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The amending process is central to the consideration of legislation by the Senate. This report briefly describes the various types of amendments that take place in the Senate.

This report briefly discusses procedure regarding conference reports in the House.

This report briefly discusses procedure regarding conference reports in the Senate.

This report briefly summarizes the process of amendments between the House of Representatives and the Senate, which occurs if the House and Senate approve differing versions of a measure. An exchange of amendments between the houses resolves these differences.

This report provides information about the Funding, Organization, and Oversight on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Research and Development. Federal funding to counterterrorism and R&D has increased substantially in the last three years.

On May 2, 2003, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued its decision in McConnell v. FEC, striking down many key provisions of the law. This report provides a brief overview of the court’s decision and will be updated. The three-judge panel, which was split 2 to 1 on many issues, ordered that its ruling take effect immediately. Since the court has issued its opinion, several appeals have been filed. Under the BCRA expedited review provision, the court’s decision will be reviewed directly by the U.S. Supreme Court. On May 19 the U.S. district court issued a stay to its ruling, which leaves BCRA, as enacted, in effect until the Supreme Court issues a decision.

Energy security, a major driver of federal energy efficiency programs in the past, came back into play as oil and gas prices rose late in the year 2000. The terrorist attack in 2001 and the Iraq war have led to heightened concern for energy security and raised further concerns about the vulnerability of energy infrastructure and the need for alternative fuels. Further, the 2001 power shortages in California, the 2003 northeast-midwest power blackout, and continuing high natural gas prices have brought a renewed emphasis on energy efficiency and energy conservation to dampen electricity, oil, and natural gas demand.

The Department of Defense (DOD) has sent the Congress a major proposal entitled “Defense Transformation for the 21st Century Act of 2003”on April 10, 2003. This report briefly summarizes and presents all of the sections of the original DOD proposal in a side by side with the relevant provisions in current law, if they exist, that would have been affected by the proposal. The idea is to provide a “road map” that relates each section of the proposal to existing law. Provisions from the Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002 specific to the Department of Homeland Security are separately listed from the rest of the existing law, and are the most recently enacted changes to Title 5.

This paper summarizes pending legislation relating to domestic intelligence, briefly explains the jurisdiction and functions of MI-5, and describes some of the factors that may be relevant to a discussion regarding the applicability of the MI-5 domestic intelligence model to the United States.

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This report discusses the "oil-for-food" program (OFFP) as the centerpiece of a long-standing U.N. Security Council effort to alleviate human suffering in Iraq while maintaining key elements of the 1991 Gulf war-related sanctions regime. The program, in operation from December 1996 until March 2003, is detailed.

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This report discusses Fishery, Aquaculture, and Marine Mammal online news and information sources.

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This report summarizes the provisions affecting charitable contribution deductions of individuals, and then analyzes the incentive such a deduction would create for increased charitable giving beginning with the original proposal for a relatively low cap and then considering other approaches including the current one. It does not attempt to estimate other types of societal impacts. The non-itemizer’s charitable deduction was the single most important tax provision in the original version of H.R. 7. In S. 1924, S. 476, and the current version of H.R. 7, the nonitemizer provision was temporary and had a higher cap (and a floor). The provision affecting rollovers from IRAs, which can also function as a deduction for nonitemizers, is also discussed briefly.

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Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the composition of the Recycling Market Development Board and the termination of certain duties of the General Land Office relating to the board and the recycling awareness campaign.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the Records Management Interagency Coordinating Council

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the eligibility requirements to serve as a director of a groundwater conservation district.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The anthrax attacks of 2001 resulted in 23 cases of the disease, 5 deaths, and the contamination of numerous U.S. Postal Service facilities, including the Southern Connecticut Processing and Distribution Center in Wallingford, Connecticut (the Wallingford facility). But none of the workers at the Wallingford facility contracted the disease from the anthrax contamination. As a result, GAO was asked to examine the adequacy of methods used to determine whether the Wallingford facility and other postal facilities were contaminated. In this testimony, GAO presents its preliminary findings concerning the test results for the Wallingford facility: (1) the collection of samples to detect anthrax, (2) the meaning of the test results, and (3) the communication of the test results to workers."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On April 1, we testified before the Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization, House Committee on Government Reform at a hearing on "Compensation Reform: How Should the Federal Government Pay Its Employees?" This letter responds to a request that we provide answers to follow-up questions from the hearing."