This report discusses the provisions of the 1996 farm bill, which was due to expire in 2002 but was extended (P.L. 107-171) for an additional 6 years on May 13, 2002.

This report summarizes the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and discuses its expansions by the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA). The report specifically targets "substantially limits" in its investigation that relate to testing accommodations gained under the ADAAA.

This report collects statistics from a variety of sources on casualties sustained during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which began on October 7, 2001. OEF actions took place primarily in Afghanistan; however, OEF casualties also includes American casualties in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen.

This report discusses the current political state of Iran, focusing particularly on the influence of the Taliban and other militant groups and on the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. This report also discusses the U.S.-Iran relationship and U.S. efforts under the Obama Administration to provide military, reconstructive, and stabilization aid.

This report summarizes some of the domestic agriculture and forestry provisions in the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 (S. 3036, formerly S. 2191), as ordered reported out of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in December 2007.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Farm Service Agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture currently administer 20 programs and subprograms that are directly or indirectly available to assist producers and landowners who wish to practice conservation on agricultural lands. The number, scope, and overall funding of these programs have all grown with each recent farm bill. This growth can cause confusion over which problems and conditions each program addresses, and specific program characteristics and performance, especially for those who are less familiar with this conservation effort. This report lists these programs and basic information about each of them.

The 111th Congress in coming months might take up free trade agreements (FTAs) signed by the Bush Administration with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea under trade promotion authority, or fast-track rules, designed to expedite congressional consideration of these agreements. Accordingly, agriculture as covered in each pending trade agreement is examined in this report in the order that Congress likely will take up these agreements, based upon statements made to date by Obama Administration officials and Members of Congress.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In December 2003, GAO reported that most of Alaska's more than 200 Native villages were affected to some degree by flooding and erosion (GAO-04-142). Since 2003, state officials have identified the growing impacts of climate change, increasing the urgency of federal and state efforts to identify imminently threatened villages and assess their relocation options. GAO was asked to report on (1) the flooding and erosion threats that Alaska Native villages currently face, (2) the federal programs that are available to assist villages facing potential disasters, (3) the status of village relocation efforts, and (4) how federal assistance to relocating villages is prioritized. GAO interviewed and gathered documentation from federal and state agency officials as well as regional organizations and village representatives."

This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The goal of this project is to develop a solid state laser that produces visible output wavelengths, including the commercially compelling blue wavelength. The basic architecture of the device consists of a single-mode optical fiber doped with Pr{sup 3+} and Yb{sup 3+} ions. When the ions are simultaneously pumped with a near infrared laser (860 nm), complex energy transfer processes involving multiple excited ions leads to population of a high-lying energy level of Pr{sup 3+}. Results include the demonstration of the existence of a photon avalanche mechanism responsible for creation of the population inversion and demonstration of the highest optical-to-optical efficiency of any up-conversion laser reported to date. A US Patent was awarded for this invention in 1998.

This report consists of alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles: Issues in Congress.

From Introduction: "The combustor efficiency, combustor total-pressure ratio, combustor-outlet total pressure, combustor-inlet Mach number, and specific fuel consumption are presented. The effect of combustor length on efficiency and the effect of pilot operating conditions burning limits are also presented."

Memorandum presenting an investigation of a can-type flame holder employing a fuel-air-mixture control sleeve in a 20-inch-diameter ramjet combustor conducted by free-jet and direct-connect techniques at a simulated flight Mach number of 3.0 and altitudes from about 70,000 to 80,000 feet. Results regarding the effect of shortening combustion chamber and effect of pilot-burner variables are provided.

From Introduction: "The purpose of this report is to present the results of an analytical investigation of the engine characteristics of two-spool engines with high over-all compressor pressure ratio (12.0 at design). Some of the turbine design problems encountered in a single-spool engine with current compressor pressure ratio (7.32 at design) were investigated in reference 1. The investigation was extended in reference 2 to cover the effect of mode of engine operation on the turbine design requirements and engine performance for a single-spool engine with current compressor pressure ratio."

Aqueous radioactive wastes from Savannah River Site (SRS) separations and vitrification processes are contained in large underground carbon steel tanks. Inspections made during 2003 to evaluate these vessels and other waste handling facilities along with evaluations based on data from previous inspections are the subject of this report. The 2003 inspection program revealed that the structural integrity and waste confinement capability of the Savannah River Site waste tanks remained unchanged from 2002. A total of 4249 photographs were made, 1178 visual and video inspections were performed, and 12 helium leak tests were conducted. Ultrasonic testing was performed on five High Level Waste Tanks in accordance with approved inspection plans that met the In-Service Inspection Program requirements.

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is the product of legislative efforts stretching back well over a decade and stimulated to passage in part by the tragedies in Oklahoma City and the World Trade Center. This report summarizes the six titles of the Act, its sources, and related legislation.

This report presents an overview of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. This is a clash between the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination that is occurring in the Caucasus, creating the longest inter-ethnic dispute in the former Soviet Union. The report includes the background and analysis of history, warfare and peace process in the region. The report discusses the Armenian and Azerbaijani perspective, the role and views of others (Iran, Turkey, Russia), as well as the U.S. policy regarding the conflict.

This report covers the health hazards associated with Aspartame which is artificial sweetener.

This report discusses the firefighting activities that are traditionally the responsibility of states and local communities. The report also talks about the funding for firefighters, which is provided mostly by state and local governments. However, during the 106th Congress, many in the fire community asserted that local fire departments require and deserve greater support from the federal government.

This report discusses political, economic, and security challenges facing Azerbaijan, including the unsettled conflict in the breakaway Nagorno Karabakh region. A table provides basic facts and biographical information. Related products include CRS Report RL33453, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests, by Jim Nichol.

This report discusses political, economic, and security challenges facing Azerbaijan, including the unsettled conflict in the breakaway Nagorno Karabakh region. A table provides basic facts and biographical information. Related products include CRS Report RL33453, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests, by Jim Nichol.

FFRF, standing for the Fusion-Fission Research Facility represents an option for the next step project of ASIPP (Hefei, China) aiming to a first fusion-fission multifunctional device [1]. FFRF strongly relies on new, Lithium Wall Fusion plasma regimes, the development of which has already started in the US and China. With R/a=4/1m/m, Ipl=5 MA, Btor=4-6 T, PDT=50- 100 MW, Pfission=80-4000MW, 1 m thick blanket, FFRF has a unique fusion mission of a stationary fusion neutron source. Its pioneering mission of merging fusion and fission consists in accumulation of design, experimental, and operational data for future hybrid applications.

This report talks about Beam Bunch Space Manipulation in RHIC

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. transportation relies largely on oil for fuel. Biofuels can be an alternative to oil and are produced from renewable sources, like corn. In 2005, Congress created the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which requires transportation fuel to contain 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022. The most common U.S. biofuel is ethanol, typically produced from corn in the Midwest, transported by rail, and blended with gasoline as E10 (10 percent ethanol). Use of intermediate blends, such as E15 (15 percent ethanol), would increase the amount of ethanol used in transportation fuel to meet the RFS. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently allowed E15 for use with certain automobiles. GAO was asked to examine (1) challenges, if any, to transporting additional ethanol to meet the RFS, (2) challenges, if any, to selling intermediate blends, and (3) studies on the effects of intermediate blends in automobiles and nonroad engines. GAO examined government, industry, and academic reports; interviewed Department of Energy (DOE), EPA, and other government and industry officials; and visited research centers."

This report addresses the semiannual progress report for the period ending on February 15, 1963.