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• Coronavirus Spreads Through Africa [map]

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  From the Website: "'The coronavirus pandemic has spread rapidly since it arrived in Africa. This time series analysis tracks the logarithmic dissemination of COVID-19 across the continent.'"

  National Defense University. Africa Center for Strategic Studies
• United Arab Emirates (UAE): Issues for U.S. Policy [Updated April 15, 2021]

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  From the Summary: "The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven principalities or 'emirates.' Its population is assessed at nearly 10 million, but about 90% of the population are expatriates from within and outside the region who work in its open economy. The UAE is a significant U.S. security partner that hosts about 3,500 U.S. military personnel at UAE military facilities, buys sophisticated U.S. military equipment, including missile defenses and combat aircraft, and supports U.S. policy toward Iran. The UAE's August 2020 agreement to normalize relations with Israel might further consolidate the U.S.-UAE relationship and help both the United States and Israel counter Iran. UAE policy will likely not change after UAE President Shaykh Khalifa bin Zayid Al Nuhayyan, who has been largely incapacitated since January 2014, passes from the scene; he is almost certain to be succeeded by his younger brother and de-facto UAE leader Shaykh Muhammad bin Zayid Al Nuhayyan."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Katzman, Kenneth

  2021-04-15
• United Kingdom: Background, Brexit, and Relations with the United States [Updated April 16, 2021]

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  From the Summary: "Many U.S. officials and Members of Congress view the United Kingdom (UK) as the United States' closest and most reliable ally. This perception stems from a combination of factors, including a sense of shared history, values, and culture; a large and mutually beneficial economic relationship; and extensive cooperation on foreign policy and security issues. The UK's January 2020 withdrawal from the European Union (EU), often referred to as 'Brexit', is likely to change its international role and outlook in ways that affect U.S.-UK relations."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Mix, Derek E.

  2021-04-16
• Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure [Updated April 9, 2021]

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  From the Summary: "When civil unrest, violence, or natural disasters erupt in countries around the world, concerns arise over the ability of foreign nationals present in the United States who are from those countries to safely return. Provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provide for temporary protected status (TPS) and other forms of relief from removal under specified circumstances. The Secretary of Homeland Security has the discretion to designate a country for TPS for periods of 6 to 18 months and can extend these periods if the country continues to meet the conditions for designation. Congress has also provided TPS legislatively. A foreign national from a designated country who is granted TPS receives a registration document and employment authorization for the duration of the TPS designation."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Wilson, Jill, 1974-

  2021-04-09
• Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in Senators' Offices, FY2001-FY2020 [Updated April 20, 2021]

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  From the Summary: "Levels of pay for congressional staff are a source of recurring questions among Members of Congress, congressional staff, and the public. There may be interest in congressional pay data from multiple perspectives, including assessment of the costs of congressional operations, guidance in setting pay levels for staff in Member offices, or comparison of congressional staff pay levels with those of other federal government pay systems. This report provides pay data for 24 staff position titles that are typically found in Senators' offices. The following table provides the positions, and the change in median pay levels between FY2019 and FY2020 for those positions, in constant 2021 dollars."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Petersen, R. Eric

  2021-04-20
• Smart Cars and Trucks: Spectrum Use for Vehicle Safety [Updated April 21, 2021]

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  From the Background: "Increasing the autonomy of cars and trucks is seen as an effective way to reduce the 94% of vehicle-related accidents that involve human error. While some semiautonomous safety technologies, such as automatic braking, are in use today, many autonomous technologies under development would require cars and trucks to communicate wirelessly with one another (vehicle-to-vehicle, or V2V) and with their surroundings (vehicle-to-infrastructure, or V2I). V2V communication is expected to reduce the number of accidents by improving detection of oncoming vehicles and providing driver warnings. V2I communication is expected to help highway operators monitor and manage traffic and provide drivers with information such as weather and traffic conditions."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Canis, Bill; Gallagher, Jill C.

  2021-04-21
• U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims: A Brief Introduction [Updated April 22, 2021]

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  From the Document: "The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) provides the exclusive forum for veterans and other claimants, such as veterans' surviving spouses, to appeal U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) decisions denying various veterans' benefits. This In Focus describes the CAVC's creation, jurisdiction, authority, and procedures before identifying several issues that may interest the 117th Congress."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Gaffney, Jonathan M.

  2021-04-22
• U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy: Considering 'No First Use' [Updated April 16, 2021]

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  From the Document: "On April 15, 2021, Senator Elizabeth Warren [hyperlink] and Representative Adam Smith introduced legislation [hyperlink] that declared, 'It is the policy of the United States to not use nuclear weapons first.' Other Members of Congress are divided on this issue. Senator Dianne Feinstein has argued [hyperlink] that the only moral use for U.S. nuclear weapons is as a deterrent to their use. Senator Deb Fischer, on the other hand, has said [hyperlink] that the proposal 'betrays a naïve and disturbed world view.' President Biden has spoken [hyperlink], in the past, about his support for a 'sole purpose' [hyperlink] policy for nuclear weapons, which some see as similar to 'no first use,' but the President has not yet taken steps to review or alter U.S. nuclear policy. A 'no first use' policy would represent a change from current policy, where the United States has pledged [hyperlink] to refrain from using nuclear weapons against most non-nuclear weapon states, but has neither ruled out their first use in all cases nor specified the circumstances under which it would use them."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Woolf, Amy F.

  2021-04-16
• U.S. Challenges to China's Farm Policies [Updated April 14, 2021]

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  From the Document: "In 2019, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in favor of the United States in two cases that the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative (USTR) filed against China, alleging that China's agricultural policies were inconsistent with its WTO obligations. While China agreed to conform to the WTO rulings, USTR contends that Beijing failed to act on one of the cases by the agreed-upon deadline [hyperlink] of June 30, 2020, and requested the WTO [hyperlink] authorization to take countermeasures against imports from China."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Regmi, Anita

  2021-04-14
• S. Rept. 116-206: To Direct the Attorney General to Review, Revise, and Develop Law Enforcement and Justice Protocols Appropriate to Address Missing and Murdered Indians, and for Other Purposes, Report to Accompany S. 227, Including Cost Estimate of the Congressional Budget Office, January 15, 2020

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  From the Document: "The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 227) to direct the Attorney General to review, revise, and develop law enforcement and justice protocols appropriate to address missing and murdered Indians, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and recommends the bill, as amended, do pass. This bill is intended to improve law enforcement efforts to address cases involving missing or murdered Native Americans by (1) improving tribal access to Federal criminal databases; (2) requiring data collection and reports to Congress; and, (3) directing the Attorney General to review, revise, and develop law enforcement and justice guidelines with greater input from Tribal, state, and local governments."

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2020-01-15
• Information Technology Management Letter for the Citizenship and Immigration Services Component of the FY 2012 Department of Homeland Security Financial Statement Audit

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  From the Document: "In connection with our financial statement audit of DHS as of and for the year ended September 30, 2012, we performed an evaluation of the general Information Technology (IT) controls (GITCs) at USCIS [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] to assist in planning and performing our audit. The DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hosts a key financial application for USCIS. As such, our audit procedures over GITCs for USCIS included testing of ICE's Federal Financial Management System (FFMS) policies, procedures, and practices, as well as USCIS policies, procedures and practices at USCIS' Headquarters."

  United States. Department of Homeland Security. Office of Inspector General

  2013-04
• Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate: H.R. 51, Washington, D.C. Admission Act

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  This is the Budget Office Cost Estimate as ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on April 14, 2021. From the Bill Summary: "H.R. 51 would admit the city of Washington, D.C., as the 51st state with the name of the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth. The new state would comprise all of the land currently included within the city's boundaries other than federal land as outlined in the bill. That excluded property, primarily the area around the National Mall, would be named the Capital. The new state would be provided with two U.S. Senators and one Member of the House of Representatives. Finally, the bill would outline new responsibilities for the state and establish a process for transferring certain powers from the federal government to the new state."

  United States. Congressional Budget Office

  2021-04-16
• Russia: Foreign Policy and U.S. Relations [Updated April 15, 2021]

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  From the Introduction: "This report focuses on Russian foreign policy, key issue areas, and related U.S. policy. The report first addresses foreign policymaking institutions and processes within Russia. It next examines Russia's relations with key countries and regions. It follows with sections on Russia's use of force and military power; influence and cyber operations; and foreign economic policies. The report then analyzes U.S.-Russia relations, including U.S. policy during the current and prior Administrations and recent congressional actions. The report is compartmentalized, so that readers primarily interested in a particular issue may find the relevant information in a subsection of the report. Russia's domestic politics, human rights situation, and economy are not within the scope of this report."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Bowen, Andrew S.; Welt, Cory

  2021-04-15
• Enhancing Security and Stability in Afghanistan [December 2020]

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  From the Document: "This report describes efforts to enhance security and stability in Afghanistan from June 1, 2020, through November 30, 2020. The data cutoff date for this report is October 31, 2020. This report complements other reports and information about Afghanistan provided to Congress and is not intended to be the single source of all information about the combined efforts or the future strategy of the United States, its coalition partners, or Afghanistan."

  United States. Department of Defense

  2020-12
• Effects of Scientific Messages and Narratives About Vaccination

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  From the Abstract: "A fundamental challenge complicates news decisions about covering vaccine side effects: although serious vaccine side effects are rare, less severe ones do occur occasionally. The study was designed to test whether a side effect message could induce vaccine hesitancy and whether that could be countered by pro-vaccine messages about vaccine safety. A large (N = 2,345), nationally representative experiment was conducted by randomly exposing participants to one of six videos about the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine edited from news programs produced during the 2019 measles outbreak in the United States. The design was a 2x3 factorial crossing the presence or absence of a hesitancy- inducing narrative message with a pro-vaccine science-supporting message (i.e., no message, science-supporting expert message, or pro-vaccine narrative message), leading to a total of six conditions. A general linear model was used to assess the effects of these videos on respondents' (1) vaccine risk perceptions, (2) policy views on vaccination, (3) willingness to encourage others to vaccinate their children, and (4) intention to send a pro-vaccine letter to their state representative. Findings indicated that the science-supporting expert message about vaccine safety led to higher pro-vaccine evaluations relative to other conditions [e.g., b = -0.17, p < .001, a reduction in vaccine risk perceptions of 0.17 as compared to the control]. There was also suggestive evidence that the hesitancy-inducing narrative may limit the effectiveness of a science-supporting expert message, although this finding was not consistent across different outcomes. When shown alone the hesitancy-inducing narrative did not shift views and intentions, but more research is needed to ascertain whether exposure to such messages can undercut the pro-vaccine influence of science-supporting (expert) ones. All in all, however, it is clear that science-supporting messages are effective and therefore worthwhile in combating vaccine misinformation."

  PLoS ONE

  Kuru, Ozan; Stecula, Dominik Andrzej; Lu, Hang . . .

  2021-03-24
• Medicaid and Fiscal Federalism During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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  From the Abstract: "We analyze the effects of the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic on state and local government finances, with an emphasis on health spending needs and the role of the Medicaid program. We arrive at three conclusions. First, we find that nationwide, and over the entirety of the federal budget window, the enhanced federal matching funds are of roughly the same magnitude as expected increases in state Medicaid costs. There is a difference in timing, however, as projected relief funds are more concentrated in the near term than projected spending needs. Second, we show that there is substantial variation in states' exposure to increases in Medicaid program costs. Third, we evaluate the extent to which federal aid has been targeted at states with large increases in Medicaid costs. We show that the enhanced Medicaid matching funds are quite weakly correlated with variations in states' cost increases. In contrast, the state aid formula in the American Recovery Plan Act appears, to at least a moderate degree, to direct dollars toward states with large increases in their Medicaid enrollments."

  National Bureau of Economic Research

  Clemens, Jeffrey; Ippolito, Benedic N.; Veuger, Stan

  2021-04
• Federal Role in Responding to Potential Risks of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) [October 23, 2019]

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  From the Document: "Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large, diverse group of fluorinated compounds that have been used in numerous commercial, industrial, and U.S. military applications. Among other uses, PFAS have been used in fire-fighting foams and in the processing and manufacture of many commercial products (e.g., nonstick cookware, stain- and water-resistant fabrics). PFAS are persistent in the environment, and studies of several PFAS suggest that exposures above certain levels may lead to adverse health effects. [...] This report focuses on federal authorities under which EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and other agencies have taken actions to address potential risks of PFAS. It does not discuss other laws under which EPA or other agencies may take additional actions, or actions under state laws. The report begins with a brief discussion of the chemical properties, uses, and varying risks of PFAS, followed by discussions of federal actions, relevant legislation enacted in the 115th Congress, and relevant legislation in the 116th Congress."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Bearden, David M.; Yen, Jerry H.; Tiemann, Mary . . .

  2019-10-23
• Information Technology and Cybersecurity: Significant Attention is Needed to Address High-Risk Areas, Statement of Kevin Walsh, Director, Information Technology and Cybersecurity, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Government Operations, Committee on Oversight and Reform, House of Representatives

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  From the Highlights: "The effective management and protection of IT [information technology] has been a longstanding challenge in the federal government. Each year, the federal government spends more than $100 billion on IT and cyber-related investments; however, many of these investments have failed or performed poorly and often have suffered from ineffective management. Accordingly, GAO [Government Accountability Office] added improving the management of IT acquisitions and operations as a high-risk area in February 2015. Information security has been on the high-risk area since 1997. In its March 2021 high-risk update, GAO reported that significant actions were required to address IT acquisitions and operations. Further, GAO noted the urgent need for agencies to take 10 specific actions on four major cybersecurity challenges. GAO was asked to testify on federal agencies' efforts to address the management of IT and cybersecurity."

  United States. Government Accountability Office

  Walsh, Kevin

  2021-04-16
• Island Voices and Covid-19: Vulnerability and Resilience, Views from 'The Strategist'

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  From the Introduction: "This Strategic Insights report is being published as part of an ASPI [Australian Strategic Policy Institute] project that focuses on the vulnerabilities of Indo-Pacific island states in the Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] era. It presents a series of views on ways that insiders and external observers have viewed the vulnerabilities and resilience of island countries in the Pacific and Indian Oceans in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. All of these contributions have appeared as posts on 'The Strategist' [hyperlink]. They don't try to offer a sequential account of events or perceptions but represent a collection of responses to the crisis. The authors were not asked to address a single issue but, rather, were encouraged to focus on issues of relevance to them. The result is a mosaic rather than a portrait of nearly a year of living with the tensions posed by the pandemic. Two key themes do tend to dominate this mosaic. One concerns the way vulnerabilities are expressed as challenges. The second identifies the opportunities that resilience can create. Many small island states in the Pacific and Indian Oceans lack the resilience in medical infrastructure--physical and human--to absorb the onslaught of the pandemic if it had hit them with the ferocity of the European or American experience. While this has not occurred (and may not, if an effective vaccine reaches them soon), their economic resilience has been put under serious pressure by the policies adopted to manage the pandemic's continuing public health threat."

  Australian Strategic Policy Institute

  Brewster, David; Herr, Richard

  2021-04-13?
• Financial Inclusion and Credit Access Policy Issues [Updated October 24, 2019]

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  From the Document: "This report provides an overview on financial inclusion. It then focuses on three areas: (1) access to bank and other payment accounts; (2) inclusion in the credit reporting system; and (3) access to affordable short-term credit. These areas are generally considered foundational for households to successfully manage their financial affairs and graduate to wealth building activities in the future. Wealth building activities--such as access to homeownership, education, and other financial investments--are outside the scope of this report."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Cooper, Cheryl R.

  2019-10-24
• International Cooperation for the Coronavirus Combat: Results, Lessons and Way Ahead

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  From the Document: "More than 100 countries and regions have now reported confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. Outside China, the number of newly confirmed cases has approached 30,000, with South Korea, Japan, Italy, and Iran being the worst hit. The WHO [World Health Organization] has not declared COVID-19 [novel coronavirus 2019] a pandemic, but, nonetheless, upgraded the global risk of the outbreak to 'very high' on February 28. Threatened by a disease that is more contagious than SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] and MERS [Middle East respiratory syndrome], will the world unify in solidarity to stop it from becoming a pandemic? Or will nations be so overwhelmed by growing fears as to adopt beggar-thy-neighbor policies, weakening the foundations of global public health cooperation? Is the fast-spreading virus a wake-up call for the international community to act swiftly and in concert to build a safer globalized world? Or does it portend further deglobalization in a world already beset by virulent nationalism?"

  Shanghai Institutes for International Studies

  Chen, Dongxiao; Chuanying, Lu; Cheng, Baozhi . . .

  2020-03
• Coronavirus Battle in China: Process and Prospect

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  From the Document: "Since the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic broke out in Wuhan in late December 2019, the Chinese government has taken robust measures to curb the spread of the deadly virus, most notably a full quarantine on Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, and strong control and preventive measures in such metropolitan areas as Beijing and Shanghai as well as other population centers around China. These efforts have received wide media coverage at home and abroad and major questions have been raised as to: first, why did the government impose an unprecedented lockdown on Wuhan? Second, are the Chinese central government and local authorities competent enough to contain the virus? Third, what are the negative effects of the epidemic on China's economy? And fourth, what kind of international cooperation is required to ensure human security in the face of epidemics? As the combat against the epidemic is still evolving, here are some tentative answers and assessments given by a task force specializing in global governance issues at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies."

  Shanghai Institutes for International Studies

  Liu, Kan; Chuanying, Lu; Zhang, Haibing . . .

  2020-01
• Deficit Financing, the Debt, and 'Modern Monetary Theory' [October 21, 2019]

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  From the Introduction: "This report first explains mainstream macroeconomic theory. It then surveys the available MMT [Modern Monetary Theory] literature to provide a basic understanding of the differences (or lack thereof) between the defining relationships established in MMT and mainstream economics. It next discusses whether MMT can be used to justify deficit financing. Finally, it discusses how existing government institutions may present barriers in adopting the prescriptions of MMT for managing the economy."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Driessen, Grant A.; Gravelle, Jane

  2019-10-21
• Data Integrity: Identifying and Protecting Assets Against Ransomware and Other Destructive Events

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  "Ransomware, destructive malware, insider threats, and even honest user mistakes present ongoing threats to organizations. Organizations' data, such as database records, system files, configurations, user files, applications, and customer data, are all potential targets of data corruption, modification, and destruction. Formulating a defense against these threats requires two things: a thorough knowledge of the assets within the enterprise, and the protection of these assets against the threat of data corruption and destruction. The NCCoE [National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence], in collaboration with members of the business community and vendors of cybersecurity solutions, will build an example solution to address these data integrity challenges. Multiple systems need to work together to identify and protect an organization's assets against the threat of corruption, modification, and destruction. This project explores methods to effectively identify assets (devices, data, and applications) that may become targets of data integrity attacks, as well as the vulnerabilities in the organization's system that facilitate these attacks. It also explores methods to protect these assets against data integrity attacks using backups, secure storage, integrity checking mechanisms, audit logs, vulnerability management, maintenance, and other potential solutions."

  National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.); National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence

  McBride, Tim; Ekstrom, Michael; Lusty, Lauren . . .

  2018-02
• Foreign STEM Students in the United States [November 1, 2019]

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  From the Document: "The number of foreign students in the United States pursuing postsecondary degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines has increased steadily in recent years. This increase has drawn attention from lawmakers interested in potential effects on institutions of higher education (IHEs), the U.S. workforce, economic competitiveness, immigration, and national security. The global economy increasingly relies on the skills learned in the STEM disciplines. U.S. IHEs play an important role in training U.S. citizens and foreign nationals in these disciplines. Foreign students are attracted to U.S. IHEs for their quality of education and the prestige that comes with a U.S. degree. American colleges and universities strive to attract top international students to pursue and obtain STEM degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels in order to remain globally competitive and draw additional tuition revenue, as foreign students typically pay full cost of tuition and do not receive financial aid. This In Focus provides an overview of the trends in foreign student enrollment in STEM programs at U.S. IHEs, as well as the pathways that students may take to remain in the United States legally after graduation."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Wilson, Jill, 1974-; Granovskiy, Boris

  2019-11-01
• Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) [October 31, 2019] [infographic]

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  From the Document: "Throughout the U.S., there are geographic areas, populations, and facilities seen as having too few primary care, dental, and mental health providers. As part of efforts to alleviate these shortages the federal government designates professional shortage areas and ties certain program eligibility or awarding preference to these designations."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Heisler, Elayne J., 1976-

  2019-10-31
• Securing Property Management Systems

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  From the Executive Summary: "In recent years criminals and other attackers have compromised the networks of several major hotel chains, exposing the information of hundreds of millions of guests. Breaches like these can result in huge financial loss, operational disruption, and reputational harm, along with lengthy regulatory investigations and litigation. Hospitality organizations can reduce the likelihood of a hotel data breach by strengthening the cybersecurity of their property management system (PMS). The PMS is an attractive target for attackers because it serves as the information technology (IT) operations and data management hub of a hotel. This cybersecurity practice guide shows an approach to securing a PMS and the system of guest services it supports. It offers how-to guidance for building a reference design using commercially available products within a zero trust architecture to mitigate cybersecurity risk that includes role-based access control, privileged access management, network segmentation, moving target defense, and data protection."

  National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.); National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence

  Newhouse, William; Ekstrom, Michael; Finke, Jeffery . . .

  2021-03
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Trade Facilitation, Enforcement, and Security [Updated June 22, 2015]

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  From the Introduction: "International trade is a critical component of the U.S. economy, with U.S. goods trade amounting to about $4 trillion in 2014, with merchandise imports of $2.4 trillion and exports of $1.6 trillion (see Appendix B). The efficient flow of legally traded goods in and out of the United States is thus a vital element of the country's economic security. While U.S. trade in imports depends on the smooth flow of legal cargo through U.S. ports of entry (POE), the goal of trade facilitation often competes with two additional goals: enforcement of U.S. trade laws and import security. How to strike the appropriate balance among these three goals is a fundamental question at the heart of U.S. import policies. Striking the appropriate balance among competing import policy goals is made more difficult due to the volume and complexity of trade inflows. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency charged with managing the import process at the border, admitted about 30.4 million import entries per year through over 300 U.S. POEs, in fiscal year (FY) 2013. [...] This report describes and analyzes CBP's role in the U.S. import process."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Jones, Vivian Catherine; Sacco, Lisa N.

  2015-06-22
• H. Rept. 117-14, Part 1: Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, Report, Together with Minority Views, to Accompany H.R. 1195, April 5, 2021

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  From the Document: "Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall issue an interim final standard on workplace violence prevention-- (A) to require certain employers in the health care and social service sectors, and certain employers in sectors that conduct activities similar to the activities in the health care and social service sectors, to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan and carry out other activities or requirements described in section 103 to protect health care workers, social service workers, and other personnel from workplace violence; and (B) that shall, at a minimum, be based on the Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Department of Labor in 2015 and adhere to the requirements of this title."

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2021-04-05
• Congressional-Executive Commission on China: Annual Report 2020

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  This is the 2020 Annual Report of the Congressional Executive Commission on China. From the Document: "The Commission's 2020 Annual Report covers the period from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2020. As discussed in the subsequent chapters of this report, the Chinese government and Communist Party have taken unprecedented steps in the last year to extend their repressive policies through censorship, intimidation, and the detention of individuals and groups for exercising their fundamental human rights, especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and Hong Kong. In recent years, the Commission has become increasingly concerned that the Chinese government and Party have expanded their human rights violations around the world, even reaching the American people. These efforts include threatening and intimidating critics, blocking social media content, pressuring publishers to censor their content in China, influencing academic institutions to the detriment of academic freedom, interfering in multilateral institutions, and pressuring U.S. and international companies to suppress practices that do not conform to the political narratives and demands of Chinese officials. The Commission has contributed to bringing these issues to light with a series of hearings on the Chinese government's 'long arm of authoritarianism.' Building on this initiative, we are pleased that the 2020 Annual Report includes a new chapter on the Chinese government's human rights violations in the United States and globally, along with a new set of policy recommendations."

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2021-01-12?