Each year, Congress inserts language in the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act prohibiting the Congressional Research Service from “pay[ing] any salary or expense in connection with any publication” that has not been specifically approved by the House Administration Committee or the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. The intent of the language is to prevent CRS from making its products directly available to the public.
The following CRS publications obtained by Secrecy News fall under this strange prohibition, since they have not been approved for public dissemination by the House or Senate Committees (all pdf).
“Burma’s 2010 Elections: Implications of the New Constitution and Election Laws,” April 29, 2010.
“Greece’s Debt Crisis: Overview, Policy Responses, and Implications,” April 27, 2010.
“State Efforts to Deter Unauthorized Aliens: Legal Analysis of Arizona’s S.B. 1070,” May 3, 2010.
“Legislative Approaches to Defining ‘Waters of the United States’,” April 30, 2010.
“State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2011 Budget and Appropriations,” May 5, 2010.
“Latin America and the Caribbean: Illicit Drug Trafficking and U.S. Counterdrug Programs,” April 30, 2010.
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Every new institution inherits something – existing incentives, existing staff, decades of prior investment that shaped what’s possible.
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.