Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Iraq and Afghanistan: 2007-2016

"This report provides background information for Congress on the levels of Department of Defense (DOD) troop and contractor personnel deployed in support of prior and ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. For more information on DOD’s use of contractor personnel to support military operations, see CRS Report R43074, Department of Defense’s Use of Contractors to Support Military Operations: Background, Analysis, and Issues for Congress, by Moshe Schwartz.

The Role of Contractors in Military Operations

Throughout its history, DOD has relied on contractors to support a wide range of military operations. Operations over the past 30 years have highlighted the critical role that contractors play in supporting U.S. troops—both in terms of the number of contractors and the type of work being performed. During recent U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, contractors frequently averaged 50% or more of the total DOD presence in-country..."
Afghanistan troop levels

EPA and DOT Finalize Greenhouse Gas and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration jointly finalized standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that would improve fuel efficiency and cut carbon pollution to reduce the impacts of climate change, while bolstering energy security and spurring manufacturing innovation.

The final phase two program promotes a new generation of cleaner, more fuel efficient trucks by encouraging the development and deployment of new and advanced cost-effective technologies. The product of four years of extensive testing and research, the vehicle and engine performance standards would cover model years 2018-2027 for certain trailers and model years 2021-2027 for semi-trucks, large pickup trucks, vans, and all types and sizes of buses and work trucks..."Fuel efficiency heavy duty engines

Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2013–14 - Statistical Tables

"More than 180 million applications for firearm transfers or permits were subject to background checks since the effective date of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act on February 28, 1994, through December 31, 2014. During this period, about 2.8 million applications (1.6%) were denied. In 2014, nearly 15 million applications were subject to background checks, and 193,000 (1.3%) were denied, including about 91,000 denied by the FBI and about 102,000 denied by state and local agencies..."
Background firearm checks

The Increasing Complexity of IT Occupations

"Computers are all around us — from desktops at work and home to smartphones everywhere in between. In fact, about 4 in 5 households own some type of computer. America’s use of technology relies on a large workforce to maintain networks, develop hardware and software, and provide support. In 2014, 4.6 million people worked in information technology (IT).

A new report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau explores trends in IT occupations since 1970 as well as characteristics of the IT workforce. Moreover, it explains how the Census Bureau tracks growing and evolving occupations over time..."
IT Occupations

FDA’s New Regulations for E-Cigarettes, Cigars, and All Other Tobacco Products

"Tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of disease and death in the United States. Since 2009, FDA has regulated cigarettes, smokeless, and roll-your-own tobacco. FDA finalized a rule, effective August 8, 2016, to regulate all tobacco products. For background information on this milestone in consumer protection, see The Facts on the FDA’s New Tobacco Rule.

Read the FDA Voice blog post by Center Director Mitch Zeller on Protecting the Public and Especially Kids from Tobacco Products, Including E-Cigarettes, Cigars and Hookah Tobacco..."
E-Cigarettes

Federal Assistance for Victims of Terrorism or Mass Violence: In Brief

"Following incidents of terrorism or mass violence in the United States, jurisdictions and individuals may be eligible to receive various types of victim assistance both directly from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and indirectly from DOJ through their respective state victim assistance agencies or other programs. While circumstances in some incidents may result in a jurisdiction’s eligibility for assistance from other federal departments, such as Department of Education grants awarded to Newtown Public School District in recovery efforts from the Newtown, CT, elementary school shooting, this report focuses solely on assistance available from DOJ’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)—the primary federal assistance available to victims of terrorism or mass violence.

As authorized by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA, P.L. 98-473), the OVC supports several federal programs that may assist victims of terrorism or mass violence. Grant programs include the victim assistance and victim compensation formula grant programs and the Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP). Other programs and operations directly assist victims, including the Victim Assistance Program at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), victim witness assistance at the Offices of the U.S. Attorneys, the International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program (ITVERP), the Victim Reunification Travel Program, and various supplemental grants to and agreements with agencies and organizations that provide assistance to victims of terrorism or mass violence..."
Victims of terrorism

Take Care with Pet Reptiles

"Many people think that Salmonella infections are caused only by contaminated food, but you can also get infected by handling turtles, lizards, frogs or anything in their environment, such as aquariums and food dishes. Salmonella germs in reptile and amphibian droppings (feces) can contaminate anything they contact.

If there are young children in your home, consider other pets for your family. More than 125 people have become sick in several ongoing, nationwide Salmonella outbreaks linked to small turtles. Most patients are children younger than 5 years. From 2006 to 2014, CDC investigated 15 multistate Salmonella outbreaks linked to turtles; 921 people were sickened, 156 were hospitalized, and an infant died. These illnesses and outbreaks are why CDC recommends that turtles and other reptiles are not kept as pets in households with young children.[775 KB],,,:

Reptiles care

The Distribution of Asset Holdings and Capital Gains

"In 2010, more than 70 percent of families directly owned property designated under the Internal Revenue Code as capital assets—that is, assets that can be sold and that typically generate taxable capital gains or deductible losses when sold. Families’ capital assets included their homes, other real estate, privately owned businesses, stocks, corporate and government bonds (including Treasury bills and notes but excluding Treasury savings bonds), and mutual funds; those assets had a combined worth of $50 trillion. That amount does not include an additional $20 trillion of other family assets—such as the value of defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans (for example, 401(k) plans) and balances in savings and checking accounts...
Asset holdings

State Challenges to Federal Enforcement of Immigration Law: From the Mid-1990s to the Present

"States and localities can have significant interest in the manner and extent to which federal officials enforce provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) regarding the exclusion and removal of unauthorized aliens. Depending upon the jurisdiction’s specific concerns, this interest can be expressed in various ways, from the adoption of “sanctuary” policies limiting the jurisdiction’s cooperation in federal enforcement efforts to the enactment of measures to deter unauthorized aliens from entering or remaining within the jurisdiction. In some cases, states or localities have also sued to compel federal officials to enforce the INA and other relevant laws.

In the mid-1990s, six states which were then home to over half the unauthorized aliens in the United States—Arizona, California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Texas—each filed suit alleging that federal officials’ failure to check unauthorized migration violated the Guarantee and Invasion Clauses of the Constitution, the Tenth Amendment, and provisions of the INA. Concerns regarding standing—or who is a proper party to seek relief from a federal court—were sometimes noted. However, even when standing was assumed, the constitutional claims were seen to involve nonjusticiable “political questions,” or failed on their merits. The states’ statutory claims were similarly seen to involve matters committed to agency discretion by law and, thus, not reviewable by the courts. In three cases, the courts also noted that federal officials’ alleged failure to control unauthorized migration did not constitute a reviewable “abdication” of their statutory duties...:
Immigration law

The U.S. Military’s Force Structure: A Primer

"In fiscal year 2015, the Department of Defense (DoD) spent a total of roughly $390 billion on operation and support (O&S) of military units. The O&S budget covers the costs associated with the day-to-day running of units. Those costs include pay and benefits for military personnel, compensation for most civilian employees, health care costs for military and civilian personnel, and the daily expenses of operating a unit, such as equipment maintenance, training, support contractors, and so on. The O&S budget makes up about two-thirds of DoD’s total “base” budget, which is the defense budget excluding additional funds provided specifically for wartime operations. (The rest of DoD’s base budget is spent on acquiring weapon systems and constructing buildings and other infrastructure.)...
U.S. military force

New Commitments to Accelerate the Safe Integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems

"Since President Obama took office in 2009, developments in aviation, sensing, and software technology have powered a revolution in unmanned flight. In the next decade, the burgeoning commercial drone industry is projected to generate more than $82 billion for the U.S. economy and, by 2025, could support as many as 100,000 new jobs.

Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is announcing new steps, sustained by public and private support, to promote the safe integration and innovative adoption of unmanned aircraft systems across the United States. These announcements build on the Administration’s efforts over the past seven and a half years to support the safe integration of unmanned aircraft into the highly-complex network that comprises the National Airspace System, including: air navigation and air traffic control facilities, airports, technology, and the appropriate rules and regulations. Most notably, these announcements expand on the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s  “Small UAS” rule announced earlier this summer to provide national guidelines for the operation of non-recreational unmanned aircraft under 55 pounds..."
Unmanned aircrafts

Graduated Driver Licensing Night Driving Restrictions and Drivers Aged 16 or 17 Years Involved in Fatal Night Crashes — United States, 2009–2014

"Fatal crash risk is higher at night for all drivers, but especially for young, inexperienced drivers (1). To help address the increased crash risk for beginner teen drivers, 49 states and the District of Columbia include a night driving restriction (NDR) in their Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) system. NDRs have been shown to reduce crashes among newly licensed teens, with higher reductions associated with NDRs starting at 10:00 p.m. or earlier (2–3). However, in 23 states and the District of Columbia, NDRs begin at 12:00 a.m. or later, times when most teen drivers subject to GDL are not driving. CDC analyzed 2009–2014 national and state-level data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) to determine the proportion of drivers aged 16 or 17 years involved in fatal crashes who crashed at night (9:00 p.m.–5:59 a.m.) and the proportion of these drivers who crashed before 12:00 a.m. Nationwide, among 6,104 drivers aged 16 or 17 years involved in fatal crashes during 2009–2014, 1,865 (31%) were involved in night crashes..."
Night driving crashes

Pay Equity: Legislative and Legal Developments

"According to some federal data, on average, full-time female workers earn approximately 20% less than full-time male workers. At least a portion of this gap is due to observable factors such as hours worked and the concentration of female workers in lower-paid occupations. Some interpret these data as evidence that discrimination, if present at all, is a minor factor in the pay differentials and conclude that no policy changes are necessary. Conversely, advocates for further policy interventions note that some of the explanatory factors of the pay gap (such as occupation and hours worked) could be the result of discrimination and that no broadly accepted methodology is able to attribute the entirety of the pay gap to non-gender factors.

Currently, there are two federal laws that may provide a remedy to employees who believe that unlawful sex-based wage discrimination has occurred: the Equal Pay Act (EPA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under the EPA, employers are prohibited from paying lower wages to female employees than male employees for “equal work” on jobs requiring “equal skill, effort, and responsibility” and performed “under similar working conditions” at the same location. Thus, the EPA is narrowly focused on the factual question of whether an employer has, on the basis of sex, paid unequal wages for equal work. In contrast, Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, and sex, is far broader in scope than the EPA and focuses on determining whether an employer had a discriminatory motive for paying workers differently on the basis of sex..."
Pay Equality

U.S. Department of Defense. Law of War Manual

"The law of war is part of who we are. George Washington, as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, agreed with his British adversary that the Revolutionary War would be “carried on agreeable to the rules which humanity formed” and “to prevent or punish every breach of the rules of war within the sphere of our respective commands.” During the Civil War, President Lincoln approved a set of “Instructions for the Government of the Armies of the United States in the Field,” which inspired other countries to adopt similar codes for their armed forces, and which served as a template for international codifications of the law of war.

After World War II, U.S. military lawyers, trying thousands of defendants before military commissions did, in the words of Justice Robert Jackson, “stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of law” in “one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason.” Reflecting on this distinctive history, one Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff observed that “[t]he laws of war have a peculiarly American cast.” And it is also true that the laws of war have shaped the U.S. Armed Forces as much as they have shaped any other armed force in the world..."
Department of Defense Law of War

Volkswagen to Spend up to $14.7 Billion to Settle Allegations of Cheating Emissions Tests and Deceiving Customers on 2.0 Liter Diesel Vehicles

"In two related settlements, one with the United States and the State of California, and one with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), German automaker Volkswagen AG and related entities have agreed to spend up to $14.7 billion to settle allegations of cheating emissions tests and deceiving customers. Volkswagen will offer consumers a buyback and lease termination for nearly 500,000 model year 2009-2015 2.0 liter diesel vehicles sold or leased in the U.S., and spend up to $10.03 billion to compensate consumers under the program. In addition, the companies will spend $4.7 billion to mitigate the pollution from these cars and invest in green vehicle technology.

The settlements partially resolve allegations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as the California Attorney General’s Office and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) under the Clean Air Act, California Health and Safety Code, and California’s Unfair Competition Laws, relating to the vehicles’ use of “defeat devices” to cheat emissions tests. The settlements also resolve claims by the FTC that Volkswagen violated the FTC Act through the deceptive and unfair advertising and sale of its “clean diesel” vehicles. The settlements do not resolve pending claims for civil penalties or any claims concerning 3.0 liter diesel vehicles. Nor do they address any potential criminal liability..."

Volkswagen and emission test