Congressional debate over U.N. funding focuses on the following questions: (1) What is the appropriate level of U.S. funding for U.N. system operations and programs? (@) What U.S. funding actions are most likely to produce a positive continuation of U.N. system reform efforts? The U.N. system includes the parent U.N. organization, a number of affiliated agencies, voluntary funds and programs, and peacekeeping operations. For nearly 60 years, the United States has been the single largest financial contributor to the U.N. system. Both Congress and the executive branch have been pressing U.N. system organizations to reform, especially to improve management and budgeting practices. In recent years, the U.N. has undertaken reforms, including a restructuring of its financial assessment system, allowing the U.S. to pay some of its arrears.

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President George W. Bush has stated that tax reform will be one of his top priorities in the 109th Congress. Some form of a valueadded tax (VAT) has been frequently discussed as a replacement to the U.S. income tax system. In addition, some Members of Congress have expressed interest in the feasibility of using a value-added tax to finance health care reform.

Some Members of Congress have expressed interest in the feasibility of using a value-added tax (VAT) to either replace all or part of the income tax, finance health care reform, or to fund America’s war effort. A VAT is imposed at all levels of production on the differences between firms’ sales and their purchases from all other firms. Policymakers may be interested in the following aspects of a VAT: revenue yield, international comparison of composition of taxes, vertical equity, neutrality, inflation, balance-of-trade, national saving, administrative cost, intergovernmental relations, size of government, and public opinion.

Proposals to replace all or part of the income tax, proposals for national health care, and a proposal to finance America’s war effort have sparked congressional interest in the possibility of a broad-based consumption tax as a newsource of revenue. A value-added tax (VAT) or a national sales tax (NST) have been frequently discussed as possible new tax sources. Both the VAT and the NST are taxes on the consumption of goods and services and are conceptually similar. Yet, these taxes also have significant differences. This issue brief discusses some of the potential policy implications associated with these differences.

U.S.-Vietnam diplomatic and economic relations remained essentially frozen for more than a decade after the 1975 communist victory in South Vietnam. Relations took major steps forward in the mid-1990s, particularly in 1995, when the two sides opened embassies in each other’s capitals. Since then, the normalization process has accelerated and bilateral ties have expanded. Congress has played a significant role in the normalization process.

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Two separate but closely related issues confront Congress each time the President introduces armed forces into a situation abroad that conceivably could lead to their involvement in hostilities. One issue concerns the division of war powers between the President and Congress, whether the use of armed forces falls within the purview of the congressional power to declare war and the War Powers Resolution. The other issue is whether Congress concurs in the wisdom of the action. This issue brief does not deal with the substantive merits of using armed forces in specific cases, but rather with the congressional authorization for the action and the application and effectiveness of the War Powers Resolution.

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In February 2002, the Administration proposed its welfare reauthorization plan. The debate was dominated by controversy over the amount of child care funding and the Administration's proposed changes to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation standards. The final agreement reflects the same child care funding increase that was provided in House-passed welfare reauthorization measures in 2002 and 2003 ($1 billion in additional mandatory child care funding over five years). The 2005 Senate Finance Committee welfare reauthorization bill would have provided $6 billion in additional child care funding over five years. Though the final agreement would require states to increase the share of their families participating in TANF work activities, it does not include the Administration's proposal to set a 40-hour workweek standard or revise the activities that count toward the standard. The reauthorization debate also reflected a renewed focus on noncustodial parents and on family formation issues. The budget agreement includes responsible fatherhood initiatives and a scaled back version of the President's initiative to promote healthy marriages.

In February 2002, the Administration proposed its welfare reauthorization plan. The debate was dominated by controversy over the amount of child care funding and the Administration's proposed changes to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation standards. The final agreement reflects the same child care funding increase that was provided in House-passed welfare reauthorization measures in 2002 and 2003 ($1 billion in additional mandatory child care funding over five years). The 2005 Senate Finance Committee welfare reauthorization bill would have provided $6 billion in additional child care funding over five years. Though the final agreement would require states to increase the share of their families participating in TANF work activities, it does not include the Administration's proposal to set a 40-hour workweek standard or revise the activities that count toward the standard. The reauthorization debate also reflected a renewed focus on noncustodial parents and on family formation issues. The budget agreement includes responsible fatherhood initiatives and a scaled back version of the President's initiative to promote healthy marriages.

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The decline is TANF rolls has slowed to a near halt (see Figure 1). National numbers in September were only 73,000 below those of a year before. However, TANF enrollment topped that of September 2001 in several states (including New York, which has moved into a state-funded safety net program more than 40,000 families after they reached the 5-year federal time limit). Persons now enrolled include rising proportions of minorities, and 37% of TANF “families” now have no adult recipient (child-only cases). The 2001 poverty rate among children in female-headed families was 39.3%, compared with 39.8% in 2000, 49.3% in 1996, and 52.9% in 1994, when AFDC numbers peaked.

For more than a century, the federal government has constructed water resource projects for a variety of purposes, including flood control, navigation, power generation, and irrigation. While most municipal and industrial water supplies have been built by non-federal entities, most of the large, federal water supply projects in the West, including Hoover and Grand Coulee dams, were constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation (Department of the Interior) to provide water for irrigation.

For more than a century, the federal government has constructed water resource projects for a variety of purposes including flood control, navigation, power generation, and irrigation. While most municipal and industrial water supplies have been built by non-federal entities, most of the large, federal water supply projects in the West, including Hoover and Grand Coulee dams, were constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation (Department of the Interior) to provide water for irrigation.