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

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

U.S. immigration policy on permanent admissions.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Update May 11, 2007 Summary When President George W. Bush announced his principles for immigration reform in January 2004, he included an increase in permanent immigration as a key component. President Bush has stated that immigration...

Iraq: post-Saddam governance and security.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Updated May 10, 2007 Summary Operation Iraqi Freedom overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime, but much of Iraq remains unstable because of Sunni Arab resentment and a related insurgency, compounded by Sunni-Shiite violence that a January...

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE): a comparison of selected legislation in the 110th Congress.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... May 1, 2007 Summary The rise in crude oil and gasoline prices since the winter of 2006 has renewed the focus on U.S. fuel consumption in the transportation sector. Wider concerns over greenhouse gas emissions and climate change have...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE): issues for U.S. Policy.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Summary The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a leadership transition now complete, undertook its first major electoral process in December 2006, although with a small, hand-picked electorate and for a body with limited powers. The UAE's open...

Immigration reform: brief synthesis of issue.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Summary U.S. immigration policy is likely to be a highly contentious issue in the 110th Congress. The number of foreign-born people residing in the United States is at the highest level in U.S. history and has reached a proportion of the...

Iraq: government formation and performance.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Summary Elections in 2005 produced a permanent constitution and a broad-based but Shiiteled government that has been unable to reduce Sunni popular resentment and might be fragmenting. U.S. officials are urging Iraqi leaders to complete...

The Supreme Court's climate change decision: Massachusetts v. EPA.(CRS Report for Congress)(Environmental Protection Agency)
May 1, 2007... Summary On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court handed down Massachusetts v. EPA, its first pronouncement on climate change. By 5-4, the Court held that (1) Massachusetts had standing to sue, (2) Section 202 of the Clean Air Act authorizes EPA...

Lobbying reform legislation: side-by-side analysis of lobbying provisions in S. 1 and H.R. 2316, 110th Congress.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... May 18, 2007 Summary This report is intended to provide a quick reference chart and short analysis comparing the lobbying reform provisions in S. 1, 110th Congress, as passed by the Senate, with the lobbying reform legislation...

U.S. food and agricultural imports: safeguards and selected issues.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Summary U.S. food and agricultural imports have increased significantly in recent years, leading to concerns about whether current federal programs and funding for them are sufficient to ensure their safety. The discovery of adulterated...

WTO compliance status of the Conservation Security Program (CSP) and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).(CRS Report for Congress)(World Trade Organization)
May 1, 2007... May 21, 2007 Summary Under the auspices of the Uruguay Round's Agreement on Agriculture (AA), members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed to limit and reduce their most distortive domestic support subsidies. Several types of...

Immigration fraud: policies, investigations, and issues.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... May 17, 2007 Summary Immigration fraud is reportedly widespread, though reliable estimates of its pervasiveness are not available. Given that an estimated12 million aliens are residing in the United States without legal authorization,...

U.S.-funded assistance programs in China.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Summary United States foreign operations appropriations for the People's Republic of China (PRC) primarily support democracy-related programs, particularly rule of law training, and support Tibetan communities. The U.S. Congress has played...

Summary.(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)
May 1, 2007... May 17, 2007 Summary This report describes the FY2008 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Administration requested a net appropriation of $35.5 billion in net budget authority for FY2008. The...

Most recent developments.(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... President's FY2008 Budget Submitted. The President's budget request for DHS for FY2008 was submitted to Congress on February 5, 2007. The Administration requested $46.4 billion in gross budget authority for FY2008 (including mandatories, fees,...

Background.(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)
May 1, 2007... This report describes the President's FY2008 request for funding for DHS programs and activities, as submitted to Congress on February 5, 2007. It compares the enacted FY2007 amounts to the request for FY2008, and tracks legislative action and...

Appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security.(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)(Table)
May 1, 2007... DHS Appropriations Trends Table 4 presents DHS Appropriations, as enacted, for FY2003 through the FY2008 request. The appropriation amounts are presented in current dollars and are not adjusted. The amounts shown in Table 4 represent...

Title I: Departmental Management and Operations (5).(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)
May 1, 2007... Title I covers the general administrative expenses of DHS. It includes the Office of the Secretary and Executive Management (OS&EM), which is comprised of the immediate Office of the Secretary and 12 entities that report directly to the...

Title II: security enforcement and investigations.(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)
May 1, 2007... Title II contains the appropriations for the U.S.-Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator (US-VISIT) program (20), the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Transportation...

Title III: preparedness and response.(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)
May 1, 2007... Title III includes appropriations for the Preparedness Directorate and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Preparedness Directorate includes (among others) appropriations accounts for the Undersecretary for Preparedness, State...

Title IV: research and development, training, assessments, and services.(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)
May 1, 2007... Title IV includes appropriations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO). Table...

FY2008 related legislation.(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Budget Resolution--H.Con.Res. 99/ S.Con.Res. 21 The annual concurrent resolution on the budget sets forth the congressional budget. The House introduced H.Con.Res. 99 on March 23, 2007 and passed the budget resolution on March 29, 2007....

Appendix I. FY2007 supplemental appropriations and rescissions.(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)
May 1, 2007... H.R. 2206--U.S. Troop Readiness, Veteran's Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 Following the failure of the House to override the President's veto of H.R. 1591, the House introduced two new bills that...

Appendix II. DHS appropriations in context.(Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Request for Appropriations)(Table)
May 1, 2007... Federal-Wide Homeland Security Funding Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, there has been an increasing interest in the levels of funding available for homeland security efforts. The Office of Management and Budget, as...

Foreign direct investment: effects of a "cheap" dollar.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... May 11, 2007 Summary Since 2002, the dollar has depreciated against a broad basket of currencies and against the euro. This depreciation has prompted some observers to question whether the "cheap" dollar is leading to a "fire sale" of...

Iran: U.S. concerns and policy responses.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Updated May 15, 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,...

Iran's influence in Iraq.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Summary Iran is building substantial influence in post-Saddam Iraq, in large part because the dominant parties in Iraq have long-standing ideological, political, and religious sectarian ties to Tehran. A key U.S. concern is that Iran,...

Prescription drug importation: how S. 242 / H.R. 380 would change current law.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Summary Current law prohibits the importation of a prescription drug by anyone other than its manufacturer. S. 242/H.R. 380 would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to allow commercial and personal-use importation. The...

Patent reform in the 110th Congress: innovation issues.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... May 7, 2007 Summary Congressional interest in patent policy and possible patent reform has expanded as the importance of intellectual property to innovation has increased. Patent ownership is perceived as an incentive to the...

China and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missiles: policy issues.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Updated May 9, 2007 Summary Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances the national interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction...

Summary.(China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Concern has grown in Congress and elsewhere about China's military modernization. The topic is an increasing factor in discussions over future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The issue for Congress addressed in this report is: How should...

Introduction.(China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Congressional And Navy Concern Concern has grown in Congress and elsewhere since the 1990s about China's military modernization and its potential implications for required U.S. military capabilities. China's military modernization is an...

Background.(China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress)
May 1, 2007... China's Naval Modernization Maritime-Relevant Elements of China's Military Modernization (14). This section summarizes elements of China's military modernization that may have implications for required U.S. Navy capabilities. See Appendix...

Potential oversight issues for Congress.(China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Potential oversight questions for Congress arising from China's military modernization and its potential implications for required U.S. Navy capabilities can be organized into three groups: * questions relating to China's military...

Legislative activity for FY2008.(China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress )
May 1, 2007... FY2008 Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 1585) House. Section 1244 of the House-reported version of the FY2008 defense authorization bill (H.R. 1585) states: SEC. 1244. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING THE STRATEGIC MILITARY...

Appendix. Additional details on China's naval modernization efforts (167).(China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress)
May 1, 2007... This appendix presents additional details and commentary on several of the elements of China's military modernization discussed in the Background section of this report. Theater-Range Ballistic Missiles (TBMs). Regarding the potential for...

Nuclear weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Updated May 24, 2007 Summary A comprehensive test ban treaty, or CTBT, is the oldest item on the nuclear arms control agenda. Three treaties currently limit testing to underground only, with a maximum force equal to 150,000 tons of...

Summary.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... On May 1, the Congress formally presented to the President a House-and-Senate passed version of H.R. 1591, a bill providing supplemental appropriations for FY2007 and setting target dates for withdrawing most U.S. military forces from Iraq....

Most recent developments.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... On April 24, by a vote of 218-208, the House approved a conference agreement on H.R. 1591, providing $124.2 billion in supplemental appropriations for FY2007 and setting target dates for withdrawing most U.S. military forces from Iraq. On April...

Overview of the Administration request (1).(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... On February 5, the Administration requested $103 billion in supplemental appropriations for FY2007 of which $93.4 billion was for the Department of Defense and $6.0 billion for international affairs. The Administration also requested $3.4...

Highlights of the conference agreement.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... The House approved its version of H.R. 1591, providing supplemental appropriations for FY2007, on March 23, and the Senate approved its version of the bill on March 29. House and Senate negotiators a conference agreement on the bill on April...

Highlights of House Appropriations Committee bill.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... The House Appropriations Committee marked up its version of the FY2007 supplemental appropriations bill on March 15. As approved by the committee and passed by the House on March 23, provided a total of $124.2 billion in supplemental...

Highlights of House floor action.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The House began floor debate on the supplemental bill on Thursday, March 22, and approved the bill by a vote of 218-212 on March 23. Debate on the bill was conducted under a closed rule (H.Res. 261) which permitted no amendments. Among the...

Highlights of Senate Appropriations Committee bill.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... The Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and reported its version of the bill on Thursday, March 22. As reported by the committee, the bill provided a total of $121.6 billion in supplemental appropriations, including * $96.8 billion...

Highlights of Senate floor action.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... The full Senate began debate on the supplemental on Monday, March 26, and approved the bill by a vote of 51-47 on Thursday, March 29. Technically, the Senate took up the House-passed version of the bill, H.R. 1591, inserted the text of the...

Brief overview of major issues (2).(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... Iraq Policy Iraq policy has been the overriding issue in debate about the FY2007 supplemental appropriations bill, though the White House and congressional opponents of the bill have also been critical of the amounts the House and Senate...

Potential limitations on U.S. military operations in and around Iraq (8).(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... The House-passed version of H.R. 1591 includes provisions that would require the withdrawal of U.S. forces from a combat role in Iraq (with certain exceptions) by no later than August 31, 2008. Other provisions of the bill would bar the...

FY2007 defense supplemental (23).(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... In the fifth year of operations since the 9/11 attacks, the Department of Defense (DOD) is requesting a total of $163.4 billion in emergency funds to cover war costs for FY2007 including $70 billion already provided in DOD's regular FY2007...

FY2007 international affairs supplemental.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... Overview In recent years, supplemental appropriations have become a significant source of additional funds for international affairs (150 account) programs at a time when regular appropriations have been constrained by budget pressures....

Liquidation of TSA contract and grant obligations (85).(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)(Transportation Security Administration)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... On January 10, 2007, the President transmitted to Congress a request to transfer $195 million in unobligated balances to resolve insufficiently funded Transportation Security Administration (TSA) contract and grant obligations incurred during...

Ongoing Katrina recovery measures.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)
May 1, 2007... As part of its package of FY2007 supplemental appropriations requests, the Administration asked for $3.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) to continue Katrina recovery efforts. The funding is...

Unrequested funding for domestic programs.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Supplemental appropriations bills traditionally become vehicles for Congress to provide funds for high priority programs for which the Administration did not request money. The House and Senate supplemental bills both additional funds for state...

The minimum wage and other policy riders.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Supplemental appropriations bills also often include policy measures that are attached in order to bypass procedural hurdles, particularly in the Senate, that may be delaying progress though the regular legislative process. Both the House and...

For additional reading.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... CRS Multi-Media Presentation MM70099, FY2008 Defense Budget: Issues for Congress--Seminar Slides, by Stephen Daggett, Ronald O'Rourke, David F. Burrelli, and Amy Belasco. CRS Report RL33110, The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global...

Appendix. Additional tables.(FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Other Purposes)(Table)
May 1, 2007... Appendix. Additional Tables Table A-1. FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations: Congressional Action by Title and Account (millions of dollars) Appropriations Subcommittee/Title/Account Request House Title I: Global...

Defense: FY2008 authorization and appropriations.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... May 11, 2007 Summary The House Armed Services Committee marked up its version of the FY2008 defense authorization bill, H.R. 1585, on Wednesday, May 9. Floor action on the bill is expected the week of May 14. The Senate Armed Services...

Africa command: U.S. strategic interests and the role of the U.S. military in Africa.(CRS Report for Congress)(Congressional Research Service)
May 1, 2007... May 16, 2007 Summary On February 6, 2007, the Bush Administration announced its intention to create a new unified combatant command, Africa Command or AFRICOM, to promote U.S. national security objectives in Africa and in its...

Terrorist precursor crimes: issues and options for Congress.
May 1, 2007... May 24, 2007 Summary Terrorist groups, regardless of ideological ilk, geographical location, or organizational structure, have certain basic needs in common: funding, security, operatives/support, propaganda, and means and/or...

International reaction to the Palestinian unity government.(CRS Report for Congress)
May 1, 2007... Summary The new Palestinian unity government established in March 2007 complicates U.S. policy toward the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the peace process. When Hamas took power last year, the Bush Administration, along with its Quartet...