This report provides information about the farm credit system which provides financial cooperative lending to agricultural and aquatic producers, rural homeowners etc.

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This report surveys the econemetric literature on oil shocks to provide quantitative estimates of how large an effect oil price changes have on economic activity.

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This report includes information regarding space launch vehicles. Launch vehicle policy, vehicle programs and issues, and the U.S. commercial launch service industry are among topics discussed in this report.

This report explores the intellectual property laws and policies concerning the parallel importation of patented pharmaceuticals into the United States.

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This report examines the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), which is a proposed small surface combatant for the Navy. For FY2005, the Navy is requesting $107.7 million to begin building the first LCS, and an additional $244.4 million for research and development for the LCS program. The issue for Congress is whether to approve, modify, or reject the Navy's plan for the LCS program.

This report describes the classroom expense deduction, its interaction with other tax provisions, and proposals made concerning the tax benefit during the 108th Congress.

This report provides information related to the fishery, aquaculture, and marine mammal legislation in the 108th Congress.

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This reports details the effect the Safe and and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program including the change in violence and drug use.

This report discusses select changes and amendments made by the House and the Senate to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

About 94 percent of U.S. tobacco production is flue-cured and burley (cigarette tobacco types). These crops are particularly important to the agriculture of North Carolina and Kentucky. The federal tobacco price support program is designed to support and stabilize prices for farmers.

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Congress continues to consider legislative options to address wetlands loss in coastal Louisiana. Some legislative proposals would dedicate some federal revenues from offshore oil and gas development to restoration efforts. Other proposals would authorize specific restoration projects or activities, or further examination of the causes and effects of loss. These projects are neutralizing conditions that lead to loss at some sites, and are reestablishing some wetlands. These projects are expected to have many ecological, economic, and social benefits. A July 2004 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report, a draft ecosystem restoration study, identifies more than 150 possible remedies.

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The United States and its allies are helping Afghanistan emerging from more than 22 years of warfare, although substantial risk to Afghan stability remains. Before the U.S. military campaign against the orthodox Islamist Taliban movement began on October 7, 2001, Afghanistan had been mired in conflict since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The defeat of the Taliban has enabled the United States and its coalition partners to send forces throughout Afghanistan to search for Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters and leaders that remain at large, including Osama bin Laden. As the war against remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban elements winds down, the United States is shifting its military focus toward stabilizing the interim government, including training a new Afghan national army, and supporting the international security force (ISAF) that is helping the new government provide security.