Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress

This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs).
Date: July 24, 2013
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The International Whaling Convention (IWC) and Legal Issues Related to Aboriginal Rights (open access)

The International Whaling Convention (IWC) and Legal Issues Related to Aboriginal Rights

This report discusses the recent legislation regarding whaling in general, and aboriginal whaling in particular. Legislative measures, primarily in the form of concurrent resolutions, have been proposed in four categories: protesting commercial, scientific, or community (nonaboriginal) whaling; ensuring aboriginal whaling rights; providing a tax break for aboriginal whaling captains; and addressing the United States' policy at the annual meetings of the IWC.
Date: July 22, 2013
Creator: Alexander, Kristina
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
China's Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States (open access)

China's Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States

Report that provides background on China's economic rise; describes its current economic structure; identifies the challenges China faces to maintain economic growth; and discusses the challenges, opportunities, and implications of China's economic rise for the United States.
Date: July 3, 2013
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
China's Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States (open access)

China's Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States

Report that provides background on China's economic rise; describes its current economic structure; identifies the challenges China faces to maintain economic growth; and discusses the challenges, opportunities, and implications of China's economic rise for the United States.
Date: July 23, 2013
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
China-U.S. Trade Issues (open access)

China-U.S. Trade Issues

Report that discusses the U.S.-China economic relationship and China's rapid expansion as a global economic market, both with respect to the current global economic crisis. It also examines major U.S.-China trade issues and related legislation.
Date: July 17, 2013
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Medical Care: Questions and Answers (open access)

Military Medical Care: Questions and Answers

This report answers several frequently asked questions about military health care, including: how the system is structured, a TRICARE summary, TRICARE eligibility and plan options, cost of military health care to beneficiaries, relationship of TRICARE to MEDICARE, how the Affordable Care Act affects TRICARE, long-term trends of defense health care costs, and a summary of the fund which funds TRICARE.
Date: July 24, 2013
Creator: Jansen, Don J. & Blakeley, Katherine
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Report that provides background information and potential issues for Congress on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
Date: July 2, 2013
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Report that provides background information and potential issues for Congress on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
Date: July 22, 2013
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Report that provides background information and potential issues for Congress on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
Date: July 26, 2013
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Earthquakes: Risk, Detection, Warning, and Research (open access)

Earthquakes: Risk, Detection, Warning, and Research

Report that discusses: earthquake hazards and risk in the United States, federal programs that support earthquake monitoring, the U.S. capability to detect earthquakes and issue notifications and warnings, and federally supported research to improve the fundamental scientific understanding of earthquakes with a goal of reducing U.S. vulnerability.
Date: July 18, 2013
Creator: Folger, Peter
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Honduras-U.S. Relations (open access)

Honduras-U.S. Relations

Report that examines current political and economic conditions in Honduras as well as issues in Honduran-U.S. relations.
Date: July 24, 2013
Creator: Meyer, Peter J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress

Report that is written in response to the Coast Guard's budget request for a new polar ice breaker, of which the Coast Guard currently has none in operation. Polar icebreakers perform a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions. Issues for Congress include what to do with decommissioned ice breakers, the impact of having no ice breakers, how to budget for new ice breakers, and how future ice breakers should be obtained.
Date: July 24, 2013
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Illegal Trade in Wildlife: Threats and U.S. Policy (open access)

International Illegal Trade in Wildlife: Threats and U.S. Policy

Report that focuses on the international trade in terrestrial fauna, largely excluding trade in illegal plants, including timber, and fish.
Date: July 23, 2013
Creator: Wyler, L. S. & Sheikh, Pervaze A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Singapore: Background and U.S. Relations (open access)

Singapore: Background and U.S. Relations

Report that discusses the current economic and political state of the island nation of Singapore, focusing in particularly on its economic success and its relationship with the United States.
Date: July 26, 2013
Creator: Chanlett-Avery, Emma
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Iran Sanctions (open access)

Iran Sanctions

Report that analyzes U.S. and international sanctions against Iran and, in so doing, provides examples, based on a wide range of open source reporting, of companies and countries that conduct business with Iran.
Date: July 26, 2013
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Latin America: Terrorism Issues (open access)

Latin America: Terrorism Issues

Report regarding U.S. attention to terrorism in Latin America, which has intensified in the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks. The report talks about the 112th Congress's initiatives that have been introduced related to terrorism issues in the Western Hemisphere regarding Mexico, Venezuela, and the activities of Iran and Hezbollah.
Date: July 11, 2013
Creator: Sullivan, Mark P. & Beittel, June S.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agricultural Disaster Assistance (open access)

Agricultural Disaster Assistance

Report containing a description of recent developments in weather and U. S. policy. as well as an overview of current and expired USDA disaster assistance programs. An appendix reviews the recent history of emergency supplemental farm disaster assistance and administrative actions by USDA.
Date: July 3, 2013
Creator: Shields, Dennis A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Kuwait: Security, Reform, and U.S. Policy (open access)

Kuwait: Security, Reform, and U.S. Policy

This report looks at Kuwait's relationships with its neighbors in the Persian Gulf, and its own political system which has been in turmoil since 2006.
Date: July 10, 2013
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
China's Currency Policy: An Analysis of the Economic Issues (open access)

China's Currency Policy: An Analysis of the Economic Issues

Report that provides an overview of the economic issues surrounding the current debate over China's currency policy. It identifies the economic costs and benefits of China's currency policy for both China and the United States, and possible implications if China were to allow its currency to significantly appreciate or to float freely. It also examines proposed legislation in the 111th Congress that seek to address China's currency policy.
Date: July 22, 2013
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M. & Labonte, Marc
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Detention of U.S. Persons as Enemy Belligerents (open access)

Detention of U.S. Persons as Enemy Belligerents

Report that provides a background to the detention of enemy belligerents, followed by a brief introduction to the law of war pertinent to the detention of different categories of individuals.
Date: July 25, 2013
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Drug Testing and Crime-Related Restrictions in TANF, SNAP, and Housing Assistance (open access)

Drug Testing and Crime-Related Restrictions in TANF, SNAP, and Housing Assistance

This report describes and compares the drug- and crime-related policy restrictions contained in selected federal programs that provide assistance to low-income individuals and families: the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps), and the three primary federal housing assistance programs (the public housing program, the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, and the project-based Section 8 rental assistance program).
Date: July 30, 2013
Creator: McCarty, Maggie; Aussenberg, Randy Alison; Falk, Gene & Carpenter, David H.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Europe's Energy Security: Options and Challenges to Natural Gas Supply Diversification (open access)

Europe's Energy Security: Options and Challenges to Natural Gas Supply Diversification

Report that focuses on potential approaches that Europe might employ to diversify its sources of natural gas supply, Russia's role in Europe's natural gas policies, and key factors that could hinder efforts to develop alternative suppliers of natural gas.
Date: July 11, 2013
Creator: Ratner, Michael; Belkin, Paul; Nichol, Jim & Woehrel, Steven
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP): Operations and Budget (open access)

The Bureau of Prisons (BOP): Operations and Budget

Report that provides an overview of how the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) manages the growing federal prison population and examines the BOP's appropriations since FY1980.
Date: July 3, 2013
Creator: James, Nathan
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Trafficking in Persons: International Dimensions and Foreign Policy Issues for Congress (open access)

Trafficking in Persons: International Dimensions and Foreign Policy Issues for Congress

Report that explores current foreign policy issues regarding U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking, the interrelationship among existing polices, and the historical and current role of Congress in such efforts.
Date: July 24, 2013
Creator: Wyler, Liana Sun
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library