The National Labor Relations Act: Background and Selected Topics (open access)

The National Labor Relations Act: Background and Selected Topics

Report that discusses the National Labor Relations Act, the coverage it provides, unfair labor practices that the act prohibits, pre-election communications with employees, and several legal cases regarding the Act.
Date: September 7, 2012
Creator: Shimabukuro, Jon O.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Purple Heart: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

The Purple Heart: Background and Issues for Congress

Report that explores the history of the Purple Heart and changes in eligibility over time as well as several current issues facing Congress.
Date: September 7, 2012
Creator: Burrelli, David F. & Gilroy, Fenwick
System: The UNT Digital Library
Unemployment Compensation (UC): Eligibility for Students Under State and Federal Laws (open access)

Unemployment Compensation (UC): Eligibility for Students Under State and Federal Laws

Report that describes the state variations student disqualification from Unemployment Compensation benefits while they attend school.
Date: September 7, 2012
Creator: Whittaker, Julie M. & Eder, Alan
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA): Workers' Compensation for Federal Employees (open access)

The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA): Workers' Compensation for Federal Employees

Report concerning the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA), its legislative history, a program overview, and issues regarding FECA's generous benefits.
Date: November 7, 2012
Creator: Szymendera, Scott
System: The UNT Digital Library
Congressional Oversight and Related Issues Concerning International Security Agreements Concluded by the United States (open access)

Congressional Oversight and Related Issues Concerning International Security Agreements Concluded by the United States

This report looks at issues arising from disputes between Congress and the executive branch. It begins by providing a general background on the types of international agreements that are binding upon the United States, as well as considerations affecting whether they take the form of a treaty or an executive agreement. Next, the report discusses historical precedents as to the role that security agreements have taken, with specific attention paid to past agreements entered with Afghanistan, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Iraq. The report discusses the oversight role that Congress exercises with respect to entering and implementing international agreements involving the United States.
Date: June 7, 2012
Creator: Garcia, Michael John & Mason, R. Chuck
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Renewable Electricity: How Does Wind Generation Impact Competitive Power Markets? (open access)

U.S. Renewable Electricity: How Does Wind Generation Impact Competitive Power Markets?

This report analyzes the impacts of wind generation on competitive power markets, including financial and economic impacts on electric power generators. Overall, the report aims to provide context for several electricity market concepts that are relevant to understanding the economic effects of wind power generation.
Date: November 7, 2012
Creator: Brown, Phillip
System: The UNT Digital Library
Title IX, Sex Discrimination, and Intercollegiate Athletics: A Legal Overview (open access)

Title IX, Sex Discrimination, and Intercollegiate Athletics: A Legal Overview

This report provides an overview of Title IX in general and the intercollegiate athletics regulations in particular, as well as a summary of the commission’s report and ED’s response and a discussion of legal challenges to the regulations and to the three-part test.
Date: December 7, 2012
Creator: Feder, Jody
System: The UNT Digital Library
Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress (open access)

Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress

This report focuses on international and domestic human trafficking and U.S. policy responses, with particular emphasis on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) and its subsequent reauthorizations.
Date: December 7, 2012
Creator: Siskin, Alison & Wyler, Liana Sun
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Pollution Control Laws: How Are They Enforced? (open access)

Federal Pollution Control Laws: How Are They Enforced?

This report provides an overview of the statutory framework, key players, infrastructure, resources, tools, and operations associated with enforcement and compliance of the major pollution control laws and regulations administered by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It also outlines the roles of federal (including regional offices) and state regulators, as well as the regulated community.
Date: July 7, 2012
Creator: Esworthy, Robert
System: The UNT Digital Library
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA): Congressional Interest and Executive Enforcement (open access)

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA): Congressional Interest and Executive Enforcement

This report discusses Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, Criticisms of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, Continuing Congressional Concerns and Executive Branch Oversight.
Date: February 7, 2012
Creator: Seitzinger, Michael V.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Drug Testing and Crime-Related Restrictions in TANF, SNAP, and Housing Assistance (open access)

Drug Testing and Crime-Related Restrictions in TANF, SNAP, and Housing Assistance

This report describes and compares the drug-and crime - related policy restrictions contained in selected federal programs that provide assistance to low-income individuals and families.
Date: March 7, 2012
Creator: McCarty, Maggie; Aussenberg, Randy Alison; Falk, Gene & Carpenter, David H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Contracting and Subcontracting with Small Businesses: Issues in the 112th Congress (open access)

Federal Contracting and Subcontracting with Small Businesses: Issues in the 112th Congress

This report describes and analyzes measures that Members of the 112th Congress have enacted or proposed in response to particular issues pertaining to small business contracting and subcontracting.
Date: May 7, 2012
Creator: Manuel, Kate M. & Lunder, Erika K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fatherhood Initiatives: Connecting Fathers to Their Children (open access)

Fatherhood Initiatives: Connecting Fathers to Their Children

This report briefly examines the role of the CSE agency in fatherhood programs and discusses initiatives to promote and support father-child interaction outside the parents relationship.
Date: December 7, 2012
Creator: Solomon-Fears, Carmen
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Nuclear Cooperation with India: Issues for Congress (open access)

U.S. Nuclear Cooperation with India: Issues for Congress

This report discusses the United States' relationship with India as it regards nuclear nonproliferation and cooperation. It particularly looks at agreements made between the Bush administration and India, and the Obama administrations continuation of these policies.
Date: May 7, 2012
Creator: Kerr, Paul K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements (open access)

Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements

This report provides an overview of many of the key arms control and nonproliferation agreements and endeavors of the past 40 years. It is divided into three sections. The first describes arms control efforts between the United States and the states of the former Soviet Union, covering both formal, bilateral treaties, and the cooperative threat reduction process. The second section describes multilateral nuclear nonproliferation efforts, covering both formal treaties and less formal accommodations that have been initiated in recent years. The final section reviews treaties and agreements that address chemical, biological, and conventional weapons.
Date: March 7, 2012
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.; Nikitin, Mary Beth & Kerr, Paul K.
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 discusses the U.S. Navy's efforts in recent years to strengthen its ability to carry out irregular warfare (IW) counterterrorism (CT) activities. Some of the activities and organizations explored in this report are the creation of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC), the Navy's riverine force, the Navy Irregular Warfare Office, and the Global Maritime Partnership. The report also discusses what potential oversight issues the Navy's IW and CT activities pose for Congress, including budget priorities.
Date: March 7, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library
Renewable Energy R&D Funding History: A Comparison with Funding for Nuclear Energy, Fossil Energy, and Energy Efficiency R&D (open access)

Renewable Energy R&D Funding History: A Comparison with Funding for Nuclear Energy, Fossil Energy, and Energy Efficiency R&D

This report looks at the history and current status, including Congress delegated funding, of energy-related research and development of coal-based synthetic petroleum and atomic power.
Date: March 7, 2012
Creator: Sissine, Fred
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Contracting and Subcontracting with Small Businesses: Issues in the 112th Congress (open access)

Federal Contracting and Subcontracting with Small Businesses: Issues in the 112th Congress

Congress has generally broad authority to impose requirements upon the federal procurement process, or the process whereby agencies obtain goods and services from the private sector. One of the many ways in which Congress has exercised this authority is by enacting measures intended to promote contracting and subcontracting with "small businesses" by federal agencies. This report describes and analyzes measures that Members of the 112th Congress have enacted or proposed in response to particular issues pertaining to small business contracting and subcontracting.
Date: March 7, 2012
Creator: Manuel, Kate M. & Lunder, Erika K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Legal Authorities Governing Federal Contracting and Subcontracting with Small Businesses (open access)

Legal Authorities Governing Federal Contracting and Subcontracting with Small Businesses

Congress has generally broad authority to impose requirements upon the federal procurement process, or the process whereby agencies obtain goods and services from the private sector. One of the many ways in which Congress has exercised this authority is by enacting measures intended to promote contracting and subcontracting with "small businesses" by federal agencies.
Date: March 7, 2012
Creator: Manuel, Kate M. & Lunder, Erika K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The U.S. Income Distribution and Mobility: Trends and International Comparisons (open access)

The U.S. Income Distribution and Mobility: Trends and International Comparisons

This report looks at the causes and effects of the recent United States low unemployment rate.
Date: March 7, 2012
Creator: Levine, Linda
System: The UNT Digital Library
Insourcing Functions Performed by Federal Contractors: An Overview of the Legal Issues (open access)

Insourcing Functions Performed by Federal Contractors: An Overview of the Legal Issues

Recent Congresses and the Obama Administration have taken numerous actions to promote "insourcing," or the use of government personnel to perform functions that contractors have performed on behalf of federal agencies. Members of the 112th Congress have introduced several measures which seek to ensure that certain contractors have standing to challenge insourcing determinations; would provide for additional review of insourcing determinations that affect small businesses; or could otherwise constrain insourcing initiatives.
Date: May 7, 2012
Creator: Manuel, Kate M. & Maskell, Jack
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sourcing Policy: Selected Developments and Issues (open access)

Sourcing Policy: Selected Developments and Issues

Dating back to the 1950s, federal sourcing policy generally has focused on the premise that the government should rely on the private sector for the provision of certain goods and services. Additionally, it has centered around guidance for conducting public-private competitions to determine whether federal employees, or contractor employees, should be selected to perform certain agency functions.This report provides an overview of the evolution of federal sourcing policy to date and identifies the major policy issues before Congress. It is not a legislation tracking report.
Date: February 7, 2012
Creator: Halchin, L. Elaine
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mexican Migration to the United States: Policy and Trends (open access)

Mexican Migration to the United States: Policy and Trends

History and geography have given Mexico a unique status in the U.S. immigration system, and have made the Mexico-U.S. migration flow the largest in the world. Mexicans are the largest group of U.S. migrants across most types of immigration statuses—a fact that may have important implications for how Congress makes U.S. immigration policy. This report reviews the history of immigration policy and migration flows between the countries and the demographics of Mexicans within the United States. It also analyzes contemporary issues in U.S. immigration policy and the impact Mexico may have on U.S. immigration outcomes.
Date: June 7, 2012
Creator: Rosenblum, Marc R.; Kandel, William A.; Ribando Seelke, Clare & Wasem, Ruth Ellen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress

The planned size of the Navy, the rate of Navy ship procurement, and the prospective affordability of the Navy's shipbuilding plans have been matters of concern for the congressional defense committees for the past several years. A June 2011 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the cost of the Navy's FY2012 30- year (FY2012-FY2041) shipbuilding plan estimates that the plan would cost an average of $18.0 billion per year in constant FY2011 dollars to implement, or about 16% more than the Navy estimates. CBO's estimate is about 7% higher than the Navy's estimate for the first 10 years of the plan, about 10% higher than the Navy's estimate for the second 10 years of the plan, and about 31% higher than the Navy's estimate for the final 10 years of the plan.
Date: February 7, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library