President Trump will declare the escalating number of drug deaths from opioids as a “public health emergency” — but not a “national emergency” — in an announcement scheduled for today.
The Congressional Research Service has issued a new report on aspects of the problem, including an overview of opioid abuse, a review of opioid supply, and a survey of federal programs that deal with the issue. See The Opioid Epidemic and Federal Efforts to Address It: Frequently Asked Questions, October 18, 2017.
On the origins of the crisis, see “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker, October 30, 2017.
Other new and updated publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Poverty in the United States in 2016: In Brief, October 25, 2017
EPA Proposes to Repeal the Clean Power Plan, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 25, 2017
Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal, updated October 23, 2017
Gun Control: Silencers under the Hearing Protection Act (H.R. 3668), CRS Insight, October 16, 2017
Tracking Federal Funds: USAspending.gov and Other Data Sources, updated October 24, 2017
Human Trafficking: New Global Estimates of Forced Labor and Modern Slavery, CRS Insight, October 18, 2017
U.S. Withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), CRS Insight, October 17, 2017
Overview of “Travel Ban” Litigation and Recent Developments, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 23, 2017
Iran Policy and the European Union, CRS Insight, updated October 18, 2017
States’ Obligations Under Additional Protocols to IAEA Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements, CRS memorandum, October 23, 2017
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.