The Exon-Florio Act of 1988, which permits the President to block foreign takeover of certain types of U.S. companies on national security grounds, has been in the news lately in connection with the proposed acquisition of six U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World.
Some useful background on that statute is provided by the Congressional Research Service in “The Exon-Florio National Security Test for Foreign Investment,” updated February 23, 2006.
The substance of the Pentagon’s notion of “defense transformation” and the spin surrounding it are considered in another newly-updated CRS report.
“Some observers are concerned that the Administration’s regular use of the term transformation has turned the concept of transformation into an empty slogan or buzz-phrase.”
“Other observers are concerned that the Administration has invoked the term transformation as an all-purpose rhetorical tool for justifying its various proposals for DOD, whether they relate to transformation or not, and for encouraging minimal debate on those proposals by tying the concept of transformation to the urgent need to fight the war on terrorism.”
See “Defense Transformation: Background and Oversight Issues for Congress,” updated February 17, 2006.
To secure the U.S. bio-infrastructure, maintain global leadership in biotechnology, and safeguard American citizens from emerging threats to their privacy, the federal government must modernize its approach to human genetic and biological data.
To ensure an energy transition that brings broad based economic development, participation, and direct benefits to communities, we need federal policy that helps shape markets. Unfortunately, there is a large gap in understanding of how to leverage federal policy making to support access to capital and credit.
From use to testing to deployment, the scaffolding for responsible integration of AI into high-risk use cases is just not there.
OPM’s new HR 2.0 initiative is entering hostile terrain. Those who have followed federal HR modernization for years desperately want this effort to succeed.