Abortion: Legislative Response (open access)

Abortion: Legislative Response

The primary focus of this issue brief is legislative action in the 107th 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: December 6, 2002
Creator: Lewis, Karen J.; Shimabukuro, Jon O. & Ely, Dana
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Summary of the Medicare Regulatory and Contracting Reform Act of 2001 (H.R. 3391) (open access)

Summary of the Medicare Regulatory and Contracting Reform Act of 2001 (H.R. 3391)

None
Date: December 3, 2001
Creator: Tilson, Sibyl L.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Farm Economic Relief: Issues and Options for Congress (open access)

Farm Economic Relief: Issues and Options for Congress

This report discusses issues regarding Agriculture funding, specifically the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act (P.L. 104-127), which prescribed farm commodity support policy through 2002.
Date: December 6, 2000
Creator: Womach, Jasper & Becker, Geoffrey S.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sugar Policy Issues (open access)

Sugar Policy Issues

None
Date: December 20, 2002
Creator: Jurenas, Remy
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dairy Policy Issues (open access)

Dairy Policy Issues

Several major dairy policy issues are addressed in the context of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (P.L. 107- 171, the 2002 farm bill), which was signed into law on May 13, 2002. Included in the enacted 2002 farm bill are a reauthorization of the dairy price support program for an additional 5 ½ years, and new authorization for direct payments to dairy farmers through September 2005, triggered whenever the market price of farm milk falls below a target price level.
Date: December 20, 2002
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agricultural Trade in the 106th Congress: A Review of Issues (open access)

Agricultural Trade in the 106th Congress: A Review of Issues

The 106th Congress considered a number of trade policy developments against a backdrop of weak foreign demand and large world supplies of agricultural commodities. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the value of U.S. agricultural exports fell between FY1996 (a record year) and FY1999 by almost $11 billion, to $49.2 billion. Agricultural exports did climb back to $50.9 billion in FY2000, and are now projected at $53 billion in FY2001. However, the pace of recovery concerned many agricultural groups and their supporters in Congress. Although they recognize that many world economic, farm production, political, and weather factors influence exports, many of these groups believe that the agricultural sector's future prosperity also depends upon such U.S. trade policies as: 1) encouraging China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), with its binding rules and responsibilities; 2) exempting agricultural exports from U.S. unilateral economic sanctions; 3) fully using export and food aid programs; and 4) aggressively battling foreign-imposed barriers to the movement of U.S. farm products. A few U.S. farm groups are wary of such approaches.
Date: December 29, 2000
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.; Hanrahan, Charles E. & Jurenas, Remy
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agroterrorism: Options in Congress (open access)

Agroterrorism: Options in Congress

Although U.S. intelligence agencies have not identified any terrorist acts targeting agricultural production (i.e., agroterrorism) in the United States to date, the events of September 11, 2001 have awakened the nation to their possibility. Some experts estimate that a single agroterrorist attack using a highly contagious livestock disease could cost between $10 billion and $30 billion to the U.S. economy. This report examines the potential threats to America’s agriculture from a deliberate biological attack, describes the current defense structure and capabilities available to respond to agroterrorism, and analyzes current congressional proposals to address the threat of biological weapons to U.S. agriculture.
Date: December 19, 2001
Creator: Segarra, Alejandro E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Emergency Funding for Agriculture: A Brief History of Congressional Action, FY1989-FY2001 (open access)

Emergency Funding for Agriculture: A Brief History of Congressional Action, FY1989-FY2001

From FY1989 through FY2001 (to date), nineteen appropriations or farm disaster acts have provided $38 billion in emergency funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs. Nearly $27 billion, or about 70 percent of the total amount, has been provided for FY1999-FY2001 alone. Since FY1989, the vast majority of the funds has been paid directly to farmers, primarily in the form of “market loss payments” (just under $17 billion, all since FY1999) to compensate for low farm commodity prices, and disaster payments($15.6 billion) paid to any producer who experienced a major crop loss caused by a natural disaster. The remaining $5.4 billion has funded a wide array of other USDA programs, including other forms of farm disaster assistance, farm loans, overseas food aid, food and nutrition programs, and rural development assistance.
Date: December 11, 2000
Creator: Chite, Ralph M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agriculture and the 106th Congress: A Summary of Major Issues (open access)

Agriculture and the 106th Congress: A Summary of Major Issues

Most congressional interest in agriculture in the 106th Congress was focused on persistent low prices for major commodities and proposals to redress declining farm income. Six emergency farm aid bills were approved, increasing agricultural spending by nearly $27 billion for fiscal years 1999-2001. These bills provided disaster relief along with short term “market loss payments”to farmers to shore up farm income. Some longer term changes also were enacted as part of emergency farm legislation, which this report discusses in brief.
Date: December 15, 2000
Creator: Jones, Jean Yavis
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Climate Change (open access)

Global Climate Change

This report discusses different perspectives used to consider issues related to the global climate change and issues related to the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 1997 Kyoto Agreement.
Date: December 14, 2001
Creator: Justus, John R. & Fletcher, Susan R.
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: December 16, 2002
Creator: Parker, Larry
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol (open access)

Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol

This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.”
Date: December 17, 2001
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Endangered Species: Difficult Choices (open access)

Endangered Species: Difficult Choices

This report discusses issues debated in the 107th Congress while is considering various proposals to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Major issues in recent years have included changing the role of science in decision-making, changing the role of critical habitat, reducing conflicts with Department of Defense activities, incorporating further protection for property owners, and increasing protection of listed species, among others. In addition, many have advocated including significant changes to ESA regulations made during the Clinton Administration in the law itself.
Date: December 6, 2002
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.; Corn, M. Lynne & Baldwin, Pamela
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Endangered Species: Difficult Choices (open access)

Endangered Species: Difficult Choices

This report discusses issues debated in the 107th Congress while is considering various proposals to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Major issues in recent years have included changing the role of science in decision-making, changing the role of critical habitat, reducing conflicts with Department of Defense activities, incorporating further protection for property owners, and increasing protection of listed species, among others. In addition, many have advocated including significant changes to ESA regulations made during the Clinton Administration in the law itself.
Date: December 18, 2002
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.; Corn, M. Lynne & Baldwin, Pamela
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Endangered Species: Difficult Choices (open access)

Endangered Species: Difficult Choices

This report discusses issues debated in the 107th Congress while is considering various proposals to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Major issues in recent years have included changing the role of science in decision-making, changing the role of critical habitat, reducing conflicts with Department of Defense activities, incorporating further protection for property owners, and increasing protection of listed species, among others. In addition, many have advocated including significant changes to ESA regulations made during the Clinton Administration in the law itself.
Date: December 8, 2003
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.; Corn, M. Lynne & Baldwin, Pamela
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: December 17, 2001
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne; Gelb, Bernard A. & Baldwin, Pamela
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
ANWR Development: Economic Impacts (open access)

ANWR Development: Economic Impacts

This report briefly discusses Congressional considerations on whether to continue to protect the ecosystem on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) or to open it to oil and gas development.
Date: December 3, 2001
Creator: Gelb, Bernard A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Water Infrastructure Financing: History of EPA Appropriations (open access)

Water Infrastructure Financing: History of EPA Appropriations

None
Date: December 3, 2001
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Water Infrastructure Financing: History of EPA Appropriations (open access)

Water Infrastructure Financing: History of EPA Appropriations

None
Date: December 4, 2002
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Full Funding of State Formula (open access)

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Full Funding of State Formula

This report discusses Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which assists participating states to serve school-age children with disabilities. The state funding formula, which provides a foundation amount based on states’ FY1999 grants and allocates remaining amounts based on states’ shares of school-age children and of school-age poor children, authorizes a maximum allotment per disabled child served of 40% of the national average per pupil expenditure (APPE). Annual appropriations have never been sufficient to provide each state its maximum allotment; in FY2002, states will receive approximately 16.5% of the national APPE per disabled child served. Some advocates for the program have called upon the Congress to fully fund the formula. An estimated $18.2 billion would be required to provide states the maximum allotment allowed per disabled child served in FY2002, about 2.4 times more than the appropriation of $7.5 billion for FY2002.
Date: December 27, 2001
Creator: Apling, Richard N.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agricultural Marketing Assistance Loans and Loan Deficiency Payments (open access)

Agricultural Marketing Assistance Loans and Loan Deficiency Payments

Marketing assistance loans for the major crops were designed to facilitate orderly marketing by providing short-term financing so that farmers could pay their bills right after harvest and spread their sales over the entire marketing year. However, the persistence of very low commodity prices transformed the loan program into a major vehicle of farm income support. Marketing loan program benefits (primarily loan deficiency payments, LDPs) to farmers amounted to about $5.9 billion in 1999, and will exceed $6.5 billion in 2000. Such levels of use and high costs have revealed several administrative problems and given rise to several policy issues. Some policy makers have favored broadening the scope and enhancing the benefits of the program to achieve greater farm income support. Anticipated adverse market impacts have discouraged adoption of these proposals to date. A persistent policy issue is the payment limitation on marketing loan gains.
Date: December 13, 2000
Creator: Womach, Jasper
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Environmental Protection Agency: FY2001 Budget Issues (open access)

Environmental Protection Agency: FY2001 Budget Issues

The request for state and local wastewater and drinking water capital needs was a key issue. The request of $2.91 billion for State and Tribal Assistance Grants, which fund these needs, was about one-half billion less than in FY2000. The House passed $3.18 billion, the Senate $3.32 billion, and the conferees $3.62 billion. The request included $800 million for Clean Water State Revolving Funds, $550 million less than in FY2000. The House passed $1.20 billion, the Senate $1.35 billion and the conferees $1.35 billion. Conferees approved the $825 million requested for Drinking Water State Revolving Funds. Congress denied the Administration's request for a new Clean Air Partnership program. EPA requested $100 million for Mexican border water projects and $15 million for State of Alaska projects. Conferees approved $75 million and $35 million respectively. For state and tribal administrative grants, the conferees approved roughly the requested amount of $1.0 billion.
Date: December 4, 2000
Creator: Lee, Martin R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Higher Education Act: Reauthorization Status and Issues (open access)

The Higher Education Act: Reauthorization Status and Issues

This report provides the following: an overview of postsecondary education (institutions and students), an overview of the Higher Education Act (HEA) with a focus on its most significant programs and provisions, and a discussion of major issues likely to be of interest to the Congress during the HEA reauthorization process.
Date: December 23, 2002
Creator: Stedman, James B.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Environmental Protection Agency's FY2003 Budget (open access)

The Environmental Protection Agency's FY2003 Budget

On April 9, 2001, the President requested $7.3 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for FY2002, $512.0 million (or 7%) less than the FY2001 funding level of $7.8 billion. The request would not have continued funding of about $500 million for activities earmarked for FY2001, and contained provisions shifting more enforcement responsibilities to the states. Popular wastewater infrastructure funding, state roles, and the future of Superfund were some of the predominant topics. On July 17, the House Appropriations Committee recommended $7.545 billion,$229 million more than requested (H.R. 2620, H. Rept. 107-159).
Date: December 6, 2002
Creator: Lee, Martin R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library