WASHINGTON, June 28 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following fact sheet (No. R44239) on June 25, 2024, by reference librarian Audrey Celeste Crane-Hirsch: * * * Speechwriting Resources: Fact Sheet As elected officials and leaders, Senators and Representatives are frequently called upon to deliver speeches and other public remarks to a range of audiences. This fact sheet provides links to resources that can assist in the speechwriting process. Please note, that although the more PR

WASHINGTON, June 26 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12694) on June 24, 2024, by national defense fellow Sarah Gee and defense infrastructure policy analyst Luke A. Nicastro. Here are excerpts: * * * Defense Primer: Agile Combat Employment (ACE) Concept To inform and shape its planning, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) has developed an operational concept known as Agile Combat Employment (ACE). According to the Air Force, ACE is a "proactive an more PR

WASHINGTON, June 25 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12147) on June 24, 2024, by macroeconomic policy specialist Marc Labonte. Here are excerpts: * * * The Fed's Balance Sheet and Quantitative Tightening The size and composition of the Federal Reserve's (Fed's) balance sheet is a product of its monetary policy and lender-of-last-resort actions. The Fed has responded to past crises by increasing its balance sheet, which peaked at 10 times more PR

WASHINGTON, June 26 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11623) on June 24, 2024, by defense policy analyst Jennifer DiMascio and advanced technology and global security specialist Kelley M. Sayler. Here are excerpts: * * * Hypersonic Missile Defense: Issues for Congress The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Space Development Agency (SDA) are currently developing elements of a hypersonic missile defense system to defend against hypersonic weap more PR

WASHINGTON, June 26 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12139) on June 24, 2024, by global health specialist Tiaji Salaam-Blyther and foreign policy legislation specialist Matthew C. Weed: * * * International Health Regulations Amendments Background Since 1980, outbreaks of new and long-standing infectious diseases have been occurring with increasing frequency and intensity. In response, the World Health Assembly (WHA), the governing body of more PR

WASHINGTON, June 26 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11007) on June 24, 2024, by defense policy analyst Anya L. Fink. Here are excerpts: * * * Defense Primer: LGM-35A Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile The LGM-35A Sentinel is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system that is expected to replace the Minuteman III (MMIII) ICBM in the U.S. nuclear force structure. MMIII has served as the ground-based leg of the U.S. nuclea more PR

WASHINGTON, June 26 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11007) on June 24, 2024, by military personnel specialist Kristy N. Kamarck. Here are excerpts: * * * Defense Primer: Personnel Tempo (PERSTEMPO) As a result of the nation's extended involvement in contingency operations around the globe, some U.S. servicemembers have experienced prolonged, recurrent, and stressful deployments. In addition, preparation for deployments (e.g., training, e more PR

WASHINGTON, June 28 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF10165) on June 26, 2024, by Asian affairs specialist Mark E. Manyin and international trade and finance analyst Liana Wong. Here are excerpts: * * * South Korea: Background and U.S. Relations Overview South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea, or ROK) is one of the United States' most important strategic and economic partners in Asia. The U.S.-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty, signed in 1 more PR

WASHINGTON, June 28 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12695) on June 26, 2024, by natural resource policy specialist Eva Lipiec. Here are excerpts: * * * Tornadoes: Background and Forecasting Tornadoes are narrow, violently rotating columns of air, extending from the base of a thunderstorm to the ground, that affect communities across the United States every year. Tornadoes can cause fatalities and injuries, destroy property and crops, and more PR

WASHINGTON, June 26 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12397) on June 25, 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 (SHORAD). The Army defines SHORAD as capabilities that provide air defense against low-altit more PR

WASHINGTON, June 26 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12118) on June 25, 2024, by Maeve P. Carey, government organization and management specialist. Here are excerpts: * * * The Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions: An Overview Congress frequently delegates rulemaking authority to federal agencies in legislation. Having an early sense of the rules agencies are planning to issue and when they are planning to issue t more PR

WASHINGTON, June 26 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11995) on June 25, 2024, by Catherine A. Theohary, national security policy, cyber and information operations specialist: * * * Use of Force in Cyberspace Introduction There are presently no internationally accepted criteria for determining whether a nation state cyberattack is a use of force equivalent to an armed attack, which could trigger a military response. Likewise, no internatio more PR

WASHINGTON, June 28 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF10554) on June 25, 2024, by education policy specialist Cassandria Dortch. Here are excerpts: * * * Postsecondary Education of Native Americans Since the nation's early years, the United States of America has enacted federal policies intended to provide educational opportunities to Indian peoples. The federal government maintains and supports its trust relationship with Indian tribes, i more PR

WASHINGTON, June 29 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11187) on June 28, 2024, by legislative attorney Matthew D. Trout: * * * Campus Protests, Federal Funding and then First Amendment Recent protests at college campuses regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict have gained nationwide attention, raising questions as to when authorities may, within the bounds of the First Amendment, take action to regulate speech or expressive conduct during more PR

WASHINGTON, June 29 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11186) on June 28, 2024, by legislative attorney Whitney K. Novak: * * * Government Coercion of Private Speech: National Rifle Association (NRA) v. Vullo On May 30, 2024, the Supreme Court released its opinion in National Rifle Association (NRA) v. Vullo, a case addressing the First Amendment limitations on coercive government speech. Although the First Amendment does not generally more PR

WASHINGTON, June 29 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11188) on June 28, 2024, by legislative attorney Matthew D. Trout: * * * The Impact of Proposed Rescheduling of Marijuana on D.C. Regulatory Authority In 2014, voters in the District of Columbia (the "District") approved Initiative 71, a ballot measure that, as a matter of local D.C. law, repealed the local prohibition on the recreational use of marijuana in the District within cer more PR

WASHINGTON, June 28 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11183) on June 26, 2024, by legislative attorney Jennifer A. Staman: * * * Medication Abortion Access Remains Unchanged as Supreme Court Rejects Legal Challenge on Standing Grounds On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its decision in the consolidated cases U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Danco Laboratories L.L.C. v. Alliance fo more PR

WASHINGTON, June 28 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11182) on June 24, 2024, by deputy assistant director Michael John Garcia and legislative attorney Clay Wild: Here are excerpts: * * * Congressional Court Watcher: Recent Appellate Decisions of Interest to Lawmakers (June 17-June 23, 2024) The federal courts issue hundreds of decisions every week in cases involving diverse legal disputes. This Sidebar series selects decisions from more PR

WASHINGTON, June 29 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11189) on June 28, 2024, by legislative attorney Benjamin M. Barczewski: * * * Supreme Court Overrules Chevron Framework In what has the potential to be one of the most consequential decisions in federal administrative law, the Supreme Court on June 28, 2024, overruled Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., in a pair of cases, Loper Bright Enterprises v. R more PR

WASHINGTON, June 28 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11184) on June 26, 2024, by senior counsel and specialist Jeanne M. Dennis: * * * United States Trustee v. John Q. Hammons Fall 2006, LLC: Congressional Intent in Determining Remedies for Violations of the Bankruptcy Clause Uniformity Requirement On June 14, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision in United States Trustee v. John Q. Hammons Fall 2006, LLC that specified the a more PR

WASHINGTON, June 28 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11185) on June 27, 2024, by legislative attorney Justin C. Chung: * * * Supreme Court Declines to Decide Whether Sixteenth Amendment Requires "Realization" to Tax Income On June 20, 2024, the Supreme Court decided Moore v. United States, an appeal challenging a one-time "Mandatory Repatriation Tax" (MRT) on U.S. shareholders of a foreign corporation for accumulated, but undistribut more PR