At the direction of Congress, the Congressional Research Service does not make its products directly available to the public. Recent CRS reports obtained by Secrecy News include the following (all pdf).
“Legal Analysis of Religious Exemptions for Photo Identification Requirements,” April 13, 2009.
“Federal Advisory Committees: An Overview,” April 16, 2009.
“Piracy Off the Horn of Africa,” April 21, 2009.
“FY2009 Spring Supplemental Appropriations for Overseas Contingency Operations,” April 17, 2009.
“Organized Crime in the United States: Trends and Issues for Congress,” April 16, 2009.
“Disconnected Youth: A Look at 16- to 24-Year Olds Who Are Not Working or In School,” April 22, 2009.
The potential implication of these evidence gaps becomes more consequential when you look at how institutions actually make decisions day to day.
Every new institution inherits something – existing incentives, existing staff, decades of prior investment that shaped what’s possible.
This is not the first time Google has agreed to censor imagery at the behest of governments, but be warned: obfuscation at this broad level poses a direct threat to the public’s ability to monitor and scrutinize government operations.
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.