Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs articles from February 2007

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs archives from February 2007

The Department of Homeland Security's risk assessment methodology: evolution, issues, and options for Congress.
February 1, 2007... February 2, 2007 Summary As early as his Senate confirmation hearing, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff advocated a risk-based approach to homeland security. Secretary Chertoff has stated "DHS must base...

Iran's influence in Iraq.
February 1, 2007... Summary Iran's influence over the post-Saddam government in Iraq is substantial and growing because the dominant parties in Iraq have long-standing ties to Tehran. A key U.S. concern is that Iran, seeking to ensure the political prospects...

India-U.S. relations.(Chronology)
February 1, 2007... Updated February 13, 2007 Summary Long considered a "strategic backwater" from Washington's perspective, South Asia has emerged in the 21st century as increasingly vital to core U.S. foreign policy interests. India, the region's...

India: chronology of recent events.(Chronology)(Report)
February 1, 2007... Summary This report provides a reverse chronology of recent events involving India and India-U.S. relations. Sources include, but are not limited to, major newswires, the U.S. Department of State, and Indian news outlets. For a substantive...

Iraq: post-Saddam governance and security.( Saddam Hussein)
February 1, 2007... Summary Operation Iraqi Freedom overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime, but Iraq remains unstable because of Sunni Arab resentment and a related insurgency, compounded by Sunni-Shiite violence that a January 2007 national intelligence estimate...

Policy in the 1990s emphasized containment.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)
February 1, 2007... Prior to the January 16, 1991, launch of Operation Desert Storm to reverse Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, President George H.W. Bush called on the Iraqi people to overthrow Saddam. That Administration decided not to try to do so...

Post-September 11, 2001: regime change and war.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)
February 1, 2007... Several senior Bush Administration officials had long been advocates of a regime change policy toward Iraq, but the difficulty of that strategy led the Bush Administration initially to continue its predecessor's emphasis on containment. (14)...

Post-Saddam governance and transition.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)(Saddam Hussein)
February 1, 2007... According to January 2007 statements by President Bush, U.S. goals are for an Iraq that can sustain, govern, and defend itself and is a partner in the global war on terrorism. Administration officials have, for the most part, dropped an early...

Security challenges, responses, and options.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)
February 1, 2007... Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the United States has employed a multifaceted approach to stabilizing Iraq. However, the Iraq Study Group said in its December 6 report that the "situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating." (33) The January...

President's January 10 initiative, Iraq Study Group report, legislation, and other options.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)
February 1, 2007... President Bush, Congress, and observers have been debating new policy options that might succeed in stabilizing Iraq. The President has said he weighed the December 6, 2006, report of the Iraq Study Group, as well as input from several other...

Iran's nuclear program: recent developments.(International Atomic Energy Agency)
February 1, 2007... Summary International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections since 2003 have revealed two decades' worth of undeclared nuclear activities in Iran, including uranium enrichment and plutonium separation efforts. Iran agreed in 2003 to...

Trade promotion authority (TPA)/fast-track renewal: labor issues.
February 1, 2007... February 2, 2007 Summary Trade promotion authority (TPA), formerly known as "fast-track" authority, is scheduled to expire July 1, 2007. With it will expire the authority: (a) that Congress grants the President to enter into certain...

Foreign countries' response to the avian influenza (H5N1) virus: current status.
February 1, 2007... Summary This report highlights recent efforts by affected countries to control the spread of the avian influenza (H5N1) virus. Included is statistical information on confirmed human cases and deaths through January 2007. For more...

Global climate change and wildlife.
February 1, 2007... Summary Recently projected climate changes could have widespread effects on wildlife species. These effects may include extinctions, changes in species' ranges, mismatches in their phenology (timing of pollination, flowering, etc.), and...

Iraq: milestones since the ouster of Saddam Hussein.(Chronology)
February 1, 2007... Summary On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq. Since then, hostilities and death tolls continue to rise. Tensions between the once dominant Sunni minority and Shia majority also continue to...

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): new directions in the 110th congress.
February 1, 2007... Summary One part of the energy debate has been whether to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in northeastern Alaska--and if so, under what conditions--or whether to continue to prohibit development to...

Rules and practices governing the selection of house officers.
February 1, 2007... Summary House procedures to elect an officer during a Congress differ from those followed at the start of a Congress. A resolution to elect a replacement officer to fill a vacancy during a Congress is privileged and debatable under the...

China-U.S. relations: current issues and implications for U.S. policy.(Chronology)
February 1, 2007... Summary U.S.-China relations have remained remarkably smooth since late 2001, although there are signs that U.S. policy toward China is now subject to competing reassessments. State Department officials in 2005 unveiled what they said was...

Exon-Florio foreign investment provision: overview of H.R. 556.
February 1, 2007... February 1, 2007 Summary During the Second Session of the 109th Congress, Members of Congress introduced over two dozen measures to address various concerns with foreign investment that arose from the proposed purchase of the...

North Korean crime-for-profit activities.
February 1, 2007... Summary Strong indications exist that the North Korean (Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK) regime is involved in illicit drug production and trafficking, as well as production and trafficking in counterfeit currency,...

Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) Renewal: core labor standards issues: a brief overview.
February 1, 2007... Summary This report is a brief overview of key issues addressed in CRS Report RL33864, Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) Renewal: Core Labor Standards Issues. Trade promotion authority (TPA), formerly known as "fast-track" authority, is...

Iran: U.S. concerns and policy responses.
February 1, 2007... Summary According to the Administration's "National Security Strategy" document released on March 16, 2006, the United States "may face no greater challenge from a single country than Iran." That perception, generated first and foremost by...

Iraq: post-Saddam governance and security.
February 1, 2007... Summary Operation Iraqi Freedom overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime, but Iraq remains unstable because of Sunni Arab resentment and a related insurgency, compounded by Sunni-Shiite violence that a January 2007 national intelligence estimate...

U.S. immigration policy on temporary admissions.
February 1, 2007... Summary U.S. law provides for the temporary admission of various categories of foreign nationals, who are known as nonimmigrants. Nonimmigrants are admitted for a designated period of time and a specific purpose. They include a wide range...

Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: security issues and implications for U.S. interests.
February 1, 2007... Summary The South Caucasus region has been the most unstable in the former Soviet Union in terms of the numbers, intensity, and length of ethnic and civil conflicts. Other emerging or full-blown security problems include crime, corruption,...

Introduction.(Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Security Issues and Implications for U.S. Interests)
February 1, 2007... The countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are generally considered as comprising the South Caucasus region, which borders Russia, Turkey, and Iran. (1) This isthmus between the Black and Caspian Seas is an age-old north-south and...

Overview of U.S. policy.(Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Security Issues and Implications for U.S. Interests)
February 1, 2007... U.S. security ties with the South Caucasus states increased in the latter part of the 1990s, as a result of Russia's military activities in Georgia, Russia's first conflict in its breakaway Chechnya region, and an emerging U.S. focus on the...

External security context.(Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Security Issues and Implications for U.S. Interests)
February 1, 2007... Overview Major outside players involved in the South Caucasus include the three powers bordering the South Caucasus region (Russia, Turkey, and Iran), the United States, and the European Union (EU). The outside players have both...

Internal security problems and progress.(Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Security Issues and Implications for U.S. Interests)
February 1, 2007... The South Caucasus region has been the most unstable in the former Soviet Union in terms of the numbers, intensity, and length of its ethnic and civil conflicts. Other internal security problems include crime, corruption, terrorism,...

U.S. policy and issues.(Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Security Issues and Implications for U.S. Interests)
February 1, 2007... In congressional testimony in March 2005, Gen. James Jones, the head of USEUCOM, stated that "the Caucasus is increasingly important to our interests. Its air corridor has become a crucial lifeline between coalition forces in Afghanistan and...

Appendix 1: selected players.(Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Security Issues and Implications for U.S. Interests)
February 1, 2007... Russia. According to many observers, the role of Russia--the former colonial power--in the South Caucasus is the most serious potential threat to the security and independence of the region's states. Perhaps until recently, Russia has appeared...

Iraq: elections, constitution, and government.
February 1, 2007... Summary Elections in 2005 for a transition government (January 30, 2005), a permanent constitution (October 15), and a permanent (four year) government (December 15) have produced a Shiite-led government that has been unable to reduce...

Nuclear weapons: the reliable replacement warhead program.
February 1, 2007... Summary Most current U.S. nuclear warheads were built in the 1970s and 1980s and are being retained longer than was planned. Yet they deteriorate and must be maintained. To correct problems, a Life Extension Program (LEP) replaces...

Sharing law enforcement and intelligence information: the congressional role.
February 1, 2007... Summary Almost all assessments of the attacks of September 11, 2001, have concluded that U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies had failed to share information that might have provided advance warning of the plot. This realization...