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Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources – Rita Tehan, Information Research Specialist. October 25, 2013 “Cybersecurity is a sprawling topic that includes national, international, government, and private industry dimensions. In the 113th Congress, 5 bills have been introduced in the Senate and 7 in the House. More than 40 bills and resolutions with provisions related to cybersecurity were introduced in …
“The Democratic Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Republican author of the Patriot Act have introduced the USA FREEDOM Act, which would reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and limit NSA surveillance activities. A bi-partisan coalition, including 17 Senators and 70 Members of Congress, have joined as original co-sponsors. Key provisions of the FREEDOM …
U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Developments, and Issues. Amy F. Woolf – Specialist in Nuclear Weapons Policy, October 22, 2013 “Even though the United States plans to reduce the number of warheads deployed on its long-range missiles and bombers, consistent with the terms of the New START Treaty, it also plans to develop new delivery …
CBO Cost Estimate of H.R. 2767 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Financial Services on July 24, 2013: “H.R. 2767 would require the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to repeal the charters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and end the operations of those firms five years after enactment of the bill (and …
“Since 2008, receipts from corporate income taxes have been smaller, relative to the size of the economy, than their historical average of 1.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)—largely because the recent recession substantially reduced taxable corporate profits. Temporary provisions in tax laws also played a role, particularly provisions that let firms accelerate deductions for …
Raising the Age of Eligibility for Medicare to 67: An Updated Estimate of the Budgetary Effects – October 24, 2013 “Medicare, one of the federal government’s largest programs, provides health care benefits primarily to elderly people. The usual age of eligibility for those benefits is 65, although certain people qualify for the program earlier. (Medicare …
CRS – Unemployment Insurance: Programs and Benefits, Julie M. Whittaker, Specialist in Income Security; Katelin P. Isaacs, Analyst in Income Security. September 17, 2013 “Various benefits may be available to unemployed workers to provide income support. When eligible workers lose their jobs, the Unemployment Compensation (UC) program may provide up to 26 weeks of income …
Making Smart Security Choices – The Future of the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex. Union of Concerned Scientists. October 2013. “The mission of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex is to ensure a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear arsenal. The complex must be able to extend the life of nuclear warheads, assess their reliability and safety, understand …
“The impasse that shut down much of the federal government for 16 days has left Americans in the sort of throw-the-bums-out mood that presaged two recent tumultuous elections in which control of the House of Representatives shifted from one party to the other. In a nationwide USA TODAY/Princeton Survey Research Poll, just 4% of those …
CRS – Updating the Statutory Framework for Communications for the Digital Age: Issues for Congress. Charles B. Goldfarb, Specialist in Telecommunications Policy. September 30, 2013 “The statutory framework for the communications sector largely was enacted prior to the commercial development and deployment of digital technology, Internet Protocol (IP), broadband networks, and online voice, data, and …
Maryn McKenna, WIRED interviewed CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden: “The broader question is, what are the outbreaks that we don’t know about? At any one time, we’re investigating 25 or 30 clusters of illness. Initially we had sent home the vast majority of the staff working on foodborne disease. When it became clear that [the shutdown] …
Working Paper No. 13-41 – The Political Polarization Index, Marina Azzimonti, September 2013. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. “American politics have become increasingly polarized in recent decades. To the extent that political polarization introduces uncertainty about economic policy, this pattern may have adversely a ected the economy. According to existing theories, a rise in the volatility …
