The second session of the 109th Congress may well face decisions regarding the preparation of U.S. military forces for stability missions, a broad doctrinal term of which a major subset is peace operations. A November 28, 2005, Department of Defense (DOD) directive that designates stability operations as “core missions” of the U.S. military marks a major shift on the future necessity of performing peacekeeping and related stability operations (also known as stabilization and reconstruction operations).

On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel declared its independence and was immediately engaged in a war with all of its neighbors. Armed conflict has marked every decade of Israel’s existence. Despite its unstable regional environment, Israel has developed a vibrant parliamentary democracy, albeit with relatively fragile governments.

The Department of the Navy (DON) has several efforts underway to transform U.S. naval forces to prepare them for future military challenges. The Navy has organized these efforts under a conceptual framework called Sea Power 21. Key elements of naval transformation include a focus on operating in littoral waters, increasing the Navy’s capabilities for participating in the global war on terrorism (GWOT), network-centric operations, use of unmanned vehicles, directly launching and supporting expeditionary operations ashore from sea bases, new kinds of naval formations, new ship-deployment approaches, reducing personnel requirements, and streamlined and reformed business practices. Naval transformation poses several potential issues for Congress. This report will be updated as events warrant.

This report provides casualty data compiled by the Department of Defense (DOD), as tallied from the agency’s press releases. Table 1 provides statistics on fatalities during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19, 2003, and is ongoing, as well as on the number of fatalities since May 1, 2003, plus statistics on those wounded, but not killed, since March 19, 2003. Statistics may be revised as circumstances are investigated and as all records are processed through the U.S. military’s casualty system.

Since the late 1970s, U.S. policy makers at both the federal and state levels have enacted a variety of incentives, regulations, and programs to encourage the production and use of agriculture-based renewable energy. Motivations cited for these legislative initiatives include energy security concerns, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and raising domestic demand for U.S.-produced farm products. This report provides background information on farm-based energy production and how this fits into the national energy-use picture. It briefly reviews the primary agriculture-based renewable energy types and issues of concern associated with their production, particularly their economic and energy efficiencies and long-run supply. Finally, this report examines the major legislation related to farm-based energy production and use.

In the aftermath of last year’s hurricane season, questions arose regarding increased prices in the areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma and the effect that the damage caused by the hurricanes would have on prices, specifically gasoline prices, in other parts of the country. As gasoline prices have continued to rise in the months since, Congress has considered legislation addressing gasoline and oil prices that includes provisions related to price gouging. The House has recently passed two bills that include a federal prohibition on price gouging (H.R. 3893 and H.R. 5253). This report discusses state laws regarding price gouging, the role of the federal government in addressing rising gas prices, and selected federal legislative proposals specific to price gouging.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a municipality that adopts its budget by ordinance must adopt budget amendments by ordinance (RQ-0414-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether there is an irreconcilable conflict between portions of two bills enacted by the Seventy-ninth Legislature with regard to sterilization requirements for certain barbering and cosmetology services (RQ-0415-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Validity of a charter provision that permits a home-rule city to amend its charter by ordinance (RQ-0416-GA)

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many U.S. communities face difficulties attracting physicians to meet their health care needs. To address this problem, states and federal agencies have turned to foreign physicians who have just completed their graduate medical education in the United States under J-1 visas. Ordinarily, these physicians are required to return home after completing their education, but this requirement can be waived at the request of a state or federal agency if the physician agrees to practice in, or work at a facility that treats residents of, an underserved area. In 1996, GAO reported that J-1 visa waivers had become a major means of providing physicians for underserved areas, with over 1,300 requested in 1995. Since 2002, each state has been allotted 30 J-1 visa waivers per year, but some states have expressed interest in more. GAO was asked to report on its preliminary findings from ongoing work on (1) the number of J-1 visa waivers requested by states and federal agencies and (2) states' views on the 30-waiver limit and on their willingness to have unused waiver allotments redistributed. Such redistribution would require legislative action. GAO surveyed the 50 states, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricane Katrina struck near the Louisiana-Mississippi border and became one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, affecting a large geographic area and necessitating the evacuation of people from parts of the area, including vulnerable populations, such as hospital patients, nursing home residents and transportation-disadvantaged populations who were not in such facilities. The disaster highlighted the challenges involved in evacuating vulnerable populations due to hurricanes. GAO was asked to discuss efforts to plan and prepare for the needs of seniors in the event of a national emergency. GAO describes its ongoing work on evacuation in the event of emergencies, such as hurricanes, and provides preliminary observations on (1) challenges faced by hospital and nursing home administrators that are related to hurricane evacuations; (2) the federal program that supports the evacuation of patients needing hospital care and nursing home residents; and (3) challenges states and localities face in preparing for and carrying out the evacuation of transportation-disadvantaged populations and efforts to address evacuation needs. This testimony is based in part on a prior GAO report, Disaster Preparedness: Preliminary Observations on the Evacuation of Hospitals and Nursing Homes Due …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has faced challenges for many years in managing its grants, which constitute over one-half of the agency's budget, or about $4 billion annually. EPA awards grants through 93 programs to such recipients as state and local governments, tribes, universities, and nonprofit organizations. In response to concerns about its ability to manage grants effectively, EPA issued its 5-year Grants Management Plan in 2003, with performance measures and targets. This testimony is based on GAO's May 2006 report, Grants Management: EPA Has Made Progress in Grant Reforms but Needs to Address Weaknesses in Implementation and Accountability (GAO-06-625). GAO examined EPA's progress in implementing its grant reforms in four key areas: (1) awarding grants, (2) monitoring grantees, (3) obtaining results from grants, and (4) managing grant staff and resources."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The finances of servicemembers and their families have been an ongoing concern of Congress and the Department of Defense (DOD), especially in light of more frequent deployments to support conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Adverse effects that may result when servicemembers experience financial problems include loss of security clearances, criminal or nonjudicial sanctions, adverse personnel actions, or adverse impacts on unit readiness. To decrease the likelihood that servicemembers will experience financial problems, DOD has requested and Congress has granted annual increases in military basic pay for all active duty servicemembers and increases in special pays and allowances for deployed servicemembers. The military has also developed personal financial management (PFM) programs to help avoid or mitigate adverse effects associated with personal financial problems. However, studies published in 2002 showed that servicemembers continue to report financial problems. This testimony provides a summary of GAO's prior work examining (1) the extent to which deployments have affected the financial conditions of active duty servicemembers and their families, and (2) steps that DOD has taken to assist servicemembers with their financial needs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For the 2010 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) is making the most extensive use of contractors in its history to supply a number of mission-critical functions and technologies. Because of the critical role that contractors will play in the 2010 Census, GAO reviewed the Bureau's acquisition planning process. Specifically GAO's objectives were to (1) determine the status of the Bureau's major decennial contracts, and (2) evaluate the extent to which the Bureau is using selected leading practices to manage its acquisition planning for these contracts."

A retirement annuity allows an individual to purchase a regular payment stream from an insurance company to last his lifetime. Despite the ability of the product to eliminate the risk that a retiree will outlive his assets, few retirement annuities have been sold in the individual market. In addition, the number of individuals who annuitize their defined contribution retirement plan balances remains small. New products are emerging that would offer alternate annuity designs and make annuity prices more attractive. This report discusses legislation has been proposed in the 109th Congress that would enhance the tax treatment of annuities and encourage the growth of stand-alone annuity and combined annuity and long-term care products.

This report discusses the Middle East peace talks, including the new peace process with the most recent developments,and the war against terrorism.

This report discusses the FY2006 budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 95), which was agreed to by the House and Senate on April 28, 2005, included reconciliation instructions for: (1) an omnibus bill to reduce mandatory outlays by about $35 billion over a five-year period, covering FY2006-FY2010; (2) a bill to reduce revenues by $70 billion over the same period; and (3) a bill to increase the limit on the public debt by $781 billion.

Fish and marine mammals are important resources in open ocean and nearshore coastal areas. Many laws and regulations guide the management of these resources by federal agencies. This report contains information on commercial and sport fisheries, aquaculture, and marine mammals and issues related to the 109th Congress.

Since the enactment of the individual income tax in 1913, the appropriate taxation of capital gains income has been a perennial topic of debate in Congress. Almost immediately after the passage of the Revenue Act of 1913, legislative steps were initiated to change and modify the tax treatment of capital gains and losses. This report discusses different tax treatments and revenue acts since 1913

The present state-of-art Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) technology is based on platinum (Pt) as a catalyst for both the fuel (anode) and air (cathode) electrodes. This catalyst is highly active but susceptible to poisoning by CO, which may be present in the H{sub 2}-fuel used or may be introduced during the fuel processing. Presence of trace amount of CO and H{sub 2}S in the H{sub 2}-fuel poisons the anode irreversibly and decreases the performance of the PEMFCs. In an effort to reduce the Pt-loading and improve the PEMFC performance, we propose to synthesize a number of Pt-based binary, ternary, and quaternary electrocatalysts using Ru, Mo, Ir, Ni, and Co as a substitute for Pt. By fine-tuning the metal loadings and compositions of candidate electrocatalysts, we plan to minimize the cost and optimize the catalyst activity and performance in PEMFC. The feasibility of the novel electrocatalysts will be demonstrated in the proposed effort with gas phase CO and H{sub 2}S concentrations typical of those found in reformed fuel gas with coal/natural gas/methanol feedstocks. During this reporting period we used four Pt-based electrocatalysts (Pt/Ru/Mo/Se, Pt/Ru/Mo/Ir, Pt/Ru/Mo/W, Ptr/Ru/Mo/Co) in MEAs and these were evaluated for CO-tolerance with 20 and 100 ppm …

This Safety Analysis Report for Packaging (SARP) documents the analysis and testing performed on and for the 9977 Shipping Package, referred to as the General Purpose Fissile Package (GPFP). The performance evaluation presented in this SARP documents the compliance of the 9977 package with the regulatory safety requirements for Type B packages. Per 10 CFR 71.59, for the 9977 packages evaluated in this SARP, the value of ''N'' is 50, and the Transport Index based on nuclear criticality control is 1.0. The 9977 package is designed with a high degree of single containment. The 9977 complies with 10 CFR 71 (2002), Department of Energy (DOE) Order 460.1B, DOE Order 460.2, and 10 CFR 20 (2003) for As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) principles. The 9977 also satisfies the requirements of the Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material--1996 Edition (Revised)--Requirements. IAEA Safety Standards, Safety Series No. TS-R-1 (ST-1, Rev.), International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria (2000). The 9977 package is designed, analyzed and fabricated in accordance with Section III of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code, 1992 edition.

Presentation given at the 2006 DOE Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program Annual Merit Review in Washington, D.C., May 16-19, 2006, discusses potential future hydrogen demand and the infrastructure needed to support hydrogen vehicles.

The Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC) requires that drums containing Waste Type IV (solidified organic waste) must be evaluated by gas generation testing (GGT) because a G-value, a measure of gas generation potential, has not been determined for Waste Type IV.

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