This report discusses post-war governance and security in Afghanistan after more than 22 years of warfare, including a U.S.- led war that brought the current government to power.

This report discusses the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, which makes federal funds available to metropolitan areas and states to assist in health care costs and support services for individuals and families affected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). This report discusses related legislation and appropriations.

This issue brief discusses the increasing attention being paid to alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles, the proponents of which point to their potential to improve urban air quality, decrease dependence on foreign oil, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The brief also discusses the major barriers currently preventing widespread use of such technologies, and discusses these technologies in the particular contexts of the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes and the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

This report discusses bundling and public policy issues for Congress. The federal Universal Service Fund - the federal subsidy program that assures affordable telephone rates for high-cost (rural) and low-income telephone customers as well as for schools, libraries, and rural health facilities - is supported by an assessment on interstate telecommunications revenues only. But it is difficult to identify the portion of revenues generated by a bundled service offering attributable to the interstate telecommunications portion of that bundle.

This report responds to congressional inquiries concerning this process, and includes a historical examination and chronological list of these awards. It is intended to assist Members of Congress and staff in their consideration of future Gold Medal proposals, and will be updated as Gold Medals are approved.

The Conservation Security Program (CSP), a new program enacted in section 2001 of the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) and administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, creates a three-tiered system rewarding increased levels of conservation on agricultural operations with increased payments. Payments include a base payment for acreage enrolled, a payment for new or existing conservation practices, and an “enhancement” payment for conservation exceeding minimum program standards.

This report addresses court rulings during 1998 on Constitutional takings claims against the United States.

The nation’s health, wealth, and security rely on the production and distribution of certain goods and services. The array of physical assets, processes and organizations across which these goods and services move are called critical infrastructures (e.g. electricity, the power plants that generate it, and the electric grid upon which it is distributed). Computers and communications, themselves critical infrastructures, are increasingly tying these infrastructures together. This report aims to address the concern that this reliance on computers and computer networks raises the vulnerability of the nation’s critical infrastructures to “cyber” attacks.

This report begins with a comprehensive presentation of current economic conditions focusing on income growth, unemployment, and inflation. The posture of monetary and fiscal policy is surveyed as are the forecasts of economic activity. It concludes with data on the factors important for economic growth.

This report addresses defense transformation from a DOD-wide perspective. The Bush Administration identified transformation as a major goal for the Department of Defense (DOD) soon after taking office and has since worked to refine and implement its plans for defense transformation. Defense transformation can be defined as large-scale, discontinuous, and possibly disruptive changes in military weapons, concepts of operations (i.e., approaches to warfighting) and organization. The issue for the 109th Congress is how to take the concept of defense transformation into account in assessing and acting on Administration proposals for DOD.

This report briefly examines the role of the CSE agency in fatherhood programs, discusses initiatives to promote and support father-child interaction outside the framework of the father-mother relationship, and summarizes the debate over whether fatherhood programs should include the "promotion of marriage".

None

This report is an overview of the Administration’s budget request for the following seven homeland security programs designed to provide assistance to state and local first responders — firefighters, emergency medical personnel, emergency managers, and law enforcement officers.

This report provides information on different types of income tax relief during times of disaster.

Until 2005, India and Pakistan were the only states outside the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to declare, openly, their nuclear weapons capability. In 1998, they tested nuclear weapons and since then, deployed ballistic missiles, enunciated nuclear doctrine, and made organizational changes to their nuclear establishments. In 2002, they teetered on the brink of war in Kashmir. This report summarizes Indian and Pakistani nuclear weapon capabilities and thinking, and discusses some confidence-building measures in place intended to help avert nuclear war.

This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century. Growing concerns about transnational threats, especially terrorism, are leading to increasingly close cooperation between intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century.

This report examines issues surrounding the debate on family planning, which is at times the most contentious foreign aid issue considered by Congress. The cornerstone of U.S. policy has remained a commitment to international family planning programs based on principles of volunteerism and informed choice that give participants access to information on all major methods of birth control. At present, USAID maintains family planning projects in more than 60 countries that include counseling and services, training of health workers, contraceptive supplies and distribution, financial management, public education and marketing, and biomedical and contraceptive research and development. USAID applies a broad reproductive health approach to its family planning programs, increasingly integrating it with other interventions regarding maternal and child health, the enhancement of the status of women, and HIV prevention and transmission.

This report discusses Iraq's political system, which has been restructured through a U.S.-supported election process, as well as issues relating to opponents of the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the atmosphere of nationwide provincial elections.

This report discusses Medicaid coverage of graduate medical education (GME) costs. GME costs are difficult to determine because teaching occurs in the context of patient care and research. There are direct GME (DGME) costs, which include residents' stipends, payments to supervising physicians, and direct program administration costs.

This report discusses a recently-proposed Medicaid rule that would change the definition of outpatient hospital and rural health clinic services, as well as the methods that states must use to demonstrate compliance with the federal upper payment limit on outpatient hospital services provided in private outpatient facilities. A number of groups have expressed concern that this rule will have a significant negative impact on coverage of certain services, which may harm Medicaid beneficiaries.

This report discusses the recent history and current issues facing Medicaid funding for certain health related costs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

This report provides state-by-state estimates of the percentage and number of beneficiaries who fall below various low-income thresholds, using the definition of income specified in the law.

None