This report discusses government advertising that can be controversial if it conflicts with citizens' views about the proper role of government.

This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan and the Afghan government. It also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government.

This report provides an overview of four species of non-indigenous Asian carp that are expanding their range in U.S. waterways, resulting in a variety of concerns and problems. This report details the environmental and economic threats from this invasion, as well as ways to combat the spread of Asian carp in U.S. water.

This report discusses the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Firefighters (SAFER) programs, which provide federal grants directly to local fire departments and unaffiliated Emergency Medical Services (EMS) organizations to help address a variety of equipment, training, and other firefighter-related and EMS needs. Congress is considering FY 2015 appropriations for both programs.

This report discusses the broadband loan and grant programs at Rural Utilities Service (RUS) that is intended to accelerate the deployment of broadband services in rural America.

This report focuses on the potential implications of China's naval modernization for future required U.S. Navy capabilities. Other CRS reports address separate issues relating to China. This report is based on unclassified open-source information, such as the annual Department of Defense report to Congress on military and security developments involving China, an August 2009 report on China's navy from the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), published reference sources such as Jane's Fighting Ships, and press reports.

This report discusses the air pollution regulations and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regulatory actions on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and also addresses some climate change issues.

This report will track and describe actions taken by the administration and congress to provide FY2015 appropriations for CJS accounts.

This report discusses the requirements of commercial filming and photography in federal lands, such as national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, ranges, and other landscapes that are popular locations for motion pictures and commercial photography.

This report describes statutory requirements for allocating congressional nominations to service academies.It is an overview and resources for Outreach and Management Congressional nominations to U.S. service academies.

This report discusses the 2002 rule (the Clean Water Act), focusing on how it changes which material and types of activities are regulated under Section 404 and the significance of these issues, especially for the mining industry.

This report provides references to analytical reports on cybersecurity from CRS, other government agencies, trade associations, and interest groups. The reports and related websites are grouped under the following cybersecurity topics: policy overview; National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC); cloud computing and FedRAMP; critical infrastructure; cybercrime, data breaches and data security; national security, cyber espionage, and cyberwar (including Stuxnet); international efforts; education/training/workforce; and research and development (R&D).

This report provides background on defense-related acquisitions, recent efforts to improve acquisition processes, and related issues for Congress regarding improvements to the workforce and specific reform efforts.

This report outlines the Department of Defense's (DOD) defense acquisition structure, discusses recent major reports addressing defense acquisition, and considers recent DOD efforts to improve the acquisition of weapon systems. It also includes a description of recent congressional efforts to reform the DOD's acquisition process.

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This report surveys the definitions of inherently governmental function given in Policy Letter 11- 01, the FAIR Act, and other sources. It also notes specific functions that have been designated as inherently governmental or commercial by statute, regulation, policy, or Government Accountability Office (GAO) or judicial decision. Its primary focus is upon government-wide statutes, regulations, and policy documents, not agency-specific ones.

This report reflects the Department of Homeland Securities' strategic vision for doing business in a more efficient and sustainable way. The report includes sections on greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, sustainable building, fleet management, water use efficiency and management, pollution prevention and waste reduction, sustainable acquisition, electronic stewardship and data centers, renewable energy, climate change resilience, and energy performance contracts.

This report analyzes the existing law and authority to detain U.S. persons, including American citizens and resident aliens, as well as other persons within the United States who are suspected of being members, agents, or associates of Al Qaeda or possibly other terrorist organizations as "enemy combatants."

Social Security Disability Insurance and Veterans Disability Compensation- administered by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs respectively- are two of the largest federal disability programs, but strongly differ along several dimensions, including the populations served, how each program defines a "disability," as well as varying eligibility requirements. This report provides a description and comparative analysis of the Social Security Disability Administration and the Veterans Disability Compensation programs.

This report discusses the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill that provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), for the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the Department of Energy (DOE), and several independent agencies.

This report presents an analysis of EPA's proposed plan.

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A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The five federal agencies GAO reviewed--the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Departments of Energy (DOE), Homeland Security (DHS), the Interior, and Veterans' Affairs (VA)--reported fiscal year 2012 deferred maintenance and repair backlog estimates that ranged from nearly $1 billion to $20 billion. In accordance with Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) standards, agencies report backlog estimates in required supplementary information accompanying their financial statements in their annual financial reports. In addition, data reported by agencies and included in the Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP)--a database overseen by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in coordination with agencies comprising the Federal Real Property Council (FRPC)--provides information that can be used to estimate an agency's backlog. FASAB and FRPP guidelines do not share a common definition of deferred maintenance, and an agency can make different determinations when reporting information in its financial reports and to FRPP, resulting in dissimilar backlog estimates. In addition, agencies use different methods to determine and report backlogs, making estimates across agencies not comparable. For example, Interior excludes, while DHS includes, costs for some assets scheduled for disposal. In 2011 and 2012, …

This report analyzes the Court's decision in Hobby Lobby, including arguments made between the majority and dissent, to clarify the scope of the decision and potential impacts for future interpretation of RFRA's applicability. It also examines potential legislative responses, should Congress consider addressing the current applicability of RFRA. Finally, the report addresses the decision's effect on requirements that employers offer contraceptive coverage in group health plans under federal or state law.