Some recent Congressional Research Service reports obtained by Secrecy News that are not readily available in the public domain include the following (all pdf).
“Sharing Law Enforcement and Intelligence Information: The Congressional Role,” February 13, 2007.
“India-U.S. Relations,” updated February 13, 2007.
“Changes to the OMB Regulatory Review Process by Executive Order 13422,” February 5, 2007.
“Al Qaeda: Statements and Evolving Ideology,” updated January 24, 2007.
“Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons,” updated January 9, 2007.
“Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2006,” updated January 8, 2007.
“‘Sensitive But Unclassified’ Information and Other Controls: Policy and Options for Scientific and Technical Information,” updated December 29, 2006.
The proposed Office will resurrect the long-closed Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), the archive of which has been maintained by FAS for decades at https://ota.fas.org/.
If Congress needs help understanding the risks and rewards of a piece of technology, they shouldn’t have to rely solely on the sparknotes from a salesman. The rub is much simpler: Congress needs nerds.
If we set up the new OTA to do its job well, members will see it as the first stop to see what issues are lurking around the corner. They will bring their questions early. And they will keep coming back for more.
Even the best-designed policy rests on assumptions about who will staff it, how it will be funded, whether the responsible institutions have ever coordinated, and if the goals are achievable.