Newsletter of Ernest Bailes for his constituents in district 18 discussing news, activities, and various updates related to work in the Texas legislature. It focuses on the controversial decisions around House Bill 21, and it gives a short legislative update.

This report discusses the kingdom of Saudi Arabia's relations with the United States; the kingdom's stability, and its future trajectory are subjects of continuing congressional interest.

This report details legislation and policies that restrict or place requirements on U.S. funding of abortion or family planning activities abroad. The level and extent of federal funding for these activities is an ongoing and controversial issue in U.S. foreign assistance and will likely continue to be a point of contention during the 114th Congress.

The report focuses on the complexity of federal activities related to water, based on four general topics: (1) "Water Resources Development, Management, and Use"; (2) "Water Quality, Protection, and Restoration"; (3) "Water Rights and Allocation"; and (4) "Research and Planning." It aims to serve as a guide to federal water-related activities, including the administering agency (or agencies), the primary or overarching authorities for such activities, and House and Senate committee jurisdictions.

This report provides background on energy for facilities that treat and deliver water to end users, and also to dispose of and discharge wastewater.

This report provides the results of recent elections in Latin America and the Caribbean. It includes three tables, organized by region, containing the date of each country's independence, the name of the newly elected president or prime minister, and the projected date of the next election.

This report provides an overview of paid family leave in the United States, summarizes state level family leave insurance programs, notes paid family leave policies in other advanced economy countries, and notes recent federal proposals to increase access to paid family leave.

This report discusses the U.S. export control system and initiatives to reform the export control system. Topics covered include the dual-use system, military export controls, nuclear controls, and President Obama's export control initiative.

This report provides a summary and analysis of the current state of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) in the United States and current legislation and funding related to the CCS process and the regulation of air pollution and greenhouse gases.

This report first reviews the basics of international tax rules. It then discusses the various action items organized into Action Item 1, which relates to the digital economy and proposes standards only with respect to VATS; Action Items 2-5, 7, and 8-10, items related primarily to profit shifting; Action Item 5, which relates to harmful tax practices; Action Item 6, regarding tax treaties; and Action Items 11-15, which are primarily administrative in nature.

This report identifies 17 constitutional points of order that have been raised and received a Senate vote since 1989. Eleven of these cases were disposed of negatively.

This report briefly poses and answers several "frequently asked questions" in relation to the floor proceedings used to elect a Speaker of the House. Current practice for electing a Speaker, either at the start of a Congress or in the event of a vacancy (e.g., death or resignation), is by roll-call vote, during which Members state aloud the name of their preferred candidate. Members may vote for any individual. If no candidate receives a majority of votes cast, balloting continues; in subsequent ballots, Members may still vote for any individual.

This report summarizes the election, duties, and responsibilities of the Speaker of the House, the majority and minority leaders, and the whips and whip system.

This report first provides a brief overview of Senate rules as they pertain to committee actions. The report then provides tables that summarize selected, key features of each committee's rules in regard to meeting day, hearing and meeting notice requirements, scheduling of witnesses, hearing quorum, business quorum, amendment filing requirements, proxy voting, polling, nominations, investigations, and subpoenas. In addition, the report looks at selected unique provisions some committees have included in their rules in the miscellaneous category. The tables represent only a portion of each committee's rules, and provisions of the rules that are substantially similar to or essentially restatements of the Senate's Standing Rules are not included. This report will be not be updated further during the 115th Congress.

This report describes and analyzes the processes, during a presidential transition, by which top-level executive branch PAS (Presidentially-appointed and approved by the Senate) positions have been filled in the recent past. Outside of top White House staff appointments, these are a new President's earliest and arguably most important appointments.

This report starts by giving an overview of recent research on diversity and organizational management to demonstrate why organizations value diversity and what the findings on diversity mean in a military context. The next sections outline DOD's military personnel policies, processes and organizational structure for managing diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity. Following that, the report examines how the concept of diversity and inclusion has evolved over the history of the Armed Forces and provides a snapshot of the current demographic composition of the military relative to the U.S. civilian population. Finally, the report addresses some of the current legislative and policy issues related to diversity in the Armed Forces.

This report analyzes U.S. and international sanctions against Iran and provides some examples, based on open sources, of companies and countries that conduct business with Iran.

This report examines the current political state of Afghanistan at length, discussing the political background, security policy, and regional relations.

This report analyzes individual tax return data to determine who earns pass-through business income which is from sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations. The analysis finds that in 2011 over 82% of net pass-through income was earned by individuals with an adjusted gross income (AGI) over $100,000, although these taxpayers accounted for just 23% of individual returns with pass-through income. Who earns pass-through income may have important implications for tax reform.

This report discusses President Trump's executive order (EO) regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and answers questions regarding the authority and discretion agencies currently have to implement the ACA, and the procedures that may be required in the exercise of those authorities. Also addressed are ways the policy enunciated in the EO may translate into action by the Trump Administration in the context of pending lawsuits challenging the ACA.

This report first provides an overview of the statutory framework governing congressional health coverage and the current Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rule, and then addresses certain legal considerations that may come into play should the Trump Administration take action to modify this existing rule.

This report provides comparative statistics related to the nomination and confirmation of U.S. circuit and district court judges during the eighth year of two-term presidencies since 1945 (i.e., the Truman, Eisenhower, Reagan, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama presidencies). It also provides cumulative comparative statistics for the entire terms of these same six presidencies. Previous CRS research has analyzed final Senate action on judicial nominations during the eighth year of the Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush presidencies.

This report provides summaries of each provision of the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017 (ORRA).

This report provides a brief overview of the history of the negotiations between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, a review of the negotiations since 2008, and a description of some of the issues involved in the talks.