This report examines both the office of the Solicitor General and the Justices who held that position before their elevation to the Court. After examining the office of the Solicitor General and its success before the Court, the report describes the professional careers of the four Justices who served as Solicitor General before joining the Court: William Howard Taft, Stanley Reed, Robert Jackson, and Thurgood Marshall. The final section of the report examines the career of Elena Kagan, noting in particular her service as Solicitor General.

This report covers U.S. efforts to find a solution that assures seamless communications among first responders and emergency personnel at the scene of a major disaster. Legislation in the 112th Congress includes the Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act, the Broadband for Public Safety Act of 2011, the Broadband for First Responders Act, and the Strengthening Public-safety and Enhancing Communications Through Reform, Utilization, and Modernization (SPECTRUM) Act.

The G-Band Vapor Radiometer Profiler (GVRP) provides time-series measurements of brightness temperatures from 15 channels between 170 and 183.310 GHz. Atmospheric emission in this spectral region is primarily due to water vapor, with some influence from liquid water. Channels between 170.0 and 176.0 GHz are particularly sensitive to the presence of liquid water. The sensitivity to water vapor of the 183.31-GHz line is approximately 30 times higher than at the frequencies of the two-channel microwave radiometer (MWR) for a precipitable water vapor (PWV) amount of less than 2.5 mm. Measurements from the GVRP instrument are therefore especially useful during low-humidity conditions (PWV < 5 mm). In addition to integrated water vapor and liquid water, the GVRP can provide low-resolution vertical profiles of water vapor in very dry conditions.

This report discusses the Help America Vote Act (HAVA; P.L. 107-252) enacted in 2002. It provides background information about HAVA and its provisions, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), funding for the agency and for state programs to improve elections, and a number of enduring election administration issues.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recent events, such as the seaborne terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008 and the pirate attack on the Quest in February 2011, highlight maritime threats to the United States. The maritime domain presents a range of potential security threats--including naval forces of adversary nations, piracy, and the use of vessels to smuggle people, drugs, and weapons--which could harm the United States and its interests. The Department of Defense (DOD) has also identified homeland defense as one of its highest priorities. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which DOD has (1) planned to conduct maritime homeland defense operations, (2) identified and addressed capability gaps in maritime homeland defense, and (3) made progress with interagency partners, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, in addressing information sharing challenges related to maritime domain awareness. To conduct this work, GAO examined national and DOD guidance and interviewed officials from DOD, Joint Staff, combatant commands, the military services, and others."

This report provides an overview of the performance measures of the immigration-related worksite enforcement.

This report discusses the implications from the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement on aspects of U.S. business, particularly the auto industry.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, Treaty Number: 102-38, 1992), the Copenhagen Accord (2009), and the UNFCCC Cancun Agreements (2010), wherein the higher-income countries pledged jointly up to $30 billion of "fast start" climate financing for lower-income countries for the period 2010-2012, and a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020. The Cancun Agreements also proposed that the pledged funds are to be new, additional to previous flows, adequate, predictable, and sustained, and are to come from a wide variety of sources, both public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources of finance.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the Food Security Act of 1985, Congress has authorized monetization--the sale of U.S. food aid commodities in developing countries to fund development. In fiscal year 2010, more than $300 million was used to procure and ship 540,000 metric tons of commodities to be monetized by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Through analysis of agency data, interviews with agency officials, and fieldwork in three countries, this report (1) assesses the extent to which monetization proceeds cover commodity and other associated costs and (2) examines the extent to which U.S. agencies meet requirements to ensure that monetization does not cause adverse market impacts."

This report looks at the purposes and results of U.S. sanctions in Iran, which were initiated as a result of Iran's nuclear program and human rights issues. It ends by discussing future issues that Congress can consider regarding the sanctions.

This report provides background information on the blockade imposed of by Israeli in response to Hamas's takeover. Israel considered its actions to be legitimate self-defense. Turkey, whose nationals comprised the largest contingent in the flotilla and among the casualties, considered them to be unjustifiable and in contravention of international law.

Consumers regularly forgo purchases of high efficiency appliances that appear to be cost effective at a reasonable rate of return. While some argue that this is a true revelation of preferences for appliance features, this 'efficiency gap' can be largely explained by a combination of market and behavioral failures that reduce consumers ability to evaluate the relative value of appliances and skew preferences toward initial cost savings, undervaluing future reductions in operating costs. These failures and barriers include externalities of energy use, imperfect competition between manufacturers, asymmetric information, bounded rationality, split incentives, and transaction costs (Golove 1996). Recognizing the social benefit of energy conservation, several major methods are used by policymakers to ensure that efficient appliances are purchased: minimum efficiency standards, Energy Star labeling, and rebates and tax credits. There is no single market for energy services; there are hundreds of uses, thousands of intermediaries, and millions of users, and likewise, no single appropriate government intervention (Golove 1996). Complementary approaches must be implemented, considering policy and institutional limitations. In this paper, I first lay out the rationale for government intervention by addressing the market and behavioral failures and barriers that arise in the context of residential energy efficiency. I then …

In this project fundamental issues related to synthesis of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), which is relationship between plasma parameters and SWNT characteristics were investigated. Given that among plasma-based techniques arc discharge stands out as very advantageous in several ways (fewer defects, high flexibility, longer lifetime) this techniques warrants attention from the plasma physics and plasma technology standpoint. Both experimental and theoretical investigations of the plasma and SWNTs synthesis were conducted. Experimental efforts focused on plasma diagnostics, measurements of nanostructures parameters, and nanoparticle characterization. Theoretical efforts focused to focus on multi-dimensional modeling of the arc discharge and single wall nanotube synthesis in arc plasmas. It was demonstrated in experiment and theoretically that controlling plasma parameters can affect nanostucture synthesis altering SWNT properties (length and diameter) and leading to synthesis of new structures such as a few-layer graphene. Among clearly identified parameters affecting synthesis are magnetic and electric fields. Knowledge of the plasma parameters and discharge characteristics is crucial for ability to control synthesis process by virtue of both magnetic and electric fields. New graduate course on plasma engineering was introduced into curriculum. 3 undergraduate students were attracted to the project and 3 graduate students (two are female) were involved in …

Two 9975 shipping packages were removed from KAC and provided to SRNL for test purposes, after both packages were found to exceed the 1 inch maximum criterion for the axial gap at the top of the package. Package 9975-01818 was found with an axial gap of 1.437 inch, and an estimated 2.5 liters of excess moisture in the lower fiberboard layers. Package 9975-02287 was found with an axial gap of 1.008 inch, and only slightly elevated moisture levels relative to typical packages. Prior data from the 9975 Surveillance Program has shown that the 9975 drum provides a degree of isolation, and will tend to preserve fiberboard moisture levels for an extended period of time. Both packages were provided to SRNL to identify whether removal of the 4 caplugs in each package would allow moisture to escape the package. Following testing with the caplugs removed for approximately 1 year, this report documents the findings from this effort. Two 9975 shipping packages removed from service in K-Area Complex (KAC) due to an excessive axial gap have been tested in SRNL to determine if caplug removal would facilitate the reduction of excess fiberboard moisture. An additional question to be answered through this testing …

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This report focuses on potential Navy shipboard lasers for countering surface, air, and ballistic missile threats. It does not discuss the use of lasers on Navy aircraft or submarines, or the use of lasers by other military services. This report is based on unclassified, open-domain information from the Navy, industry, and research organizations such as RAND.

Environmental monitoring data were collected at and around the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Sites (RWMSs) at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). These data are associated with radiation exposure, air, groundwater, meteorology, vadose zone, subsidence, and biota. This report summarizes the 2009 environmental data to provide an overall evaluation of RWMS performance and to support environmental compliance and performance assessment (PA) activities. Some of these data (e.g., radiation exposure, air, and groundwater) are presented in other reports. Direct radiation monitoring data indicate exposure levels at the RWMSs are within the range of background levels measured at the NTS. Air monitoring data at the Area 3 and Area 5 RWMSs indicate that tritium concentrations are slightly above background levels. All gamma spectroscopy results for air particulates collected at the Area 3 and Area 5 RWMS were below the minimum detectable concentrations, and concentrations of americium and plutonium are only slightly above detection limits. The measured levels of radionuclides in air particulates and moisture are below derived concentration guides for these radionuclides. Radon flux from waste covers is well below regulatory limits. Groundwater monitoring data indicate that the groundwater in the uppermost aquifer beneath the Area 5 RWMS is …

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This report provides background information regarding sponsored prayer, which is prohibited under the First Amendment with few exceptions. The report discusses school prayer, legislative prayer, military chaplaincy, and legislative issues.

This report provides, in brief, analysis of the congressional procedural provisions laid out in the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-17). Only provisions relating to congressional actions are covered in this report.

This report discusses the Project BioShield Act (P.L. 108-276), In 2004, passed by Congress to encourage the private sector to develop medical countermeasures against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) terrorism agents and to provide a novel mechanism for federal acquisition of those newly developed countermeasures. This law provides three main authorities: (1) relaxing regulatory requirements for some CBRN terrorism-related spending, including hiring personnel and awarding research grants; (2) guaranteeing a federal market for new CBRN medical countermeasures; and (3) permitting emergency use of unapproved countermeasures.

This report discusses a recurring Senate issue regarding what kinds of questions are appropriate for Senators to pose to a Supreme Court nominee appearing at hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Particularly at issue has been whether, or to what extent, questions by committee members should seek out a nominee's personal views on current legal or constitutional issues or on past Supreme Court decisions that have involved those issues.

This report provides background information and potential issues and options for Congress relating to the reauthorization of Ex-Im Bank. The scope of this report is limited to Ex-Im Bank reauthorization issues.

High-level waste (HLW) throughput (i.e., the amount of waste processed per unit time) is a function of two critical parameters: waste loading (WL) and melt rate. For the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site and the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS), increasing HLW throughput would significantly reduce the overall mission life cycle costs for the Department of Energy (DOE). The objective of this task is to develop data, assess property models, and refine or develop the necessary models to support increased WL of HLW at SRS. It is a continuation of the studies initiated in FY07, but is under the specific guidance of a Task Change Request (TCR)/Work Authorization received from DOE headquarters (Project Number RV071301). Using the data generated in FY07, FY08 and historical data, two test matrices (60 glasses total) were developed at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in order to generate data in broader compositional regions. These glasses were fabricated and characterized using chemical composition analysis, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), viscosity, liquidus temperature (TL) measurement and durability as defined by the Product Consistency Test (PCT). The results of this study are summarized below: (1) In general, the …