This report provides an overview of many of the key arms control and nonproliferation agreements and endeavors of the past 40 years. It is divided into three sections. The first describes arms control efforts between the United States and the states of the former Soviet Union, covering both formal, bilateral treaties, and the cooperative threat reduction process. The second section describes multilateral nuclear nonproliferation efforts, covering both formal treaties and less formal accommodations that have been initiated in recent years. The final section reviews treaties and agreements that address chemical, biological, and conventional weapons.

This report discusses the U.S. Navy's efforts in recent years to strengthen its ability to carry out irregular warfare (IW) counterterrorism (CT) activities. Some of the activities and organizations explored in this report are the creation of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC), the Navy's riverine force, the Navy Irregular Warfare Office, and the Global Maritime Partnership. The report also discusses what potential oversight issues the Navy's IW and CT activities pose for Congress, including budget priorities.

This report looks at the history and current status, including Congress delegated funding, of energy-related research and development of coal-based synthetic petroleum and atomic power.

Congress has generally broad authority to impose requirements upon the federal procurement process, or the process whereby agencies obtain goods and services from the private sector. One of the many ways in which Congress has exercised this authority is by enacting measures intended to promote contracting and subcontracting with "small businesses" by federal agencies. This report describes and analyzes measures that Members of the 112th Congress have enacted or proposed in response to particular issues pertaining to small business contracting and subcontracting.

Congress has generally broad authority to impose requirements upon the federal procurement process, or the process whereby agencies obtain goods and services from the private sector. One of the many ways in which Congress has exercised this authority is by enacting measures intended to promote contracting and subcontracting with "small businesses" by federal agencies.

This report looks at how the European Union Emission Trading Scheme's coverage of carbon emission from commercial flights affects air carriers from the United States and other countries.

This report assesses some of the policy implications of recent and ongoing events in the Middle East region, provides an overview of U.S. responses to date, and explores select case studies to illustrate some key questions and dilemmas that Congress and the executive branch may face with regard to these issues and others in the future.

This report looks at the causes and effects of the recent United States low unemployment rate.

Congress continues to face questions about forestry practices, funding levels, and the federal role in wildfire protection. Recent fire seasons have been, by most standards, among the worst in the past half century. This report looks at factors contributing to wildfires as well as active and preventative treatments for wildfires.

This report, updated as warranted, discusses U.S. security assistance to Taiwan, or Republic of China (ROC), including policy issues for Congress and legislation.

Typically, the annual number of refugees that can be admitted into the United States, known as the refugee ceiling, and the allocation of these numbers by region are set by the President after consultation with Congress at the start of each fiscal year. For FY2012, the worldwide refugee ceiling is 76,000, with 73,000 admissions numbers allocated among the regions of the world and 3,000 numbers comprising an unallocated reserve. Overseas processing of refugees is conducted through a system of three priorities for admission. Priority 1 comprises cases involving persons facing compelling security concerns. Priority 2 comprises cases involving persons from specific groups of special humanitarian concern to the United States (e.g., Iranian religious minorities). Priority 3 comprises family reunification cases involving close relatives of persons admitted as refugees or granted asylum. Special legislative provisions facilitate relief for certain refugee groups.

This report analyzes Brazil's political, economic, and social conditions, and how those conditions affect its role in the world and its relationship with the United States.

The use of biomass as an energy feedstock is emerging as a potentially viable alternative to address U.S. energy security concerns, foreign oil dependence, rural economic development, and diminishing sources of conventional energy. Biomass (organic matter that can be converted into energy) may include food crops, crops for energy, crop residues, wood waste and byproducts, and animal manure. Most legislation involving biomass has focused on encouraging the production of liquid fuels from corn. For over 30 years, the term biomass has been a part of legislation enacted by Congress for various programs, indicating some interest by the general public and policymakers in expanding its use. To aid understanding of why U.S. consumers, utility groups, refinery managers, and others have not fully adopted biomass as an energy resource, this report investigates the characterization of biomass in legislation.

Congress will continue to decide on funding for the U.S. domestic and international programs focused on nuclear material security and nuclear terrorism prevention. Congress is also likely to assess implementation of the Administration's goal to secure nuclear materials by the end of 2013. The Obama Administration's FY2011 and FY2012 congressional budget request proposed overall increases in funding for nuclear security-related accounts, with the stated purpose of ramping up programs to meet the President's four-year goal.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Although ACF has established a process to calculate a national improper payment estimate for the Foster Care program, the estimate is not based on a statistically valid methodology and consequently does not reflect a reasonably accurate estimate of the extent of Foster Care improper payments. In addition, the estimate deals with only about one-third of the federal expenditures for Foster Care, and is therefore incomplete. ACF’s methodology for estimating Foster Care improper payments was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 2004 with the understanding that continuing efforts would be taken to improve the accuracy of ACF’s estimates of improper payments in the ensuing years. ACF, however, continued to generally follow its initial methodology which, when compared to federal statistical guidance and internal control standards, GAO found to be deficient in all three phases of ACF’s estimation methodology—planning, selection, and evaluation. These deficiencies impaired the accuracy and completeness of the Foster Care program improper payments estimate of $73 million reported for fiscal year 2010."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Debt buybacks can help advance Treasury’s goals under a variety of budget and market conditions. For example, Treasury currently faces rollover peaks—large increases in the amounts of maturing debt that must be refinanced at a given time—which expose Treasury to the risk of refinancing large amounts of debt when interest rates are less favorable. All four of our case study countries use debt buybacks to mitigate rollover risk. Buybacks can also be used to enhance liquidity, which can be adversely affected when the growth in borrowing slows rapidly and issue sizes decline significantly. GAO’s illustrative analysis of Treasury’s past buyback program showed that, had Treasury refinanced the debt by simultaneously issuing new debt, it could have captured a liquidity premium—the additional price investors are willing to pay for securities that can be easily traded—which would reduce interest costs."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Mobility Capabilities and Requirements Study 2016 (MCRS-16) provided some useful information concerning air mobility systems—such as intratheater airlift, strategic airlift, and air refueling—but several weaknesses in the study raised questions about its ability to fully inform decision makers. In particular, the MCRS-16 did not provide decision makers with recommendations concerning shortfalls and excesses in air mobility systems. In evaluating capabilities, the MCRS-16 used three cases that it developed of potential conflicts or natural disasters and identified the required capabilities for air mobility systems. Based on data in the MCRS-16, GAO was able to discern possible shortfalls or potential capacity that could be considered excess or an operational reserve, even though the MCRS-16 was ambiguous regarding whether actual shortfalls or excess capabilities exist. It also did not identify the risk associated with potential shortfalls or excesses. Identifying the risk associated with specific mobility systems could help with decisions to allocate resources."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We found that the likelihood that a small employer will sponsor a retirement plan largely depends on the size of the employer’s workforce and the workers’ average wages. Small employers, retirement experts, and other stakeholders also identified a number of challenges— such as plan complexity and resource constraints—to starting and maintaining retirement plans. In addition, stakeholders offered options for addressing some challenges to plan sponsorship, which included simplifying federal requirements for plan administration and increasing the tax credit for plan startup costs. Although Labor, IRS, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) collaborate in conducting education and outreach on retirement plans, agencies disseminate information online through separate websites and in a largely uncoordinated fashion. In addition, IRS currently does not have the means to collect information on employers that sponsor a certain type of IRA plan. As a result of our findings, we are recommending efforts for greater collaboration among federal agencies to foster small employer plan sponsorship and more complete collection of IRA plan sponsorship data."

This report describes and compares the drug-and crime - related policy restrictions contained in selected federal programs that provide assistance to low-income individuals and families.

This report provides information about the Benefits and Financing on Federal Employees’ Retirement System. Most civilian federal employees who were hired before 1984 are covered by the civil service retirement system.

None

None

This month's issue has the following articles: (1) Lawrence Livermore as the 'Go-To' National Security Laboratory - Commentary by Penrose (Parney) C. Albright; (2) Launching Traffic Cameras into Space - The Space-Based Telescopes for Actionable Refinement of Ephemeris project is designing nanosatellites to more accurately determine the trajectory of space objects orbiting Earth; (3)An Improved Tool for Nuclear Forensics - Resonance ionization mass spectrometry provides rapid isotopic analysis for studying materials derived from nuclear events; (4) A Simple Way to Better Protect Soldiers against Head Trauma - A modest increase in the foam padding used in Army helmets could significantly reduce brain injuries; and (5) Shocking Aluminum for Greater Understanding - Experiments using a laser beam to hit a thin film of aluminum provide an unprecedented look into the physics of shock waves traveling through a metal.