WASHINGTON, March 9 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12113) on March 3, 2025, by foreign affairs analyst Jared G. Tupuola and European affairs specialist Derek E. Mix. Here are excerpts: * * * AUKUS and Indo-Pacific Security In 2021, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States announced a trilateral security partnership intended to "deepen diplomatic, security, and defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region." So more PR

WASHINGTON, March 9 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12933) on March 3, 2025, by social policy specialist Emilie Stoltzfus. Here are excerpts: * * * Child Welfare: Purposes, Federal Programs and Funding The Work of Child Welfare Agencies Children depend on adults - usually their parents - to protect and support them. The broadest mission of public child welfare agencies is to strengthen families so that children can depend on t more PR

WASHINGTON, March 9 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12933) on Feb. 28, 2025, by labor policy analyst Elizabeth Weber Handwerker. Here are excerpts: * * * Measuring the Impacts of the H-1B Visa Program on U.S. Labor Markets: Two Recent Quasi-Experimental Studies The H-1B visa program, created by the Immigration Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-649), allows U.S. employers to hire temporary foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring a more PR

WASHINGTON, March 9 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R45122) on March 7, 2025, entitled "Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy In Brief" by Middle Eastern affairs specialist Clayton Thomas: * * * SUMMARY Afghanistan under the Taliban, the Sunni Islamist group that retook power in 2021 as the United States ended its 20-year military and development mission in Afghanistan, remains one of the world's poorest countries and a haven for some internat more PR

WASHINGTON, March 9 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R44770) on Feb. 28, 2025, entitled "History, Evolution and Practices of the President's State of the Union Address - Frequently Asked Questions" by senior research librarian Maria Kreiser and Congress and legislative process specialist Michael Greene: * * * Summary The State of the Union address is a communication from the President to Congress in which the chief executive reports on the curren more PR

WASHINGTON, March 9 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R48442) on Feb. 28, 2025, entitled "Pell Grant Program: Major Congressional Proposals" by education policy specialist Cassandria Dortch: * * * SUMMARY The Federal Pell Grant program is the largest program providing need-based grant aid to postsecondary students. In FY2023, the program made $31 billion in grant aid available to approximately 6.5 million low-income undergraduate students. Congres more PR