No firms have been sanctioned under the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), and it has terminated with respect to Libya. In August 2001, the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA, P.L. 104-172) was renewed for another five years (P.L. 107-24). No firms have been sanctioned under ILSA, and ILSA has terminated with respect to Libya. In the 109th Congress, H.R. 282 and S. 333 contain provisions that would modify ILSA. This report discusses various issues including the background and passages of the ILSA and its effectiveness.

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Since the first genetically engineered (GE) crops (also called GM [genetically modified] crops, or GMOs, genetically modified organisms) became commercially available in the mid-1990s, U.S. soybean, cotton, and corn farmers have rapidly adopted them. As adoption has spread, there have been policy debates over the costs and benefits of GE products. Issues include the impacts of GE crops on the environment and food safety, and whether GE foods should be specially labeled. Congress generally has been supportive of GE agricultural products, although some Members have expressed wariness about their adoption and regulation. The 109th Congress will likely continue to follow trade developments, particularly the U.S.-EU dispute, as well as U.S. regulatory mechanisms for approving biotech foods.

This report discusses the ongoing debate over the efficacy and constitutionality of federal regulation of firearms and ammunition. The report provides background information and analysis over the pros and cons of the debate and gun related statistics. It is a contentious debate, with strong advocates for and against the further federal regulation of firearms.

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As part of the Department of Energy's (DOE) initiative on developing new technologies for the storage of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) in geologic reservoirs, Battelle has been investigating the feasibility of CO{sub 2} sequestration in the deep saline reservoirs of the Ohio River Valley region. In addition to the DOE, the project is being sponsored by American Electric Power (AEP), BP, Ohio Coal Development Office (OCDO) of the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, Schlumberger, and Battelle. The main objective of the project is to demonstrate that CO{sub 2} sequestration in deep formations is feasible from engineering and economic perspectives, as well as being an inherently safe practice and one that will be acceptable to the public. In addition, the project is designed to evaluate the geology of deep formations in the Ohio River Valley region in general and in the vicinity of AEP's Mountaineer Power Plant, in order to determine their potential use for conducting a long-term test of CO{sub 2} disposal in deep saline formations. The current technical progress report summarizes activities completed for the July-September 2006 period of the project. As discussed in the following report, the main accomplishments were reservoir modeling for the Copper Ridge ''B-zone'' and …

Report on immigration with a focus on border security and related legislation, considered by the 109th Congress.

We present a de novo hierarchical simulation framework for first-principles based predictive simulations of materials and their validation on high-end parallel supercomputers and geographically distributed clusters. In this framework, high-end chemically reactive and non-reactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations explore a wide solution space to discover microscopic mechanisms that govern macroscopic material properties, into which highly accurate quantum mechanical (QM) simulations are embedded to validate the discovered mechanisms and quantify the uncertainty of the solution. The framework includes an embedded divide-and-conquer (EDC) algorithmic framework for the design of linear-scaling simulation algorithms with minimal bandwidth complexity and tight error control. The EDC framework also enables adaptive hierarchical simulation with automated model transitioning assisted by graph-based event tracking. A tunable hierarchical cellular decomposition parallelization framework then maps the O(N) EDC algorithms onto Petaflops computers, while achieving performance tunability through a hierarchy of parameterized cell data/computation structures, as well as its implementation using hybrid Grid remote procedure call + message passing + threads programming. High-end computing platforms such as IBM BlueGene/L, SGI Altix 3000 and the NSF TeraGrid provide an excellent test grounds for the framework. On these platforms, we have achieved unprecedented scales of quantum-mechanically accurate and well validated, chemically reactive atomistic simulations--1.06 …

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The primary objective of the work scope described in this technical work plan (TWP) is to enhance the descriptions of fracture and lithophysal parameters for the repository host horizon (RHH) over the repository footprint utilizing a predictive model. This work is planned to address U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) additional information needs (AINs) associated with the Structural Deformation and Seismicity (SDS) Key Technical Issues (KTI) agreement SDS 3.03 (Schlueter 2000 [DIRS 166615]). The results of the planned work are expected to enhance the technical basis and confirm the results of the fracture analyses presented in ''Drift Degradation Analysis'' (BSC 2004 [DIRS 166107], Section 6.1.6). This model is not intended to provide an alternative for the unsaturated zone and saturated zone flow and transport models currently used by the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP). Nor are the outputs of this model intended to address the SDS 3.03 AINs related to the unsaturated zone and saturated zone flow and transport models.

This technical report presents the engineering research, process development and data accomplishments that have transpired to date in support of the development of Cost Effective Composite Drill Pipe (CDP). The report presents progress made from October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006 and contains the following discussions: Qualification Testing; Prototype Development and Testing of ''Smart Design'' Configuration; Field Test Demonstration; Development of Ultra-Short Radius Composite Drill Pipe (USR-CDP); and Development of Smart USR-CDP.

This report explains the background of Israel and its relation to the United States. It reviews government and politics, foreign policy, the economy, and other current issues.

A Congressional Research Service report for Congress detailing negotiations of an Israeli-Arab Nature. This report contains conferences, negotiation, and conflicts as well as significant agreements and documents. -Updated September 1, 2006

This report analyzes the conflict between Israel and two U.S State Department-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO's), the Lebanese Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah and the radical Palestinian Hamas organization.

Monthly newsletter documenting statistics related to employment in Texas including nonagricultural job trends, labor force numbers, and other relevant indicators as well as information on related topics.

This project had two primary objectives. The first was to understand the physical properties and behavior of select Hanford tank sludges under conditions that might exist during retrieval, treatment, packaging, and transportation for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The second objective was to develop a fundamental understanding of these sludge suspensions by correlating the macroscopic properties with particle interactions occurring at the colloidal scale. The specific tank wastes considered herein are contained in thirteen Hanford tanks including three double-shell tanks (DSTs) (AW-103, AW-105, and SY-102) and ten single-shell tanks (SSTs) (B-201 through B-204, T-201 through T-204, T-110, and T-111). At the outset of the project, these tanks were designated as potentially containing transuranic (TRU) process wastes that would be treated and disposed of in a manner different from the majority of the tank wastes.

Report discussing U.S. concerns with Iran, including concerns relating to endorsements given to terrorist organizations by the Iranian government, nuclear weaponry, and human rights practices. The report also discusses whether or not the U.S. will impose sanctions on Iran due to a recent violation of a previously discussed agreement regarding uranium enrichment.

Bi-monthly report on average prices paid for standing timber in Texas, calculated based on reported timber sales.