The 106th Congress completed action on a number of major trade initiatives. The impact on American firms and workers was a paramount concern in the passage of this legislation. Most notably, bills were passed to establish "normal trade relations" with China, deepen economic ties with the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, enhance trade benefits for 24 Caribbean Basin countries, and to ease trade sanctions on Cuba and other countries. Congress also voted to maintain U.S. participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as worked with the Clinton Administration to pass replacement legislation for the Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC) tax benefit for U.S. exports. The latter action averted, at least until mid-2001, the imposition of punitive tariffs by the European Union on an estimated $4 billion in U.S. exports.

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Numerous measures were introduced in the 106th Congress that reflected the range of views on U.S. policy toward Cuba. Legislative initiatives proposed both easing and increasing sanctions against Cuba. In the end, legislation passed reflected both approaches: it allowed the export of food and medicine to Cuba, but prohibited any U.S. financing, both public and private, of such exports. Travel to Cuba for tourism was also prohibited.

This report compares existing law with H.R. 701, as passed by the House(HP) and H.R. 701, as reported by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (SCR). Both versions, also known as the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA), would have created a new fund, the CARA Fund. Both bills would have created and funded a new coastal energy impact assistance program, amended and funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), funded the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program and the Historic Preservation Fund, increased funding for wildlife conservation, funded land restoration and easement programs, and funded the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program.1 The SCR version would also have funded additional programs to protect natural and cultural resources.

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DNA evidence is a powerful forensic tool in criminal cases. Its use and capabilities have increased substantially since it was first introduced in the late 1980s. That growth has led to the emergence of the following issues that were considered by the 106th Congress in legislative initiatives: eliminating the nationwide backlog of unanalyzed DNA samples, expanding the kinds of offenders who are profiled, providing opportunities for post-conviction testing of DNA evidence, and continuing development of forensic science capabilities. This report discusses those and related issues and the legislation proposed and enacted to address them. It begins by describing provisions in prior federal law and then discusses issues and the legislation proposed, including the enacted DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (H.R. 4640, which became P.L. 106-546).

Bills introduced in the 106th Congress would have raised the limit on contributions to individualretirement accounts(IRAs) and eased other federal IRA rules. The House passed H.R. 5203, incorporating the higher IRA contribution limits of H.R.1102, on September 19, 2000. The IRA provisions of the bill would have cost $21.7 billion in foregone revenue over 10 years. The Senate Finance Committee ordered H.R. 1102 reported (with amendments) on September 7, 2000, but the bill did not reach the Senate floor before the 106th Congress adjourned in December 2000. The Finance Committee’s bill, in addition to raising contribution limits, would have allowed tax credits in lieu of deductions for a portion of IRA contributions.

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Although Congress described its 1997 changes to discipline provisions in the Individuals withDisabilitiesEducationAct (IDEA) as a “carefulbalance,” it was not long before amendmentsto change the provisionssurfaced. In 1999 the Senate passed S. 254, 106th Cong., the Violent and Repeat Juvenile Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 1999, and the House passed H.R. 1501, 106th Cong., the Child Safety and Protection Act, both of which contained amendments to IDEA. These amendments would have changed section 615 of IDEA to eliminate IDEA’s different disciplinary procedures for children with disabilities in certain situations. In the Senate the amendment applied to children with disabilities who carry a gun or firearm while in the House the amendment would cover a weapon. These amendments were not enacted.

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This report discusses issues regarding Agriculture funding, specifically the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act (P.L. 104-127), which prescribed farm commodity support policy through 2002.

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