This report discusses issues debated in the 107th Congress while is considering various proposals to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Major issues in recent years have included changing the role of science in decision-making, changing the role of critical habitat, reducing conflicts with Department of Defense activities, incorporating further protection for property owners, and increasing protection of listed species, among others. In addition, many have advocated including significant changes to ESA regulations made during the Clinton Administration in the law itself.

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This report discusses intelligence issues for Congress including terrorism, conflicts between Israel and Palestine, in Iraq, and among the former Yugoslav states, and North Korean missile capabilities. Updated October 6, 2003.

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This CRS Report discusses security concerns, significant congressional and administration action, and a comprehensive chronology pertaining to satellite exports to the PRC. The report discusses issues for U.S. foreign and security policy (including that on China and weapons nonproliferation), such as: What are the benefits and costs of satellite exports to China for U.S. economic and security interests? Should the United States continue, change, or cease the policy in place since the Reagan Administration that has allowed exports of satellites to China (for its launch and – increasingly – for its use)? Etc.

Unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE), also called “spam” or “junk e-mail,” aggravates many computer users. Not only can spam be a nuisance, but its cost may be passed on to consumers through higher charges from Internet service providers who must upgrade their systems to handle the traffic. Also, some spam involves fraud, or includes adult-oriented material that offends recipients or that parents want to protect their children from seeing. Proponents of UCE insist it is a legitimate marketing technique that is protected by the First Amendment. While 36 states have anti-spam laws, there is no federal law specifically concerning spam. Nine “antispam” bills are pending in the 108th Congress: H.R. 1933 (Lofgren), H.R. 2214 (Burr-Tauzin-Sensenbrenner), H.R. 2515 (Wilson-Green), S. 563 (Dayton), S. 877 (Burns-Wyden), S. 1052 (Nelson-FL), S. 1231 (Schumer), S. 1293 (Hatch), and S. 1327 (Corzine). Two (S. 877 and S. 1293) have been reported from committee. Tables providing brief “side-by-side” comparisons of the bills are included at the end of this report.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Higher Education Act of 1965 gives special recognition to some postsecondary schools--called Minority Serving Institutions--that serve a high percentage of minority students. These and other schools face stiff challenges in keeping pace with technology. One rapidly growing area, distance education, has commanded particular attention and an estimated 1.5 million students have enrolled in at least one distance education course. In light of this, GAO was asked to provide information on: (1) the use of distance education by Minority Serving Institutions; (2) the challenges Minority Serving Institutions face in obtaining and using technology; (3) GAO's preliminary finding on the role that accrediting agencies play in ensuring the quality of distance education; and (4) GAO's preliminary findings on whether statutory requirements limit federal aid to students involved in distance education. GAO is currently finalizing the results of its work on (1) the role of accrediting agencies in reviewing distance education programs and (2) federal student financial aid issues related to distance education."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report supplements our previous report responding to a Congressional request for current information on the representation of minorities and women at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). USPS's program to attract and award contracts to small, minority, and women-owned businesses is referred to as supplier diversity. In recent years, the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) has questioned the reliability of data related to the Supplier Diversity Program, such as the dollar value of contracts awarded to small, minority, and women-owned businesses. In a September 2001 report, the OIG made nine recommendations that it said would improve the reliability of this data. Our objective was to determine the status of USPS efforts to address the recommendations contained in the OIG report. To address our objective, we obtained, reviewed, and analyzed documentation from USPS and interviewed USPS and OIG officials concerning the status of these recommendations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS), beneficiaries can be responsible for paying 50 percent or more of the total payment for outpatient services they receive in hospitals. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) introduced a mechanism to gradually decrease beneficiary cost sharing to 20 percent of the payment rate for each hospital outpatient service. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule that implemented, effective with the 2002 payment rates, a methodology for calculating copayment amounts that was designed to ensure that even as certain changes affect the payment rates for hospital outpatient services over time, beneficiary coinsurance for services would eventually be 20 percent of the total payment rate for each service. Under this 2002 methodology, the copayment amount for each outpatient payment group of services, called an ambulatory payment classification (APC) group, could not increase from year to year, and the beneficiary coinsurance percentage would remain the same or decrease, eventually reaching 20 percent for each APC. When CMS published the final rule updating the OPPS payment rates for 2003, the agency stated that it used the methodology …

The edge focusing of dogleg magnets in Fermilab Booster has been causing severe distortion to the horizontal linear optics. The doglegs are vertical rectangular bends, therefore the vertical edge focusing is canceled by body focusing and the overall effect is focusing in the horizontal plane. The maximum horizontal beta function is changed from 33.7m to 46.9m and maximum dispersion from 3.19m to 6.14m. Beam size increases accordingly. This is believed to be one of the major reasons of beam loss. In this technote we demonstrate that this effect can be effectively corrected with Booster's quadrupole correctors in short straight sections (QS). There are 24 QS correctors which can alter horizontal linear optics with negligible perturbation to the vertical plane. The currents of correctors are determined by harmonic compensation, i.e., cancellation of dogleg's harmonics that are responsible for the distortion with that of QS correctors. By considering a few leading harmonics, the ideal lattice can be partly restored. For the current dogleg layout, maximum {beta}{sub x} is reduced to 40.6m and maximum D{sub x} is reduced to 4.19m. This scheme can be useful after the dogleg in section No.3 is repositioned. In this case it can bring {beta}{sub x} from 40.9m …

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Measurements of magnetic susceptibility {chi}(T), specific heat C(T), Hall coefficient R{sub H}(T), and Yb valence {nu} = 2 + n{sub f} [f-occupation number n{sub f} (T) determined from Yb L{sub 3} x-ray absorption measurements] were carried out on single crystals of Yb{sub 1-x}Lu{sub x}Al{sub 3}. The low temperature anomalies observed in {chi}(T) and C(T) corresponding to an energy scale T{sub coh} {approx} 40 K in the intermediate valence, Kondo lattice compound YbAl{sub 3} are suppressed by Lu concentrations as small as 5% suggesting these low-T anomalies are extremely sensitive to disorder and, therefore, are a true coherence effect. By comparing the temperature dependence of various physical quantities to the predictions of the Anderson Impurity Model, the slow crossover behavior observed in YbAl{sub 3}, in which the data evolve from a low-temperature coherent, Fermi-liquid regime to a high temperature local moment regime more gradually than predicted by the Anderson Impurity Model, appears to evolve to fast crossover behavior at x {approx} 0.7 where the evolution is more rapid than predicted. These two phenomena found in Yb{sub 1-x}Lu{sub x}Al{sub 3}, i.e., the low-T anomalies and the slow/fast crossover behavior are discussed in relation to recent theories of the Anderson lattice.

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This report discusses Congressional Concerns and Issues for Policy, Security Concerns, Administration and Congressional Action and Chronological of Major Events Since 1988.

FuelCell Energy developed a novel high-temperature proton exchange membrane for PEM fuel cells for building applications. The laboratory PEM fuel cell successfully operated at 100-400{supdegree}C and low relative humidity to improve CO tolerance, mitigate water and thermal management challenges, and reduce membrane cost. The developed high-temperature membrane has successfully completed 500h 120C endurance testing.

Transverse mass and rapidity distributions for charged pions, charged kaons, protons and antiprotons are reported for {radical}sNN = 200 GeV pp and Au+Au collisions at RHIC. The transverse mass distributions are rapidity independent within |y| < 0.5, consistent with a boost-invariant system in this rapidity interval. Spectral shapes and relative particle yields are similar in pp and peripheral Au+Au collisions and change smoothly to central Au+Au collisions. No centrality dependence was observed in the kaon and antiproton production rates relative to the pion production rate from medium-central to central collisions. Chemical and kinetic equilibrium model fits to our data reveal strong radial flow and relatively long duration from chemical to kinetic freeze-out in central Au+Au collisions. The chemical freeze-out temperature appears to be independent of initial conditions at RHIC energies.

The Durability of Carbon-Fiber Composites Project was established at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop experimentally based, durability-driven design guidelines to assure the long-term (15-year) structural integrity of carbon-fiber-based composite systems for automotive structural applications. The project addressed characterization and modeling the durability of a progression of carbon-reinforced thermoset materials, each of which has the same urethane matrix. The primary purpose of this report is to provide the individual specimen test data. Basic mechanical property testing and results for a reference [{+-}45{sup o}]{sub 3S} crossply composite and a quasi-isotropic, [0/90{sup o}/{+-}45{sup o}]{sub S} version of the reference crossply are provided. The matrix and individual {+-}45{sup o} stitch-bonded mats are the same in both cases. Although the composite utilized aerospace-grade carbon-fiber reinforcement, it was made by a rapid-molding process suitable for high-volume automotive use. Behavioral trends, effects of temperature and environment, and corresponding design knockdown factors are established for both materials. The reference crossply is highly anisotropic with two dominant fiber orientations--0/90{sup o} and {+-}45{sup o}. Therefore properties were developed for both orientations.

The Durability of Lightweight Composite Structures Project was established at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) by the U.S. Department of Energy to provide the experimentally-based, durability-driven design guidelines necessary to assure long-term structural integrity of automotive composite components. The initial focus of the ORNL Durability Project was on composite materials consisting of polyurethane reinforced with E-glass. Current focus of the project is on composite materials reinforced with carbon fibers. The primary purpose of this report is to provide the individual specimen test date. Basic mechanical property testing and results for two chopped-fiber composite materials, one reinforced with glass- and the other with carbon fiber are provided. Both materials use the same polyurethane matrix. Preforms for both materials were produced using the P4 process. Behavioral trends, effects of temperature and environment, and corresponding design knockdown factors are established for both materials. Effects of prior short-time loads and of prior thermal cycling are discussed.

Handwritten notes about Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus image statements changes starting in November 2003. A note from Al Daniels discussing sales receipts and two step ladders.