This report discusses the Air Force's planned procurement of 350 new Advanced Pilot Training (APT T-X) aircraft and 46 Ground Based Training Systems (GBTS) at a cost valued at roughly $1.5 billion for the Research, Design, Test, and Evaluation phase of the program and estimated at $18 billion in future procurement costs. The APT T-X acquisition strategy poses potential oversight issues for Congress, including the following: Is the number of planned aircraft purchases sufficient? Given the reported pilot shortage, should the procurement be accelerated? What effects do increased F-35A & KC-46 purchases, along with development of the new Long Range Strike Bomber, B-21, have on the USAF budget and the feasibility of an additional Major Defense Acquisition Program? These questions and the Air Force's FY 2017 appropriations requests' for the program are addressed in this report.

This report discuses the development, procurement, and funding of the Army's new Multi-Purpose Vehicles (AMPV) intended to replace Vietnam War-era M-113 personnel carriers. The FY2018 budget request for the AMPV requests $647.4 million for the production of 107 vehicles. A potential issue for Congress is whether the Administration's proposal to increase the size of the Army will translate into a requirement for additional AMPVs.

This report aims to provide information on the history of democracy promotion as a foreign assistance objective, the role of the primary U.S. agencies administering such programs, and funding details and trends, as well as issues of potential relevance to Congress.

This report describes the terms most commonly used when discussing the federal individual income tax. Most of these tax terms are explained in the order that they occur in the process of determining one's income tax on the Form 1040. A copy of the 2016 IRS Form 1040 is included at the end of this report.

This report discusses the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program which provides developers with tax credits for developing or rehabilitating affordable housing and describes how the allocation processes work.

This report discuses the development, procurement, and funding of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) for the Army and Marine Corps. The FY2018 budget request for JLTVs is $1,142.7 million for 2,777 JLTVs for the Army, Marines, and Air Force. The major potential issues for Congress include whether an increase in endstrength and force structure might result in an increase in overall JLTV requirements, and what the service-specific fielding plans for the JLTV might be.

This report discusses the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) newly published new standards regulating exposure to crystalline silica in the workplace. Under the new standards, the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for crystalline silica will be reduced to 50 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter of air). Employers will be required to monitor crystalline silica exposure if workplace levels may exceed 25 µg/m3 for at least 30 days in a year and provide medical monitoring to employees in those workplaces. In the case of construction workers, medical monitoring is required only if the new standards require workers to wear respirators for at least 30 days in a year.

This report examines recent trends in U.S. GHG emissions, particularly CO2 emissions from electricity generation, and the factors that impact emission levels in that sector. In addition, this report examines the degree to which CPP implementation (or lack thereof) may impact CO2 emission levels from electric power plants. The first section provides an overview of various sources of GHG emissions in the United States. This includes an overview of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and a closer look at CO2 emissions from electricity generation, which account for the second largest percentage of CO2 emission from fossil fuel combustion (1% percentage point behind the transportation sector). The second section examines projections of CO2 emissions in the electric power sector, with a particular focus on the role of the CPP and other factors. The final section highlights the challenges in making CO2 emission projections with a comparison of actual CO2 emissions with prior emission forecasts.

This report discusses systems used by the federal government to keep track of all the different government contractors through the use of unique identifying numbers. The first section provides basic information on the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) which is the current system that is slowly being phased out and the Commercial and Government Entity System and Codes (CAGE) which has been being implemented more recently. The final section discusses the federal government's reliance on DUNS, interest in and exploration of alternatives to DUNS, and government actions that possibly could pave the way for the adoption of an alternative system, or a hybrid system that includes DUNS. The CAGE system, which is an existing, federal government identification system, may be a candidate for either option.