disaster victims and reimburse state and local governments overwhelmed by costs associated with clearing debris and rebuilding facilities, among other forms of assistance. FY2003 supplemental funding for these activities has been the issue of debate.

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This report discusses the idea of replacing our current income tax system with a flat-rate tax, including background and analysis and various Congressional proposals.

Some Members of Congress have expressed interest in the feasibility of using a value-added tax (VAT) to either replace all or part of the income tax, finance health care reform, or to fund America’s war effort. A VAT is imposed at all levels of production on the differences between firms’ sales and their purchases from all other firms. Policymakers may be interested in the following aspects of a VAT: revenue yield, international comparison of composition of taxes, vertical equity, neutrality, inflation, balance-of-trade, national saving, administrative cost, intergovernmental relations, size of government, and public opinion.

Proposals to replace all or part of the income tax, proposals for national health care, and a proposal to finance America’s war effort have sparked congressional interest in the possibility of a broad-based consumption tax as a new source of revenue. A value-added tax (VAT) or a national sales tax (NST) have been frequently discussed as possible new tax sources. Both the VAT and the NST are taxes on the consumption of goods and services and are conceptually similar. Yet, these taxes also have significant differences. This issue brief discusses some of the potential policy implications associated with these differences.

This report outlines U.S. military operations in Bosnia and discusses issues such as U.S. and Allied Participation in Bosnia Peacekeeping (IFOR/SFOR), duration, cost, arms control and military assistance. This report also includes most recent development, background analysis, and legislation.

The CWC bans the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons by members signatories. It also requires the destruction of all chemical weapons stockpiles and production facilities. Neither the United States nor Russia will be able to meet the original CWC’s deadlines for destruction of their CW stockpiles, and have been granted extensions to at least 2012. The Convention provides the most extensive and intrusive verification regime of any arms control treaty, extending its coverage to not only governmental but also civilian facilities. The Convention also requires export controls and reporting requirements on chemicals that can be used as warfare agents and their precursors. The CWC establishes the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to oversee the Convention’s implementation.

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On June 30, the scheduled expiration of TANF, a bill was presented to the President to extend TANF, supplemental TANF grants, mandatory child care, abstinence education, and transitional medical assistance (TMA) for another quarter, through September 30, 2003. The Welfare Reform Extension Act (H.R. 2350), which passed the House on June 11, was held at the Senate desk until June 27, when it was passed by unanimous consent. It was uncertain when the Senate Finance Committee would mark up a comprehensive reauthorization measure, for which staffers are preparing. Pending are four bills H.R. 4, the House Republican leadership bill, passed by the House February 13, S. 5, the Senate Republican leadership bill, and two Democratic alternatives, S. 367, and S. 448. H.R. 4 is almost identical to the bill passed by the House last year (H.R. 4737). Both H.R. 4 and S. 5 set the work week for most TANF recipients at 40 hours and require that states eventually engage 70% of recipients in a work activity. S. 5 would allow states to privatize determination of food stamp eligibility

The House passed a bill (H.R. 3146) on September 24 to extend TAIF, mandatory child care, abstinence education, and transitional Medicaid, on current terms, through March 31, 2004. In the absence of legislation, these programs would expire on September 30. The Senate Finance Committee approved a comprehensive TAIF preauthorization proposal of Chairman Chuck Grassley on September 10. Entitled Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone (PRIDE), the legislation would extend TANF, mandatory child care, abstinence education, and transitional Medicaid for 5 years, FY2004 through FY2008. It would raise TANF work participation standards, increase weekly work hours, add new countable work activities,

Copies of the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence are available from many sources, including the Internet. This report provides information on selected sources, both governmental and private, and is not intended to be all inclusive.

This is a directory of telephone numbers and addresses that congressional offices may use to obtain publications from the Executive Office of the President, the executive departments, and the independent agencies and commissions of the federal government. Electronic sources are included for locating copies of government publications on the Internet. The information for each agency was provided by the agency itself.

This report contains a guide to obtaining copies of the constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.

This is one report in the series of reports that discuss the campaign finance practices and related issues. Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. The report talks about the today’s paramount issues such as perceived loopholes in current law and the longstanding issues: overall costs, funding sources, and competition.

This report contains information on the general structure of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate committee structure, types of committees, and subcommittees.

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This report presents an overview of two national incidence studies prepared by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to determine annually the number of reported missing and recovered children in the nation. It also discusses the AMBER Alert System created to help recover reported missing children, legislation introduced in the 108th Congresses to address the missing children issue, and questions that remain regarding concerns about missing children.

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