This report provides information on Africa Command's (AFRICOM) mission, structure, interagency coordination, and its basing and manpower requirements. The report also gives a broad overview of U.S. strategic interests in Africa and the role of U.S. military efforts on the continent as they pertain to the creation of Africa Command.

This report provides background information on the C-17 Aircraft program, including previous appropriations, related programs, and issues for Congress. The primary issue for Congress in FY2010 is whether to procure additional C-17s. An additional issue is whether to pass legislation relating to the airlift aircraft force structure. Congress's decisions on these issues could affect DOD capabilities and funding requirements and the U.S. military aircraft industrial base.

This report discusses a developing issue in the law of search and seizure: whether the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution permits warrantless searches of the content of laptop computers and other electronic storage devices at U.S. borders. The federal courts that have addressed this issue have held that the border search exception to the Fourth Amendment applies to these searches, making warrantless searches permissible.

This report examines the statues that permit the disbarring and suspension of government contractors, exclusions to those statutes, and the rights of the contractors.

This report examines the relationships between selected variables of economic strength and crime. It begins with an overview of crime rates during times of economic recession in the United States. It then reviews the existing literature in the field analyzing various data sets that examine whether the unemployment rate and foreclosures can be related to increases in the national crime rate.

This report examines the federal drug enforcement data reported annually by key agencies charged with enforcing federal drug control laws.

This report gives a brief history of modern U.S. foreign aid and modern legislative efforts to reform foreign aid practices. The report also examines various recommendations from recent studies relating to foreign aid reform.

This report discusses guest worker programs. The United States has two main programs for temporarily importing low-skilled workers, or guest workers. Agricultural guest workers enter through the H-2A visa program, and other guest workers enter through the H-2B visa program.

This report discusses the relationship between the United States and Japan, including Japanese efforts to support the U.S. in the wake of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks and the two countries' economic ties, especially with regards to the recent economic downturn.

This report contains the political conditions and U.S. policy with Venezuela.

This report provides an in depth look at political and economic conditions in Venezuela and examines their impact on U.S. policy.

This report is a brief Overview of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, enacted as Title V of P.L. 110-252 that provides enhanced educational benefits for veterans and service members.

This report provides a brief overview of the climate change issue as well as other Clean Air Act issues of interest in the 110th Congress.

This report shows that the near elderly are significantly more likely than other non-aged adults to be in fair or poor health, and to have had a heart attach or stroke.

Congress in 2006 agreed to temporarily consolidate separate counterintelligence (CI) offices at the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Security Administration (NNSA) into a single CI office under DOE control. This report analyzes both consolidations — the first authorized by Congress at Department of Energy (DOE) request; the second initiated by DOE — and examines the impact of each on the effectiveness of the Department's CI program.

This report analyzes the temporary consolidations of the separate counterintelligence (CI) offices at the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Security Administration (NSA) into a single CI office under DOE control — the first authorized by Congress at Department of Energy request; the second initiated by DOE — and examines the impact of each on the effectiveness of the Department's CI program.

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This report reviews the current legislative mandates for key security strategic documents, assesses the recent history of execution, describes strategic documents in related fields for comparison, presents a series of considerations that may be useful in assessing current requirements and execution, and notes several major proposals for change.

This report provides background on the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), the process used to establish the standards, the factors leading to the reduction in lead emissions, and the proposed changes to the lead standard, as well as information regarding the potential effects of any revision.

This report discusses the current political and economic conditions in Russia, focusing on the impact of Vladimir Putin's leadership and the leadership of his successor/protégé , Dmitriy Medvedev, both of which have steered Russia away from progress toward democratization. The report also discusses the state of the economy since the Soviet collapse in 1999, how the recent global economic downturn has affected Russia, the state of Russia's military, and the current relationship between Russia and the United States.

Serbia is currently seeking to integrate into the European Union (EU), but its progress has been hindered by a failure to arrest remaining indicted war criminals and by tensions with the United States and most EU countries over the independence of Serbia's Kosovo province. This report describes the current unstable political conditions in Serbia and Serbia's relations with the U.S. and EU nations.

This report presents an overview of the large and diverse sector of water infrastructure systems, describes security-related actions by the government and private sector since September 11, and discusses additional policy issues and responses, including congressional interest.

Congress has comprehensively dealt with the legal effect of World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements and dispute settlement results in the United States in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), P.L. 103-465, which provides that domestic law prevails over conflicting provisions of WTO agreements and prohibits private remedies based on alleged violations of these agreements. This report analyzes the URAA in detail and outlines various WTO decisions and their effect on U.S. trade law and policy.

The United States provides assistance to 47 African countries, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has 23 missions in Africa. In recent years, U.S. assistance to Africa saw a major increase, especially in health-related programs. This report provides an overview of U.S. aid to Africa, including the strategic objectives that shape U.S. aid to Africa, information about specific aid programs and initiatives, and the Obama Administration's FY2011 foreign aid budget request.