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Administration of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) Funding Authorized Under the FY2019 Border Supplemental [Updated August 20, 2019]
From the Document: "This Insight provides a brief overview of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), and funding provided for it through the FY2019 Border Supplemental."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Webster, Elizabeth M.
2019-08-20
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United Arab Emirates (UAE): Issues for U.S. Policy [Updated August 19, 2019]
From the Summary: "The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been a significant U.S. partner in Gulf security, helping to address multiple regional threats by hosting U.S. military personnel at UAE military facilities and buying sophisticated U.S. military equipment, including missile defenses and combat aircraft. The alliance with the United States is expected to continue after UAE President Shaykh Khalifa bin Zayid Al Nuhayyan, who suffered an incapacitating stroke in January 2014, is succeeded by his younger brother and de-facto UAE leader Shaykh Muhammad bin Zayid Al Nuhayyan."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Katzman, Kenneth
2019-08-19
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Conflict in Mali [Updated August 16, 2019]
From the Document: "Mali faces intertwined security and governance challenges. The government signed a peace accord with northern separatist rebels in 2015, but key provisions remain unimplemented. Signatory armed groups continue to assert territorial control in much of the vast desert north. At the same time, Islamist insurgent groups have expanded from the north into previously stable central Mali, leveraging (and fomenting) interethnic violence and local resentment toward state actors to recruit supporters. Islamist extremists have also carried out attacks in and near the capital, Bamako. In the center and northeast, civilian massacres by ethnic militias--some of which appear to have the tacit backing of state actors--have contributed to worsening insecurity. Rebel, terrorist, communal, and criminal armed networks are fluid and shifting, complicating conflict resolution. Some Malians have proposed peace talks with jihadist groups, but the idea remains controversial."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Arieff, Alexis
2019-08-16
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Escalating U.S. Tariffs: Timeline [Updated August 16, 2019]
From the Document: "The trade practices of U.S. trading partners and the U.S. trade deficit are a focus of the Trump Administration. Citing these and other concerns, the President has imposed tariff increases under three U.S. laws: (1) Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Table 1) on U.S. imports of washing machines and solar products; (2) Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Table 2) on U.S. imports of steel and aluminum, and potentially motor vehicles/parts and titanium sponge (the President decided not to impose tariffs on uranium imports, after an investigation); and (3) Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Table 3) on U.S. imports from China."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Williams, Brock R.; Hammond, Keigh
2019-08-16
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Hong Kong's Protests of 2019 [August 16, 2019]
From the Document: "Every week since June 9, 2019, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents, or 'Hong Kongers,' have held marches and rallies to protest the perceived erosion of their city's 'high degree of autonomy' promised by the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and Beijing's efforts to 'Mainlandize' Hong Kong's culture, economy, and society. The Hong Kong government, led by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, and China's central government have characterized the largely peaceful protests as 'riots' and 'terrorism.' The Hong Kong Police Force has employed increasingly aggressive tactics to stop the protests, resulting in allegations that its officers are violating international standards for responding to civil demonstrations."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Martin, Michael F.
2019-08-16
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International Discussions Concerning Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems [August 16, 2019]
From the Document: "As technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), advances, lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS)-- weapons designed to make decisions about using lethal force without manual human control--may soon make their appearance, raising a number of potential ethical, diplomatic, legal, and strategic concerns for Congress. By providing a brief overview of ongoing international discussions concerning LAWS, this In Focus seeks to assist Congress as it conducts oversight hearings on AI within the military (as the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services have done in recent years), guides U.S. foreign policy, and makes funding and authorization decisions related to LAWS."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Moodie, Michael, 1948-; Liu, Zelin
2019-08-16
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Mexico: Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Organizations [Updated August 15, 2019]
From the Document: "Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) pose the greatest crime threat to the United States and have 'the greatest drug trafficking influence,' according to the annual U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA's) National Drug Threat Assessment. These organizations work across the Western Hemisphere and globally. They are involved in extensive money laundering, bribery, gun trafficking, and corruption, while causing Mexico's homicide rates to spike. They produce and traffic illicit drugs into the United States, including heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, and powerful synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and they traffic South American cocaine."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Beittel, June S.
2019-08-15
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Argentina: An Overview [Updated August 15, 2019]
From the Document: "Current President Mauricio Macri--leader of the center-right Republican Proposal and the Cambiemos (Let's Change) coalition representing center-right and center-left parties--won the 2015 presidential election in a close race. Macri defeated the candidate of the leftist faction (Front for Victory, or FPV) of the Peronist party (officially known as the Justicialist Party) led by outgoing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term. Macri's election ended 12 years of FPV rule by the Kirchners. [...] The Kirchners' rule helped Argentina emerge from a severe economic crisis in 2001- 2002 but was characterized by protectionist and unorthodox economic policies and increasing corruption."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Sullivan, Mark P.
2019-08-15
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Defense Spending Under an Interim Continuing Resolution: In Brief [August 15, 2019]
From the Document: "This report provides a basic overview of interim continuing resolutions (CRs) and highlights some specific issues pertaining to operations of the Department of Defense (DOD) under a CR. DOD has started the fiscal year under a CR for 13 of the past 18 years (FY2002-FY2019) and every year since FY2010 excluding FY2019. The amount of time DOD has operated under CR authorities during the fiscal year has tended to increase in the past 10 years and equates to a total of more than 39 months since 2010."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Towell, Pat; McClanahan, Kate P.; Roscoe, Jennifer M.
2019-08-15
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Global Trends in HIV/AIDS [Updated August 15, 2019]
From the Document: "According to the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), more than 75 million people have been infected with the HIV virus since 1996, when the pandemic began. At the end of 2018, 38 million people were living with HIV/AIDS, including 2.1 million children younger than 15 years. The same year, 770,000 people died of HIV-related illnesses, and 1.7 million people were newly infected with HIV. Globally, an estimated one out of four people infected with HIV do not know they have it. In 2018, an estimated 79% of people living with HIV knew their status."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Tharakan, Sara M.
2019-08-15
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Conventional Prompt Global Strike and Long-Range Ballistic Missiles: Background and Issues [Updated August 14, 2019]
From the Document: "Conventional prompt global strike (CPGS) weapons would allow the United States to strike targets anywhere on Earth in as little as an hour. This capability may bolster U.S. efforts to deter and defeat adversaries by allowing the United States to attack high-value targets or 'fleeting targets' at the start of or during a conflict. Congress has generally supported the PGS [prompt global strike] mission, but restricted funding for several years. Recently, efforts to develop a long-range prompt strike capability, along with other efforts to develop extremely fast hypersonic weapons, have garnered increased support."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Woolf, Amy F.
2019-08-14
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Arms Sales: Congressional Review Process [Updated August 14, 2019]
From the Document: "This report reviews the process and procedures that currently apply to congressional consideration of foreign arms sales proposed by the President. This includes consideration of proposals to sell major defense equipment, defense articles and services, or the retransfer to third-party states of such military items."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Grimmett, Richard F.
2019-08-14
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Brief Introduction to the National Flood Insurance Program [Updated August 14, 2019]
From the Document: "The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the primary source of flood insurance coverage for residential properties in the United States. The NFIP has two main policy goals: (1) to provide access to primary flood insurance, thereby allowing for the transfer of some of the financial risk of property owners to the federal government; and (2) to mitigate and reduce the nation's comprehensive flood risk through the development and implementation of floodplain management standards. A longer-term objective of the NFIP is to reduce federal expenditure on disaster assistance after floods."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Horn, Diane P.
2019-08-14
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Brief Introduction to the National Flood Insurance Program: Homeland Security Issues in the 116th Congress [Updated August 14, 2019]
From the Document: "The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is authorized by the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (Title XIII of P.L. 90-448, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§4001 et seq.) and is the primary source of flood insurance coverage for residential properties in the United States. The NFIP has two main policy goals: (1) to provide access to primary flood insurance, thereby allowing for the transfer of some of the financial risk from property owners to the federal government, and (2) to mitigate and reduce the nation's comprehensive flood risk through the development and implementation of floodplain management standards. A longer-term objective of the NFIP is to reduce federal expenditure on disaster assistance after floods."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Horn, Diane P.
2019-08-14
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El Salvador: Background and U.S. Relations [Updated August 14, 2019]
From the Document: "Congress has had significant interest in El Salvador, a small Central American nation that has had a large percentage of its population living in the United States since the country's civil conflict (1980-1992). During the 1980s, the U.S. government spent billions of dollars supporting the Salvadoran government's counterinsurgency efforts against the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). The United States later supported a 1992 peace accord that ended the conflict and transformed the FMLN into a political party. Despite periodic tensions, the United States worked with two consecutive FMLN administrations (2009-2019), but bilateral efforts were unable to prevent significant outflows of migrants from the country."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Seelke, Clare Ribando
2019-08-14
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Hong Kong's Proposed Extradition Law Amendments [Updated August 14, 2019]
From the Document: "Two proposed changes to Hong Kong's extradition law have sparked over two months of massive demonstrations across the city. If adopted, the changes could make anyone--including U.S. citizens--residing in, visiting, or transiting the Hong Kong Special Administrative District (HKSAR) vulnerable to investigation by or extradition to mainland China, raising concerns about possible political prosecutions."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Martin, Michael F.
2019-08-14
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Russia, the Skripal Poisoning, and U.S. Sanctions [Updated August 14, 2019]
From the Document: "On August 6, 2018, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo determined that in March 2018 the government of Russia used a chemical weapon in the United Kingdom in contravention of international law. This finding triggered requirements under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act; title III, P.L. 102-182; 22 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.). The CBW Act requires the President to impose economic and diplomatic measures that first cut off foreign aid, arms sales, and export licenses for controlled goods, services, and technology, and ratchet up in intensity if certain conditions are not met within 90 days. As of August 2019, the United States has imposed two rounds of sanctions on Russia as required by the CBW Act."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Cowan, Tadlock
2019-08-14
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Selected Homeland Security Issues in the 116th Congress [Updated August 14, 2019]
From the Document: "Initially, homeland security was largely seen as counterterrorism activities. Today, homeland security is a broad and complex network of interrelated issues, in policymaking terms. For example, in its executive summary, the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review issued in 2014 delineated the missions of the homeland security enterprise as follows: prevent terrorism and enhance security; secure and manage the borders; enforce and administer immigration laws; safeguard and secure cyberspace; and strengthen national preparedness and resilience."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Painter, William L.
2019-08-14
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Turkey: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief [Updated August 14, 2019]
From the Document: "Recent U.S.-Turkey tensions and increased Turkish cooperation with Russia have raised questions about Turkey's commitment to NATO and overall strategic orientation. To meet its security, economic, and energy needs, Turkey cooperates with the United States and several other countries whose respective interests may conflict. Events in Syria and a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey appear to have led Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to act more independently from the United States and cultivate closer ties with Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. Turkey's large, diversified economy and increased political and military profile gives it significant regional influence, but also has contributed to rivalries with other U.S. partners such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, and Greece."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Zanotti, Jim; Thomas, Clayton
2019-08-14
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United Nations Issues: U.S. Funding of U.N. Peacekeeping [Updated August 14, 2019]
From the Document: "The United States is the single largest financial contributor to U.N. peacekeeping activities. Congress authorizes and appropriates U.S. contributions, and it has an ongoing interest in ensuring such funding is used as efficiently and effectively as possible. The United States, as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, plays a key role in establishing, renewing, and funding U.N. peacekeeping operations. For 2019, the United Nations assessed the United States share of U.N. peacekeeping operation budgets at 27.89%; however, since 1994 Congress has capped the U.S. payment at 25% due to concerns that the current assessment is too high. For FY2019, total enacted U.S. funding for U.N. peacekeeping is $1.65 billion."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Blanchfield, Luisa
2019-08-14
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Iran: Internal Politics and U.S. Policy and Options [Updated August 13, 2019]
From the Document: "U.S.-Iran relations have been mostly adversarial--but with varying degrees of intensity--since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. U.S. officials have consistently identified Iran's support for militant Middle East groups as a significant threat to U.S. interests and allies, and Iran's nuclear program took precedence in U.S. policy after 2002 as that program advanced."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Katzman, Kenneth
2019-08-13
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Medicare Primer [Updated August 13, 2019]
From the Summary: "This report provides a general overview of the Medicare program including descriptions of the program's history, eligibility criteria, covered services, provider payment systems, and program administration and financing. A list of commonly used acronyms, as well as information on beneficiary cost sharing, may be found in the appendixes."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Davis, Patricia A.; Binder, Cliff; Hahn, Jim . . .
2019-08-13
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Introduction to Tort Law [August 13, 2019]
From the Document: "Tort law is the body of rules concerned with remedying harms caused by a person's wrongful or injurious actions. For instance, if a surgeon tasked with amputating a patient's left leg commits medical malpractice by instead amputating her right leg, that patient may be able to pursue a tort lawsuit for monetary damages against the surgeon. Traditionally, with a few significant exceptions, tort law has primarily been a matter of state rather than federal law. Tort law has also historically been a matter of common law rather than statutory law; that is, judges (not legislatures) developed many of the fundamental principles of tort law through case-by-case adjudication. Over time, however, state legislatures and Congress have begun to intervene in the development of tort law to a greater extent."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Lewis, Kevin M.
2019-08-13
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Libya: Conflict Disrupts U.S.-Backed Transition Plan [Updated August 13, 2019]
From the Document: "On April 4, 2019, Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) coalition that has controlled eastern Libya with foreign military and financial support since 2014, ordered forces loyal to him to begin a unilateral military operation to secure the capital, Tripoli. Tripoli is the seat of the Government of National Accord (GNA), an interim body recognized by the United States and United Nations (U.N.) Security Council as Libya's legitimate governing entity. In response to the pro-LNA offensive, pro-GNA and other anti-Haftar elements in western Libya have mobilized. Fighting is ongoing south of Tripoli, but the conflict has devolved into a tactically fluid stalemate in which neither side has a clear military advantage. According to U.N. Special Representative and U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) head Ghassan Salamé, 'reliance on external support is a conflict driver' in spite of a U.N. arms embargo, and 'armed drones, armored vehicles and pick-up trucks fitted with heavy armaments, machine guns, recoilless rifles and mortar and rocket launchers have been recently transferred to Libya with the complicity, and indeed outright support, of foreign governments.'"
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Blanchard, Christopher M.
2019-08-13
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Convergence of Cyberspace Operations and Electronic Warfare [August 13, 2019]
From the Document: "Over the past two decades, cyberspace operations have become an important element in military operations. Electronic warfare (EW) has been a component of military operations since the advent of the radio at the beginning of the 20th century. These two types of operations are becoming somewhat analogous as technical capabilities converge, yet historical divides between EW and cyber operations remain in Department of Defense (DOD) organization and doctrine. Both cyberspace operations and EW are efforts to dominate aspects of the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) that transmit packets of information. As such, EW and cyberspace operations have traditionally been used as part of a broader information operations (IO) campaign, and previously existed in joint doctrine as two of the five pillars of IO (along with psychological operations, military deception, and operations security). These capabilities are increasingly being used in support of operations in the information environment (IE)--the aggregate of social, cultural, cognitive, technical and physical attributes that ultimately affect action. Current and evolving DOD doctrine refers to EMS operations and cyberspace operations as separate but related to operations in the IE."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Theohary, Catherine A.; Hoehn, John R.
2019-08-13
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Navy Frigate (FFG[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress [Updated August 13, 2019]
From the Document: "The FFG(X) [guided-missile frigates] program is a Navy program to build a class of 20 guided-missile frigates (FFGs). The Navy wants to procure the first FFG(X) in FY2020, the next 18 at a rate of two per year in FY2021-FY2029, and the 20th in FY2030. The Navy's proposed FY2020 budget requests $1,281.2 million for the procurement of the first FFG(X). The Navy's FY2020 budget submission shows that subsequent ships in the class are estimated by the Navy to cost roughly $900 million each in then-year dollars."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
O'Rourke, Ronald
2019-08-13
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Proposed Relocation/Realignment of USDA's ERS and NIFA [Updated August 13, 2019]
From the Document: "As part of the proposed reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Secretary Perdue announced in August 2018 the department's intention to relocate the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) outside the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. He also proposed realigning ERS from the Office of the Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics (REE) to the Office of the Chief Economist. Among the stated reasons for the agency relocations are (1) improving USDA's ability to attract and retain qualified staff without the burden of the high cost of living; (2) placing USDA resources closer to the many agricultural stakeholders who live and work outside the Washington, DC, area; and (3) creating departmental savings on high employment costs and rent."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Cowan, Tadlock
2019-08-13
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U.S.-North Korea Relations [Updated August 13, 2019]
From the Document: "North Korea has posed one of the most persistent U.S. foreign policy challenges of the post-Cold War period. With advances in its nuclear and missile capabilities under 35-year-old leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea has evolved into a grave security threat to the United States. Efforts to halt North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs have occupied the past four U.S. administrations. Although North Korea (officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK) has haltingly engaged in negotiations with the United States under the Trump Administration, it simultaneously has continued to develop these programs. The weapons programs have been the primary focus of U.S. policy toward North Korea, but other U.S. concerns include North Korea's cyberspace activities, conventional military capabilities, egregious human rights violations, international terrorism, and illicit activities such as money laundering, smuggling, and trafficking of both narcotics and humans."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Chanlett-Avery, Emma; Manyin, Mark E.
2019-08-13
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U.S. Trade: Recent Trends and Developments [Updated August 13, 2019]
From the Background: "Over the past two years, Congress has demonstrated significant interest in U.S. and international trade trends as part of its efforts to examine U.S. trade policy and key U.S. trading relationships. In particular, demand for comparative analysis of bilateral trade flows and balances has heightened as the Trump Administration takes actions with the intention of reducing U.S. bilateral trade deficits, enforcing U.S. trade laws and agreements, and promoting what it considers to be 'free,' 'fair,' and 'reciprocal' trade. The role of Congress in trade policy stems from a number of overlapping responsibilities, including its constitutional authority over regulating commerce with foreign countries and broad oversight responsibility over the performance of the economy. The changing dynamics and composition of U.S. trade are important to Members, because they can affect the overall health of the U.S. economy, the success of U.S. workers and firms, and the U.S. standard of living."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Schwarzenberg, Andres B.
2019-08-13
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Words Taken Down: Calling Members to Order for Disorderly Language in the House [August 13, 2019]
From the Document: "Rule XVII, clause 4, of the standing rules of the House of Representatives describes a parliamentary mechanism whereby a Member may call another Member to order for the use of disorderly language. Disorderly, or unparliamentary, remarks are a violation of House rules of decorum. This mechanism, which is referred to as 'words taken down,' may be invoked during debate on the House floor, in the Committee of the Whole, or in the standing and select committees of the House."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Baitinger, Gail E.
2019-08-13
