On April 9, 2001, the President requested $7.3 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for FY2002, $512.0 million (or 7%) less than the FY2001 funding level of $7.8 billion. The request would not have continued funding of about $500 million for activities earmarked for FY2001, and contained provisions shifting more enforcement responsibilities to the states. Popular wastewater infrastructure funding, state roles, and the future of Superfund were some of the predominant topics. On July 17, the House Appropriations Committee recommended $7.545 billion,$229 million more than requested (H.R. 2620, H. Rept. 107-159).

None

Over the past decade, worldwide production of illicit drugs has risen dramatically: opium and marijuana production has roughly doubled and coca production tripled. Street prices of cocaine and heroin have fallen significantly in the past 20 years, reflecting increased availability. Despite apparent national political resolve to deal with the drug problem, inherent contradictions regularly appear between U.S. anti-drug policy and other national policy goals and concerns. The mix of competing domestic and international pressures and priorities has produced an ongoing series of disputes within and between the legislative and executive branches concerning U.S. international drug policy. One contentious issue has been the Congressionally-mandated certification process, an instrument designed to induce specified drug-exporting countries to prioritize or pay more attention to the fight against narcotics businesses.

None

Soft money is a major issue in the campaign finance reform debate because these generally unregulated funds are perceived as resulting from a loophole in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Generally, soft money is funds that are raised and spent according to applicable state laws, which FECA prohibits from being spent directly on federal elections, but that may have an indirect influence on federal elections. This Issue Brief discusses three major types of soft money: political party soft money, corporate and labor union soft money, and soft money used for issue advocacy communications.

The Bush Administration issued its plan for a national energy policy on May 16, 2001. The plan was controversial, characterized by some as leaner on conservation and renewables than Democratic proposals, and predisposed to trade off environmental considerations to increase supply. Comprehensive energy legislation was introduced in the Senate by both parties by late March (S. 388, S. 389, S. 596, S. 597). Bills reported by several House committees (H.R. 2436, H.R. 2460, H.R. 2511, and H.R. 2587) were combined in a single bill, H.R. 4, passed by the House, August 1, 2001. The House version of H.R. 4 would require a 5 billion gallon reduction in light-duty truck and SUV fuel consumption and would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to leasing.

None

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, consolidated, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittees.

H.R. 333, 107th Congress, 1st Sess. (2001), the “Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2001” and its counterpart in the Senate, S. 220, 107th Congress, 1st Sess. (2001), the “Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2001” were introduced on January 31, 2001. So far, the 107th Congress has demonstrated widespread support for the bills evidenced by the votes. Although President Bush is expected to sign bankruptcy reform into law, the White House has indicated that a bankruptcy bill that contains a federal homestead cap may be unacceptable. This report surveys the bills and the major amendments that have been adopted. It provides a sectional analysis comparing selected provisions, with an emphasis on consumer bankruptcy.

None

The United States recognized the independence of all the former Soviet republics by the end of 1991, including the South Caucasus states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The United States has fostered these states' ties with the West in part to end the dependence of these states on Russia for trade, security, and other relations. The FREEDOM Support Act of 1992 provides authorization for assistance to the Eurasian states for humanitarian needs, democratization, and other purposes. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, the Administration appealed for a national security waiver of the prohibition on aid to Azerbaijan, in consideration of Azerbaijan's assistance to the international coalition to combat terrorism. Azerbaijani and Georgian troops participate in stabilization efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Armenian personnel serve in Iraq.

This report discusses President Bush's 2002 requests for new funding and additional authority to provide assistance to Colombia and six regional neighbors in a continuation of the Andean Regional Initiative (ARI) launched in 2001.

None

This report briefs the Immigration legislation and issues in the 107th Congress.

None

Proposals to replace all or part of the income tax and proposals for national health care have sparked congressional interest in possible sources of additional 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.

The idea of replacing our current income tax system with a “flat-rate tax” is receiving renewed congressional interest. Although referred to as “flat-rate taxes,” many of the current proposals go much further than merely adopting a flat-rate tax structure. Some involve significant income tax base broadening while others entail changing the tax base from income to consumption.

The Federal Railroad Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation is the primary federal agency that promotes and regulates railroad safety. To implement its safety responsibilities, the Federal Railroad Administration uses numerous strategies including the Safety Assurance and Compliance Program, field inspections; and to help improve its regulations, the administration uses the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee. This report contains information on the Federal Railroad Administration's Safety Program, railroad safety statistics, key reauthorization issues, and related information.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans made in recent years have experienced somewhat higher foreclosure rates than loans made in earlier years. However, recent loans are performing much better than loans made in the 1980s. Although economic factors such as house price appreciation are key determinants of mortgage foreclosure, changes in underwriting requirements, as well as changes in the conventional mortgage market, may partly explain the higher foreclosure rates experienced in the 1990s. Factors not fully captured in the model GAO used may be affecting the performance of recent FHA loans and causing the overall risks of FHA's portfolio to be somewhat greater than previously estimated. Thus, the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund may be somewhat less able to withstand worse-than-expected loan performance resulting from adverse economic conditions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) would be affected if data on the sale of firearms by licensed dealers were destroyed within 24 hours after the transfers were allowed to proceed. Under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, licensed dealers are not to transfer firearms to an individual until a NICS search determines that the transfer will not violate applicable federal or state law. However, if the background check is not completed within 3 business days, the dealer may transfer the firearm. Although routine system audits may not be adversely affected by the proposed requirements for next-day destruction of records, other current uses of NICS records would be affected, with consequences for public safety and NICS operations. The FBI has drafted plans that would address most potential effects of the proposed policy for next-day destruction of records. In developing these plans, the FBI reviewed NICS operations and identified the changes needed in computer systems, work processes, policies, and procedures. According to NICS officials, the FBI would not lose any routine audit capabilities under the proposed policy. On the other …

The element silicon, Si, represents an anomaly in plant physiology (Epstein, 1994, 1999b). Plants contain the element in amounts comparable to those of such macronutrient elements as phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, viz. at tissue concentrations (dry weight basis) of about 0.1-10%, although both lower and higher values may be encountered. In some plants, such as rice and sugarcane, Si may be the mineral element present in largest amount. In much of plant physiological research, however, Si is considered a nonentity. Thus, not a single formulation of the widely used nutrient solutions includes Si. Experimental plants grown in these solutions are therefore abnormally low in their content of the element, being able to obtain only what Si is present as an unavoidable contaminant of the nutrient salts used, and from the experimental environment and their own seeds. The reason for the astonishing discrepancy between the prominence of Si in plants and its neglect in much of the enterprise of plant physiological research is that Si does not qualify as an ''essential'' element. Ever since the introduction of the solution culture method in the middle of the last century (Epstein, 1999a, b) it has been found that higher plants can grow in nutrient …

Through this DOE-sponsored program Konisky has studied the evolution and molecular biology of microbes that live in extreme environments. The emphasis of this work has been the determination of the structural features of thermophilic enzymes that allow them to function optimally at near 100 C. The laboratory has focused on a comparative study of adenylate kinase (ADK), an enzyme that functions to interconvert adenine nucleotides. Because of the close phylogenetic relatedness of members of the Methanococci, differences in the structure of their ADKs will be dominated by structural features that reflect contributions to their optimal temperature for activity, rather than differences due to phylogenetic divergence. We have cloned, sequenced and modeled the secondary structure for several methanococcal ADKs. Using molecular modeling threading approaches that are based on the solved structure for the porcine ADK, we have also proposed a general low resolution three dimensional structure for each of the methanococcal enzymes. These analyses have allowed us to propose structural features that confer hyperthermoactivity to those enzymes functioning in the hyperthermophilic members of the Methanococci. Using protein engineering methodologies, we have tested our hypotheses by examining the effects of selective structural changes on thermoactivity. Despite possessing between 68-81% sequence identity, the …

Edge turbulence images have been made using an ultra-high speed CCD camera on both NSTX and Alcator C-Mod. In both cases, the D-alpha or HeI (587.6 nm) line emission from localized deuterium or helium gas puffs was viewed along a local magnetic field line near the outer midplane. Fluctuations in this line emission reflect fluctuations in electron density and/or electron temperature through the atomic excitation rates, which can be modeled using the DEGAS-2 code. The 2-D structure of the measured turbulence can be compared with theoretical simulations based on 3-D fluid models.

This report was prepared to fulfill a deliverable for HLW/DWPF/TTR-2002-00008, Rev. 0, ''Glass Feed Preparation System Runs for Minimelter Feed Preparation with Frit 320, 1/10/2002. Approximately 50 gallons of Sludge Batch 2 simulated melter feed containing Frit 320 were produced from 58 gallons of a simulated Sludge Batch 2 slurry.