Report on military pay and benefits, including recent developments, pay computations, historic pay increases, potential pay gaps, and more.

Report on the War Powers Resolution and an examination of its use, including recent developments, background issues, United Nations actions, and more.

None

This report discusses the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program and the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171). The act will reduce the federal matching rate for laboratory costs associated with paternity establishment from 90% to 66%, end the federal matching of state expenditures of federal CSE incentive payments reinvested back into the program, and require states to assess a $25 annual user fee for child support services provided to families with no connection to the welfare system.

None

This is one part in the series of reports that provide a background and analysis, and most recent developments regarding broadband or high-speed Internet access. The report starts out by answering questions; what is broadband and why is it important? This report also discusses broadband technologies, the status of broadband deployment and the related policy issues, as well as the legislation in congress.

None

This report provides a quantitative framework for policy considerations dealing with U.S. trade with China. It provides basic data and analysis of China’s international trade with the United States and other countries. Since Chinese data differ considerably from those of its trading partners (because of how entrepot trade through Hong Kong is counted), data from both PRC sources and those of its trading partners are presented. Charts showing import trends by sector for the United States highlight China’s growing market shares in many industries and also show import shares for Japan, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ).

This report discusses the assessment of the Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP), which is an instantaneous, intense energy field that can overload or disrupt at a distance numerous electrical systems and high technology microcircuits.

This report discusses FY2006 supplemental appropriations for Iraq and other international activities, as well as Katrina hurricane relief.

None

The U.S. merchandise trade deficit is a part of the overall U.S. balance of payments, a summary statement of all economic transactions between the residents of the United States and the rest of the world, during a given period of time. Some Members of Congress and other observers have grown concerned over the magnitude of the growing U.S. merchandise trade deficit and the associated increase in U.S. dollar-denominated assets owned by foreigners. This report provides an overview of the U.S. balance of payments, an explanation of the broader role of capital flows in the U.S. economy, an explanation of how the country finances its trade deficit or a trade surplus, and the implications for Congress and the country of the large inflows of capital from abroad.

The Navy wants to procure three new classes of surface combatants — the DDG-1000 (formerly DD(X)) destroyer, the CG(X) cruiser, and a smaller surface combatant called the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The Navy wants to procure 7 DDG-1000s, 19 CG(X)s, and 55 LCSs.

None

None

The bilateral relationship between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China (PRC) is vitally important, touching on a wide range of areas including, among others, economic policy, security, foreign relations, and human rights. This report addresses relevant policy questions in current U.S.-China relations, discusses trends and key legislation in the current Congress, and provides a chronology of developments and high-level exchanges.

This report reviews the status of energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation introduced during the 109th Congress. Action in the second session has focused on appropriations bills; the first session focused on omnibus energy policy bill H.R. 6 and several appropriations bills. this report describes several major pieces of legislation, including the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Transportation Equity Act. For each bill listed in this report, a brief description and a summary of action are given, including references to committee hearings and reports. Also, a selected list of hearings on renewable energy is included.

This report examines the opinions of the district court and court of appeals in National Treasury Employees Union (“NTEU”) v. Chertof.

The Senate began floor debate on the FY2007 defense appropriations bill, H.R. 5631 on August 1, but it did not complete the bill before adjourning for the August recess. The Senate plans to resume action on September 5. As reported by the appropriations committee, the bill provided $453.5 billion for defense, including $50 billion in appropriations for overseas operations. The total is $9.1 billion less than the Administration requested. In floor action, the Senate added substantial amounts to the $50 billion in emergency spending, including $13.1 billion to reequip units returning from abroad and $1.8 billion for border security.

A conference agreement on the FY2007 defense authorization bill, H.R. 5122/S. 2766, is expected soon, and could be voted on in the House as early as September 15. Key issues in the conference have included whether to promote the head of the National Guard to four-star rank and whether to approve multiyear procurement of the F-22 fighter aircraft. On June 22, the Senate passed on its version of the FY2007 defense authorization, S. 2766. The Senate rejected two amendments on Iraq policy, one by Senator Kerry calling for withdrawal of most forces by July 1, 2007, and another by Senator Levin calling for a phased reduction of troops to begin this year. The House passed its version of the authorization, H.R. 5122, on May 11. The House bill authorizes $513 billion for national defense, equal to the request. The Senate bill authorizes $517.7 billion.

This report covers funding and policy issues related to Foreign Operations, as addressed in the House and Senate, and State Department programs as debated in the Senate. The discussion and accompanying tables are designed to track the House Foreign Operations Appropriation measure, as well as the broader Senate State, Foreign Operations spending bill.

This report discusses the Coast Guard, which is the lead federal agency for maritime homeland security. For FY2007, the Coast Guard is requesting a total of about $4.5 billion for missions defined in The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296) as the Coast Guard’s homeland security missions. This equates to about 54% of the Coast Guard’s total requested FY2007 budget. The Coast Guard’s homeland security operations pose several potential issues for Congress, including adequacy of Coast Guard resources for performing both homeland security and non-homeland security missions, and Coast Guard coordination with other agencies involved in maritime homeland security.

The increased presence of foreign students in graduate science and engineering programs and in the scientific workforce has been and continues to be of concern to some in the scientific community. Enrollment of U.S. citizens in graduate science and engineering programs has not kept pace with that of foreign students in those programs. In addition to the number of foreign students in graduate science and engineering programs, a significant number of university faculty in the scientific disciplines are foreign, and foreign doctorates are employed in large numbers by industry. This report examines these issues and discusses their policy implications.

The Legislative Reference Service, it was charged with responding to congressional requests for information. For more than 50 years, this department assisted Congress primarily by providing facts and publications and by transmitting research and analysis done largely by other government agencies, private organizations, and individual scholars. In 1970, Congress enacted a law transforming the Legislative Reference Service into the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and directing CRS to devote more of its efforts and increased resources to performing research and analysis that assists Congress in direct support of the legislative process.