Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Future U.S. Role in the World

A July 12, 2017 CRS Report entitled U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress by Ronald O-Rourke and Michael Moodie provides background information and issues for Congress to consider given statements and actions from the Trump Administration that may indicate a change in the role the U.S. plays in world affairs. The central policy issue for this report concerns "whether there should be a change in the U.S. role, and if so, what that change should be, including whether a given proposed change would be feasible or practical, and what consequences may result." The report addresses implications a change in the U.S. role would have for "congressional organization, capacity, and operations relating to foreign policy, national security, and international economic policy."

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

Summer Recreation - Find a National Park

Looking for an outdoor getaway this summer? The U.S. National Park Service's "Find a Park" page features a map of the U.S. enabling you to click on a particular state and see where national parks are located in that state.  If downloading a map of a national park is taking too long, national park enthusiast and park ranger Matt Holly has collected park maps to streamline download. Holly started his site, http://npmaps.com/ , during the 2013 government shutdown, but has continued adding maps since then. Eventually he plans to have every National Park Service Map on his site.