WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11626) on May 21, 2024, by Bryce H. P. Mendez, defense health care policy specialist. Here are excerpts: * * * The Armed Forces Retirement Home Since the late 1700s, Congress has established numerous federal programs to provide housing, housing assistance, and health care support to certain wounded, ill, or injured servicemembers, military retirees, and other veterans. Some of those prog more PR

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF10348) on May 20, 2024, by Asian affairs specialist Ben Dolven: * * * The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Overview The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is Southeast Asia's primary multilateral organization, a 10-member grouping of nations with a combined population of 660 million and a combined annual gross domestic product (GDP) of around $3.2 trillion in 2 more PR

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11725) on May 21, 2024, by European Affairs analyst Sarah E. Garding. Here are excerpts: * * * Bulgaria: An Overview After decades of single-party communist rule and a difficult transition period in the 1990s, Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union (EU) in 2007. Bulgaria's Black Sea location and NATO and EU memberships make it an important U.S. partner. Members of Congress m more PR

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12397) on May 22, 2024, by Natalie R. Ortiz, government organization and management analyst: * * * Burden and the Paperwork Reduction Act: An Overview A fundamental purpose of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) - codified at Title 44, Sections 3501-3521, of the U.S. Code - is to minimize the burden that federal information collections impose on the public. Agencies must often collect info more PR

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF10600) on May 22, 2024, by Alexandra G. Neenan, defense infrastructure policy analyst. Here are excerpts: * * * Defense Primer: Department of Defense Contractors Throughout its history, the Department of Defense (DOD) has relied on contractors to support a wide range of military operations. Within the defense policy community, the term contractor is commonly used in two different contex more PR

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12387) on May 21, 2024, by environmental policy specialist Richard K. Lattanzio: * * * EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed H.R. 5376 (P.L. 117-169), a budget reconciliation measure commonly referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). IRA contains eight titles, each with some provisions that directly or indirectly address issu more PR

WASHINGTON, May 21 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12525) on May 20, 2024, by public finance analyst Gary Guenther: * * * The IRS Technology Modernization Program: An Overview The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collects 95% of the funds needed to operate federal government programs and agencies. In FY2023, the agency collected $4.7 trillion in gross revenues, processed 272 million tax returns and other forms, and issued $659 billion in r more PR

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11626) on May 21, 2024, by military manpower specialist Kristy N. Kamarck. Here are excerpts: * * * Defense Primer: Military Enlisted Personnel Grade and Rank The Armed Forces are hierarchical organizations with clearly defined levels of authority. These different levels are called grades, while rank refers to the order of precedence among those in different grades and within the same g more PR

WASHINGTON, May 21 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF10483) on May 20, 2024, by military manpower specialist Kristy N. Kamarck. Here are excerpts: * * * Defense Primer: Military Retirement The military retirement system is a government-funded system that provides a defined benefit to all retirees and matching government contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for eligible servicemembers. It has historically been viewed as a signific more PR

WASHINGTON, May 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11526) on May 22, 2024, by military manpower specialist Kristy N. Kamarck. Here are excerpts: * * * Defense Primer: Military Separation and Severance Pay Congress has authorized separation or severance pay for involuntarily and voluntarily discharged servicemembers throughout most of the military's history (see Table 1). The purposes for these authorities has been three-fold: (1) to eas more PR

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12671) on May 20, 2024, by natural resources policy specialists Caitlin Keating-Bitonti and Eva Lipiec. Here are excerpts: * * * NOAA's Commercial Data Program: Background and Considerations for Congress Since 1970, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has operated satellites to collect environmental and weather data from space. With the rapid growth of the U.S. com more PR

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12672) on May 21, 2024, by defense policy analyst Anya L. Fink: * * * Russia's Nuclear Weapons Russia presents an "acute threat" to the United States and its allies, according to the 2022 National Defense Strategy. The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, a Biden Administration review of U.S. nuclear policy, states: 'Russia remains the U.S. rival with the most capable and diverse nuclear forces. more PR

WASHINGTON, May 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12669) on May 22, 2024, by Lisa N. Sacco, illicit drugs and crime policy analyst. Here are excerpts: * * * The Terrorist Watchlist The Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS), more commonly referred to as the Terrorist Watchlist (or the Watchlist) and formerly known as the Terrorist Screening Database, is the U.S. government's consolidated dataset containing sensitive, but not classified, law more PR

WASHINGTON, May 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12640) on May 22, 2024, by Asian trade and finance analyst Karen M. Sutter and international trade and finance analyst Michael D. Sutherland. Here are excerpts: * * * TikTok and China's Digital Platforms: Issues for Congress Congress and U.S. policymakers at the federal and state levels have taken steps to address their national security-related concerns about the People's Republic of C more PR

WASHINGTON, May 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12670) on May 20, 2024, by financial economics analyst Paul Tierno: * * * Tokenized Assets Tokenization refers to a form of digitized finance in which real-world assets (RWAs) - financial assets such as securities, bank deposits, and real estate - are recorded and traded on a programmable platform, such as a blockchain. The term has become a byword for how discussions about blockchains ha more PR

WASHINGTON, May 21 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12397) on May 20, 2024, by military ground forces specialist Andrew Feickert. Here are excerpts: * * * U.S. Army's Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) System Background The Army is developing a new maneuver short-range air defense system, or M-SHORAD to perform short-range air defense, or SHORAD. The Army defines the SHORAD mission as '[d]edicated air defense artillery (ADA) a more PR

WASHINGTON, May 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12040) on May 22, 2024. The white paper is written by Christina L. Arabia, security assistance, security cooperation and global arms trade analyst, Andrew S. Bowen, Russian and European affairs analyst, and Cory Welt, Russian and European affairs specialist. Here are excerpts: * * * U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine The United States has been a leading provider of security assistance  more PR

WASHINGTON, May 21 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF10483) on May 20, 2024, by Kyla H. Kitamura, international trade and finance analyst. Here are excerpts: * * * U.S.-Japan Critical Minerals Agreement On March 28, 2023, the United States and Japan signed a critical minerals agreement (CMA) covering five key minerals related to the production of batteries for clean vehicles (commonly referred to as electric vehicles or "EVs"). The U.S.-Ja more PR

WASHINGTON, May 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11526) on May 22, 2024, by African affairs analyst Lauren Ploch Blanchard and international trade and finance analyst Liana Wong: * * * U.S.-Kenya Trade Negotiations The United States and Kenya began free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations in 2020 under then-President Donald Trump and then-President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya. The Joseph R. Biden Administration did not continue the FTA talks more PR

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Insight white paper (No. IN12365) on May 21, 2024, by Middle Eastern affairs specialist Clayton Thomas: * * * Iran's President Dies in Helicopter Crash On May 19, 2024, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and several other officials were killed when their helicopter crashed amid bad weather in mountainous northwestern Iran. Raisi's death comes at a particularly tense moment fo more PR

WASHINGTON, May 21 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Insight white paper (No. IN12364) on May 20, 2024. Th white paper is written by government organization and management analyst Natalie R. Ortiz and American national government specialists Garrett Hatch and Barbara L. Schwemle: * * * A Brief Summary of the Telework Transparency Act of 2024 (S. 4043) On March 21, 2024, Senators Gary Peters and Joni Ernst introduced the Telework Transparency Act of 2024 (S. 4043). Th more PR

WASHINGTON, May 21 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Insight white paper (No. IN12363) on May 20, 2024, by government organization and management analyst Ben Wilhelm: * * * Removal of Inspectors General: The First Tests of New Statutory Requirements May 20, 2024 In the past two months, President Biden has twice exercised his authority to change the leadership of inspector general (IG) offices by notifying Congress of his intent to remove the IG for the Railroad Retir more PR

WASHINGTON, May 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11163) on May 23, 2024, by legislative attorney Hannah-Alise Rogers: * * * Litigation Continues Over Use of Contract Pharmacies in 340B Drug Discount Program The 340B Drug Discount Program enables eligible hospitals and other safety net providers to purchase outpatient prescription drugs at discounted prices. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an operating divi more PR

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11167) on May 20, 2024, by deputy assistant director Michael John Garcia and legislative attorney Alejandra Aramayo: * * * Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (May 13-May 19, 2024) The federal courts issue hundreds of decisions every week in cases involving diverse legal disputes. This Sidebar series selects decisions from the past week t more PR

WASHINGTON, May 24 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R48071) on May 20, 2024, entitled "The Agricultural Cooperative Extension System: An Overview" by agricultural policy analyst Eleni G. Bickell. Here are excerpts: * * * SUMMARY The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 (7 U.S.C. Sec.Sec.341 et. seq.) established the Agricultural Cooperative Extension System (CES), or simply extension, which delivers research-based knowledge to farmers, ranchers, and the nonu more PR

WASHINGTON, May 24 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R48072) on May 20, 2024, entitled "Kenya: In Brief" by African affairs specialist Lauren Ploch Blanchard: * * * SUMMARY On May 23, 2024, President Joe Biden is scheduled to host President William Ruto of the Republic of Kenya for a State Visit. The event marks the 60th anniversary of the U.S.-Kenya diplomatic relationship, established after Kenya's independence from the United Kingdom. It is the more PR

WASHINGTON, May 24 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R48069) on May 20, 2024, entitled "Overview of the National Estuary Program" by environmental policy specialist Laura Gatz. Here are excerpts: * * * SUMMARY Estuaries - coastal waterbodies where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with the ocean's saltwater - are among the world's most productive ecosystems. They are beneficial in many ways - providing habitat for thousands of species of b more PR