This report provides information on how most of the countries banned United States beef after the first report of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a Canadian-born cow after the December 2003 U.S. report. This explains all the steps USDA has taken to reduce the positive cases of BSE by starting special programs. Updated March 24, 2005.

This report discusses administration’s proposed base program called strengthening America’s communities initiative intended to award funds in support of job creation and economic development.

None

None

None

The 108th Congress completed a full trade agenda with the passage of legislation on a broad spectrum of issues. The 109th Congress is expected to face a trade agenda that will be at least as extensive, covering a wide range of issues, from the extension of presidential trade promotion (fast track) authority to consideration of more free trade agreements and oversight of the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade negotiations. In some respects, these issues are distinct, each with its own policy and economic implications. In other respects the issues are interrelated. They have emerged from common sets of domestic politics, foreign policy, and economic factors and affect or are affected by the concerns of Members of Congress, of other policymakers and of many interest groups. These issues and how policymakers deal with them will define overall U.S. trade policy.

This report is examines the provisions of the KORUS FTA in the context of the overall U.S.-South Korean economic relationship, U.S. objectives, and South Korean objectives.

None

This report provides the background and a summary of the issues of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

The bilateral relationship between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China (PRC) is vitally important, touching on a wide range of areas including, among others, economic policy, security, foreign relations, and human rights. This report addresses relevant policy questions in current U.S.-China relations, discusses trends and key legislation in the current Congress, and provides a chronology of developments and high-level exchanges.

The Forest Service (FS) returns 25% of the revenues from each national forest to the states for use on roads and schools in counties where the forests are located; the Bureau of Land Management shares 50% of its revenues with counties containing the Oregon & California grant lands. This report discusses the legislative concerns that have arisen because declining timber sales have reduced revenues.

The report discusses an uncapped exemption and an uncapped exemption targeted at liquidity issues.

None

This report examines judicial case law which has considered the doctrine of fair use in relation to the First Amendment, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and as a means of protecting private, noncommercial use of digital music and film by consumers. It concludes that when the potential to infringe is great, as it almost always will be in a digital environment, the courts have not been willing to expand fair use to encompass subsidiary uses such as time shifting, space shifting, or personal noncommercial use.

On December 8, 2003 the President signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA, P.L. 108-173). This legislation establishes a Medicare prescription drug benefit, effective January 1, 2006. In the interim, the legislation requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a temporary program of Medicare-endorsed prescription drug discount cards. This report discusses the objectives and benefits of this legislation.

This report is about a free trade agreement between the United States and Bahrain to encourage further reform and signal appreciation for Bahrain's support.

The powerful earthquake struck northern Pakistan and India damaged the homes of as many as three million people, forcing many of them to search for alternative means of shelter. The full extent of the destruction remains unknown because government authorities and relief organizations continue to have difficulty accessing some remote locations. As of the date of this report, the United States government (USG) has pledged $410 million toward the relief effort, almost all of it to assisting Pakistan, which remains a key U.S. ally in the war against terror. So far, about 35% of this pledge has been committed. Some aid agencies are saying that the country needs a great deal more aid than it is getting, and warn that the economic impact of the disaster will surpass $5.2 billion. This burden may contribute toward long-term instability in an area perceived to be of critical importance to the United States in the war on terror.

This report provides an overview of the "digital divide," which is a term used to describe a perceived gap between those Americans who use or have access to telecommunications and information technologies and those who do not.The report also dicusses about an important subset of th digital divide debate concerns high-speed Internet Access.

During the last half of the 1990s, real gross domestic investment rose as a fraction of real GDP. This resulted from the rise in U.S. productivity and the related rise in the real yield on U.S. assets. This drew additional private capital from abroad. If the twin deficits theory is correct, it has an adverse implication for the efficacy of fiscal policy as a stimulus tool. It suggests that in an environment of highly mobile international capital flows the effect of policy induced increases in the structural budget deficit (e.g., tax cuts) on short-run economic growth would be largely offset by increases in the trade deficit. The experience during both the 1980s and 1990s demonstrates that a large and growing trade deficit need not be an impediment to overall job creation even though it may have had an effect on the type of jobs that were created since it affected the composition of U.S. output.

This report discusses policy guidance on energy sources that generates electricity from ocean waves, tides, and river currents. The report provides background information and legislation regarding these energy sources and technologies.

None

None

None

None