This report provides background information on the UAE nuclear program, reviews developments to date, analyzes proposed nuclear cooperation with the United States, and discusses relevant legislative proposals and options.

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This report provides an overview of District of Columbia-related policy and funding issues of interest to Congress. The United States Constitution gives Congress exclusive legislative authority over the affairs of the District of Columbia. As a result, the 108th Congress may debate a number of funding, governance, and constitutional issues affecting the District of Columbia, including approval of the city’s budget, enactment of a general federal payment, budget autonomy for the city, and voting representation in Congress. In addition, Congress will consider whether to continue to include in the District’s appropriations bills for FY2003 and FY2004, a number of controversial general provisions that District officials claim infringe on the principles of home rule.

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This report is on Ballast Water Management to Combat Invasive Species.

This report summarizes the reasons for the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings and outlines efforts to protect ESA-listed species.

This report provides an overview of Medicare, the nation's federal insurance program, which pays for covered health care services of qualified beneficiaries.

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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.

This report provides a background and analysis comparing military commissions as envisioned under Military Commission Order (M.C.O.) No. 1 and general military courts-martial conducted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). The report notes some of the criticism directed at the President's Military Order (M.O.), and explains how those concerns are addressed by the military commission orders and instructions. The report concludes by summarizing legislation introduced to authorize and regulate military tribunals to try suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban members, and provides two charts to compare the proposed military tribunals under proposed legislation, the regulations issued by the Department of Defense, and standard procedures for general courts-martial under the Manual for Courts-Martial.

This report provides a background and analysis comparing military commissions as envisioned under M.C.O. No. 1 to general military courts-martial conducted under the UCMJ. The report notes some of the criticism directed at the President’s M.O., and explains how those concerns are addressed by the military commission orders and instructions. The report provides two charts to compare the regulations issued by the Department of Defense and standard procedures for general courts-martial under the Manual for Courts-Martial. The second chart, which compares procedural safeguards incorporated in the regulations with established procedures in courts martial, follows the same order and format used in CRS Report RL31262, Selected Procedural Safeguards in Federal, Military, and International Courts, in order to facilitate comparison with safeguards provided in federal court and the International Criminal Court.

This report provides a background and analysis comparing military commissions as envisioned under M.C.O. No. 1 to general military courts-martial conducted under the UCMJ. The report notes some of the criticism directed at the President’s M.O., and explains how those concerns are addressed by the military commission orders and instructions. The report provides two charts to compare the regulations issued by the Department of Defense and standard procedures for general courts-martial under the Manual for Courts-Martial. The second chart, which compares procedural safeguards incorporated in the regulations with established procedures in courts martial, follows the same order and format used in CRS Report RL31262, Selected Procedural Safeguards in Federal, Military, and International Courts, in order to facilitate comparison with safeguards provided in federal court and the International Criminal Court.

This report provides an overview of key environmental issues receiving attention in the 109th Congress.

This report includes recent developments in federal child care programs and tax provisions. The report discusses several federal programs that support child care or related services, primarily for low-income working families. In addition, the tax code includes provisions specifically targeted to assist families with child care expenses. The report presents the legislative activity in the 107th Congress in regard to child care legislature and provisions.

This fact sheet tracks the current heads of government in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. It provides the dates of the last and next elections for the head of government and the national independence date for each country.

This report gives an overview of what "wilderness" means in the United States based on the Wilderness Act enacted by Congress in 1964. It also includes information about wilderness usage and statistics.

This report provides information on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Circular A-76, “Performance of Commercial Activities,” and the impact of a related reform initiative, the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR) of 1998, within the Department of Defense. The Circular defines federal policy for determining whether recurring commercial activities should be outsourced to commercial sources, Governmental facilities, or through inter-service support agreements. The FAIR Act creates statutory reporting requirements for federal executive agencies, by requiring Federal executive agencies to identify activities “not inherently governmental” and consider outsourcing through managed competitions. However, FAIR does not require that agencies contract out these activities.

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In May 2003, the United States, Canada, and Argentina initiated a formal challenge before the World Trade Organization (WTO) of the European Union’s (EU’s) de facto moratorium on approving new agricultural biotechnology products, in place since 1998. Although the EU effectively lifted the moratorium in May 2004 by approving a genetically engineered (GE) corn variety, the three countries are pursuing the case, in part because a number of EU member states continue to block approved biotech products. Because of delays, the WTO is expected to decide the case by December 2005. The moratorium reportedly cost U.S. corn growers some $300 million in exports to the EU annually. The EU moratorium, U.S. officials contend, threatened other agricultural exports not only to the EU, but also to other parts of the world where the EU approach to regulating agricultural biotechnology is taking hold.

This report discusses projected agricultural imports and exports for FY2003, as well as legislation that deals with federal programs in support of agricultural exports and federal aid dedicated to farms and agricultural reform.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, consolidated, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittees.

This report focuses on the trade adjustment assistance program for firms and industries, which provides technical assistance to help them develop strategies to remain competitive in the changing international economy.

With the close of the second Summit of the Americas on April 19, 1998, 34 nations of the Western Hemisphere had formally agreed to negotiate a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). It is a long way from completion, but the prospect of achieving closer regional economic ties is now officially embraced. Except for Mexico, merchandise trade between the United States and Latin America is relatively small, but has been growing steadily this decade, a result of expanding U.S. global trade and reforms in Latin America. Still, some countries in Latin America are more closed to U. S. trade than others, raising the possibility of additional benefits accruing from an FTAA, This report tracks U.S. Latin American trade data in support of congressional interest in the regional trade negotiation process and will be updated as warranted.

This report tracks the progress of the bill providing FY2004 appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS-ED). This report summarizes L-HHS-ED discretionary funding issues but not authorization or entitlement issues.