Abortion: Legislative Response (open access)

Abortion: Legislative Response

The primary focus of this issue brief is legislative action in the 108th Congress with respect to abortion. However, discussion of those legislative proposals necessarily involves a brief discussion of the leading U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate her pregnancy. For a more detailed discussion of the relevant case law, see CRS Report 95-724, Abortion Law Development: A Brief Overview.
Date: October 1, 2003
Creator: Lewis, Karen J.; Shimabukuro, Jon O. & Ely, Dana
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dairy Policy Issues (open access)

Dairy Policy Issues

Three major dairy policy issues captured the attention of the 106th Congress, and are expected to remain issues of concern to the 107th Congress-- federal financial assistance for dairy farmers; implementation by USDA of changes to federal farm milk pricing regulations; and regional debates over the market effects of dairy compacts.
Date: August 1, 2000
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dairy Policy Issues (open access)

Dairy Policy Issues

Several dairy issues that were debated during the 108th Congress are expected to continue as issues of interest in the 109th Congress. Separate bills were introduced in the 108th Congress to extend authority for both the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program and the dairy forward pricing pilot program, and to address dairy producer concerns about the importation of milk protein concentrates.
Date: November 1, 2002
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Grazing Regulations: Public Lands Council v. Babbitt (open access)

Federal Grazing Regulations: Public Lands Council v. Babbitt

This report discusses new regulations on livestock grazing on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management became effective August 21, 1995. Many aspects of the new regulations were challenged in Public Lands Council v. Babbitt. A federal district court upheld many of the regulations, but struck down four of them and enjoined their implementation. At the appellate level, only the new regulation allowing conservation use to the exclusion of livestock grazing for the full term of a permit was held invalid. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case and argument has been set for March 1, 2000.
Date: February 1, 2000
Creator: Baldwin, Pamela
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Conservation Reserve Payments and Self-Employment Taxes (open access)

Conservation Reserve Payments and Self-Employment Taxes

Farmers enrolling their land in the Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) receive payments for refraining from farming their property and for engaging in certain conservation practices mandated by the Department of Agriculture. These payments are described in the contract with the Department of Agriculture as "rental payments." Farmers would like to treat the income as "rental income" because it would not be subject to self-employment taxes, but the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) insists that under certain conditions, the payments are income from the trade or business of farming and thus subject to self-employment taxes.
Date: May 1, 2000
Creator: Morris, Marie B.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions About the Kyoto Protocol (open access)

Global Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions About the Kyoto Protocol

This report addresses legal issues after the United States signed the Kyoto Protocol to the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The protocol is not yet in effect internationally and cannot be legally binding on the U.S. unless and until the Senate gives its advice and consent.
Date: October 1, 2002
Creator: Ackerman, David M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Climate Change: Market-Based Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gases (open access)

Global Climate Change: Market-Based Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

This report discusses global climate change and the market-based strategies to reduce greenhouse gases.
Date: April 1, 2003
Creator: Parker, Larry
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Climate Change: Market-Based Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gases (open access)

Global Climate Change: Market-Based Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

This report discusses global climate change and the market-based strategies to reduce greenhouse gases.
Date: August 1, 2003
Creator: Parker, Larry
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Air Quality: Multi-Pollutant Legislation (open access)

Air Quality: Multi-Pollutant Legislation

One approach being proposed to more cost-effectively achieve national air quality goals is a "multi-pollutant" strategy -- a framework based on a consistent set of emissions caps, implemented through emissions trading. This report discusses this strategy and related legislation.
Date: August 1, 2002
Creator: Parker, Larry & Blodgett, John E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: The Next Chapter (open access)

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: The Next Chapter

This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for energy development. The report discusses arguments for and against such development and focuses especially on related pieces of legislation that directly affects the future of the ANWR.
Date: August 1, 2001
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne; Gelb, Bernard A. & Baldwin, Pamela
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Airport Improvement Program (open access)

Airport Improvement Program

This issue brief discusses the Airport Improvement Program and its complement, the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC). After a brief history of federal support for airport construction and improvement, the report describes AIP funding, its source of revenues, the impact of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (FAIR21, P.L. 106-181), funding distribution, the types of projects the program funds, AIP and PFC policy issues, and the allowable use of AIP funds for airport security purposes.
Date: July 1, 2002
Creator: Kirk, Robert S.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment Proposals (open access)

Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment Proposals

This report discusses President's authority to call for an item veto, or possibly expanded impoundment authority, consideration of impoundment reform, to provide him with greater control over federal spending.
Date: March 1, 2001
Creator: McMurtry, Virginia A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The National Debt: Who Bears Its Burden? (open access)

The National Debt: Who Bears Its Burden?

This report discusses the burden of a national debt, the view among economists, the federal budget deficits, and the financial burden that future generations will inherit, a larger privately owned capital stock and a higher level of income.
Date: May 1, 2003
Creator: Labonte, Marc & Makinen, Gail
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Recovery from Terrorist Attacks: A Catalog of Selected Federal Assistance Programs (open access)

Recovery from Terrorist Attacks: A Catalog of Selected Federal Assistance Programs

None
Date: February 1, 2002
Creator: Canada, Ben
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act: Reauthorization and Appropriations (open access)

The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act: Reauthorization and Appropriations

Congressional Research Service (CRS) report entailing information about reauthorization and appropriations of the Sade and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act. Topics include, state grants, national programs, appropriations and funding history, the Gun Free School Act, etc..
Date: August 1, 2002
Creator: Cooper, Edith Fairman
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
State Sales Taxation of Internet Transactions (open access)

State Sales Taxation of Internet Transactions

None
Date: March 1, 2004
Creator: Luckey, John R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Missing and Exploited Children: Overview and Policy Concerns (open access)

Missing and Exploited Children: Overview and Policy Concerns

This report presents an overview of two national incidence studies prepared by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to determine annually the number of reported missing and recovered children in the nation. It also discusses the AMBER Alert System created to help recover reported missing children, legislation introduced in the 108th Congresses to address the missing children issue, and questions that remain regarding concerns about missing children.
Date: August 1, 2003
Creator: Cooper, Edith Fairman
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Child Welfare Issues in the 108th Congress (open access)

Child Welfare Issues in the 108th Congress

The purpose of this report is to present a number of generally less broad legislative proposals related to child welfare financing have been introduced in the 108th Congress. Additional child welfare-related proposals designed to improve services, promote timely placement of children across state lines, and for other purposes, are described in this report.
Date: April 1, 2003
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
China and "Falun Gong" (open access)

China and "Falun Gong"

“Falun Gong,” also known as “Falun Dafa,”1 combines an exercise regimen with meditation and moral tenets. The “Falun Gong” movement has led to the largest and most protracted public demonstrations in China since the democracy movement of 1989. On April 25, 1999, an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 adherents assembled in front of Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Communist Party leadership compound, and participated in a silent protest against state repression of their activities. On July 21, 1999, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government, fearful of the spread of social unrest, outlawed the movement and began to arrest Falun Gong protesters.
Date: May 1, 2002
Creator: Lum, Thomas
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
China and "Falun Gong" (open access)

China and "Falun Gong"

“Falun Gong,” also known as “Falun Dafa,”1 combines an exercise regimen with meditation and moral tenets. The “Falun Gong” movement has led to the largest and most protracted public demonstrations in China since the democracy movement of 1989. On April 25, 1999, an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 adherents assembled in front of Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Communist Party leadership compound, and participated in a silent protest against state repression of their activities. On July 21, 1999, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government, fearful of the spread of social unrest, outlawed the movement and began to arrest Falun Gong protesters.
Date: November 1, 2002
Creator: Lum, Thomas
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Statutory Language and Recent Issues (open access)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Statutory Language and Recent Issues

This report summarizes the major provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and also discusses selected recent issues, including ten ADA Supreme Court cases.
Date: August 1, 2002
Creator: Jones, Nancy Lee
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Flag Protection: A Brief History and Summary of Recent Supreme Court Decisions and Proposed Constitutional Amendment (open access)

Flag Protection: A Brief History and Summary of Recent Supreme Court Decisions and Proposed Constitutional Amendment

This report is divided into two parts. The first gives a brief history of the flag protection issue, from the enactment of the Flag Protection Act in 1968 through current consideration of a constitutional amendment. The second part briefly summarizes the two decisions of the United States Supreme Court, Texas v. Johnson and United States v. Eichman, that struck down the state and federal flag protection statutes as applied in the context punishing expressive conduct.
Date: September 1, 2004
Creator: Luckey, John R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Going to Conference in the Senate (open access)

Going to Conference in the Senate

This report discusses the steps that the Senate must take, and one more step that it may take, as it arranges to send a bill to conference committee.
Date: February 1, 2000
Creator: Bach, Stanley
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Salaries of Members of Congress: A List of Payable Rates and Effective Dates, 1789-2003 (open access)

Salaries of Members of Congress: A List of Payable Rates and Effective Dates, 1789-2003

This report summarizes by what measures the Constitution requires Congress to determine its own pay, the annual payment adjustment procedure, changes in pay over time since 1789, and related legislation.
Date: December 1, 2003
Creator: Dwyer, Paul E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library