This report discusses projected agricultural imports and exports for FY2001, as well as legislation that deals with federal programs in support of agricultural exports and federal aid dedicated to farms and agricultural reform.

This report provides a brief overview of how the Endangered Species Act (ESA)1 and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA)2 and their relevant regulations may apply to military training and readiness activities of the Department of Defense (DOD). Military activities may “take” protected creatures directly (e.g,. killing with ordnance during rifle, gunnery or assault drills), or might destroy habitat (e.g., artillery or bombing practices), even if these results are not the purpose of the activities. The applicability of the MBTA and ESA to military readiness activities has been controversial recently and legislation has been enacted in both the 107th and 108th Congresses on these topics.

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At the state and local level, many observers have expressed long-standing concerns over delays, duplication of effort, and additional costs frequently associated with the environmental review process for highway projects that must be completed under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA, P.L. 91-190). To address these concerns, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA21, P.L. 105-178), enacted in 1998, requires the Federal Highway Administration(FHWA) to streamline the environmental review process for highway projects.

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On April 10, 2003, the House passed comprehensive energy legislation, H.R. 6 (247- 175). The bill was a composite of four measures – H.R. 39, reported from the House Committee on Resources, H.R. 238, marked up by the House Science Committee, H.R. 1531, reported from Ways and Means, and an unnumbered bill reported out of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Unlike comprehensive energy legislation (H.R. 4) debated in the 107th Congress, H.R. 6 includes a section on electricity which has stirred some controversy. H.R. 6 would provide authorization for exploration and development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

If all checks were replaced by electronic transactions, the exact cost savings would still be unknown, because estimates of the cost of using a check and the number of checks written each year remain in dispute. Consequently, estimates of cost savings range from $1.4 billion annually for truncation alone to $68 billion for replacing checks with electronic payments. A significant part of the savings comes from eliminating the handling, sorting, and physically transporting of checks to the paying bank. To clear checks electronically, banks must negotiate processing agreements thatmake it unnecessary to physically present the paper check. Since the benefits are not uniformly dispersed among the participants, banks have found it difficult to obtain these agreements, thus constraining the widespread adoption of electronic check clearing.

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This report discusses the gender wage gap and the historical presence of a gendered wage gap up until the time of the report's creation. It reports how the Federal government has fought the wage gap through acts like Equal Pay Act (EPA) and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and the current idea on how to correct and assist gender-based discrimination in the work force.

The Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUC), was signed into law March 9, 2002, as a part of P.L. 107-147. TEUC provides up to 13 weeks of additional federally funded unemployment compensation (UC) to individuals in all states who exhaust their regular UC benefits. TEUC also provides a second tier of 13 weeks of benefits to individuals who exhaust their benefits in a highunemployment state (TEUC-X). On January 8, 2003, Congress passed S. 23 (P.L. 108- 1) extending the TEUC program through May 31, 2003, and phasing-out benefits through August 30, 2003. On April 16, 2003, P.L. 108-11 was signed into law, creating a parallel TEUC program called TEUC-A. TEUC-A provides up to 39 weeks of benefits for displaced airline workers, and provides a second tier (TEUC-AX) of benefits to individuals exhausting their TEUC-A benefits in a high-unemployment state. The Congress passed H.R. 2185, extending the TEUC program through December 31, 2003, and the President signed the bill into law on May 28, 2003 (P.L. 108-26). This report will be updated as events warrant.

This report provides the information related to the fishery, aquaculture, and marine mammal issues in the 108th Congress

Sub-Saharan Africa has been far more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. The United Nations reports that 25.3 million adults and children are infected with the HIV virus in the region, which has about 10% of the world's population but more than 70% of the worldwide total of infected people. This report discusses this issue in detail, including the cause of the African AIDS epidemic, the social and economic consequences, response and treatment, and U.S. policy.

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This report discusses the passing of the Social Security Benefit Enhancements for Women Act of 2002 and how it benefits certain divorced spouses and disabled and elderly widowers. The report analyzes the specific benefits of the act and how much the act would cost and the effects on the Social Security trust funds.

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This report provides summaries of the federal laws and regulations particular to telemarketing, the establishment of a national do-not-call registry, and the options that are available to consumers to limit the calls that they receive from telemarketers and to report questionable telemarketing practices to local or federal authorities. The report also lists sources of additional information with addresses, phone numbers, and Internet sites (if available).