Policy Library

6,587 documents

An Introduction to Trade Secrets Law in the United States
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-27 · Resources · 1,795 words · PDF available
Trade secrets—a form of intellectual property comprising many kinds of confidential information—are widely considered to be important assets for U.S. companies and the U.S. economy as a whole, with ex...
Discharge Procedure in the House
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-26 · Reports · 2,145 words · PDF available
The House discharge rule (Rule XV, clause 2) provides a means for Members to bring to the floor for consideration a public bill or resolution that has been referred to committee but not reported. Disc...
How Consumer Data Affects Competition Through Digital Advertising
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-26 · Resources · 1,487 words · PDF available
Digital advertising allows advertisers to send targeted ads, meaning different users viewing the same website or app at the same moment might see different ads. By using targeted ads, websites and app...
The SEC’s Proxy Advisory Firm Disclosure Reforms
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-25 · Resources · 1,601 words · PDF available
The boards of directors of public companies provide strategic planning and oversight. The boards, in turn respond to the views of shareholders and may vote on proposed corporate changes if the proposa...
Health Care Provisions of the Budget Reconciliation Measure P.L. 117-169
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-24 · Reports · 28,513 words · PDF available
On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law a budget reconciliation measure often referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-169). Congress began the legislative process...
Emergency Assistance for Agricultural Land Rehabilitation
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-24 · Reports · 6,184 words · PDF available
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers several permanently authorized programs to help producers recover from natural disasters. Most of these programs offer financial assistance to pro...
USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-24 · Reports · 16,653 words · PDF available
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs are often part of emergency response efforts, providing foods for distribution, additional benefits for redemption, and ...
Foreign Ownership and Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-24 · Resources · 1,569 words · PDF available
The 117th Congress introduced a range of proposals to restrict foreign investment and ownership in the U.S. food and agriculture sector and enacted certain new reporting requirements for the U.S. Depa...
Consumption Taxes: An Overview
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-24 · Reports · 8,880 words · PDF available
Some argue that the current U.S. income tax code is overly complicated and unfair, restrains economic growth, and is in need of reform. One option for tax reform would be to tax consumption instead of...
Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2023 Budget and Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-23 · Reports · 15,660 words · PDF available
Each year, Congress considers 12 distinct appropriations measures to fund federal programs and activities. One of these is the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) app...
Consideration of Privileged Nominations in the Senate
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-23 · Reports · 5,733 words · PDF available
Privileged nominations are a subset of presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed positions that are eligible for consideration under procedures established by S.Res. 116 (112th Congress, 2011-2012...
Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Housing Programs
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-23 · Reports · 10,801 words · PDF available
Noncitizen eligibility for federal housing programs varies based on the programs in question, the laws and regulations that govern them, the agency that administers them, the immigration status of a n...
Unemployment Insurance: Legislative Issues in the 117th Congress, Second Session
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-20 · Reports · 8,656 words · PDF available
The Unemployment Insurance (UI) system is a joint federal-state partnership that consists of two types of benefits: (1) permanently authorized programs including the Unemployment Compensation (UC) and...
U.S. Refugee Admissions Program
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-20 · Reports · 8,275 words · PDF available
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the Refugee Act of 1980, authorizes the United States to admit refugees. The INA defines a refugee as a person who is outside his or her countr...
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-20 · Resources · 1,695 words
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (HKETOs) are the official representative offices of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC, o...
Buying American: The Berry and Kissell Amendments
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-20 · Resources · 1,721 words · PDF available
Two U.S. laws—known as the Berry and Kissell Amendments—require that certain products purchased by the Department of Defense (DOD) and some agencies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) be man...
The 15% Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-19 · Reports · 11,486 words · PDF available
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-169) imposes a corporate alternative minimum tax (CAMT) of 15% on the adjusted financial statement income of large corporations. Corporations would pay th...
Listed Chemicals and Federal Regulation of Controlled Substance Precursors
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-19 · Resources · 1,596 words · PDF available
The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) regulates pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical drugs and other substances that pose a risk of abuse and dependence. The CSA authorizes the manufacture, distributio...
Foreign Ownership of U.S. Agriculture: Selected Policy Options
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-19 · Resources · 1,847 words · PDF available
Congress continues to debate the role of foreign investment in the U.S. food and agriculture sector. Recently enacted appropriations directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expand public...
Cybersecurity: Bureau of Cyber Statistics
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-19 · Reports · 5,752 words · PDF available
The scope and scale of cyberattacks against the United States have been difficult to catalog and quantify. Most observers recognize the frequency, severity, and diversity of such attacks as increasing...
Legal and Procedural Matters Related to Seating a Cherokee Nation Delegate in the House of Representatives
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-19 · Reports · 16,308 words · PDF available
On August 22, 2019, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. announced his tribe’s intention to nominate a delegate to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to represent the Cherokee Nat...
Afghan Eligibility for Selected Benefits Based on Immigration Status: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-18 · Reports · 2,351 words · PDF available
This short report outlines eligibility for selected benefits based on possible immigration statuses that are available or could possibly become available for Afghan evacuees, including refugee, asylee...
Enforceable Spending Allocations in the Congressional Budget Process: 302(a)s and 302(b)s
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-18 · Reports · 5,156 words · PDF available
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (the Budget Act) stipulates a system for enforcing the spending levels established in the budget resolution that focuses on the individual committees and subcommit...
Fifth Circuit Considers Constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-18 · Posts · 2,435 words · PDF available
In the case Consumers’ Research v. FCC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is considering whether the funding mechanisms for the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Universal Serv...
Transgender Students and School Bathroom Policies: Equal Protection Challenges Divide Appellate Courts
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-17 · Posts · 3,090 words · PDF available
The Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause prohibits states from denying individuals “the equal protection of the laws.” Transgender students have brought a number of challenges under the Equa...
Federal Economic Development Resources for Food Businesses and Systems: In Brief
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-13 · Reports · 5,525 words · PDF available
Community initiatives to improve local and regional food systems often focus on efforts to increase the consumption, production, distribution, and development of products within a particular geographi...
The Nineteenth Amendment and Women’s Suffrage Part 5: Supreme Court Interpretations
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-13 · Posts · 583 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar is the fifth in a six-part series that discusses the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which recognized women’s voting rights. Shortly before Election Day 2022, a group of p...
The Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF): State Insolvency and Federal Loans to States
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-13 · Reports · 5,273 words
States have a great deal of autonomy in how they establish and run their unemployment insurance programs. However, federal law requires states to pay Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefits promptly. ...
The Nineteenth Amendment and Women’s Suffrage Part 2: The Founding Era and the Civil War
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-13 · Posts · 539 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar is the second in a six-part series that discusses the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which recognized women’s voting rights. Shortly before Election Day 2022, a group of ...
The Nineteenth Amendment and Women’s Suffrage Part 3: The Reconstruction Era
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-13 · Posts · 1,019 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar is the third in a six-part series that discusses the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which recognized women’s voting rights. Shortly before Election Day 2022, a group of p...
The Nineteenth Amendment and Women’s Suffrage Part 4: The Progressive Era and Ratification
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-13 · Posts · 1,103 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar is the fourth in a six-part series that discusses the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which recognized women’s voting rights. Shortly before Election Day 2022, a group of ...
Earthquakes Induced by Underground Fluid Injection and the Federal Role in Mitigation
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-13 · Reports · 13,721 words · PDF available
Human activities, including underground fluid injection activities, may cause earthquakes (known as induced earthquakes). Underground fluid injection activities, such as hydraulic fracturing for oil a...
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Water Infrastructure Programs and FY2023 Appropriations
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-13 · Resources · 1,408 words · PDF available
Many policymakers and stakeholders have raised concerns about the condition of the nation’s local drinking water and wastewater infrastructure and the financial challenges that communities may confron...
The Nineteenth Amendment and Women’s Suffrage Part 1: Introduction
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-13 · Posts · 500 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar is the first in a six-part series that discusses the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which recognized women’s voting rights. Shortly before Election Day 2022, a group of p...
The Nineteenth Amendment and Women’s Suffrage Part 6: Impacts Beyond the Supreme Court
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-13 · Posts · 550 words · PDF available
This Legal Sidebar is the last in a six-part series that discusses the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which recognized women’s voting rights. Shortly before Election Day 2022, a group of pe...
Changes to House Rules Affecting the Congressional Budget Process Included in H.Res. 5 (118th Congress)
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-12 · Reports · 3,346 words · PDF available
At the beginning of each Congress, the House of Representatives adopts rules to govern its proceedings. Traditionally, the House does this by readopting the rules of the previous Congress along with c...
U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trends and Projections from the Inflation Reduction Act
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-12 · Reports · 8,203 words · PDF available
Pursuant to international climate change treaty obligations, the United States submitted a nonbinding pledge in 2021 to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50%-52% below 2005 levels by 2030. ...
An Introduction to Oversight of Offices of Inspector General
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-12 · Resources · 1,624 words · PDF available
Who watches the watchers? is a frequently posed question when people consider the role of oversight bodies, including offices of inspector general (OIGs). However, the organization of OIGs may pose un...
USMCA: Labor Provisions
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-12 · Resources · 1,664 words · PDF available
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) entered into force on July 1, 2020, replacing the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). USMCA establishes new and updated provisions on the protect...
Average Wage Growth and Related Economic Trends in 2022
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-11 · Reports · 6,802 words
The economy in 2022 has been marked by high inflation and a tight labor market. While year-over-year average hourly earnings growth has reached some of the highest levels seen in decades in nominal (n...
A Comparison of Selected Official Wage Measures
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-11 · Reports · 5,621 words · PDF available
The U.S. government produces several different wage and wage-related measures, each with its own source data, methodology, and uses. Wages can be a catchall term for several different concepts, includ...
New FCC Rules Ban Authorizations for Equipment Posing National Security Risks
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-11 · Posts · 2,415 words · PDF available
On November 25, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released new rules restricting equipment that poses national security risks from being imported to or sold in the United States. Under...
Federal Assistance for Nonfederal Dam Safety
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-11 · Reports · 9,746 words · PDF available
Nonfederal entities (e.g., state or local governments, public utilities, private entities) own most dams in the United States: 97% of the more than 91,000 dams in the National Inventory of Dams (NID)....
The Good Neighbor Authority on Federal Lands
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-11 · Resources · 1,707 words · PDF available
The Good Neighbor Authority allows the Forest Service (FS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to authorize states, counties, and federally recognized Indian tribes to conduct certain projects on ...
The FTC’s Competition Rulemaking Authority
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-11 · Posts · 2,403 words · PDF available
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a rule that would prohibit noncompete clauses in employment contracts. The proposal relies on the FTC’s putative authority to issue rule...
Introduction to the Federal Budget Process
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-10 · Reports · 21,959 words · PDF available
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress exercises the “power of the purse.” This power is expressed through the application of several provisions. The power to lay and collect taxes and the power to bor...
A Brief Overview of the Congressional Budget Process
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-10 · Reports · 4,011 words · PDF available
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress exercises the “power of the purse.” This power is expressed through the application of several provisions. The power to lay and collect taxes and the power to bor...
Pandemic Relief: The Emergency Rental Assistance Program
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-10 · Reports · 9,140 words · PDF available
In response to concerns about the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on renters and their landlords, Congress created a $25 billion Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program in the Consolidated...
Free Speech: When and Why Content-Based Laws Are Presumptively Unconstitutional
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-10 · Resources · 1,755 words · PDF available
The First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause prohibits the government from suppressing or requiring adherence to particular ideas or messages. U.S. Const. amend. I. The Supreme Court has recognized that l...
Crime and Forfeiture
Congressional Research Service · 2023-01-10 · Reports · 74,119 words
Modern forfeiture is a creature of statute that calls for the confiscation of certain property related to a criminal offense. Forfeiture has long been a law enforcement tool in the United States. Cong...