Congressional Liaison Offices of Selected Federal Agencies (open access)

Congressional Liaison Offices of Selected Federal Agencies

This list of about 150 congressional liaison offices is intended to help congressional offices in placing telephone calls and addressing correspondence to government agencies. In each case, the information was supplied by the agency itself and is current as of the date of publication. Entries are arranged alphabetically in four sections: legislative branch; judicial branch; executive branch; and agencies, boards, and commissions.
Date: August 14, 2009
Creator: Crane-Hirsch, Audrey Celeste
System: The UNT Digital Library
Deflation: Economic Significance, Current Risk, and Policy Responses (open access)

Deflation: Economic Significance, Current Risk, and Policy Responses

This report discusses the economic policy that contain or mitigate the negative effects of a deflation caused by a negative demand shock. It also points out the Policy Response to Deflation.
Date: April 14, 2009
Creator: Elwell, Craig K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Trade Deficit and the Impact of Changing Oil Prices (open access)

U.S. Trade Deficit and the Impact of Changing Oil Prices

Petroleum prices rose sharply in the first half of 2008, at one time reaching more than $140 per barrel of crude oil. This report provides an estimate of the initial impact of the changing oil prices on the nation’s merchandise trade deficit.
Date: July 14, 2009
Creator: Jackson, James K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conservation Reserve Program: Status and Current Issues (open access)

Conservation Reserve Program: Status and Current Issues

The report discusses the Conservative Reserve Program enacted in 1985, that provides payments to farmers to take highly erodible or environmentally sensitive cropland out of production for ten years or more. It also discusses CRP'S several other subprograms.
Date: January 14, 2009
Creator: Cowan, Tadlock
System: The UNT Digital Library
Consumer Financial Protection by Federal Agencies (open access)

Consumer Financial Protection by Federal Agencies

This report discusses the Obama's administration that proposed creating a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) to focus exclusively on consumer protection. The agency would focus primarily on banking services; institutions and firms regulated by the SEC and CFTC.
Date: October 14, 2009
Creator: Jickling, Mark
System: The UNT Digital Library
NATO Enlargement: Albania, Croatia, and Possible Future Candidates (open access)

NATO Enlargement: Albania, Croatia, and Possible Future Candidates

This report discusses the current status of NATO membership following the April 2-4, 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania. A principal issue was consideration of the candidacies for membership of Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia. The allies agreed to extend invitations to Albania and Croatia. Although the alliance determined that Macedonia met the qualifications for NATO membership, Greece blocked the invitation due to an enduring dispute over Macedonia's name.
Date: April 14, 2009
Creator: Morelli, Vincent; Ek, Carl; Belkin, Paul; Woehrel, Steven & Nichol, Jim
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings (open access)

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings

This report discusses the mainstays of the U.S. capacity to issue warnings: the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which relies primarily on broadcasting media, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio All-Hazards Network.
Date: August 14, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Strategic Arms Control After START: Issues and Options (open access)

Strategic Arms Control After START: Issues and Options

This report provides background information about the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and reviews the discussions about a possible successor. It also presents a range of alternatives that the United States and Russia might consider if they choose to follow START with a new framework for the arms control process.
Date: August 14, 2009
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The United Nations Human Rights Council: Issues for Congress (open access)

The United Nations Human Rights Council: Issues for Congress

This report provides historical background of the Council, including the role of the previous Commission. It discusses the Council's current mandate and structure, as well as U.S. policy and congressional actions.
Date: December 14, 2009
Creator: Blanchfield, Luisa
System: The UNT Digital Library
Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues (open access)

Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues

This report provides an overview of major legal issues likely to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to close the Guantanamo detention facility. It discusses legal issues related to the transfer of Guantanamo detainees, the continued detention of such persons in the United States, and the possible removal of persons brought into the country. It also discusses selected constitutional issues that may arise in the criminal prosecution of detainees, emphasizing the procedural and substantive protections that are utilized in different adjudicatory forums.
Date: April 14, 2009
Creator: Garcia, Michael John; Bazan, Elizabeth B.; Mason, R. Chuck; Liu, Edward C. & Henning, Anna C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeland Security Intelligence: Perceptions, Statutory Definitions, and Approaches (open access)

Homeland Security Intelligence: Perceptions, Statutory Definitions, and Approaches

This report provides a potential conceptual model of how to frame homeland security intelligence (HSINT), including geographic, structural/statutory, and holistic approaches. Given that state, local, tribal, and private sector officials play such an important role in HSINT, the holistic model, one not constrained by geography or levels of government, strikes many as the most compelling. The report argues that there is, in effect, a Homeland Security Intelligence Community (HSIC). Although the HSIC's members are diffused across the nation, they share a common counterterrorism interest. The proliferation of intelligence and information fusion centers across the country indicate that state and local leaders believe there is value to centralizing intelligence gathering and analysis in a manner that assists them in preventing and responding to local manifestations of terrorist threats to their people, infrastructure, and other assets. At the policy and operational levels, the communication and integration of federal HSINT efforts with these state and local fusion centers will likely remain an important priority and future challenge.
Date: January 14, 2009
Creator: Randol, Mark A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (open access)

The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program

This report discusses the Special Inspector General provisions in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, H.R. 1424, which was enacted as P.L. 110-343 on October 3, 2008. This Act created a Special Inspector General (SIG) for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). This report will compare the duties and authorities of the SIG TARP to those of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), as well as statutory IGs under the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (IG Act).
Date: January 14, 2009
Creator: Burrows, Vanessa K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
H.R. 2: The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (open access)

H.R. 2: The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009

This report summarizes changes to current law across the major provisions of H.R. 2 that would occur if The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) were enacted.
Date: January 14, 2009
Creator: Baumrucker, Evelyne P.; Herz, Elicia J.; Peterson, Chris L.; Tilson, Sibyl & Gravelle, Jane G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeland Security Department: FY2010 Appropriations (open access)

Homeland Security Department: FY2010 Appropriations

This report describes the FY2010 appropriation for the department of homeland security (DHS). This report also contains the a detailed discussion of the president's budget request for DHS.
Date: September 14, 2009
Creator: Lake, Jennifer E. & Haddal, Chad C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Google Library Project: Is Digitization for Purposes of Online Indexing Fair Use Under Copyright Law? (open access)

The Google Library Project: Is Digitization for Purposes of Online Indexing Fair Use Under Copyright Law?

This report provides background on the Library Project, legal issues raised by digitization and indexing projects, and the proposed settlement.
Date: May 14, 2009
Creator: Manuel, Kate M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Office of the House of Representatives Inspector General (open access)

Office of the House of Representatives Inspector General

This report discusses the Office of the House of Representatives Inspector General, which conducts audits of the financial and administrative functions of House officers and joint entities. The report includes government-wide standards for Inspectors General with regards to the distribution of audit results.
Date: January 14, 2009
Creator: Straus, Jacob R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Increases in Tricare Costs: Background and Options for Congress (open access)

Increases in Tricare Costs: Background and Options for Congress

This report discusses budgetary matters for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), specifically regarding past instances of debate regarding the Tricare system. The dollar amounts allocated to health care in the budget of the DOD have more than doubled since FY2001, growing from about $17 billion to over $44.8 billion in FY2009.
Date: May 14, 2009
Creator: Jansen, Don J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Climate Change: Costs and Benefits of the Cap-and-Trade Provisions of H.R. 2454 (open access)

Climate Change: Costs and Benefits of the Cap-and-Trade Provisions of H.R. 2454

This report examines seven studies that project the costs of H.R. 2454 to 2030 or beyond. H.R. 2454's climate-related environmental benefit should be considered in a global context and the desire to engage the developing world in the reduction effort.
Date: September 14, 2009
Creator: Parker, Larry & Yacobucci, Brent D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Juvenile Justice: Legislative History and Current Legislative Issues (open access)

Juvenile Justice: Legislative History and Current Legislative Issues

This report will analyze the current federal legislation that impacts the state juvenile justice systems. Although the report provides some background information on the evolution of juvenile justice in the United States, the main focus of the report is the major federal legislation that impacts the states juvenile justice systems, including the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).
Date: April 14, 2009
Creator: Finklea, Kristin M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress (open access)

Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress

This report covers the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and U.S.-Mexico drug trafficking. It also looks at migration, environmental issues, legislation in the 111th Congress, and the relationship between the Obama Administration and Mexico.
Date: April 14, 2009
Creator: Sullivan, Mark P. & Beittel, June S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Summary of Waxman-Markey Draft Greenhouse Gas Legislation (open access)

Summary of Waxman-Markey Draft Greenhouse Gas Legislation

This report provides a summary of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which proposes a "cap and trade" system to control carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that have been associated with global climate change.
Date: May 14, 2009
Creator: Holt, Mark
System: The UNT Digital Library
Who Regulates Whom? An Overview of U.S. Financial Supervision (open access)

Who Regulates Whom? An Overview of U.S. Financial Supervision

Federal financial regulation in the United States has evolved through a series of piecemeal responses to developments and crises in financial markets. This report provides an overview of current U.S. financial regulation: which agencies are responsible for which institutions and markets, and what kinds of authority they have.
Date: December 14, 2009
Creator: Jickling, Mark & Murphy, Edward V.
System: The UNT Digital Library
V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft: Background and Issues for Congress

This report discusses background information on the V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft, as well as procurement and related oversight issues for Congress.
Date: July 14, 2009
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeland Security Department: FY2010 Appropriations (open access)

Homeland Security Department: FY2010 Appropriations

This report describes the FY2010 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Administration requested a net appropriation of $44.1 billion in budget authority for FY2010. This amounts to a $2.8 billion, or a 6.7% increase over the $41.2 billion enacted for FY2009 (not including supplemental funding). Total budget authority requested by the Administration for DHS for FY2010 amounts to $55.1 billion.
Date: December 14, 2009
Creator: Lake, Jennifer E. & Haddal, Chad C.
System: The UNT Digital Library