Analysts at the Congressional Research Service continue to churn out reports for Congress faster than they can reasonably be digested. Not all of them are of broad interest, nor do they consistently offer original content or significant analytical insight.
But as long as Congress refuses to make them available online to the general public, there seems to be value in our helping to do so.
Recent CRS products that are not already available in other online public collections such as OpenCRS and the State Department’s Foreign Press Center include the following.
“Is China a Threat to the U.S. Economy?,” updated January 23, 2007.
“China’s Trade with the United States and the World,” updated January 4, 2007.
“Yemen: Current Conditions and U.S. Relations,” updated January 4, 2007.
“State and Urban Area Homeland Security Plans and Exercises: Issues for the 110th Congress,” updated January 3, 2007.
“The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,” updated January 19, 2007.
“Environmental Activities of the U.S. Coast Guard,” updated January 16, 2007.
“The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary,” updated January 3, 2007.
“Countries of the World and International Organizations: Sources of Information,” updated January 8, 2007.
This is not the first time Google has agreed to censor imagery at the behest of governments, but be warned: obfuscation at this broad level poses a direct threat to the public’s ability to monitor and scrutinize government operations.
America’s affordability problem is bigger than home prices and rents. The best housing policies make it easier to build homes, and recognize how housing connects to other domains.
America’s affordability problem, for instance, is bigger than home prices and rents. How we build affects household costs like insurance and utilities.
As humans expand our geographic reach, encroach on untouched natural territories, and interact more with animal populations, we will encounter novel zoonotic diseases that threaten the human body. The sooner we act to address these risks, the better.