Policy Library

7,020 documents

Connecting Older Adults to Information on Benefits and Services
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-03 · Reports · 8,624 words · PDF available
Older adults often contact congressional offices with questions about federal benefits, programs, and services. This report assists Members and congressional staff helping older adults navigate this l...
Defense Primer: Military Officers
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-03 · Resources · 694 words · PDF available
Grade and Rank The Armed Forces are hierarchical organizations with clearly defined levels of authority. The different levels for officers are defined in law and called grades, while rank refers to th...
Vital and State Records Integrity Act
Heritage Foundation · 2025-06-02 · Article · 972 words
Whereas the designation of sex is essential for data collection, statistics, and policy for many functions of the state, including public health, education, the protection of sex-specific spaces, righ...
PJM’s Electric Capacity Market: Background and Current Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-02 · Reports · 9,475 words · PDF available
PJM is the country’s largest electric grid operator, managing the electricity transmission system for more than 65 million people in all or part of 13 states—Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mar...
Guide to Committee Activity Reports: Purpose, Rules, and Contents
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-02 · Reports · 7,536 words · PDF available
All House committees and most Senate committees are required to prepare reports each Congress detailing their activities. These committee activity reports provide a historical record of a committee’s...
New World Screwworm: Current Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-02 · Posts · 1,009 words · PDF available
The New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) is a housefly-sized parasite that lays eggs in the wounds or mucous membranes of warm-blooded vertebrates (e.g., mammals, birds). The U.S. Department ...
Memorial Day Speech Resources: Fact Sheet
Congressional Research Service · 2025-06-02 · Reports · 1,035 words · PDF available
Memorial Day is a day of reflection and remembrance of those who died while serving in the U.S. military. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials and placing flags or w...
Adoption Tax Benefits: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Reports · 13,402 words · PDF available
The federal government supports adoption in two primary ways: federal grants to state governments and tax benefits for individual taxpayers that help offset the costs of adopting a child. This report ...
Optional Practical Training (OPT) for Foreign Students in the United States
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Resources · 1,626 words · PDF available
Optional Practical Training (OPT) is temporary employment for foreign students and recent graduates in the United States in F-1 or M-1 nonimmigrant (i.e., temporary) status. Established through regula...
Central Valley Project: Issues and Legislation
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Reports · 18,191 words · PDF available
The Central Valley Project (CVP), a federal water project owned and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), is one of the world’s largest water supply projects. The CVP covers approx...
Election Administration: Federal Grant Programs for States and Localities
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Reports · 15,409 words · PDF available
States, territories, and localities have primary responsibility for administering elections in the United States, but Congress has tools it can use to support or shape their efforts if it chooses to d...
Tornadoes: Forecasting, Detection, and Communication
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Resources · 1,218 words · PDF available
Tornadoes are narrow, violently rotating columns of air, connecting the base of a thunderstorm to the ground. They affect communities across the United States every year and can cause fatalities and i...
Electric Reliability and Resiliency in Puerto Rico
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Resources · 1,471 words · PDF available
Power outages have heightened congressional interest in Puerto Rico’s electric power infrastructure, which was damaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, earthquakes in 2020, and hurricane Fiona in...
Establishing and Funding Elections Grant Programs: Policy Options
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Resources · 1,380 words · PDF available
Recent congressional activity on elections issues has often taken the form of action on grant programs or funding. One type of action Members have increasingly explored in recent legislative proposals...
El Salvador: Current Issues and U.S. Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Resources · 1,706 words · PDF available
El Salvador is a small, densely populated country in the “Northern Triangle” region of Central America (see Figure 1) that has deep historical, migratory, and economic ties to the United States. The 1...
Measuring the Impacts of the H-2B Visa Program on U.S. Labor Markets: Three Recent Quasi-Experimental Studies
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Resources · 1,778 words · PDF available
The H-2B visa program allows U.S. employers to hire temporary foreign workers in nonagricultural industries if no U.S. workers can be found to fill these jobs and other requirements are met. H-2B posi...
Conditioning Federal Funding on Elections Policies: Options and Considerations for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Resources · 1,579 words · PDF available
Congress has broad authority to regulate many aspects of the administration of federal elections. Members might sometimes wish to influence state or local policy on aspects of election administration ...
Colombia: Background and U.S. Relations
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-30 · Reports · 13,285 words · PDF available
Colombia has been a key U.S. security and economic partner in South America for decades, although bilateral relations have grown tense over the past two years. Colombia has been among the top recipien...
‘Reasonable sufficiency’ should guide Europe’s search for nuclear deterrence
Brookings Institution · 2025-05-29 · Article · 992 words
European nuclear deterrence remains a task stretching the strategic imagination, but “reasonable sufficiency” offers useful guidelines.
How FEMA Individual Assistance Works
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-29 · Infographics · 994 words · PDF available
/ How FEMA Individual Assistance Works FEMA's Individual Assistance (IA) program provides financial and direct assistance and services o disaster survivors when the President authorizes such assi...
United Nations Issues: Overview of the United Nations System
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-29 · Resources · 1,616 words · PDF available
The United Nations (UN) system comprises interconnected entities including the United Nations, specialized agencies, peacekeeping operations, funds and programs, and other entities. Congress has gener...
Taxation of Tip Income
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-29 · Resources · 1,779 words · PDF available
Federal law generally requires workers to pay individual income taxes and the payroll taxes on their tip income, as on other compensation. Lawmakers are considering making some tip income exempt from ...
Tribal Spectrum and Broadband Access: Background and Considerations for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-29 · Resources · 1,708 words · PDF available
Congress has recognized a need to expand broadband services on tribal lands (i.e., areas associated with federally recognized Tribes, or Tribes), as access to broadband can spur economic development a...
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-29 · Resources · 1,769 words · PDF available
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is an interagency body chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury. It serves the President in overseeing the potential national security ...
How to make time work against Putin in Ukraine
Brookings Institution · 2025-05-28 · Article · 976 words
Putin believes he has advantages over Ukraine that make time his ally in the war. Trump must not reinforce that narrative.
Meet Mira Rapp-Hooper, Indo-Pacific security expert
Brookings Institution · 2025-05-28 · Article · 5,970 words · PDF available
Mira Rapp-Hooper discusses the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy and where the reordering of Asia is headed.
U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel: Overview and Developments since October 7, 2023
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-28 · Reports · 36,452 words · PDF available
Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II. Successive Administrations, working with Congress, have provided Israel with assistance reflective of robust d...
Russian Military Performance and Outlook
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-28 · Resources · 1,624 words · PDF available
Despite the advantages of a larger recruitment base and defense industrial capacity, the Russian military has not been able to decisively defeat the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) since Russia’s Februar...
Supreme Court Considers Whether Federal Courts May Certify Class Actions When Some Proposed Class Members Are Uninjured
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-27 · Posts · 2,381 words · PDF available
On April 29, 2025, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Davis (Labcorp v. Davis) about whether federal courts may certify class action lawsuits seekin...
Excess Military Infrastructure and the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Process
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-27 · Reports · 4,356 words · PDF available
The Department of Defense (DOD) has maintained excess infrastructure for decades, which some defense officials and Members of Congress have said is fiscally inefficient and results in increased operat...
Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Agriculture and USDA’s Responses: Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-27 · Reports · 16,205 words · PDF available
In 2025, the Trump Administration imposed several rounds of tariffs against trading partners under the under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Section 232 of the Trade Expans...
U.S. Prosecution of Overseas Torture
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-27 · Posts · 843 words · PDF available
On April 15, 2025, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the conviction of Michael Sang Correa by a federal court in Colorado for torture committed in the African country of The Gamb...
Enforcing the Antidiscrimination Mandates of Title VI and Title IX: Executive Agency Options and Procedures
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-27 · Posts · 3,449 words · PDF available
A number of federal civil rights laws condition the receipt of federal funding on recipients’ compliance with certain nondiscrimination obligations. Two well-known examples are Title VI of the Civil R...
Judiciary Budget Request, FY2026
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-27 · Resources · 1,234 words · PDF available
Overview The federal judiciary’s FY2026 budget request was made public by the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts on April 25, 2025. The request seeks $9.4 billion in discretionary funding (an increa...
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA): Overview and Major Responsibilities
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-27 · Reports · 11,313 words · PDF available
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is an entity within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OIRA was created by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1980, which restructured...
Tax Provisions in H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: House-Passed Version
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-27 · Reports · 29,859 words · PDF available
On May 22, 2025, the House passed H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That act provides for reconciliation pursuant to Title II of H.Con.Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for FY2025...
The Philippines
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-27 · Resources · 1,665 words · PDF available
Overview and Recent Developments The United States and the Republic of the Philippines maintain a relationship that includes a bilateral security alliance, extensive military cooperation, close people...
Appellate Courts Divided Over School Employee Discrimination Lawsuits and Title IX
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-23 · Posts · 3,341 words · PDF available
Federal appellate courts have split over how two federal laws that bar sex discrimination in certain settings and programs relate to one another. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) ...
Transportation Security: Background and Issues for the 119th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-23 · Reports · 19,072 words · PDF available
The nation’s aviation, mass transit, passenger and freight rail, maritime, and pipeline transportation systems are geographically dispersed and designed for accessibility and efficiency. These charact...
The ACA Preventive Services Coverage Requirement
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-23 · Resources · 1,529 words · PDF available
Per the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA; P.L. 111-148, as amended), most private health insurance plans are required to cover specified preventive services and items without consumer c...
Foreign Holdings of Federal Debt
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-23 · Reports · 4,092 words · PDF available
This report presents current data on ownership of U.S. Treasury securities and major holders of federal debt by country. Federal debt represents the accumulated balance of borrowing by the federal gov...
Overview of Public and Private School Choice Options
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-23 · Resources · 1,753 words · PDF available
School choice generally refers to the opportunity for parents to select an elementary or secondary school for their child that differs from the assigned school that the child would otherwise attend ba...
SBA Disaster Loan Program: Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-23 · Reports · 3,979 words · PDF available
This report responds to frequently asked questions about the Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Program. The SBA Disaster Loan Program provides direct loans to help businesses, nonprofi...
What does America’s foreign and military policy have to do with democracy?
Brookings Institution · 2025-05-22 · Article · 6,380 words · PDF available
Since its founding, the United States has significantly expanded its global influence and military power, especially in the 20th century. In this episode, host Katie Dunn Tenpas and guest Michael O’Ha...
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Heritage Foundation · 2025-05-22 · Commentary · 68 words
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Heritage Foundation · 2025-05-22 · Commentary · 68 words
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Heritage Foundation · 2025-05-22 · Commentary · 68 words
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Rental Housing
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-22 · Resources · 897 words · PDF available
There are over 48 million rental housing units in the United States. About one-third of households in the United States rent their housing. Rental housing prices have increased faster than prices for ...
The Executive Budget Process: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-22 · Reports · 16,086 words · PDF available
The Constitution vests Congress with the power of the purse, with several provisions referring to congressional authority to levy taxes, authorize the issuance of debt, and make appropriations to fund...
Iran: Background and U.S. Policy
Congressional Research Service · 2025-05-22 · Reports · 14,363 words · PDF available
Dynamics between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran have shifted in the past year: after Iran faced significant military and strategic setbacks in 2024, largely at the hands of Israel ...