WASHINGTON, July 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11876) on July 23, 2024, by military ground forces specialist Andrew Feickert. Here are excerpts: * * * The Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) Program Background The RCV is being developed as part of the Army's Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) family of vehicles. As originally planned, the Army intended to develop three RCV variants: Light, Medium, and Heavy. The Army reportedly more PR

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12699) on July 22, 2024, by energy policy analyst Martin C. Offutt. Here are excerpts: * * * DOE Hydrogen Program Appropriations: FY2025 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Program addresses the development of applications that use hydrogen in place of today's fuels to provide modern energy services. The program also considers hydrogen as an established industrial chemical, for more PR

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12373) on July 22, 2024. The white paper is written by international trade and finance specialists Cathleen D. Cimino-Isaacs and Kyla H. Kitamura and Asian affairs specialist Mark E. Manyin. Here are excerpts: * * * Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) In May 2022, the United States and 13 partners launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), th more PR

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12714) on July 23, 2024, by American national government analyst Taylor R. Knoedl. Here are excerpts: * * * Overview of FY2025 Budget Request for the Census Bureau Introduction As a Department of Commerce agency, the Census Bureau is funded through Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bills. This In Focus provides an overview of the U more PR

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF11322) on July 23, 2024, by acting section research manager Nicole T. Carter and natural resources policy specialist Anna E. Normand. Here are excerpts: * * * Water Resources Development Acts: Primer and Action in the 118th Congress The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is a Department of Defense agency that, among other missions, develops water resource projects, principally to impr more PR

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Insight white paper (No. IN12393) on July 23, 2024, by senior research librarian Ben Leubsdorf: * * * Congressional District Geography Workbook: An Interactive Tool for Congressional Users This Insight accompanies the Congressional District Geography Workbook, a Microsoft Excel file that congressional users can download from CRS.gov. The workbook provides information about U.S. House districts as configured in the  more PR

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Insight white paper (No. IN12391) on July 22, 2024. The white paper is written by Middle Eastern affairs specialists Christopher M. Blanchard, Jim Zanotti, Jeremy M. Sharp and Clayton Thomas: * * * Israel and Houthis in Yemen: Attacks Highlight Regional Conflict Risks On July 19, 2024, the Ansar Allah/Houthi movement, an Iran-backed force that controls parts of Yemen, attacked Tel Aviv, Israel using an unmanned ae more PR

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Insight white paper (No. IN12392) on July 23, 2024, by cybersecurity policy specialist Chris Jaikaran: * * * The July 19th Global IT Outages On July 19, 2024, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike pushed an update to its software that caused some devices running the Windows operating system to crash. The day before, there was a separate outage of Microsoft Azure cloud services. The widespread adoption of both Microsoft pr more PR

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11204) on July 22, 2024, by attorney-adviser Steve P. Mulligan: * * * The Army Clause, Part 1: Overview and Historical Background This Legal Sidebar is the first in a five-part series that discusses the U.S. Constitution's Army Clause, found in Article I, Section 8, clause 12, which authorizes the federal government to raise and support armies while also allowing for congressional  more PR

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11205) on July 22, 2024, by attorney-adviser Steve P. Mulligan: * * * The Army Clause, Part 2: Drafting and Ratification History This Legal Sidebar is the second in a five-part series that discusses the Constitution's Army Clause, which authorizes the federal government to raise and support armies while also allowing for congressional control through the appropriations process. Bec more PR

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11206) on July 22, 2024, by attorney-adviser Steve P. Mulligan: * * * The Army Clause, Part 3: Appropriations, Conscription and War Materials This Legal Sidebar is the third in a five-part series that discusses the Constitution's Army Clause, which allows for the federal government to raise and support armies while also allowing for congressional control through the appropriations  more PR

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11207) on July 22, 2024, by attorney-adviser Steve P. Mulligan: * * * The Army Clause, Part 4: Role in Individual Rights Cases This Legal Sidebar post is the fourth in a five-part series that discusses the Constitution's Army Clause, which authorizes the federal government to raise and support armies while also allowing for congressional control through the appropriations process.  more PR

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11208) on July 22, 2024, by attorney-adviser Steve P. Mulligan: * * * The Army Clause, Part 5: Relationship with Principles of Federalism This Legal Sidebar is the last installment in a five-part series that discusses the Constitution's Army Clause, which authorizes the federal government to raise and support armies while also allowing for congressional control through the appropri more PR

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Legal Sidebar white paper (No. LSB11209) on July 23, 2024, by legislative attorney Kevin J. Hickey: * * * Terminal Disclaimers of Patent Rights: Background and Recent Developments Terminal disclaimers are a legal mechanism that allows a patent holder or applicant to relinquish part of a patent's term, so that the patent expires earlier than it would without the disclaimer. While terminal disclaimers are sometimes u more PR