The Office of Science and Tech Policy, and More from CRS
The Congressional Research Service, which does not make its publications directly available to the public, has recently issued or updated several noteworthy reports. The following CRS reports obtained by Secrecy News have not previously been made available online (all pdf).
“The President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy: Issues for Congress,” November 10, 2008 (40 pages).
“Human Rights in China: Trends and Policy Implications,” October 31, 2008 (38 pages).
“Privacy: An Overview of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping,” updated September 2, 2008 (164 pages).
“Privacy: An Abbreviated Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping,” updated September 2, 2008 (6 pages).
“North Korea: Terrorism List Removal?,” updated November 6, 2008 (36 pages).
“Statutory Interpretation: General Principles and Recent Trends,” updated August 31, 2008 (55 pages).
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.
These fellows will be working to turn ambitious ideas into actionable policy – from improving how frontier AI models are evaluated for government use to strengthening biosecurity protections and building the workforce needed to keep AI systems safe.