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

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

Iraq: recent developments in reconstruction assistance.
October 2, 2003... Summary Large-scale reconstruction assistance programs are being undertaken by the United States following the war with Iraq. To fund such programs, Congress approved on April 12, 2003, a $2.48 billion Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund...

Iraq: U.S. military operations.
October 2, 2003... Summary Iraq's chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons programs, together with Iraqi long-range missile development and support for terrorism, were the primary justifications put forward for military action. On March 17, 2003 President...

Pakistan: chronology of events.
October 2, 2003... Summary This report provides a reverse chronology of major events involving Pakistan and Pakistan-U.S. relations from September 2001. (1) For a substantive review of Pakistan-U.S. relations, see CRS Issue Brief IB94041, Pakistan-U.S....

Terrorism and national security: issues and trends.
October 2, 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...

AIDS in Africa.
October 3, 2003... SUMMARY Sub-Saharan Africa has been 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 the...

China-U.S. trade issues.
October 3, 2003... SUMMARY U.S.-China economic ties have expanded substantially over the past several years. Total U.S.-China trade rose from $5 billion in 1980 to $147 billion in 2002. China is now the fourth-largest U.S. trading partner. With a huge...

Israel: U.S. foreign assistance.
October 3, 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...

Pakistan-U.S. relations.
October 3, 2003... SUMMARY Key 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...

Intelligence issues for Congress.
October 6, 2003... SUMMARY The U.S. Intelligence Community continues to adjust to the21st Century environment. Congressional and executive branch initiatives have emphasized improved cooperation among the different agencies that comprise the Community by...

Afghanistan: current issues and U.S. policy.
October 7, 2003... Summary Afghanistan is a fragile state attempting, with U.S. help, to stabilize after more than 22 years of warfare, including a U.S.-led war that brought the current government to power. Before the U.S. military campaign against the...

India: chronology of events.
October 7, 2003... Summary This report provides a reverse chronology of major events involving India and India-U.S. relations from September 2001. (1) For a substantive review of India-U.S. relations, see CRS Issue Brief IB93097, India-U.S. Relations. This...

Iraq: U.N. inspections for weapons of mass destruction.
October 7, 2003... Summary From late November 2002 to March 2003, U.N. inspectors combed Iraq looking for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Under the threat of war from the United States and a unanimous Security Council resolution (1441), Iraq was granted a...

Nuclear nonproliferation issues.
October 7, 2003... SUMMARY The United States has been a leader of worldwide efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. To this end, the international community and many individual states have agreed to a range of treaties, laws, and agreements known...

India-U.S. relations.
October 9, 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...

Egypt-United States relations.
October 10, 2003... SUMMARY U.S.-Egyptian relations are aimed at maintaining regional stability, improving bilateral relations, continuing military cooperation, and sustaining the March 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Experience gained from Egyptian-U.S....

Iraq: U.S. regime change efforts and post-war governance.
October 10, 2003... Summary Operation Iraqi Freedom accomplished a long-standing objective, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, but the post-war period has, by almost all accounts, proved more difficult than the Administration had anticipated. Past U.S. efforts...

Israeli-United States relations.
October 10, 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.
October 10, 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,...

Syria: U.S. relations and bilateral issues.
October 10, 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...

Iraq: summary of U.S. casualties.
October 14, 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...

FY2004 supplemental appropriations for Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Global War on Terrorism: military operations & reconstruction assistance.
October 15, 2003... Summary In a nationwide address on September 7, 2003, the President announced that he would request an additional $87 billion for ongoing military operations and for reconstruction assistance in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. On...

Computer attack and cyber terrorism: vulnerabilities and policy issues for congress.
October 17, 2003... Summary Persistent computer security vulnerabilities may expose U.S. critical infrastructure and government computer systems to possible cyber attack by terrorists, possibly affecting the economy or other areas of national security. This...

Missile proliferation and the strategic balance in South Asia.
October 17, 2003... Summary This report analyzes the policy implications of missile proliferation in South Asia, providing information on India's and Pakistan's missile programs and their role in regional security. The report also provides background on the...

Malaysia: political transition and implications for U.S. policy.
October 21, 2003... Summary This report analyzes the political changes and economic developments in Malaysia and their implications for U.S. policy. The bilateral relationship between the United States and Malaysia is generally positive and constructive,...

The "FTO list" and congress: sanctioning designated foreign terrorist organizations.
October 21, 2003... Summary The purpose of this report is to provide Congress with an overview of the nature and status of the designated foreign terrorist organizations list, as a potential tool in overseeing the implementation and effects of U.S....

Africa's Great Lakes region: current conditions in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.
October 28, 2003... Summary The Great Lakes region is slowly becoming more stable after almost a decade of conflicts. The region remains vulnerable, however, since armed rebel groups are active in eastern Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and northern Uganda. In...

Islamic religious schools, madrasas: background.
October 29, 2003... Summary Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Islamic religious schools known as madrasas (or madrassahs) in the Middle East, Central, and Southeast Asia have been of increasing interest to U.S. foreign policymakers. Some...

Campaign finance: constitutional and legal issues of soft money.
October 30, 2003... SUMMARY Prior to enactment of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), P.L. 107-155, the term "soft money" generally referred to unregulated funds, perceived as resulting from loopholes in the Federal Election Campaign Act...

Elections reform: overview and issues.
October 30, 2003... Summary The remarkable circumstances of the November 2000 Presidential election are unlikely to be repeated, but Florida's role in determining the outcome may be remembered as a turning point with respect to the nation's election system....

Agricultural trade in a U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
October 31, 2003... Summary Negotiating open market access for agricultural products in a free trade agreement between the United States and 5 Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) has been contentious and...