A Shift in the International Security Environment: Potential Implications for Defense—Issues for Congress

"World events have led some observers, starting in late 2013, to conclude that the international security environment has undergone a shift from the familiar post-Cold War era of the past 20 to 25 years, also sometimes known as the unipolar moment (with the United States as the unipolar power), to a new and different situation that features, among other things, renewed great power competition with China and Russia and challenges by these two countries and others to elements of the U.S.-led international order that has operated since World War II.

A previous change in the international security environment—the shift in the late 1980s and early 1990s from the Cold War to the post-Cold War era—prompted a broad reassessment by the Department of Defense (DOD) and Congress of defense funding levels, strategy, and missions that led to numerous changes in DOD plans and programs. Many of these changes were articulated in the 1993 Bottom-Up Review (BUR), a reassessment of U.S. defense plans and programs whose very name conveyed the fundamental nature of the reexamination that had occurred..."
International security

Youth Banking Resource Center

"The FDIC is sharing resources to encourage banks and schools to work together to improve the financial skills and experiences of youth. Financial education and school-based savings programs introduce young people to financial services at an early age, while helping youth learn how to manage their money more effectively. Youth savings programs not only encourage the development of savings habits at a formative age, but also have the potential to promote economic inclusion for entire families.

A research report from the U.S. Treasury Department concluded that having a bank account boosts the effect of financial education instruction on students. The report also said that in schools where there was a branch of a federally-insured financial institution, students had more positive attitudes towards banks and were more likely to have a bank account...."
Youth and banking

12 Stats About Working Women

"Women are Integral to Today’s Workforce

• There are 74.6 million women in the civilian labor force.
• Almost 47 percent of U.S. workers are women.
• More than 39 percent of women work in occupations where women make up at least three-quarters of the workforce.
• Women own close to 10 million businesses, accounting for $1.4 trillion in receipts.
• Female veterans tend to continue their service in the labor force: About 3 out of 10 serve their country as government workers...."

Women and Work

Russia: Background and U.S. Interests

"Since 1991, Congress has played a key role in the development of U.S. policy toward the Russian Federation (Russia), the principal successor to the United States’ former superpower rival, the Soviet Union. In that time, U.S.-Russian relations have gone through positive and negative periods. Each new U.S. Administration has sought to improve U.S.-Russian relations at the start of its tenure, and the Donald J. Trump Administration has expressed similar intentions to rebuild constructive relations with Moscow. In doing so, however, the Administration has indicated it intends to adhere to core international commitments and principles, including retention of sanctions against Russia. Moving forward, the 115th Congress is expected to actively engage with the Administration on questions concerning U.S.-Russian relations..."
Russia

A Centuryof Women in Congress

"On November 7, 1916, Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to the United States Congress. To commemorate the centennial of her November 1916 election and April 1917 swearing-in as a U.S. Representative, the Office of the House Historian conducted oral histories with former women Members, staff, and family. Drawn from decades of congressional experience, the interviews in this ongoing project convey a larger narrative about the transformative role of women in American politics and their contributions to Congress during the past century. Learn more about this project..."
Congressional Women

Less HPV Infections Mean Healthier Communities of Color

"Human papillomavirus (or HPV) causes several types of cancers, and some communities of color have higher rates of these cancers. HPV vaccine can protect against cancers caused by HPV infection, protecting communities of color from these often devastating cancers.

About HPV

HPV is a very common and widespread virus. Nearly everyone will be infected in their lifetime. In most cases, HPV infections go away on their own and do not cause any health problems. But when HPV infections do not go away, they can cause cancer.

Cancers caused by HPV infection include cervical cancer, as well as some cancers of the vulva, vagina, penis, and anus. HPV can also cause cancer in the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils (oropharynx). Cancer can take years, even decades, to develop after a person gets an HPV infection. While cervical cancer can be detected through screening, there is no routine screening for other cancers caused by HPV infection. To learn more about HPV and the types of cancers it causes, visit the Link Between HPV and Cancer.

How Cancers Caused by HPV Affect Communities of Color

Every year in the United States, an estimated 17,600 women and 9,300 men are diagnosed with a cancer caused by HPV.

• Black men have higher rates of anal cancer than white men.
• Hispanic men have higher rates of penile cancer than non-Hispanic men.
• Although Hispanic women have the highest rates of getting cervical cancer, Black women have the highest rates of dying of cervical cancer.³
• Black women also have higher rates of vaginal cancer than women of other races.^..."

HPV infections

Partnerships to Prevent Youth Violence

"The STRYVE Action Council is a partnership to prevent youth violence.

Youth violence is a significant public health problem that causes considerable harm to young people, families, and communities. Learn about CDC's work leveraging partnerships across jurisdictions through the STRYVE Action Council, a multi-sector group of organizations with the common objective of mobilizing and sustaining actions that prevent youth violence before it starts.

Why Youth Violence?

Youth violence is a leading cause of death and injuries. Twelve young people are victims of homicide every day, and homicide is the third leading cause of death for youth aged 10-24 years. Its damage extends beyond young victims to harm the physical, mental, and economic health of all community residents..."
Youth violence

Keeping Backyard Poultry

"Live poultry, such as chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys, often carry germs such as Salmonella. After you touch a bird, or anything in the area where birds live and roam, wash your hands so you don't get sick!

Owning backyard chickens and other poultry can be a great experience. However, children and other groups of people have a greater chance of illness from handling live poultry or anything in the area where they live and roam. Even handling baby birds displayed at stores can cause a Salmonella infection. Keep reading to learn about the steps you can take to stay healthy around live poultry..."

Backyard poultry

Spring Home Improvements: Decorate, De-clutter and Prevent Deadly Tip Overs

"As the weather warms and a new season begins, it is the perfect time to take simple, proactive steps to make your home safer for your family.

Every 30 minutes, a child in the U.S. is hurt, and every two weeks a child dies as a result of a furniture and/or TV tip-over incident. To better understand what can lead to TV tip-overs, CPSC studied nearly 300 reports of nonfatal incidents.

Here’s what we learned and here’s how you can use the information this spring to make major home safety changes with minimal effort:

• • The majority (83.5 percent) of TV falls occurred when a child climbed on furniture where a TV was sitting on top. Children are curious and climb to pull or stand on a drawer or shelf, usually in an effort to reach the TV or other items on top of the furniture.
    Spring cleaning tip: Mount TVs or place them on furniture designed to hold a TV. Then remove any objects that might tempt a child to climb.
  • More than 90 percent of incidents involved CRT TVs. These older and bulky tube TVs are more tip prone because they are heavier in the front. When they fall, the heavy TVs can fall with the force of up to 12,000 pounds.
    Spring cleaning tip: Get rid of this potentially deadly danger. Remove and recycle the unused CRT TV rather than moving it to another room.
  • In all but one incident studied, anti-tip devices were not installed. Newer dressers are sold with anti-tip devices and flat-panel TVs have pre-drilled holes for anchoring. Anchoring furniture and TVs is easy, inexpensive and only takes a few minutes.Spring cleaning tip: Check your tool kit for the anti-tip kit sold with your child’s dresser and once found, install it. You will have a safer home. If you can’t find yours, buy an anti-tip device..."
    Spring home improvements

Ladder Safety App Aims to Reduce Worker Falls

"March is National Ladder Safety Month. The Ladder Safety App provides employers, workers, and homeowners with tools to prevent extension and step ladder-related fall injuries and deaths. Download this free, award-winning app today.

Falls are a persistent hazard in the workplace as well as at home. In the United States, over 500,000 people experience ladder-related injuries each year,¹ and more than 300 people die from such injuries.^.."
Ladder safety

DHS Releases U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Declined Detainer Outcome Report

"The Department of Homeland Security today issued the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Declined Detainer Outcome Report required by President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order, Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, signed on January 25.  This report will be issued weekly to highlight jurisdictions that choose not to cooperate with ICE detainers or requests for notification, therefore potentially endangering Americans. ICE places detainers on aliens who have been arrested on local criminal charges or who are in local custody and for whom ICE possesses probable cause to believe that they are removable from the United States, so that ICE can take custody of the alien when he or she is released from local custody...."
Declined detainer outcome report

America First A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again

"A MESSAGE TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
The American people elected me to fight for their priorities in Washington, D.C. and deliver on my promise to protect our Nation. I fully intend to keep that promise.

One of the most important ways the Federal Government sets priorities is through the Budget of the United States.

Accordingly, I submit to the Congress this Budget Blueprint to reprioritize Federal spending so that it advances the safety and security of the American people.

Our aim is to meet the simple, but crucial demand of our citizens—a Government that puts the needs of its own people first. When we do that, we will set free the dreams of every American, and we will begin a new chapter of American greatness.

A budget that puts America first must make the safety of our people its number one priority— because without safety, there can be no prosperity.

That is why I have instructed my Budget Director, Mick Mulvaney, to craft a budget that emphasizes national security and public safety. That work is reflected in this Budget Blueprint. To keep Americans safe, we have made tough choices that have been put off for too long. But we have also made necessary investments that are long overdue.

My Budget Blueprint for 2018:
• provides for one of the largest increases in defense spending without increasing the debt;
• significantly increases the budget for immigration enforcement at the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security;
• includes additional resources for a wall on the southern border with Mexico, immigration judges, expanded detention capacity, U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Border Patrol;
• increases funding to address violent crime and reduces opioid abuse; and
• puts America first by keeping more of America’s hard-earned tax dollars here at home..."
2018 Federal Budget

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch: His Jurisprudence and Potential Impact on the Supreme Court

"On January 31, 2017, President Donald J. Trump announced the nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (Tenth Circuit) to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016. Judge Gorsuch was appointed to the Tenth Circuit by President George W. Bush in 2006. The Tenth Circuit’s territorial jurisdiction covers Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming, and parts of Yellowstone National Park that extend into Idaho and Montana.

Immediately prior to his appointment to the bench, the nominee served as the Principal Deputy to the Associate Attorney General, the third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, assisting the Associate Attorney General with oversight of the Department’s various civil litigation components. Before serving in the Justice Department, the nominee worked in private practice as a civil litigator at the Washington, D.C. firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel. Judge Gorsuch began his legal career clerking for federal judges. He first served as a law clerk to Judge David B. Sentelle of the D.C. Circuit. Later, he served two Supreme Court Justices, newly retired Justice Byron White and Justice Anthony Kennedy, during the October 1993 term.

This report provides an overview of Judge Gorsuch’s jurisprudence and discusses how the Supreme Court might be affected if he were to succeed Justice Scalia. In particular, the report focuses on those areas of law where Justice Scalia can be seen to have influenced the High Court’s approach to particular issues or provided a fifth and deciding vote on the Court, with a view toward how the nominee might approach those same issues..."
Judge Neil M. Grosuch

Presidential Transitions: Issues Involving Outgoing and Incoming Administrations

"The crux of a presidential transition is the transfer of executive power from the incumbent to the President-elect. Yet the transition process encompasses a host of activities, beginning with preelection planning and continuing through inauguration day. The process ensures that the federal government provides resources to presidential candidates’ transition teams, and, eventually, the President-elect’s team; and includes close coordination between the outgoing and incoming Administrations. The Presidential Transition Act (PTA) of 1963, as amended, established formal mechanisms to facilitate presidential transitions and authorizes the Administrator of General Services to provide facilities and services to eligible presidential candidates and the Presidentelect. A presidential transition facilitates the establishment of a new Administration and prepares it to govern. Additionally, as noted by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in a report on S. 1172 (114th Congress, Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015), planning for a presidential transition helps to ensure the nation’s security..."
Presidential transitions

American Health Care Act

"The Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2017 directed the House Committees on Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce to develop legislation to reduce the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have produced an estimate of the budgetary effects of the American Health Care Act, which combines the pieces of legislation approved by the two committees pursuant to that resolution. In consultation with the budget committees, CBO used its March 2016 baseline with adjustments for subsequently enacted legislation, which underlies the resolution, as the benchmark to measure the cost of the legislation.

Effects on the Federal Budget 

CBO and JCT estimate that enacting the legislation would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion over the 2017-2026 period. That total consists of $323 billion in on-budget savings and $13 billion in off-budget savings. Outlays would be reduced by $1.2 trillion over the period, and revenues would be reduced by $0.9 trillion. The largest savings would come from reductions in outlays for Medicaid and from the elimination of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) subsidies for nongroup health insurance.

The largest costs would come from repealing many of the changes the ACA made to the Internal Revenue Code—including an increase in the Hospital Insurance payroll tax rate for high-income taxpayers, a surtax on those taxpayers’ net investment income, and annual fees imposed on health insurers—and from the establishment of a new tax credit for health insurance..." 
American Health Care Act