Analysts at the Congressional Research Service continue to churn out reports for Congress faster than they can reasonably be digested. Not all of them are of broad interest, nor do they consistently offer original content or significant analytical insight.
But as long as Congress refuses to make them available online to the general public, there seems to be value in our helping to do so.
Recent CRS products that are not already available in other online public collections such as OpenCRS and the State Department’s Foreign Press Center include the following.
“Is China a Threat to the U.S. Economy?,” updated January 23, 2007.
“China’s Trade with the United States and the World,” updated January 4, 2007.
“Yemen: Current Conditions and U.S. Relations,” updated January 4, 2007.
“State and Urban Area Homeland Security Plans and Exercises: Issues for the 110th Congress,” updated January 3, 2007.
“The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,” updated January 19, 2007.
“Environmental Activities of the U.S. Coast Guard,” updated January 16, 2007.
“The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA): A Summary,” updated January 3, 2007.
“Countries of the World and International Organizations: Sources of Information,” updated January 8, 2007.
While it seems that the current political climate may not incentivize the use of evidence-based data sources for decision making, those of us who are passionate about ensuring results for the American people will continue to firmly stand on the belief that learning agendas are a crucial component to successfully navigate a changing future.
In recent months, we’ve seen much of these decades’ worth of progress erased. Contracts for evaluations of government programs were canceled, FFRDCs have been forced to lay off staff, and federal advisory committees have been disbanded.
This report outlines a framework relying on “Cooperative Technical Means” for effective arms control verification based on remote sensing, avoiding on-site inspections but maintaining a level of transparency that allows for immediate detection of changes in nuclear posture or a significant build-up above agreed limits.
At a recent workshop, we explored the nature of trust in specific government functions, the risk and implications of breaking trust in those systems, and how we’d known we were getting close to specific trust breaking points.