Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs articles from July 2003

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs archives from July 2003

Latin America and the Caribbean: issues for the 108th Congress.
July 2, 2003... Summary This report, which will be updated periodically, examines issues in U.S. policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing especially on the role of Congress and congressional concerns. For more details and discussion, see...

Pakistan-U.S. relations.
July 3, 2003... SUMMARY Major areas of U.S. concern regarding Pakistan include regional terrorism; weapons proliferation; the ongoing Kashmir dispute and Pakistan-India tensions; human rights protection; and economic development. A U.S.-Pakistan...

Saudi Arabia: current issues and U.S. relations.
July 3, 2003... SUMMARY Saudi Arabia, a monarchy ruled by the Saudi dynasty, enjoys special importance in the international community because of its unique association with the Islamic religion and its oil wealth. Since the establishment of the modern...

Syria: U.S. relations and bilateral issues.
July 3, 2003... SUMMARY Syria, governed by President Hafiz al-Asad from 1970 until his death in June 2000, is a prominent player in the Middle East scene. Within the region, a number of border disputes, problems of resource allocation, and + political...

The Middle East peace talks.
July 9, 2003... SUMMARY The end of the Cold War, the decline of the Soviet Union, and the U.S.-led victory in the Gulf war facilitated the beginning of a new peace process in 1991. Israel and the Palestinians discussed a 5-year period of interim self-rule...

AIDS in Africa.
July 10, 2003... SUMMARY Sub-Saharan Africa has been far more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. The United Nations reports that 29.4 million adults and children are infected with the HIV virus in the region, which has about 10% of...

Israel: U.S. foreign assistance.
July 10, 2003... SUMMARY Israel is not economically self-sufficient, and relies on foreign assistance and borrowing to maintain its economy. Since 1985, the United States has provided $3 billion in grants annually to Israel. Since 1976, Israel has been the...

Egypt-United States relations.
July 11, 2003... SUMMARY U.S.-Egyptian relations are tied to maintaining regional stability, improving bilateral relations focused on Egyptian economic development and military cooperation, developing Egypt's democracy, sustaining the March 1979...

The Persian Gulf states: post-war issues for U.S. policy, 2003.
July 14, 2003... Summary The Bush Administration has said that the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003 will ease the security challenges the Persian Gulf region faces. The U.S.-led war has ended Iraq's ability to produce weapons of mass...

India-U.S. relations.
July 15, 2003... SUMMARY Although the end of the cold war freed India-U.S. relations from the constraints of global bipolarity, New Delhi-Washington relations continued for a decade to be affected by the burden of history, most notably the longstanding...

Iraq reconstruction resources: fact sheet.
July 16, 2003... Summary The conclusion of major military actions in the U.S.-led coalition's war to change the regime in Iraq has spawned a major effort to rebuild the infrastructure and government of the country. The U.S. government is at the forefront...

Iraq: United Nations and humanitarian aid organizations.
July 17, 2003... Summary The war with Iraq, which began on March 19, 2003, has now moved into a new phase as a result of coalition forces controlling all of the major cites in Iraq and the end of the Iraqi political and military leadership. Currently, the...

Trade negotiations in the 108th Congress.
July 17, 2003... SUMMARY On June 6, 2003, the United States signed a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) with Chile. A month earlier, the United States had signed a bilateral FTA with Singapore. On July 15, 2003, implementing bills for the FTAs...

Cuba: issues for the 108th Congress.
July 18, 2003... Summary Cuba remains a hard-line Communist state, with a poor record on human rights that has deteriorated significantly in 2003. Fidel Castro has ruled since he ousted the corrupt government of Fulgencio Batista from power in 1959. With...

Iraq: U.S. regime change efforts and post-war governance.
July 18, 2003... Summary In his 2002 and 2003 State of the Union messages, President Bush characterized Iraq as a grave potential threat to the United States because of its refusal to abandon its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs as required by...

Korea: U.S.-Korean relations--issues for Congress.
July 18, 2003... SUMMARY North Korea's decision in December 2002 to restart nuclear installations at Yongbyon that were shut down under the U.S.-North Korean Agreed Framework of 1994 and its announced withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...

Appropriations for FY2004: foreign operations, export financing, and related programs.
July 21, 2003... Summary The annual Foreign Operations appropriations bill is the primary legislative vehicle through which Congress reviews the U.S. foreign aid budget and influences executive branch foreign policy making generally. It contains the...

Foreign relations authorization, FY2004 and FY2005: an overview.
July 21, 2003... Summary The foreign relations authorization process dovetails with the annual appropriation process for the Department of State (within the Commerce, Justice, State and Related Agency appropriation) and foreign policy/foreign aid...

Free trade agreements with Singapore and Chile: labor issues.
July 21, 2003... Summary Singapore and Chile are the fourth and fifth countries to sign trade agreements with the United States that include labor provisions. The first three were Canada and Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and...

Africa: U.S. foreign assistance issues.
July 22, 2003... SUMMARY Amounts requested by the Bush Administration for assistance to Africa in FY2004 closely parallel amounts provided in FY2003. Child Survival and Health Assistance, combined with Development Assistance (DA), would total $1.041...

China and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missiles: policy issues.
July 22, 2003... Summary Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances the U.S. interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missiles that could...

Trade remedy law reform in the 108th Congress.
July 22, 2003... Summary Trade remedies are government measures to minimize the adverse impact of imports on domestic industries. Antidumping duties are used to counter the effects of imports sold at unfairly low prices on the domestic market....

Energy: useful facts and numbers.
July 23, 2003... Summary Energy supplies and prices are a major economic factor in the United States, and energy markets are volatile and unpredictable. For both these reasons, energy policy is of frequent interest to the Congress. This report presents a...

Iraq: weapons programs, U.N. requirements, and U.S. policy.
July 23, 2003... SUMMARY After asserting that Iraq had failed to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions that require Iraq to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction (WMD),the Bush Administration began military action against Iraq on March 19,...

Jordan: U.S. relations and bilateral issues.
July 23, 2003... SUMMARY The death of King Hussein on February 7, 1999, removed a strong U.S. ally and force for stability; however, his son and successor, King Abdullah, has continued to follow the Late King's moderate and pro-western policies. In recent...

The Al-Jazeera news network: opportunity or challenge for U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East?
July 23, 2003... Summary Al-Jazeera, the Arab world's first all-news network was started by the Persian Gulf monarchy of Qatar. It has come to be recognized as a key player in covering issues of central importance to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East:...

The Middle East Partnership Initiative: an overview.
July 23, 2003... Summary On December 12, 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell announced the creation of The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), a program designed to promote political, economic, and educational development in the Middle East. This...

War on drugs: legislation in the 108th Congress and related developments.
July 23, 2003... SUMMARY Prohibiting the non-medical use of certain mind-altering substances has been a public policy goal of the federal government for more than a century. Drug abuse is a problem in the United States due to its economic cost,...

Energy efficiency: budget, oil conservation, and electricity conservation issues.
July 24, 2003... SUMMARY Energy security, a major driver of federal energy efficiency programs in the past, came back into play as oil and gas prices rose late in the year 2000. The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, and the Iraq war of 2003...

Andean Regional Initiative (ARI): FY2003 supplemental and FY2004 assistance for colombia and neighbors.
July 25, 2003... Summary In 2003, Congress is considering President Bush's requests for FY2004 and FY2003 supplemental assistance for Colombia and six regional neighbors in a continuation of the Andean Regional Initiative (ARI) launched in 2001. ARI was...

China-U.S. relations: current issues for the 108th Congress.
July 25, 2003... Summary In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, U.S. and People's Republic of China (PRC) foreign policy calculations appeared to change. The Administration of George W. Bush assumed office in...

Iran: current developments and U.S. policy.
July 25, 2003... SUMMARY While continuing previous U.S. Administrations' policies of containing Iran while pursuing limited engagement with it, the the Bush Administration is evaluating whether or not to move more toward a regime change policy, and how to...

The U.S.-Chile free trade agreement: economic and trade policy issues.
July 25, 2003... Summary On June 6, 2003, the United States and Chile signed a long anticipated bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in Miami, Florida, concluding a 14-round negotiation process that began on December 6, 2000. The House Ways and Means and...

India-U.S. economic relations.
July 28, 2003... Summary India's economy has shown relatively healthy growth since 1991 when an economic crisis caused the government to implement various economic reforms. Yet many analysts view India's economy as falling below its potential, especially...

Drug control: international policy and approaches.
July 29, 2003... SUMMARY Efforts to significantly reduce the flow of illicit drugs from abroad into the United States have so far not succeeded. Moreover, over the past decade, worldwide production of illicit drugs has risen dramatically: opium and...

HIV/AIDS international programs: appropriations, FY2002--FY2004.
July 29, 2003... Summary The Administration's FY2004 request for international HIV/AIDS programs totaled about $1.9 billion. Appropriations bills that have passed the House would together provide approximately this amount, while legislation before the...

North Korea's nuclear weapons: how soon an arsenal?
July 29, 2003... Summary In December 2002, North Korea ended the 8-year-old freeze on its nuclear program by expelling inspectors and reopening its plutonium production facilities. The CIA assessed that North Korea could produce 5-6 weapons by mid-2003, in...

Terrorism and national security: issues and trends.
July 29, 2003... SUMMARY International terrorism has long been recognized as a serious foreign and domestic security threat. This issue brief examines international terrorist actions and threats and the U.S. policy response. Available policy options range...

Trade and the Americas.
July 29, 2003... SUMMARY At the Summit of the Americas held in December 1994, 34 hemispheric democracies agreed to create a "Free Trade Area of the Americas" (FTAA) no later than 2005. If created, the FTAA would be a $13 trillion market of 34 countries...

Iraq: summary of U.S. casualties.
July 30, 2003... Summary The following casualty table was compiled by the Department of Defense, as tallied from DOD press releases. Table 1 provides statistics on fatalities during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19, 2003, and is ongoing, as...

Israeli-United States relations.
July 30, 2003... SUMMARY Israeli-U.S. relations are an important factor in U.S. policy in the Middle East, and Congress has placed considerable importance on the maintenance of a close and supportive relationship. The main vehicle for expressing support...

Palestinians and Middle East Peace: issues for the United States.
July 30, 2003... SUMMARY The United States began contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in December 1988, after the PLO accepted Israel's right to exist, accepted U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338 that call for an exchange of land for peace,...

The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA).
July 31, 2003... Summary The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA, P.L. 104-172) was due to expire on August 5, 2001, 5 years after enactment. Debate on renewal of ILSA centered on the difficulties incurred in implementing it, reactions to ILSA on the part of...