This report outlines cuts made in the federal budget for FY2000. The 0.38% cut was expected to yield savings of $2.4 billion in budget authority and $1.4 billion in outlays for the fiscal year. Departments with cuts in excess of $100 million included the Departments of Defense, Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Education.

This report reviews progress within NATO to develop a European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI), and the initiative within the European Union to create a common European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). The report considers both European and U.S. perspectives on these developments. It will be updated as events warrant.

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This report provides a brief overview of the Eleventh Amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Renewable energy is derived from resources that are generally not depleted by human use, such as the sun, wind, and water movement. This report discusses various aspects of policy regarding renewable energy including tax credits and budget legislation.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Treasury, Postal Service, Executive Office of the President, and General Government.

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A general tax cut (H.R. 2488), costing $792 billion over 10 years, was vetoed in September 1999. A more narrowly focused bill (H.R. 1180) extending certain expiring provisions was adopted in December. Several tax proposals have been or are likely to be considered in 2000. The largest of these was marriage penalty legislation (H.R. 6 and S. 2346). Tax provisions are also included in health care legislation and minimum wage legislation; the latter passed the House on March 9 and included distressed communities legislation and a repeal of the installment sales provision included in the extenders bill. A number of separate tax bills are also under consideration. The general tax cut proposal included across-the-board tax cuts, benefits for married couples, phase-out of the alternative minimum tax, a reduction in capital gains taxes, a phase-out of the estate tax and provisions relating to education and health.

Gender-based discrimination, harassment, and violence against women in the home, workplace, and society at large are continuing topics of legislative and judicial concern. Legal doctrines condemning the extortion of sexual favors as a condition of employment or job advancement, and other sexually offensive workplace behaviors resulting in a "hostile environment," have evolved from judicial decisions under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and related federal laws.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on student loan trustee arrangements, focusing on the: (1) number and cost of trustee arrangements and their shared characteristics; (2) benefits and protections afforded the federal government through use of trustee arrangements; and (3) effect of trustee arrangements on market participation and the availability of student loans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army's acquisition of Category 2 weapons systems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Real Estate Assessment Center's (REAC) new physical inspection system for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) public and multifamily housing properties, focusing on whether: (1) REAC's inspection system represents an improvement over HUD's prior inspection systems; and (2) REAC's inspections are reliable."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on Soviet-designed nuclear power reactors, focusing on: (1) how much money has been spent by the United States and other countries for assistance to improve the safety of Soviet-designed nuclear power reactors--and the types of assistance being provided--as well as planned U.S. expenditures; (2) experts' views on the impact of the assistance; (3) the status of efforts to close high-risk Soviet-designed reactors; and (4) the management of the Department of Energy's (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) safety assistance activities."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) efforts to implement changes to the Medicare program, focusing on HCFA's implementation of the: (1) expansion of the partial hospitalization benefit; and (2) more recent changes under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) to determine whether HCFA is acting upon lessons learned from the partial hospitalization program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO audited the National Park Service's (NPS), the National Symphony Orchestra's (NSO), and Capital Concerts, Incorporated's (CCI) receipt and use of concert designated funding."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) progress in performing planning actions for its loan monitoring system."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) reviewed the application of the Federal Claims Collection Act to the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) settlement of overpayment matters with providers; and (2) developed case studies of settlements that may have been improper."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed certain aspects of the Judicial Survivors' Annuities Systems (JSAS), which provides annuities to the surviving spouses and dependent children of deceased federal judges and other judicial officials who participate in JSAS."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Global Hawk Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration, focusing on: (1) whether the average unit flyaway price for the 10 Global Hawk production aircraft numbered 11 through 20 will be within the Department of Defense's (DOD) price goal of $10 million each in fiscal year 1994 dollars; (2) the status of the military user demonstration, including the extent to which Global Hawk has demonstrated reconnaissance capabilities; and (3) DOD and Air Force plans to transition to a formal acquisition program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Energy's (DOE) merit review practices, focusing on: (1) what procedures DOE has established for performing merit reviews; and (2) whether DOE could document that it has followed the merit review procedures it has established."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed information on the actions needed to sustain reform initiatives and achieve greater results in the Department of Defense (DOD), focusing on the: (1) effectiveness of the Department's management emphasis and oversight structure in providing sustained direction and emphasis to the program; (2) status of individual reform initiatives and the barriers that could limit their success; and (3) extent to which the Reform Initiative resulted in savings enabling DOD to shift operation and maintenance funds to support weapons modernization."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the development of competition in telecommunications markets, focusing on the: (1) development of competition in local telephone markets and the market strategies employed by new carriers in five states under the 1996 Telecommunications Act; and (2) key issues affecting that development and the enforcement activities of federal and state regulators to address those issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the status of the Bureau of the Census' Be Counted and Questionnaire Assistance Center programs, focusing on the steps the Bureau has taken to address certain shortcomings that the Bureau encountered during the dress rehearsal for the 2000 Census."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) use of rapid tests to screen and identify potentially unsafe imported foods before they enter the domestic food supply, focusing on: (1) the rapid tests used to screen foods for pathogens such as bacteria, parasites, and viruses; (2) FDA's use of these tests, particularly at ports of entry; and (3) factors that may limit FDA's expanded use of rapid tests for foodborne pathogens."