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US Gov and Politics

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Department of Veterans' Affairs

one of the Cabinet departments. The department was created in 1989 out of the Veteran's Administration, which had been an independent agency under the President since 1930. The Secretary of Veterans' Affairs heads the department, which operates programs to help veterans and their families. These programs include disability and death compensation payments; pensions; education and rehabilitation; home loan guarantees; burials; and a medical care program.

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Department of Transportation

one of the Cabinet departments, created in 1966. This department establishes the overall transportation policy of the nation. The Secretary of Transportation, who heads the department, the staff of the department and state and local officials work together to determine policies for highways, railroads, aviation, urban mass transit, oil and gas pipelines, ports, waterways and other transportation-related issues. These policies affect other programs, such as energy conservation, land planning and technological change.

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Department of the Treasury

one of the Cabinet departments, created in 1789. The department is headed by the Secretary of the Treasury. The department acts as the primary financial agency of the federal government. It collects taxes and customs duties; manages the public debt; enforces criminal laws relating to taxes, smuggling, and counterfeiting; does accounting for public money; supervises national banks; and manufactures paper money and coins.

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Department of the Interior

established in 1849, this Cabinet department is headed by the Secretary of the Interior. The Department of the Interior functions as the major conservation agency for the federal government. Its major duties include: managing public lands, which consist of over 500 million acres; promoting the conservation, development, and use of mineral, water, fish, and wildlife resources; reclaiming arid lands for farm use; operating federal hydroelectric power facilities; administering the national parks system; and being responsible for the Native American Reservations.

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Department of State

one of the Departments of the Cabinet, created in 1789. The State Department has bureaus which deal with political affairs: the Bureau of African Affairs; the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs; the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs; the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs; the Bureau of Near-Eastern Affairs; the Bureau of South Asian Affairs; and the Bureau of International Organization Affairs. Other bureaus deal with issues related to various other aspects of administration and policy.

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Department of Justice

one of the Cabinet departments, created in 1870. The Attorney General is the head of the Justice Department. Early in the nation's history, the attorney general was an assistant to the president, while the State Department administered most of the duties currently performed by the Justice Department. Today, the department acts as the country's largest law firm. It provides legal advice for the president and officials of other Cabinet departments; represents the United States in court; enforces most federal civil and criminal laws.

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Department of Housing and Urban Development

established in 1965, one of the Cabinet departments. Headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, it conducts insurance, rent subsidy and grant programs in housing and urban development. The department is divided into three sections, each under the administration of an assistant secretary: Community Planning and Development; Housing; and Public and Indian Housing.

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Department of Health and Human Services

established in 1953, one of the Cabinet departments. This department is headed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. It performs administrative, research, educational, and regulatory functions for welfare, public assistance, and public health programs. The Department of Health and Human Services includes the following agencies: the Public Health Service; the Administration on Aging, the Administration for Children and Families, the Health Care Financing Administration, and the Office of Consumer Affairs.

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Department of Energy

one of the Cabinet departments, created in 1977 by combining all federal energy agencies into a Cabinet-level department. The department supports research and other projects on topics such as nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, the marketing of federal power; energy conservation and radioactive waste management. The Secretary of Energy heads the department; which is largely divided into three sets of programs: National Security and Environmental Management; Science and Technology and Energy.

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Department of Education

one of the Cabinet departments, created in 1979. This department administers and coordinates most federal funding for education, and aims to ensure educational access to all children in the United States. In addition, the Department of Education promotes educational excellence through special programs. Among the offices in the Department of Education are: the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; the Office of Post secondary Education and the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs.

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