Policy Library

13 documents

Defense Primer: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Resources · 1,097 words · PDF available
Advanced technology plays a critical role in ensuring U.S. national security. To maintain technological superiority on the battlefield, the Department of Defense (DOD) relies on scientific and technic...
Poverty in the United States in 2023
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Reports · 11,013 words · PDF available
The federal government publishes poverty statistics using two measures: the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). These two measures tell different stories about who is ...
Downloadable Federal Budget Data: Spending by Function, Subfunction, and Agency
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Posts · 1,086 words · PDF available
Tracking spending trends informs how Congress exercises its power of the purse granted by the Constitution. This Insight provides congressional clients with links to spreadsheets containing spending d...
Implementing the National Defense Industrial Strategy: Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Posts · 2,190 words · PDF available
In January 2024, the Department of Defense (DOD) released its first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS), which identified and characterized four long-term priorities for the U.S. defense ...
U.S.-South Korea (KORUS) FTA and Bilateral Trade Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Resources · 1,728 words · PDF available
The U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) entered into force in March 2012. The agreement has reduced and, in most cases, eliminated tariff and non-tariff barriers between the two parties ...
Why school referrals to the juvenile justice system are often unfair and harmful
Brookings Institution · 2024-11-19 · Article · 1,482 words · PDF available
Education experts reveal biases in school referrals to the juvenile justice system, which disproportionately harm marginalized students.
Consumer and Credit Reporting, Scoring, and Related Policy Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Reports · 10,619 words · PDF available
The consumer data industry collects and subsequently provides information to firms about the behavior of consumers when they participate in various financial transactions. Firms may use consumer infor...
U.S. Employment-Based Immigration Policy
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Reports · 28,459 words · PDF available
Each year, the United States grants lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, or green cards, to about 140,000 foreign workers and their family members. These employment-based (EB) immigrants are part o...
How Is Primary Energy Defined and Used?
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Reports · 5,256 words · PDF available
A fundamental consideration in energy policy debates is the amount of primary energy—from oil, coal, nuclear power, renewables, and other resources—produced and consumed in the United States and throu...
Paying for Drinking Water: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Reports · 11,075 words · PDF available
For decades, the affordability of drinking water services has been a concern of Congress, dating back to the 1974 enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Over time, system costs to maintain o...
How to Define Mass Shootings: Potential Policy Implications
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Reports · 7,602 words · PDF available
There is no single, widely accepted definition of a mass shooting. Instead, there is a group of numerous, disparate, and uncoordinated definitions of a mass shooting. Various entities, however, have o...
State Department Passport Services: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Resources · 1,694 words · PDF available
Background The U.S. Department of State (DOS) defines a passport as “an internationally recognized travel document that verifies the identity and nationality of the bearer.” Congress has vested author...
Selected Issues in Tax Policy: The Child Tax Credit
Congressional Research Service · 2024-11-19 · Resources · 1,802 words · PDF available
Tax reform proposals in the 119th Congress may include reforms to the child tax credit, which increases the after-tax incomes of some households with children. The child tax credit was substantively m...