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This report examines issues regarding broadband access in the U.S., more specifically the "digital divide,” which is a term that has been used to characterize a gap between “information haves and have-nots,” or in other words, between those Americans who use or have access to telecommunications technologies (e.g., telephones, computers, the Internet) and those who do not.

This report summarizes U.S. nuclear testing on the Marshall Islands, U.S. compensation efforts to date, relevant provisions in the Compact of Free Association, and the Changed Circumstances Petition. It analyzes several issues related to the personal injury, health care, and property damages claims in the Petition.

This report gives an analysis of the unconditional most-favored-nation (MFN) status, or in U.S. statutory parlance, normal trade relations (NTR) status, which is a fundamental principle of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This conflicts with the U.S. laws under Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 that limits trade status with several nations undergoing accession into the WTO. On June 12, 2012, Sen. Max Baucus introduced a bill with bipartisan co-sponsorship to authorize PNTR for Russia. The report includes information about MFN status and the WTO, the Jackson-Vanik Amendment restricting trade, the case of China, and prospective WTO accessions.

This report discusses the House amendment “tree”, which is a chart that depicts the maximum number and types of amendments that may be offered to a measure before any amendment is voted upon.

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Medicare pays about $36 billion annually for post-acute care in four separate settings: long-term care hospitals (LTCHs), inpatient rehabilitation settings (IRFs), skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and in the home. This report provides background information on several operational issues affecting LTCHs that are currently attracting attention from Congress, specifically efforts to develop a patient assessment tool, to develop qualification criteria that should be imposed on LTCHs, and to change Medicare’s LTCH payment methods.

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This report focus on Title I of WIA, the Act's job training provisions.

Retirement annuities for civilian federal employees are provided mainly through two programs: the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). These annuities are financed through a combination of employee contributions and payments made by the federal government to the civil service retirement trust fund. This report discusses the two programs, how they work, and how they are financed.

This report explains the provisions of the Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001 law that affect widow(er) annuities and provides an illustration of the annuities under both prior law and current law.

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This report describes executive and legislative activities relating to research and development budgets and priority-setting that occurred primarily during FY1993 to FY2001, the period of the two Clinton Administrations.

The Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) budget report, The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2006-2015, included baseline estimates for fiscal years 2005 through 2015. Under baseline assumptions, CBO estimates a FY2006 deficit of $295 billion. This is smaller than CBO's FY2005 baseline deficit estimate. This report details the then-current budgetary situation, budget tools, budget actions, outlays, receipts, deficits, the economy, and related materials.

This report provides a table detailing the requested Forest Service (FS) budget for FY2001 and comparing it FY1999 appropriations.

This report discuses Amtrak, which was created by Congress in 1970 to provide intercity passenger railroad service. Without a yearly federal grant to cover operating losses, Amtrak would not survive as presently configured. This issue brief discusses reform proposals from both the Administration and Amtrak in the 109th Congress.

In recent years conflicting budget priorities and divided political control have accentuated the institutional tensions between the executive and legislative branches inherent in the federal budget process. President Clinton, like his two predecessors, called for an item veto, or possibly expanded impoundment authority, to provide him with greater control over federal spending. This report provides a brief history of impoundment and discusses the debate surrounding the line item veto.

On February 3, 2003, President Bush transmitted his budget submission for FY2004, which again contained some proposals for reform of the budget process, including a reformulated line item veto for the President. This report discusses the history of the line item veto and examines the policy debate regarding the issue.

This report is a directory of sources on various federal constituent services available in foreign languages, to assist congressional offices in serving non-English speaking constituents. The topics covered are: access to jobs and workers’ issues, Americans with Disabilities Act, childcare, consumer protection, disaster relief, elder care, emergency preparedness, environmental protection, Federal Bureau of Investigation, food safety, health, higher education, homeland security, housing, immigration, immunizations, Medicaid, Medicare, the Presidency, retirement, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration, taxes, telephone service, travel and tourism, veterans affairs, and voting.

This report is a directory of sources on various federal constituent services available in Spanish to assist congressional offices in serving Spanish-speaking constituents. The topics covered are: access to jobs and workers’ issues, Americans with Disabilities Act, childcare, consumer protection, disaster relief, elder care, emergency management, emergency preparedness, environmental protection, Federal Bureau of Investigation, food safety, health, higher education, homeland security, housing, immigration, immunizations, Medicaid, Medicare, the Presidency, retirement, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration, taxes, telephone service, travel and tourism, veterans affairs, and voting.

This report presents an overview of the National Environmental Education Act of 1990, discusses appropriations, examines Environmental Protection Agency (EPA's) implementation of the act, and analyzes potential issues for reauthorization that may be considered in the 109th Congress.

This report provides background information on the types of water supply and wastewater treatment projects traditionally funded by the federal government and the several existing programs to assist communities with water supply and wastewater recycling and treatment. These projects and programs are found primarily within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Commerce, Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The purpose of this report is to provide a more concrete discussion of access to wireline broadband networks. To that end, this report provides a discussion of what broadband networks look like; how both consumers and independent applications providers gain access to these networks; and the parameters available to network providers (such as their choices about network architecture, overall bandwidth capacity, bandwidth reserved for their own use, traffic prioritization, the terms and rates for access to their networks and for their retail services) that can affect end users’ and independent applications providers’ access to those networks.