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

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.

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,

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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.

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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 does not constitute a blueprint for every office involved in grants and projects activity, nor does it present in-depth information about all aspects of staff activity in this area.

Members of Congress often get requests from constituents for information and help in obtaining funds for projects. Many state and local governments, nonprofit social service and community action organizations, private research groups, small businesses, and individuals approach congressional offices to find out about funding, both from the federal government and from the private sector. The success rate in obtaining federal assistance is not high, given the competition for federal funds. A grants staff’s effectiveness often depends on both an understanding of the grants process and on the relations it establishes with agency and other contacts. The following report does not constitute a blueprint for every office involved in grants and projects activity, nor does it present in-depth information about all aspects of staff activity in this area. The discussion is aimed at describing some basics about the grants process and some of the approaches and techniques used by congressional offices in dealing with this type of constituent service.

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).

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

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 issue brief discusses the Airport Improvement Program and its complement, the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC). After a brief history of federal support for airport construction and improvement, the report describes AIP funding, its source of revenues, funding distribution, the types of projects the program funds, AIP and PFC policy issues, and the allowable use of AIP funds for airport security purposes.

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.

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.

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

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This is a report on Automatic Enrollment in section 401(k) plans.

This report discusses enrollment practices for 401k retirement plans. Historically, most employers that have sponsored retirement savings plans under §401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) have required employees to decide whether to enroll in the plan. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued rulings to inform employers that current law allows them to enroll employees automatically, provided that the employee is notified in advance and is permitted to leave the plan.

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.

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.

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.