Much of the debate over U.S. policy toward Iran has centered on the nature of the current regime; some believe that Iran, a country of about 70 million people, is a threat to U.S. interests because hardliners in Iran's regime dominate and set a policy direction intended to challenge U.S. influence and allies in the region. President George W. Bush, in his January 29, 2002, State of the Union message, labeled Iran part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea. This report discusses how the Obama Administration differs from the Bush Administration regarding strategy in Iran relations. This report also discusses the current political state of Iran, including incidents of violence and unrest.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2001, when GAO reported on the cleanup of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Rocky Flats site, a former nuclear weapons production facility, the cleanup was behind schedule and over cost. In October 2005, the contractor declared that it had completed the cleanup much earlier and at less cost than DOE and the contractor had anticipated 5 years earlier. GAO was asked to determine the (1) factors that contributed to the cleanup's early completion, (2) remaining work and total costs, (3) measures to assess whether the cleanup achieved a level of protection of public health and environment consistent with the cleanup agreement, and (4) lessons the Rocky Flats cleanup may offer for other DOE cleanup projects."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, Congress has approved free trade agreements (FTA) with 14 countries. Most were negotiated under Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which aims to lower trade barriers while strengthening the capacity of trading partners to promote respect for workers' rights and to protect the environment. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is responsible for overseeing implementation of the FTAs, and the Departments of Labor (Labor) and State (State) have responsibilities for implementing and managing FTA cooperation projects. GAO was asked to assess progress through FTAs in (1) advancing U.S. economic and commercial interests, (2) strengthening labor laws and enforcement in partner nations, and (3) strengthening partners' capacity to improve and enforce their environmental laws. GAO focused on Jordan, Chile, Singapore, and Morocco, chosen because of their economic, social, and geographic diversity and relatively older FTAs. GAO analyzed relevant trade laws and trends, met with U.S. agencies and foreign government officials, conducted fieldwork in the four countries, and solicited input from the private sector."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans made in recent years have experienced somewhat higher foreclosure rates than loans made in earlier years. However, recent loans are performing much better than loans made in the 1980s. Although economic factors such as house price appreciation are key determinants of mortgage foreclosure, changes in underwriting requirements, as well as changes in the conventional mortgage market, may partly explain the higher foreclosure rates experienced in the 1990s. Factors not fully captured in the model GAO used may be affecting the performance of recent FHA loans and causing the overall risks of FHA's portfolio to be somewhat greater than previously estimated. Thus, the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund may be somewhat less able to withstand worse-than-expected loan performance resulting from adverse economic conditions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's hospitals and nursing homes rely heavily on the services of nurses. Concerns have been raised about whether the current and projected supply of nurses will meet the nation's needs. This report reviews (1) whether evidence of a nursing shortage exists, (2) the reasons for current nurse recruitment and retention problems, and (3) what is known about the projected future supply of and demand for nurses. GAO found that national data are not adequate to describe the nature and extent of nurse workforce shortages, nor are data sufficiently sensitive or current to compare nurse workforce availability across states, specialties, or provider types. Multiple factors affect recruitment and retention problems, including the aging of the nurse workforce fewer younger people are entering the profession. A serious shortage of nurses is expected in the future as demographic pressures influence both demand and supply."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) would be affected if data on the sale of firearms by licensed dealers were destroyed within 24 hours after the transfers were allowed to proceed. Under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, licensed dealers are not to transfer firearms to an individual until a NICS search determines that the transfer will not violate applicable federal or state law. However, if the background check is not completed within 3 business days, the dealer may transfer the firearm. Although routine system audits may not be adversely affected by the proposed requirements for next-day destruction of records, other current uses of NICS records would be affected, with consequences for public safety and NICS operations. The FBI has drafted plans that would address most potential effects of the proposed policy for next-day destruction of records. In developing these plans, the FBI reviewed NICS operations and identified the changes needed in computer systems, work processes, policies, and procedures. According to NICS officials, the FBI would not lose any routine audit capabilities under the proposed policy. On the other …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "A primary goal in establishing Medicaid's statutory formula, whereby states with lower per capita incomes (PCI) receive higher rates of federal reimbursement for program costs, was to narrow differences among states in their ability to fund Medicaid services. States' ability to fund services depends on their financial resources in relation to their number of and costs to serve people in poverty. GAO and others have testified before Congress that the current formula does not address wide differences among states in their ability to fund their Medicaid programs and that the formula's reliance on PCI is the primary cause. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which the formula narrows these differences and to identify factors that impede further narrowing of differences. To evaluate the extent to which the formula narrows differences in states' funding ability, GAO used an alternative to PCI that more directly measures states' resources, number of people in poverty, and cost of providing services to this population. Using this measure, GAO determined the effect of the current formula by comparing states' funding ability before and after receiving their federal matching aid. If …

This report will outline the Department of Defense's (DOD) defense acquisition structure, discuss recent major reports addressing defense acquisition, and consider recent DOD efforts to improve how the department acquires weapon systems. This report also includes a description of recent congressional efforts to reform DOD's acquisition process.

Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), as federal law and a program activity, began in 1997. Congress established a pilot program, which FEMA named "Project Impact," to test the concept of investing prior to disasters to reduce the vulnerability of communities to future disasters. From its beginnings as "Project Impact" to its current state, the PDM program has grown in its level of appropriated resources and the scope of participation nationwide. Along with that growth have come issues for Congressional consideration, including the approach for awarding grant funds, the eligibility of certain applicants, the eligibility of certain projects, the degree of commitment by state and local governments, and related questions. This report discusses PDM, "Project Impact," and related legislative issues that Congress currently faces.

The world has entered a global recession that is causing widespread business contraction, increases in unemployment, and shrinking government revenues. The crisis has exposed fundamental weaknesses in financial systems worldwide, demonstrated how interconnected and interdependent economies are today, and has posed vexing policy dilemmas. This report describes the financial crisis in detail, including various countries' methods of coping with and adapting to the situation; the role of Congress in the solution and recovery process; and the Obama Administration proposal for financial regulatory reform.

In 1993, President Clinton modified the military policy on providing abortions at military medical facilities. Under the change directed by the President, military medical facilities were allowed to perform abortions if paid for entirely with non-Department of Defense (DOD) funds (i.e., privately funded). Over the last three decades, the availability of abortion services at military medical facilities has been subjected to numerous changes and interpretations.

The purpose of this report is to describe and discuss the provisions for providing abortion services to military personnel, their dependents, and other military health care beneficiaries at military medical facilities. The report describes the history of these provisions, with particular emphasis on legislative actions. Finally, this report discusses a number of proposals to modify the law, as well as other related legislative and administrative actions.

Stop Loss is a frequently misunderstood DOD force management program that retains servicemembers beyond their contractually agreed-to separation date. Because of the involuntary nature of this extension, some critics have referred to the program as a "backdoor draft" or "involuntary servitude". This report outlines the history of Stop Loss, current issues relating to Stop Loss, and the possible future directions of the program.

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 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.

A novel method for extracting cosmological evolution parameters is proposed, using a probe other than light: future observations of the diffuse anti-neutrino flux emitted from core-collapse supernovae (SNe), combined with the SN rate extracted from future SN surveys. The relic SN neutrino differential flux can be extracted by using future neutrino detectors such as Gadolinium-enriched, megaton, water detectors or 100-kiloton detectors of liquid Argon or liquid scintillator. The core-collapse SN rate can be reconstructed from direct observation of SN explosions using future precision observatories. Our method, by itself, cannot compete with the accuracy of the optical-based measurements but may serve as an important consistency check as well as a source of complementary information. The proposal does not require construction of a dedicated experiment, but rather relies on future experiments proposed for other purposes.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP) manages the River Protection Project (RPP). The RPP mission is to retrieve and treat Hanford's tank waste and close the tank farms to protect the Columbia River. As a result, the ORP is responsible for the retrieval, treatment, and disposal of the approximately 57 million gallons of radioactive waste contained in the Hanford Site waste tanks and closure of all the tanks and associated facilities. The previous revision of the System Plan was issued in September 2003. ORP has approved a number of changes to the tank waste treatment strategy and plans since the last revision of this document, and additional changes are under consideration. The ORP has established contracts to implement this strategy to establish a basic capability to complete the overall mission. The current strategy for completion of the mission uses a number of interrelated activities. The ORP will reduce risk to the environment posed by tank wastes by: (1) Retrieving the waste from the single-shell tanks (SST) to double-shell tanks (DST) for treatment and disposal; (2) Constructing and operating the WTP, which will safely treat all of the high-level waste (HLW) and about half of the …

The initial step in the remediation of nuclear waste stored at Hanford and the Savannah River Site (SRS) involves the retrieval and transfer of the waste to another tank or to a treatment facility. The retrieved waste can range from a filtered supernatant to a slurry. Nearly all of the recent solid formation problems encountered during waste transfers and subsequent treatment steps have involved decanted or filtered supernatants. Problems with slurry transfers have not yet surfaced, because tank farm operations at Hanford and the SRS have focused primarily on supernatant transfers and treatment. For example, the interim stabilization program at Hanford continues to reduce the level of supernatants and interstitial liquids in its single-shell tanks through saltwell pumping of filtered liquid. In addition, at present, the cross-site transfer lines at Hanford can be used only to transfer liquids. Another reason for fewer problems with slurry transfers involves the additions of large quantities of dilution water prior to the transfer. When the waste is transferred, a drop in temperature is expected because most transfer lines are not heated. However, the dilution water reduces or eliminates solid formation caused by this temperature drop. In sharp contrast, decanted or filtered supernatants are near …

The Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) is the primary provider of network connectivity for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States of America. In support of the Office of Science programs, ESnet regularly updates and refreshes its understanding of the networking requirements of the instruments, facilities, scientists, and science programs that it serves. This focus has helped ESnet to be a highly successful enabler of scientific discovery for over 20 years. In March 2008, ESnet and the Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) Program Office of the DOE Office of Science organized a workshop to characterize the networking requirements of the science programs funded by the FES Program Office. Most sites that conduct data-intensive activities (the Tokamaks at GA and MIT, the supercomputer centers at NERSC and ORNL) show a need for on the order of 10 Gbps of network bandwidth for FES-related work within 5 years. PPPL reported a need for 8 times that (80 Gbps) in that time frame. Estimates for the 5-10 year time period are up to 160 Mbps for large simulations. Bandwidth requirements for ITER range from 10 to 80 Gbps. In …

This report addresses a nationwide water pollution problem caused by leaking underground storage tanks (USTs). The report discusses key issue that state resources have not met the demands of administering the underground storage tanks (UST) leak prevention program.

The report discusses the international food aid provision (2008 Farm Bill) of U.S. agricultural commodities for emergency relief and economic development. This provision addresses the United States' major response to food security problems in developing countries.

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This report provides an overview on Federal Financial Services Regulatory Consolidation.This provides an overview of the U.S federal financial services regulatory structure.

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