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This book is a comprehensive compilation of all reports, testimony, correspondence and other publications issued by the Congressional Research Service on International Relations during the month of May.

Federal assistance to public transportation is provided primarily through the public transportation program administered by the Department of Transportation''s Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The federal public transportation program was authorized from FY2016 through FY2020 as part of the Fixing America''s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the program as authorized by the FAST Act. Unless legislative action is taken, formula funding for the federal transit program could be decreased by approximately $1 billion in FY2020, roughly 12% from the amount authorized in the FAST Act as reported in chapter 2. Almost every conversation about surface transportation finance begins with a two-part question: What are the "needs" of the national transportation system, and how does the nation pay for them? Chapter 3 is aimed at discussing the "how to pay for them" question. The 116th Congress is expected to address surface transportation reauthorization, including consideration of how to deal with the persistent gap between projected HTF revenues and program costs as discussed in chapter 4 and 5. Chapter 6 begins by discussing FHWA assistance for the repair and reconstruction of highways and bridges damaged by disasters (such as the 2017 Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria) or catastrophic failures (such as the collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in Washington State in 2013). This is followed by a discussion of FTA''s assistance program, established in 2012, which has provided assistance to public transportation systems on two occasions, once after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and again after the 2017 hurricanes. The focus of chapter 7 is how best to implement and finance a system of deterrence, protection, and response that effectively reduces the possibility and consequences of terrorist attacks without unduly interfering with travel, commerce, and civil liberties. The focus of chapter 8 is on truck freight and that portion of the rail and port industries that transports truck trailers and containers (intermodal freight). The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program provides long-term, low-interest loans and other types of credit assistance for the construction of surface transportation projects as reported in chapter 9. DOT opened the Build America Bureau in July 2016. Chapter 10 assesses, progress DOT made to establish the Bureau and carry out its responsibilities, the Bureau''s process for evaluating applications, and whether the Bureau provided a clear rationale for decisions in that process. Chapter 11 examines the implications for federal transit policy of the current weakness and possible future changes in transit ridership. Chapter 12 discusses the extent to which information exists about future transit workforce needs and FTA assists with addressing current and future transit workforce needs.

This book is a comprehensive compilation of all reports, testimony, correspondence and other publications issued by the Congressional Research Service on International Relations during the month of May.

The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA08) requires implementation of positive train control (PTC) on railroads which carry passengers or have high-volume freight traffic with toxic- or poisonous-by-inhalation hazardous materials. Chapters 1 and 2 discuss passenger railroads'' PTC progress and FRA''s steps to assist them, and how passenger railroads and FRA plan to approach the 2018 and 2020 deadlines. Chapter 3 reports on the FRA''s passenger equipment safety standards using a performance-based approach to adopt new and modified requirements governing the construction of conventional and high-speed passenger rail equipment. Chapter 4 examines key characteristics of FRA''s and FTA''s rail safety oversight programs and strengths and limitations of FRA''s and FTA''s rail safety oversight programs. Crashes at highway-rail grade crossings are one of the leading causes of railroad-related deaths. Chapter 5 examines the focus of FRA''s grade-crossing-safety research, how states select and implement grade-crossing projects and what data are available from FRA to inform their decisions, and the challenges states reported in implementing and assessing projects and the extent to which FHWA assesses the program''s effectiveness. When a train is not moving but its engines are running, it can present risks and disruptions for the surrounding community as reported in chapter 6. Railroad bridges carry heavy and potentially dangerous loads over busy roadways and important waterways. Many of these bridges are a century old or more. However, unlike road bridges, which are the responsibility of public entities, railroad bridges are the responsibility of the private railroad companies that own or operate them. Congress has acted in recent years to improve oversight of railroad bridge safety, but incidents have prompted concerns about whether enough is being done to protect the public as discussed in chapter 7. Train derailments or collisions are often well-publicized events and receive significant attention from policymakers seeking to reduce their reoccurrence. Less attention has been devoted to trespassing, although it is a much greater cause of rail-related fatalities than derailments and collisions combined. As reported in chapter 8, over three-fifths of deaths in rail incidents have been pedestrian trespassers, and vehicle-train accidents at railroad grade crossings account for nearly one-third Congress created the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program to offer long-term, low-cost loans to railroad operators, with particular attention to small freight railroads, to help them finance improvements to infrastructure and investments in equipment. This program is the focus of chapter 9. Chapter 10 examines how WMATA spent its capital funds from fiscal years 2011 through 2017, how WMATA''s new capital planning process addresses weaknesses it identified in the prior process, and WMATA''s progress toward its track preventive maintenance program''s goals and how the program aligns with leading program management practices.

Chapter 1 examines how BLM''s actual costs and potential oil and gas well liabilities have changed for fiscal years 2010 through 2017 and the extent to which BLM has implemented its well and bond review policies. Chapter 2 reviews oil and gas lease suspensions on federal lands managed by BLM and examines the extent of and reasons for such suspensions and the approach BLM uses to monitor the status of lease suspensions. Chapter 3 describes the distribution of BLM''s oil and gas Inspection and Enforcement program''s workload and workforce among agency field offices for the most recent 5 years for fiscal years 2012 through 2016 and examines the extent to which BLM conducted internal control reviews in accordance with its July 2012 oversight policy for fiscal years 2013 through 2018. U.S. oil and natural gas production has increased substantially since 2008. These increases have important policy implications for energy markets, infrastructure, security, and the environment as reported in chapter 4. Chapter 5 discusses the recent oil market trends and geopolitical factors that have contributed to price escalation since the start of 2018. Chapter 6 reviews the federal government''s response, restoration, and research efforts after the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon oil spills. This chapter examines how the trustee councils have used the restoration trust funds and the status of restoration and the interagency committee''s coordination of oil spill research efforts.

The theory of value is probably the most disputed feature of Marx political economy, while mostly another problem namely the issue of transformation -- is addressed. Two particular reasons for this contestation are the following: it stands at the centre of marking the political of political economy; it is cross-cutting with respect to the micro- and macro-level and especially the personal/individual and the societal/institutional aspects of economic thinking. In addition, some illusionary reasoning, suggesting that we are all better off than we had been 10, 50 or 100 years ago, remains more in the vein of a Yes, we can supposition, not arriving in reality. Furthermore, the questionable character comes even more to the fore as we witness again the existence of a group of plutocrats (Freeland, 2012), a class of superrich whose affluence is beyond reason and even imagination. However, at the core stands an obviously far-reaching change of the mode of production. Notwithstanding the critique then and now, there are good reasons to emphasise the usefulness of the theory of value. These will be taken up by exploring explicitly the tensions mentioned, and discussing them against the background of the contemporary shift within the capitalist mode of production. Marxism, in this light, is instrumental for the analysis of globalisation as it allows a clearer understanding not least of the emergence of poverty chains and the role of the capitalist state as an institution that maintains centre-periphery patterns of inequality within the productive sphere. Furthermore, we can find here at least clues for answers Marxism has when it comes to fighting for societal change, not least changes and challenges that are linked to the emerging processes around digitisation.