Moldova: Background and U.S. Policy (open access)

Moldova: Background and U.S. Policy

Report that provides information and analysis on Moldova, including its political and economic situation, foreign policy, and on U.S. policy toward Moldova.
Date: June 5, 2013
Creator: Woehrel, Steven
System: The UNT Digital Library
Navy Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism Operations: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Navy Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism Operations: Background and Issues for Congress

This report provides background information and potential issues for Congress on the Navy's irregular warfare (IW) and counterterrorism (CT) operations. The Navy's IW and CT activities pose a number of potential oversight issues for Congress, including the definition of Navy IW activities and how much emphasis to place on IW and CT activities in future Navy budgets.
Date: June 5, 2014
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress (open access)

Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress

This report discusses the process of naming Navy ships, which have traditionally been chosen and announced by the Secretary of the Navy.
Date: June 5, 2014
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
The National Science Foundation: Background and Selected Policy Issues (open access)

The National Science Foundation: Background and Selected Policy Issues

This report includes background information about the National Science Foundation (NSF), providing an introduction to the foundation and its work as institutional context for ongoing congressional consideration of NSF policy and fiscal issues.
Date: June 5, 2014
Creator: Gonzalez, Heather B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet, which performs a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions. The report is written in response to the Coast Guard's budget request for a new polar ice breaker (none are currently in operation).
Date: June 5, 2014
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress

This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs).
Date: June 5, 2014
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
Leave Benefits in the United States (open access)

Leave Benefits in the United States

This report begins by reviewing the federal statutes that pertain directly or indirectly to employer provision of leave benefits for any purpose, including a discussion of the California and New Jersey family leave insurance programs. The report than examines the incidence of different types of paid leave that U.S. employers voluntarily provide as part of an employee's total compensation (wages and benefits). The report closes with results from a federal government survey of the average direct cost to business of different types of leave.
Date: June 5, 2009
Creator: Levine, Linda
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Opioid Epidemic and the Food and Drug Administration: Legal Authorities and Recent Agency Action (open access)

The Opioid Epidemic and the Food and Drug Administration: Legal Authorities and Recent Agency Action

This report focuses on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a key player in federal efforts to curb the opioid epidemic. It provides an overview of FDA's role in approving new prescription drugs, including challenges of approval and regulation of opioid products; addresses FDA's multifaceted approach in responding, including recent agency action; and concludes with a discussion of selected opioid-related legislation in the 115th Congress.
Date: June 5, 2018
Creator: Staman, Jennifer A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Thailand: Background and U.S. Relations (open access)

Thailand: Background and U.S. Relations

This report looks at the relationship between the U.S. and Thailand, in particular, recent rivalries between populist political forces, neopotism in government, and Thai relationships with neighboring countries.
Date: June 5, 2012
Creator: Chanlett-Avery, Emma & Dolven, Ben
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Global Financial Crisis: Increasing IMF Resources and the Role of Congress (open access)

The Global Financial Crisis: Increasing IMF Resources and the Role of Congress

None
Date: June 5, 2009
Creator: Sanford, Jonathan E. & Weiss, Martin A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Health Insurance Exchanges Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (open access)

Health Insurance Exchanges Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)

This report outlines the required minimum functions of exchanges, and explains how exchanges are expected to be established and administered under ACA.
Date: June 5, 2013
Creator: Fernandez, Bernadette & Mach, Annie L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB): Quarantine and Isolation (open access)

Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB): Quarantine and Isolation

This report will briefly address the existing law relating to quarantine and isolation, with an emphasis on the interaction of state and federal laws and international agreements.
Date: June 5, 2007
Creator: Swendiman, Kathleen S. & Jones, Nancy Lee
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tax Deductions for Catastrophic Risk Insurance Reserves: Explanation and Economic Analysis (open access)

Tax Deductions for Catastrophic Risk Insurance Reserves: Explanation and Economic Analysis

According to the Insurance Services Office, Inc., (ISO), the property/casualty (p/c) insurance industry paid $62.2 billion in catastrophe losses from 24 disasters and more than 4.4 million claims in 2005, making 2005 the most costly year for catastrophe losses. This report begins by providing some background on the market for catastrophe insurance. It continues by describing the proposal for tax-deductible reserve accounts as set forth in H.R. 164/S. 926 of the 110th Congress, and concludes by providing an economic analysis of the plan.
Date: June 5, 2008
Creator: King, Rawle O.
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (open access)

U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement

This report examines the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement which was originally intended to be part of a broader U.S.-Andean free trade agreement (FTA), but after negotiators failed to reach agreement, Peru and the U.S. decided to move forward on a bilateral basis. The PTPA is a comprehensive trade agreement that, if ratified, would eliminate tariffs and other barriers in goods and services trade between two countries. The labor provisions may be among the more controversial of the agreement.
Date: June 5, 2006
Creator: Villarreal, M. Angeles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Earthquake Risk and U.S. Highway Infrastructure: Frequently Asked Questions (open access)

Earthquake Risk and U.S. Highway Infrastructure: Frequently Asked Questions

This report addresses frequently asked questions about the risk from earthquakes to highway systems, including bridges, tunnels, pavements, and other highway components. Particular attention is given to highway bridges, which often are the most vulnerable highway structures. The report also discusses federal and nonfederal actions to reduce seismic risk to the U.S. highway system.
Date: June 5, 2013
Creator: Mallett, William J.; Carter, Nicole T. & Folger, Peter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Legislation in the 110th Congress (open access)

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Legislation in the 110th Congress

This report summarizes action on more than 360 energy efficiency and renewable energy bills introduced during the 110th Congress.1 These bills cover a wide range of policy and issue areas that include appropriations, authorizations, budget, research and development (R&D), grants, loans, financing, regulation (including a renewable fuel standard), tax incentives, goals, plans, impacts, and the environment/climate change.2 Most of these bills have focused on grants and tax incentives. The bills also cover a range of sectors and topics that include buildings, defense, education, federal lands and energy management, farms, American Indians, and international activities. Thus far, the sector of international activities has generated the greatest number of bills. For each bill listed in this report, a brief description and a summary of action are given, including references to committee hearings and reports.
Date: June 5, 2008
Creator: Sissine, Fred; Cunningham, Lynn J. & Gurevitz, Mark
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: June 5, 2008
Creator: Blanchfield, Luisa
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills: FY1970-FY2013 (open access)

Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills: FY1970-FY2013

This report is a research aid which lists the DOD authorization bills (Table 1) and appropriations bills (Table 2) for FY1970-FY2013. It includes key definitions and all the pertinent information on the passage of these bills through the legislative process: bill numbers, report numbers, dates reported and passed, recorded vote numbers and vote tallies, dates of passage of the conference reports with their numbers and votes, vetoes, substitutions, dates of final passage, and public law numbers.
Date: June 5, 2013
Creator: DeBruyne, Nese F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Small Business Administration: A Primer on Programs and Funding (open access)

Small Business Administration: A Primer on Programs and Funding

This report discusses the Small Business Administration (SBA) and their various programs along with various programmatic changes resulting from the enactment of P.L. 111-5, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, P.L. 112-239, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, P.L. 114-38, the Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2015, P.L. 114-88, the Recovery Improvements for Small Entities After Disaster Act of 2015 (RISE After Disaster Act of 2015), P.L. 114-92, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, and P.L. 114-328, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. In addition, it provides an overview of the SBA's budget and references other CRS reports that examine these programs in greater detail.
Date: June 5, 2017
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay & Lowry, Sean
System: The UNT Digital Library
The President's Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Request for the Department of Energy (open access)

The President's Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Request for the Department of Energy

This report discusses President's Trump's 2018 fiscal year budget request for the Department of Energy. The FY2018 request is $28.0 billion which is $2.7 billion (8.8%) less than the FY2017 enacted appropriations of $30.7 billion. While this request would reduce the total budget for DOE, it would increase overall funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and increase funding for cleanup programs within the Office of Environmental Management. The request would reduce funding for the Offices of Science, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Nuclear Energy (NE), Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE), and Fossil Energy (including the Fossil Energy Research and Development [R&D] program). It would also reduce funding for the Advanced Research Projects AgencyEnergy (ARPA-E) to wind down operations in FY2018 for cessation of its functions in FY2019, and would eliminate funding for two programs within EERE--the Weatherization Assistance Program and State Energy Program--and two programs within the Loan Program Office--Title XVII Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program (Title XVII Loan Program) and Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program in FY2018.
Date: June 5, 2017
Creator: Clark, Corrie E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ransomware Attacks Renew Foccus on HIPAA Security Sttandards (open access)

Ransomware Attacks Renew Foccus on HIPAA Security Sttandards

This report discuses ransomware attacks on healthcare facilities and safeguards against loss of information in such an attack through the proper implication of HIPAA regulations for patient privacy in electronic health records.
Date: June 5, 2017
Creator: Redhead, C. Stephen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard Deepwater Acquisition Programs: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress (open access)

Coast Guard Deepwater Acquisition Programs: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress

This report discusses issues for Congress in 2008, which include but are not necessarily limited to the Coast Guard's overall management of Deepwater acquisition, the status of certain Deepwater acquisition programs, and the so-called revolving door issue.
Date: June 5, 2008
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
Welfare Reform: Selected References, 1977-1978 (open access)

Welfare Reform: Selected References, 1977-1978

This report is an annotated bibliography of published works on welfare reform from the years 1977 through 1978
Date: June 5, 1978
Creator: Cerny, Marsha K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Marihuana and Other Cannabis Derivatives: Selected References (open access)

Marihuana and Other Cannabis Derivatives: Selected References

This report is a collection of published works concerning marijuana and marijuana-based products.
Date: June 5, 1974
Creator: Puls, Barbara
System: The UNT Digital Library