Policy Library

8 documents

Federal Interagency Wildfire Response Framework
Congressional Research Service · 2024-07-29 · Resources · 1,480 words · PDF available
Wildfires are unplanned fires in vegetated landscapes. Where a wildfire begins determines jurisdiction for wildfire response. Because wildfires often cross jurisdictional boundaries and may impact nea...
Federal Assistance for Wildfire Response and Recovery
Congressional Research Service · 2024-07-29 · Resources · 1,561 words · PDF available
Wildfires are unplanned fires. Wildfires may be caused by natural phenomena (i.e., lightning strikes) or by deliberate or accidental human activities. Wildfires occur naturally, and many ecosystems ev...
Australia: Background and U.S. Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2024-07-29 · Resources · 1,455 words · PDF available
Overview Australia’s relationship with the United States, forged as allies in all major U.S. wars, remains close. The two countries enjoy close trade, political, cultural, intelligence, and defense re...
Space Resource Extraction: Overview and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2024-07-29 · Reports · 11,659 words · PDF available
Many in Congress have expressed interest in opportunities to extract resources (e.g., oxygen, water, precious metals) from the Moon, Mars, and asteroids—an activity often referred to as space resource...
Immigration: Grounds of Inadmissibility
Congressional Research Service · 2024-07-29 · Resources · 1,845 words · PDF available
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), aliens may be denied admission to the United States or face other adverse immigration consequences if they are inadmissible. (The INA defines an “alien...
The Supreme Court’s Narrow Construction of Federal Criminal Laws: 2023 Term
Congressional Research Service · 2024-07-29 · Posts · 1,561 words · PDF available
Criminal law marks a boundary between conduct that society deems permissible and behavior that it deems worthy of punishment. Courts have expressed that those who cross the line may be subject to pena...
Ownership of Retirement Accounts in 2022: Amounts in Defined Contribution Plans and Individual Retirement Accounts
Congressional Research Service · 2024-07-29 · Reports · 2,864 words · PDF available
Households rely on a variety of sources for income in retirement. In 2022, about 54% of U.S. households had savings in retirement accounts, which included certain employer-sponsored account-type pensi...
Lame Duck Sessions of Congress, 1935-2022 (74th-117th Congresses)
Congressional Research Service · 2024-07-29 · Reports · 15,773 words · PDF available
A “lame duck” session of Congress occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected but before the end of its own constitutional term. Under present conditions, any meeting of Congress...