This report discusses the Obama's administration that proposed creating a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) to focus exclusively on consumer protection. The agency would focus primarily on banking services; institutions and firms regulated by the SEC and CFTC.

This report presents basic background information on health insurance that may be useful to legislators considering health insurance reforms. It describes health insurance reform approaches and provides brief descriptions of health insurance reform bills introduced in the 111th Congress.

This report discusses pieces of legislation passed by Congress that are intended to help surmount failures in public safety radio communications such as insufficient interoperability among radio systems, a problem that hampered rescue efforts on and after September 11; and insufficiently robust networks, a shortcoming revealed after Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005.

The central government's limited writ and perceived corruption are helping sustain a Taliban insurgency and feeding pessimism about the Afghanistan stabilization effort. However, ethnic disputes have been confined to political debate and competition, enabling Karzai to focus on improving governance, reversing security deterioration and on his re-election bid in the fall of 2009. See CRS Report RL30588, Afghanistan: Post- War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, by Kenneth Katzman.

This report is on The Americans with Disabilities Act: Supreme Court Decisions.

This report discusses the administrations' proposal to use reverse Dutch auctions to purchase troubled assets -- primarily mortgage-related securities from financial institutions.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko snuffed out Belarus's modest progress toward democracy and a free market economy in the early 1990s and created an authoritarian, Soviet-style regime. Belarus held parliamentary elections in September 2008. Supporters of the government won all of the seats in the vote, which was criticized by the U.S., EU, and OSCE as falling short of international standards. Belarus's economy is the most unreformed in Europe, according to most observers. This report contains an overview of Belarus, the political and economic situation, relations of the country with Russia, relations with Nato, the European Union, and Belarus, and U.S. policy and Congressional action.

This report provides information about the Funding and Re authorization of Community Services Block Grants (CSBG). CSBG administered by the department of health and human services(HSS), provides federal funds to states ,territories,tribes for distribution to local agencies for activities to reduce poverty.

This report discusses the conversion of employees from appointed (noncareer) positions to career positions in the executive branch. This practice, commonly referred to as "burrowing in," is permissible when laws and regulations governing career appointments are followed.

The Federal Protective Service (FPS) -- within U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) -- is responsible for protecting federal government property, personnel, visitors, and customers, including property leased by the General Services Administration (GSA). FPS currently employs over 15,000 contract security guards to protect federal property. DHS intends, according to its FY2009 budget justification, to continue the use of contract security guards to focus FPS activities on maintaining security policy and standards, conducting building security assessments, and monitoring federal agency compliance with security standards.

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This report outlines the implementation process for the 1997 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and describes issues raised as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and states develop implementation strategies.

This report discusses the enactment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction program, such as a cap-and-trade system. An estimate of the quantity and type of offset projects that might be available would provide for a more informed debate over the design elements of a cap-and-trade program.

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Unemployment compensation (UC) benefits have been fully subject to the federal income tax since the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-514). Individuals who receive UC benefits during a year may elect to have the federal (and in some cases state) income tax withheld from their benefits. H.R. 6844 would provide a two-year suspension of the taxation of UC benefits. This report provides an overview of the taxation of UC benefits and legislation related to taxing UC benefits.

This report frames potential policy questions concerning the Service's mission and organization through an examination of the USSS history and its statutory authorities, mission, and present activities within DHS.

This report contains an overview of the development and demand on advanced wireless technology services.

This report is a guide to the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the District of Columbia and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, the Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, the Executive Office of the President, and Independent Agencies. It summarizes the status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity, and is updated as events warrant.

This report first outlines the ESA provisions most relevant to the act’s impacts on private property, and then surveys the major ESA-relevant principles of Fifth Amendment takings law. The report then proceeds to its core topic: the court decisions adjudicating whether government measures based on the ESA effect a taking of property under the Fifth Amendment. The cases address four kinds of ESA measures: (1) restrictions on land uses that might adversely affect species listed as endangered or threatened; (2) reductions in water delivery to preserve lake levels or instream flows needed by listed fish; (3) restrictions on the defensive measures a property owner may take to protect his/her property from listed animals; and (4) restrictions on commercial dealings in members of listed species.

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