The 2018 National Defense Strategy (open access)

The 2018 National Defense Strategy

This report discusses the 2018 National Defense Strategy which lays out the goals and methods of the Defense Department for the year.
Date: February 5, 2018
Creator: McInnis, Kathleen J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Additional U.S. Ground Troops to Counter the Islamic State? Five Questions (open access)

Additional U.S. Ground Troops to Counter the Islamic State? Five Questions

This report briefly discusses various arguments regarding the introduction of additional ground forces to secure territory once it has been taken back from the Islamic State.
Date: February 17, 2016
Creator: McInnis, Kathleen J. & Feickert, Andrew
System: The UNT Digital Library
Administration's Infrastructure Program Emphasizes Nonfederal Revenue (open access)

Administration's Infrastructure Program Emphasizes Nonfederal Revenue

This report discusses the Trump Administration's infrastructure plan and specifically the newly proposed Infrastructure Incentives Program. The report focuses on the potential of the program for projects submitted to the Department of Transportation (DOT), one of the agencies that would be charged with administering the program in addition to the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency. The proposal does not break out the funds that would be directed to specific agencies or types of infrastructure.
Date: February 14, 2018
Creator: Mallett, William J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agency Final Rules Submitted After May 16, 2016, May Be Subject to Disapproval in 2017 Under the Congressional Review Act (open access)

Agency Final Rules Submitted After May 16, 2016, May Be Subject to Disapproval in 2017 Under the Congressional Review Act

This report briefly discusses The Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. §§801-808), enacted as part of the 104th Congress's (1995-1996) "Contract with America," which established a special parliamentary mechanism whereby Congress can disapprove a final rule promulgated by a federal agency. With a change in the occupancy of the White House taking place in 2017, some in Congress are paying renewed attention to a parliamentary mechanism that might enable a new Congress and new President to overturn agency final rules of the Obama Administration issued after mid-May 2016.
Date: February 4, 2016
Creator: Davis, Christopher M. & Beth, Richard S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Appointment of African American U.S. Circuit and District Court Judges: Historical Overview and Current Data (open access)

Appointment of African American U.S. Circuit and District Court Judges: Historical Overview and Current Data

This report briefly provides historical and statistical information related to the appointment of African Americans as U.S. circuit and district court judges. Such information addresses ongoing congressional interest in the demographic characteristics of lower federal court judges.
Date: February 12, 2016
Creator: McMillion, Barry J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Army Corps Easement Process and Dakota Access Pipeline Easement Status (open access)

Army Corps Easement Process and Dakota Access Pipeline Easement Status

This report discusses the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a 1,172-mile pipeline system to transport oil from North Dakota to Illinois.
Date: February 2, 2017
Creator: Carter, Nicole T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Aung San Suu Kyi's Party Takes Control of Parliament in Burma (open access)

Aung San Suu Kyi's Party Takes Control of Parliament in Burma

This report discusses politics and government in Burma following elections in November 2015. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has now assumed control of Burma's Union Parliament. The lower chamber (People's Assembly) and the upper chamber (National Assembly) took office on February 1 and 3, 2016, respectively.
Date: February 9, 2016
Creator: Martin, Michael F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Challenges for U.S. Policymakers in Latin America and the Caribbean (open access)

Challenges for U.S. Policymakers in Latin America and the Caribbean

This report discusses the U.S. relations and economic linkages with the Latin American and Caribbean region that have made significant political and economic advances over the past three decades, though challenges remain.
Date: February 16, 2017
Creator: Sullivan, Mark P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
"El Chapo" Guzmán's Extradition: What's Next for U.S.-Mexican Security Cooperation? (open access)

"El Chapo" Guzmán's Extradition: What's Next for U.S.-Mexican Security Cooperation?

This report discusses the extradition of notorious drug trafficking kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.
Date: February 3, 2017
Creator: Ribando Seelke, Clare; Beittel, June S. & Rosen, Liana W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
China's Recent Stock Market Volatility: What Are the Implications? (open access)

China's Recent Stock Market Volatility: What Are the Implications?

This report briefly discusses the consequences of rapid price increases from about mid-2014 to mid-2015 in China's two main stock markets, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE).
Date: February 11, 2016
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M. & Nelson, Gabriel M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Current Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Issues (open access)

Current Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Issues

This report discusses the missile defense program and whether current policy or program direction might change. The FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, P.L. 114-328) made several notable changes that could have significant effects on the direction of U.S. BMD policy and programs.
Date: February 21, 2017
Creator: Hildreth, Steven A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dakota Access Pipeline: Siting Controversy (open access)

Dakota Access Pipeline: Siting Controversy

This report discusses the Dakota Access Pipeline including background on the project and information about siting approval, as well as opposition and litigation against the pipeline.
Date: February 8, 2017
Creator: Parfomak, Paul W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Discretionary Spending Levels Under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (open access)

Discretionary Spending Levels Under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018

This report discusses how the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 effected discretionary spending levels and provides statistics related to discretionary levels over the past few years.
Date: February 15, 2018
Creator: Driessen, Grant A. & Labonte, Marc
System: The UNT Digital Library
"Extraordinary Measures" and the Debt Limit (open access)

"Extraordinary Measures" and the Debt Limit

This report discusses the statuary debt limit and the use of "extraordinary measures" by the Treasury Department to postpone when Congress must act on raising the debt limit or risk defaulting on debts.
Date: February 2, 2018
Creator: Driessen, Grant A. & Hughes, Joseph S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) (open access)

Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)

This report discusses the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) which was passed as a part of the 2018 budget bill.
Date: February 9, 2018
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Federal Budget Deficit and the Business Cycle (open access)

The Federal Budget Deficit and the Business Cycle

This report discusses the annual federal budget deficit, which has fallen significantly over the course of the current economic expansion, from a high of 9.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) in FY2009 to 3.2% of GDP in FY2016.
Date: February 14, 2017
Creator: Driessen, Grant A. & Labonte, Marc
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Reserved Water Rights and Groundwater: Quantity, Quality, and Pore Space (open access)

Federal Reserved Water Rights and Groundwater: Quantity, Quality, and Pore Space

This report discusses Native American tribes rights to groundwater on tribal land and the recent Supreme Court decision to not review the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court which upheld the groundwater rights of a California Tribe. The concepts of quantity, quality, and pore space as related to groundwater are also discussed.
Date: February 8, 2018
Creator: Folger, Peter
System: The UNT Digital Library
"Fiscal Space" and the Federal Budget (open access)

"Fiscal Space" and the Federal Budget

This report discusses plans for the federal budget and the concept of "fiscal space," or the amount of room available for additional government borrowing.
Date: February 14, 2017
Creator: Driessen, Grant A. & Labonte, Marc
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fiscal Year 2019 Budget: Government Reorganization and Federal Workforce Reform (open access)

Fiscal Year 2019 Budget: Government Reorganization and Federal Workforce Reform

This report discusses the proposed FY2019 general U.S. budget and its plans for government reorganization and federal workforce reform.
Date: February 22, 2018
Creator: Schwemle, Barbara L. & Hogue, Henry B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
FY2016 Changes to DOD's 1033 Program (open access)

FY2016 Changes to DOD's 1033 Program

This report briefly discusses the current status of the Department of Defense's (DOD's) 1033 Program, under which excess DOD property -- such as personal computers, vehicles, and firearms -- are made available to qualified federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.
Date: February 16, 2016
Creator: Else, Daniel H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Has the Economy Reached Full Employment? If So, Will It Stay There? (open access)

Has the Economy Reached Full Employment? If So, Will It Stay There?

This report considers the question of whether the U.S. has reached full employment (defined as the lowest level of unemployment that is sustainable for the economy without over-inflating wages) and provides statistical charts of the unemployment rate and labor force participation rates along with analysis of the data.
Date: February 15, 2018
Creator: Labonte, Marc
System: The UNT Digital Library
Import Taxes on Mexican Crude Oil (open access)

Import Taxes on Mexican Crude Oil

This report discusses the possibility raised by the Trump administration of imposing a 20% tax, or fee, on imports from Mexico, presumably including imports of crude oil.
Date: February 9, 2017
Creator: Pirog, Robert & Parfomak, Paul W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Iran Policy and the European Union (open access)

Iran Policy and the European Union

This report expresses concerns by European Union (EU) officials that the Trump Administration might abandon consensus U.S.- EU policy toward Iran.
Date: February 27, 2017
Creator: Mix, Derek E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant (open access)

Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant

This report analyzes the special immigrant visas (SIVs) classifications for Iraqis and Afghans within the context of both the larger special immigrant category and selected other permanent admissions categories. It discusses the legislative changes to the individual Iraqi and Afghan special immigrant programs since their initial authorization, provides statistics on visa issuances, and considers challenges that have faced the programs.
Date: February 8, 2017
Creator: Bruno, Andorra
System: The UNT Digital Library