Policy Library

16 documents

Motions to Proceed to Consider Measures in the Senate: Who Offers Them?
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Reports · 11,026 words · PDF available
The Senate generally cedes to its majority leader the prerogative of calling up items of business for floor consideration. Most measures are brought to the floor by unanimous consent, but when this co...
State Minimum Wages: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Reports · 15,262 words · PDF available
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), enacted in 1938, is the federal law that establishes the general minimum wage that must be paid to all covered, nonexempt workers employed in a state or territory ...
Introduction to U.S. Economy: The Business Cycle and Growth
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Resources · 1,527 words · PDF available
On July 19, 2021, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), an independent, nonprofit research group, announced that economic activity in the United States reached a post-COVID-19 pandemic onse...
Why ASEAN should not be a US-China battleground
Brookings Institution · 2024-10-03 · Article · 1,635 words
Southeast Asia would benefit from a U.S. president invested in relations with the region beyond merely competing with China.
AI memes: Election disinformation manifested through satire
Brookings Institution · 2024-10-03 · Article · 1,192 words
Online disinformation and misinformation are already having a major impact on both presidential campaigns.
Why have mortgage rates fallen, and where are they headed?
Brookings Institution · 2024-10-03 · Article · 4,422 words · PDF available
Mortgage rates have reversed some of their increase since 2020 and are likely to continue to fall.
Gender Activists to Pennsylvania Parents: We’ll Take It From Here
Heritage Foundation · 2024-10-03 · Commentary · 938 words
Jonathan Kirn/Getty ImagesKey TakeawaysNearly 1,100 school districts across the country, with 11.5 million students attending 19,600 schools, have already joined the gender revolution.A sweeping new r...
U.S. Marine Corps Force Design Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Reports · 6,237 words · PDF available
On March 23, 2020, the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) announced a major force design initiative referred to as “Force Design 2030,” which is now known as “Force Design.” As part of this initiative, intended...
Introduction to U.S. Economy: Business Investment
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Resources · 1,477 words · PDF available
What Is Business Investment? Business investment is spending by private businesses and nonprofits on physical capital—long-lasting assets used to produce goods and services. Physical capital is genera...
Introduction to U.S. Economy: Consumer Spending
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Resources · 1,483 words · PDF available
Consumer spending is a key driver of short-run economic growth in the U.S. economy. This In Focus provides an overview of consumer spending, summarizes recent trends, describes its relationship with t...
Dual-Use Solar Photovoltaics: Emerging Applications and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Reports · 16,139 words · PDF available
Solar photovoltaics (PV) is one potential renewable energy technology that may help the United States achieve its carbon reduction goals and commitments. However, solar PV uses more land per megawatt ...
Hurricane Helene Recovery: Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Posts · 1,030 words · PDF available
Introduction Before midnight on September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 major hurricane in northwestern Florida in the Big Bend area of the Gulf Coast, later bringing heavy ...
Defense Primer: Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Resources · 1,608 words · PDF available
Background The Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (SROTC)—more commonly referred to as the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC)—is an officer training and scholarship program for postsecondary...
Federal Election Results: Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Reports · 6,206 words · PDF available
States, territories, and the District of Columbia (DC) administer federal elections. Each of these jurisdictions has its own process for counting votes and declaring election winners, though all follo...
Hydrogen Production: Overview and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Reports · 12,971 words · PDF available
Various hydrogen production methods, or pathways, can use energy to extract hydrogen from feedstocks such as fossil fuels, biomass, and water. Hydrogen molecules can then be used in functional purpose...
Trade Remedies: Antidumping and Countervailing Duties
Congressional Research Service · 2024-10-03 · Resources · 1,394 words · PDF available
Overview What are they? Antidumping (AD) and Countervailing Duties (CVD) address unfair trade practices by providing relief to U.S. industries and workers that are “materially injured,” or threatened ...