World AIDS Day: Increasing Impact

"The 2017 theme is “Increasing Impact through Transparency, Accountability, and Partnerships” 
Click on [Events Guide] for a list of activities to be held on World AIDS Day.
AIDS

Holiday shopping tips from the FTC

"Calling all shoppers: The holidays are just around the corner. And whether you like to meander through the mall or search for deals online, the FTC has a gift for you — shopping tips to help you watch your wallet, shop wisely, and protect your personal information.

• Make a list and a budget. Include incidentals, like cards, wrapping paper and eating out.
• Check out websites that compareprices for items sold online, and at stores in your area.
• Look for rebates. Some can be redeemed at checkout, but most require you to send documentation to the manufacturer to get your rebate.
• Make sure the scanned price is right. Overcharges cost you money and time, especially if you don’t notice them right away.
• Consider customer reviews carefully. The law says reviewers should disclose their connection to a company, but not all of them do. Before you buy anything based on a review, search online for information from sources you trust. Compare reviews from a variety of websites.
• Giving jewelry? Take some time to learn the terms used in the industry so you can get the best quality and value.
• If you use a mobile device or computer to shop for deals, be aware that some unexpected emails, texts or posts may lead to fraudulent sites claiming bargains on brand name products.
• Save receipts. When you’re shopping online, keep copies of your order number, the refund and return policies, shipping costs and warranties.
• Billed for merchandise that wasn’t received? Here’s what to do.
• If money’s tight, consider layaway. You typically make a deposit and pay over time; the retailer holds the merchandise until you’ve paid for the item in full..."

Holiday shopping

Cybersecurity: Cybercrime and National Security Authoritative Reports and Resources

"As online attacks grow in volume and sophistication, the United States is expanding its cybersecurity efforts. Cybercriminals continue to develop new ways to ensnare victims, whereas nation-state hackers compromise companies, government agencies, and businesses to create espionage networks and steal information. Threats come from both criminals and hostile countries, especially China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Much is written on this topic, and this CRS report directs the reader to authoritative sources that address many of the most prominent issues. The annotated descriptions of these sources are listed in reverse chronological order, with an emphasis on material published in the past several years. This report includes resources and studies from government agencies (federal, state, local, and international), think tanks, academic institutions, news organizations, and other sources:

Table 1—cybercrime, data breaches and security, including hacking, real-time attack maps, and statistics (such as economic estimates)
Table 2—national security, cyber espionage, and cyberwar, including Stuxnet,
Table 3—cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and FedRAMP..."
Cybercrime and national security

National COPD Awareness Month

"Do you suffer from a frequent cough or wheeze? Are you often short of breath when doing things like running errands or climbing stairs? Your lungs could be trying to tell you something. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, makes breathing difficult for millions of Americans. November is National COPD Awareness Month. Learn if you are at risk for having COPD.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, makes breathing difficult for the 16 million Americans who have been diagnosed with COPD. Millions more suffer from COPD, but have not been diagnosed and are not being treated. COPD can limit your ability to work or even perform simple daily tasks.

Could you have COPD?

The main cause of COPD is tobacco smoke, so if you smoke or used to smoke, you are at a higher risk of having COPD. Exposure to air pollutants like cigarette smoke or outdoor smog in the home or at work, family history, and respiratory infections like pneumonia also increase your risk..."
COPD

Be Antibiotics Aware: Smart Use, Best Care

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with national and international partners, will observe the tenth annual U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week (formerly Get Smart About Antibiotics Week) November 13–19, 2017. This year’s observance coincides with the release of CDC’s Be Antibiotics Aware, a national effort to help improve antibiotic prescribing and use and to help combat antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent threats to the public’s health. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people get infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and at least 23,000 people die as a result.

Antibiotics save lives but any time antibiotics are used, they can cause side effects and lead to antibiotic resistance. About 30 percent of antibiotics, or 47 million prescriptions, are prescribed unnecessarily in doctors’ offices and emergency departments in the United States, which makes improving antibiotic prescribing and use a national priority.
Antibiotics
.."

Defense Primer: President’s Constitutional Authority with Regard to the Armed Forces

"Article II, Section 2, Clause 1
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Office, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

Commander in Chief:
The Constitution makes the President Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, but does not define exactly what powers he may exercise in that role. Nor does it explain the extent to which Congress, using its own constitutional powers, may influence how the President commands the Armed Forces. Separation-of-powers debates seem to arise with some frequency regarding the exercise of military powers..."
Presidential authority and armed forces

Legislation Limiting the President’s Power to Use Nuclear Weapons: Separation of Powers Implications

"Recent proposed legislation that would place limitations on the President’s power to employ nuclear weapons has prompted interest in questions related to the constitutional allocation of power over the United States’ nuclear arsenal. This memorandum examines the constitutional separation of powers principles implicated by legislative proposals that restrict the President’s authority to launch nuclear weapons.1
I. Recent Legislation and Proposals to Restrict First-Use of Nuclear Weapons
 Legislation proposed in the 115th Congress would limit the President’s ability to order a “first-use nuclear strike.”2 On January 24, 2017, identical versions of a bill titled the Restricting First-Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017 (Restricting First-Use Bill) were introduced in both chambers of Congress. The Restricting First-Use Bill would prohibit the President from using the “Armed Forces of the United States to conduct a first-use nuclear strike unless such strike is conducted pursuant to a declaration of war by Congress that expressly authorizes such strike.”3 The term “first-use nuclear strike” is defined as an “attack using nuclear weapons against an enemy that is conducted without the President determining that the enemy has first launched a nuclear strike against the United States or an ally of the United States.”4 While some have advocated that the United States adopt a broader “no-first-use” policy and pledge never to use nuclear weapons first against a nuclear-armed adversary,5 the Restricting First-Use Bill would address the President’s ability to act as the sole decision maker when authorizing use of the nuclear arsenal. The Bill would not address overall U.S. policy on first-use, nor would it modify directly the technical mechanisms through which nuclear weapons are employed..."
President and nuclear weapons

Can Congress Limit the President's Power to Launch Nuclear Weapons?

"Recent legislation proposed in the 115th Congress intended to limit the President's ability to launch nuclear weapons has prompted heightened attention on Congress's constitutional power to control the nuclear arsenal. As outlined in earlier CRS products, the Constitution allocates the authorities necessary to conduct war and other military operations between Congress and the President. But the precise contours of each branch's respective powers have been the subject of debate since the founding era. Moreover, courts traditionally have been reluctant to resolve wartime separation of powers disputes between the legislative and executive branches, often dismissing these cases on jurisdictional grounds without reaching the merits of the constitutional challenges.

Against this backdrop of uncertainty, commentators have reached dramatically differing conclusions on the constitutionality of proposals to restrict the President's power over the nuclear arsenal. Proponents of congressional authority reason that Congress's many enumerated war powers—including the power to power "raise and support Armies" and "provide and maintain a Navy"—necessarily subsume a lesser authority to define how the President may utilize the forces and weapons that Congress has provided. But proponents of executive authority often argue that such restrictions would unconstitutionally infringe on the President's "commander in chief" power to make tactical decisions on how best to subdue an enemy..." 
President and nuclear weapons

Prevent the Spread of Norovirus

"Norovirus is a germ that spreads quickly and easily. It causes vomiting and diarrhea that come on suddenly. Millions of people get ill with norovirus each year. You can help protect yourself and others by washing your hands often and following simple tips to stay healthy.

Noroviruses are a group of related viruses that can cause inflammation of the stomach or intestines, also known as gastroenteritis (GAS-tro-en-ter-I-tis). This leads to cramping, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Norovirus Is the Most Common Cause of Gastroenteritis in the U.S.

CDC estimates that each year in the United States norovirus causes 19 to 21 million illnesses, 56,000 to 71,000 hospitalizations, and 570 to 800 deaths. Anyone can get infected with norovirus, and you can get it more than once. It is estimated that a person will get norovirus about 5 times during their lifetime. Norovirus outbreaks occur throughout the year. But, over 80% of reported outbreaks occur from November to April. Learn more about U.S. Trends and Outbreaks..."
Norovirus

Strengthening Workplace Health, One Resource at a Time

"Use CDC Workplace Health Resource Center to help employees improve their health.

Isabel Kurita of the Boise School District in Idaho promotes healthy lifestyles among employees to lower risks like obesity that may lead to chronic diseases like diabetes. “We have the same concerns as everyone else in the country when it comes to health risks. We want to make sure we have behavior change programs to reach as many people as possible.”

The wellness coordinator for 3,200 employees and retirees, Kurita was happy to find a new place for good ideas and tools to improve her team’s health.

It’s the Workplace Health Resource Center (WHRC), a new website CDC launched in August 2017 with more than 200 tools to help employers build their wellness programs—from breakroom posters to guides on how to reduce heart disease and stroke.

WHRC offers these free resources for organizations to help employees with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, depression, obesity, smoking, and other health concerns.

CDC introduced the new website at the Public Health Grand Rounds, a monthly series created to encourage discussion on major public health issues like workplace wellness..."
Workplace health

How to Help People with Disabilities Quit Smoking

"The percentage of adults who smoke cigarettes is higher among people with disabilities than people without disabilities. If more people with disabilities are included in smoking cessation programs, the percentage of those who smoke can be reduced.

Tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.¹ Although progress has been made with reducing cigarette smoking among U.S. adults, declining from 1 in 5 adults in 2005 (45.1 million smokers) to 1 in 6 adults in 2015 (36.5 million),² differences in prevalence of smoking between groups of people still persist. For example, in 2014, cigarette smoking was significantly higher among those who reported having any disability (more than 1 in 5 were smokers) compared to those who reported having no disability (about 1 in 6 were smokers). In addition, similar to people without disabilities, research shows that the percentage of smokers among people with disabilities also differs by race and ethnicity. For instance, the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Natives with a disability who smoke cigarettes was almost three times as high as among Asians with a disability (41.2% versus 12.8%)...."
Disabilities and smoking

Food Safety Tips for your Holiday Turkey

"Food handling errors and inadequate cooking are the most common problems that lead to poultry-associated foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States.¹ Follow these four food safety tips to help you safely prepare your next holiday turkey meal.

1. Safely Thaw Your Turkey

Thaw turkeys in the refrigerator, in a sink of cold water that is changed every 30 minutes, or in the microwave. Never thaw your turkey by leaving it out on the counter. A frozen turkey is safe indefinitely, but a thawing turkey must defrost at a safe temperature. When the turkey is left out at room temperature for more than two hours, its temperature becomes unsafe as it moves into the danger zone between 40°F and 140°F, where bacteria can grow rapidly.

2. Safely Handle Your Turkey

Raw poultry can contaminate anything it touches with harmful bacteria. Follow the four steps to food safety – cook, clean, chill, and separate – to prevent the spread of bacteria to your food and family..."
Turkey safety tips

Holiday Road Safety

"In the United States, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for people aged 1‒54, and more than 37,000 people were killed in crashes in 2016. However, many of these deaths can be prevented. Buckle up, drive sober, and stay safe on the roads this holiday season.

Here are some tips to help keep you and others safe on the road over the holidays:

• Use a seat belt in every seat, on every trip, no matter how short.
• Make sure children are always properly buckled in the back seat in a car seat, booster seat, or seat belt, whichever is appropriate for their age, height, and weight.
• Choose not to drive while impaired by alcohol or drugs, and help others do the same.
• Obey speed limits.
• Drive without distractions (such as using a cell phone or texting..."
  Holiday travel

Hate Crime Data: 2016

"Hate Crime Summary

Download Printable Document

November 13, 2017 FBI Releases 2016 Hate Crime Statistics 

Washington, D.C.—Today the FBI released Hate Crime Statistics, 2016, the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s latest compilation about bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation. Submitted by 15,254 law enforcement agencies, the 2016 data provide information about the offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.

Law enforcement agencies submitted incident reports involving 6,121 criminal incidents and 7,321 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity. Please note the UCR Program does not estimate offenses for the jurisdictions of agencies that do not submit reports. Highlights of Hate Crime Statistics, 2016, follow.

Victims of Hate Crime Incidents

• There were 6,063 single-bias incidents involving 7,509 victims. A percent distribution of victims by bias type showed that 58.9 percent of victims were targeted because of the offenders’ race/ethnicity/ancestry bias; 21.1 percent were targeted because of the offenders’ religious bias; 16.7 percent were victimized because of the offenders’ sexual-orientation bias; 1.7 percent were targeted because of the offenders’ gender identity bias; 1.0 percent were victimized because of the offenders’ disability bias; and 0.5 percent were victimized because of the offenders’ gender bias. (Due to rounding, percentage breakdowns may not add to 100.0 percent.)

• Fifty-eight (58) multiple-bias hate crime incidents involved 106 victims....
  Hate Crime Statistics, 2016, is available exclusively on the FBI’s Web site at https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2016..."
  Hate Crime statistics

Government Printing, Publications, and Digital Information Management: Issues and Challenges

"In the past half-century, in government and beyond, information creation, distribution, retention, and preservation activities have transitioned from a tangible, paper-based process to digital processes managed through computerized information technologies. Information is created as a digital object which then may be rendered as a text, image, or video file. Those files are then distributed through a myriad of outlets ranging from particular software application and websites to social media platforms. The material may be produced in tangible, printed form, but typically remains in digital formats.

The Government Publishing Office (GPO) is a legislative branch agency that serves all three branches of the national government as a centralized resource for gathering, cataloging, producing, providing, authenticating, and preserving published information. The agency is overseen by the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP) which in 1895 was charged with overseeing and regulating U.S. government printing. GPO operates on the basis of a number of statutory authorities first granted in the 19th and 20th centuries that presume the existence of government information in an ink-on-paper format, because no other format existed when those authorities were enacted. GPO’s activities include the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), which provides permanent public access to published federal government information, and which last received legislative consideration in 1962..."
Government Publicaitons

Projections of Education Statistics to 2025

"This publication provides projections for key education statistics. It includes statistics on enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary schools, and enrollment and earned degrees conferred expenditures of degree-granting institutions. For the Nation, the tables, figures, and text contain data on enrollment, teachers, graduates, and expenditures for the past 14 years and projections to the year 2025. For the 50 States and the District of Columbia, the tables, figures, and text contain data on projections of public elementary and secondary enrollment and public high school graduates to the year 2025. In addition, the report includes a methodology section describing models and assumptions used to develop national and state-level projections.

Online Availability:Download, view and print the report as a pdf file.  (1.5MB)..."

Education statistics

Drowsy Driving: Asleep at the Wheel

"Drive alert and stay unhurt. Learn the risks of drowsy driving and how to protect yourself. Drive alert! Learn the risks of drowsy driving and how to protect yourself in an effort to reduce the number of sleep-related crashes and save lives.

The Drowsy Driving Problem

Drowsy driving is a major problem in the United States. The risk, danger, and often tragic results of drowsy driving are alarming. Drowsy driving is the dangerous combination of driving and sleepiness or fatigue. This usually happens when a driver has not slept enough, but it can also happen due to untreated sleep disorders, medications, drinking alcohol, or shift work.

No one knows the exact moment when sleep comes over their body. Falling asleep at the wheel is clearly dangerous, but being sleepy affects your ability to drive safely even if you don’t fall asleep. Drowsiness—

• Makes drivers less able to pay attention to the road.¹
• Slows reaction time if you have to brake or steer suddenly.¹
• Affects a driver’s ability to make good decisions..."
  Drowsy driving

Lung Cancer Awareness

"Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death and the second most common cancer among both men and women in the United States.

The most important thing you can do to lower your lung cancer risk is to quit smoking and avoid secondhand smoke. For help quitting, visit smokefree.gov, call 1 (800) QUIT-NOW (784-8669), or text “QUIT” to 47848 from your cell phone.

What You Can Do to Lower Your Risk

You can help lower your risk of lung cancer in the following ways—

• Don’t smoke. The most important thing you can do to prevent lung cancer is to not start smoking, or to quit if you smoke.
• Avoid secondhand smoke. Smoke from other people’s cigarettes, pipes, or cigars is called secondhand smoke. Make your home and car smoke-free.
• Get your home tested for radon. The second leading cause of lung cancer is radon, a naturally occurring gas that comes from rocks and dirt and can get trapped in houses and buildings..."
  Lung Cancer

Child Abuse Prevention

"November 19th is the International Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse. Learn more about how CDC is protecting the futures of children all around the world with the Violence Against Children Surveys.

The Violence Against Children Surveys (VACS) are nationally representative household surveys of children and young adults ages 13 to 24 years.

The surveys are designed to measure the prevalence (number and percentage) and circumstances surrounding emotional, physical, and sexual violence against males and females in childhood (before age 18) and young adulthood. The surveys also identify risk and protective factors and consequences of violence.

CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention works to prevent violence and its adverse health consequences. Findings from VACS provide reliable evidence to allow countries to make better decisions about allocating limited resources to develop, launch, and evaluate violence prevention programs and child protection systems. As part of the VACS process, CDC, along with Together for Girls partners, links VACS findings to the INSPIRE technical package..."
Childhood abuse

Epilepsy in Veterans

"November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month and November 11 is Veterans Day. Veterans are at higher risk of developing epilepsy. Learn more about resources to help veterans and families.

What is Epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a broad term used for a brain disorder that causes reoccurring seizures. A seizure involves sudden, abnormal electrical activity in the brain that causes brief changes in how a person behaves, thinks, or feels.

How many veterans have epilepsy?

In 2015, about 3 million U.S. adults age 18 and older had active epilepsy (which means the person was diagnosed with epilepsy by a doctor and they were under treatment or had recent seizures).¹ Experts aren’t sure exactly how many veterans have epilepsy. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) estimated that the prevalence of veterans with epilepsy under treatment at VA facilities was 13.8 per 1000 in 2015.² Think of that number this way: if 100,000 veterans were in attendance at an event, almost 1,400 of them would be in treatment for epilepsy in VA facilities. The VHA data show that about 13% of veterans with seizures were less than 45 years old, 39% were between 45-65 years old, and about 8% were female..."
Epilepsy and veterans

Family Health History and Diabetes

"If you have a mother, father, sister, or brother with diabetes, you are more likely to get diabetes yourself. You are also more likely to have prediabetes. Talk to your doctor about your family health history of diabetes. Your doctor can help you take steps to prevent or delay diabetes, and reverse prediabetes if you have it.

Over 30 million people have diabetes. People with diabetes have levels of blood sugar that are too high. The different types of diabetes include type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. Diabetes can cause serious health problems, including heart disease, kidney problems, stroke, blindness, and the need for lower leg amputations.

People with prediabetes have levels of blood sugar that are higher than normal, but not high enough for them to be diagnosed with diabetes. People with prediabetes are more likely to get type 2 diabetes. About 84 million people in the United States have prediabetes, but most of them don’t know they have it. If you have prediabetes, you can take steps to reverse it and prevent or delay diabetes—but not if you don’t know that you have it. Could you have prediabetes? Take this test to find out..."
Diabetes and families

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month!

"The first American Indian Day was celebrated in May 1916 in New York. Red Fox James, a Blackfeet Indian, rode horseback from state to state, getting endorsements from 24 state governments, to have a day to honor American Indians. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed a joint congressional resolution designating November 1990 as “National American Indian Heritage Month.” American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) from hundreds of tribes have shaped our national life. During Native American Heritage Month, we honor their vibrant cultures. Learn more about some of the health issues that affect this population and some efforts to address these health issues.

Strategies for Reducing Health Disparities

As we celebrate Native American Heritage Month this year, CDC highlights Strategies for Reducing Health Disparities — Selected CDC-Sponsored Interventions, United States, 2014 and 2016 reports, which offer real-world examples of how public health programs can address differences in health outcomes and their causes among groups of people.

• The 2014 report includes how four AI/AN tribal communities implemented road safety interventions to lower motor vehicle–related injuries and death.
• The 2016  report discusses the Traditional Foods Project (2008-2014), in which participating tribal communities worked to restore access to local, traditional foods and encouraged physical activity to promote health. AI/AN communities across the country are reclaiming traditional foods as part of the global Indigenous food sovereignty movement that embraces identity, history, and traditional ways and practices to address health, highlighted in the Traditional Foods Stories..."

Native American Heritage

Celebrate This Veteran's Day Tobacco Free

"This Veteran’s Day, CDC is supporting veterans by sharing free resources available to help them quit tobacco use. Cigarette smoking and other tobacco use are harmful to the health of any user, but for active-duty military personnel tobacco use can be especially problematic. As with all users, cigarette smoking increases risk for diseases among veterans and active-duty members, including lung cancer, heart disease, chronic bronchitis, and many others. Additionally, their strength and performance can be impaired by smoking, either through exposure to nicotine and other poisons in cigarettes, or through nicotine withdrawal. Tobacco use can also result in soldiers being absent from duty or being unable to perform necessary tasks. Further, service members who use tobacco are more likely to drop out of basic training and to experience accidents and injuries, which negatively impact troop readiness.

But the good news is that quitting significantly reduces your risk for heart attack, stroke, and some cancers. In addition to the health benefits, quitting smoking can also result in significant cost savings. The U.S. Department of Defense spends over $1.6 billion each year on tobacco-related medical care, increased hospitalization, and lost days of work..."
Veterans and tobacco

Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress

"The papers of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), lawyer, representative from Illinois, and sixteenth president of the United States, contain approximately 40,550 documents dating from 1774 to 1948, although most of the collection spans from the 1850s through Lincoln’s presidency (1861-1865).  Roughly half of the collection, more than 20,000 documents, comprising 62,000 images, as well as transcriptions of approximately 10,000 documents, is online. Included on this website in their entirety are Series 1-3 of the Lincoln Papers and the original materials in Series 4. Excluded from this online presentation is a sizeable portion of Series 4, which consists of printed material and reproductions of government and military documents made from originals in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration...


The Index to the Abraham Lincoln Papers (PDF and page view) created by the Manuscript Division in 1960 after the bulk of the collection was microfilmed, provides a full list of the correspondents and notes the series number, dates, and mounting-sheet numbers for items in Series 1-3 of the Abraham Lincoln Papers. This information, in addition to the keyword search capability in the online presentation, is helpful in finding individual letters or documents in the online version. Additional letters received by the Library after 1960 are not listed in this index.

A current finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Abraham Lincoln Papers is also available online..."
Abraham Lincoln papers

U.S. Census Bureau Releases Key Statistics on Our Nation’s Veterans

"Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary marking the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and November 11th became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day, as a way to honor those who served in all American wars. Veterans Day honors military veterans with parades and speeches across the nation and a remembrance ceremony takes place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

 

The following are key economic and demographic statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau on our nation’s veterans.

18.5 million

The number of military veterans in the United States in 2016.

9.2 million

The number of veterans age 65 and older in 2016. At the other end of the age spectrum, 1.6 million were younger than age 35.

6.7 million

The number of Vietnam Era veterans in 2016. Moreover, there were 7.1 million who served during the Gulf War (representing service from August 1990 to present); 768,263 who served in World War II; 1.6 million who served in the Korean War; and 2.4 million who served in peacetime only.

14.4 million

The number of veterans who voted in the 2016 presidential election. In that election, 69.6 percent of veterans cast a ballot, compared with 60.6 percent of nonveterans. These rates reflect the citizen voting-age population.

398,453

The number of all U.S. employer firms that are majority owned by veterans. Veteran-owned firms comprised 7.2 percent of the nation's 5.5 million employer businesses..."
Veterans Data

Climate Science Special Report(4th)

"The climate of the United States is strongly connected to the changing global climate. The statements below highlight past, current, and projected climate changes for the United States and the globe.

Global annually averaged surface air temperature has increased by about 1.8°F (1.0°C) over the last 115 years (1901–2016). This period is now the warmest in the history of modern civilization. The last few years have also seen record-breaking, climate-related weather extremes, and the last three years have been the warmest years on record for the globe. These trends are expected to continue over climate timescales.

This assessment concludes, based on extensive evidence, that it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence..".
Climate Science Report

Alexander Hamilton Papers

"The papers of Alexander Hamilton (ca. 1757-1804), first treasury secretary of the United States, consist of his personal and public correspondence, drafts of his writings (although not his Federalist essays), and correspondence among members of the Hamilton and Schuyler families. The collection, consisting of approximately 12,000 items dating from 1708 to 1917, documents Hamilton's impoverished Caribbean boyhood (scantily); events in the lives of his family and that of his wife, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton; his experience as a Revolutionary War officer and aide-de-camp to General George Washington; his terms as a New York delegate to the Continental Congress (1782-1783) and the Constitutional Convention (1787); and his careers as a New York state legislator, United States treasury secretary (1789-1795), political writer, and lawyer in private practice. Most of the papers date from 1777 until Hamilton's death in 1804. Additional details may be found in the collection's finding aid (HTML and PDF versions).

Among the many correspondents in the papers are John Adams, Angelica Schuyler Church, Henry Clay, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, Rufus King, the Marquis de Lafayette, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, James McHenry, James Monroe, Robert Morris, Timothy Pickering, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Philip Schuyler, Baron von Steuben, Robert Troup, George Washington, James Wilkinson, and Oliver Wolcott, Jr..."
Alexander Hamilton

Approaches for Managing the Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2017 to 2046

"To continue to field a nuclear force roughly the same size as it is today, the United States plans to modernize virtually every element of that force over the coming decades. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the most recent detailed plans for nuclear forces, which were incorporated in the Obama Administration’s 2017 budget request, would cost $1.2 trillion in 2017 dollars over the 2017–2046 period: more than $800 billion to operate and sustain (that is, incrementally upgrade) nuclear forces and about $400 billion to modernize them.

That planned nuclear modernization would boost the total costs of nuclear forces over 30 years by roughly 50 percent over what they would be to only operate and sustain fielded forces, CBO estimates. During the peak years of modernization, annual costs of nuclear forces would be roughly double the current amount. That increase would occur at a time when total defense spending may be constrained by long-term fiscal pressures, and nuclear forces would have to compete with other defense priorities for funding..."
U.S. Nuclear forces cost

The North Korean Nuclear Challenge: Military Options and Issues for Congress

"North Korea’s apparently successful July 2017 tests of its intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities, along with the possibility that North Korea (DPRK) may have successfully miniaturized a nuclear warhead, have led analysts and policymakers to conclude that the window for preventing the DPRK from acquiring a nuclear missile capable of reaching the United States is closing. These events appear to have fundamentally altered U.S. perceptions of the threat the Kim Jong-un regime poses to the continental United States and the international community, and escalated the standoff on the Korean Peninsula to levels that have arguably not been seen since 1994.

A key issue is whether or not the United States could manage and deter a nuclear-armed North Korea if it were to become capable of attacking targets in the U.S. homeland, and whether taking decisive military action to prevent the emergence of such a DPRK capability might be necessary. Either choice would bring with it considerable risk for the United States, its allies, regional stability, and global order. Trump Administration officials have stated that “all options are on the table,” to include the use of military force to “denuclearize,”—generally interpreted to mean eliminating nuclear weapons and related capabilities—from that area..."
North Korea and nuclear challenge

The Vacancies Act: A Legal Overview

"The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (Vacancies Act) generally provides the exclusive means by which a government employee may temporarily perform the nondelegable functions and duties of a vacant advice and consent position in an executive agency. Unless an acting officer is serving in compliance with the requirements of the Vacancies Act, any attempt to perform the functions and duties of that office will have no force or effect.

The Vacancies Act limits a government employee’s ability to serve as an acting officer in two primary ways. First, the Vacancies Act provides that only three classes of people may serve temporarily in an advice and consent position. As a default rule, the first assistant to a position automatically becomes the acting officer. Alternatively, the President may direct either a senior official of that agency or a person serving in any other advice and consent position to serve as the acting officer. Second, the Vacancies Act limits the length of time a person may serve as acting officer: a person may serve either (1) for a limited time period running from the date that the vacancy occurred or (2) during the pendency of a nomination to that office. The Vacancies Act is primarily enforced when a person who has been injured by an agency’s action challenges the action based on the theory that it was taken in contravention of the Act..."
Vacancies Act