Controversy has arisen regarding U.S. treatment of enemy combatants and terrorist suspects detained in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations, and whether such treatment complies with U.S. statutes and treaties such as the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Congress approved additional guidelines concerning the treatment of detainees via the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA), which was enacted pursuant to both the Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006 (P.L. 109-148), and the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2006 (P.L. 109-163). Among other things, the DTA contains provisions that (1) require Department of Defense (DOD) personnel to employ United States Army Field Manual guidelines while interrogating detainees, and (2) prohibit the “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment of persons under the detention, custody, or control of the United States Government.” These provisions of the DTA, which were first introduced by Senator John McCain, have popularly been referred to as the “McCain Amendment.” This report discusses the McCain Amendment, as modified and subsequently enacted into law.

Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances the national interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missiles that could deliver them. China has taken some steps to mollify U.S. concerns about its role in weapons proliferation. Skeptics question whether China's cooperation in weapons nonproliferation has warranted President Bush's pursuit of stronger bilateral ties. This report discusses the national security problem of China's role in weapons proliferation and issues related to the U.S. policy response, including legislation, since the mid-1990s.

This report provides background information on Libya and U.S.-Libyan relations; profiles Libyan leader Muammar al Qadhafi; discusses Libya’s political and economic reform efforts; and reviews current issues of potential congressional interest.

Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances the national interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missiles that could deliver them. China has taken some steps to mollify U.S. concerns about its role in weapons proliferation. Skeptics question whether China's cooperation in weapons nonproliferation has warranted President Bush's pursuit of stronger bilateral ties. This report discusses the national security problem of China's role in weapons proliferation and issues related to the U.S. policy response, including legislation, since the mid-1990s.

U.S.-Thailand relations are of particular interest to Congress because of Thailand's status as a long-time military ally, a key country in the war against terrorism in Southeast Asia, and a significant trade and economic partner. Shared economic and security interests have long provided the basis for U.S.-Thai cooperation. With its favorable geographic and broad-based economy, Thailand is among the most likely countries to play a major leadership role in Southeast Asia and has been an aggressive advocate of increased economic integration in the region. This report outlines the various aspects of the U.S.-Thai relationship, especially in relation to other nations in Southeast Asia.

Controversy has arisen regarding U.S. treatment of enemy combatants and terrorist suspects detained in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations, and whether such treatment complies with related U.S. statutes and treaties. Certain provisions of the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA), first introduced by Senator John McCain, have popularly been referred to as the "McCain Amendment." This report discusses the McCain amendment and also discusses the application of the McCain Amendment by the DOD in the updated 2006 version of the Army Field Manual.

Funeral program for Willie T. Tatum Carter, died September 2006. The funeral was held October 2, 2006 at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, officiated by Rev. R. L. Archield, Sr. The funeral arrangements were made through Lewis Funeral Home and she was buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery near San Antonio, Texas.

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This report provides an overview of the international space station and the space shuttle.

This report mainly provides information about the Economic Issues and Options for U.S. Trade Policy on China’s Currency. Lower priced goods from China may hurt the U.S.

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This report provides background on various approaches to ballast water management and reviews current ballast water management laws and programs.

This report provides general background on U.S. policy regarding the international trade in small arms and light weapons (SA/LW). It outlines major questions associated with the international trade in these items, and reviews United States efforts to assist in controlling the illicit transfers of these items.

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) is preparing for vitrification of High Level Waste (HLW) Sludge Batch 4 (SB4) in early FY2007. To support this process, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has provided a recommendation to utilize Frit 503 for vitrifying this sludge batch, based on the composition projection provided by the Liquid Waste Organization on June 22, 2006. Frit 418 was also recommended for possible use during the transition from SB3 to SB4. A critical step in the SB4 qualification process is to demonstrate the applicability of the durability models, which are used as part of the DWPF's process control strategy, to the glass system of interest via a variability study. A variability study is an experimentally-driven assessment of the predictability and acceptability of the quality of the vitrified waste product that is anticipated from the processing of a sludge batch. At the DWPF, the durability of the vitrified waste product is not directly measured. Instead, the durability is predicted using a set of models that relate the Product Consistency Test (PCT) response of a glass to the chemical composition of that glass. In addition, a glass sample is taken during the processing of that sludge batch, the …

We give a brief overview of some of the recent results on single-transverse spin asymmetries, highlighting in particular progress in theoretical understanding.

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is designed to provide collisions of high energy polarized protons for the quest of understanding the proton spin structure. Polarized proton collisions at a beam energy of 100 GeV have been achieved in RHIC since 2001. Recently, polarized proton beam was accelerated to 250 GeV in RHIC for the first time. Unlike accelerating unpolarized protons, the challenge for achieving high energy polarized protons is to fight the various mechanisms in an accelerator that can lead to partial or total polarization loss due to the interaction of the spin vector with the magnetic fields. We report on the progress of the RHIC polarized proton program. We also present the strategies of how to preserve the polarization through the entire acceleration chain, i.e. a 200 MeV linear accelerator, the Booster, the AGS and RHIC.

We describe the next generation general purpose Evaluated Nuclear Data File, ENDF/B-VII.0, of recommended nuclear data for advanced nuclear science and technology applications. The library, released by the U.S. Cross Section Evaluation Working Group (CSEWG) in December 2006, contains data primarily for reactions with incident neutrons, protons, and photons on almost 400 isotopes. The new evaluations are based on both experimental data and nuclear reaction theory predictions. The principal advances over the previous ENDF/B-VI library are the following: (1) New cross sections for U, Pu, Th, Np and Am actinide isotopes, with improved performance in integral validation criticality and neutron transmission benchmark tests; (2) More precise standard cross sections for neutron reactions on H, {sup 6}Li, {sup 10}B, Au and for {sup 235,238}U fission, developed by a collaboration with the IAEA and the OECD/NEA Working Party on Evaluation Cooperation (WPEC); (3) Improved thermal neutron scattering; (4) An extensive set of neutron cross sections on fission products developed through a WPEC collaboration; (5) A large suite of photonuclear reactions; (6) Extension of many neutron- and proton-induced reactions up to an energy of 150 MeV; (7) Many new light nucleus neutron and proton reactions; (8) Post-fission beta-delayed photon decay spectra; (9) New …

We present theoretical predictions for the cross sections and spin asymmetries in dilepton pair production in transversely polarized pp and {bar p}p collisions. We use the available fixed-order corrections as well as the all-order resummation of threshold logarithms for the pair mass and rapidity distributions. Numerical results for pp collisions at {radical}s = 10 GeV at J-PARC and for {bar p}p collisions at {radical}s = 14.5 GeV at GSI-PAX are given.

This report documents how remedies mandated by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act for the Idaho National Laboratory Site were operated and maintained during Fiscal Year 2006. The activities addressed in the INEEL Sitewide Operations and Maintenance Plan are reported in this document.

Spectral control is an important consideration in achieving high conversion efficiency with thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion systems. TPV modules using front surface filters as the primary spectral control device have demonstrated conversion efficiencies in excess of 20% with power densities in excess of 0.4 W/cm{sup 2}. The front surface filter we are developing is a short pass, long wavelength reflection filter consisting of an interference filter deposited on a plasma filter. The materials used in the interference filter must exhibit high broad band transmission and good film quality and sufficient temperature stability at the operating temperature of the TPV cells and over any potential temperature excursions that may occur. Three high refractive index materials that offer good potential for use in TPV spectral control filters are antimony selenide (Sb{sub 2}Se{sub 3}), antimony sulfide (Sb{sub 2}S{sub 3}), and gallium telluride (GaTe). The highest spectral efficiency has been demonstrated using Sb{sub 2}Se{sub 3}; however this material develops significant near infrared (NIR, 0.72-2.5 {micro}m) absorption at temperatures in excess of 90 C. The other two materials are being developed as high temperature alternatives to Sb{sub 2}Se{sub 3}. TPV filters using GaTe and Sb{sub 2}S{sub 3} have been designed and fabricated, and initial results …

We report RBC and RBC/UKQCD lattice QCD numerical calculations of nucleon electroweak matrix elements with dynamical domain-wall fermions (DWF) quarks. The first, RBC, set of dynamical DWF ensembles employs two degenerate flavors of DWF quarks and the DBW2 gauge action. Three sea quark mass values of 0.04, 0.03 and 0.02 in lattice units are used with 220 gauge configurations each. The lattice cutoff is a{sup -1} {approx} 1.7GeV and the spatial volume is about (1.9fm){sup 3}. Despite the small volume, the ratio of the isovector vector and axial charges g{sub A}/g{sub V} and that of structure function moments <x>{sub u-d}/<x>{sub {Delta}u-{Delta}d} are in agreement with experiment, and show only very mild quark mass dependence. The second, RBC/UK, set of ensembles employs one strange and two degenerate (up and down) dynamical DWF quarks and Iwasaki gauge action. The strange quark mass is set at 0.04, and three up/down mass values of 0.03, 0.02 and 0.01 in lattice units are used. The lattice cutoff is a{sup -1} {approx} 1.6GeV and the spatial volume is about (3.0fm){sup 3}. Even with preliminary statistics of 25-30 gauge configurations, the ratios g{sub A}/g{sub V} and <x>{sub u-d}/<x>{sub {Delta}u-{Delta}d} are consistent with experiment and show only very …

Thallium arc plasma was investigated in a vacuum arc ionsource. As expected from previous consideration of cathode materials inthe Periodic Table of the Elements, thallium plasma shows lead-likebehavior. Its mean ion charge state exceeds 2.0 immediately after arctriggering, reaches the predicted 1.60 and 1.45 after about 100 microsecand 150 microsec, respectively. The most likely ion velocity is initially8000 m/s and decays to 6500 m/s and 6200 m/s after 100 microsec and 150microsec, respectively. Both ion charge states and ion velocities decayfurther towards steady state values, which are not reached within the 300microsec pulses used here. It is argued that the exceptionally high vaporpressure and charge exchange reactions are associated with theestablishment of steady state ion values.

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at BNL is the world's only polarized proton-proton collider. Collisions at center-of-mass energies up to 500 GeV and beam polarizations approaching 70% (longitudinal or transverse) are provided to two experiments, STAR and PHENIX, at luminosities {ge} 10{sup 32}/cm{sup 2}/sec. Transverse polarized beam has also been provided to the BRAHMS experiment. Measurements that bear on the important question of the spin content of the nucleon are beginning to appear. Over the next 10 years, as the performance of polarized proton running at RHIC is further developed, the Spin Physics program at RHIC will provide definitive measurements of the contributions to the proton's spin of the gluon, the sea quarks and the orbital motion of the partons in the proton's wave function. We plan to extend the reach of our study of the role of spin in QCD with the development of ''eRHIC'', which will provide polarized e-p collisions to a new detector.