Policy Library

6,587 documents

Foreign Students: Screening and Monitoring
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-17 · Infographics · 328 words · PDF available
/ Foreign Students: Screening and Monitoring There were about 1.3 million foreign post-secondary students and scholars in the United States in 2022, and about 7,500 post-secondary U.S. schools were ap...
Fire Management Assistance Grants: Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-17 · Reports · 4,171 words · PDF available
Section 420 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 93-288, hereinafter the Stafford Act) authorizes the President to “declare” a Fire Management Assistance Grant ...
Air Quality: EPA’s 2023 Proposed Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-16 · Reports · 13,863 words · PDF available
The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue national ambient (outdoor) air quality criteria (standards) for certain listed pollutants and then review those...
The Georgia Indictment of Former President Trump: A Snapshot
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-16 · Posts · 475 words · PDF available
On August 14, 2023, a Georgia grand jury returned a multi-count indictment charging former President Donald Trump and others working on his behalf with engaging in an enterprise designed to overturn t...
Social Security: Future Financial Status and Accuracy of Projections
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-16 · Reports · 11,786 words · PDF available
The Social Security program is facing a projected financial shortfall. Under the Social Security Board of Trustees’ intermediate assumptions—their best guess as to the future experience—the program wi...
Sources for Frequently Requested Foreclosure Statistics
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-16 · Reports · 1,942 words · PDF available
This report describes selected resources that provide data on single-family mortgage loan performance, including foreclosure activity and delinquent loans. Sources include government surveys, administ...
PREVENT Pandemics Act (P.L. 117-328, Division FF, Title II)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-15 · Reports · 27,362 words · PDF available
The Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act (PREVENT Pandemics Act) was enacted on December 29, 2022, as a part of Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY2023 ...
Terrorist Material Support: An Overview of 18 U.S.C. § 2339A and § 2339B
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-15 · Reports · 22,282 words · PDF available
The material support statutes, 18 U.S.C. § 2339A and § 2339B, have been among the most frequently prosecuted federal anti-terrorism statutes. Section 2339A outlaws: (1) whoever (2) [knowingly] (3)(a...
Terrorist Material Support: A Sketch of 18 U.S.C. § 2339A and § 2339B
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-15 · Reports · 4,978 words · PDF available
The material support statutes, 18 U.S.C. § 2339A and § 2339B, have been among the most frequently prosecuted federal anti-terrorism statutes. Section 2339A outlaws: (1) whoever (2) [knowingly] (3)(a...
August 2023 Wildfires in Hawaii
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-14 · Posts · 1,043 words · PDF available
Impacts of August Wildfires Due to dry and windy conditions, several damaging wildfires spread on the Hawaiian islands of Maui and Hawaii starting on August 8, 2023 (Figure 1). On August 10, the affec...
Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (August 7, 2023–August 11, 2023)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-14 · Posts · 2,618 words · PDF available
The federal courts issue hundreds of decisions every week in cases involving diverse legal disputes. This Sidebar series selects decisions from the past week that may be of particular interest to fede...
Procedures for Declassifying Intelligence of Public Interest
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-10 · Resources · 1,603 words · PDF available
The classification regime exists as a means of safeguarding sensitive intelligence sources and methods, or other kinds of sensitive national security information that is relevant to the national secur...
How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-10 · Reports · 6,970 words · PDF available
This report is intended for Members and congressional staff assisting grantseekers in districts and states, and covers writing proposals for both government and private foundation grants. In preparati...
Tax Proposals and the PGA Tour-LIV Golf Merger
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-09 · Resources · 1,308 words · PDF available
In June 2023, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced a planned merger. The PGA Tour is the world’s largest professional golf league, while LIV Golf is a newer league financed by the Saudi Arabia Public I...
Medicare Secondary Payer: Coordination of Benefits
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-09 · Reports · 18,284 words
Medicare is a federal program that covers medical services for qualified beneficiaries. Established in 1965 to provide health insurance to individuals age 65 and older, Medicare has been expanded to i...
DHS’s Cybersecurity Mission—An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-09 · Resources · 1,558 words · PDF available
After a cyberattack, much attention is paid to who the responsible party could be. But helping organizations protect themselves, respond to and recover from incidents is vital to the resiliency of the...
Deferred Maintenance of Federal Land Management Agencies: FY2013-FY2022 Estimates and Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-08 · Reports · 10,181 words · PDF available
Each of the four major federal land management agencies maintains tens of thousands of diverse assets, including roads, bridges, buildings, and water management structures. These agencies are the Bure...
Family Office Regulation in Light of the Archegos Fallout
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-08 · Resources · 1,685 words · PDF available
In late March 2021, Archegos Capital Management and its investment bank financiers started liquidating huge stock positions, causing significant turbulence in capital markets. The stock sell-offs led ...
Short Selling: Background and Policy Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-08 · Resources · 1,645 words · PDF available
Short selling generally involves the sale of a stock that the seller does not own (and instead borrows and must return at a later date) with an intent to profit if the stock declines in value. The pra...
The Bahamas: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-08 · Resources · 1,512 words · PDF available
Political Environment The Bahamas, a Caribbean nation of some 700 islands off the southeast coast of the United States, has been a stable parliamentary democracy since its independence from the United...
Protection of Undersea Telecommunication Cables: Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-07 · Reports · 28,351 words · PDF available
Commercial undersea telecommunication cables carry about 99% of transoceanic digital communications (e.g., voice, data, internet), including financial transactions. Individual private companies and co...
Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (July 31, 2023–August 6, 2023)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-07 · Posts · 3,126 words · PDF available
The federal courts issue hundreds of decisions every week in cases involving diverse legal disputes. This Sidebar series selects decisions from the past week that may be of particular interest to fede...
China and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-04 · Resources · 1,634 words · PDF available
The People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) has been expanding its diplomatic, economic, and security ties with countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region since the late 1990s. As i...
Supreme Court Rules Bankruptcy Code Abrogates Tribal Sovereign Immunity
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-04 · Posts · 1,888 words · PDF available
On June 15, 2023, the Supreme Court decided Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin (Lac du Flambeau). The case involved a dispute over lifting an automatic stay in a Chapte...
Artificial Intelligence: Overview, Recent Advances, and Considerations for the 118th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-04 · Reports · 7,022 words · PDF available
Artificial intelligence (AI)—a term generally thought of as computerized systems that work and react in ways commonly thought to require intelligence—can encompass a range of technologies, methodologi...
USDA’s SECURE Rule to Regulate Agricultural Biotechnology
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-04 · Resources · 1,641 words · PDF available
In May 2020, citing 30 years of evidence, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a final rule to revise its regulation of certain genetically engineered (GE) plants and other organisms (8...
Independence of Federal Financial Regulators: Structure, Funding, and Other Issues
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-03 · Reports · 17,676 words · PDF available
Conventional wisdom regarding regulators is that the structure and design of the organization matters for policy outcomes. Financial regulators conduct rulemaking and enforcement to implement law and ...
Guam: Defense Infrastructure and Readiness
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-03 · Reports · 18,137 words · PDF available
Guam is the westernmost U.S. territory in the Indo-Pacific region and is home to about 170,000 U.S. citizens. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) owns about 25% of the land on Guam and maintains a fo...
Overview of the Indictment of Former President Trump Related to the 2020 Election
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-03 · Posts · 2,416 words · PDF available
On August 1, 2023, Special Counsel Jack Smith announced that former President Trump had been indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia. The four-count indictment alleges that the fo...
Energy Leasing and Agreement Authorities on Tribal Lands: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-02 · Reports · 3,136 words · PDF available
Congress has enacted many authorities for leasing and agreements that enable energy production on tribal lands. Various statutes require that the Secretary of the Interior approve tribal leases or agr...
Federal and State Courts: Structure and Interaction
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-02 · Reports · 18,694 words · PDF available
In the United States, the federal government and the states each have their own set of laws and their own court systems. Federal and state courts vary in structure, with significant differences betwee...
Regulating Drinking Water Contaminants: EPA PFAS Actions
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-02 · Resources · 1,764 words · PDF available
The detection of certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in some public water supplies has generated public concern and increased attention to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EP...
Senate Staff Levels, 1977-2022
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-02 · Reports · 3,232 words · PDF available
The way staff are deployed within an organization may reflect the missions and priorities of that organization. This report provides staffing levels in Senators’ Senate committee, leadership, and othe...
Xylazine: Considerations for Federal Control
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-01 · Posts · 1,020 words
Xylazine is a sedative drug used in veterinary medicine. It is not approved or intended for human consumption. Some drug users intentionally consume xylazine in combination with drugs of abuse, such a...
Russia’s Wagner Private Military Company (PMC)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-08-01 · Resources · 1,655 words
Russia uses private military companies (PMCs) to project power globally. These outfits range in size and scope and act as an unofficial (albeit nominally illegal) tool of Russian foreign policy. The m...
Consol-Type Perpetual Bonds and the Debt Limit: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-31 · Reports · 3,924 words · PDF available
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Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (July 24, 2023–July 30, 2023)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-31 · Posts · 2,306 words · PDF available
The federal courts issue hundreds of decisions every week in cases involving diverse legal disputes. This Sidebar series selects decisions from the past week that may be of particular interest to fede...
Russia’s War Against Ukraine: Related CRS Products
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-28 · Reports · 1,223 words · PDF available
Since February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine has had wide-ranging implications for U.S. national security and for an array of global geopolitical and economic issues. This rep...
Experimental Populations Under the Endangered Species Act and Gray Wolves
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-28 · Reports · 9,088 words · PDF available
Section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq.) allows for the establishment of experimental populations of endangered or threatened species and delineates how experimenta...
Immigration Judge Hiring and Projected Impact on the Immigration Courts Backlog
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-28 · Reports · 3,865 words · PDF available
Immigration courts operate within the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR’s immigration judges (IJs) adjudicate removal proceedings, during which they determin...
Trinidad and Tobago
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-28 · Resources · 1,508 words · PDF available
Political and Economic Environment Trinidad and Tobago, the second-most-populous English-speaking Caribbean country after Jamaica, is located in the southeast Caribbean, just seven miles from Venezuel...
Social Media Algorithms: Content Recommendation, Moderation, and Congressional Considerations
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-27 · Resources · 1,586 words · PDF available
Social media plays an integral role in modern life for many. It facilitates the spread of information and serves as a key source of news, entertainment, and financial opportunity. In 2022, over 70% of...
Experimental Populations Under the Endangered Species Act
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-27 · Resources · 1,603 words · PDF available
Section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq.) allows for the establishment of experimental populations of endangered or threatened species listed under the act and delin...
Federal Employee Travel: Per Diem Reimbursement Rates
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-26 · Resources · 1,537 words · PDF available
Background In the course of their duties, federal employees may engage in official travel within the continental United States (CONUS), outside of the continental United States (OCONUS), and to foreig...
Belts and Suspenders: Analysis of Large Bank Capital Standards
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-26 · Reports · 6,947 words · PDF available
One way regulators ensure that banks operate in a safe and sound manner is by establishing capital requirements that banks must meet. Bank capital serves as a layer of protection against losses, and i...
Casino Gambling and Economic Development
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-26 · Resources · 1,481 words · PDF available
In recent decades, some officials and policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels have argued that gambling—in particular, casino gambling, but also online and sports betting—can help facilit...
Stafford Act Cost Shares: History, Trends, Analysis
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-26 · Reports · 18,402 words
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford Act, P.L. 93-288, as amended) confers upon the President a broad set of authorities “to alleviate the suffering and da...
Louisiana Court Rules on Government Communications with Social Media Companies
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-26 · Posts · 2,818 words · PDF available
On July 4, 2023, a Louisiana federal district court entered a preliminary injunction in Missouri v. Biden, preventing a number of executive branch agencies and employees from communicating with social...
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy: Issues and Options for the 118th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-26 · Reports · 13,534 words · PDF available
Congress has a long-standing interest in the development and implementation of science and technology (S&T) policies across the federal government as well as the effective coordination of multi-agency...
The Role of Earmarks in CWSRF and DWSRF Appropriations in the 117th Congress
Congressional Research Service · 2023-07-25 · Reports · 15,508 words · PDF available
National attention to municipal water infrastructure has stemmed from, among other things, water infrastructure damage from extreme weather events (e.g., hurricanes and drought); detection of elevated...