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Child Support Enforcement: New Reforms and Potential Issues
P.L. 104-193 (the 1996 welfare reform legislation) made major changes to the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program. Some of the changes include requiring states to increase the percentage of fathers identified, establishing an integrated, automated network linking all states to information about the location and assets of parents, and requiring states to implement more enforcement techniques to obtain collections from debtor parents. Additional legislative changes were made in 1997, 1998, and 1999, but not in 2000, 2001, or 2002. This report describes several aspects of the revised CSE program and discusses three issues that probably will be reexamined by the 108th Congress — CSE financing, parental access by noncustodial parents, and distribution of support payments.
Date:
February 21, 2003
Creator:
Solomon-Fears, Carmen
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Middle East Partnership Initiative: An Overview
This report provides an overview of The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) program, its perception in the Middle East, and its role in the debate over U.S. efforts to promote democracy in the Arab world.
Date:
February 8, 2005
Creator:
Sharp, Jeremy M.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The “Farm Bill” in Brief
This report briefly discusses federal farm support, food assistance, agricultural trade, marketing, and rural development policies are governed by a variety of separate laws. Many of these laws periodically have been evaluated, revised, and renewed through an omnibus, multi-year farm bill. These policies can be and sometimes are modified through free-standing authorizing legislation, or as part of other laws.
Date:
February 2, 2007
Creator:
Becker, Geoffrey S.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Intelligence Issues for Congress
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.
Date:
February 17, 2005
Creator:
Best, Richard A., Jr.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Unanimous Consent Agreements in the Senate
This report discusses the idea of "unanimous consent" in the Senate. Without its tradition of unanimous consent, the Senate would find it harder to process its complex workload.
Date:
February 20, 2001
Creator:
Oleszek, Walter J.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Copyright Term Extension: Eldred v. Ashcroft
This report examines the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Eldred v. Ashcroft. Plaintiffs/Petitioners challenged the constitutionality under the Copyright Clause of a law adding 20 years to the terms of existing and future copyrights. The law was upheld by both the U.S. district court and the court of appeals considering it. Among the questions before the Supreme Court was whether Congress may retrospectively extend the term of copyright for existing copyrights; and, what role and impact, if any, does the First Amendment have in determining the validity of a congressional extension of copyright terms.
Date:
February 14, 2003
Creator:
Jeweler, Robin
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Navy-Marine Corps Amphibious and Maritime Prepositioning Ship Programs: Background and Oversight Issues for Congress
This report discusses the Navy-Marine corps amphibious and maritime prepositioning ship programs. The Navy is proposing to maintain in coming years a Navy with 31 amphibious ships and an additional squadron of 14 Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future), or MPF(F), ships.
Date:
February 1, 2008
Creator:
O'Rourke, Ronald
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Social Security Administration: Administrative Budget Issues
The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers the Social Security program (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, or OASDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, and provides administrative support to Medicare and several other federal programs. Total SSA spending in FY2007 was about $624 billion, about 99% of which was mandatory spending on benefit payments. This report focuses on SSA’s spending for administrative expenses, which is discretionary and amounts to about 1% of SSA’s total spending. This funding is provided in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
Date:
February 13, 2008
Creator:
Romig, Kathleen
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Internet Taxation: Issues and Legislation
The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) placed a three-year moratorium on the ability of state and local governments to (1) impose new taxes on Internet access or (2) impose any multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce. The act grandfathered the state and local access taxes that were “... generally imposed and actually enforced prior to October 1, 1998 ....” This report discusses issues of state and local taxation of Internet transactions because commerce conducted by parties in different states over the Internet.
Date:
February 3, 2005
Creator:
Maguire, Steven & Noto, Nonna A.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Defense Procurement: Full Funding Policy — Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
This report discusses the full funding policy, which is a federal budgeting rule that has been applied to Department of Defense (DOD) procurement programs since the 1950s. In recent years, some DOD weapons — specifically, certain Navy ships — have been procured with funding profiles that do not conform to the policy as it traditionally has been applied to DOD weapon procurement programs.
Date:
February 22, 2006
Creator:
O'Rourke, Ronald & Daggett, Stephen
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Federal Grand Jury
This report is a brief general description of the federal grand jury, with particular emphasis on its more controversial aspects—relationship of the prosecutor and the grand jury, the rights of grand jury witnesses, grand jury secrecy, and rights of targets of a grand jury investigation.
Date:
February 5, 2002
Creator:
Doyle, Charles
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Officials: Process for Adjusting Pay and Current Salaries
Leaders and Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Vice President, individuals in positions on the Executive Schedule (EX), and federal justices and judges receive an annual pay adjustment under the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, P.L. 101-194. This report includes five tables which provide the January 2004, January 2005, January 2006, and January 2007 salaries for federal officials, members of the Senior Executive Service (SES), and employees in senior-level (SL), scientific and professional (ST), and GS-15 positions in the Washington, DC, and the “Rest of the United States” locality pay areas.
Date:
February 15, 2007
Creator:
Schwemle, Barbara L.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation
This report opens with an overview of visa issuances, with sections on procedures for aliens coming to live in the United States permanently and on procedures for aliens admitted for temporary stays. It includes a discussion of visa screening policies, including inadmissibility, databases, an analysis of visa refusals, biometric visas and other major visa policy procedures. Summaries of key laws revising visa policy enacted in the 107th Congress follows. The final section analyzes selected issues in the 108th Congress, notably visa revocation and removal, new technologies, potential impact on business, and other security concerns.
Date:
February 11, 2004
Creator:
Wasem, Ruth Ellen
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Senate Rule XIV Procedures for Placing Measures Directly on the Senate Calendar
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.
Date:
February 20, 2007
Creator:
Koempel, Michael L.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Residence Restrictions for Released Sex Offenders
This report analyzes the issue of residence restriction laws for released sex offenders by briefly examining provisions of the Adam Walsh Act; identifying and comparing residence restriction laws in a number of states; discussing the impact of residence restriction laws on sex offenders, law enforcement and the public; presenting arguments in support of and against residence restriction laws; and reviewing some alternative proposals for monitoring released sex offenders..
Date:
February 4, 2008
Creator:
Laney, Garrine P.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Military Health Care: The Issue of “Promised” Benefits
In the debate over the Department of Defense policy on military health care benefits, many military personnel and retirees say that they were promised “free health care for life” when they entered the armed forces. What benefits are available and who is eligible to receive these benefits are matters determined by Congress. This report discusses the issue of “promises” of lifetime health care benefits made to military retirees.
Date:
February 10, 2000
Creator:
Burrelli, David F.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Child Support Provisions Considered But Not Enacted During the 2002-2005 Welfare Reauthorization Debate
Although the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (enacted February 8, 2006) included significant changes to the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program, it did not include many of the child support provisions that had been considered during the preceding four-year debate within the context of welfare reauthorization. This report discusses 12 such provisions that were passed by either the House or the Senate Finance Committee (or both). The Administration has included several of these provisions in its FY2008 budget.
Date:
February 15, 2007
Creator:
Solomon-Fears, Carmen
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Federal Food Safety System: A Primer
Numerous federal, state, and local agencies share responsibilities for regulating the safety of the U.S. food supply, which many experts say is among the safest in the world. Nevertheless, critics view this system as lacking the organization and resources to adequately combat foodborne illness, which sickens an estimated 76 million people and kills an estimated 5,000 each year in this country. The 110th Congress may face calls for a review of federal food safety agencies and authorities, and proposals for reorganizing them. Among the issues likely to arise are whether reform can improve oversight, and the cost to industry, consumers, and taxpayers. This report provides a brief introduction to the system and the debate on whether reorganization is needed.
Date:
February 7, 2007
Creator:
Becker, Geoffrey S. & Porter, Donna V.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Congressional Budget Resolutions: Selected Statistics and Information Guide
This report provides current and historical information on the budget resolution. It provides a list of the budget resolutions adopted and rejected by Congress since implementation of the Budget Act, including the U.S. Statutes-at-Large citations and committee report numbers, and describes their formulation and content. The report provides a table of selected optional components, a list of reconciliation measures, and information on the number of years covered by budget resolutions.
Date:
February 26, 2008
Creator:
Heniff, Bill, Jr. & Murray, Justin
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Medical Records Privacy: Questions and Answers on the HIPAA Rule
This report discuses the HIPAA privacy rule, which gives patients the right of access to their medical information and prohibits health plans and health care providers from using or disclosing individually identifiable health information without a patient’s written authorization except as expressly permitted or required by the rule.
Date:
February 4, 2005
Creator:
Redhead, C. S.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Tax Credits for Individual Development Accounts
An individual development account (IDA) is a structured savings instrument for lower income individuals. This report discusses legislation introduced in the 108th Congress to establish IDA programs utilizing tax benefits to encourage program development.
Date:
February 8, 2006
Creator:
Scott, Christine
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Indian and Pakistani Nuclear Weapons Status
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.
Date:
February 17, 2005
Creator:
Squassoni, Sharon
System:
The UNT Digital Library
ERISA’s Impact on Medical Malpractice and Negligence Claims Against Managed Care Plans
This report examines the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), which provides a comprehensive federal scheme for the regulation of employee pension and welfare benefit plans offered by employers. While ERISA does not require an employer to offer pension and welfare benefits, it does mandate compliance with its provisions if such benefits are offered. Congress enacted ERISA to eliminate the conflicting and inconsistent regulation of pension and employee welfare benefit plans by state laws. The provisions at issue in the preemption debate are sections 502(a) and 514(a) of ERISA.
Date:
February 21, 2008
Creator:
Shimabukuro, Jon O.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Mutual Fund Reform Bills in the 108th Congress: A Side-by-Side Comparison
This report compares the provisions of these legislative proposals. It serves as an historical record of legislative activity in the 108th Congress.
Date:
February 2, 2005
Creator:
Jickling, Mark
System:
The UNT Digital Library