This report discusses Medicare, which consists of two distinct parts — Part A (Hospital Insurance (HI)) and Part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI)). Part A is financed primarily through payroll taxes levied on current workers and their employers. Income from these taxes is credited to the HI trust fund. Part B is financed through a combination of monthly premiums paid by current enrollees and general revenues. Income from these sources is credited to the SMI trust fund.

This report discusses the ongoing international policy debate regarding Global Climate Change and U.S. involvement in the issue of global climate change.The report provides an historical context of the current debate, which is important in understanding the fundamental issues about global climate change.

This report discusses the broad-ranging provisions in Title IV of The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (P.L. 101-549), which raise myriad implementation issues, particularly with respect to the system of tradable "allowances."

The conservation of African elephants has been controversial recently on two fronts: the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES, to which the United States is a party), and a Zimbabwean program for sustainable development called CAMPFIRE, which is partially funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Two controversies have sprung up recently about the African elephant. One is the changing status of this species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), of which the United States is a signatory. The other is over a program in Zimbabwe called "CAMPFIRE." The partial funding of this program by the U.S. Agency for International Development has been criticized by animal welfare groups and some conservation groups, though it has been supported by other conservation groups as well as many hunting organizations.

This report outlines the process and reasons for delisting or downlisting, and summarizes the 27 species delisted due to extinction, recovery, or data revision, and the 22 species that have been downlisted from endangered to threatened status due to stabilized or improving populations.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is an area rich in fauna, flora, and oil potential, where development has been debated for over 36 years. Current law forbids oil and gas leasing. This report discusses debate over whether or not to open the ANWR up for development and includes discussion of various legislative options under consideration.

Dedicated excise taxes finance only a small number of the many activities undertaken by the Federal Government. The fourteen trust funds and special funds currently financed by excise taxes can be grouped under four programmatic purposes: nature conservation and recreation, transportation, environmental cleanup, and health damage compensation. In close parallel, the products currently subject to taxation on behalf of trust and special funds can be classified under the categories of hunting and fishing equipment; cargo transport and air passenger transportation; motor fuels; and materials potentially hazardous to the environment or human health.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on the District of Columbia.

While "competitiveness" has a clear meaning when applied to a baseball team, or a firm or industry, it is of limited usefulness when applied to a country's overall economic performance. Moreover, focussing on competitiveness can lead to questionable economic policies.

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On November 23, 1998, attorneys general representing 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories signed an agreement with the major cigarette companies to settle all the state lawsuits seeking to recover the Medicaid costs of treating smokers. The Master Settlement Agreement, or MSA, contractually imposes some restrictions on tobacco advertising, marketing, and promotion and requires the manufacturers to make annual payments totaling about $206 billion through 2025. It follows earlier individual settlements with four states--Mississippi, Florida, Texas, and Minnesota--totaling more than $40 billion over the first 25 years. Cigarette price increases have passed on those settlement costs to smokers.

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This report presents a brief description of the five methods used to bring proposed legislation to the House floor for consideration.

To the extent that a special rule is silent with respect to the terms for considering a measure, the standing rules of the House apply. The standing rules impose various limitations on consideration; however, it is not always in the interest of the House to observe these limitations. Therefore, special rules may sometimes include exemptions from one or more provisions of the standing rules, which appear in the form of waivers of those provisions.

This report briefly explains how the annual budget resolution sets forth total spending and revenue levels, which are then allocated to the appropriate House and Senate committees, which in turn help Congress determine how best to enforce spending once a budget resolution is adopted.

This report describes the basic elements and issues of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Program. It defines basic activities supported by the program, presents budget trends, discusses the management of program, and describes the infrastructure in which the program is implemented. This report is for staff new to the area of defense research and for senior staff interested in historical trends.

This report begins with a comprehensive presentation of current economic conditions focusing on income growth, unemployment, and inflation. The posture of monetary and fiscal policy is surveyed as are the forecasts of economic activity. It concludes with data on the factors important for economic growth.

Elections for half of the 252 seats of the upper house of Japan's Diet (parliament) will be held in late July 1992. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) appears unlikely to regain the majority it lost in the previous upper house election in July 1989. It appears that continued, but sometimes difficult, cooperation between the LDP and some of the smaller opposition parties is one likely result of the 1992 election. On the other hand, there is a possibility that significant political changes, such as the formation of a coalition government or even a reorganization of the political parties, could result from an opposition victory. As of early June, there are two large sources of uncertainty regarding the upcoming election: first, the LDP could dissolve the lower house and hold a lower house election on the same day as the upper house election, which would alter all calculations of likely outcomes; and second, political scandals which would probably hit the LDP hardest could be brought to light before the election.

This report discusses protocols and treaties designed and implemented to protect Antarctica as a haven for environmental research, preservation, and conservation, as well as related legislation and Congressional efforts.

Over the past decade, numerous major treaties have been concluded to deal with global environmental concerns. This report very briefly summarizes major global environmental treaties currently in effect, selected to include those that are subjects of frequent interest by Members of Congress.

Congressional interest linking foreign aid more directly with commercial interests has grown in recent years as the U.S. budget becomes increasingly strained, constituent support for foreign aid dwindles, and U.S. industries seek Federal assistance. The Trade and Development Agency is one of several Government agencies involved in "aid for trade"--programs that combine development assistance and export promotion.

Several federal agencies, in cooperation with state governments, are responsible for regulating the safety of the U.S. food supply. In the wake of an outbreak of foodborne illness and the largest recall of suspected contaminated meat in U.S. history in August 1997, several policymakers have reopened the debate on creating a single, independent, federal food safety agency. They assert that this would provide more effective regulatory control over the entire farm-to-table food production and marketing system by eliminating the overlapping and occasionally competing for objectives of multiple agencies. As background for further discussion on this and related food safety issues, this report describes the roles of the primary federal and cooperating state agencies responsible for food safety and enumerates the major legislative authorities currently governing them.

This report is one of a series of CRS reports that examines lobbying and pressure group influence by foreign interests on US public policy.

Japan has quickly risen to prominence as a donor of official development assistance (ODA), providing volumes of aid on par with the United States since the late 1980s. Originally a tool to bolster Japan's postwar economic recovery, Japanese aid has gradually assumed importance as a foreign policy tool. Faced with increased pressure from the international community to play a greater role in meeting global challenges and lacking the military and diplomatic resources of other nations, Japan has increasingly turned to its foreign aid as a source of world influence.