This report highlights the contentions surrounding the release of health care information when it is meant to be confidential. In addition, the report summarizes the federal laws that govern how this information is distributed and when it is to be distributed. Finally, the report discusses the tension between the federal government and state governments in implementing a uniform standard for this type of law.

This report discusses employer trip reduction (ETR) programs, which would require large employers to implement certain transportation control measures as part of a national effort to combat air pollution, largely as a direct result of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

As a result of an initiative by Australia in 1989, the United States joined with eleven other Asia/Pacific nations in creating APEC, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation organization. This report discusses the annual Ministerial Meeting of APEC in Seattle, held from November 17 - 19, 1993.

Aquaculture is broadly defined as the production of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants in a controlled environment. This report discusses the growth of U.S. aquaculture in the decade preceding 1993, and the subsequent debate about what role, if any, the Federal Government should play in supporting the industry. Relevant legislation and policies are also discussed.

NAFTA raises potential economic and political issues for U.S. relations with Asian countries for whom the agreement presents uncertainties regarding the future of their market opportunities in North America. As countries not associated with a preferential trading arrangement of their own, Asian countries are concerned that a trend toward regional trade agreements may affect the capacity of multilateral institutions to protect their global trading interests. This report examines Asian perceptions of NAFTA in both their economic and political dimensions, how Asian countries may respond in concrete ways to NAFTA, and, assuming that NAFTA gains approval in the U.S. Congress, what steps the United States might take toward facilitating a smooth reception for NAFTA in Asia.

This report provides background information on the violent and authoritarian traditions that have characterized Haiti's political dynamics since Haiti attained independence in 1804. It examines Haiti's difficult path toward democracy after the fall of the Duvalier regime, from numerous short-lived governments until the election of Aristide. Finally, the report also surveys Aristide's rule and his subsequent overthrow by the Haitian military.

This report examines intellectual property right in pharmaceuticals in a particular context, namely, medicinal products and processes derived from the biodiversity resources of areas inhabited by indigenous peoples. This report discusses the international law regarding intellectual property rights in traditional knowledge and the American laws regarding traditional knowledge.

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Congressional interest in China's transformation has grown. Congressional concerns focus on economic opportunities in China and how conditions there affect U.S. security, economic and political interests.

By June 3, 1993, President Clinton must determine whether or not he intends to recommend to the Congress a one-year extension of his Jackson-Vanik waiver authority, in effect extending most-favored-nation (MFN)[1] trading status to China for another year. The media are reporting that the President has decided to grant an extension, but that he is still deliberating over whether or not to attach certain conditions to the approval

Congressional Research Service: Issue Brief October 20, 1993 Chinese Missile and Nuclear Proliferation: Issues for Congress By Shirley A. Kan, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Divisi

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A provision in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Delaney Clause, appears to lower risks in the setting of tolerances for pesticide residues. It prohibits any substance from being added to processed foods if it induces cancer in man or animals. In reality, the provision created a dilemma because the zero-risk statute makes it difficult to regulate pesticides. Because of the prescription of Delaney, tolerances (legal limits) are established differently for carcinogens and non-carcinogens and in raw and processed foods.

This report briefly describes selected associations that have demonstrated strong and continuous interest in environmental protection policies of the United States. It provides background information on some of the active participants in national policy discussions. The set of organizations abstracted for this report is not comprehensive; many groups necessarily have been omitted, often because they failed to respond to our request for information. An attempt was made to balance divergent political opinions and to include groups with different perspectives. All associations included in the report have nationwide membership, maintain an office in the vicinity of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and actively seek to influence national (as opposed to international or regional) environmental policies. The financial information provided varies depending on what was available to CRS.

This paper describes the meaning and applications of ecosystem and of the related terms watershed and biome. It discusses the pros and cons of all three as organizing principles for land management, and the major issues that are likely to arise in the debate over ecosystem management.

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If the 103rd Congress embarks upon an effort to reauthorize the Endangered Species Act (ESA), it will run into an old acquaintance: the property rights issue. As now written, the ESA has at least the potential to curtail property rights (whatever its actual impact as implemented may be). This report explores the legal repercussions of those impacts, especially whether they constitute takings of property under the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA), enacted in 1990, called for cleaner automotive fuels in order to upgrade air quality. This appeared to provide new market potential for ethanol, which is obtained from corn grown in the midwestern United States, and which is already in large-scale use in a blend of ten percent ethanol to ninety percent gasoline. The CAAA left specific details of the clean fuels program to be worked out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in consultation with the interested parties.

Dedicated excise taxes finance only a small number of the many activities undertaken by the Federal Government. The fourteen trust funds and special funds currently financed by excise taxes can be grouped under four programmatic purposes: nature conservation and recreation, transportation, environmental cleanup, and health damage compensation. In close parallel, the products currently subject to taxation on behalf of trust and special funds can be classified under the categories of hunting and fishing equipment; cargo transport and air passenger transportation; motor fuels; and materials potentially hazardous to the environment or human health.

This report provides an An Historical Overview about The Executive Office of the President. It consists of a group of federal agencies immediately serving the President.

With the end of the Cold War and of a period during which foreign assistance was motivated frequently by East-West security and political considerations, a debate has emerged over setting a new foreign aid rationale. The debate has included calls advocating a much more direct use of America foreign assistance to support U.S. commercial interests, especially for programs administered by the Agency for International Development (AID). Proponents assert that the active promotion of the U.S. trade position should be one of the top U.S. foreign policy interests and, therefore, the foreign aid program should be used on behalf of that purpose. They argue that the United States should increase assistance in the form of capital projects that can provide opportunities for American exporters, reduce cash transfer aid that in some cases is spent on non-U.S. products, and strengthen "Buy America" provisions in foreign aid laws.

Japan emerged as the largest foreign direct investor in the U.S. economy in 1992, despite a sharp drop in the total value and number of U.S. businesses acquired and established by foreign investors. This change in Japan's status was spurred by a slight increase in investment spending by Japanese investors combined with a decrease in the British investment position. The foreign direct investment position in U.S. businesses and real estate - or the accumulated book value of all foreign investments - increased by $5 billion in 1992, the smallest change in two decades. Economists generally believe that foreign direct investment yields positive net benefits to both the host and the investing countries. For some American firms, the foreign investment inflows have been especially beneficial because they supplied the firms with funds during times when many U.S. commercial banks were unwilling to finance them.

This report details the information related to Global Climate Change. The contents include the Greenhouse effect and Global warming, Greenhouse gases, international action, and Congressional interest and activities.

Numerous indicators are used to make international comparisons of health spending. The two most often used show: 1) health spending as a share of a nation's overall economy percent of GDP); and 2) a nation's real (adjusted for inflation and exchange rates) per capita spending.