Policy Library

16 documents

Connecting Older Adults and Individuals with Disabilities to Health Services: Resources for Congressional Offices
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Resources · 1,337 words · PDF available
Overview Navigating the U.S. health and long-term care systems can be confusing and complex for some constituents. Older adults and individuals with disabilities may face additional challenges in iden...
Defense Primer: Geography, Strategy, and U.S. Force Design
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Resources · 1,783 words · PDF available
World Geography and U.S. Strategy World geography is an influence on U.S. strategy, which in turn helps shape the design of U.S. military forces. Most of the world’s people, resources, and economic ac...
Army’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS): Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Resources · 1,372 words · PDF available
The U.S. Army is developing the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) as part of an effort to improve the combat effectiveness and training of soldiers. IVAS includes a “ruggedized” (i.e., stre...
Between Washington and Beijing: How Europe fits into US-China strategic competition
Brookings Institution · 2025-09-11 · Article · 3,740 words · PDF available
Six experts offer insights into the complexities shaping U.S.-EU-China triangular dynamics at a moment of global realignment.
Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Reports · 36,321 words · PDF available
Names for Navy ships traditionally have been chosen and announced by the Secretary of the Navy, under the direction of the President and in accordance with rules prescribed by Congress. Rules for givi...
Critical Minerals on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Role and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Reports · 14,724 words · PDF available
The first and second Trump Administrations and the Biden Administration have issued executive orders announcing U.S. policies to build and strengthen the resiliency of domestic critical mineral supply...
The Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) List
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Resources · 1,296 words · PDF available
Congress has shown recurring interest in the administration of the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)—one of several terrorism-related lists that the U.S. government mai...
Current Issues for Syria’s Chemical Weapons and Nuclear Weapons Programs
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Posts · 1,178 words · PDF available
On December 8, 2024, the government of Syria’s Bashar Al Asad collapsed following armed offensives led by the Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS) coalition. A successor government inherited unresolved interna...
Defense Primer: LGM-35A Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Resources · 1,583 words · PDF available
The LGM-35A Sentinel is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system that is expected to replace the Minuteman III (MMIII) ICBM in the U.S. nuclear force structure. MMIII has served as the grou...
Accountability for Value: Smarter Risk and Better Results in Higher Education
Third Way · 2025-09-11 · Memo · 2,077 words
Third Way is a center-left think tank that champions modern solutions to the most challenging problems in US public policy, including the economy, climate and energy, national security, social policy,...
The Army’s M-1E3 Abrams Tank Modernization Program
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Resources · 1,190 words · PDF available
Background The M-1 Abrams Tank (Figure 1) is designed to maneuver under fire and destroy enemy armored forces on the battlefield. The M-1 is named for General Creighton Abrams, a noted World War II ar...
The Void-for-Vagueness Doctrine in Criminal Law
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Resources · 1,761 words · PDF available
Vagueness as Constitutional Violation Defendants in federal criminal cases often challenge their prosecutions by arguing that the laws they allegedly violated are unconstitutionally vague. The Fifth A...
Defense Primer: Naval Forces
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Resources · 1,675 words · PDF available
“Naval Forces” Refers to Both the Navy and Marine Corps Although the term naval forces is often used to refer specifically to Navy forces, it more properly refers to both Navy and Marine Corps forces,...
U.S.–Papua New Guinea Relations: Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Resources · 1,503 words · PDF available
Overview The Independent State of Papua New Guinea (PNG) lies in a region of the southwest Pacific known as Melanesia on the eastern side of the island of New Guinea. It is the most populous Pacific I...
Debt Limit Suspensions
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Posts · 1,267 words · PDF available
A debt limit suspension defines a minimum interval before Congress is compelled to address the debt limit again. Once the suspension ends, the debt limit is reset to accommodate the increase in federa...
Tonga: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-09-11 · Resources · 1,529 words · PDF available
Overview The Kingdom of Tonga is one of the United States’ oldest diplomatic partners in the Pacific Islands region. U.S. policymakers, including some Members of Congress, have identified U.S. nationa...