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

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

Iraq: post-Saddam governance and security.
October 1, 2007... Summary Operation Iraqi Freedom overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime, but much of Iraq remains violent because of Sunni Arab resentment and a related insurgency, compounded by Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence and increased violent competition...

Policy in the 1990s emphasized containment.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)(Country overview)(Table)
October 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)
October 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 containment policy. (12) Some...

Post-Saddam transition and governance.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)(Table)
October 1, 2007... According to 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 earlier stated goal...

Security challenges, responses, and options.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)(Table)
October 1, 2007... Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the United States has employed a multifaceted approach to stabilizing Iraq, but the effort was clearly faltering as of the end of 2006. The Iraq Study Group said in its December 6, 2006, report that the...

Iraq study group report, legislative proposals, and other options.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)(Table)
October 1, 2007... In formulating the "troop surge" strategy announced on January 10, 2007, President Bush said he weighed the December 6, 2006, report of the Iraq Study Group, as well as input from several other reviews, including one directed by the Joint...

U.S. food and agricultural imports: safeguards and selected issues.(Table)
October 1, 2007... Summary U.S. officials continue to assert that the U.S. food supply, including the portion provided through imports, is among the safest in the world. One challenge has been how to keep it safe in the face of rapidly rising imports, a...

Congressional investigations of the Department of Justice, 1920-2007: history, law, and practice.
October 1, 2007... Summary Legislative oversight is most commonly conducted through congressional budget, authorization, appropriations, confirmation, and investigative processes, and, in rare instances, through impeachment. But the adversarial, often...

Introduction.(Congressional Investigations of the Department of Justice, 1920-2007: History, Law, and Practice)
October 1, 2007... Throughout its history, Congress has engaged in oversight of the executive branch--the review, monitoring, and supervision of the implementation of public policy. The first several Congresses inaugurated such important oversight techniques as...

The legal basis for oversight.(Congressional Investigations of the Department of Justice, 1920-2007: History, Law, and Practice)
October 1, 2007... Numerous Supreme Court precedents recognize a broad and encompassing power in Congress to engage in oversight and investigation that would reach all sources of information necessary for carrying out its legislative function. In the absence of a...

Illustrative investigations and case law.(Congressional Investigations of the Department of Justice, 1920-2007: History, Law, and Practice)(Report)
October 1, 2007... Perhaps most instructive and illuminating for present purposes is a review of important precedents over the last 85 years regarding oversight of the Justice Department. Appended to this report are brief summaries of 18 selected congressional...

Assessment of DOJ's opposition to congressional: access to information in open and closed litigation files and to internal deliberative materials.(Congressional Investigations of the Department of Justice, 1920-2007: History, Law, and Practice)(Department of Justice)
October 1, 2007... The Department's Position The reasons advanced by the executive for declining to provide information to Congress about open and closed civil and criminal proceedings, most famously articulated by then Attorney General Robert Jackson in...

Concluding observations.(Congressional Investigations of the Department of Justice, 1920-2007: History, Law, and Practice)
October 1, 2007... Congress has an established right and judicially recognized prerogative, pursuant to its constitutional authority to legislate, to receive from officers and employees of the agencies and departments of the United States accurate and truthful...

Appendix. Selected congressional investigations of the Department of Justice, 1920-2007.(Congressional Investigations of the Department of Justice, 1920-2007: History, Law, and Practice)
October 1, 2007... This appendix consists of brief summaries of 18 significant congressional investigations of the Department of Justice which involved either open or closed investigations in which the Department agreed to supply documents pertaining to those...

U.S. trade statutes: expiration dates and mandated periodic reports to Congress.(Table)(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary The Constitution gives Congress express power over the imposition of tariffs and the regulation of foreign trade. As part of this responsibility, Congress enacts laws including those that: establish tariff rates; implement trade...

Iraq: oil and gas legislation, revenue sharing, and U.S. policy.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary Iraqi leaders continue to debate a package of hydrocarbon sector and revenue sharing legislation that would define the terms for the future management and development of the country's significant oil and natural gas resources. The...

India-U.S. relations.(Report)
October 1, 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 dominant actor with more than one...

Key current issues and developments.(India-U.S. Relations)(Report)
October 1, 2007... U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation. On July 27, the United States and India announced having concluded negotiations on a peaceful nuclear cooperation (or "123") agreement, calling it a "historic milestone" in the bilateral strategic...

Context of the U.S.-India relationship.(India-U.S. Relations)(Report)
October 1, 2007... Background U.S. and congressional interests in India cover a wide spectrum of issues, ranging from the militarized dispute with Pakistan and weapons proliferation to concerns about regional security, terrorism, human rights, health,...

Bilateral issues.(India-U.S. Relations)(Report)
October 1, 2007... "Next Steps in Strategic Partnership" and Beyond The now-concluded Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) initiative encompassed several major issues in U.S.-India relations. New Delhi has long pressed Washington to ease restrictions on...

Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons: a deepening humanitarian crisis?(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary The humanitarian crisis many feared would take place in March 2003 as a result of the war in Iraq continues to unfold as a result of post-war insurgency and sectarian violence. It is estimated that in total (including those...

Intelligence issues for Congress.(United States Intelligence Community)(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary To address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century, congressional and executive branch initiatives have sought to improve coordination among the different agencies and to encourage better analysis....

U.S. foreign aid to the Palestinians.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary In June 2007, the United States and the European Union (EU) resumed assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) after President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party reasserted control over the PA in the West Bank. For the previous 14...

Burma sanctions: background and options.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary On September 25, 2007, President George W. Bush announced that sanctions against Burma, which have been in place since 1997, would be tightened to specifically target leading Burmese officials. On September 27, the Bush...

German foreign and security policy: trends and transatlantic implications.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary German Chancellor Angela Merkel took office in November 2005 promising a foreign policy anchored in a revitalized transatlantic partnership. Most observers agree that since reaching a low-point in the lead-up to the Iraq war in...

Iran's activities and influence in Iraq.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary Iran is actively assisting the major Shiite Muslim political factions in Iraq, most of which have longstanding ideological, political, and religious sectarian ties to Tehran. A more pressing U.S. concern is that Iran is purportedly...

Iran: U.S. concerns and policy responses.(nuclear power plants of Iran continue to pose as threat to United States)
October 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 continues, generated primarily...

Political history.(Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses)
October 1, 2007... The United States was an ally of the late Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ("the Shah"), who ruled from 1941 until his ouster in February 1979. The Shah assumed the throne when Britain and Russia forced his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi (Reza...

Regime stability, human rights, and recent elections.(Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses)(Report)
October 1, 2007... About a decade after founding the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died on June 3, 1989. The regime he established appears relatively stable, despite internal schisms, occasional unrest in areas inhabited by minorities, and...

Iran's strategic capabilities and weapons of mass destruction programs.(Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses)(Report)
October 1, 2007... The Administration's "National Security Strategy" document released March 16, 2006--which continues to represent a prevailing Administration view--says the United States "may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran," an...

Foreign policy and support for terrorist groups.(Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses)(Report)
October 1, 2007... Iran's foreign policy is a product of the ideology of Iran's Islamic revolution, blended with long-standing national interests. The State Department report on international terrorism for 2006, released April 30, 2007, again stated (as it has...

U.S. policy responses, options, and legislation.(Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses)(Report)
October 1, 2007... The February 11, 1979 fall of the Shah of Iran, a key U.S. ally, opened a long rift in U.S.-Iranian relations. On November 4, 1979, radical "students" seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held its diplomats hostage until minutes after...

Conclusion.(Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses)(Report)
October 1, 2007... Mistrust between the United States and Iran's Islamic regime has run deep for over two decades, even before the emergence of a dispute over Iran's nuclear program. Many experts say that all factions in Iran are united on major national security...

Iraq: government formation and benchmarks.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary Elections in 2005 produced a permanent constitution and a broad-based but Shiite-led government that has been unwilling or unable to reduce Sunni popular resentment and is showing signs of fragmentation. The lack of progress on...

Iraq: post-Saddam governance and security.
October 1, 2007... Summary Operation Iraqi Freedom overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime, but much of Iraq remains violent because of Sunni Arab resentment and a related insurgency, compounded by Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence and increased violent competition...

Policy in the 1990s emphasized containment.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)
October 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)
October 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 containment policy. (11) Some...

Post-Saddam transition and governance.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)
October 1, 2007... According to 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 earlier stated goal...

Security challenges, responses, and options.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)
October 1, 2007... Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the United States has employed a multifaceted approach to stabilizing Iraq, but the effort was clearly faltering as of the end of 2006. The Iraq Study Group said in its December 6, 2006, report that the...

Iraq study group report, legislative proposals, and other options.(Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security)
October 1, 2007... In formulating the "troop surge" strategy announced on January 10, 2007, President Bush said he weighed the December 6, 2006, report of the Iraq Study Group, as well as input from several other reviews, including one directed by the Joint...

Presidential nominating process: current issues.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary Every four years, the presidential nominating process generates complaints and proposed modifications, and the rapid pace of primaries and caucuses that characterized the 2000 and 2004 cycles will continue in 2008. Because many...

The United States as a net debtor nation: overview of the international investment position.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary The international investment position of the United States is an annual measure of the assets Americans own abroad and the assets foreigners own in the United States. The net position, or the difference between the two, sometimes...

Iraq's debt relief: procedure and potential implications for international debt relief.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary Following the ouster of the Saddam Hussein regime in spring 2003, Iraq's external debt was estimated to be $125 billion. Reducing this debt to a sustainable level has been a priority of the U.S. government. Since 2003, debt relief...

Renditions: constraints imposed by laws on torture.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary Persons suspected of criminal or terrorist activity may be transferred from one State (i.e., country) to another for arrest, detention, and/or interrogation. Commonly, this is done through extradition, by which one State surrenders...

Burma and transnational crime.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary Transnational organized crime groups in Burma (Myanmar) operate a multibillion dollar criminal industry that stretches across Southeast Asia. Trafficked drugs, humans, wildlife, gems, timber, and other contraband flow through...

The Law of Church and State: U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 2002.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." The language is commonly referred to as the...

The Army's Future Combat System (FCS): background and issues for Congress.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary The Future Combat System (FCS) is the U.S. Army's multiyear, multibillion-dollar program at the heart of the Army's transformation efforts. It is to be the Army's major research, development, and acquisition program consisting of...

U.S.-China counterterrorism cooperation: issues for U.S. policy.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States faced a challenge in enlisting the full support of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in counterterrorism. This effort raised short-term policy issues about how...

China naval modernization: implications for U.S. Navy capabilities--background and issues for Congress.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary 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...

Introduction.(China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress)(Report)
October 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)(Table)(Report)
October 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)
October 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)(Legislation)(Brief article)
October 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 (188).(China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress)(Report)
October 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...

Burma-U.S. relations.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary By the end of September 2007, the Burmese military regime had suppressed with force anti-regime protests that began in late August, escalated in mid-September, and were led by Buddhist monks and pro-democracy activists. This drew...

Pakistan-U.S. relations.
October 1, 2007... Summary A stable, democratic, prosperous Pakistan is considered vital to U.S. interests. U.S. concerns regarding Pakistan include regional and global terrorism; Afghan stability; democratization and human rights protection; the ongoing...

Key current issues.(Pakistan-U.S. Relations)(Report)
October 1, 2007... Pakistan-Related Legislation and U.S.-Pakistan Diplomacy. On August 3, the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007 became P.L. 110-53. Section 2042 of the Act pertains specifically to U.S.-Pakistan relations and includes a...

Setting and regional relations.(Pakistan-U.S. Relations)
October 1, 2007... Historical Setting The long and checkered Pakistan-U.S. relationship has its roots in the Cold War and South Asia regional politics of the 1950s. U.S. concerns about Soviet expansionism and Pakistan's desire for security assistance against...

Pakistan-U.S. relations and key country issues.(Pakistan-U.S. Relations)(Report)
October 1, 2007... U.S. policy interests in Pakistan encompass a wide range of issues, including counterterrorism, nuclear weapons and missile proliferation, South Asian and Afghan stability, democratization and human rights, trade and economic reform, and...

Covert action: legislative background and possible policy questions.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary Published reports have suggested that in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Pentagon has expanded its counter-terrorism intelligence activities as part of what the Bush Administration terms the global war on terror. Some...

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

Operation Iraqi freedom and detainee issues: major votes from the 110th Congress.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary Both the Iraq War and the Global War on Terror have been the subjects of considerable legislative activity since the opening days of the 110th Congress. After the Iraq Study Group released its recommendations on December 6, 2006,...

Journalists' privilege: overview of the law and legislation in the 109th and 110th Congresses.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary In Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665, 679-680 (1972), the Supreme Court wrote journalists claim "that to gather news it is often necessary to agree either not to identify the source of information published or to publish only part...

Mexico's drug cartels.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary Mexico, a major drug producing and transit country, is the main foreign supplier of marijuana and a major supplier of methamphetamine to the United States. Although Mexico accounts for only a small share of worldwide heroin...

Nuclear weapons in U.S. national security policy: past, present, and prospects.(Report)
October 1, 2007... Summary The Bush Administration has outlined a strategy of "tailored deterrence" to define the role that nuclear weapons play in U.S. national security policy. There has been little discussion of this concept, either in Congress or in the...