Policy Library

7,020 documents

Rising Agricultural Wages: Context for Congressional Interest in the H-2A Visa Program
Congressional Research Service · 2025-08-01 · Reports · 8,379 words · PDF available
In recent years, wages for hired workers in agriculture have been rising faster than the general rate of wage increases in the United States. This could be a concern for Congress because rising agricu...
Overview of Language-Access Requirements for Federally Funded Programs and Federal Agencies
Congressional Research Service · 2025-08-01 · Resources · 1,674 words · PDF available
Federal funding recipients and federal agencies may have certain legal obligations to provide their services to non-English speakers, though recent executive orders and regulatory activity have change...
Peru: Country Overview and U.S. Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-08-01 · Resources · 1,733 words · PDF available
Peru is a geographically and ethnically diverse country encompassing portions of the Amazon Basin, the Andean highlands, and the Pacific coast of South America (Figure 1). In 2001, Peru transitioned f...
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Regulation of Employee Exposure to Heat
Congressional Research Service · 2025-08-01 · Posts · 908 words · PDF available
Employees who work outdoors, including those in industries such as construction and agriculture, may be exposed to extreme heat conditions. Similarly, certain indoor work situations—such as bakeries, ...
Supreme Court: Retribution Tied to the Original Offense Cannot Factor into Supervised Release Revocation Decisions
Congressional Research Service · 2025-08-01 · Posts · 2,799 words · PDF available
What are the legitimate reasons a government may subject an individual to criminal punishment? Western penological theory and American legal history generally identify four principled bases for crimin...
The Clery Act, as Amended by the Stop Campus Hazing Act
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-31 · Resources · 1,816 words · PDF available
The federal government requires colleges and universities to implement several institutional policies aimed at ensuring the safety and security of their students. One key federal statute that applies ...
Martin v. United States: Supreme Court Allows Suit Against the Federal Government for Raid on Wrong House
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-31 · Posts · 1,457 words · PDF available
On June 12, 2025, in Martin v. United States, the Supreme Court addressed whether the federal government could be held liable for a raid by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents mistakenly carr...
The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) in P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 Reconciliation Law
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-31 · Resources · 1,554 words · PDF available
The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program is the single largest source of federal financial assistance to support students’ postsecondary education. When entering into repayment of...
Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities: Structural Features and Function
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-31 · Reports · 25,795 words · PDF available
This report describes the structure, activities, legislative history, and funding history of the 10 federal regional commissions and authorities. Those commissions are the Appalachian Regional Commis...
Recent Developments in International Tourism to the United States
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-31 · Posts · 1,012 words · PDF available
Certain recent developments have led some observers to express concern about the state of international tourism to the United States. These developments include lengthy visa interview wait times, stri...
Legislative Branch: FY2026 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-31 · Reports · 12,838 words · PDF available
The legislative branch appropriations bill provides funding for the Senate; House of Representatives; Joint Items; Capitol Police; Office of Congressional Workplace Rights; Congressional Budget Office...
Advanced Lithium-Ion Energy Storage Battery Manufacturing in the United States
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-30 · Reports · 15,451 words · PDF available
Due to increases in demand for electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energies, and a wide range of consumer goods, the demand for energy storage batteries has increased considerably from 2000 through 202...
Federal Civil Aviation Programs: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-30 · Reports · 11,001 words · PDF available
Civil aviation programs address air traffic control and aviation safety, funding for air traffic control facilities and equipment, grants for airports under the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), and ...
Proceedings in Federal Criminal Cases: From Initiation to Indictment
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-30 · Infographics · 893 words · PDF available
/ Information as of July 30, 2025. Prepared by Cassandra J. Barnum, Legislative Attorney and Jamie Bush, Visual Information Specialist. 1 See generally Federal Bureau of Investigation, A Brief Descrip...
Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT): Section 6902 Payments
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-30 · Resources · 1,394 words · PDF available
Introduction Several federal programs compensate local jurisdictions for the presence of nontaxable federal lands. The widest-ranging program is the Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) Payments in Li...
Legislative Branch Appropriations: Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-30 · Reports · 3,687 words · PDF available
This report responds to frequently asked questions about legislative branch appropriations. Frequently asked questions include the items that are funded within this bill; development, presentation, an...
World Trade Organization
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-30 · Resources · 1,837 words · PDF available
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization established in 1995 following the ratification of the Uruguay Round Agreements, and today includes 166 members. It succeeded the 194...
Beijing bolsters its position in the Indo-Pacific with little US pushback
Brookings Institution · 2025-07-29 · Article · 3,433 words · PDF available
While the Trump administration is preoccupied with its trade war with Beijing, Beijing has adopted an approach to bolster its position in the Indo-Pacific.
The Congressional Budget Process Timeline
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-29 · Reports · 7,668 words · PDF available
The Constitution grants Congress power over federal spending, revenues, and borrowing. While the Constitution establishes the legislative branch as having this authority, it does not specify how, when...
Frequently Asked Questions: Mapping of U.S. Ocean and Coastal Waters
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-29 · Reports · 17,797 words · PDF available
Ocean and coastal mapping involves activities that collect data and information about the underwater terrain (i.e., seafloor or lakebed). These data and information may be used to support marine-based...
HALT Fentanyl Act Permanently Controls Fentanyl-Related Substances
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-29 · Posts · 2,463 words · PDF available
On July 17, 2025, President Trump signed into law the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act (HALT Fentanyl Act). Among other things, the HALT Fentanyl Act permanently placed certain fentanyl-rel...
Regenerative Agriculture and Related Food Product Labeling and Marketing Claims
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-29 · Reports · 15,767 words · PDF available
Regenerative agriculture (RA) generally refers to a sustainable agricultural production system centering on soil health and involving certain agronomic and scientific principles. In some cases, RA oft...
Military Service Records, Awards, and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-29 · Reports · 4,547 words · PDF available
This guide provides information on locating military unit histories and individual service records of discharged, retired, and deceased military personnel. It also provides information on locating and...
The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-29 · Reports · 15,982 words · PDF available
Major changes have occurred in campaign finance policy since 2002, when Congress substantially amended campaign finance law via the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). BCRA stands as the most recen...
Staff Pay, Selected Positions in House Member and Committee Offices, 2024
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-29 · Resources · 481 words · PDF available
Levels of pay for congressional staff are a source of recurring questions among Members of Congress, congressional staff, and the public. There may be interest in congressional pay data for multiple r...
Tax Provisions in P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 Reconciliation Law
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-29 · Reports · 30,910 words · PDF available
P.L. 119-21 (H.R. 1 in the 119th Congress, also referred to as the FY2025 reconciliation act or the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) was enacted into law on July 4, 2025. It was developed and considered as...
Budget Reconciliation Measures Enacted into Law Since 1980
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-29 · Reports · 5,527 words · PDF available
The budget reconciliation process is an optional procedure that operates as an adjunct to the budget resolution process established by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. The chief purpose of the re...
The National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-29 · Resources · 1,464 words · PDF available
In 2019, Congress established a National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System (NVEWS; P.L. 116-9, §5001; 43 U.S.C. §31k). The law directed the Secretary of the Interior acting through the Direc...
Summer Food for Children: An Overview of Federal Aid
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-28 · Resources · 1,515 words · PDF available
Introduction Since the late 1960s, the federal government has provided assistance for summer meals served to children through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which provides funding for meals s...
Immigration Court Legal Access Programs: Terminations and Related Litigation
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-28 · Posts · 1,021 words · PDF available
Immigration courts within the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) are responsible for adjudicating proceedings to determine whether an alien (referred to as ...
Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations: A Guide to Component Accounts
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-28 · Reports · 9,868 words · PDF available
The annual Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) appropriations legislation funds many U.S. nondefense international affairs activities. The State Department portion ma...
Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-25 · Resources · 1,640 words · PDF available
Overview The People’s Republic of China (PRC, or China) claims but has never controlled Taiwan, a self-governing democracy of 23.4 million people located across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China. ...
Artificial Intelligence and Derivatives Markets: Policy Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-25 · Resources · 1,753 words · PDF available
AI Use and Derivatives: Background The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in derivatives markets has ballooned in recent decades, creating new policy issues as well as amplifying existing ones. As of...
Financing Cost-Sharing Reduction Reimbursements to Private Health Plans
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-25 · Posts · 951 words · PDF available
Cost-sharing reductions (CSRs) are subsidies that reduce out-of-pocket expenses (e.g., deductibles) for certain health benefits covered under plans offered through the health insurance exchanges (i.e....
District of Columbia FY2025 Budget Status: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-25 · Reports · 3,822 words · PDF available
The U.S. Constitution provides Congress with plenary legislative authority over the District of Columbia (DC) as the federal capital. With the passage of the 1973 District of Columbia Self-Government...
U.S.-UK Trade Relations: Background and Select Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-25 · Resources · 1,924 words · PDF available
The United States and the United Kingdom (UK) are among the world’s largest economies and are close trade and investment partners (Figure 1). During the first Trump Administration, following the UK’s ...
Energy and Water Development Appropriations for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-25 · Reports · 3,388 words · PDF available
The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) nonproliferation and national security programs provide technical capabilities to support U.S. efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation and nucl...
The Nonbusiness Casualty Loss Deduction
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-24 · Resources · 1,523 words · PDF available
The Internal Revenue Code generally allows taxpayers to deduct certain unreimbursed losses caused by recent disasters from their income subject to the income tax. Lawmakers have adjusted aspects of th...
Global Refugee Resettlement: Background and Selected Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-24 · Resources · 1,728 words · PDF available
During the past decade, the global number of refugees (including asylum-seekers—those who have applied for refugee status but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated) more than doubled to ...
Transfer of a Space Vehicle: Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-24 · Resources · 1,781 words · PDF available
P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 reconciliation act signed into law on July 4, 2025, provides for the transfer of a space vehicle designated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administ...
Navy TAGOS-25 Ocean Surveillance Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-24 · Resources · 1,169 words · PDF available
Introduction The Navy in FY2022 procured the first of a planned class of seven new TAGOS-25 class ocean surveillance ships. The Navy’s proposed FY2026 budget requests $612.2 million for the procuremen...
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Status of Oil and Gas Program
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-24 · Resources · 1,536 words · PDF available
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR, or the Refuge) comprises 19 million acres in northeast Alaska, administered primarily by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the Department of the Interio...
Canada’s Digital Services Tax Act: Issues Facing Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-24 · Posts · 1,021 words · PDF available
In June 2024, the Canadian government enacted Bill C-59, which included a 3% digital services tax (DST)—retroactive to January 2022—on certain revenues of large digital services providers active in, f...
Combating fentanyl trafficking and organized crime groups in the Americas
Brookings Institution · 2025-07-23 · Article · 4,575 words · PDF available
Vanda Felbab-Brown testifies before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on combating fentanyl trafficking and organized crime groups in the Americas.
The road to the Israel-Iran war
Brookings Institution · 2025-07-23 · Article · 1,635 words
Kevin Huggard and Mallika Yadwad document the events in the Middle East and beyond that led to the Israel-Iran war.
2018 President's Essay: Returning to our Principles
Heritage Foundation · 2025-07-23 · Article · 3,323 words
Foreword by Kay Coles James As George Nash has written, “Perhaps the most important fact to assimilate about modern American conservatism is that it is not, and has never been, univocal. It is a coali...
Heritage Academy Speakers
Heritage Foundation · 2025-07-23 · Article · 239 words
Jason Bedrick Research Fellow, Center for Education Policy The Heritage Foundation
The Rice’s Whale: Conservation Efforts, Implications for Ocean Sectors, and Considerations for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-23 · Resources · 1,632 words · PDF available
The Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei; Figure 1) is a recently described species of baleen whale (i.e., whales that contain baleen plates in their mouths for sieving plankton) and one of the rarest wha...
U.S. Arms Sales and Human Rights: Legislative Basis and Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2025-07-23 · Resources · 1,736 words · PDF available
U.S. law establishes the conditions under which the U.S. government and U.S. commercial entities may sell defense articles to foreign countries. This In Focus provides an overview of the main laws and...
How Europe can avoid a transatlantic trade war
Brookings Institution · 2025-07-22 · Article · 1,638 words · PDF available
Given that the U.S.-EU commercial relationship is by far the largest in the world, a trade war would be disastrous.