Policy Library

8 documents

USDA’s ReConnect Program: Expanding Rural Broadband
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 9,786 words · PDF available
In 2018, Congress provided the Secretary of Agriculture authority to establish a new broadband loan and grant pilot program (the ReConnect Program) to help close the digital divide and expand broadban...
How Measures Are Brought to the House Floor: A Brief Introduction
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 2,623 words · PDF available
This report presents a brief description of the five parliamentary methods that may be used to bring proposed legislation to the House floor for consideration. These methods allow for consideration as...
Reporting on Agency Budget Execution: Processes and Case Study Illustration
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 16,939 words
Budget execution refers to agency action to allocate, re-allocate, obligate, and expend budget authority after it is provided in appropriations acts. Numerous provisions in law require agencies to rep...
Ensuring Electricity Infrastructure Resilience Against Deliberate Electromagnetic Threats
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 13,350 words · PDF available
Detonation of a nuclear weapon in the Earth’s upper atmosphere or near-Earth space may generate a series of electromagnetic pulses—known as high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP)—that damage criti...
FEMA’s Community Disaster Loan Program: History, Data, and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 10,221 words · PDF available
Following a disaster, as businesses may close, properties may be abandoned, and tourism may decline, and local governments may lose revenue needed to support key activities such as trash collection, p...
Membership of the 117th Congress: A Profile
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 5,536 words · PDF available
This report presents a profile of the membership of the 117th Congress (2021-2022) as of December 13, 2022, or at the beginning of the 117th Congress (January 3, 2021), where noted. Statistical inform...
The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Reports · 7,690 words · PDF available
The daily order of business on the floor of the House of Representatives is governed by standing rules that make certain matters and actions privileged for consideration. On a day-to-day basis, howeve...
Voting Rights Act: Brief Policy Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2022-12-14 · Resources · 1,613 words · PDF available
The Voting Rights Act (VRA) protects equal access to elections for all eligible Americans. In particular, in response to widespread disenfranchisement between the post-Civil War period and the 1960s, ...