Defense Primer: Special Operations Forces (open access)

Defense Primer: Special Operations Forces

This report provides an overview of U.S. military Special Operations Forces (SOF), including personnel selection, command structure, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and Theater Special Operations Commands (TSOCs).
Date: November 16, 2018
Creator: Torreon, Barbara Salazar & Feickert, Andrew
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nuclear Energy: Overview of Congressional Issues (open access)

Nuclear Energy: Overview of Congressional Issues

This report discusses nuclear energy and various issues and concerns related to it use in six topics: radioactive waste, economic viability, safety, technological advances, security and emergency plans, and nuclear weapon nonproliferation.
Date: November 16, 2018
Creator: Holt, Mark
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Teacher Preparation Policies and Issues in the Higher Education Act (open access)

Teacher Preparation Policies and Issues in the Higher Education Act

This report provides a description of current programs and provisions in Title II-A and identifies a number of the key issues that may be part of the debate over the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA).
Date: November 16, 2018
Creator: Kuenzi, Jeffrey J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
What Role Might the Federal Government Play in Law Enforcement Reform? (open access)

What Role Might the Federal Government Play in Law Enforcement Reform?

This report discuses policy options for Congress to consider in regard to law enforcement reform. Over the past few years, several high-profile police-involved shootings and alleged instances of excessive force have generated congressional interest in state and local policing.
Date: November 16, 2018
Creator: James, Nathan & Harrington, Ben
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Immigration: "Recalcitrant" Countries and the Use of Visa Sanctions to Encourage Cooperation with Alien Removals (open access)

Immigration: "Recalcitrant" Countries and the Use of Visa Sanctions to Encourage Cooperation with Alien Removals

This report discusses the use of visa sanctions by the Trump Administration, past uses of visa sanctions, and alternatives to visa sanctions to encourage countries to comply with repatriation of their citizens.
Date: November 15, 2018
Creator: Wilson, Jill H.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress (open access)

Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress

This report introduces the main steps through which a bill (or other item of business) may travel in the legislative process. For many bills, the process will not follow the sequence of congressional stages that are often understood to make up the legislative process. This report presents a look at each of the common stages through which a bill may move, but complications and variations abound in practice.
Date: November 15, 2018
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Points of Order, Rulings, and Appeals in the Senate (open access)

Points of Order, Rulings, and Appeals in the Senate

This report describes the process of enforcing a rule of order in the U.S. Senate.
Date: November 15, 2018
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (P.L. 115-271): Food and Drug Administration and Controlled Substance Provisions (open access)

The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (P.L. 115-271): Food and Drug Administration and Controlled Substance Provisions

This report summarizes the provisions in Title III--the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and Controlled Substance Provisions, as well as Section 4004 "Modernizing the Reporting Requirements of Biological and Biosimilar Products" in Title IV--Offsets.
Date: November 15, 2018
Creator: Dabrowska, Agata; Green, Victoria R.; Sacco, Lisa N. & Yeh, Brian T.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Who Can Serve as Acting Attorney General (open access)

Who Can Serve as Acting Attorney General

This report discusses the two primary arguments raised to challenge the President's decision to name Matthew Whitaker as Acting Attorney General: first, that the Vacancies Act does not apply because another statute, 28 U.S.C. § 508, provides that the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) serves as Acting AG in the event of a vacancy; and second, that the Appointments Clause prohibits Whitaker, a non-Senate-confirmed official, from serving as the head of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Date: November 15, 2018
Creator: Brannon, Valerie C. & Cole, Jared P.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Primer: Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (open access)

Defense Primer: Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering

This report discusses the role of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and how the position fits into the organizational structure of the Defense Department.
Date: November 14, 2018
Creator: Gallo, Marcy E. & Schwartz, Moshe
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Supersonic Passenger Flights (open access)

Supersonic Passenger Flights

This report provides an overview of the development of supersonic air travel, renewed interest in supersonic passenger flights, and issues and challenges related to supersonic flights.
Date: November 14, 2018
Creator: Tang, Rachel Y.; Elias, Bart; Luther, Linda & Morgan, Daniel
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Primer: Congress's Constitutional Authority with Regard to the Armed Forces (open access)

Defense Primer: Congress's Constitutional Authority with Regard to the Armed Forces

This report provides an overview of Congress's war powers under the U.S. Constitution.
Date: November 13, 2018
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Primer: Legal Authorities for the Use of Military Forces (open access)

Defense Primer: Legal Authorities for the Use of Military Forces

This report provides an overview of United States war powers.
Date: November 13, 2018
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Primer: RDT&E (open access)

Defense Primer: RDT&E

This report describes the appropriations structure and funding levels for the U.S. Department of Defense's (DOD's) research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E). The DOD relies on scientific and technical research funded by the department and performed by industry, universities, federal laboratories, and others; the DOD also relies on technology developed by the private sector for commercial markets.
Date: November 13, 2018
Creator: Sargent, John F., Jr.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Lame Duck Sessions of Congress Following a Majority-Changing Election: In Brief (open access)

Lame Duck Sessions of Congress Following a Majority-Changing Election: In Brief

This report describes "lame duck" sessions of Congress, which take place whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected but before the term of the current Congress ends. It specifically provides additional information on the 1954, 1994, and 2010 lame duck sessions.
Date: November 13, 2018
Creator: Hudiburg, Jane A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Energy and Water Development Appropriations: Nuclear Weapons Activities (open access)

Energy and Water Development Appropriations: Nuclear Weapons Activities

This report discusses the Weapons Activities section of the annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill which funds the maintenance of U.S. nuclear warheads and related infrastructure. The report provides an overview of the programs funded through the bill and the FY2019 budget request.
Date: November 9, 2018
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Primer: Department of the Navy (open access)

Defense Primer: Department of the Navy

This report provides basic information on the Department of the Navy, which includes both the Navy and the Marine Corps. It also describes the Coast Guard's relationship to the Department.
Date: November 8, 2018
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Primer: Geography, Strategy, and U.S. Force Design (open access)

Defense Primer: Geography, Strategy, and U.S. Force Design

This report describes how world geography influences U.S. military strategy. Of particular importance to U.S. policymakers is preventing the emergence of a regional hegemony in one part of Eurasia.
Date: November 8, 2018
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Primer: Naval Forces (open access)

Defense Primer: Naval Forces

This report provides an overview of the United States Naval Forces, which includes the Navy and Marine Corps.
Date: November 8, 2018
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
House Committee Funding: Description of Process and Analysis of Disbursements (open access)

House Committee Funding: Description of Process and Analysis of Disbursements

This report discusses the funding process for House committees. It is organized in three sections: [1] an overview of the committee funding process in the House and analyzes funding levels since 1996; [2] a review of House floor and committee action on committee funding in the 115th Congress, and [3] a summary of the rules and regulations that structure the use of committee funds, with analysis of actual committee funding spending patterns during six previous years.
Date: November 8, 2018
Creator: Egar, William T.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
House Committee Party Ratios: 98th-115th Congresses (open access)

House Committee Party Ratios: 98th-115th Congresses

This report documents, in tabular form, House committee party ratios for 18 Congresses -- covering the period from the 98th Congress (1983-1985) through February 2017, the first part of the 115th Congress (2017-2019).
Date: November 8, 2018
Creator: Eckman, Sarah J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Medical Care: Frequently Asked Questions (open access)

Military Medical Care: Frequently Asked Questions

This report answers selected frequently-asked questions about military health care, including: 1) How is the Military Health System structured?, 2) What is TRICARE?, 3) What are the different TRICARE plans and who is eligible?, 4) What are the costs of military health care to beneficiaries?, 5) What is the relationship of TRICARE to Medicare?, 6) How does the Affordable Care Act affect TRICARE?, 7) When can beneficiaries change their TRICARE plan?, and 8) What is the Medicare Eligible Retiree Health Care fund, which funds TRICARE for Life?
Date: November 8, 2018
Creator: Mendez, Bryce H. P.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Senate Committee Party Ratios: 98th-115th Congresses (open access)

Senate Committee Party Ratios: 98th-115th Congresses

This report provides, in tabular form, Senate committee party ratios for 18 Congresses, covering the period of the 98th Congress (1983-1985) through April 2017, the first part of the 115th Congress (2017-2019).
Date: November 8, 2018
Creator: Eckman, Sarah J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Primer: The United States Air Force (open access)

Defense Primer: The United States Air Force

This report provides an overview of U.S. Air Force operations.
Date: November 7, 2018
Creator: Gertler, Jeremiah
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library