Policy Library

7,020 documents

Forest Certification Programs
Congressional Research Service · 2011-09-08 · Reports · 15,334 words · PDF available
The national forests have been the focus of controversy for many years. Reduced timber harvests, increased wildfire risks, degraded forest health, and disagreements among users and other stakeholders ...
Crosscut Budgets in Ecosystem Restoration Initiatives: Examples and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2011-08-03 · Reports · 7,923 words
In the last 30 years, the United States has devoted enormous effort and committed billions of dollars toward restoring large ecosystems such as the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes. These ecosystem ...
Statutory Limits on Total Spending as a Method of Budget Control
Congressional Research Service · 2011-07-26 · Reports · 10,292 words
Often when there is dissatisfaction with budgetary levels, budget process reforms are proposed to mandate a specific budgetary policy or fiscal objective. This report focuses specifically on one such ...
Statutory Budget Controls in Effect Between 1985 and 2002
Congressional Research Service · 2011-07-01 · Reports · 6,078 words
Between 1985 and 2002, several statutory budget controls were enacted to reduce the budget deficit. Chief among these were the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and the Budget ...
Ashcroft v. al-Kidd: Official Immunity and Material Witnesses Before the Supreme Court
Congressional Research Service · 2011-07-01 · Reports · 9,987 words
Public officials cannot be sued personally for injuries resulting from the performance of their duties. They lose this qualified immunity when the injuries resulted from their violation of clearly est...
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Appropriations for FY2011
Congressional Research Service · 2011-06-30 · Reports · 14,166 words
Enacted April 15, 2011, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (P.L. 112-10, H.R. 1473), provided funding for the remainder of FY2011 for those agencies typically ...
National Security Letters: Proposals in the 112th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2011-06-30 · Reports · 15,180 words
National Security Letters (NSLs) are roughly comparable to administrative subpoenas. Various intelligence agencies use them to demand certain customer information from communications providers, financ...
The Liability Risk Retention Act: Background, Issues, and Current Legislation
Congressional Research Service · 2011-06-24 · Reports · 6,800 words
Risk retention groups (RRGs) and risk purchasing groups (RPGs) are alternative insurance entities authorized by Congress to expand insurance supply through a simplification of insurance regulation. Th...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): FY2011 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2011-06-24 · Reports · 19,532 words
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the federal agency charged with administering a number of programs designed to promote the availability of safe, decent, and affordable housing...
Warrantless, Police-Triggered Exigent Searches: Kentucky v. King in the Supreme Court
Congressional Research Service · 2011-06-17 · Reports · 2,055 words
Authorities may enter and search a home without a warrant if they have probable cause and reason to believe that evidence is being destroyed within the home. So declared the United States Supreme Cour...
Electronic Voting System in the House of Representatives: History and Usage
Congressional Research Service · 2011-06-13 · Reports · 8,422 words
On January 23, 1973, 87 years after the first legislative proposal to use an automated system to record votes was introduced, the House of Representatives used its electronic voting system for the fir...
The Donor-Donee State Issue in Highway Finance
Congressional Research Service · 2011-06-13 · Reports · 15,126 words
Few issues in federal highway finance have raised such heated debate as how closely each state’s federal highway grants should match its highway users’ payments to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). This “...
Economic Development Administration: A Review of Elements of Its Statutory History
Congressional Research Service · 2011-06-03 · Reports · 8,993 words · PDF available
As the 112th Congress considers legislation reauthorizing the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (PWEDA; P.L. 89-136), which created the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and it...
Murder or Attempted Murder of a Member of Congress and Other Federal Officials and Employees: Implications in Federal Criminal Law and Procedure of Events in Tucson
Congressional Research Service · 2011-05-31 · Reports · 5,723 words
Jared Lee Loughner was arrested for the attempted murder of Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the murder of United States District Court Judge John Roll, and the murder or attempted murder of several...
Crimes of Violence Committed Against Federal Officials or Employees: A Brief Overview of Federal Criminal Law
Congressional Research Service · 2011-05-31 · Reports · 2,395 words
Dozens of federal statutes outlaw homicide, assault, and threats under varying jurisdictional circumstances. Those which appear most relevant to tragic events in Tucson, AZ, are identified in abbrevia...
Implications of Egypt’s Turmoil on Global Oil and Natural Gas Supply
Congressional Research Service · 2011-05-04 · Reports · 2,240 words
The change in Egypt’s government will likely not have a significant direct impact on the global oil and natural gas markets. There may be some short-term movements in price, mostly caused by perceived...
The Congressional Research Service and the American Legislative Process
Congressional Research Service · 2011-04-12 · Reports · 5,356 words
The Library of Congress, as its name suggests, is a library dedicated to serving the United States Congress and its Members. It serves additionally as an unexcelled national library. The Library was l...
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2011 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2011-04-07 · Reports · 12,481 words
President Obama requested a total of $123.7 billion for FY2011 for the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the related agencies that are funded through t...
Actual Innocence and Habeas Corpus: In re Troy Davis
Congressional Research Service · 2011-04-04 · Reports · 7,803 words
In re Davis presented the Supreme Court with another opportunity to decide whether a state death row inmate, who on the basis of newly available evidence establishes that he is actually innocent, is e...
Federal Rulemaking: The Role of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Congressional Research Service · 2011-03-21 · Reports · 17,852 words
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 created the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Executive Order 12291, issued by President Reagan ...
Forest Management for Resilience and Adaptation
Congressional Research Service · 2011-03-14 · Reports · 13,088 words
U.S. forests are primarily temperate forests, often with relatively few species dominating over wide areas. Such forests respond and adapt to an array of environmental factors—sunlight levels and dura...
Middle East and North Africa Unrest: Implications for Oil and Natural Gas Markets
Congressional Research Service · 2011-03-10 · Reports · 7,612 words
Political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has contributed to higher oil prices and added instability to energy markets. Supply disruptions and fears about the possible spread of unre...
Taxation of Private Equity and Hedge Fund Partnerships: Characterization of Carried Interest
Congressional Research Service · 2011-03-10 · Reports · 2,229 words
General partners in most private equity and hedge funds are compensated in two ways. First, to the extent that they contribute their capital in the funds, they share in the appreciation of the assets....
How Legislation Is Brought to the House Floor: A Snapshot of Recent Parliamentary Practice in the 111th Congress (2009-2010)
Congressional Research Service · 2011-03-09 · Reports · 4,151 words
The House of Representatives has several different parliamentary procedures through which it can bring legislation to the chamber floor. Which of these will be used in a given situation depends on man...
Amendments Between the Houses: A Brief Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2011-02-25 · Reports · 1,269 words
The House and Senate must approve an identical version of a measure before it can be presented for the President’s approval or veto. If the House and Senate approve differing versions of a measure, th...
Committee on the Budget in the House of Representatives: Structure and Responsibilities
Congressional Research Service · 2011-01-13 · Reports · 4,234 words
The basic framework that is used today for congressional consideration of budget policy was established in the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. This act provides for the annua...
Habeas Corpus Legislation in the 111th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2010-12-30 · Reports · 4,508 words
Federal habeas corpus is the process under which those in official detention may petition a federal court for their release based on an assertion that they are being held in violation of the Constitut...
National Security Letters: Proposed Amendments in the 111th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2010-12-27 · Reports · 18,214 words
Five federal statutes authorize various intelligence agencies to demand, through National Security Letters (NSLs), certain customer information from communications providers, financial institutions, a...
Special Rules and Options for Regulating the Amending Process
Congressional Research Service · 2010-11-17 · Reports · 794 words
A special rule is a House resolution intended to regulate floor consideration of a specific legislative measure named in the resolution. When adopted by the House, the requirements prescribed by a spe...
House Rules Committee Hearings on Special Rules
Congressional Research Service · 2010-11-17 · Reports · 1,025 words
When the Rules Committee reports a resolution on the order of business, commonly called a “rule” or “special rule,” the committee usually has two purposes in mind: first, to make it in order for the H...
Special Rules and Waivers of House Rules
Congressional Research Service · 2010-11-17 · Reports · 795 words
A special rule is a House resolution intended to regulate floor consideration of a specific legislative measure named in the resolution. The requirements prescribed by a special rule can supersede the...
Obstruction of Congress: A Brief Overview of Federal Law Relating to Interference with Congressional Activities
Congressional Research Service · 2010-11-05 · Reports · 35,294 words
Obstruction of justice is the impediment of governmental activities. There are a host of federal criminal laws that prohibit obstructions of justice. The six most general outlaw obstruction of judicia...
Obstruction of Congress: An Abridged Overview of Federal Criminal Laws Relating to Interference with Congressional Activities
Congressional Research Service · 2010-11-05 · Reports · 3,400 words
Obstruction of justice is the frustration of governmental purposes by violence, corruption, destruction of evidence, or deceit. It is a federal crime. In fact, it is several crimes. Obstruction prosec...
The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010: Summary and Legislative History
Congressional Research Service · 2010-09-13 · Reports · 11,865 words
On February 12, 2010, President Barack Obama signed H.J.Res. 45 into law, as P.L. 111-139. In addition to an increase in the statutory limit on the public debt to $14.294 trillion, the act contains tw...
OMB Controls on Agency Mandatory Spending Programs: “Administrative PAYGO” and Related Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2010-08-19 · Reports · 15,334 words
On May 23, 2005, during President George W. Bush’s second term, then-Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Joshua B. Bolten issued a memorandum to the heads of agencies. The memorandum announ...
Independent Evaluators of Federal Programs: Approaches, Devices, and Examples
Congressional Research Service · 2010-08-16 · Reports · 18,220 words
Congress and the executive, as well as outside organizations, have long been attentive to the evaluation of federal programs, with frequent interest paid to the independent status of the evaluator. Th...
Drilling in the Great Lakes: Background and Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2010-07-29 · Reports · 9,904 words
Drilling for oil and gas in or under the Great Lakes has generated interest among Great Lakes stakeholders, states, and Congress. Some opposed to drilling are concerned about the potential environment...
Public Employees’ Right to Privacy in Their Electronic Communications: City of Ontario v. Quon in the Supreme Court
Congressional Research Service · 2010-07-28 · Reports · 3,834 words
In City of Ontario v. Quon, the Supreme Court held that officials had acted reasonably when they reviewed transcripts of messages sent to and from Sergeant Quon’s city-issued pager in order to determi...
Earmarks Disclosed by Congress: FY2008FY2010 Regular Appropriations Bills
Congressional Research Service · 2010-04-16 · Reports · 7,178 words
In 2007, both the House and the Senate established new earmark transparency procedures. They provide for public disclosure of approved earmarks and the identification of their congressional sponsors. ...
Prosecutorial Discretion in the Context of Corporate Attorney-Client Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2010-03-09 · Reports · 18,437 words
The Justice Department enjoys prosecutorial discretion to bring criminal charges against a corporation, its culpable officers or employees, or both. For a corporation, indictment alone can be catastro...
Prosecutorial Discretion in the Context of Corporate Attorney-Client Relations: A Sketch
Congressional Research Service · 2010-03-09 · Reports · 3,872 words
The Justice Department enjoys prosecutorial discretion to bring criminal charges against a corporation, its culpable officers or employees, or both. For a corporation, indictment alone can be catastro...
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2010 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2010-01-29 · Reports · 14,122 words
President Obama requested a total of $123.1 billion for the agencies included in H.R. 3288, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations (THUD) bill for FY201...
Terrorist Attacks on Commercial Airlines: Federal Criminal Prohibitions
Congressional Research Service · 2010-01-22 · Reports · 7,585 words
Federal authorities can and have prosecuted terrorist attacks on commercial airlines under a wide variety of federal statutes. Some of those statutes outlaw crimes committed aboard a commercial airlin...
Homeland Security Department: FY2010 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2009-12-14 · Reports · 46,284 words
This report describes the FY2010 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Administration requested a net appropriation of $44.1 billion in budget authority for FY2010. This am...
Congressional Budget Resolutions: Consideration and Amending in the Senate
Congressional Research Service · 2009-06-23 · Reports · 3,521 words
Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344, 2 U.S.C. 601-688) (“the Budget Act”), as amended, provides for the adoption of an annual concurrent resolution on the bud...
The Budget Resolution and Spending Legislation
Congressional Research Service · 2009-06-09 · Reports · 3,670 words
The budget resolution sets forth aggregate levels of spending, revenue, and public debt. It is not intended to establish details of spending or revenue policy and does not provide levels of spending f...
Unanimous Consent Agreements Establishing a 60-Vote Threshold for Passage of Legislation in the Senate
Congressional Research Service · 2009-05-12 · Reports · 1,455 words
The Senate frequently enters into unanimous consent agreements (sometimes referred to as “UC agreements” or “time agreements”) that establish procedures for the consideration of legislation that the S...
General Oversight Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA): Requirements and Related Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2009-05-11 · Reports · 18,069 words
In the wake of a rapidly deteriorating economic picture and year-long recession that the Congressional Budget Office has called the most severe since World War II, Congress passed the American Recover...
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5): Summary and Legislative History
Congressional Research Service · 2009-04-20 · Reports · 23,056 words
President Barack Obama signed H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, into law on February 17, 2009, as P.L. 111-5 (123 Stat. 115-521). The act is seen as one of the most si...
Recess Appointments Made by President George W. Bush
Congressional Research Service · 2009-04-15 · Reports · 6,787 words
Under the Constitution, the President and the Senate share the power to make appointments to the highest-level politically appointed positions in the federal government. The Constitution also empowers...