Category «Congress»

Markey, Hatch Release Discussion Draft of Legislation Addressing Student Privacy

Focuses on need to protect students, provide tools to parents when information shared with third parties “Washington (May 14, 2014) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today released a discussion draft …

Subjects: Congress, Education, Legislation, Privacy

CRS – Afghanistan: Drug Trafficking and the 2014 Transition

Afghanistan: Drug Trafficking and the 2014 Transition, Liana Rosen, Specialist in International Crime and Narcotics; Kenneth Katzman; Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs. May 9, 2014, “Experts widely assess that Afghanistan will remain the world’s primary source of opium poppy cultivation and opium and heroin production, as well as a major global source of cannabis resin, in the coming years. In …

Subjects: Congress, Defense, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legislation

CRS – How Social Security Benefits Are Computed

How Social Security Benefits Are Computed: In Brief. Noah P. Meyerson, Analyst in Income Security, May 12, 2014 “Social Security, which paid $812 billion in benefits in 2013, is the largest program in the federal budget. There are currently about 58 million Social Security beneficiaries. Most Social Security beneficiaries are retired and disabled workers, whose monthly benefits depend …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Shifting Priorities in the Federal Budget – CBO

Under Current Law, What Is the Outlook for Overall Federal Deficits, Debt, Spending, and Revenues? – Presentation to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research by Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director, CBO, May 13, 2014. “By 2020, under current law: Federal spending for Social Security and the major health care programs will be roughly 50 percent larger relative to GDP than it …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

CRS – Ukraine: Current Issues and U.S. Policy

Ukraine: Current Issues and U.S. Policy, Steven Woehrel, Specialist in European Affairs. May 8, 2014 “After a failed effort to violently disperse pro-European Union protests, the government of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych collapsed on February 21, 2014. The Ukrainian parliament approved a new pro-reform, pro-Western government on February 27. New presidential elections arescheduled for May 25. Russia has …

Subjects: Congress, Defense, Economy, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Congress Seeking Transparency and Oversight of NSA Collection of Metadata

New York Review of Books – We Kill People Based on Metadata by David Cole [snipped] “Supporters of the National Security Agency inevitably defend its sweeping collection of phone and Internet records on the ground that it is only collecting so-called “metadata”—who you call, when you call, how long you talk. Since this does not include the actual content …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, E-Mail, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Patriot Act, Privacy

Judicial Activity Concerning Enemy Combatant Detainees: Major Court Rulings

CRS – Judicial Activity Concerning Enemy Combatant Detainees: Major Court Rulings. Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney; Michael John Garcia, Legislative Attorney. April 21, 2014 “As part of the conflict with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the United States has captured and detained numerous persons believed to have been part of or associated with enemy forces. Over the years, federal courts …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Privacy Case Moves Forward Against Facebook and Zynga

EPIC: “The Ninth Circuit found that the companies may have violated Facebook’s privacy policies when they disclosed user information for advertising purposes. Separately, the court ruled that there was no violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act because the data disclosed (including Facebook IDs and HTTP referers) is not “contents” of a communication. Congress is set to consider several ECPA reforms, …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, E-Commerce, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

Interactive visualization allows you to explore actual patterns of lawmaking in Congress

Legislative Explorer or LEG/EX © University of Washington Center for American Politics and Public Policy. A data-driven discovery tool for learning about how bills become law. “Researchers at the University of Washington’s Center for American Politics and Public Policy are applying data-driven discovery methods popular in the natural sciences to visualize and learn about lawmaking. Legislative Explorer, or LegEx, …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legislation

Country Reports on Terrorism 2013

United States Department of State Publication, Bureau of Counterterrorism, April 2014: “Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 is submitted in compliance with Title 22 of the United States  Code, Section 2656f (the “Act”), which requires the Department of State to provide to Congress a full and complete annual report on terrorism for those countries and groups meeting the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Defense, Government Documents

CBO’s Major Recurring Reports

“We’ve created a new collection to make it easier to find our major recurring reports. Looking for our Budget and Economic Outlook or Analysis of the President’s Budget? This new collection has links to versions of those reports that we’ve published since 2000 along with our other major recurring reports. Some documents you’ll find include: Budget and Economic Outlook …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents