Foreign Agents Registration Act, and More from CRS
“In the wake of the 2016 election, concerns have been raised with respect to the legal regime governing foreign influence in domestic politics,” a new report from the Congressional Research Service notes. “The central law concerning the activities of the agents of foreign entities acting in the United States is the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).”
Significantly, that law does not prohibit “representation of foreign interests or limited distribution of foreign propaganda. Instead, the Act provides only for public disclosure of any such activities. FARA’s legislative history indicates that Congress believed such disclosure would best combat foreign influence by informing the American public of the actions taken and information distributed on behalf of foreign sources.” See The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA): A Legal Overview, December 4, 2017.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
“Extraordinary Measures” and the Debt Limit, CRS Insight, December 8, 2017
Efforts to Address Seasonal Agricultural Import Competition in the NAFTA Renegotiation, December 7, 2017
Retirement Benefits for Members of Congress, updated December 5, 2017
The Child and Dependent Care Credit: Impact of Selected Policy Options, December 5, 2017
Public Sector Union Dues: Grappling with Fixed Stars and Stare Decisis (Part I), CRS Legal Sidebar, December 4, 2017
EPA’s Clean Power Plan for Existing Power Plants: Frequently Asked Questions, updated December 4, 2017
Changes to “Too Big To Fail?”: Treasury Recommends Revisions to Dodd-Frank SIFI Designation Process for Non-Banks (Part I), CRS Legal Sidebar, December 1, 2017
Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs): Background and Issues for Congress, December 1, 2017
Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances, updated December 4, 2017
Haiti’s Political and Economic Conditions: In Brief, December 1, 2017
Yemen: Civil War and Regional Intervention, updated December 7, 2017
Lebanon, updated December 7, 2017
Oman: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy, updated December 4, 2017
Natural Disasters of 2017: Congressional Considerations Related to FEMA Assistance, CRS Insight, December 6, 2017
FEMA’s Firefighter Assistance Grants: Reauthorization or Sunset?, CRS Insight, December 5, 2017
What Happens If the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Lapses?, CRS Insight, December 5, 2017
Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: Background and Issues for Congress, updated December 6, 2017
The emerging federal metascience community is asking fascinating questions that are equally vital for democratic legitimacy: beyond “did this program work” to “how does the federal R&D enterprise itself work, and how could it work better?”
If you’re new to the climate intervention space, welcome! The TL;DR: if we can’t stop the most catastrophic impacts of climate change with current tools quickly enough, then we need a bigger toolbox.
After months of delay, the council tasked by President Trump to review the FEMA released its final report. Our disaster policy nerds have thoughts.
FAS and FLI partnered to build a series of convenings and reports across the intersections of artificial intelligence (AI) with biosecurity, cybersecurity, nuclear command and control, military integration, and frontier AI governance. This project brought together leaders across these areas and created a space that was rigorous, transpartisan, and solutions-oriented to approach how we should think about how AI is rapidly changing global risks.