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| Date March 8, 2018 |
Report No. R44990 |
Title
Energy Tax Provisions That Expired in 2017 ( Tax Extenders ) Molly F. Sherlock Specialist in Public Finance Donald J. Marples Specialist in Public Finance Margot L. Crandall-Hollick Specialist in Public Finance March 8, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R44990 Energy Tax Provisions That Expired in 2017 ( Tax Extenders ) Summary Thirteen temporary energy tax provisions expired ...
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| Date March 8, 2018 |
Report No. IN10867 |
Title
INSIGHTi Election in Italy March 8, 2018 More than half of voters in Italy s March 4, 2018, parliamentary election supported political parties considered antiestablishment or outside the mainstream. Since no party or political group won a majority of seats in parliament, the top vote-getters will now negotiate to form a governing coalition. This is expected to be a drawn-out process that could end ...
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| Date March 8, 2018 |
Report No. IF10842 |
Title
March 8, 2018 The Renewable Fuel Standard: Is Legislative Reform Needed? There is widespread and heightened interest in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) among some Members of Congress and stakeholders. Recent developments including meetings between some Members of Congress, the President and members of his cabinet, and industry representatives pertaining to the RFS, as well as the bankruptcy ...
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| Date March 8, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10093 |
Title
Legal Sidebari Supreme Court Interprets Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Protections: Implications for Securities Law and Beyond March 8, 2018 On February 21, 2018, the Supreme Court decided in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers that the antiretaliation protections in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank) apply only to whistleblowers who report suspected ...
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| Date March 8, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10094 |
Title
Legal Sidebari Does Executive Privilege Apply to the Communications of a President-elect? March 8, 2018 Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon and outgoing White House Communications Director Hope Hicks both appeared recently before closed-door meetings of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as part of the Committee s ongoing investigation into Russian involvement in ...
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| Date March 7, 2018 |
Report No. R44855 |
Title
Banking Policy Issues in the 115th Congress ,name redacted, Analyst in Macroeconomic Policy March 7, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-.... www.crs.gov R44855 Banking Policy Issues in the 115th Congress Summary The financial crisis and the ensuing legislative and regulatory responses greatly affected the banking industry. Many new regulations mandated or authorized by the Dodd-Frank Wall ...
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| Date March 7, 2018 |
Report No. IN10769 |
Title
Financial Regulation: FY2018 Appropriations and the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 10) Updated March 7, 2018 Background On September 14, 2017, the House passed H.R. 3354, which included the FY2018 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations bill in Division D. The Senate Appropriations Committee released an FY2018 FSGG chairmen s mark on November 20, 2017, but further action has ...
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| Date March 7, 2018 |
Report No. IF10777 |
Title
Updated March 7, 2018 Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant is a federal-state partnership program that aims to improve the health of low-income pregnant women, mothers, and children. In addition, the program aims to connect low-income families with other services and programs, such as Medicaid and the State Children s Health ...
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| Date March 7, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10092 |
Title
Legal Sidebari UPDATED: The Latest on the SEC s Consideration of the Proposed Acquisition of Chicago Stock Exchange March 7, 2018 UPDATE: On February 15, 2018, the SEC disapproved CHX s proposed rule change. The SEC based its decision on CHX s inability to provide sufficient documentation verifying the relationships between and the sources of funds used by certain proposed upstream owners. Because ...
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| Date March 7, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10091 |
Title
Legal Sidebari How Hard Should It Be To Bring a Class Action? March 7, 2018 As Judge Richard Posner observed in a 2014 opinion, the class action is an ingenious procedural innovation that enables persons who have suffered a wrongful injury . . . to obtain relief as a group. In that same opinion, however, Judge Posner also noted that class actions are potentially susceptible to abuse by plaintiffs ...
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| Date March 6, 2018 |
Report No. IG10011 |
Title
The U.S. Individual Income Tax System, 2018 March 6, 2018 Author Information Molly F. Sherlock Specialist in Public Finance Disclaimer This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report ...
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| Date March 6, 2018 |
Report No. IF10840 |
Title
March 6, 2018 Defense Primer: U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) Background U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) is a functional combatant command responsible for providing air, land, and sea transportation to meet national security needs. The command was established in 1987 and is located at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. TRANSCOM is comprised of more than 138,000 personnel including more ...
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| Date March 6, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10049 |
Title
Legal Sidebari Responding to the Opioid Epidemic: Legal Developments and FDA s Role Updated March 6, 2018 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 115 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose, and deaths from prescription opioids have more than quadrupled since 1999. The epidemic s origins are complex, with fingers pointed at pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors ...
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| Date March 5, 2018 |
Report No. R44717 |
Title
International Trade and Finance: Overview and Issues for the 115th Congress Mary A. Irace, Coordinator Section Research Manager Rebecca M. Nelson, Coordinator Specialist in International Trade and Finance March 5, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R44717 International Trade and Finance: Overview and Issues for the 115th Congress Summary The U.S. Constitution grants authority ...
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| Date March 5, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10089 |
Title
Legal Sidebari Material Support for Terrorism Is Not Always an Act of International Terrorism, Second Circuit Holds Stephen P. Mulligan Legislative Attorney March 5, 2018 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Second Circuit) recently overturned a jury verdict deeming one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East liable for providing financial services to Hamas and other ...
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| Date March 5, 2018 |
Report No. R45142 |
Title
Information Warfare: Issues for Congress Catherine A. Theohary Specialist in National Security Policy, Cyber and Information Operations March 5, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R45142 Information Warfare: Issues for Congress Summary Information warfare is hardly a new endeavor. In the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, Persian ruler Xerxes used intimidation tactics to break ...
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| Date March 5, 2018 |
Report No. R45123 |
Title
Guns, Excise Taxes, Wildlife Restoration, and the National Firearms Act R. Eliot Crafton Analyst in Natural Resources Policy Jane G. Gravelle Senior Specialist in Economic Policy William J. Krouse Specialist in Domestic Security and Crime Policy March 5, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R45123 Guns, Excise Taxes, Wildlife Restoration, and the National Firearms Act Summary ...
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| Date March 5, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10090 |
Title
Legal Sidebari A Bar Bouncer Equivalent for Planes in Flight March 5, 2018 Two federal appellate courts recently upheld convictions under the federal statute that outlaws intimidating flight attendants aboard a commercial airline. Both cases involved boorish in-flight misconduct, U.S. v. Lynch in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (Tenth Circuit) and U.S. v. Petras in the U.S. Court of ...
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| Date March 2, 2018 |
Report No. IN10865 |
Title
INSIGHTi Commerce Determines Steel and Aluminum Imports Threaten to Impair National Security March 2, 2018 The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) recently completed two investigations into the national security threats posed by imports of steel and aluminum in accordance with Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862, as amended). In April 2017, two presidential memoranda ...
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| Date March 1, 2018 |
Report No. IN10864 |
Title
INSIGHTi Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean Focus on the Politics of Energy March 1, 2018 Cypriot (Greek and Turkish) interest in energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean began in 1998 after Noble Energy, a Texas-based energy company, discovered a large natural gas deposit in the Levant Basin. The location is in waters considered part of Israel s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) but ...
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| Date March 1, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10088 |
Title
Legal Sidebari So, Now Can Menachem Zivotofsky Get His Passport Reissued to Say Israel ? Updated March 1, 2018 Does the President s proclamation recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel have any effect on what goes on the passports of U.S. citizens born there? It appears that the executive branch could change its policy to permit Jerusalem-born passport applicants to request to have their ...
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| Date March 1, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10087 |
Title
Legal Sidebari Sex Offenders and Supervised Release Revocation: Constitutional? Alison M. Smith Legislative Attorney March 1, 2018 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (Tenth Circuit) recently ruled that a portion of the federal supervised release statute addressing sex offenders violates the Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. In a 2-1 decision issued in United States ...
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| Date Feb. 28, 2018 |
Report No. R45119 |
Title
EPA s Proposal to Repeal the Clean Power Plan: Benefits and Costs Kate C. Shouse Analyst in Environmental Policy February 28, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R45119 EPA s Proposal to Repeal the Clean Power Plan: Benefits and Costs Summary In 2015, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated the Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ...
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| Date Feb. 28, 2018 |
Report No. IN10848 |
Title
INSIGHTi Expired Tax Provisions and Tax Extenders Updated February 28, 2018 Revenue measures enacted as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA2018, P.L. 115-123) extended a number of temporary tax provisions that had expired in 2016 or 2017. In the wake of the 2017 tax revision (P.L. 115-97), Congress has indicated an interest in evaluating expired temporary tax provisions or tax ...
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| Date Feb. 28, 2018 |
Report No. R45116 |
Title
Blockchain: Background and Policy Issues Chris Jaikaran Analyst in Cybersecurity Policy February 28, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R45116 Blockchain: Background and Policy Issues Summary The rise of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and the use of Initial Coin Offerings to raise capital has drawn increased attention from both the public and private sector concerning the use of ...
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| Date Feb. 26, 2018 |
Report No. IF10552 |
Title
Updated February 26, 2018 U.S. Sanctions on Russia Related to the Ukraine Conflict Background Since 2014, the United States has imposed sanctions on over 600 individuals, entities, and vessels in response to Russia s invasion and annexation of Ukraine s Crimea region and Russia s subsequent support of separatists in eastern Ukraine. President Barack Obama, in initiating economic sanctions on ...
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| Date Feb. 26, 2018 |
Report No. IF10020 |
Title
Updated February 26, 2018 Inland Waterways Trust Fund Overview Figure 1. Federal Fuel-Taxed Inland Waterways The Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) is a fund in the U.S. Treasury that receives revenues from a tax (also known as the inland waterway user fee) on commercialbarge fuel on federally designated waterways. Approximately 11,000 miles of the nation s 36,000 miles of inland waterways are ...
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| Date Feb. 26, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10041 |
Title
Legal Sidebari Public Sector Union Dues: Grappling with Fixed Stars and Stare Decisis (Part II) Victoria L. Killion Legislative Attorney February 26, 2018 UPDATE: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, on February 26, 2018. As discussed in Part I of this two-part Sidebar, on March 29, 2016, an eight-member Supreme Court divided equally over whether to ...
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| Date Feb. 26, 2018 |
Report No. IF10643 |
Title
Updated February 26, 2018 Unemployment Compensation (UC) and Family Leave Introduction In general, unemployed workers who voluntarily exit the workforce for the care of a family member including the birth, adoption, or care of a child would be ineligible for unemployment compensation (UC) based upon their lack of availability for work. Yet some of these individuals may be eligible for UC benefits ...
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| Date Feb. 23, 2018 |
Report No. R44636 |
Title
Defense Spending Under an Interim Continuing Resolution: In Brief Lynn M. Williams Specialist in U.S. Defense Budget Jennifer M. Roscoe Research Assistant February 23, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R44636 Defense Spending Under an Interim Continuing Resolution: In Brief Summary This report provides a basic overview of interim continuing resolutions (CRs) and highlights ...
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| Date Feb. 23, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10086 |
Title
Legal Sidebari Supreme Court to Hear Digital Privacy Case: Can the Government Obtain Emails Stored Abroad? Updated February 23, 2018 Update: In United States v. Microsoft Corp., the Supreme Court was set to address whether a warrant issued under the Stored Communications Act (SCA) allowed U.S. law enforcement to compel Microsoft to hand over emails it stores on a server overseas. Following the ...
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| Date Feb. 23, 2018 |
Report No. RL34212 |
Title
Analysis of the Tax Exclusion for Canceled Mortgage Debt Income Mark P. Keightley Specialist in Economics Erika Lunder Legislative Attorney February 23, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL34212 Analysis of the Tax Exclusion for Canceled Mortgage Debt Income Summary A home foreclosure, mortgage default, or mortgage modification can have important tax consequences. As lenders ...
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| Date Feb. 23, 2018 |
Report No. IF10657 |
Title
Updated February 23, 2018 Budgetary Effects of the BCA as Amended: The Parity Principle Enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA 2018; P.L. 115-123) has drawn attention to how recent spending modifications affect certain portions of the budget. Specifically, there has been considerable discussion of the parity principle, which refers to the equality between changes made to defense and ...
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| Date Feb. 23, 2018 |
Report No. IF10837 |
Title
February 23, 2018 Financial Reform: Small Bank Holding Company Threshold Small bank holding companies and small thrift holding companies (hereafter collectively referred to as small BHCs) face less stringent regulation related to debt financed acquisitions and capital requirements pursuant to the Federal Reserve s Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement and the Collins Amendment to the Dodd- ...
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| Date Feb. 23, 2018 |
Report No. IF10835 |
Title
February 23, 2018 NAFTA Motor Vehicle Talks Reopen Old Trade Debate Automotive trade is among the most sensitive issues in negotiations with Mexico and Canada over revisions to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The United States has proposed major changes in the rules of origin that determine which vehicles and parts qualify for tariff-free treatment when traded among the three ...
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| Date Feb. 22, 2018 |
Report No. R45115 |
Title
H.R. 4508, the PROSPER Act: Proposed Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act Updated February 22, 2018 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R45115 H.R. 4508, the PROSPER Act: Proposed Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act Summary During the 115th Congress, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce marked up and ordered reported with amendments the ...
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| Date Feb. 22, 2018 |
Report No. IF10833 |
Title
February 22, 2018 Dairy Provisions in the Bipartisan Budget Act (P.L. 115-123) The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA; P.L. 115-123) made important changes to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP) and removed the cost cap on livestock insurance programs, which includes Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy (LGM-D). The changes are estimated to add more than $1.1 ...
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| Date Feb. 22, 2018 |
Report No. IN10862 |
Title
CRS INSIGHT FY2019 Budget: Government Reorganization and Federal Workforce Reform February 22, 2018 (IN10862) | Related Authors Barbara L. Schwemle Henry B. Hogue | Barbara L. Schwemle, Analyst in American National Government (bschwemle@crs.loc.gov, 7-8655) Henry B. Hogue, Specialist in American National Government (hhogue@crs.loc.gov, 7-0642) The Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal ...
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| Date Feb. 22, 2018 |
Report No. IF10309 |
Title
Updated February 22, 2018 Eurasian Economic Union the EAEU s integration efforts through regional lending and investment programs. Figure 1. EAEU Member Countries Economics or Geopolitics? The EAEU boasts a combined GDP of $1.5 trillion and represents a market of 180 million consumers. Initially, the Union achieved some important milestones by reaching a provisional agreement on common border ...
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| Date Feb. 21, 2018 |
Report No. R45110 |
Title
Defense Science and Technology Funding John F. Sargent Jr. Specialist in Science and Technology Policy February 21, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R45110 Defense Science and Technology Funding Summary Defense science and technology (Defense S&T) is a term that describes a subset of Department of Defense (DOD) research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) ...
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| Date Feb. 21, 2018 |
Report No. R45112 |
Title
Welfare Reform: Work Status of Single Mothers, In Brief Gene Falk Specialist in Social Policy February 21, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R45112 Welfare Reform: Work Status of Single Mothers, In Brief Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Trends in Work ...
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| Date Feb. 21, 2018 |
Report No. IF10832 |
Title
February 21, 2018 Federal and Indian Lands on the U.S.-Mexico Border The federal government owns roughly 640 million acres of land, about 28% of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States. In addition, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), in the Department of the Interior (DOI), is responsible for administering another 55 million acres held in trust for American Indians, Indian tribes, and ...
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| Date Feb. 21, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10085 |
Title
Legal Sidebar Pedal to the Metal: Commerce Recommends Revving Up Trade Measures on Steel and Aluminum Updated February 21, 2018 The Trump Administration is currently considering whether to impose tariffs and/or quotas that commentators have suggested could dramatically affect both American steel and aluminum manufacturers as well as American businesses that import more than 30% of the 100 million ...
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| Date Feb. 21, 2018 |
Report No. R42135 |
Title
U.S. Manufacturing in International Perspective Marc Levinson Section Research Manager February 21, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R42135 U.S. Manufacturing in International Perspective Summary The health of the U.S. manufacturing sector has long been of great concern to Congress. The decline in manufacturing employment since the start of the 21st century has stimulated ...
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| Date Feb. 21, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10084 |
Title
Legal Sidebari Civil-Suit Provision in House-Passed Concealed Carry Reciprocity Bill (H.R. 38): Scope and Application Sarah Herman Peck Legislative Attorney February 21, 2018 In December 2017, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 38, The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017. H.R. 38 s overarching purpose is to allow persons who are eligible to carry a concealed handgun in one state to ...
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| Date Feb. 21, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10082 |
Title
Legal Sidebari How Broad A Shield? A Brief Overview of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act February 21, 2018 The Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) added Section 230 to the Communications Act of 1934, generally protecting online service providers from legal liability stemming from content created by the users of their services, with some exceptions. (Though the provision is found ...
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| Date Feb. 21, 2018 |
Report No. LSB10081 |
Title
Legal Sidebari Russians Indicted for Online Election Trolling Updated February 21, 2018 The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the grand jury indictment of three Russian companies and thirteen Russian nationals on February 16, 2018. The indictment alleges that the defendants took part in a multi-layered, multi-million dollar scheme to surreptitiously participate in the most recent presidential ...
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| Date Feb. 20, 2018 |
Report No. R45107 |
Title
Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans: Structure, Procedures, and CRS Experts Christopher M. Davis Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process February 20, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R45107 Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans Summary The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123), signed into law on ...
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| Date Feb. 20, 2018 |
Report No. RL31618 |
Title
Campus-Based Student Financial Aid Programs Under the Higher Education Act Joselynn H. Fountain Analyst in Education Policy February 20, 2018 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL31618 Campus-Based Student Financial Aid Programs Under the Higher Education Act Summary Three Higher Education Act (HEA) student financial aid programs the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity ...
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| Date Feb. 20, 2018 |
Report No. RECIPROCITY |
Title
MEMORANDUM February 20, 2018 Subject: Civil-Suit Provision in the House-passed Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 (H.R. 38) From: Sarah Herman Peck, Legislative Attorney, shermanpeck@crs.loc.gov, 7-0796 This memorandum was prepared to enable distribution to more than one congressional office. This memorandum evaluates legal issues potentially arising from the civil-suit provision in H.R. 38, ...
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