This report describes how payments will be calculated under the Medicare+Choice program established under the new law.

This report includes a table listing, by state, the: Number of bids, or offers, received; Total acres offered for enrollment; Acres offered that are currently enrolled in the CRP; Acres offered are not currently enrolled in the CRP; Acres on which contracts expire on September 30, 1997; Percentage of acres currently in the program that were offered for reenrollment; and Percentage of acres offered that are not currently enrolled in the CRP.

This report discusses employer trip reduction (ETR) programs, which would require large employers to implement certain transportation control measures as part of a national effort to combat air pollution, largely as a direct result of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

On June 30, 1999, after many years of diplomatic struggle to resolve disagreements over resource conservation and harvest arrangements, the United States and Canada signed an agreement for the long-term conservation and equitable sharing of their salmon resources. Most of the new fishery arrangements will be in effect for 10 years, beginning in 1999. The arrangement for Fraser River sockeye will be in effect for 12 years, also beginning in 1999. This report provides background about the Pacific Salmon Treaty, discusses issues that created difficulties in the past, and summarizes the new salmon accord. As the issues evolve, this report will be updated to include and discuss additional concerns that may arise

This report covers proposed and enacted legislative initiatives to change child nutrition programs (including the WIC program) during 1997 and 1998.

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This report briefly discusses federal funding gaps. The routine activities of most federal agencies are funded annually by one or more of the 13 regular appropriations bills. When action on the regular appropriations bills is delayed, a continuing resolution (CR) is used to provide interim funding. During the past 48 years, CRs have been enacted for all but four fiscal years (FY1953, 1989, 1995, and 1997). For some fiscal years, a series of as many as six CRs have been enacted.

Most of the laws establishing the federal government's revenue sources are permanent and continue year after year without any additional legislative action. Congress, however, typically enacts revenue legislation, changing some portion of the existing tax system, every year. Revenue legislation may include changes to individual and corporate income taxes, social insurance taxes, excise taxes, or tariffs and duties. Congressional consideration of revenue legislation is governed by various constitutional provisions and procedural rules.

The Congressional Budget Act (CBA) of 1974 (P.L. 93-344), as amended, establishes the congressional budget process, which coordinates the legislative activities on the budget resolution, appropriations bills, reconciliation legislation, revenue measures, and other budgetary legislation. Section 300 of this act provides a timetable (see Table 1) so that Congress may complete its work on the budget by the start of the fiscal year on October 1.

Deficient productive capacity has not yet caused an oil crisis, but that does not mean it never will. Significant increases in world oil demand will have to be met primarily from Persian Gulf supplies. This is a region with a history of wars, illegal occupations, soups, revolutions, sabotage, terrorism, and oil embargoes. To these possibilities may be added growing Islamist movements with various antipathies to the West. If oil production were constrained, oil prices could rise abruptly along with adverse world economic repercussions. If the IEA and EIA are correct on the demand side, deficient world oil productive capacity could cause an oil crisis within 15 years and political disruptions in Saudi Arabia could cause one sooner. However, if the increases in world oil demand were more moderate, and there is long-term relative peace in the Middle East, with increasing foreign participation in upstream oil activities, a business as usual world oil demand and supply situation would be a likely scenario for much of the next century.

The 105th Congress enacted tax provisions relating to Superfund brownfields sites, transportation- and defense-related environmental provisions, a border smog bill, EPA funding as well as reinstating the tax that supports the Leaking Underground Storage Trust Fund. There were various actions on regulatory reform, the budget resolution, appropriations, highway- and defense-related environmental provisions, Superfund reform bills and underground storage tanks. It is too early to tell if these will be issues for the 106th Congress.

Among a number of proposals advanced for discussion in the Republican-led 104th Congress was one to restructure the Department of the Interior. As part of this restructuring, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) was tentatively targeted for elimination in a list of possible offsets to help fund proposed tax cuts and program changes in the House Republican "Contract With America."

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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 CRS reports that provide analytical perspectives on the 13 annual appropriations bills, and other related appropriation measures. It does not include a detailed explanation or description of the budget or appropriations processes. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittees.

For FY2000, the House-passed Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary appropriations act would provide $4.264 billion in total funding for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), including $100 million to hire an additional 1,000 Border Patrol agents, and $200 million for additional detention space (H.R. 2670; H. Rept. 106-283). The Senate-passed bill would provide INS with $3.999 billion in total funding, including $101 million to hire an additional 1,000 Border Patrol agents, nearly $23 million for Border Patrol equipment, $10 million to continue deploying remote border surveillance technologies, $3 million for law enforcement support centers, and $1.5 million to establish new dedicated commuter lanes at ports of entry (S. 1217; S.Rept. 106-76). By comparison, the Administration had requested $4.270 billion.

Since May of 1998, Russia has been caught in the latest, and likely the most serious, in a series of economic crises. The crisis came to a head on August 17, 1998, when the government of then-Premier Sergei Kiriyenko abandoned its defense of a strong ruble exchange rate against the dollar, defaulted on government domestic debt forcing its restructuring, and placed a 90-day moratorium on commercial external debt payments. Those actions led to Yeltsin's dismissal of Kiriyenko on August 23, replaced, after a political standoff with the Duma, by a more leftward-leaning government led by Premier Yevgennij Primakov. The August crisis also lowered Russians' standard of living and has seriously set back Russia's efforts toward establishing a market economy, perhaps for years to come.

Tensions in the Taiwan Straits are prompting American policymakers to consider a range of measures that would demonstrate U.S. interests in Taiwan's security. President Clinton has ordered two U.S. carrier battle groups into the South China Sea, and Congress is considering legislation that would more forcefully express U.S. defense commitments to Taiwan.

U.S. policymakers in Congress face a series of often interrelated security, economic, and political issues in relations with South Korea. U.S. policy concern on the Korean peninsula has focused over the past 3 years on the serious security implications of North Korea's nuclear program (see CRS Issue Brief 91141).

This report discusses the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which affected alien eligibility for federal, state, and local government assistance programs, both imposing and broadening restrictions on a number of immigration benefits and programs.

The Visa Waiver Pilot Program (VWPP) allows aliens traveling from certain designated countries to come to the United States as temporary visitors without having the immigration documents normally required to enter the United States. Some maintain it fosters international travel to the United States and eases the workload of the consular offices abroad. Others observe that it by-passes the most important screening step of who is permitted to enter the United States, cautioning that it may inadvertently stimulate immigration violations. The program was scheduled to expire on September 30, 1997, but temporary extensions were included in both Continuing Resolutions. The Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary (CJS) FY1998 appropriations act (P.L. 105- 119) contains an extension through April 30, 1998. Bills to formally extend the program have passed the Senate (S. 1178) and have been reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary (H.R. 2578). H.R. 2578 is expected to come to the House floor before the April recess.

This report presents background on the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, provides a funding history of the Act, and tracks and analyzes legislation during the 105 Congress to revise and reauthorize the Perkins Act. Specifically the report th examines H.R. 1853 as passed by the House and H.R. 1385 as passed by the Senate. Key issues include whether and how to change state and substate formulas; what percentage of funds to reserve for statewide activities and administration; and how best to ensure services for “special populations,” such as students with disabilities. The report will be updated as legislative action warrants.

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This report discusses the worsening political tensions in Indonesia that emerged as a result of discontent with policies enacted by President Suharto and his government, and the effects that these tensions have on US policy. The report cites the shooting of students by riot police, as well as rioting in Jakarta in May 1998 as another factor for the political unrest and uncertainty.