1.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
–
Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
–
Flag
United States
–
The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
–
The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
2.
Oceania
–
Oceania, also known as Oceanica, is a region centred on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The term is used more specifically to denote a continent comprising Australia. The term was coined as Océanie circa 1812 by geographer Conrad Malte-Brun, the word Océanie is a French word derived from the Latin word oceanus, and this from the Greek word ὠκεανός, ocean. Natives and inhabitants of this region are called Oceanians or Oceanicans, as an ecozone, Oceania includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand. New Zealand, along with New Guinea and nearby islands, part of the Philippine islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, in geopolitical terms, however, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are almost always considered part of Oceania. Australia and Papua New Guinea are usually considered part of Oceania along with the Maluku Islands, puncak Jaya in Papua is often considered the highest peak in Oceania. Oceania was originally conceived as the lands of the Pacific Ocean and it comprised four regions, Polynesia, Micronesia, Malaysia, and Melanesia. The area extends to Sumatra in the west, the Bonin Islands in the northwest, the Hawaiian Islands in the northeast, Rapa Nui and Sala y Gómez Island in the east, and Macquarie Island in the south. Not included are the Pacific islands of Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands and the Japanese archipelago, all on the margins of Asia, and the Aleutian Islands of North America. The islands at the extremes of Oceania are Bonin, a politically integral part of Japan, Hawaii, a state of the United States. There is also a geographic definition that excludes land on the Sunda Plate. Biogeographically, Oceania is used as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone or the Pacific ecozone, Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozones, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet. The Oceania ecozone includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand, New Zealand, New Guinea, Melanesia apart from Fiji, and Australia constitute the separate Australasian ecozone. The Malay Archipelago is part of the Indomalaya ecozone, related to these concepts are Near Oceania, that part of western Island Melanesia which has been inhabited for tens of millennia, and Remote Oceania which is more recently settled. The term is used to denote a continent comprising Australia. New Zealand forms the corner of the Polynesian Triangle. Its indigenous Māori constitute one of the cultures of Polynesia. It is also, however, considered part of Australasia, the history of Oceania in the medieval period was synonymous with the history of the indigenous peoples of Australasia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia
Oceania
–
A map of Oceania from the CIA World Factbook
Oceania
–
Geopolitical Oceania
Oceania
–
Aoraki / Mount Cook, located on the
South Island of
New Zealand
Oceania
–
Satellite image of Oceania
3.
Sovereign state
–
A sovereign state is, in international law, a nonphysical juridical entity that is represented by one centralized government that has sovereignty over a geographic area. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory, one government, and it is also normally understood that a sovereign state is neither dependent on nor subjected to any other power or state. The existence or disappearance of a state is a question of fact, States came into existence as people gradually transferred their allegiance from an individual sovereign to an intangible but territorial political entity, of the state. States are but one of political orders that emerged from feudal Europe, others being city states, leagues. Westphalian sovereignty is the concept of sovereignty based on territoriality. It is a system of states, multinational corporations. Sovereignty is a term that is frequently misused and that position was reflected and constituted in the notion that their sovereignty was either completely lacking, or at least of an inferior character when compared to that of civilised people. Lassa Oppenheim said There exists perhaps no conception the meaning of which is more controversial than that of sovereignty. It is a fact that this conception, from the moment when it was introduced into political science until the present day, has never had a meaning which was universally agreed upon. In the opinion of H. V. Evatt of the High Court of Australia, sovereignty is neither a question of fact, nor a question of law, but a question that does not arise at all. The right of nations to determine their own status and exercise permanent sovereignty within the limits of their territorial jurisdictions is widely recognized. The Westphalian model of sovereignty has increasingly come under fire from the non-west as a system imposed solely by Western Colonialism. What this model did was make religion a subordinate to politics and this system does not fit in the Islamic world because concepts such as separation of church and state and individual conscience are not recognised in the Islamic religion as social systems. Nation denotes a people who are believed to or deemed to share common customs, religion, language, origins, however, the adjectives national and international are frequently used to refer to matters pertaining to what are strictly sovereign states, as in national capital, international law. State refers to the set of governing and supportive institutions that have sovereignty over a definite territory, State recognition signifies the decision of a sovereign state to treat another entity as also being a sovereign state. Recognition can be expressed or implied and is usually retroactive in its effects. It does not necessarily signify a desire to establish or maintain diplomatic relations, There is no definition that is binding on all the members of the community of nations on the criteria for statehood. In actual practice, the criteria are mainly political, not legal, in international law, however, there are several theories of when a state should be recognised as sovereign
Sovereign state
–
Member states of the
United Nations, all of which are sovereign states, though not all sovereign states are necessarily members
4.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
–
The CNMI includes all islands in the Mariana Archipelago except Guam which is the southernmost island of the chain and a separate U. S. territory. The United States Department of the Interior cites a landmass of 183.5 square miles, according to the 2010 United States Census,53,883 people were living in the CNMI at that time. The vast majority of the population resides on Saipan, Tinian, the administrative center is Capitol Hill, a village in northwestern Saipan. However, most publications consider Saipan to be the capital because the island is governed as a single municipality, the first people of the Mariana Islands immigrated at some point between 4000 BC and 2000 BC from Southeast Asia. After first contact with Spaniards, they became known as the Chamorros, a Spanish word similar to Chamori. The ancient people of the Marianas raised colonnades of megalithic capped pillars called latte stones upon which they built their homes, the first European explorer of the area, the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, arrived in 1521. He landed on Guam, the southernmost island of the Marianas, the Spanish ships were met offshore by the native Chamorros, who delivered refreshments and then helped themselves to a small boat belonging to Magellans fleet. This led to a clash, in Chamorro tradition, little property was private and taking something one needed, such as a boat for fishing. The Spanish did not understand this custom, and fought the Chamorros until the boat was recovered, three days after he had been welcomed on his arrival, Magellan fled the archipelago. Spain regarded the islands as annexed and later made part of the Spanish East Indies. In 1734, the Spanish built a palace in Guam for the governor of the islands. Its remains are visible even in the 21st century, see the Plaza de España article, Guam operated as an important stopover between Manila and Mexico for galleons carrying gold between the Philippines and Spain. Some galleons sunk in Guam remain, in 1668, Father Diego Luis de San Vitores renamed the islands Las Marianas in honor of his patroness the Spanish regent Mariana of Austria, widow of Felipe IV. Most of the native population died from Spanish diseases or married non-Chamorro settlers under Spanish rule. New settlers, primarily from the Philippines and the Caroline Islands, were brought to repopulate the islands, the Chamorro population gradually recovered, and Chamorro, Filipino, and Carolinian languages and other ethnic differences remain in the Marianas. During the 17th century, Spanish colonists forcibly moved the Chamorros to Guam, by the time they were allowed to return to the Northern Marianas, many Carolinians from present-day eastern Yap State and western Chuuk State had settled in the Marianas. Both languages, as well as English, are now official in the Commonwealth, the Northern Marianas experienced an influx of immigration from the Carolines during the 19th century. Both this Carolinian subethnicity and Carolinians in the Carolines archipelago refer to themselves as the Refaluwasch, the indigenous Chamoru word for the same group of people is gupalao
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
–
Colonial tower, vestige of the ex-Spanish colony.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
–
Flag
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
–
Saipan under the administration of
Japan
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
–
Marine infantrymen in
Garapan, Saipan
5.
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
–
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986. Spain initially claimed the islands that comprised the territory of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Subsequently, Germany established competing claims over the islands, Germany, in turn, continued to retain possession until the islands were captured by Japan during World War I. The League of Nations formally placed the islands in the former South Pacific Mandate, the islands then remained under Japanese control until captured by the United States in 1944 during World War II. The TTPI entered UN trusteeship pursuant to Security Council Resolution 21 on July 18,1947 and was designated an area in its 1947 trusteeship agreement. The Territory contained 100,000 people scattered over an area the size of continental United States. They represented a variety of cultures and spoke nine languages, the Ponapeans and Kusaieans, Marshallese and Palauans, Truckese, Yapese and Chamorros had little in common, except they were in the same general area of the Pacific Ocean. The large distances between people, lack of an economy, language and cultural barriers, all worked against the union, the six district centers became upscale slums, containing deteriorated Japanese-built roads, with electricity, modern music and distractions, alienated youth and bewildered elders. The remainder of the islands stayed as they were historically, not progressing, a Congress of Micronesia first levied an income tax in 1971. It affected mainly foreigners working at bases in the region. On October 21,1986, the U. S. ended its administration of the Marshall Islands District. The termination of U. S. administration of the Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, Pohnpei, in 1969, the 100 occupied islands comprised 700 square miles over an area of 3,000,000 square miles of sea. The latter area was comparable in size to the continental United States, the water area is about 2% of the Pacific Ocean. The population of the islands was 200,000 in the part of the 19th century. The population decreased to 100,000 by 1969 due to emigration, war, at that time, the population inhabited less than 100 out of 2,141 of the Marshall, Mariana, and Caroline Islands. The area is now divided into four jurisdictions, The following sovereign states have become associated with the United States under the Compact of Free Association
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
–
Flag
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
–
Arrival of
UN Visiting Mission,
Majuro, 1978. The sign reads "Please release us from the bondage of your trusteeship agreement."
6.
Federated States of Micronesia
–
Together, the states comprise around 607 islands that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 2,700 km just north of the equator. While the FSMs total land area is small, it occupies more than 2,600,000 km2 of the Pacific Ocean. The capital is Palikir, located on Pohnpei Island, while the largest city is Weno, each of its four states is centered on one or more main high islands, and all but Kosrae include numerous outlying atolls. The Federated States of Micronesia is spread across part of the Caroline Islands in the region of Micronesia. The term Micronesia may refer to the Federated States or to the region as a whole, the FSM was formerly a part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations Trust Territory under U. S. Other neighboring island entities, and also members of the TTPI, formulated their own constitutional governments and became the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The FSM has a seat in the United Nations, the ancestors of the Micronesians settled over four thousand years ago. A decentralized chieftain-based system eventually evolved into a centralized economic. Nan Madol, consisting of a series of artificial islands linked by a network of canals, is often called the Venice of the Pacific. European explorers—first the Portuguese in search of the Spice Islands and then the Spanish—reached the Carolines in the sixteenth century, the Spanish incorporated the archipelago to the Spanish East Indies and in the 19th century established a number of outposts and missions. In 1887, they founded the town of Santiago de la Ascension in what today is Kolonia on the island of Pohnpei, following defeat in the Spanish–American War, the Spanish sold the archipelago to Germany in 1899 under the German–Spanish Treaty of 1899. Germany incorporated it into German New Guinea, during World War I, it was captured by Japan. Following the war, the League of Nations awarded a mandate for Japan to administer the islands as part of the South Pacific Mandate, during World War II, a significant portion of the Japanese fleet was based in Truk Lagoon. In February 1944, Operation Hailstone, one of the most important naval battles of the war, took place at Truk, in which many Japanese support vessels and aircraft were destroyed. On May 10,1979, four of the Trust Territory districts ratified a new constitution to become the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands chose not to participate. The FSM signed a Compact of Free Association with the United States, independence was formally concluded under international law in 1990, when the United Nations officially ended the Trusteeship status pursuant to Security Council Resolution 683. The Compact was renewed in 2004, the Federated States of Micronesia is governed by the 1979 constitution, which guarantees fundamental human rights and establishes a separation of governmental powers. The unicameral Congress has fourteen members elected by popular vote, four senators—one from each state—serve four-year terms, the remaining ten senators represent single-member districts based on population, and serve two-year terms
Federated States of Micronesia
–
Map of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Federated States of Micronesia
–
Flag
Federated States of Micronesia
–
View of Kolonia Town from Sokehs Ridge in
Pohnpei.
Federated States of Micronesia
–
A large (approximately 2.4 m or about 8 ft in height) example of Yapese stone money (
Rai stones) in the village of Gachpar.
7.
Marshall Islands
–
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the International Date Line. Geographically, the country is part of the island group of Micronesia. The countrys population of 53,158 people is spread out over 29 coral atolls, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. The islands share maritime boundaries with the Federated States of Micronesia to the west, Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the south-east, about 27,797 of the islanders live on Majuro, which contains the capital. Micronesian colonists gradually settled the Marshall Islands during the 2nd millennium BC, Islands in the archipelago were first explored by Europeans in the 1520s, with Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar sighting an atoll in August 1526. Other expeditions by Spanish and English ships followed, the islands derive their name from British explorer John Marshall, who visited in 1788. The islands were known by the inhabitants as jolet jen Anij. The European powers recognized Spanish sovereignty over the islands in 1874 and they had been part of the Spanish East Indies formally since 1528. Later, Spain sold the islands to the German Empire in 1884, in World War I the Empire of Japan occupied the Marshall Islands, which in 1919 the League of Nations combined with other former German territories to form the South Pacific Mandate. In World War II, the United States conquered the islands in the Gilbert, along with other Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands were then consolidated into the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands governed by the US. Self-government was achieved in 1979, and full sovereignty in 1986, Marshall Islands has been a United Nations member state since 1991. The country uses the United States dollar as its currency, the majority of the citizens of the Marshall Islands are of Marshallese descent, though there are small numbers of immigrants from the United States, China, Philippines, and other Pacific islands. The two official languages are Marshallese, which is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, and English, micronesians settled the Marshall Islands in the 2nd millennium BC, but there are no historical or oral records of that period. Over time, the Marshall Island people learned to navigate over long distances by canoe using traditional stick charts. Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first European to see the islands in 1526, commanding the ship Santa Maria de la Victoria, on August 21, he sighted an island at 14°N that he named San Bartolome. On September 21,1529, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón commanded the Spanish ship Florida and he stood off a group of islands from which local inhabitants hurled stones at his ship. These islands, which he named Los Pintados, may have been Ujelang, on October 1, he found another group of islands where he went ashore for eight days, exchanged gifts with the local inhabitants and took on water. These islands, which he named Los Jardines, may have been Enewetak or Bikini Atoll
Marshall Islands
–
Marshall Islanders sailing in traditional costume, circa 1899-1900.
Marshall Islands
–
Flag
Marshall Islands
–
US troops inspecting an enemy bunker,
Kwajalein Atoll. 1944.
Marshall Islands
–
Shipping Lane Patrol Kwajalein Island (Marshall Islands-April 1945)
8.
Palau
–
Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean. The country contains approximately 250 islands, forming the western chain of the Caroline Islands in Micronesia, the most populous island is Koror. The capital Ngerulmud is located on the island of Babeldaob. Palau shares maritime boundaries with Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Federated States of Micronesia, the country was originally settled approximately 3,000 years ago by migrants from the Philippines and sustained a Negrito population until around 900 years ago. The islands were first explored by Europeans in the 16th century, the Imperial Japanese Navy conquered Palau during World War I, and the islands were later made a part of the Japanese-ruled South Pacific Mandate by the League of Nations. During World War II, skirmishes, including the major Battle of Peleliu, were fought between American and Japanese troops as part of the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign. Along with other Pacific Islands, Palau was made a part of the United States-governed Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1947. Having voted against joining the Federated States of Micronesia in 1979, politically, Palau is a presidential republic in free association with the United States, which provides defense, funding, and access to social services. Legislative power is concentrated in the bicameral Palau National Congress, Palaus economy is based mainly on tourism, subsistence agriculture and fishing, with a significant portion of gross national product derived from foreign aid. The country uses the United States dollar as its currency, the islands culture mixes Micronesian, Melanesian, Asian, and Western elements. Ethnic Palauans, the majority of the population, are of mixed Micronesian, Melanesian, a smaller proportion of the population is descended from Japanese and Filipino settlers. The countrys two official languages are Palauan and English, with Japanese, Sonsorolese, and Tobian recognised as regional languages. The name for the islands in the Palauan language, Belau, likely derives from either the Palauan word for village, beluu, or from aibebelau, the name Palau entered the English language from the Spanish Los Palaos, via the German Palau. An archaic name for the islands in English was the Pelew Islands and it should not be confused with Pulau, which is a Malay word meaning island. Palau was originally settled between the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, most likely from the Austronesia or Indonesia, the islands sustained a population of short-statured Negrito or Pygmy people until the 12th century, when they were replaced. The modern population, judging by its language, may have come from the Sunda Islands, however, the Spanish presence only began to express with evangelization, began at the end of 17th century, and its dominance began to take shape in the 18th century. The conscious discovery of Palau came a century later in 1697 and they were interviewed by the Czech missionary Paul Klein on 28 December 1696. Klein was able to draw the first map of Palau based on the Palauans representation of their home islands that made with an arrangement of 87 pebbles on the beach
Palau
–
Map of 1888 showing the Spanish East Indies, being part of it Palau Islands (map without Philippines)
Palau
–
Flag
Palau
–
Koror chiefs in 1915
Palau
–
TTPI High Commissioner and staff, 1960s
9.
United Nations
–
The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General
United Nations
–
1943 sketch by Franklin Roosevelt of the United Nations' original three branches: The
Four Policemen, an executive branch, and an international assembly of forty UN member states.
United Nations
–
Flag
United Nations
–
The
Chilean delegation signing the
UN Charter in San Francisco, 1945
United Nations
–
Dag Hammarskjöld was a particularly active Secretary-General from 1953 until his death in 1961.
10.
Trusteeship
–
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another. A trustee can also refer to a person who is allowed to do certain tasks, in all cases, the trustee may be a person or company, whether or not they are a prospective beneficiary. However, a trustee may act otherwise than in accordance with the terms of the trust if all beneficiaries, being sui juris and together absolutely entitled, direct the trustee to do so. If any question arises as to the constriction of the provisions of the trust, account for actions and keep beneficiaries informed, these include a duty to inform beneficiaries as to their entitlements under the trust and other matters concerning the trust. As trustees as not under a duty to disclose their reasoning in applying a trust power, protection of confidentiality has been described as one of the most important limitations on the right to disclose of trust documents. Memoranda or letter of wishes do not necessarily need to be disclosed to a beneficiary if they are of a number of potential beneficiaries, corporate trustees, typically trust departments at large banks, often have very narrow duties, limited to those the trust indenture explicitly defines. A trustee carries the responsibility and liability to use the trust assets according to the provisions of the trust instrument. The trustee may find himself liable to claimants, prospective beneficiaries and it is common for lawyers to draft will trusts so as to permit such payment, and to take office accordingly, this may be an unnecessary expense for small estates. In an exception to the duties outlined above, sabbatical officers of unions who are also trustees of these organisations they work for do have the right to a salary. This is an exception explicitly granted in the 1993 act The broadest sense of the term applies to someone held to a fiduciary duty similar in some respects to that of a trustee proper. For example, the directors of a bank may be trustees for the depositors, directors of a corporation are trustees for the stockholders, many corporations call their governing board a board of trustees, though in those cases they act as a board of directors. Many UK charities are also limited liability companies registered with Companies House, in case the trustees are also directors of the company. This is the model if the charity owns property or employs people. The law on this in England changed considerably with the Charities Act of 2006, an account of the main changes can be found in Charities Act 2006 A guide to the new law by Michael King and Ann Phillips. One of the key changes made was that it introduced the Charitable Incorporated Organisation which is basically a limited liability charity, there are thus now two main aspects of corporate management of charities. One is the way in which a corporation is a corporate trustee of a given charity. The second is the new way, in which the charity itself is incorporated as a CIO, the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods is a complicated matter. According to King and Philips, many of the advantages of incorporating as a CIO are obtained if the trustees are not individuals but a corporate entity
Trusteeship
–
Chart of a trust
11.
United States Navy
–
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
United States Navy
United States Navy
–
United States Navy portal
United States Navy
–
USS Constellation vs L'Insurgente during the
Quasi-War
United States Navy
–
USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere during the
War of 1812
12.
United States Department of the Interior
–
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U. S. About 75% of federal land is managed by the department. The Department is administered by the United States Secretary of the Interior, the current Secretary is Ryan Zinke. The Inspector General position is vacant, with Mary Kendall serving as acting Inspector General. Despite its name, the Department of the Interior has a different role from that of the ministries of other nations. In the United States, national security and immigration functions are performed by the Department of Homeland Security primarily, the Department of the Interior has often been humorously called The Department of Everything Else because of its broad range of responsibilities. A department for domestic concern was first considered by the 1st United States Congress in 1789, the idea of a separate domestic department continued to percolate for a half-century and was supported by Presidents from James Madison to James Polk. The 1846–48 Mexican–American War gave the new steam as the responsibilities of federal government grew. Polks Secretary of the Treasury, Robert J. Walker, became a champion of creating the new department. In 1849, Walker stated in his report that several federal offices were placed in departments with which they had little to do. Walker argued that these and other bureaus should be together in a new Department of the Interior. A bill authorizing its creation of the Department passed the House of Representatives on February 15,1849, the Department was established on March 3,1849, the eve of President Zachary Taylors inauguration, when the Senate voted 31 to 25 to create the Department. Its passage was delayed by Democrats in Congress who were reluctant to create more patronage posts for the incoming Whig administration to fill, the first Secretary of the Interior was Thomas Ewing. Many of the concerns the Department originally dealt with were gradually transferred to other Departments. Other agencies became separate Departments, such as the Bureau of Agriculture, however, land and natural resource management, American Indian affairs, wildlife conservation, and territorial affairs remain the responsibilities of the Department of the Interior. As of mid-2004, the Department managed 507 million acres of surface land, energy projects on federally managed lands and offshore areas supply about 28% of the nations energy production. Within the Interior Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs handles some federal relations with Native Americans, the current acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs is Lawrence S. Roberts, an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe in Wisconsin. Several cases have sought accounting of such funds from the departments of Interior, in addition, some Native American nations have sued the government over water-rights issues and their treaties with the US
United States Department of the Interior
–
Main Interior Building 1849 C Street
NW Washington, D.C., U.S. 38°53′37.11″N 77°2′33.33″W / 38.8936417°N 77.0425917°W / 38.8936417; -77.0425917
United States Department of the Interior
–
Seal of the U.S. Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
–
The
hierarchy of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
13.
Federal government of the United States
–
The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms
Federal government of the United States
–
The
United States Capitol is the
seat of government for Congress.
Federal government of the United States
–
Great Seal of the United States
Federal government of the United States
–
Diagram of the Federal Government and American Union, 1862.
14.
Office of Insular Affairs
–
The Office of Insular Affairs is a unit of the United States Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States possessions. The word insular comes from the Latin word insula, currently, the OIA has administrative responsibility for coordinating federal policy in the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the U. S. The office has evolved over the years along with changes in administration, prior to the 1930s, responsibility for administration of United States possessions was divided among several government departments. In 1934, the Division of Territories and Island Possessions of the Interior Department was established and was responsible for Alaska, Hawaii. The Division was subsequently given responsibility for the Philippines, and after World War II, for the U. S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The Division also was responsible for administration of several islands claimed by the United States under the Guano Act, including Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands. Insular area Compact of Free Association National Archives and Records Administration, Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Office of Territories, Preliminary Inventory No.154
Office of Insular Affairs
–
Seal and Logo of the Office of Insular Affairs
15.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
–
The agencys primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. The governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the president that FEMA, FEMA also provides these services for territories of the United States, such as Puerto Rico. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, or the Space Shuttle Columbia in the 2003 return-flight disaster, in addition to this, FEMA provides funds for training of response personnel throughout the United States and its territories as part of the agencys preparedness effort. Federal emergency management in the U. S. has existed in one form or another for over 200 years, a series of devastating fires struck the port city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, early in the 19th century. The 7th U. S. Congress passed a measure in 1803 that provided relief for Portsmouth merchants by extending the time they had for remitting tariffs on imported goods and this is widely considered the first piece of legislation passed by the federal government that provided relief after a disaster. Between 1803 and 1930, ad hoc legislation was passed more than 100 times for relief or compensation after a disaster, examples include the waiving of duties and tariffs to the merchants of New York City after the Great Fire of New York. After the collapse of the John T, fords Theater in June 1893, the 54th Congress passed legislation compensating those who were injured in the building. After the start of the Great Depression in 1929, President Herbert Hoover had commissioned the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1932, the purpose of the RFC was to lend money to banks and institutions to stimulate economic activity. RFC was also responsible for dispensing federal dollars in the wake of a disaster, RFC can be considered the first organized federal disaster response agency. The Bureau of Public Roads in 1934 was given authority to finance the reconstruction of highways and roads after a disaster. The Flood Control Act of 1944 also gave the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers authority over control and irrigation projects. This agency would oversee disasters until its incorporation into FEMA in 1978, over the years, Congress increasingly extended the range of covered categories for assistance, and several presidential executive orders did the same. In time, this array of agencies themselves underwent reorganization. One of the first such federal agencies was the Federal Civil Defense Administration, functions to administer disaster relief were then given to the President himself, who delegated to the Housing and Home Finance Administration. Subsequently, a new office of the Office of Defense Mobilization was created, then, in 1978 an effort was made to consolidate the several singular functions, FEMA was created to house civil defense and disaster preparedness under one roof. This was a controversial decision. FEMA was established under the 1978 Reorganization Plan No,3, and activated April 1,1979, by President Jimmy Carter in his Executive Order 12127. In July, Carter signed Executive Order 12148 shifting disaster relief efforts to the new federal-level agency, FEMA was also given the responsibility for overseeing the nations Civil Defense, a function which had previously been performed by the Department of Defenses Defense Civil Preparedness Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
–
President
George W. Bush signs the
Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2004
Federal Emergency Management Agency
–
The FEMA
seal before 2003
Federal Emergency Management Agency
–
DMAT team deployed for
Hurricane Ike in Texas
Federal Emergency Management Agency
–
FEMA vehicle provides communications support after a major hurricane.
16.
National Weather Service
–
It is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration branch of the Department of Commerce, and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland. The agency was known as the United States Weather Bureau from 1890 until it adopted its current name in 1970, the NWS performs its primary task through a collection of national and regional centers, and 122 local weather forecast offices. As the NWS is a government agency, most of its products are in the public domain, the agency was placed under the Secretary of War as Congress felt military discipline would probably secure the greatest promptness, regularity, and accuracy in the required observations. Within the Department of War, it was assigned to the U. S. Army Signal Service under Brigadier General Albert J. Myer, General Myer gave the National Weather Service its first name, The Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce. The agency first became an enterprise in 1890, when it became part of the Department of Agriculture. The first Weather Bureau radiosonde was launched in Massachusetts in 1937, the Bureau would later be moved to the Department of Commerce in 1940. On July 12,1950, bureau chief Francis W, the Weather Bureau became part of the Environmental Science Services Administration when that agency was formed in August 1966. The Environmental Science Services Administration was renamed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on October 1,1970, at this time, the Weather Bureau became the National Weather Service. NEXRAD, a system of Doppler radars deployed to improve the detection and warning time of local storms, replaced the WSR-57. Bob Glahn has written a history of the first hundred years of the National Weather Service. The NWS, through a variety of sub-organizations, issues different forecast products to users, although, throughout history, text forecasts have been the means of product dissemination, the NWS has been using more forecast products of a digital, gridded, image or other modern format. Each of the 122 Weather Forecast Offices send their graphical forecasts to a server to be compiled in the National Digital Forecast Database. The NDFD is a collection of weather observations used by organizations and the public, including precipitation amount, temperature. Specific points in the database can be accessed using an XML SOAP service. The National Weather Service issues many products relating to wildfires daily, for example, a Fire Weather Forecast, which have a forecast period covering up to seven days, is issued by local Weather Forecast Offices daily, with updates as needed. The forecasts contain weather information relevant to fire control and smoke management for the next 12 to 48 hours, such as direction and speed. The appropriate crews use this information to plan for staffing and equipment levels, the ability to conduct scheduled controlled burns, and assess the daily fire danger. Once per day, NWS meteorologists issue a coded fire weather forecast for specific United States Forest Service observation sites that are input into the National Fire Danger Rating System
National Weather Service
–
NWS IMET taking observations in the field.
National Weather Service
–
National Weather Service
National Weather Service
–
Meteorologists preparing a forecast, early 20th century.
National Weather Service
–
An Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS).
17.
United States Postal Service
–
The United States Postal Service, is an independent agency of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution, Mail traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, where Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general. The USPS as of February 2015 has 617,254 active employees, the USPS is the operator of the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world. The USPS is legally obligated to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price, the USPS has exclusive access to letter boxes marked U. S. The USPS lost $5.5 billion in fiscal year 2014 and $5.1 billion in 2015, in the early years of the North American colonies, many attempts were made to initiate a postal service. These early attempts were of small scale and usually involved a colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony for example, for example, informal independently-run postal routes operated in Boston as early as 1639, with a Boston to New York City service starting in 1672. A central postal organization came to the colonies in 1691, when Thomas Neale received a 21-year grant from the British Crown for a North American Postal Service, the patent included the exclusive right to establish and collect a formal postal tax on official documents of all kinds. The tax was repealed a year later, Neale appointed Andrew Hamilton, Governor of New Jersey, as his deputy postmaster. The first postal service in America commenced in February 1692, rates of postage were fixed and authorized, and measures were taken to establish a post office in each town in Virginia. Massachusetts and the other colonies soon passed laws, and a very imperfect post office system was established. Neales patent expired in 1710, when Parliament extended the English postal system to the colonies, the chief office was established in New York City, where letters were conveyed by regular packets across the Atlantic. Before the Revolution, there was only a trickle of business or governmental correspondence between the colonies, most of the mail went back and forth to counting houses and government offices in London. The Revolution made Philadelphia, the seat of the Continental Congress, News, new laws, political intelligence, and military orders circulated with a new urgency, and a postal system was necessary. Journalists took the lead, securing post office legislation that allowed them to reach their subscribers at very low cost, overthrowing the London-oriented imperial postal service in 1774-1775, printers enlisted merchants and the new political leadership, and created a new postal system. The United States Post Office was created on July 26,1775, the official post office was created in 1792 as the Post Office Department. It was based on the Constitutional authority empowering Congress To establish post offices, the 1792 law provided for a greatly expanded postal network, and served editors by charging newspapers an extremely low rate. The law guaranteed the sanctity of personal correspondence, and provided the country with low-cost access to information on public affairs. Rufus Easton was appointed by Thomas Jefferson first postmaster of St. Louis under the recommendation of Postmaster General Gideon Granger, Rufus Easton was the first postmaster and built the first post office west of the Mississippi
United States Postal Service
–
~
Benjamin Franklin ~
George Washington ~ The First U.S. Postage Stamps Issued 1847 The first stamp issues were authorized by an act of Congress and approved on March 3, 1847. The earliest known use of the Franklin 5¢ is July 7, 1847, while the earliest known use of the Washington 10¢ is July 2, 1847. Remaining in postal circulation for only a few years, these issues were declared invalid for postage on July 1, 1851.
United States Postal Service
–
The full eagle logo, used in various versions from 1970 to 1993
United States Postal Service
–
Historic
Mineral Wells, Texas post office built between 1911 and 1913
United States Postal Service
–
USPS service delivery truck
18.
Federal Aviation Administration
–
The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States is a national authority with powers to regulate all aspects of civil aviation. The FAAs roles include, Regulating U. S, each LOB has a specific role within the FAA. Airports — plans and develops projects involving airports, overseeing their construction, Air Traffic Organization — primary duty is to safely and efficiently move air traffic within the National Airspace System. ATO employees manage air traffic facilities including Airport Traffic Control Towers, Aviation Safety — Responsible for aeronautical certification of personnel and aircraft, including pilots, airlines, and mechanics. Commercial Space Transportation — ensures protection of U. S. assets during the launch or reentry of commercial space vehicles, the FAA is headquartered in Washington, D. C. as well as the William J. The newly created Aeronautics Branch, operating under the Department of Commerce assumed primary responsibility for aviation oversight, in fulfilling its civil aviation responsibilities, the Department of Commerce initially concentrated on such functions as safety regulations and the certification of pilots and aircraft. It took over the building and operation of the system of lighted airways. The Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce in 1934 to reflect its status within the Department. As commercial flying increased, the Bureau encouraged a group of airlines to establish the first three centers for providing air traffic control along the airways, in 1936, the Bureau itself took over the centers and began to expand the ATC system. The pioneer air traffic controllers used maps, blackboards, and mental calculations to ensure the separation of aircraft traveling along designated routes between cities. In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Act transferred the civil aviation responsibilities from the Commerce Department to a new independent agency. The legislation also expanded the role by giving them the authority. President Franklin D. Roosevelt split the authority into two agencies in 1940, the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Civil Aeronautics Board, CAA was responsible for ATC, airman and aircraft certification, safety enforcement, and airway development. CAB was entrusted with safety regulation, accident investigation, and economic regulation of the airlines, the CAA was part of the Department of Commerce. The CAB was an independent federal agency, on the eve of Americas entry into World War II, CAA began to extend its ATC responsibilities to takeoff and landing operations at airports. This expanded role eventually became permanent after the war, the application of radar to ATC helped controllers in their drive to keep abreast of the postwar boom in commercial air transportation. The approaching era of jet travel, and a series of midair collisions and this legislation gave the CAAs functions to a new independent body, the Federal Aviation Agency. The act transferred air safety regulation from the CAB to the new FAA, the FAAs first administrator, Elwood R. Quesada, was a former Air Force general and adviser to President Eisenhower
Federal Aviation Administration
–
FAA Headquarters,
Washington, D.C.
Federal Aviation Administration
–
Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
–
FAA Joint Surveillance Site radar,
Canton, Michigan
19.
Federal Communications Commission
–
The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the media, public safety and homeland security, and modernizing itself. The FCC was formed by the Communications Act of 1934 to replace the radio regulation functions of the Federal Radio Commission, the FCC took over wire communication regulation from the Interstate Commerce Commission. The FCCs mandated jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the FCC also provides varied degrees of cooperation, oversight, and leadership for similar communications bodies in other countries of North America. The FCC is funded entirely by regulatory fees and it has an estimated fiscal-2016 budget of US$388 million. Consistent with the objectives of the Act as well as the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act and these are, Broadband All Americans should have affordable access to robust and reliable broadband products and services. Competition Competition in the provision of services, both domestically and overseas, supports the Nations economy. The competitive framework for communications services should foster innovation and offer consumers reliable, Media The Nations media regulations must promote competition and diversity and facilitate the transition to digital modes of delivery. Public Safety and Homeland Security Communications during emergencies and crisis must be available for public safety, health, defense, the Nations critical communications infrastructure must be reliable, interoperable, redundant, and rapidly restorable. The FCC is directed by five appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate for five-year terms. The U. S. President designates one of the commissioners to serve as chairman, only three commissioners may be members of the same political party. None of them may have a financial interest in any FCC-related business, importantly, commissioners may continue serving until the appointment of their replacements, but may not serve beyond the end of the next session of Congress following term expiration. In practice, as of 2016 this means that commissioners may serve up to 1 1/2 years beyond the term expiration dates listed above if no replacement is appointed. The Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau develops and implements the FCCs consumer policies, CGB serves as the public face of the FCC through outreach and education, as well as through their Consumer Center, which is responsible for responding to consumer inquiries and complaints. CGB also maintains partnerships with state, local, and tribal governments in such areas as emergency preparedness. The Enforcement Bureau is responsible for enforcement of provisions of the Communications Act 1934, FCC rules, FCC orders, major areas of enforcement that are handled by the Enforcement Bureau are consumer protection, local competition, public safety, and homeland security. S. The International Bureau also oversees FCC compliance with the international Radio Regulations, the Media Bureau also handles post-licensing matters regarding direct broadcast satellite service. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau regulates domestic wireless telecommunications programs and policies, the Wireline Competition Bureau develops policy concerning wire line telecommunications. The Wireline Competition Bureaus main objective is to promote growth and economical investments in technology infrastructure, development, markets
Federal Communications Commission
–
Federal Communications Commission seen in
Washington, D.C., in 1937. Seated (l-r) Eugene Octave Sykes,
Frank R. McNinch,
Chairman Paul Atlee Walker, Standing (l-r)
T.A.M. Craven,
Thad H. Brown,
Norman S. Case, and George Henry Payne.
Federal Communications Commission
–
official seal
Federal Communications Commission
–
FCC Commissioners inspect the latest in television, December 1, 1939.
Federal Communications Commission
–
Federal Communications Commission in
Washington, D.C.
20.
International Telecommunication Union
–
ITU, based in Geneva, Switzerland, is a member of the United Nations Development Group. ITU has been an intergovernmental public-private partnership organization since its inception, ITU was formed in 1865, in Paris, at the International Telegraph Convention, this makes it one of the oldest intergovernmental organizations in the world. ITU became a United Nations specialized agency in 1947, the ITU comprises three sectors, each managing a different aspect of the matters handled by the Union, as well as ITU Telecom. The sectors were created during the restructuring of ITU at its 1992 Plenipotentiary Conference, radiocommunication Established in 1927 as the International Radio Consultative Committee or CCIR, this sector manages the international radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbit resources. In 1992, the CCIR became the ITU-R, Standardization Standardization was the original purpose of ITU since its inception. Established in 1956 as the International Telephone and Telegraph Consultative Committee or CCITT, in 1993, the CCITT became the ITU-T. Development Established in 1992, this sector helps spread equitable, sustainable and affordable access to information and communication technologies, ITU Telecom ITU Telecom organizes major events for the worlds ICT community. A permanent General Secretariat, headed by the Secretary General, manages the work of the Union. The basic texts of the ITU are adopted by the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, the ITU is headed by a Secretary-General, who is elected to a four-year term by the member states at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference. On 23 October 2014 Houlin Zhao was elected 19th Secretary-General of the ITU at the Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan and his four-year mandate started on 1 January 2015, and he was formally inaugurated on 15 January 2015. There are 193 Member States of the ITU, which are all UN member states, the most recent member state to join the ITU is South Sudan, which became a member on 14 July 2011. The Republic of China was blocked from membership by the Peoples Republic of China, palestine was admitted as an observer in 2010. The Summit was held as two conferences in 2003 and 2005 in Geneva and Tunis, respectively, with the aim of bridging the digital divide, in December 2012, the ITU facilitated The World Conference on International Telecommunications 2012 in Dubai. WCIT-12 was a conference to address International Telecommunications Regulations, the international rules for telecommunications. The previous conference to update the Regulations was held in Melbourne in 1988, in August 2012, ITU called for a public consultation on a draft document ahead of the conference. Telecommunications ministers from 193 countries attended the conference in Dubai, the current regulatory structure was based on voice telecommunications, when the Internet was still in its infancy. In 1988, telecommunications operated under regulated monopolies in most countries, as the Internet has grown, organizations such as ICANN have come into existence to manage key resources such as Internet addresses and Domain Names. Some outside the United States believe that the United States exerts too much influence over the governance of the Internet, current proposals look to take into account the prevalence of data communications
International Telecommunication Union
International Telecommunication Union
–
International Telecommunication Union
International Telecommunication Union
–
International Telecommunication Union – anniversary 125 years. Post of USSR, 1990.
21.
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act
–
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 is a United States federal law considered to be a major welfare reform. The bill was a cornerstone of the Republican Contract with America and was authored by Rep. E. Clay Shaw, President Bill Clinton signed PRWORA into law on August 22,1996, fulfilling his 1992 campaign promise to end welfare as we have come to know it. PRWORA instituted Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which became effective July 1,1997, TANF replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program—which had been in effect since 1935—and supplanted the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training program of 1988. The law was heralded as a reassertion of Americas work ethic by the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, TANF was reauthorized in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. AFDC caseloads increased dramatically from the 1930s to the 1960s as restrictions on the availability of support to poor families were reduced. Under the Social Security Act of 1935, federal funds only covered part of relief costs, more permissive Northern laws were tested during the Great Migration between 1940 and 1970 in which millions of people migrated from the agricultural South to the more industrial North. Additionally, all able-bodied adults without children and two-parent families were originally disqualified from obtaining AFDC funds, court rulings during the Civil Rights Movement struck down many of these regulations, creating new categories of people eligible for relief. Community organizations, such as the National Welfare Rights Organization, also distributed informational packets informing citizens of their ability to receive government assistance, between 1936 and 1969, the number of families receiving support increased from 162,000 to 1,875,000. After 1970, however, federal funding for the program lagged behind inflation, between 1970 and 1994, typical benefits for a family of three fell 47% after adjusting for inflation. The legislation was designed to increase labor market participation among public assistance recipients and this represented a major departure from the protectionist legacy institutionalized in U. S. social welfare policy from the inception of mothers pensions beginning in the early 19th century. As such, the message regarding womens roles was that full-time mothering was a luxury reserved only for people who could afford it. The idea that the poor had become too dependent upon public assistance also encouraged the act. The idea was that those who were on welfare for many years lost any initiative to find jobs and those on welfare realized that taking up a job would mean not only losing benefits but also incur child care, transportation and clothing costs. Their new jobs probably would not pay well or include health insurance, therefore, there are many reasons welfare recipients would feel discouraged from working. In the 1980s, AFDC came under increasing criticism for the programs alleged ineffectiveness. While acknowledging the need for a safety net, Democrats often invoked the culture of poverty argument. Proponents of the bill argued that welfare recipients were trapped in a cycle of poverty, highlighting instances of welfare fraud, conservatives often referred to the system as a welfare trap and pledged to dismantle the welfare state. Ronald Reagans oft-repeated story of a queen from Chicagos South Side became part of a larger discourse on welfare reform
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act
–
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
22.
Medicaid
–
Medicaid in the United States is a social health care program for families and individuals with limited resources. The Health Insurance Association of America describes Medicaid as a government insurance program for persons of all ages whose income, Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with low income in the United States. States are not required to participate in the program, although all have since 1982, Medicaid recipients must be U. S. citizens or legal permanent residents, and may include low-income adults, their children, and people with certain disabilities. Poverty alone does not necessarily qualify someone for Medicaid, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act significantly expanded both eligibility for and federal funding of Medicaid. Under managed care, Medicaid recipients are enrolled in a health plan. The health plan is then responsible for providing for all or most of the healthcare needs. Today, all but a few states use managed care to provide coverage to a significant proportion of Medicaid enrollees, as of 2014,26 states have contracts with managed care organizations to deliver long-term care for the elderly and individuals with disabilities. The states pay a monthly capitulated rate per member to the MCOs that provide comprehensive care, nationwide, roughly 80% of enrollees are enrolled in managed care plans. Because the service level costs vary depending on the care and needs of the enrolled, the annual cost of care will vary state to state depending on state approved Medicaid benefits, as well as the state specific care costs. 2008 average cost per senior was reported as $14,780, in a 2010 national report for all age groups, the per enrolled average cost was calculated to $5,563 and a listing by state and by coverage age is provided. As of 2013, Medicaid is a program intended for those with low income, the details of how each category is defined vary from state to state. People with disabilities who do not have a history and who receive Supplemental Security Income. Persons with a disability, including blindness or physical disability, deafness, however, in order to be enrolled, applicants must prove that they are disabled to the point of being unable to work. Some states operate a program known as the Health Insurance Premium Payment Program and this program allows a Medicaid recipient to have private health insurance paid for by Medicaid. As of 2008 relatively few states had premium assistance programs and enrollment was relatively low, interest in this approach remained high, however. Included in the Social Security program under Medicaid are dental services and these dental services are optional for adults above the age of 21, however, this service is a requirement for those eligible for Medicaid and below the age of 21. Minimum services include pain relief, restoration of teeth, and maintenance for dental health, early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment is a mandatory Medicaid program for children that aims to focus on prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. Oral screenings are not required for EPSDT recipients, and they do not suffice as a direct dental referral, the Social Security Amendments of 1965 created Medicaid by adding Title XIX to the Social Security Act,42 U. S. C. §§1396 et seq
Medicaid
–
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Medicaid administrator) logo
23.
American Samoa
–
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Samoa. American Samoa consists of five islands and two coral atolls. The largest and most populous island is Tutuila, with the Manuʻa Islands, Rose Atoll, All islands except for Swains Island are part of the Samoan Islands, located west of the Cook Islands, north of Tonga, and some 300 miles south of Tokelau. To the west are the islands of the Wallis and Futuna group, the 2010 census showed a total population of 55,519 people. The total land area is 199 square kilometers, slightly more than Washington, American Samoa is the southernmost territory of the U. S. and one of two U. S. territories south of the Equator, along with the uninhabited Jarvis Island. Tuna products are the exports, and the main trading partner is the United States. American Samoa is noted for having the highest rate of enlistment of any U. S. state or territory. Most American Samoans are bilingual and can speak English and Samoan fluently, Samoan is the same language spoken in neighboring independent Samoa. Contact with Europeans began in the early 18th century, dutchman Jacob Roggeveen was the first known European to sight the Samoan Islands in 1722. This visit was followed by French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville who named them the Navigator Islands in 1768, contact was limited before the 1830s, when English missionaries and traders began arriving. The site of battle is called Massacre Bay. Mission work in the Samoas had begun in late 1830 when John Williams of the London Missionary Society arrived from the Cook Islands, by that time, the Samoans had gained a reputation for being savage and warlike, as violent altercations had occurred between natives and European visitors. In March 1889, an Imperial German naval force entered a village on Samoa, three American warships then entered the Apia harbor and prepared to engage the three German warships found there. Before any shots were fired, a typhoon wrecked both the American and German ships, a compulsory armistice was then called because of the lack of any warships. Forerunners to the Tripartite Convention of 1899 were the Washington Conference of 1887, the Treaty of Berlin of 1889, the following year, the USA formally occupied its portion, a smaller group of eastern islands, one of which contains the noted harbor of Pago Pago. The Navy secured a Deed of Cession of Tutuila in 1900, the territory became known as the US Naval Station Tutuila. On July 17,1911, the US Naval Station Tutuila, in 1918 during the final stages of World War I, the flu pandemic had taken its toll, spreading rapidly from country to country. The result of Poyers quick actions earned him the Navy Cross from the US Navy, with this distinction, American Samoans regarded Poyer as their hero for what he had done to prevent the deadly disease
American Samoa
–
Coastline of American Samoa
American Samoa
–
Flag
American Samoa
–
1896 map of the Samoa Islands.
American Samoa
–
German, British and American warships in Apia Harbor, Samoa, 1899.
24.
Guam
–
Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, Guam is one of five American territories with a civilian government. The capital city is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo, in 2015,161,785 people resided on Guam. Guamanians are American citizens by birth, Guam has an area of 210 sq mi and a population density of 770/sq mi. It is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia, among its municipalities, Mongmong-Toto-Maite has the highest density at 3, 691/sq mi, whereas Inarajan and Umatac have the lowest density at 119/sq mi. The highest point is Mount Lamlam at 406 meters above sea level, the Chamorros, Guams indigenous people, settled the island approximately 4,000 years ago. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to visit the island on March 6,1521, Guam was colonized in 1668 with settlers, like Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. Between the 16th century and the 18th century, Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons, during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam on June 21,1898. Under the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded Guam to the United States on December 10,1898, Guam is among the seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories of the United Nations. Before World War II, Guam and three other territories – American Samoa, Hawaii, and the Philippines – were the only American jurisdictions in the Pacific Ocean. On December 7,1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was captured by the Japanese, during the occupation, Guamanians were subjected to beheadings, forced labor, rape, and torture. Guam endured hostilities when American forces recaptured the island on July 21,1944, since the 1960s, the economy has been supported by two industries, tourism and the United States Armed Forces. The original inhabitants of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are believed to be descendants of Austronesian people originating from Southeast Asia as early as 2000 BC and they evolved into the Chamorro people. The ancient-Chamorro society had four classes, chamorri, matua, achaot, the matua were located in the coastal villages, which meant they had the best access to fishing grounds, whereas the manachang were located in the interior of the island. Matua and manachang rarely communicated with other, and matua often used achaot as intermediaries. There were also makåhna, skilled in healing and medicine, belief in spirits of ancient Chamorros called Taotao mona still persists as a remnant of pre-European culture. Their society was organized along matrilineal clans, Latte stones are stone pillars that are found only in the Mariana Islands, they are a recent development in Pre-Contact Chamorro society. The latte-stone was used as a foundation on which thatched huts were built, Latte stones consist of a base shaped from limestone called the haligi and with a capstone, or tåsa, made either from a large brain coral or limestone, placed on top
Guam
–
Marines laying fire on a
Japanese sniper nest (July 28, 1944).
Guam
–
Flag
Guam
–
Guam from satellite
Guam
–
Aerial view of
Apra Harbor
25.
Hawaii
–
Hawaii is the 50th and most recent state to have joined the United States of America, having received statehood on August 21,1959. Hawaii is the only U. S. state located in Oceania and it is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean. Hawaii is the only U. S. state not located in the Americas, the state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian archipelago, which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles. At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight main islands are—in order from northwest to southeast, Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi. The last is the largest island in the group, it is called the Big Island or Hawaiʻi Island to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania, Hawaii has over a million permanent residents, along with many visitors and U. S. military personnel. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaii is the 8th-smallest and the 11th-least populous, but the 13th-most densely populated of the fifty U. S. states. It is the state with an Asian plurality. The states coastline is about 750 miles long, the fourth longest in the U. S. after the coastlines of Alaska, Florida, the state of Hawaii derives its name from the name of its largest island, Hawaiʻi. A common Hawaiian explanation of the name of Hawaiʻi is that was named for Hawaiʻiloa and he is said to have discovered the islands when they were first settled. The Hawaiian language word Hawaiʻi is very similar to Proto-Polynesian *Sawaiki, cognates of Hawaiʻi are found in other Polynesian languages, including Māori, Rarotongan and Samoan. According to linguists Pukui and Elbert, lsewhere in Polynesia, Hawaiʻi or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the home, but in Hawaii. A somewhat divisive political issue arose in 1978 when the Constitution of the State of Hawaii added Hawaiian as an official state language. The title of the constitution is The Constitution of the State of Hawaii. Article XV, Section 1 of the Constitution uses The State of Hawaii, diacritics were not used because the document, drafted in 1949, predates the use of the okina and the kahakō in modern Hawaiian orthography. The exact spelling of the name in the Hawaiian language is Hawaiʻi. In the Hawaii Admission Act that granted Hawaiian statehood, the government recognized Hawaii as the official state name. Official government publications, department and office titles, and the Seal of Hawaii use the spelling with no symbols for glottal stops or vowel length
Hawaii
–
Hawaii from space, January 26, 2014
Hawaii
–
Flag
Hawaii
–
Nā Pali coast, Kaua ʻ i
Hawaii
–
The main islands and undersea terrain of Hawaii
26.
Northern Mariana Islands
–
The CNMI includes all islands in the Mariana Archipelago except Guam which is the southernmost island of the chain and a separate U. S. territory. The United States Department of the Interior cites a landmass of 183.5 square miles, according to the 2010 United States Census,53,883 people were living in the CNMI at that time. The vast majority of the population resides on Saipan, Tinian, the administrative center is Capitol Hill, a village in northwestern Saipan. However, most publications consider Saipan to be the capital because the island is governed as a single municipality, the first people of the Mariana Islands immigrated at some point between 4000 BC and 2000 BC from Southeast Asia. After first contact with Spaniards, they became known as the Chamorros, a Spanish word similar to Chamori. The ancient people of the Marianas raised colonnades of megalithic capped pillars called latte stones upon which they built their homes, the first European explorer of the area, the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, arrived in 1521. He landed on Guam, the southernmost island of the Marianas, the Spanish ships were met offshore by the native Chamorros, who delivered refreshments and then helped themselves to a small boat belonging to Magellans fleet. This led to a clash, in Chamorro tradition, little property was private and taking something one needed, such as a boat for fishing. The Spanish did not understand this custom, and fought the Chamorros until the boat was recovered, three days after he had been welcomed on his arrival, Magellan fled the archipelago. Spain regarded the islands as annexed and later made part of the Spanish East Indies. In 1734, the Spanish built a palace in Guam for the governor of the islands. Its remains are visible even in the 21st century, see the Plaza de España article, Guam operated as an important stopover between Manila and Mexico for galleons carrying gold between the Philippines and Spain. Some galleons sunk in Guam remain, in 1668, Father Diego Luis de San Vitores renamed the islands Las Marianas in honor of his patroness the Spanish regent Mariana of Austria, widow of Felipe IV. Most of the native population died from Spanish diseases or married non-Chamorro settlers under Spanish rule. New settlers, primarily from the Philippines and the Caroline Islands, were brought to repopulate the islands, the Chamorro population gradually recovered, and Chamorro, Filipino, and Carolinian languages and other ethnic differences remain in the Marianas. During the 17th century, Spanish colonists forcibly moved the Chamorros to Guam, by the time they were allowed to return to the Northern Marianas, many Carolinians from present-day eastern Yap State and western Chuuk State had settled in the Marianas. Both languages, as well as English, are now official in the Commonwealth, the Northern Marianas experienced an influx of immigration from the Carolines during the 19th century. Both this Carolinian subethnicity and Carolinians in the Carolines archipelago refer to themselves as the Refaluwasch, the indigenous Chamoru word for the same group of people is gupalao
Northern Mariana Islands
–
Colonial tower, vestige of the ex-Spanish colony.
Northern Mariana Islands
–
Flag
Northern Mariana Islands
–
Saipan under the administration of
Japan
Northern Mariana Islands
–
Marine infantrymen in
Garapan, Saipan
27.
Kwajalein
–
Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, the total land area of the atoll amounts to just over 6 square miles. The atoll lies in the Ralik Chain,2,100 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, Kwajalein is one of the worlds largest coral atolls as measured by area of enclosed water. Comprising 97 islands and islets, it has an area of 16.4 km² and surrounds one of the largest lagoons in the world. The average height above sea level for all the islands is about 1.8 metres, Islands often have alternate names, the first is the Marshallese name, the second was assigned somewhat arbitrarily by the US Navy prior to their attack on the atoll during World War II. The original name was considered too difficult for English speakers to properly differentiate among the islands, the latter has often been retained by English speakers. The exception to this is Kwajalein itself, which is close to the native name, the atoll is 2,100 miles from Honolulu,2,000 miles from Australia, and 2,100 miles from Japan. Kwajalein Island is about 500 miles north of the equator, Kwajalein Island is the southernmost and largest of the islands in the atoll. The area is about 1.2 square miles and it is 2.5 miles long and averages about 800 yards wide. To enlarge the island, the Americans placed fill at both the part of the island above the pier, the northern part extending towards Ebeye. The northern extension was used for housing, the remainder for industrial purposes, some 13,500 Marshallese citizens live on the atoll, most of them on Ebeye Island. The water temperature averages 81 °F degrees, underwater visibility is typically 100 feet on the ocean side of the atoll. SAR Pass is closest to Kwajalein on the West reef and this pass is manmade and was created in the mid-1950s. It is very narrow and shallow compared to the passes in the lagoon and is only used by small boats. South Pass is on the West reef, north of SAR Pass, Gea Pass is a deep water pass between Gea and Ninni islands. Bigej Pass is the first pass on the East reef north of Kwajalein, other islands in the atoll, Directly north of the eastern end of Kwajalein is Ebeye. It is not part of the Reagan Test Site, it is a Marshallese island-city with shops, restaurants and it has the largest population in the atoll, with approximately 13,000 residents living on 80 acres of land. Inhabitants are mostly Marshall Islanders but include a population of migrants and volunteers from other island groups
Kwajalein
–
Anti-ballistic missile testing at Kwajalein. [
citation needed]
Kwajalein
–
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the
talk page.
Kwajalein
–
U.S. Infantry inspect a hole after capturing the Kwajalein Atoll from Japan during World War II
Kwajalein
–
Short-term accommodations at the "Kwaj Lodge" showing typical Kwajalein housing construction.
28.
Great Recession
–
The Great Recession was a period of general economic decline observed in world markets during the late 2000s and early 2010s. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country, in terms of overall impact, the International Monetary Fund concluded that it was the worst global recession since World War II. According to the US National Bureau of Economic Research the recession, as experienced in that country, began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, the Great Recession was related to the financial crisis of 2007–08 and U. S. subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–09. The Great Recession has resulted in the scarcity of valuable assets in the market economy, under the academic definition, the recession ended in the United States in June or July 2009. In the broader, lay sense of the word however, many use the term to refer to ongoing hardship. The Great Recession met the IMF criteria for being a recession, requiring a decline in annual real world GDP per‑capita. According to the U. S. National Bureau of Economic Research the recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, the years leading up to the crisis were characterized by an exorbitant rise in asset prices and associated boom in economic demand. Further, the U. S. shadow banking system had grown to rival the depository system yet was not subject to the regulatory oversight. US mortgage-backed securities, which had risks that were hard to assess, were marketed around the world, the emergence of sub-prime loan losses in 2007 began the crisis and exposed other risky loans and over-inflated asset prices. With loan losses mounting and the fall of Lehman Brothers on 15 September 2008, the global recession that followed resulted in a sharp drop in international trade, rising unemployment and slumping commodity prices. Several economists predicted that recovery might not appear until 2011 and that the recession would be the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s, Economist Paul Krugman once commented on this as seemingly the beginning of a second Great Depression. Governments and central banks responded with fiscal and monetary policies to national economies. The recession has renewed interest in Keynesian economic ideas on how to combat recessionary conditions, economists advise that the stimulus should be withdrawn as soon as the economies recover enough to chart a path to sustainable growth. Income inequality in the United States has grown from 2005 to 2012 in more than 2 out of 3 metropolitan areas, median household wealth fell 35% in the US, from $106,591 to $68,839 between 2005 and 2011. The majority report of the U. S, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, composed of six Democratic and four Republican appointees, reported its findings in January 2011. There were two Republican dissenting FCIC reports, one of them, signed by three Republican appointees, concluded that there were multiple causes. He wrote, When the bubble began to deflate in mid-2007, There are several narratives attempting to place the causes of the recession into context, with overlapping elements. Four such narratives include, There was the equivalent of a run on the shadow banking system
Great Recession
–
Relationship between fiscal tightening (austerity) in
Eurozone countries with their GDP growth rate, 2008–2012
Great Recession
–
The great asset bubble: 1. Central banks' gold reserves: $0.845 trillion. 2. M0 (paper money): $3.9 trillion. 3. Traditional (fractional reserve) banking assets: $39 trillion. 4. Shadow banking assets: $62 trillion. 5. Other assets: $290 trillion. 6. Bail-out money (early 2009): $1.9 trillion.
29.
112th Congress
–
The One Hundred Twelfth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3,2011, until January 3,2013. It convened in Washington, D. C. on January 3,2011, senators elected to regular terms in 2006 completed those terms in this Congress. This Congress included the last House of Representatives elected from districts that were apportioned based on the 2000 census. In the 2010 midterm elections, the Republican Party won the majority in the House of Representatives, while the Democrats kept their Senate majority, it was reduced from the previous Congress. This was the first Congress in which the House and Senate were controlled by different parties since the 107th Congress, in this Congress, the House of Representatives had the largest number of Republican members,242, since the 80th Congress. January 6,2011, On the second day of the 112th Congress, the House of Representatives read a version of the U. S. Constitution. January 8,2011,2011 Tucson shooting, Representative Gabrielle Giffords and nineteen people were shot by a gunman in Tucson. Six of them, including a judge and a congressional aide. Votes on the House floor were suspended for one week, January 25,2011,2011 State of the Union Address March 19,2011, The United States initiated Operation Odyssey Dawn as part of the international military intervention in the Libyan Civil War. The intervention continued under the auspices of NATO as Operation Unified Protector until the end of operations in October 2011. May 2,2011, Navy Seals killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in Operation Neptune Spear, April 9,2011, A last-minute deal between both parties averts a partial shutdown of the federal government. August 2,2011, The 2011 debt-ceiling crisis ends with the Budget Control Act of 2011, December 18,2011, The United States completed its withdrawal of troops from Iraq, formally ending the Iraq War. January 1,2013, United States fiscal cliff avoided, a failure to pass a 2011 federal budget nearly led to a shutdown of non-essential government services on April 9,2011, with the furlough of 800,000 government employees appearing imminent. President Obama met Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner in the preceding the deadline but was unable to come to an agreement to pass a budget. A one-week budget was proposed to avoid a government shutdown and allow time for negotiations, however. Obama said he would veto a proposed Republican budget over Republican social spending cuts and this was also backed by Senate Democrats who objected to such cuts as that of Planned Parenthood. However, an agreement was reached between the two parties for a budget to allow for more time to negotiate after Republicans dropped their stance on the Planned Parenthood issue. The two parties agreed on a 2011 federal budget the following week
112th Congress
–
United States Capitol (2011)
112th Congress
–
President Obama delivered the
2011 State of the Union Address on January 25, 2011
112th Congress
–
After delivering the
2012 State of the Union Address on January 24, 2012, President Obama embraces Congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords, who
had been shot the previous year.
112th Congress
–
Speaker Boehner meeting with President Obama at the White House during the
2011 debt ceiling crisis
30.
113th Congress
–
The One Hundred Thirteenth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3,2013, to January 3,2015. It was composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives based on the results of the 2012 Senate elections, the seats in the House were apportioned based on the 2010 United States Census. It first met in Washington, D. C. on January 3,2013, senators elected to regular terms in 2008 were in the last two years of those terms during this Congress. Widespread public dissatisfaction with the institution increased over its second year, in October 2013, during the government shutdown, this decreased to 10% approval according to several polls. January 3,2013, Election of Speaker, incumbent Speaker John Boehner was re-elected despite the largest number of defections in the vote for speaker since at least 1991. January 4,2013, Joint session to count the Electoral College votes for the 2012 presidential election, January 20–21,2013, Second inauguration of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. The terms began January 20, but because that was a Sunday, February 12,2013, Joint session to hear the 2013 State of the Union Address. March 6–7,2013, Senator Rand Paul led a filibuster of the nomination of John O. Brennan for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency with a 12-hour, June 5,2013, The first media reports of Edward Snowdens surveillance disclosures surfaced in the media. July 16,2013, The Senate reached a deal to allow some presidential nominations to come to a vote, September 24–25,2013, Senator Ted Cruz delivered a 21-hour, 19-minute speech, one of the longest in Senate history, in opposition to the Affordable Care Act. Cruzs speech was not a filibuster, as it delayed no vote, the filibuster remained in place for Supreme Court nominees and for legislation. November 4,2014, United States elections,2014, including United States Senate elections,2014, March 7,2013, Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, Pub. L. 113–4 March 13,2013, Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013, 113–5 March 26,2013,2013 United States federal budget, Pub. L. 113–6 June 3,2013, Stolen Valor Act of 2013, 113–12 August 9,2013, Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013, Pub. L. 113–23 August 9,2013, Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013, 113–28 September 30,2013, Pay Our Military Act, Pub. L. 113–39 November 27,2013, Drug Quality and Security Act, 113–54 December 26,2013, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, Pub. L. 113–66 January 17,2014, Consolidated Appropriations Act,2014, 113–76 February 7,2014, Agricultural Act of 2014, Pub. L. 113–79 March 21,2014, Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, 113–89 April 3,2014, Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, Pub. L. 113–94 April 3,2014, Support for the Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy, 113–95 May 9,2014, Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, Pub. L
113th Congress
–
U.S. Capitol building at dusk as seen from the eastern side (2013) (Nov. 2014)
113th Congress
–
A
government shutdown notice posted on October 1, 2013, with the
Statue of Liberty in the far background
113th Congress
–
Senate President
Joe Biden (D)
113th Congress
–
Senate President pro tempore
Patrick Leahy (D)
. PMID 20539993.
