This report examines various provisions of the Patriot Act that were set to expire on December 31, 2005. Their expiration date has been postponed until March 10, 2006. The expiring sections deal with the power of federal authorities to conduct searches and seizures, generally searches and seizures relating to communications.

This report discusses potential issues regarding gasoline prices for the 110th Congress. As prices continued to surge, the continuing crisis renewed attention on some issues that were dropped or compromised in the debate over P.L. 109-58, as well as to a number of initiatives to reduce the impact of high prices on consumers.

This report will provide an account of global H5N1-related human infections and deaths, outline U.S. government and international responses to the global spread of H5N1, discuss situations in various countries affected by H5N1, and present some foreign policy issues for Congress.

This report discusses the sunset of a handful of communications-related sections of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act on March 10, 2006. The authority of the expiring sections remains in effect only as it relates to foreign intelligence investigations begun before sunset or to offenses or potential offenses begun or occurring before that date. Thereafter, the law reverts to its previous form unless it has been amended in the interim or subsequently renewed.

This report discusses a variety of potential proposals to change the tax benefits for health insurance and medical expenses, including measures that would expand the availability and attractiveness of health savings accounts (HSAs), or employer tax credits.

Medicaid is a joint federal-state entitlement program that pays for medical services on behalf of certain groups of low-income persons. It is the third largest social program in the federal budget, exceeded only by Social Security and Medicare and is typically the second largest spending item for states. This report discusses prescription drug policies under the program.

This report contains an overview and description of the Even Start program. It also contains the Even Start evaluations and an assessment whether the program should be eliminated and what improvements can be made.

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This report describes the several types of waste streams that cruise ships may discharge and emit. It identifies the complex body of international and domestic laws that address pollution from cruise ships. It then describes federal and state legislative activity concerning cruise ships in Alaskan waters and activities in a few other states.

This report reviews the food safety provisions of the statute of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, their history, and certain issues surrounding their passage.

This report discusses President's budget request to Congress for Medicare, for the following federal fiscal year, along with projections for the five-year budget window. The President’s 2008 budget includes Medicare legislative proposals with estimated savings of $4.3 billion in 2008 and $65.6 billion over the five-year budget window.

The primary focus of this issue brief is legislative action with respect to abortion. However, discussion of those legislative proposals necessarily involves a brief discussion of the leading U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate her pregnancy. For a more detailed discussion of the relevant case law, see CRS Report 95-724, Abortion Law Development: A Brief Overview.

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This report discusses the federal tax treatment of alien individuals, i.e., foreign nationals, who are working in the United States.

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