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

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

A free trade area of the Americas: status of negotiations and major policy issues.
September 24, 2003... Summary In 1994, 34 Western Hemisphere nations met at the first Summit of the Americas, envisioning a plan to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by January 2005. Nine years later, the third draft text of an agreement is...

Iraq reconstruction resources: fact sheet.
September 24, 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...

Sudan: humanitarian crisis, peace talks, terrorism, and U.S. policy.
September 24, 2003... 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 two decades due to war-related causes and famine, and millions...

United Nations peacekeeping: issues for Congress.
September 24, 2003... SUMMARY A major issue facing the United Nations, the United States, and Congress concerning United Nations peacekeeping is the extent to which the United Nations has the capacity to restore or keep the peace in the changing world...

Iraq: summary of U.S. casualties.
September 23, 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,...

Pakistan's domestic political developments: issues for congress.
September 23, 2003... Summary In October 2002, Pakistani national elections nominally fulfilled President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's promise to restore the National Assembly that was dissolved in the wake of his extra-constitutional seizure of power in October...

Conventional arms transfers to developing nations, 1995-2002.
September 22, 2003... Summary This report is prepared annually to provide unclassified quantitative data on conventional arms transfers to developing nations by the United States and foreign countries for the preceding eight calendar years. Some general data...

Iraq: U.S. regime change efforts and post-war governance.
September 22, 2003... Summary The United States has attempted since the early 1990s to oust Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Past efforts to change the regime failed because of limited U.S. commitment, disorganization of the Iraqi opposition, and the...

Cuba: issues for the 108th Congress.
September 17, 2003... Summary Cuba under Fidel Castro remains a hard-line communist state, with a poor record on human rights that has deteriorated significantly in 2003. With the cutoff of assistance from the former Soviet Union, Cuba experienced severe...

FCC media ownership rules: issues for Congress.
September 17, 2003... Summary The Federal Communications Commission adopted an order on June 2, 2003 that modified five of its media ownership rules and retained two others. The new rules were scheduled to go into effect on September 4, 2003, but on September...

HIV/AIDS international programs: appropriations, FY2002--FY2004.
September 17, 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 Senate legislation would...

Syria: U.S. relations and bilateral issues.
September 17, 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...

China-U.S. relations: current issues for the 108th Congress.
September 15, 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...

Saudi Arabia: current issues and U.S. relations.
September 15, 2003... SUMMARY Saudi Arabia, a monarchy ruled by the Saud dynasty, enjoys special importance in much of the international community because of its unique association with the Islamic religion and its oil wealth. Since the establishment of the...

Trade and the Americas.
September 12, 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...

U.N. system funding: congressional issues.
September 10, 2003... SUMMARY Congressional debate over U.N. funding focuses on the following questions: (1) What is the appropriate level of U.S. funding for U.N. system operations and programs? (2) What U.S. funding actions are most likely to produce a...

Women in the United States Congress: 1917-2003.
September 10, 2003... Summary A record 76 women serve in the 108th Congress: 62 in the House (41 Democrats and 21 Republicans) and 14 in the Senate (9 Democrats and 5 Republicans). On November 9, 1916, Jeanette Rankin (R-MT) became the first woman elected to...

Drug control: international policy and approaches.
September 8, 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...

India-U.S. relations.
September 8, 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...

India: chronology of events.
September 8, 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...

Terrorism and national security: issues and trends.
September 8, 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...

The electoral college: how it works in contemporary presidential elections.
September 8, 2003... Summary When Americans vote for a President and Vice President, they actually vote for presidential electors, known collectively as the electoral college. It is these electors, chosen by the people, who elect the chief executive. The...

The Middle East peace talks.
September 8, 2003... SUMMARY After the first Gulf war, in 1991, a new peace process was begun, with Israel and the Palestinians discussing a 5-year period of interim self-rule leading to a final settlement. Israel and Syria discussed Israeli withdrawal from...

Africa: U.S. foreign assistance issues.
September 5, 2003... SUMMARY Amounts requested by the Bush Administration for assistance to sub-Saharan Africa in FY2004 closely parallel amounts provided in FY2003. Child Survival and Health Assistance, combined with Development Assistance (DA), would total...

China-U.S. trade issues.
September 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...

Pakistan-U.S. relations.
September 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...

Foreign relations authorization, FY2004 and FY2005: State Department, the Millennium Challenge Account, and foreign assistance.
September 2, 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...

Iraq: weapons programs, U.N. requirements, and U.S. policy.
September 2, 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,...

Pakistan: chronology of events.
September 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....