Several noteworthy new hearing volumes on national security policy have recently appeared (all pdf). In most cases, the published volumes include valuable new supplementary material for the record.
“Examining the State Secrets Privilege: Protecting National Security While Preserving Accountability,” Senate Judiciary Committee, February 13, 2008 (published December 2009) (large pdf).
“Coercive Interrogation Techniques: Do They Work, Are They Reliable, and What Did the FBI Know About Them?”, Senate Judiciary Committee, June 10, 2008 (published December 2009) (large pdf).
“Protecting National Security and Civil Liberties: Strategies for Terrorism Information Sharing,” Senate Judiciary Committee, April 21, 2009 (published January 2010).
“Chinese Interrogation vs. Congressional Oversight: The Uighurs at Guantanamo,” House Foreign Affairs Committee, July 16, 2009 (published December 2009).
The human cost is measured in deaths. The financial cost is measured in the $52 billion taxpayers pay annually end stage renal disease – double NASA’s budget.
Gilman Louie, Longest Serving Board Chair of the Federation of American Scientists, Named Chair Emeritus
The proposed Office will resurrect the long-closed Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), the archive of which has been maintained by FAS for decades at https://ota.fas.org/.
If Congress needs help understanding the risks and rewards of a piece of technology, they shouldn’t have to rely solely on the sparknotes from a salesman. The rub is much simpler: Congress needs nerds.