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Hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs – The Homeland Threat Landscape and U.S. Response – November 14, 2013 – The Honorable Matthew G. Olsen Director National Counterterrorism Center. “Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVEs) remain the most likely global jihadist threat to the Homeland. While the threat posed by HVEs probably will broaden …
“The Government Accountability Office issued a report to Congress finding that the Transportation Security Administration’s behavioral analysis program, known as “Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques” (SPOT), is ineffective. The GAO determined that there is no scientifically valid evidence for behavior indicators, and that TSA screeners cannot reliably interpret passenger behavior. The GAO report also notes that …
Via Jennifer Manning on GovDoc – “Starting Tuesday, November 19, the main URLs for THOMAS [http://www.thomas.gov, http://thomas.gov and http://thomas.loc.gov] will be redirected to the new beta congress.gov system [ http://beta.congress.gov ]. Permanent links (e.g. “handles”) and links to subpages (for example: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/nomis.html), will not be affected. THOMAS will remain fully operational and updated, and available at the following URL: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php These changes will remain in effect until late …
CDT – “Today’s Transparency Report from Google, which shows a sharp increase in government demands for user data, provides the latest in a long list of reasons why Congress should act now to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), to make it clear that government officials must obtain a warrant in order to access email and other communications stored …
Statutory Changes to Limit Future Support Are Not Yet Fully Implemented, GAO-14-18, Nov 14, 2013 “During the 2007-09 financial crisis, the federal government’s actions to stabilize the financial system provided funding support and other benefits to bank holding companies and their subsidiaries. Agencies introduced new programs with broad-based eligibility that provided funding support to eligible institutions, …
“The U.S. monetary authorities did not intervene in the foreign exchange markets during the July—September quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said today in its quarterly report to the U.S. Congress. During the three months that ended September 30, 2013, the dollar depreciated 3.8 percent and 0.9 percent against the euro and Japanese yen, …
EPIC – “In a press release, the Federal Aviation Administration announced the “roadmap” for the integration of drones into domestic airspace. After considering numerous public comments on the privacy impact of aerial drones, the FAA proposed a regulation that requires test site operators to develop privacy policies but does not require any specific baseline privacy protections. The FAA rulemaking came …
“In previous reports, CBO analyzed how household income (which included some federal benefit payments, or transfers) and federal taxes were distributed among different segments of the U.S. population. This report goes a step farther by analyzing the distribution of most federal spending—including spending on transfers and a host of other government activities—and almost all federal …
“The Congress faces an array of policy choices as it confronts the dramatic increase in the federal government’s debt over the past several years and the prospect of large annual budget deficits and further increases in that debt that are projected to occur in coming decades under current law. To help inform lawmakers about the …
Sovereign Debt in Advanced Economies: Overview and Issues for Congress – Rebecca M. Nelson, Analyst in International Trade and Finance. October 28, 2013 “Sovereign debt, also called public debt or government debt, refers to debt incurred by governments. Since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, public debt in advanced economies has increased substantially. A number of factors related …
“The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program develops toxicologic assessments of environmental contaminants. IRIS assessments provide hazard identification and dose-response assessment information. The information is then used in conjunction with exposure information to characterize risks to public health and may be used in risk-based decisionmaking, in regulatory actions, and for …
Wharton Public Policy commentary – “One of the most powerful arguments for raising the minimum wage is the notion of creating a “livable wage” that enables people to have the dignity of working a job that pays enough to live on and support their family. Today a person working full-time for the entire year on minimum …
