Several proposals designed to address greenhouse gases have been introduced in the 109th Congress. Two proposals, S. 1151, introduced by Senators McCain and Lieberman, and a draft alternative, announced by Senator Bingaman, received increased scrutiny in preparation for the Senate’s debate on comprehensive energy legislation. During that debate, S. 1151, introduced as S.Amdt. 826, was defeated on a 38-60 vote. In contrast, the draft alternative remains a work-in-progress and has yet to be introduced. This report compares these two proposals.

This report identifies and discusses direct climate-focused scientific and research programs of the federal government, as well as an array of energy programs that relate indirectly to climate change.

Climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a continuing issue in the 109th Congress. Bills directly addressing climate change issues range from those focused primarily on climate change research to comprehensive emissions cap-and-trade programs. Additional bills focus on GHG reporting and registries, or on power plant emissions of carbon dioxide, as part of wider controls on pollutant emissions. The bills vary in their approaches to climate change issues. This report briefly discusses the basic concepts on which these bills are based and compares major provisions of the bills in each of the following categories: climate change research, technology deployment, GHG reporting and registries, and emissions reduction programs.

This report is on Climate Change: Summary and Analysis of the Climate Stewardship Act (S. 342, S. 1151, and H.R. 759).

The Deepwater program is a $24-billion, 25-year acquisition program to replace or modernize 93 Coast Guard ships and 207 Coast Guard aircraft. The Coast Guard’s FY2006 budget requests $966 million for the program. Some Members of Congress have strongly criticized the Deepwater program on several grounds. The House version of H.R. 2360, the FY2006 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill, reduces the FY2006 Deepwater funding request to $500 million; the Senate version reduces it to $905.6 million.

Community Services Block Grants (CSBG), administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provide federal funds to states, territories and Indian tribes for distribution to local agencies to reduce poverty. Several related national activities — Community Economic Development, Rural Community Facilities, National Youth Sports, Community Food and Nutrition, Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals (JOLI) and Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) — also provide grants to local communities for a variety of anti-poverty initiatives.

This report discusses the economic development and methods to improve the tax base and create jobs. It also discusses about the Kelo v. City of New London.

In each of the past five fiscal years (FY2001-FY2005), Congress has conditioned U.S. aid to Serbia on a presidential certification that Serbia has met certain conditions, including cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The 1 Ogth Congress is considering similar certification provisions in the FY2006 foreign aid bill. Supporters of aid conditionality say such provisions may have spurred Serbia's cooperation with the Tribunal. While the certification process continues to enjoy support in Congress, the Administration appears to favor ending it soon, as well as shifting responsibility for prosecuting war crimes from the ICTY to local courts.

This report discusses the EPA rule that is the subject of the disapproval resolution, describes the procedures under which the resolution can be considered, and provides additional references and background information that may be of interest in light of the potential debate.

In response to the foreign challenge in the global marketplace, the United States Congress has explored ways to stimulate technological advancement in the private sector. The government has supported various efforts to promote cooperative research and development activities among industry, universities, and the federal R&D establishment designed to increase the competitiveness of American industry and to encourage the generation of new products, processes, and services. Among the issues before Congress are whether joint ventures contribute to industrial competitiveness and what role, if any, the government has in facilitating such arrangements.

Congressional policymakers are closely examining federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Overall, 15.6% of all public television and radio broadcasting funding comes from the federal appropriations that CPB distributes. The CPB’s appropriation is allocated through a distribution formula established in its authorizing legislation. It has historically received two-year advanced appropriations.

On May 12, 2005, regulatory modernization legislation for credit unions was introduced as H.R. 2317. The three titles of the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (CURIA) would provide regulatory changes requested by credit union industry advocates. These changes would provide supervisory flexibility to the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the federal regulator for the credit union industry, enhance the ability of credit unions to provide loans to their members, and ease credit union regulatory burdens.

The nation’s health, wealth, and security rely on the production and distribution of certain goods and services. The array of physical assets, processes and organizations across which these goods and services move are called critical infrastructures (e.g. electricity, the power plants that generate it, and the electric grid upon which it is distributed). Computers and communications, themselves critical infrastructures, are increasingly tying these infrastructures together. This report aims to address the concern that this reliance on computers and computer networks raises the vulnerability of the nation’s critical infrastructures to “cyber” attacks.

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Upon the submission of this report, about 75 countries possessed cruise missiles. Many experts predict that anti — ship and land attack cruise missile proliferation will increase in terms of both scope and technological sophistication.

This report, which will be updated regularly, examines issues in U.S.-Cuban relations and tracks legislative initiatives on Cuba in the 109th Congress. The 109th Congress will likely continue an active interest in Cuba concerning human rights, debate over economic sanctions (especially on travel), food and agricultural exports to Cuba, terrorism issues, Radio and TV Marti, bilateral anti-drug cooperation, and migration issues.

Restrictions on travel to Cuba have been a key and often contentious component in U.S. efforts to isolate the communist government of Fidel Castro for much of the past 40 years. Under the Bush Administration, enforcement of U.S. restrictions on Cuba travel has increased, and restrictions on travel and on private remittances to Cuba have been tightened. Several legislative initiatives have been introduced in the 109th Congress that would ease restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba. These bills would, among other things, lift overall restrictions on travel to Cuba, lift the overall embargo, and ease restrictions on exporting agricultural commodities to Cuba.

The surpluses over the four fiscal years 1998-2001 reduced debt held by the public by $448 billion. More than offsetting this debt reduction, the surpluses credited to debt-holding government accounts (which generally must invest the surpluses in federal debt), increased their holdings by $853 billion over the same period. The combination ($853 billion minus $448 billion) raised total federal debt by $405 billion. During 2002, debt subject to limit increased enough to reach the then current statutory debt limit, $5.95 trillion, in early April and again in May 2002. Congress passed and the President signed legislation (P.L. 108-24) increasing the limit to $6.4 trillion in June 2002.

This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year.

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 Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense. It summarizes the status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity, and is updated as events warrant. The report lists the key CRS staff relevant to the issues covered and related CRS products.

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 Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense. It summarizes the status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity, and is updated as events warrant. The report lists the key CRS staff relevant to the issues covered and related CRS products.

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 Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense. It summarizes the status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity, and is updated as events warrant. The report lists the key CRS staff relevant to the issues covered and related CRS products.

This report includes quantitative analysis based on regulatory filings by pension plans for 2001 and 2002 to provide an assessment of the number of plans that might be affected by certain elements of the Administration proposal. It also summarizes the reaction to the Administration proposal by business and labor. The report also includes an illustration of the effect on a hypothetical plan sponsor’s plan contribution and funded ratio of the credit balance approach used in current law versus the Administration proposal. This report focuses on single-employer plans.

This report provides an overview of the regulatory actions leading up to and an analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet Services. It also provides a discussion of the possible legal and economic implications of the Court’s decision.