Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following.
Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources, September 20, 2013
Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations, September 19, 2013
Across-the-Board Rescissions in Appropriations Acts: Overview and Recent Practices, September 20, 2013
Private Health Plans Under the ACA: In Brief, September 19, 2013
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA): Resources for Frequently Asked Questions, September 19, 2013
Medicare Financing, September 19, 2013
The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress, September 20, 2013
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993: History, Implementation, and Effects, September 18, 2013
U.S. Natural Gas Exports: New Opportunities, Uncertain Outcomes, September 17, 2013
America COMPETES Acts: FY2008-FY2013 Funding Tables, September 20, 2013
The DHS S&T Directorate: Selected Issues for Congress, September 17, 2013
U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress, September 18, 2013
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.