Newsletter of Ernest Bailes for his constituents in district 18 discussing news, activities, and various updates related to work in the Texas legislature. It focuses on the update on the Pro-Life bill progressing through the House, the passing of a bill to protect forest land, the bill filed to support a presidential library at Sam Huston State University, and the bill proposed on public school accountability.

Newsletter of Ernest Bailes for his constituents in district 18 discussing news, activities, and various updates related to work in the Texas legislature. It focuses on the controversial decisions around House Bill 21, and it gives a short legislative update.

This report discusses the the relative imbalance in defense spending and military capabilities within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has long fueled concerns about burdensharing and European allies' reliance on U.S. defense guarantees.

This report discusses the kingdom of Saudi Arabia's relations with the United States; the kingdom's stability, and its future trajectory are subjects of continuing congressional interest.

This report discusses legislation (H.R. 1311, S. 517) regarding providing a waiver for ethanol-fuel blends containing greater than 10% ethanol (E15) from the Clean Air Act's (CAA) strict requirements on volatility of gasoline. This requirement currently prevents E15 gas from being sold during the summer. Major points of the legislation, various types of waivers and current rules under the CAA for gasoline and possible options for Congress are discussed.

This report discusses the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC's) influence on global oil prices through coordinated production decisions that can impact the global oil market supply and demand balance.

This report discusses the causes of funding gaps and shutdowns of the federal government, processes that are associated with shutdowns, and how agency operations may be affected by shutdowns. The report concludes with a discussion of potential issues for Congress.

This report covers the H-2A agricultural guest worker program and the H-2B nonagricultural guest worker program. It explores the statutory and regulatory provisions that govern each program, focusing in particular on the much-debated labor certification process. It discusses past and present legislative efforts to reform the H-2A and H-2B programs and to create new guest worker visas, and identifies and analyzes key policy considerations to help inform future congressional action.

Identifies the remote sensing and modelling technologies capable of estimating ET and PPT with the end goal of improving NIWR across Texas.

The report focuses on the complexity of federal activities related to water, based on four general topics: (1) "Water Resources Development, Management, and Use"; (2) "Water Quality, Protection, and Restoration"; (3) "Water Rights and Allocation"; and (4) "Research and Planning." It aims to serve as a guide to federal water-related activities, including the administering agency (or agencies), the primary or overarching authorities for such activities, and House and Senate committee jurisdictions.

This report summarizes developments in the offshore oil leasing 2017-2022 program and considers selected congressional issues and actions related to the program. President Trump issued an executive order on April 28, 2017, directing the Secretary of the Interior to review and consider revising the 2017-2022 program. The 115th Congress could influence the five-year program by enacting legislation to alter the program, as well as by conducting oversight.

This report discusses President Trump's executive order (E.O.) on U.S. offshore energy strategy including a brief overview of previous policies and the scope of the E.O.

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 identifies, by Senate committee, presidentially appointed positions requiring Senate confirmation as of June 30, 2016. For each committee list, positions are categorized as full- or part-time and then grouped by department or agency. Where nominations have been referred to more than one committee, they are noted under each of the committees to which the nominations were referred. The lists also include the lengths of fixed terms, where applicable.

This report provides an overview of paid family leave in the United States, summarizes state level family leave insurance programs, notes paid family leave policies in other advanced economy countries, and notes recent federal proposals to increase access to paid family leave.

This report looks at past proposals to corporatize or privatize FAA air traffic functions and examines the way air traffic management is structured in other countries, particularly focusing on those that have opted for corporatization or privatization.

This report provides an overview of the relationship between executive and legislative authority over national security information, and summarizes the current laws that form the legal framework protecting classified information -- including current executive orders and some agency regulations pertaining to the handling of unauthorized disclosures of classified information by government officers and employees. The report also summarizes criminal laws that pertain specifically to the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, as well as civil and administrative penalties, and some recent developments.

This report provides an overview and highlights of the State Department Foreign Operations and Related Appropriations request with an account-by-account comparison of the FY2017 request to the House and Senate committee-passed bills and FY2016 estimates in Appendix A. Appendix B provides the International Affairs 150 function funding levels.

This report discusses the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant which provides monthly assistance (welfare) to needy families with children and funding for family and youth poverty alleviation programs such as job training for parents, early childhood education for children, and child care subsidies. Different types of research funded through the appropriations for TANF are also discussed.

This report discusses President Trump's April 18, 2017 Executive Order on Buy American and Hire American and its implications for U.S. trade agreements and government procurement costs.

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 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 compares the enacted legislation text of the Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act of 2017 with P.L. 109-479, Title VIII, section by section, with brief comments on selected comparisons about how changes in P.L. 115-25, Title V, affect P.L. 109-479, Title VIII, and the authorized tsunami activities.

This report examines recent trends in waterborne freight movement within the United States and offers policy options that might strengthen the competitive position of coastal and Great Lakes shipping in the face of robust demand for freight transportation.