Medicare Provisions in the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA, P.L. 106-554) (open access)

Medicare Provisions in the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA, P.L. 106-554)

None
Date: May 24, 2001
Creator: Chaikind, Hinda Ripps; Tilson, Sibyl L.; O'Sullivan, Jennifer; Merck, Carolyn L. & Smith, Madeleine T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare Structure Reform: Background and Options (open access)

Medicare Structure Reform: Background and Options

None
Date: July 24, 2001
Creator: O'Sullivan, Jennifer; Chaikind, Hinda Ripps & Tilson, Sibyl L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conservation Reserve Program: Status and Policy Issues (open access)

Conservation Reserve Program: Status and Policy Issues

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), enacted in 1985, enables producers to bid to retire highly erodible or environmentally sensitive cropland, usually for 10 years. Participants receive annual rental and cost-sharing payments, and technical assistance to install approved plantings. Up to 36.4 million acres have been enrolled; current enrollment is estimated to be 32.9 million acres.
Date: February 24, 1997
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Agricultural Trade: Trends, Composition, Direction, and Policy (open access)

U.S. Agricultural Trade: Trends, Composition, Direction, and Policy

None
Date: October 24, 2000
Creator: Hanrahan, Charles E. & Dunkley, Mary L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm Commodity Programs: Sugar (open access)

Farm Commodity Programs: Sugar

This report discusses the federal sugar program, which authorized by the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 seeks to ensure the viability of the U.S. sugar producing sector primarily by supporting the incomes of sugar beet and sugarcane producers and of those firms that process each crop into sugar.
Date: April 24, 1998
Creator: Jurenas, Remy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Animal Agriculture: Issues in the 107th Congress (open access)

Animal Agriculture: Issues in the 107th Congress

A variety of animal agriculture issues, including prices, the impact of consolidation in the meat production/packing industry, trade, and the environmental impacts of large feedlots, continue to generate interest in Congress. This issue brief discusses these issues, as well as the 2002 farm bill, which contains several provisions affecting animal agriculture, including protections for contract growers, disaster assistance, country-of-origin labeling, and increased funding for conservation purposes.
Date: May 24, 2002
Creator: Heykoop, Jerry
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agricultural Trade Issues in the 107th Congress (open access)

Agricultural Trade Issues in the 107th Congress

The 107th Congress is considering trade issues with implications for the U.S. agricultural sector. Trade in agricultural commodities and food products affects farm income and rural employment, and it also generates economic activity beyond the farm gate. With agricultural export sales the equivalent of one-quarter of farm income, some policymakers view U.S. efforts to develop market opportunities overseas as vital to the sector’s financial health. Decisions taken by the Bush Administration, and actions taken by Congress, thus will affect the outlook for agricultural trade.
Date: June 24, 2002
Creator: Hanrahan, Charles E.; Becker, Geoffrey S. & Jurenas, Remy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agricultural Trade Issues in the 107th Congress (open access)

Agricultural Trade Issues in the 107th Congress

The 107th Congress is considering trade issues with implications for the U.S. agricultural sector. Trade in agricultural commodities and food products affects farm income and rural employment, and it also generates economic activity beyond the farm gate. With agricultural export sales the equivalent of one-quarter of farm income, some policymakers view U.S. efforts to develop market opportunities overseas as vital to the sector’s financial health. Decisions taken by the Bush Administration, and actions taken by Congress, thus will affect the outlook for agricultural trade.
Date: September 24, 2002
Creator: Hanrahan, Charles E.; Becker, Geoffrey S. & Jurenas, Remy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agricultural Export and Food Aid Programs (open access)

Agricultural Export and Food Aid Programs

This report discusses projected agricultural imports and exports for FY2003, as well as legislation that deals with federal programs in support of agricultural exports and federal aid dedicated to farms and agricultural reform.
Date: July 24, 2003
Creator: Hanrahan, Charles E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Immigration of Agricultural Guest Workers: Policy, Trends, and Legislative Issues (open access)

Immigration of Agricultural Guest Workers: Policy, Trends, and Legislative Issues

This report discusses the revision of U.S. immigration policy on agricultural guest workers that are coming from various perspectives, and several major bills have already been introduced in the 107th Congress.
Date: January 24, 2003
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen & Collver, Geoffrey K
System: The UNT Digital Library
Air Quality Standards: The Decisionmaking Process (open access)

Air Quality Standards: The Decisionmaking Process

The decisions by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1997 to revise the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter refocused attention on the criteria and the process by which these decisions are made Tracing the steps of the decision pieces, this report identifies the statutory criteria established by the Congress and summarizes the administrative procedures the Agency follows in setting these standards and in reviewing them every 5 years.
Date: June 24, 1998
Creator: Blodgett, John E.; Parker, Larry & McCarthy, James E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
EPA's Tier 2 Proposal for Stricter Vehicle Emission Standards: A Fact Sheet (open access)

EPA's Tier 2 Proposal for Stricter Vehicle Emission Standards: A Fact Sheet

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 established "Tier 1" standards to limit tailpipe emissions from new motor vehicles, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to determine if more stringent requirements are needed to attain or maintain National Ambient Air Quality Standards. EPA also must assess the availability and cost-effectiveness of technologies necessary to control emissions. In a report submitted to Congress in August 1998, EPA concluded that tougher standards are necessary and that essential technologies are available and cost-effective
Date: June 24, 1999
Creator: Bearden, David M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: Its Past and Future (open access)

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: Its Past and Future

This report discusses the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It is divided into six sections: Introduction, Background, CITES and the Endangered Species Act, Implementation, Upcoming Events, and Appendices.
Date: August 24, 1994
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne
System: The UNT Digital Library
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 108th Congress (open access)

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 108th Congress

This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge. This report addresses several legislative options on the issue, as well as policymakers' arguments for and against development, especially in the wake of increasing terrorism since 2000-2001.
Date: April 24, 2003
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne; Gelb, Bernard A. & Baldwin, Pamela
System: The UNT Digital Library
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 108th Congress (open access)

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 108th Congress

This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge. This report addresses several legislative options on the issue, as well as policymakers' arguments for and against development, especially in the wake of increasing terrorism since 2000-2001.
Date: July 24, 2003
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne; Gelb, Bernard A. & Baldwin, Pamela
System: The UNT Digital Library
Elementary and Secondary Education: Reconsideration of the Federal Role by the 107th Congress (open access)

Elementary and Secondary Education: Reconsideration of the Federal Role by the 107th Congress

This issue brief provides an overview of legislation to reauthorize the ESEA, ERDDIA, and NESA. Most of it will focus on the ESEA, since it is much larger in scale. We include a summary review of relevant legislation acted upon during the 106th Congress. This issue brief will be updated regularly to reflect current legislative activity. Other issue briefs and reports, listed at the end of this brief, provide more detailed information on individual programs or types of proposals and analyses of the issues being debated with respect to them.
Date: January 24, 2001
Creator: Riddle, Wayne C. & Stedman, James B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Budget for Fiscal Year 2003 (open access)

The Budget for Fiscal Year 2003

This report discusses the budget for fiscal year 2003. It debates issues such as budget action, receipts surpluses or deficits, and the economy.
Date: June 24, 2002
Creator: Winters, Philip D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment Proposals (open access)

Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment Proposals

In recent years conflicting budget priorities and divided political control have accentuated the institutional tensions between the executive and legislative branches inherent in the federal budget process. President Clinton, like his two predecessors, called for an item veto, or possibly expanded impoundment authority, to provide him with greater control over federal spending. This report provides a brief history of impoundment and discusses the debate surrounding the line item veto.
Date: January 24, 2003
Creator: McMurtry, Virginia A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Population Assistance and Family Planning Programs: Issues for Congress (open access)

Population Assistance and Family Planning Programs: Issues for Congress

None
Date: July 24, 2002
Creator: Nowels, Larry
System: The UNT Digital Library
Population Assistance and Family Planning Programs: Issues for Congress (open access)

Population Assistance and Family Planning Programs: Issues for Congress

None
Date: July 24, 2003
Creator: Nowels, Larry
System: The UNT Digital Library
Forest Service Revenue-Sharing Payments: Legislative Issues (open access)

Forest Service Revenue-Sharing Payments: Legislative Issues

The Forest Service (FS) returns 25% of the revenues from each national forest to the states for use on roads and schools in counties where the forests are located; the Bureau of Land Management shares 50% of its revenues with counties containing the Oregon & California grant lands. This report discusses the legislative concerns that have arisen because declining timber sales have reduced revenues.
Date: March 24, 2000
Creator: Gorte, Ross W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Child Nutrition and WIC Programs: Background and Funding (open access)

Child Nutrition and WIC Programs: Background and Funding

About a dozen federally supported child nutrition programs and related activities – including school meal programs and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (the WIC program) – reach over 37 million children and almost 2 million lower-income pregnant and postpartum women. Total FY2002 spending on these efforts was $15.1 billion. FY2003 spending is projected at an estimated $15.9 billion under the Agriculture Department appropriations portion (Division A) of the FY2003 Consolidated Appropriations Resolution (P.L. 108-7; H.Rept. 108-10; enacted February 20,2003). And the Administration anticipates spending $16.3 billion under its FY2004 budget.
Date: July 24, 2003
Creator: Richardson, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library
Lumber Imports from Canada: Issues and Events (open access)

Lumber Imports from Canada: Issues and Events

This report provides a concise historical account of the dispute, summarizes the subsidy and injury evidence, and discusses the current issues and events regarding lumber imports from Canada.
Date: June 24, 2003
Creator: Gorte, Ross W. & Grimmett, Jeanne J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy, September 24, 2003 (open access)

Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy, September 24, 2003

This report discusses congressional interest in the pace of U.S. technological advancement due to its influence on U.S. economic growth, productivity, and international competitiveness. The proper role of the federal government in technology development and the competitiveness of U.S. industry continues to be a topic of congressional debate.
Date: September 24, 2003
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
System: The UNT Digital Library