The combined efforts of the food industry and the regulatory agencies often are credited with making the U.S. food supply among the safest in the world. Nonetheless, many food-related health issues persist. At issue is whether the current U.S. regulatory system has the resources and structural organization to protect consumers from these dangers. Also at issue is whether the federal food safety laws themselves, first enacted in the early 1900s, have kept pace with the significant changes that have occurred in the food production, processing, and marketing sectors since then.

Supporters of comprehensive immigration reform have urged the President and Congress to pursue reform legislation. While legislative action on comprehensive reform does not appear likely during the remainder of the 111th Congress, there may be an effort to enact a measure, commonly referred to as the "DREAM Act," to enable certain unauthorized alien students to legalize their status. Multiple bills have been introduced in recent Congresses to address the unauthorized student population. This report discusses the DREAM Act, the topic of unauthorized alien students in general, and other related legislation.

This report provides an overview of current issues surrounding alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles - issues discussed in further detail in other CRS reports referred to in each section.

This report is prepared annually to provide Congress with official, unclassified, quantitative data on conventional arms transfers to developing nations by the United States and foreign countries for the preceding eight calendar years for use in its policy oversight functions. All agreement and delivery data in this report for the United States are government-to-government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) transactions. Similar data are provided on worldwide conventional arms transfers by all suppliers, but the principal focus is the level of arms transfers by major weapons suppliers to nations in the developing world.

This report discusses a rise in the unauthorized resident ("illegal") alien population from 1986 to 2010. It looks at reasons that illegal aliens stay resort to breaking the law and how illegal aliens affect the workforce in certain industries.

This report discusses offsets in relation to a greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade program. The first section of this report provides an overview of offsets by discussing different types of offset projects and describing how the offsets would likely be used in an emission reduction program. The next section discusses the supply of offsets that might be available in an emission trading program. The subsequent sections examine the potential offset benefits and the potential concerns associated with offsets. The final section offers considerations for Congress.

This report summarizes major provisions of the National Environmental Education Act of 1990, discusses appropriations for activities authorized in that statute, examines the implementation of these activities, and analyzes key issues and relevant legislation.

This report discusses the congressional redistricting that is the drawing of district boundaries from which the people choose their representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives.

This report reviews some of the principal existing homeland security information sharing arrangements, as well as some projected arrangements in this regard, and discusses related policy, evaluations, and proposed legislation.

This report addresses possible sources of federal support for schools and local educational agencies that have enrolled unaccompanied alien children.

This report documents the scheduled timeline for action on selected FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) provisions, as specified in the enacted law, and FDA-reported actions taken to date, based on available FDA press releases and publicly available progress reports.

This report focuses on the policy and legislative debate surrounding unauthorized aliens' access to federal benefits. The number of foreign-born people residing in the United States (40.7 million) is at the highest level in our history and, as a portion of the U.S. population, has reached a percentage (13%) not seen since the early 20th century.1 Of the foreign-born residents in the United States, approximately one-third are speculated to be unauthorized residents (often characterized as illegal aliens).

This report discusses offsets in relation to a greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade program. The first section of this report provides an overview of offsets by discussing different types of offset projects and describing how the offsets would likely be used in an emission reduction program. The next section discusses the supply of offsets that might be available in an emission trading program. The subsequent sections examine the potential offset benefits and the potential concerns associated with offsets. The final section offers considerations for Congress.

This report begins with a discussion of whether bankrupt firms can invalidate previous commitments covering retiree pensions and health insurance. The report next discusses the specific protections accorded to retiree pensions and health insurance benefits. Certain types of pensions are guaranteed by a quasi-public agency, while no such guarantee exists for retiree health insurance. The report concludes with brief case studies of the bankruptcies of Old GM, Delphi, and Patriot.

This report discusses Climate Summit 2014, its context, and its impact on future international climate initiatives.

This report discusses the significant financial challenges facing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). After running modest profits from FY2003 through FY2006, the USPS lost $45.6 billion between FY2007 and FY2013. Since FY2011, the USPS has defaulted on $16.7 billion in payments to its Retiree Health Benefits Fund (RHBF). The agency reached its $15 billion borrowing limit in FY2012 and did not reduce its total debt in FY2013. In October 2012, the USPS bolstered its liquidity by withdrawing all of the cash from its competitive products fund. This fund has not been replenished since that time.

This report provides a brief background on the veterans' health care system, followed by a discussion of the FY2009 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) budget request, and House and Senate Appropriations Committee action. The report concludes with a discussion of major VHA budget issues.

This report will begin to explore the issues, discussing what forms a transition from today's electric power grid to a grid of the future could take, and suggest questions that Congress may want to address. The United States seems to be at a turning point in the history of the electric power sector, some have advocated for the electric utility industry model to be reinvented under a "Utility 2.0" paradigm, wherein the modern needs of society for electric power and services become the driving force behind utility investments.

This report discusses federal funding for wastewater treatment through the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund (SRF) program and several other programs as well as current and future funding for the programs.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship/Frigate (LCS/FFG(X)) program, a program to procure a total of 40, and possibly as many as 52, small surface combatants (SSCs), meaning LCSs and frigates. A total of 29 LCSs have been procured through FY2017. For FY2018, the Navy is requesting the procurement of two more LCSs, which would be the 30th and 31st. The program presents several oversight issues for Congress. Congress's decisions on the LCS/FFG(X) program will affect Navy capabilities and funding requirements, and the shipbuilding industrial base.

This report evaluates the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) borrowing authority to receive loans from the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), particularly in the context of major floods, and discusses the current financial situation of the NFIP as it begins to pay claims from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

This report provides an overview of corporate tax issues and discusses potential reforms in the context of these issues, with particular attention to some of the research concerning large behavioral responses and their implications for revenue and distribution. The first section reviews the size and history of the corporate income tax, and discusses an important issue that has been given little attention by those who propose deep cuts in the corporate tax: its role in preventing the use of the corporate form as a tax shelter by wealthy business owners. This section also discusses the potential effect of behavioral responses on corporate tax revenues. The second section examines the role of the corporate tax in contributing to a progressive tax system and discusses claims that the burden falls on workers. The third section reviews arguments relating to efficiency and revenue yield, and traditional criticisms of the corporate tax as one that causes important behavioral distortions. One aspect of this discussion is the question of how the tax might be viewed differently in a more global economy. The final section examines options for reform.

This report concerns efficacy in stimulating home construction and the outcome of this, as well as if the Brooke-Cranston Program has mostly assisted wealthy households in purchasing new homes, as opposed to low and middle income families.

This report is a bibliography that outlines the entire spectrum of lobbying efforts in the United States.