Democratic proposals to initiate a congressional investigation of the National Security Agency warrantless surveillance program have been repeatedly rebuffed by Republican leaders in Congress.
This month, House Committees have produced no fewer than four adverse reports on Democratic “resolutions of inquiry,” which sought executive branch records on domestic intelligence surveillance.
In the Senate, a proposal (pdf) by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) to investigate the NSA program was voted down on party lines in the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 7.
See the adverse reports of the House Intelligence Committee, the House Armed Services Committee, and the House Judiciary Committee (two: here and here).
Some background on the use of resolutions of inquiry as an instrument of oversight can be found in “House Resolutions of Inquiry” by Louis Fisher (who is now with the Law Library of Congress), Congressional Research Service, May 12, 2003.
Sen. Russ Feingold announced yesterday that he would introduce a resolution to censure President Bush for “authorizing the illegal wiretapping program and then misleading the country about the existence and legality of the program.”
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.
This report serves as a landscape assessment and toolbox from which local governments can negotiate an informed position when it comes to the levers available to them and includes a first-of-its kind analysis of eight executed community benefits agreements.