U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Developments, and Issues (open access)

U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Developments, and Issues

This report reviews the ongoing programs and issues that will affect the expected size and shape of the U.S. strategic nuclear force structure. It includes an overview of this force structure during the Cold War summarizes the reductions and changes that have occurred since 1991, and offers details about each category of delivery vehicle--land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and heavy bombers--focusing on their current deployments and ongoing and planned modernization programs.
Date: May 15, 2014
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Republic of the Philippines and U.S. Interests--2014 (open access)

The Republic of the Philippines and U.S. Interests--2014

This report looks at the U.S. foreign policy towards the Philippines and discusses the key U.S. policy concerns related to the Philippines.
Date: May 15, 2014
Creator: Lum, Thomas & Dolven, Ben
System: The UNT Digital Library
Wildfire Protection in the Wildland-Urban Interface (open access)

Wildfire Protection in the Wildland-Urban Interface

Report that describes the growth of the wildland-urban interface, wildfire suppression efforts, post-fire responses, and especially the programs and options for protecting the interface before the next wildfire strikes.
Date: May 15, 2013
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi
System: The UNT Digital Library
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: President’s FY2015 Budget (open access)

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: President’s FY2015 Budget

This report summarizes the president's budget estimates for each section of the CMS budget. Then, for each legislative proposal included in the president's budget, this report provides a description of current law and the president's proposal.
Date: May 15, 2014
Creator: Mitchell, Alison
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S.-South Korea Relations (open access)

U.S.-South Korea Relations

This report discusses relations between the United States and South Korea (known officially as the Republic of Korea, or ROK), which have been arguably at their best state in decades. In the Obama Administration, South Korea had emerged as the United States’ closest ally in East Asia.
Date: May 15, 2012
Creator: Manyin, Mark E.; Chanlett-Avery, Emma & Nikitin, Mary Beth
System: The UNT Digital Library
Everglades Restoration: CERP and the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) (open access)

Everglades Restoration: CERP and the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP)

This report provides definition for everglades, describes what is the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), and discusses the restoration of everglades project.
Date: May 15, 2014
Creator: Stern, Charles V.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Search and Seizure Cases in the October 2012 Term of the Supreme Court (open access)

Search and Seizure Cases in the October 2012 Term of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court decided four search and seizure cases during its October 2012 term: Florida v. Jardines, Florida v. Harris, Bailey v. United, and Missouri v. McNeely. This report discusses the prior precedents in each case as well as the decision reached by the Court.
Date: May 15, 2013
Creator: Doyle, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Veterans' Medical Care: FY2015 Appropriations (open access)

Veterans' Medical Care: FY2015 Appropriations

This report focuses on funding for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The VHA is primarily a direct service provider of primary care, specialized care, and related medical and social support services to veterans through the nation's largest integrated health care system.
Date: May 15, 2014
Creator: Panangala, Sidath Viranga
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections (open access)

The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections

This report focuses on the institutions and procedures associated with the contemporary electoral college system. It opens by noting four rarely occurring electoral college eventualities that took place in connection with the 2016 presidential election. These included the election of a President and Vice President who received fewer popular votes than their major opponents; the actions of seven "faithless electors," who voted for candidates other than those to whom they were pledged; the split allocation of electoral votes in Maine, which uses the district system to choose its electors; and challenges to electoral votes in the joint session of Congress at which they are counted. The report also examines the constitutional origins of the electoral college system and identifies the additional components and processes that are the product of federal and state law, party requirements, and political tradition, explaining their role in presidential elections. It provides a timeline for operation of the electoral college system for the 2020 presidential election, a brief examination of alternative reform measures, including constitutional amendment proposals and non-governmental initiatives, such as the National Popular Vote initiative1 (NPV), and closes with concluding observations on the state of the electoral college system and prospects for change.
Date: May 15, 2017
Creator: Neale, Thomas H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Judiciary Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2017 (open access)

Judiciary Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2017

This report describes the 2017 fiscal year appropriations for the judiciary branch. The judiciary's FY2017 budget request of $7.58 billion was submitted on February 9, 2016 and represents a 3.3% increase over the FY2016 enacted level of $7.34 billion provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113), Division E, Title III, enacted December 18, 2015. The House Appropriations Committee held a markup (H.R. 5485) on June 9, 2016, and recommended a total of $7.55 billion. The Senate Appropriations Committee held a markup (S. 3067) on June 16, 2016, and recommended a total of $7.58 billion.
Date: May 15, 2017
Creator: Glassman, Matthew E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) Program (open access)

The Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) Program

This report discuses the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan program administered by the Department of Transportation (DOT) which offers long-term low interest loans to railroad operators fro improving rail infrastructure. It was originality intended to assist small freight railroads but has been of increasing interest to passenger rail lines. Its structure, application process, approved projects, and challenges are discussed.
Date: May 15, 2017
Creator: Peterman, David Randall
System: The UNT Digital Library
Kuwait: Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy (open access)

Kuwait: Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy

This report describes Kuwait's political and governmental structure, economy, relations with the U.S. especially in the area of defense, regional policies, and human rights issues.
Date: May 15, 2017
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
System: The UNT Digital Library
Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (open access)

Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)

This report provides information about the mandatory appropriations and fund transfers in patient protection and ACA.
Date: May 15, 2013
Creator: Redhead, C. Stephen
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Functions and Funding (open access)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Functions and Funding

This report begins with a brief overview of USCIS functions. It then describes the agency's budgetary structure, including its three primary fee accounts for processing user fees. It discusses how the agency calculates user fees for particular immigration services and benefits. The report closes with a discussion of issues for Congress.
Date: May 15, 2015
Creator: Kandel, William A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Wetlands Coverage of the Clean Water Act (CWA): Rapanos and Beyond (open access)

The Wetlands Coverage of the Clean Water Act (CWA): Rapanos and Beyond

This report provides background including the pre-Rapanos Supreme Court opinions, then moves on to Rapanos itself and the Corps/EPA guidance documents.
Date: May 15, 2015
Creator: Meltz, Robert & Copeland, Claudia
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Foreign Trade in Services: Trends and U.S. Policy Challenges (open access)

U.S. Foreign Trade in Services: Trends and U.S. Policy Challenges

This report provides background information and analysis on U.S. foreign trade in services. The focus of the report is an analysis of the policy challenges that the United States confronts, especially the challenge of negotiating a set of international disciplines on trade in services and dealing with the complexity of measuring trade in services. The report also focuses on emerging issues and current negotiations, especially those pertaining to the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the Translantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement.
Date: May 15, 2014
Creator: Cooper, William H. & Nelson, Rebecca M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers: Reauthorization Proposals in the 114th Congress, In Brief (open access)

Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers: Reauthorization Proposals in the 114th Congress, In Brief

None
Date: May 15, 2015
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S.-Singapore Relations (open access)

U.S.-Singapore Relations

None
Date: May 15, 2015
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: President’s FY2014 Budget (open access)

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: President’s FY2014 Budget

This report summarizes the President's budget estimates for each section of the CMS budget. Then, for each legislative proposal included in the president's budget, this report provides a description of current law and the President's proposal.
Date: May 15, 2013
Creator: Mitchell, Allison
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Lord’s Resistance Army: The U.S. Response (open access)

The Lord’s Resistance Army: The U.S. Response

None
Date: May 15, 2014
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Immigration Provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) (open access)

Immigration Provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

This report discusses the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA, P.L. 103-322) that congress passed in 1994. This legislation created new programs within the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services that aimed to both reduce domestic violence and improve response to and recovery from domestic violence incidents.
Date: May 15, 2012
Creator: Kandel, William A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Domestic Terrorist Threat: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

The Domestic Terrorist Threat: Background and Issues for Congress

In the last decade, domestic terrorists-people who commit crimes within the homeland and draw inspiration from U.S.-based extremist ideologies and movements-have killed American citizens and damaged property across the country. Not all of these criminals have been prosecuted under terrorism statutes. This report discusses domestic terrorism's significance to policymakers per five topics: level of activity, use of nontraditional tactics, exploitation of the internet, decentralized nature of the threat, and prison radicalization. The report also discusses three areas that Congress may consider the federal role of combating such activities: the issue of definitions, adequacy of domestic terrorism intelligence collection efforts, and the value of community outreach driven efforts to quell terrorism related radicalization in the United States.
Date: May 15, 2012
Creator: Bjelopera, Jerome P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Canadian Oil Sands: Life-Cycle Assessments of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (open access)

Canadian Oil Sands: Life-Cycle Assessments of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Recent congressional interest in U.S. energy policy has focused in part on ways through which the United States could secure more economical and reliable crude oil resources both domestically and internationally. Many forecasters identify petroleum refined from Canadian oil sands as one possible solution. This report discusses conclusions revealed from a survey of available literature on the matter, particularly in regards to Greenhouse Gas and Well-to-Tank emissions.
Date: May 15, 2012
Creator: Lattanzio, Richard K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria: Issues for Congress and U.S. Contributions from FY2001 to FY2013 (open access)

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria: Issues for Congress and U.S. Contributions from FY2001 to FY2013

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund, or the Fund) was established in 2002 as a public-private partnership that could provide significant financial support for global responses to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria. In November 2011, the Global Fund Board announced that due to inadequate resources from donors, it would cancel its 11th round of funding, but would maintain support for existing activities to avoid disruptions in ongoing services. Global health advocates urge Congress to meet the President's FY2013 request for the Fund in order to support the sustainability of its activities and to encourage continued contributions from other donors. Although Congress has traditionally been a strong supporter of the Fund, several issues may affect congressional views about the Fund in the future, which are discussed in this report.
Date: May 15, 2012
Creator: Salaam-Blyther, Tiaji & Kendall, Alexandra E.
System: The UNT Digital Library