This report includes Congressional Research Service Studies in the Public Domain.

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This report presents a general analysis of personal staff functions in a congressional office. Because there is little specific information from Congress and other sources regarding staff job descriptions and because congressional office organization patterns very significantly, this report focuses on the staff functions that are common to all offices regardless of organizational structure or job title: office management; mail; projects; casework; legislation; schedulng and personal services; press and public relations; and political functions.

This paper sets forth questions that a congressional office needs to consider in the process of closing down. These include statutory and non-statutory matters such as staff, the franking privilege, retirement benefits for Members and staff, allowances, and the disposition of congressional papers, and other office items.

The report examines the current debate in the United States over proposals for increased U.S. military sales to China. The study first examines the background of U.S.-China security ties since the Nixon Administration, and then sets forth the parameters of the current debate by noting a number of issues concerning U.S. military transfers to China on which all sides generally agree. It shows that Americans familiar with the issue tend to identify with different groups of opinion or "schools of thought" on the question of U.S. military transfers to China, and provides a detailed pro-con analysis of the issue. It concludes by noting cross pressures that are likely to greet U.S. policy makers as they grapple with this issue in the months ahead and offers an assessment of four policy options of possible use by U.S. policymakers.

This report consolidates various data on the national debt; it presents changes and comparisons of the debt for the years 1955 to 1980. The report also contains information on the public debt limit, the ownership of the public debt, and the debt owed by several sectors of the economy.