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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.

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.

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.

This report summarizes and compares the two campaign finance reforms bills that have passed the House and Senate in the 107th congress and current law cases.

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This report provides an overview of the statutory framework, key players, infrastructure, resources, tools, and operations associated with enforcement and compliance of the major pollution control laws and regulations administered by EPA.

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 provides analysis of the education tax credit program. The report begins with a review of the economic rationale for subsidizing education, then describes federal subsidies for education in general and education tax credits in particular. An analysis of the education credits follows, and the report concludes with a discussion of education tax credit policy options.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

When a Senator introduces a bill or joint resolution, the measure is usually referred to committee, pursuant to provisions of Senate Rules XIV, XVII, and XXV. This report describes the Senate Rule XIV, para. 2, which requires that bills and resolutions have three readings before passage, and that they be read twice before being referred to committee.

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 brief discusses the history, current posture, and outlook for federal energy tax policy.

This report provides an overview of the labor market effects of a guest worker program for U.S. farmers.

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.

This report discusses pandemic flu in general, WHO and U.S. preparedness and response plans, and a number of relevant policy issues. The focus of this report is U.S. domestic public health preparedness and response planning, and the projected impacts of an influenza pandemic on Americans.

This report provides historical context, discusses political and economic developments in Cambodia, and raises policy issues regarding U.S.-Cambodian relations.

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This report identifies and provides website addresses of official government sources for information on the legislative process and the rules and procedure of the House and Senate.