This report considers the Agriculture and Related Agencies appropriations bill. The report compares and contrasts the Senate and House versions of the bill in terms of budgeting. Moreover, both bills reject the termination of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

This report discusses soil and water conservation, which were prominent farm policy topics in the 108th Congress as the Administration implemented provisions in the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171). This farm bill increased spending and expanded the scope of the conservation effort by reauthorizing and amending most existing conservation programs and enacting new ones through FY2007.

This report discusses the foreign affairs appropriations passed within the last 21 years; nearly all of them were passed within omnibus, consolidated, or full-year continuing resolutions, and usually after the start of the new fiscal year. Many foreign policy experts contend that stand-alone appropriation legislation would allow for a more rigorous debate on specific foreign policy activities. They also believe that the practice of delayed appropriations has constrained ongoing program operating levels and the ability to introduce or fund new programs that did not exist in the previous year's budget.

This report assesses the effects of the absence of intelligence authorization legislation since FY2005. Since FY2005, no annual intelligence authorization bill has been enacted. Although the National Security Act requires intelligence activities to be specifically authorized, this requirement has been satisfied in recent years by one-sentence catch-all provisions in defense appropriations acts authorizing intelligence activities.

This report shows in tabular form how much the Administration has requested and how much Congress has appropriated for U.S. payments to the multilateral development banks (MDBs) since 2000. It also provides a brief description of the MDBs and the ways they fund their operations.

This report provides data regarding the direct overt U.S. aid appropriations and military reimbursements to Pakistan.