Policy Library

11 documents

Defense Primer: Military Service Academies
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Resources · 1,474 words · PDF available
Overview The U.S. military service academies are tuition-free, four-year degree-granting institutions operated by the military departments. The academies are a major officer commissioning source, alon...
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Resources · 1,598 words · PDF available
Overview The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is Southeast Asia’s primary multilateral organization, a 10-member grouping of nations with a combined population of 667 million and a combi...
International Trade Administration: Overview and Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Resources · 1,614 words · PDF available
The International Trade Administration (ITA), a unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce), plays a key role in U.S. trade policy efforts to advance U.S. commercial interests. ITA’s stated mis...
The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund Tax: Background and Selected Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Resources · 1,584 words · PDF available
The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF) provides an immediate source of funds for federal responses to oil spills and compensation for certain damages. Historically, the OSLTF has been financed pri...
Defense Primer: Hypersonic Boost-Glide Weapons
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Resources · 1,678 words · PDF available
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is pursuing two types of hypersonic weapons technologies: boost-glide systems that place a maneuverable glide vehicle atop a ballistic missile or rocket booster, a...
Line 5 Pipeline: Relocation and Permitting
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Posts · 1,027 words · PDF available
The Line 5 Pipeline is a 30-inch diameter, 645-mile pipeline owned by Enbridge carrying up to 540,000 barrels per day of crude oil and natural gas liquids from Superior, WI, to Sarnia, Ontario (Figure...
Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter (PSC) and Arctic Security Cutter (ASC) Icebreaker Programs: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Reports · 36,843 words · PDF available
A 2023 Coast Guard fleet mix analysis concluded that the service will require a total of eight to nine polar icebreakers, including four to five heavy polar icebreakers and four to five medium polar i...
Introduction to U.S. Economy: Trade Deficit
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Resources · 1,720 words · PDF available
What Is the Trade Deficit? The trade balance measures the difference between how much the United States spends on importing foreign goods and services and how much foreigners spend on exports of U.S. ...
Golden Dome: Related CRS Products
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Reports · 951 words · PDF available
On January 27, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Defense to develop and implement a homeland missile defense architecture to defend against “ballist...
Somalia
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Resources · 1,841 words · PDF available
Instability and humanitarian crises have beset Somalia for decades. After the authoritarian Siad Barre regime fell amid civil war in 1991, the country became a “failed state.” The formation of a feder...
U.S. Coal Industry Trends
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-30 · Reports · 7,027 words · PDF available
The U.S. coal industry has seen a decline in the amount of coal mined and consumed—although mining efficiency has improved. The industry’s U.S. employment has declined 92% over a century. U.S. coal co...