USAToday.com: "Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees confirm that the National Security Agency has compiled a massive database of domestic phone call records. But some lawmakers also say that cooperation by the nation's telecommunication companies was not as extensive as first reported by USA TODAY on May 11."

Committee on Indian Affairs, 'Gimme Five' – Investigation of Tribal Lobbying Matters (373 pages, PDF), June 22, 2006.

Press release: "The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently launched a new topics page on its Web site aimed at assisting employers and employees with information on OSHA workplace standards for steel product manufacturing. Basic Steel Products, a new Safety and Health topic, is a product of Alliances with The Steel Group and the Crane, Hoist and Monorail Alliance (consisting of the Crane Manufacturers Association of America, Hoist Manufacturers Institute, and the Monorail Manufacturers Association). Information on the new page focuses on identifying possible workplace dangers in the steel products industry and offers resources for the establishment of an effective safety and health program."

"This 2006 electronic edition of the Capital Punishment Handbook has been revised and updated. It is current through March 10, 2006. Although the handbook is intended to be a comprehensive annotation of helpful and applicable capital habeas law, the handbook does not contain all opinions issued in habeas corpus cases. The handbook is a reference tool and not an official publication of the Judicial Council or of the Ninth Circuit. Therefore, it may not be cited as authority. Any views or opinions in this handbook are not intended to reflect the views of the Judicial Council or any court of this circuit."

Transcript of Teleconference with Senior Officials Regarding Supreme Court's Ruling in the Hamdan Case, June 30, 2006.

Treasury: "The final results from the annual survey of foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. securities at end-June 2005 are released today and posted on the U.S. Treasury web site. The survey was undertaken jointly by the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System."

Follow-up to March 31, 2006 posting, see Iraq Index: Tracking Variables of Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, Brookings Institution, June 29, 2006 (57 pages, PDF)

Senate Report 109-273 - Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (127 pages, PDF), June 29. 2006

Press release: "Today the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. The bill recommends $31,730,000,000 in discretionary spending for the Department of Homeland Security. This is $715,000,000 more than the President’s fiscal year 2007 discretionary spending request and $1,472,299,000 more than the fiscal year 2006 enacted level, excluding emergency supplemental appropriations."

DOJ IT Strategic Plan: Fiscal Years 2006 - 2011

Review of the Senate's FY2007 Energy & Water Development Appropriations Bill, June 29, 2006.

"The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) provides a coordinated approach to critical infrastructure and key resource protection roles and responsibilities for federal, state, local, tribal, and private sector security partners. The NIPP sets national priorities, goals, and requirements for effective distribution of funding and resources which will help ensure that our government, economy, and public services continue in the event of a terrorist attack or other disaster."

Following up on recent postings that appeared in chronological order as follows: Government Mines Global Financial Data in War on Terror; Disclosure of Terrorist Finance Tracking Program; and Controversy Abroad Over Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, two related articles that claim that the program's work was known in various communities:

Security Legislative Hearing on H.R. 5219, the "Judicial Transparency and Ethics Enhancement Act of 2006," June 29, 2006.

"MEDNET is a scientific conference organized of under the auspices of the Society for the Internet in Medicine (SIM)." Browse by Author or Title available for papers authored by experts around the world.

House Committee on Financial Services: "Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 227-183 in favor of a resolution [H. Res. 895] introduced yesterday by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael G. Oxley (OH), which expresses the sense of the House in support of U.S. government programs to track terrorist financing and to condemn illegal disclosure of classified information that impairs the international fight against terrorism."

From the Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section of AALL, this Revised Marketing Toolkit (June 27, 2006), includes content in the following categories: Mission Statement, Competencies for Head Law Librarian, Commonly Asked Questions and Answers, Bibliography, and Statistics Handbook.

Press release: "Google Inc. today announced the launch of Google Checkout, a checkout process that makes online shopping faster, more convenient and more secure for Google users. Google Checkout offers an easy and trusted checkout option that enables shoppers to purchase from participating stores with a single Google login." More information on this Official Google Blog posting.

Press release: "The Department of the Army has activated a secure web site that will enable current and former servicemembers to determine if their personal information was potentially compromised as a result of the May 3 theft of a laptop from the Department of Veterans Affairs containing personal data on millions of veterans."

Press release: "The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released its 180-day report on avian influenza (AI) efforts and the use of $91 million appropriated in the Emergency Supplemental Appropriation to Address Pandemic Influenza six months ago. The report details USDA's efforts both internationally and domestically to combat highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI H5N1)."

"Frequently Asked Questions About the Federal Budget, prepared by the House Budget Committee Democratic Staff. The document answers common questions about the national budget, and additional information."

GPO Access: "This page contains links to active ("unofficial") and archived ("official") conference reports. Conference reports are available to the public as a filed version prior to official printing. Documents are available in ASCII Text and PDF."

In an 11-11 vote today, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation defeated the Communications, Consumers' Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 (otherwise known as Net Neutrality).

Federal Times: "In a few months, the 3.6 million participants in the Thrift Savings Plan will begin using account numbers instead of Social Security numbers to access their retirement accounts. TSP administrators are switching to randomly generated account numbers to enhance security and protect participants' Social Security numbers from being stolen, said Mark Hagerty, director of automated systems at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which oversees the TSP."

Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Regulatory State, by Clyde Wayne Crews, June 28, 2006 (42 pages, PDF): "In the Fiscal Year 2006 federal budget, President Bush proposed $2.77 trillion in discretionary, entitlement, and interest spending. Although those costs fully express the on-budget scope of the federal government, there is considerably more to the government's reach than the sum of the taxes sent to Washington. Federal environmental, safety and health, and economic regulations cost hundreds of billions of dollars every year—on top of official federal outlays."

"Welcome to CodePlex, Microsoft's community development Web site. You can use CodePlex to create new projects to share with your fellow developers around the world, join others who have already started their own projects, or use the applications on this site and provide feedback."

"100 Companies Receiving the Largest Dollar Volume of Prime Contract Awards is published annually. This report contains summary data on the 100 companies, including their subsidiaries, which were awarded the largest total dollar volume of Department of Defense prime contract awards during fiscal year 2005."

"Utica College's Center for Identity Management and Information Protection is a research collaborative dedicated to furthering a national research agenda on identity management, information sharing, and data protection. Founded in June 2006, its ultimate goal is to impact policy, regulation, and legislation, working toward a more secure homeland."

Press release: Dell To Launch Free Recycling Of Dell-Branded Products For Consumers Globally: "Beginning today, San Diego residents can call toll-free, 1-888-4-GOODWILL or 1-866-48 REUSE (73873), or visit www.reconnectpartnership.com or www.sdgoodwill.org, to locate the most convenient drop-off location at any of the 24 local Goodwill donation centers and retail stores."

Hearings were held June 27 and June 28, 2006 by the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, on Making the Internet Safe for Kids: The Role of ISP's and Social Networking Sites.

Related government news and documents:

Press release: "CDT's report charts the important cases against spyware distributors and identifies the statutes applied, June 26, 2006."

Presidential Signing Statements, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, June 27, 2006

The DotGov Buzz, June 27, 2006 E-Gov Initatives: "The Office of Management and Budget has released updated draft guidance for agencies moving to the financial management Line of Business. The guidance offers competitive framework, template for migration project plan, change management best practices and a menu of services that financial-management shared-service providers can deliver. The Migration Planning Guidance aims to answer procedural questions and provide insight when agencies conduct competitions for financial-management services from a public or private shared-service provider. According to the memorandum, agencies are to conduct public-private competitions and migrations as directed in OMB Circular A-76 for activities performed by more than 10 FTEs. Agencies should consult with OMB if they need to deviate from that directive."

Homeland Security Information Network Could Support Information Sharing More Effectively, OIG-06-38 (PDF, 47 pages), June 27, 2006.

Press release, The Third Branch: "A long-term study of what impact the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) is having on the federal courts has produced its first interim progress report, one that shows that the number of class action cases dramatically increased in three busy district courts since the early 1990s."

WSJ free feature: Laptop Lockdown - Companies Start Holding Employees Responsible for Security Of Portable Devices They Use for Work

Challenges and FDIC Efforts Related to Predatory Lending (Audit Report Number 06-011), June 2006 (41 pages, PDF)

In connection with a hearing scheduled by the House Committee on Ways and Means for June 28, 2006, the Joint Committee on Taxation has issued Present Law And Analysis Relating To The Tax Treatment Of Health Savings Accounts And Other Health Expenses (JCX-27-06).

"Press release: The Brennan Center Task Force on Voting System Security, an initiative of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, today released a report and policy proposals concluding that all three of the nation's most commonly purchased electronic voting systems are vulnerable to software attacks that could threaten the integrity of a state or national election."

Review of Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR-06-003T), House Committee on International Relations. On June 8, 2006, SIGIR provided testimony before the House Committee on International Relations as part of the Committee's review of U.S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

FTC press release: "The Federal Trade Commission today told a meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers that access to the Whois databases is "critical to the agency’s consumer protection laws, to other law enforcement agencies around the world, and to consumers." Whois databases are online information directories that contain contact information about website operators. Access to the databases is in question because one of ICANN's advisory bodies recommended limiting access to Whois data to technical purposes only."

Committee on Government Reform Minority Office: "A new report by Rep. Henry A. Waxman examines how the Bush Administration has carried out FDA's historic enforcement responsibilities. The report is the result of a 15-month investigation that included a review of thousands of pages of internal agency enforcement records. It finds that there has been a precipitous drop in FDA enforcement actions over the last five years. In some cases, FDA headquarters rejected the enforcement recommendations of FDA field offices despite findings by agency inspectors that violations led to multiple deaths or serious injuries."

Press release: "Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), members of the Senate Banking Committee, today introduced legislation to help protect individuals and businesses from the rampant crimes of identity theft and account fraud...The new bill requires that all entities – such as financial institutions, universities, retailers and federal agencies –safeguard sensitive information, investigate security breaches and notify consumers when there’s a substantial risk of identity theft or account fraud. That means retailers that take credit card information are now covered; data brokers who compile private information are covered; and government agencies that possess nonpublic personal information are also covered."

M-06-16, Protection of Sensitive Agency Information, June 23, 2006 (10 pages, PDF)

Press release: "Beginning June 26, 2006 customers will be able to order copies of Court Records from a NARA Federal Records Center using Order Online!, the National Archives' online ordering web site. Order Online! provides an easy and convenient method for customers to request reproductions of certain records and pay for these orders with most major credit cards.

"The following resources [Climate Change Panel and Country Papers] were presented in CD format to participants at the Baker & McKenzie two-day 2006 International Environment Conference, held in June in Chicago."

Bureau of Justice Statistics press release: "Large state and local law enforcement agencies with 59 percent of the nation's sworn officers received 26,556 citizen complaints about the police use of force during 2002, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. The rate was 6.6 complaints per 100 full-time sworn officers. Eighty-four percent were made against large municipal departments, BJS said."

A resolution to the case involving Connecticut librarians and an FBI NSL gag order regarding patron records - today the ACLU announced the FBI has dropped the case.

Center for Public Integrity special report: "Over a 5½-year period ending in 2005, members of Congress and their aides took at least 23,000 trips — valued at almost $50 million — financed by private sponsors, many of them corporations, trade associations and nonprofit groups with business on Capitol Hill."

Press release, June 22, 2006: "Ancestry.com, the world's largest online family history source, today announced it has completed digitizing and indexing the entire U.S. Federal Census from 1790 to 1930. Ancestry.com is the only source where all publicly released census information can be found online. The addition of the complete census collection makes Ancestry.com the most comprehensive genealogical database ever compiled online with more than five billion searchable names. Prior to the completion of this project, these priceless pieces of American history were primarily found on microfilm at the National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) offices and select libraries across the country." [note, this is a fee based service]

County Clerk to Temporarily Halt Online Posting of Public Records, June 19, 2006: " Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir announced today that her office will temporarily halt publishing public records on the Internet. DeBeauvoir said her commitment to protecting individual personal data outweighs the convenience of accessing records online. DeBeauvoir stressed the public records will remain available in the offices of the County Clerk."

AP reports on an impending agreement between Congress and the White House on legislation incorporating language on the government's domestic surveillance program into law.

Center for American Progress: The Terrorism Index: A Survey of the U.S. National Security Establishment on the War on Terror

Follow-up to June 22, 2006 posting, Government Mines Global Financial Data in War on Terror, the following related government documents and news today includes:

June 23, 2006- Executive Order: Protecting the Property Rights of the American People - related to Supreme Court decision, June 23, 2005 - Kelo v. City of New London, No. 04-108.

American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting Handout Materials Collection

Press release: "A free workshop [June 30, 2006 - Jefferson Room National Archives Building 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC, 20408]sponsored by the National Archives Information Security Oversight Office that is aimed at informing the researcher public and the media of their rights in obtaining the maximum information by requesting a declassification review of classified national security documents. Due to limited space, pre-registration is required. Call 202-357-5250 or email isoo@nara.gov to reserve a place."

[Customs and Border Patrol] CBP's Trusted Traveler Systems Using RFID Technology Require Enhanced Security (Redacted) OIG-06-36 (PDF, 33 pages,) released 06/23/06.

"The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) told a federal judge today that the government should not be allowed to use the "state secrets privilege" to preempt the class-action lawsuit against AT&T. EFF's suit accuses AT&T of collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in illegally spying on millions of Americans -- handing over customers' telephone and Internet records and communications without any legal authority. Department of Justice lawyers argued today that even if the NSA program is illegal, pursuing the case might expose "state secrets." However, EFF attorneys asked the judge to allow the case to proceed, considering the privilege in regards to specific evidence and situations instead of derailing the suit all together."

AP reports that Dr. King's collection of writings and books will be given to his alma mater, Morehouse College, after their purchase by a group of distinguished community leaders, thus ensuring availability to the public in years to come.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, 04-1434a Goldstein, Phillip vs. SEC

Presidential Signing Statements, 2001-2006, George W. Bush, Annotated Text of the Signing Statements.

Joint Statement [released June 22, 2006] of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman and Ranking Member on the Climate Change Conference Held on April 4, 2006 (PDF). "Joint Statement examines issues discussed and legislative policy ideas brought forth by participants at the Climate Change Conference."

Is the NSA spying on U.S. Internet traffic? by Kim Zetter, Salon.com, June 22, 2006.

"The Department of State [launched] a new website feature Thursday, June 22 called, "Ask the Ambassador". This ongoing Internet program will create an opportunity for the public to speak directly with U.S. ambassadors world-wide. The first on-line web discussion will be hosted by William R. Timken, Jr., the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. Questions concerning the EU Summit, World Cup, and other issues will be answered by Mr. Timken on Monday, June 26. Questions may be submitted here."

Pew Global Attitudes Project, June 22, 2006 - The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other

Press release: "There is sufficient evidence from tree rings, boreholes, retreating glaciers, and other "proxies" of past surface temperatures to say with a high level of confidence that the last few decades of the 20th century were warmer than any comparable period in the last 400 years, according to a new report from the National Research Council."

Press release: "New report shows 17 states at high risk for election results compromised due to electronic voting machine problems."

The 2006 Technology, Media and Telecommunications Security Survey (16 pages, PDF), Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu: "Security has long been neglected in the Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) industry and the problem continues today. The frequency and sophistication of the attacks are growing, yet many surveyed companies tend to treat security as a relatively minor issue. So where are TMT companies falling behind? More importantly, what can they do to address this increasingly significant problem?"

Congressional Record, June 19, 2006 - "By Mr. REID (for himself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Levin, and Mr. Durbin): S. 3536. A bill to ensure oversight of intelligence on Iran, and for other purposes; to the Select Committee on Intelligence....Today, I am introducing legislation which would improve Congress's oversight of the administration's efforts on Iran--the Iran Intelligence Oversight Act. The legislation will ensure that Congress is fully engaged in the Iran debate, and it will also push the Bush White House to develop and implement the right policy for dealing with Iran."

DOT Law Library Newsletters, from Summer 2001 through Winter 2005, available in PDF and HTML versions [Michael Ravnitzky]

See also:

AP reported that a hacker obtained personal data on over 25,000 Agriculture Department employees.

World Resources Institute: 2006. Hot Climate, Cool Commerce: A Service Sector Guide to Greenhouse Gas Management. "A guide on managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that details the various steps necessary to manage track, and reduce GHG emissions."

Following up on Domestic Call Records Mined for Expansive Pentagon Database Program, today's passage by the House Judiciary Committee, voice vote, on H.Res. 819, "Requesting the President and directing the Attorney General to submit to the House of Representatives all documents in the possession of the President and the Attorney General relating to requests made by the National Security Agency and other Federal agencies to telephone service providers requesting access to telephone communications records of persons in the United States and communications originating and terminating within the United States without a warrant".

Related links and news:

Fact Sheet: 2006 U.S. - EU Summit, June 21, 2006

"Feed Rinse is an easy to use tool that lets you automatically filter out syndicated content that you aren't interested in. It's like a spam filter for your RSS subscriptions."

From the chron.com, their comprehensive Enron coverage and Enron Corp. – Background, documents, profiles, photos and multimedia coverage of the Enron scandal, investigations and criminal prosecutions.

House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, Democratic Staff report, Detour Ahead: Critical Vulnerabilities in America’s Rail and Mass Transit Security Programs, June 2006 (45 page, PDF).

The Consumer Privacy Legislative Forum (whose members include Google, Microsoft, Oracle, EBay Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Symantec Corp.) issued a statement supporting "a serious process to consider comprehensive harmonized federal privacy legislation to create a simplified, uniform but flexible legal framework."

Following up on previous postings on the VA data breach, today the GAO issued yet another related report - Information Security: Leadership Needed to Address Weaknesses and Privacy Issues at Veterans Affairs, Full text GAO-06-897T, and Highlights, June 20, 2006.

Survey Results on Access to Information Problems Encountered by Federal, State, and Local Accountability Organizations, Evaluation and Inspections Report, I-2006-006, June 2006. (107 pages, PDF)

The Government Domain - Google's New U.S. Government Search, by Peggy Garvin

Press release: "The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division today announced that they are implementing an electronic filing system that allows merging parties to submit via the Internet premerger notification filings required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. Electronic filings may be submitted quickly and easily, eliminating the time and expense entailed in duplicating and delivering documents."

Related government documents:

"As was indicated in its governmentwide policy guidance issued under Executive Order 13,392 -- see FOIA Post, Executive Order 13,392 Implementation Guidance (posted 4/27/06) (noting, in footnote 2, prospective treatment of improvement plans and annual FOIA reports alike) -- the Office of Information and Privacy has established a special location on its FOIA Web site for the consolidated posting of all agency FOIA improvement plans prepared under the Executive Order. These plans can be accessed through the new "navbar" entitled Agency FOIA Improvement Plans Under EO 13392 that now is contained on OIP's FOIA Web site."

The un-Google, June 15, 2006, from The Economist print edition (free online, if you view an advert first): "Google dominates the lucrative market for web-search, but its rivals [Microsoft, Ask, Yahoo] are setting out to change that."

New York Times: Library Phone Answerers Survive the Internet

SEC: "This page allows you to search the full text of EDGAR filings from the last two years. The full text of a filing includes all data in the filing as well as all attachments to the filing. We are still developing this feature, and we plan to enhance it based on user feedback."

Other new SEC search features:

Related to previous postings on government telephone surveillance, see this recent commentary, ACLU v. National Security Agency: Why the "State Secrets Privilege" Shouldn't Stop the Lawsuit Challenging Warrantless Telephone Surveillance of Americans, by John Dean.

Press release: House Appropriations Committee Directs NIH to Ensure Tax-Funded Medical Research is Freely Available in Agency’s Online Archive

Related references and sources:

Press release: Pew Global Attitudes Survey 2006: Findings on U.S. Image, Views of Iraq and Iran

Press release, June 16, 2006: "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued findings today from a national assessment of the country’s catastrophic planning capabilities. Responding to directives from President Bush and the Congress, following Hurricane Katrina, the Nationwide Plan Review (PDF, 174 pages) looked at whether existing emergency operations plans for states and urban areas are sufficient for managing a catastrophic event. The Review also presents conclusions on actions needed by the federal government to improve and coordinate planning."

Yet another report today about the theft of a laptop from the home of a government employee, this time involving info on D.C. government personnel. The issue of why so many institutions have not implemented proper security measures, such as encryption on digital media removed from the office, remains baffling.

Reports on monitoring of employee website usage are not uncommon, but today's New York Times article highlights how blocking specific si