This report discusses actions that Congress is considering, which could affect the various uses and management of federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, such as: legislation, administrative or regulatory proposals, and litigation and judicial decisions. Issue areas include onshore energy resources, administration of hardrock mining, wildfire protection, management of wild horses and burros, designation of the National Landscape Conservation System, wilderness designation, management of national forest roadless areas, and Forest Service implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

This report defines the four specific groups (Regular Philippine Scouts, Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, Recognized Guerilla Forces, and New Philippine Scouts) of Filipino nationals who served under the command of the United States. It also outlines the Rescission Acts of 1946, benefit changes since 1946, current benefits for Filipino veterans by group, and recent legislative proposals and legislation, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, P.L. 111-5).

This report presents a brief overview of the available estimates from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) carbon mitigation studies, and then discusses some of the limitations of the available data and modeling results. It includes informationa bout estimated current emissions and sequestration, estimated addtional potential sequestration, limitations of mitigation potential estimates, and considerations for Congress.

This report discusses the major debate over the government's role in the Internet. Legally, the question appears to be whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) currently has the authority to regulate the ways in which Internet Service Providers (ISPs) manage Internet traffic over their networks.

This report compares funding provided for selected Health and Human Services (HHS) programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) conference report (H.Rept. 111-16) with the recommendations in the House- and Senate-passed versions of H.R. 1. It also briefly discusses ARRA's provisions on HIT and comparative effectiveness research as they relate to the funding.

This report provides a brief overview of the key provisions related to education programs that are or will be administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) that were included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) under Division A, Title VIII, Department of Education, and under Title XIV, State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. It also includes a discussion of relevant provisions that were included in the House and Senate bills.

This report describes issues related to U.S. aid provided to Palestine to support prevention/combating against terrorism, creating coexistence with Israel and self-governance, and meeting humanitarian needs. In includes introductory and historical background as well as in-depth analysis of the types of U.S. bilateral aid to Palestine, U.S. contributions to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the near East (UNRWA), and the issues involved in determining future aid.

This report provides a historical account and analysis of the crisis through February 13, 2009. While business contraction appears to have abated, unemployment is shown to be on the rise and many businesses and countries are still facing difficulties.

This report focuses on the current threat and trends in nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and missiles.

This report focuses on the current threat and trends in nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and missiles.

The 110th Congress in June 2008 passed a new omnibus farm bill (P.L. 110-246). Provisions in this new law now spell out more explicitly how the Secretary is to use the annual Section 32 appropriation. Section 32 of the act of August 24, 1935 (P.L. 74-320 as amended; 7 U.S.C. 612c) authorizes a permanent appropriation equal to 30% of annual U.S. customs receipts.

The report is organized into three parts. The first provides a brief overview of the role of the agriculture and forestry sectors within the broader climate change debate, describing available estimates of current GHG emissions and carbon sequestration in the farm and forestry sectors. The second describes available data and information on the potential for carbon storage (tonnage) by type of farming and forestry activity, and presents available estimates of the carbon sequestration potential in these sectors. The final part discusses some of the limitations of available estimates of GHG mitigation potential in the agriculture and forestry sectors, focusing on recent policy and market changes and other types of modeling uncertainties that could limit the accuracy of available mitigation projections.

This reports discusses the history and establishment of Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), acquisition of crude oil for the SPR. It talks about the debate over the years regarding when should the SPR be used.

Temporary alien worker programs are meant to assure employers, including growers, of an adequate supply of labor when and where it is needed without adding permanent residents to the U.S. population. Guest worker programs are not supposed to harm the wage and job opportunities of U.S. workers while they alleviate spot labor shortages. President Bush’s proposal of a broad guest worker program has reignited interest in legislation introduced during the 108th Congress that relates specifically to the agricultural industry.

China has sought over the past several years to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the international agency that administers multilateral trade rules. China’s WTO membership (as well as that of Taiwan’s) was formally approved at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. On December 11, 2001, China officially became a WTO member. WTO membership will require China to significantly liberalize its trade and investment regimes, which could produce significant new commercial opportunities for U.S. businesses. A main concern for Congress is to ensure that China fully complies with its WTO commitments.

Some policymakers, believing that disparities in broadband access across American society could have adverse economic and social consequences on those left behind, assert that the federal government should play a more active role to avoid a “digital divide” in broadband access. One approach is for the federal government to provide financial assistance to support broadband deployment in underserved areas. Others, however, believe that federal assistance for broadband deployment is not appropriate. Some opponents question the reality of the “digital divide,” and argue that federal intervention in the broadband marketplace would be premature and, in some cases, counterproductive.

This report (1) summarizes provisions of several laws and regulations, including the Patent Law, the Atomic Energy Act, International Traffic in Arms Control regulations, the USA PATRIOT Act (P.L. 107-56), the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-188), and the Homeland Security Act (P.L. 107-296), that permit the federal government to restrict disclosure of scientific and technical information that could harm national security; (2) describes the development of federal controls on “sensitive but unclassified” (SBU) scientific and technical information; (3) summarizes current controversies about White House policy on “Sensitive But Unclassified Information,” and “Sensitive Homeland Security Information” (SHSI) issued in March 2002; and (4) identifies controversial issues which might affect the development of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and agency guidelines for sensitive unclassified information, which are expected to be released during 2003.

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This report discusses intelligence issues for Congress including narcotics trafficking, conflicts between Israel and Palestine, in Iraq, and among the former Yugoslav states, and North Korean missile capabilities. Updated February 20, 2002.

The Superfund program for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.

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This report provides information about The Former Soviet Union and U.S. Foreign Assistance. The united states launched a program for economic assistance to the region in 1991 and later FREEDOM support act authorized this program.

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This report examines what we currently know about preprimary programs including numbers of children served and their family characteristics; as well as data on the efficacy of preprimary programs in enhancing later learning and other life skills. Current federal programs that serve preschool age children are described, and policy issues which may arise as the federal role in early childhood education is debated, are discussed.