This report provides an overview of the President’s plan and the legislation introduced to date in the 106th Congress. It

Current law governing financial activity of campaigns for federal office is based on two principal statutes: the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971, as amended in 1974, 1976, and 1979, and the Revenue Act of 1971. These laws were enacted to remedy widely perceived shortcomings of existing law, the Corrupt Practices Act of 1925, and in response to reports of campaign finance abuses over the years, culminating in the 1972-1974 Watergate scandal. This report provides a summary of major provisions of federal law and a chronology of key legislative and judicial actions.

This Report first discusses the critical holdings enunciated by the Supreme Court in Buckley, including those: upholding reasonable contribution limits, striking down expenditure limits, upholding disclosure reporting requirements, and upholding the system of voluntary presidential election expenditure limitations linked with public financing. It then examines the Court’s extension of Buckley in fourteen subsequent cases, evaluating them in three regulatory contexts: contribution limits (California Medical Association v. FEC; Citizens Against Rent Control v. Berkeley; Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC), expenditure limits (First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti; FEC v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life; Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce; FEC v. National Right to Work; Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. FEC; FEC v. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee; FEC v. National Conservative Political Action Committee), and disclosure requirements (Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation; Brown v. Socialist Workers ‘74 Campaign Committee; FEC v. Akins; McIntrye v. Ohio Elections Commission).

In light of 1999's oil production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and several other non-OPEC members, the characteristics of the world's major oil producers are an important consideration for policymakers. These countries vary in importance as direct suppliers to the U.S. Their ability to add to current world supply varies as well.

Federal protection of the environment must hew to the same constitutional strictures as any other federal actions. In the past decade, however, the Supreme Court has invigorated several of these strictures in ways that present new challenges to congressional drafters of environmental statutes. This report reviews six of these newly emergent constitutional areas, with special attention to their significance for current and future environmental legislation.

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This report discusses aircraft noise regulations as they relate to hushkits, which is a combination of strategies designed to reduce aircraft noise. These strategies can include new technologies, redesigned engine enclosures, replacement engine components, entirely new engines, or a combination of any of the above. This report dicusses the new EU regulation limiting hushkitted commercial jet aircraft in the EU, the United States' response to this regulation, and the effect this could have on international air travel relations.

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A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether section 21.055 of the Tax Code, which governs the taxation of certain business aircraft used outside of taxes in tax years 1995 through 1999 (RQ-0136-JC)

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed efforts to reform the administration, structure, and financing of the Medicare Program."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its reviews of agency compliance with a number of procedural and analytical requirements in federal rulemaking."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of State's fiscal year (FY) 2001 budget, focusing on the management challenges that State faces in improving its operations in four areas."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the challenges the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) faces in evaluating and overseeing proposed mass transit construction projects, focusing on: (1) FTA's process for evaluating proposed transit projects; (2) FTA's oversight of transit projects under construction; (3) the ever-increasing competition for federal transit construction dollars; and (4) the costs, schedules, and financing of six ongoing transit projects."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the World Trade Organization's (WTO) 1999 ministerial conference, focusing on the: (1) outcome of the ministerial conference; (2) factors contributing to the outcome; and (3) the lessons learned from the meeting."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Defense's 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel, focusing on: (1) military personnel's satisfaction with military life and the aspects of military life that influence decisions to stay in or leave; (2) the extent to which military personnel are working long hours and spending time away from home; and (3) the personal financial conditions reported by military personnel."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its recent report on the management of federal medical stockpiles that would be used to treat civilians in a chemical or biological terrorist attack."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of the Treasury's progress in implementing the cross-service provision of the Debt Collection Improvement Act (DCIA) of 1996, focusing on the: (1) status of nontax delinquent debts that federal agencies have referred to Treasury for cross-servicing and Treasury's actions to encourage these referrals; (2) Treasury's cross-servicing process for collecting referred debts; (3) Treasury's method for allocating debts to private collection agencies (PCA) for collection; and (4) Treasury's estimated cross-servicing costs and related fees earned on collections."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Energy's (DOE) National Ignition Facility (NIF), focusing on the: (1) magnitude of NIF's cost and schedule overruns; (2) reasons for these cost and schedule problems; (3) effects of NIF's cost and schedule on other weapons and science programs; and (4) DOE's and Lawrence Livermore's actions to correct these problems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) Antiarmor Master plan, focusing on whether it provided the data and analyses necessary to: (1) identify excess antiarmor weapons currently in the inventory or under development; and (2) support current acquisition plans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO described the Department of State's Overseas Emergency Security Program, focusing on: (1) progress that State has made in implementing the program funded by the emergency supplemental appropriations and the challenges State faces in completing the program; and (2) State's long-term capital construction program and its response to a study on overseas presence in follow-on reports."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) created the Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) to conduct physical inspections of HUD's public and multifamily housing properties to determine whether the properties are safe, decent, and in good repair. Although REAC uses sampling to select units and buildings for inspection, it did not, at the time of GAO's review, routinely calculate the sampling error associated with the physical condition score assigned to each property. Under REAC's sampling procedure, buildings and units do not always have the same chance of being included in the inspection sample. REAC officials told GAO that they were introducing new sampling procedures that would nearly equalize the chance that each property's dwelling units would be selected. The actions that HUD is proposing should address that. GAO's concerns about HUD's sampling procedures."