Congressional Oversight Manual, and More from CRS
The Congressional Research Service has just updated its Congressional Oversight Manual, which details the considerable legal authorities, legislative instruments and investigative tools for conducting oversight that members of Congress and congressional committees have at their disposal. See “Congressional Oversight Manual” (pdf), May 19, 2011.
Other new or newly updated CRS reports of interest include the following (all pdf):
“Building the Capacity of Partner States Through Security Force Assistance,” May 5, 2011.
“Department of Defense Trends in Overseas Contract Obligations,” May 16, 2011.
“Department of Defense Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan: Background and Analysis,” May 13, 2011.
In a year when management issues like human capital, IT modernization, and improper payments have received greater attention from the public, examining this PMA tells us a lot about where the Administration’s policy is going to be focused through its last three years.
Congress must enact a Digital Public Infrastructure Act, a recognition that the government’s most fundamental responsibility in the digital era is to provide a solid, trustworthy foundation upon which people, businesses, and communities can build.
To increase the real and perceived benefit of research funding, funding agencies should develop challenge goals for their extramural research programs focused on the impact portion of their mission.
Without trusted mechanisms to ensure privacy while enabling secure data access, essential R&D stalls, educational innovation stalls, and U.S. global competitiveness suffers.