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Recent CRS Reports – Congress's Contempt Power, Info Security and Federal R&D Funding

Via Open CRS:

  • August 01, 2007 – Congress’s Contempt Power: A Sketch – “Congress’s contempt power is the means by which Congress responds to certain acts that in its view obstruct the legislative process. Contempt may be used either to coerce compliance (inherent contempt), punish the contemnor (criminal contempt), and/or to remove the obstruction (civil contempt).”
  • July 31, 2007 – Information Security and Data Breach Notification Safeguards: “Information security and breach notification requirements are imposed on some entities that own, possess, or license sensitive personal information. Information security standards are designed to protect personally identifiable information from compromise, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized acquisition, unauthorized access, or other situations where unauthorized persons have access or potential access to personally identifiable information for unauthorized purposes. Data breach notification laws require covered entities to provide notice to affected persons (e.g., cardholders, customers) about the occurrence of a data security breach involving personally identifiable information.”
  • July 26, 2007 – Federal Research and Development Funding: FY2008 – “The Bush Administration has requested $142.7 billion in federal research and development (R&D) funding for FY2008. As in the recent past, the FY2008 proposed increase over the FY2007 funding level is due to significant funding increases in the Department of Defense (DOD); the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) space vehicles development program; and the continuation of the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI).”
  • July 23, 2007 – State E-Government Strategies: Identifying Best Practices and Applications – “Although electronic government (“e-government”) is currently one of the leading approaches to government reform, a lack of coordination or communication between various initiatives increases the risk of creating more so-called “islands of automation” and “stovepipes” within and between levels of government. To address these issues, Congress is actively overseeing e-government initiatives and is attempting to work with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and state governments to identify best practices, standards, and strategies.”
  • July 17, 2007 – Food and Agricultural Imports from China: “U.S. food and agricultural imports have increased significantly in recent years, causing some in Congress to question whether the U.S. food safety system can keep pace. A series of recent incidents have raised safety concerns about the many foods, medicines, and other products from China in particular.”
  • July 16, 2007 – Critical Infrastructure: The National Asset Database – “The Office of Infrastructure Protection (OIP) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been developing and maintaining a National Asset Database. The Database contains information on over 77,000 individual assets, ranging from dams, hazardous materials sites, and nuclear power plants to local festivals, petting zoos, and sporting good stores.”
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