Britain's Prime Minister Blair assumed the rotating presidency of the G8 group of nations (see text box) in January 2005, and he intends to use the July 2005 G8 summit, which he will chair, to push his Africa development initiative. Climate change will be the second focus of the G8 meeting, being called the "Gleneagles summit." The purpose of this report is to provide background on Africa, the G8, and the Gleneagles meeting. It outlines the British proposals and the U.S. reaction to them to date. In addition, it briefly reviews the problems that have inhibited African development and the response to those problems at previous G8 meetings. For additional information, see CRS Report RL32489, Africa: Development Issues and Policy Options, and CRS Issue Brief IB95052, Africa: U.S. Foreign Assistance Issues.

This report discusses federal credit assistance for farmers and recent issues in Congress related to the programs.

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This report discusses the alternative minimum tax (AMT) with respect to the percentage of taxpayers who fall under the AMT as divided by state. The report also briefly addresses related legislation.

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This report consists of the independence of all the former Soviet republics by the end of 1991, including the South Caucasus state of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the United States.

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As part of Senate consideration, the Judiciary Committee holds hearings on the nominee and votes on whether to report the nomination favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. Regardless of the outcome of that vote, the reporting of a Supreme Court nomination sends it to the full Senate for debate and a vote. Like the President, Senators may evaluate the nominee by such standards as professional excellence, integrity, and leadership qualities, but may also (again, as the President is free to do) focus on the nominee's judicial philosophy, views on constitutional issues, or how they believe the appointment might affect the Court's future direction on major legal and constitutional issues.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Coast Guard's budget has steadily increased in recent years, reflecting the agency's need to address heightened homeland security responsibilities while also addressing traditional programs such as rescuing mariners in distress and protecting important fishing grounds. The fiscal year 2006 budget request, which totals $8.1 billion, reflects an increase of $570 million over the previous year. GAO has conducted reviews of many of the Coast Guard's programs in recent years, and this testimony synthesizes the results of these reviews as they pertain to three priority areas in the Coast Guard's budget: (1) implementing a maritime strategy for homeland security, (2) enhancing performance across missions, and (3) recapitalizing the Coast Guard, especially the Deepwater program--an acquisition that involves replacing or upgrading cutters and aircraft that are capable of performing missions far out at sea. GAO's observations are aimed at highlighting potential areas for ongoing congressional attention."

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A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is the federal government's largest purchaser of contractor services, spending $118 billion in fiscal year 2003 alone--an increase of 66 percent since fiscal year 1999. DOD is expected to rely increasingly on contractors to carry out its mission. In recent reports, DOD has identified inadequate surveillance on service contracts. This report examines how DOD manages service contract surveillance. It looks at the extent of DOD's surveillance on a selection of service contracts, reasons why insufficient surveillance occurred, and efforts to improve surveillance."

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The depth profiles of intentional or intrinsic constituents of a sample provide valuable information for the characterization of materials. For example, the subtle differences in spatial distribution and composition of many chemical species in the near surface region and across interfacial boundaries can significantly alter the electronic and optical properties of materials. A number of analytical techniques for depth profiling have been developed during the last two decades. neutron Depth Profiling (NDP) is one of the leading analytical techniques. The NDP is a nondestructive near surface technique that utilizes thermal/cold neutron beam to measure the concentration of specific light elements versus their depth in materials. The depth is obtained from the energy loss of protons, alphas or recoil atoms in substrate materials. Since the charged particle energy determination using surface barrier detector is used for NDP, the depth resolution is highly dependent on the detectors an d detection instruments. The depth resolutions of a few tens of nm are achieved with available NDP facilities in the world. However, the performance of NDP needs to be improved in order to obtain a few A depth resolutions.

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The calculations contained in this document were developed by the ''Mining Group of the Design & Engineering Organization'' and are intended solely for the use of the ''Design & Engineering Organization'' in its work regarding the subsurface repository. Yucca Mountain Project personnel from the ''Mining Group'' should be consulted before use of the calculations for purposes other than those stated herein or use by individuals other than authorized personnel in the ''Design & Engineering Organization''. The purpose of this calculation is to provide design inputs that can be used to develop an as-built drawing of the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) for the planning and development of the subsurface repository. This document includes subsurface as-built surveys, recommendation to complete as-built surveys, and Management and Operating Contractor (M&O) Subsurface Design Drawings as inputs. This calculation is used to provide data and information for an as-built ESF subsurface drawing and is not used in the development of results or conclusions, therefore all inputs are considered as indirect.

This report provides information about the Modified Water Deliveries Project on Everglades Restoration. The MOD wasters is a controversial ecological restoration process in South Florida designed to improve water delivery to Everglades national park.

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Brayton Point Unit 1 was successfully tested for applicability of activated carbon injection as a mercury control technology. Test results from this site have enabled a thorough evaluation of the impacts of future mercury regulations to Brayton Point Unit 1, including performance, estimated cost, and operation data. This unit has variable (29-75%) native mercury removal, thus it was important to understand the impacts of process variables and activated carbon on mercury capture. The team responsible for executing this program included: (1) Plant and PG&E National Energy Group corporate personnel; (2) Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); (3) United States Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL); (4) ADA-ES, Inc.; (5) NORIT Americas, Inc.; (6) Apogee Scientific, Inc.; (7) TRC Environmental Corporation; (8) URS Corporation; (9) Quinapoxet Solutions; (10) Energy and Environmental Strategies (EES); and (11) Reaction Engineering International (REI). The technical support of all of these entities came together to make this program achieve its goals. Overall, the objectives of this field test program were to determine the impact of activated carbon injection on mercury control and balance-of-plant processes on Brayton Point Unit 1. Brayton Point Unit 1 is a 250-MW unit that fires a low-sulfur eastern bituminous coal. Particulate …

The groundwater and sediments of numerous U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) field sites are contaminated with mixtures of heavy metals (e.g., Hg, Cr, Pd) and radionuclides (e.g., U, Tc), as well as the fuel hydrocarbons benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX); chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as trichloroethylene (TCE); and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The remediation of such mixed wastes constitutes an immediate and complex waste management challenge for DOE, particularly in light of the costliness and limited efficacy of current physical and chemical strategies for treating mixed wastes. In situ bioremediation via natural microbial processes (e.g., metal reduction) remains a potent, potentially cost-effective approach to the reductive immobilization or detoxification of environmental contaminants. Seventy million cubic meters of soil and three trillion liters of groundwater have been contaminated by leaking radioactive waste generated in the United States during the Cold War. A cleanup technology is being developed based on the extremely radiation resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans. Our recent isolation and characterization of D. radiodurans from a variety of DOE environments, including highly radioactive sediments beneath one of the leaking tanks (SX-108) at the Hanford Site in south-central Washington state, underscores the potential for this species to survive in such extreme environments. …

Raymund Paredes speaks from behind a podium.

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