On July 18, 2005, President Bush announced he would “work to achieve full civil nuclear energy cooperation with India” and would “also seek agreement from Congress to adjust U.S. laws and policies,” in the context of a broader, global partnership with India to promote stability, democracy, prosperity, and peace. Administration officials have promoted nuclear cooperation with India as a way to reduce India’s carbon dioxide emissions and its dependence on oil, bring India into the “nonproliferation mainstream” and create jobs for the U.S. industry.

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The sunset concept provides for programs and agencies to terminate automatically on a periodic basis unless explicitly renewed by law. In the last ten years bills to create a federal sunset commission, modeled on the sunset review process in Texas, have been introduced in each Congress, including H.R. 3282 on July 14, 2005. President Bush called for creation of a federal sunset commission in his FY2006 budget submission. Bills reflecting an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) draft proposal have been introduced (S. 1399, H.R. 3276, H.R. 3277). Hearings have been held in the House, and on July 20, 2006, the Committee on Government Reform voted to report H.R. 3282 favorably to the House. At the same time, the committee voted to report favorably a related program review bill, H.R. 5766, as amended. Both bills are scheduled for floor action on July 27, 2006. This report will be updated as events warrant.

The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA or “the authority”) was established approximately one month after United States and coalition forces took control of Baghdad in Iraq on April 9, 2003.1 The authority’s mission was “to restore conditions of security and stability, to create conditions in which the Iraqi people can freely determine their own political future, (including by advancing efforts to restore and establish national and local institutions for representative governance) and facilitating economic recovery, sustainable reconstruction and development. This report discusses two views on how the authority was established, reviews selected characteristics of the authority, identifies statutory reporting requirements concerning the authority and the reconstruction of Iraq, and explores several policy issues.

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A comprehensive test ban treaty, or CTBT, is the oldest item on the nuclear arms control agenda. These treaties currently limit testing to underground only, with a maximum force equal to 150,000 tons of TNT. Since 1997, the United States has held 22 "subcritical experiments" at the Nevada Test Site, asserting that these experiments do not violate the CTBT because they cannot produce a self-sustaining chain reaction. The Senate rejected the CTBT on October 13, 1999, and the current Administration under President George W. Bush has indicated that it will continue to oppose the CTBT, will continue to adhere to the test moratorium, is considering modifying existing warheads for use against hard and deeply-buried targets, has not ruled out resumed testing, and has no plans to test.

U.S. real GDP growth has been positive for 18 consecutive quarters, and the economy is considered to be in an "expansion" phase. Other elements in the economic picture are promising: 1) a pick-up in output at the same time as employment is growing slowly means that productivity (or output per worker) is increasing; and 2) the inflation rate, measured by the CPI, rose 3.4$ during 2005, driven largely by rising energy prices. The consensus among economists is that GDP will grow between 3.3% and 3.5% in 2006.

Monetary policy can be defined broadly as any policy relating to the supply of money. Monetary policy can have important effects on aggregate demand and through it on real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), unemployment, real foreign exchange rates, real interest rates, the composition of output, etc., all of which are short-term effects. Over the longer run, the major effect of monetary policy is on the rate of inflation. A growing money supply is important for the subsequent growth in money spending or aggregate demand. The Federal Reserve executes monetary policy by setting a target for an overnight interest rate called the federal funds rate. Changes in the federal funds rates affect primarily short-term interest rates, and through these changes, money spending.

Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic's long reign came to an end in October 2000, when he was deposed from power by a popular revolt after he refused to concede defeat in an election for the post of President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) won by his opponent, Vojislav Kostunica. Organized crime, extremists within the Serbian military and security apparatus, and the links between them continue to pose a threat to Serbia's democratic development. The United States and other Western countries have sought to encourage Serbia and Montenegro's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. However, these efforts have been hampered by controversy over the future status of Serbia's Kosovo province, Serbia's failure to fully cooperate with the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal, and Serbia's fitful progress in such areas as rule of law and military and security sector reform.

The U.S.-led war to overthrow Saddam Hussein virtually ended Iraq's ability to militarily threaten the region, but it has produced new and unanticipated security challenges for the Persian Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates). The Gulf states, which are all led by Sunni Muslim regimes, fear that Shiite Iran is unchecked now that Iraq is strategically weak. Most Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, have provided only halting support to the fledgling government in Baghdad and revived the focus on U.S.-Gulf defense cooperation as existed in the 1990s. The Bush Administration advocates more rapid and sweeping political and economic liberalization as key to long-term Gulf stability and to reducing support in the Gulf states for terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda.

This report details the number and cost of three different naval vessels which the Navy is interested in procuring: the DDG-1000 (formerly DD(X)) destroyer, the CG(X) cruiser, and a smaller vessel called the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The report also explains two different pieces of defense legislation (H.R. 5122/S.2766 and H.R. 5631, respectively) which discuss different financial approaches to funding the procurement of said vessels. These pieces of legislation also explore more cost-efficient methods of achieving equivalent results with less costly vessels, as well as funding research for future designs.

Responsibility for overseeing reconstruction in post-conflict Iraq initially fell to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA). Established in early 2003, ORHA had been replaced by June of that year by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). On June 28, 2004, CPA ceased operations. Whether CPA was a federal agency is unclear. Some executive branch documents supported the notion that it was created by the President. Another possibility is that the authority was created by, or pursuant to, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483. This report discusses the issue of CPA's status as an agency, including the uncertain circumstances regarding its creation and demise, as well as relevant legislation and subsequent lawsuits.

On July 18, 2005, President Bush announced he would "work to achieve full civil nuclear energy cooperation with India" and would "also seek agreement from Congress to adjust U.S. laws and policies," in the context of a broader, global partnership with India to promote stability, democracy, prosperity and peace. Administration officials have promoted nuclear cooperation with India as a way to reduce India's carbon dioxide emissions and its dependence on oil, bring India into the "nonproliferation mainstream" and create jobs for U.S. industry. Nonproliferation experts have suggested that potential costs to U.S. and global nonproliferation policy of nuclear cooperation with India may far exceed the benefits.

Armed conflict has marked every decade of Israel's existence. Despite its unstable regional environment, Israel has developed a vibrant parliamentary democracy, albeit with relatively fragile governments. Israel has an advanced industrial, market economy in which the government plays a substantial role. Israel's foreign policy is focused largely on its region, Europe, and the United States. Since 1948, the United States and Israel have developed a close friendship based on common democratic values, religious affinities, and security interests. The two countries have close security relations. Other issues in U.S.-Israeli relations include Israel's military sales to China, inadequate Israeli protection of U.S. intellectual property, and espionage-related cases.

This report outlines the various elements of the bilateral relations between both the U.S. and North Korea and the U.S. and South Korea, especially nuclear nonproliferation agreements, nuclear dismantlement policies, and U.S. military troop withdrawals from South Korea.

The sunset concept provides for programs and agencies to terminate automatically on a periodic basis unless explicitly renewed by law. In the last ten years, bills to create a federal sunset commission, modeled on the sunset review process in Texas, have been introduced in each Congress. President Bush called for creation of a federal sunset commission in his FY2006 budget submission. This report discusses this issue and relevant pieces of legislation.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the commission on State Emergency Communication or the Comptroller of Public Accounts has primary jurisdiction to determine in the context of a claim for the refund Whether the 9-1-1 emergency service fee imposed on wireless telecommunication connections by Texas Health and Safety Code Section 771.0711(a) is applicable to a service provider's specific service (RQ-0370-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether under Education Code section 54.203(a) the governing board of an institution of higher education must exempt an honorably discharged veteran from the payment of dues, fees, and charges if the veteran is not a United States citizen (RQ-0433-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the City of Millican has been dissolved (RQ-0456-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether motor vehicles excepted from property-tax-rendition requirements under Tax Code section 22.01(k) are thereby exempt from taxation (RQ-0476-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Tax status of property owned by limited partnerships created by political subdivisions (RQ-0489-GA)