Research Library

On May 22, the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, which specifies the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense and sets the policies under which money (somewhat in excess of $600 billion) will be spent on our country’s defense. However, an amendment added to the bill will keep the Department of Defense from preparing for or performing any military activities that include any construction related to climate change.

Baker Institute health policy experts Hagop M. Kantarjian and Vivian Ho explain why Texas, which holds the notorious record of the highest rate of uninsured citizens in the U.S., should follow many Republican-led states that are now reconsidering the Medicaid expansion program under Obamacare.

While much media attention recently has focused on the geopolitical fault lines that connect Syria’s violence to wider region-wide trends, the plight of individual women, men, and children displaced within Syria or living in camps beyond its borders shows no sign of ending. As Secretary of State John Kerry has stated, the humanitarian situation in Syria is "an outrage" but the violence only looks set to worsen as opposition groups turn on each other and radical trans-national elements feed off the resulting vacuum of authority and control. This is the task as the international community prepares to reconvene in Switzerland on January 22, writes Baker Institute fellow Kristian Coates Ulrichsen in the Baker Institute Blog.

With the Yemeni government in a state of transition, the time is right to propose legislation that would protect young girls from the physical, emotional and economic harms of early marriage.

On Monday, three committees in Mexico’s senate — constitutional issues, energy and legislative studies — voted to bring an energy reform bill to the chamber’s floor for debate. The legislation would provide international oil companies the opportunity to participate in profit-sharing contracts and concession-like licenses for energy operations in Mexico, and it is expected to become law by the end of the legislative session Dec. 15.

The Texas Legislature did not pass legislation to ban and prevent the existence of "sanctuary cities" for undocumented immigrants in Texas during the 2011 May-June special session. Political science fellow Mark P. Jones examines whether the demise of this legislation was the Republican leadership's preferred outcome.