The European Parliament (open access)

The European Parliament

This report provides background on the Congress-European Parliament (EP) relationship and the role of the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue (TLD). It also explores potential future options that could strengthen ties between the two bodies.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Archick, Kristin
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Rulemaking: The Role of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (open access)

Federal Rulemaking: The Role of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

This report discusses the paperwork Reduction Act of 1980. It also discusses Possible legislative issues involving OIRA.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Copeland, Curtis W.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparison of Rights in Military Commission Trials and Trials in Federal Criminal Court (open access)

Comparison of Rights in Military Commission Trials and Trials in Federal Criminal Court

This report provides a brief summary of legal issues raised by the choice of forum for trying accused terrorists and a chart comparing selected military commissions rules under the Military Commissions Act, as amended, to the corresponding rules that apply in federal court.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Law and Agreements: Their Effect Upon U.S. Law (open access)

International Law and Agreements: Their Effect Upon U.S. Law

This report provides an introduction to the roles that international law and agreements play in the United States. International law is derived from two primary sources--international agreements and customary practice. Under the U.S. legal system, international agreements can be entered into by means of a treaty or an executive agreement. The Constitution allocates primary responsibility for entering into such agreements to the executive branch, but Congress also plays an essential role.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Garcia, Michael J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Border Security: Key Agencies and Their Missions (open access)

Border Security: Key Agencies and Their Missions

This report briefly describes the role of various agencies in securing the borders of the United States. These agencies are the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the United States Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Haddal, Chad C.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Internet Domain Names: Background and Policy Issues (open access)

Internet Domain Names: Background and Policy Issues

This report discusses the Domain Name System (DNS), which is the distributed set of databases residing in computers around the world that contain address numbers mapped to corresponding domain names, making it possible to send and receive messages and to access information from computers anywhere on the Internet.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Disaster Relief Funding and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations (open access)

Disaster Relief Funding and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations

This report describes the various components of the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including (1) what authorities have shaped it over the years; (2) how FEMA determines the amount of the appropriation requested to Congress (pertaining to the DRF); and (3) how emergency supplemental appropriations are requested. In addition to the DRF, information is provided on funds appropriated in supplemental appropriations legislation to agencies other than the Department of Homeland Security. Aspects of debate concerning how disaster relief is budgeted are also highlighted and examined, and alternative budgetary options are summarized.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Lindsay, Bruce R. & Murray, Justin
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Early Childhood Care and Education Programs: Background and Funding (open access)

Early Childhood Care and Education Programs: Background and Funding

Several federal programs support child care, education, or related services, primarily for low-income working families. In addition, the tax code includes provisions specifically targeted to assist families with child care expenses. This report includes an update on FY2010 funding developments and the status of FY2009 appropriations in the early childhood care and education arena. This report also provides a six-year funding history and brief descriptions of the various related programs and tax provisions.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Lynch, Karen E. & McCallion, Gail
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Emergency Communications: The Future of 911 (open access)

Emergency Communications: The Future of 911

This report discusses possible paths toward the modernization of the 911 infrastructure. Efforts to splice newer, digital technologies onto the aging infrastructure have created points of failure where a call can be dropped or misdirected, sometimes with tragic consequences.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Climate Change and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS): Looking to 2020 (open access)

Climate Change and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS): Looking to 2020

This report discusses the European Union's (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is a cornerstone of the EU's efforts to meet its obligation under the Kyoto Protocol. It covers more than 10,000 energy intensive facilities across the 27 EU Member countries.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Parker, Larry
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO (open access)

Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO

This report describes how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) deal with the issue of currency manipulation. It also discusses apparent discrepancies in their charters and ways those differences might be addressed.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Sanford, Jonathan E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Contracting: Recent Law Has Impacted Contractor Use of Offshore Subsidiaries to Avoid Certain Payroll Taxes (open access)

Defense Contracting: Recent Law Has Impacted Contractor Use of Offshore Subsidiaries to Avoid Certain Payroll Taxes

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many federal contractors establish offshore subsidiaries to take advantage of labor and market conditions. GAO has found that they also use offshore subsidiaries to reduce their U.S. tax burdens. In 2008, Congress passed the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (HEART) Act which resulted in contractor offshore subsidiaries paying certain payroll taxes for U.S. personnel working abroad. Fiscal year 2009's National Defense Authorization Act required GAO to report on the rationales, implications, and costs and benefits of defense contractors' use of offshore subsidiaries. We (1) assessed trends and purposes for contractors' offshore subsidiaries; (2) identified how contractors use subsidiaries to support defense contracts; (3) assessed DOD's oversight of contractors' use of offshore subsidiaries. To conduct our work, we reviewed data for the 29 U.S. publicly traded contractors with at least $1 billion in DOD spending in fiscal year 2008, reviewed several illustrative contracts selected based on categories of DOD services most often performed overseas, reviewed audit documents, and interviewed DOD officials about oversight."
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Register, Volume 75, Number 16, January 26, 2010, Pages 3981-4254 (open access)

Federal Register, Volume 75, Number 16, January 26, 2010, Pages 3981-4254

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: United States. Office of the Federal Register.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library