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This report discusses controversy surrounding the usage of consular identification cards within the United States. It identifies any potential implications that issuing these cards would have with regards to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

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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 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.

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Flexible spending accounts are employer-established benefit plans that reimburse employees for specified expenses; they first began in the 1970s. Medical savings accounts are tax-advantaged individual savings accounts that can also be used for unreimbursed expenses; they became available under a demonstration that began in 1997. This report contains information regarding flexible spending accounts, medical savings accounts, and comparing the two.

Nearly one out of seven Americans were without health insurance for all of 2000. This was the second consecutive annual decrease in the percentage of uninsured people. The largest gain in health insurance coverage was in the employment-based coverage. This report examines the characteristics of both the insured and the uninsured populations in the United States.

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This report discusses how and when the USA PATRIOT ACT P.L. 107-56 applies to libraries and bookstores under Section 215 of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act. A reply to House Judiciary Committee from The Justice Department notes that the use of Section 215 has been sparse or nonexistent.

Falling agricultural exports and declining commodity prices led farm groups and agribusiness firms to urge the 106th Congress to pass legislation exempting foods and agricultural commodities from U.S. economic sanctions against certain countries. In completing action on the FY2001 agriculture appropriations bill, Congress codified the lifting of unilateral sanctions on commercial sales of food, agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical products to Iran, Libya, North Korea, and Sudan, and extended this policy to apply to Cuba (Title IX of H.R. 5426, as enacted by P.L. 106-387; Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000). Related provisions place financing and licensing conditions on sales to these countries. Those that apply to Cuba, though, are permanent and more restrictive than for the other countries. Other provisions give Congress the authority in the future to veto a President's proposal to impose a sanction on the sale of agricultural or medical products.

This report discusses the "oil-for-food" program (OFFP) as the centerpiece of a long-standing U.N. Security Council effort to alleviate human suffering in Iraq while maintaining key elements of the 1991 Gulf war-related sanctions regime. The program, in operation from December 1996 until March 2003, is detailed.

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The term "pay equity" originates from the fact that women as a group are paid less than men. In 2000, for example, women with a strong commitment to the work force earned 76 cents for every dollar earned by men. As women's earnings as a percentage of men's earnings have narrowed by just 12 percentage points over the past four decades (from about 60% in the 1960s and 1970s to more than 70% in the 1990s), some members of the public policy community have argued that current anti-discrimination laws should be strengthened and that additional measures should be enacted. Others, in contrast, believe that further government intervention is unnecessary because the gender wage gap will narrow on its own as women's labor market qualifications continue to more closely resemble those of men.

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This issue brief discusses a number of Supreme Court cases that heavily concern church and state from the 2001-2002 Term. It provides detailed summaries on two decided cases, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc v. Stratton, Ohio and Zelman v. Selmon-Harris. Updated November 26, 2002.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been far more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. The United Nations reports that 25.3 million adults and children are infected with the HIV virus in the region, which has about 10% of the world's population but more than 70% of the worldwide total of infected people. This report discusses this issue in detail, including the cause of the African AIDS epidemic, the social and economic consequences, response and treatment, and U.S. policy.

DNA evidence is a powerful forensic tool in criminal cases. Its use and capabilities have increased substantially since it was first introduced in the late 1980s. That growth has led to the emergence of the following issues that were considered by the 106th Congress in legislative initiatives: eliminating the nationwide backlog of unanalyzed DNA samples, expanding the kinds of offenders who are profiled, providing opportunities for post-conviction testing of DNA evidence, and continuing development of forensic science capabilities. This report discusses those and related issues and the legislation proposed and enacted to address them. It begins by describing provisions in prior federal law and then discusses issues and the legislation proposed, including the enacted DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (H.R. 4640, which became P.L. 106-546).

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This report provides information about the Human Cloning where a human embryo produced via cloning involves the process called somatic cell nuclear transfer. The nuclear of the egg is removed and replaced with a mature body cell.

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