WASHINGTON, March 27 -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R44175) on March 26, 2025, entitled "Navy Shipboard Lasers - Background and Issues for Congress:" (Continued from Part 1 of 2) * * * ODIN Overview Optical Dazzler Interdictor Navy (ODIN) systems have been installed on eight Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class destroyers. Figure 10 and Figure 11 reportedly show an ODIN system. The first ODIN installation reportedly was done on the destroyer Dewey (DDG-105) more PR

WASHINGTON, March 25 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R48469) on March 24, 2025, entitled "The Seafood Import Monitoring Program" by natural resources policy analyst Anthony R. Marshak. Here are excerpts: * * * SUMMARY The Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) is a federal risk-based seafood traceability program that sets reporting and recordkeeping requirements from the point of harvest to entry into U.S. commerce. The National Marine Fisher more PR

WASHINGTON, March 25 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R48469) on March 24, 2025, entitled "The Seafood Import Monitoring Program:" (Continued from Part 1 of 2) * * * Planned Next Steps for the Seafood Import Monitoring Program NOAA has considered potential expansions and refinements to SIMP's implementation, including an evaluation of the program. In December 2022, NMFS issued a proposed rule to expand SIMP in accordance with directives in the  more PR

WASHINGTON, March 24 -- The Congressional Budget Office issued the following cost estimate for the Disaster Management Costs Modernization Act (H.R. 744). * * * H.R. 744 would allow state and local governments that receive disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to repurpose unused funds that were originally allocated for management costs to increase their administrative capacity to prepare for, recover from, or mitigate the effects of future disasters. Under cu more PR

WASHINGTON, March 27 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Budget Office issued the following report on March 26, 2025, entitled "Federal Debt and the Statutory Limit, March 2025." Here are excerpts: * * * The debt limit - commonly called the debt ceiling - is the maximum amount of debt that the Department of the Treasury can issue to the public or to other federal agencies. The amount is set by law and has been increased or suspended over the years to allow for the additional borrowing needed to fin more PR

WASHINGTON, March 25 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF10876) on March 24, 2025, by military personnel specialist Kristy N. Kamarck and defense health care policy specialist Bryce H. P. Mendez. Here are excerpts: * * * Military Suicide Prevention and Response Background When a servicemember dies by suicide, those close to the member often experience shock, anger, guilt, and sorrow. As such, a servicemember's suicide may adversely more PR

WASHINGTON, March 26 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12948) on March 25, 2025, by section research manager Paul S. Davies. Here are excerpts: * * * Social Security Fraud Overview Social Security Programs The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers Social Security, a social insurance program that protects an insured worker and his or her eligible family members against a loss of income due to the worker's retirement, di more PR

WASHINGTON, March 25 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF10230) on March 24, 2025, by Latin American affairs specialist Clare Ribando Seelke. Here are excerpts: * * * Venezuela: Political Crisis and U.S. Policy Over the past several Congresses, Members have expressed concerns about authoritarian governance under Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (2013-present). Maduro took office after garnering a narrow electoral victory followin more PR