Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs articles from June 2002

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs archives from June 2002

The 2002 farm bill: overview and status.
June 3, 2002... Summary Note: The online CRS Agriculture Policy and Farm Bill Briefing Book covers many aspects of the farm bill, and includes a summary of selected provisions. Federal farm support, nutrition, agricultural trade and food aid,...

Pakistan-U.S. relations.
June 4, 2002... SUMMARY The major areas of U.S. concern in Pakistan include: nuclear nonproliferation; counter-terrorism; regional stability; democratization and human rights; and economic reform and development. An ongoing Pakistan-India nuclear arms...

Libya.
June 4, 2002... SUMMARY The United Nations Security Council passed three resolutions that placed sanctions on Libya until Libya surrendered for trial two men suspected of bombing Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 and French flight UTA 772 in 1989. Libya...

Drug control: international policy and options.
June 5, 2002... SUMMARY Efforts to reduce the flow of illicit drugs from abroad into the United States greatly have so far not succeeded. Moreover, over the past decade, worldwide production of illicit drugs has risen dramatically: opium and marijuana...

Israel: U.S. foreign assistance.
June 6, 2002... 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...

Israeli-United states relations.
June 6, 2002... 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...

Iraq: compliance, sanctions, and U.S. policy.
June 6, 2002... SUMMARY In recent years, the United States has been unable to maintain an international consensus for strict enforcement of all applicable U.N. Security Council resolutions on Iraq, but it has largely succeeded in preventing Iraq from...

India-U.S. relations.
June 7, 2002... SUMMARY Although the end of the Cold War freed U.S.-India relations from the constraints of a bipolar world, bilateral relations continued for a decade to be affected by the burden of history, most notably the longstanding India-Pakistan...

Iran: current developments and U.S. policy.
June 10, 2002... SUMMARY Even before Iran's tacit cooperation with post-September 11 U.S. efforts to defeat Afghanistan's Taliban regime, signs of moderation in Iran had stimulated the United States to try to engage Iran in official talks. Iran, still...

Immigration legislation and issues in the 107th Congress.
June 10, 2002... SUMMARY Top immigration issues before the 107th Congress include the reorganization of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), currently part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the eligibility of noncitizens for public...

The PLO and its factions.
June 10, 2002... Summary During the current Palestinian uprising, several Palestinian factions apparently linked in varying degrees to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have used violence in an effort to force Israel to end its occupation of...

AIDS in Africa.
June 11, 2002... SUMMARY Sub-Saharan Africa has been far more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. The United Nations reports that 28.1 million adults and children are infected with the HIV virus in the region, which has about 10% of...

Background and legal issues related to stem cell research.
June 12, 2002... Summary With certain restrictions, the President has announced that federal funds may be used to conduct research on human embryonic stem cells. Federal research is limited to 64 (1) existing stem cell lines that were derived (1) with the...

Andean Regional Initiative (ARI): FY2002 supplemental and FY2003 assistance for Colombia and neighbors.
June 12, 2002... Summary Congress is considering President Bush's requests for new funding and additional authority to provide assistance to Colombia and six regional neighbors in a continuation of the Andean Regional Initiative launched in 2001. These...

Cuba: issues for the 107th Congress.
June 12, 2002... Summary Cuba remains a hard-line Communist state, with a poor record on human rights. Fidel Castro has ruled since he led the Cuban Revolution, ousting the corrupt government of Fulgencio Batista from power in 1959. With the cutoff of...

The Andean Trade Preference Act: a comparison of House and Senate versions of H.R. 3009.
June 12, 2002... Summary In 1991, the 102nd Congress passed the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), which provided for preferential treatment of selected U.S. imports from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru as part of an incentive system to encourage...

Latin America and the Caribbean: legislative issues in 2001-2002 (1).
June 12, 2002... Summary This report provides an overview of the major legislative issues facing Congress in 2001 and 2002 relating to Latin America and the Caribbean. Organized by the regions and subregions of the Western Hemisphere, the report provides...

Executive branch reorganization and management initiatives.
June 12, 2002... SUMMARY President William Clinton pledged his Administration to a program of "reinventing government," beginning with a National Performance Review (NPR), announced shortly after his inauguration, to find ways to make the federal...

Appropriations for FY2003: foreign operations, export financing, and related programs.
June 13, 2002... 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...

Afghanistan: current issues and U.S. policy concerns.
June 13, 2002... Summary U.S. and international officials are hopeful that Afghanistan is emerging from more than 22 years of warfare and instability, although substantial risk to Afghan stability remains. Before the U.S. military campaign against the...

Africa: U.S. foreign assistance issues.
June 13, 2002... SUMMARY The Bush Administration is requesting just over $1 billion in Development Assistance (DA) for sub-Saharan Africa in FY2003, as compared with an estimated $887 million going to the region in FY2002. The request for aid through the...

Nuclear arms control: the U.S.-Russian agenda.
June 13, 2002... SUMMARY Although arms control negotiations are not as important to the U.S.-Russian relationship as they were to the U.S.-Soviet relationship during the Cold War, the United States and Russia have continued to implement existing nuclear...

HIV/AIDS international programs: FY2003 request and FY2002 spending.
June 14, 2002... Summary Supplemental Appropriations legislation for FY2002, currently before Congress, could increase spending for international HIV/AIDS programs by $200 million if finally approved. The Administration's FY2003 request for international...

Trade promotion (fast-track) authority: summary and analysis of selected major provisions of H.R. 3005 and title XXI of H.R. 3009.
June 14, 2002... Summary A major trade issue in the 107th Congress is whether or not Congress will approve authority for the President to negotiate trade agreements and submit the agreements for implementation under expedited legislative procedures. The...

Sudan: humanitarian crisis, peace talks, terrorism, and U.S. policy.
June 14, 2002... SUMMARY Sudan, geographically the largest country in Africa, has been ravaged by civil war intermittently for 4 decades. An estimated 2 million people have died over the past decade due to war-related causes and famine, and millions have...

Palestinians and Middle East peace: issues for the United States.
June 14, 2002... 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,...

Mexico-U.S. relations: issues for the 107th congress.
June 14, 2002... SUMMARY The United States and Mexico have a special relationship under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which removes trade and investment barriers between the countries. The friendly relationship has been strengthened by...

Colombia: the Uribe administration and congressional concerns.
June 14, 2002... Summary On August 7, 2002, President-elect, Alvaro Uribe Velez, age 49, is scheduled to take office amid an intensifying conflict. Uribe's election has been widely attributed to his law-and-order campaign promises to pursue the guerrillas...

Agricultural export and food aid programs.
June 14, 2002... SUMMARY The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts that FY2002 agricultural exports will be $53.5 billion. Projected imports of $40 billion will result in an export surplus of $13.5 billion, which represents a slight annual...

National missile defense: Russia's reaction.
June 14, 2002... Summary In the late 1990s, the United States began to focus on the possible deployment of defenses against long-range ballistic missiles. The planned National Missile Defense (NMD) system would have exceeded the terms of the 1972...

Trade promotion authority (fast-track): labor issues (including H.R. 3005 and H.R. 3009).
June 17, 2002... Summary Since trade promotion authority (TPA), formerly called "fast-track negotiating authority" expired in 1994, Congress has been unable to agree on language for its reauthorization. Under TPA, Congress agrees to consider trade...

Egypt-United States relations.
June 18, 2002... 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...

Lebanon.
June 18, 2002... SUMMARY The United States and Lebanon continue to enjoy good relations. At issue between the United States and Lebanon are progress toward a Lebanon-Israel peace treaty and U.S. aid to Lebanon. The United States supports Lebanon's...

Korea: U.S.-South Korean relations--issues for congress.
June 19, 2002... SUMMARY The United States maintains a strong, multifaceted alliance relationship with South Korea that has for decades served vital interests of both sides. Against the background of continuing difficulties in dealing with North Korea and...

Japan-U.S. relations: issues for the 107th congress.
June 20, 2002... SUMMARY The United States has long worked closely with Japan to build a strong, multifaceted relationship based on shared democratic values and mutual interest in Asian and global stability and development. The Japanese government headed...

Terrorism, the future, and U.S. foreign policy.
June 21, 2002... SUMMARY International terrorism has long been recognized as a foreign and domestic security threat. The tragic events of September 11 in New York, the Washington, D.C., area, and Pennsylvania have dramatically re-energized the nation's...

Drug control: international policy and options.
June 21, 2002... SUMMARY Efforts to reduce the flow of illicit drugs from abroad into the United States greatly have so far not succeeded. Moreover, over the past decade, worldwide production of illicit drugs has risen dramatically: opium and marijuana...

Iraq-U.S. confrontation.
June 21, 2002... SUMMARY Efforts by Iraq to impede U.N. weapons inspections since late 1997 and to challenge the allied-imposed no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq have resulted in further confrontations with the United States and its allies. A...

Kashmir: recent developments and U.S. concerns.
June 21, 2002... Summary Perennially high tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir have hindered attempts so far to achieve a sustained peace process, despite occasional moments of optimism. U.S. concern for stability in South Asia increased...

Agricultural trade issues in the 107th Congress.
June 24, 2002... SUMMARY The 107th Congress is considering trade issues with implications for the U.S. agricultural sector. Trade in agricultural commodities and food products affects farm income and rural employment, and it also generates economic...

Trade promotion authority (fast-track authority for trade agreements): background and developments in the 107th Congress.
June 24, 2002... SUMMARY One of the major trade issues in the 107th Congress is whether or not Congress approves trade promotion authority (formerly called fast-track authority) for the President to negotiate trade agreements with expedited procedures for...