The latest updates from the Congressional Research Service obtained by the Federation of American Scientists include these reports. Secret Sessions of the House and Senate: Authority, Confidentiality, and Frequency, March 15, 2013 Europe’s Energy Security: Options and Challenges to Natural Gas Supply Diversification, March 15, 2013 The Amending Process in the Senate, March 15, 2013 […]
In the wake of recent gun-related violence, and in anticipation of potential new restrictions on gun ownership, there has been a sharp increase in sales of guns and ammunition. That is bad news for gun control advocates, but it turns out to be good news for wildlife, at least in the short term. “Through an […]
By Hans M. Kristensen Although the U.S. Navy has yet to make a formal announcement that the nuclear Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile (TLAM/N) has been retired, a new updated navy instruction shows that the weapon is gone. The evidence comes not in the form of an explicit statement, but from what has been deleted from […]
Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of the D.C. District Court was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to a seven year term on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The Court provides a measure of judicial oversight over surveillance activities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended. Judge Collyer’s term on the FIS […]
Newly updated reports from the Congressional Research Service on various U.S. Navy programs include the following. Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress, March 14, 2013 Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background, Issues and Options for Congress, March 14, 2013 Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background […]
The Office of Personnel Management has invited the public to comment on proposed changes to Standard Form (SF) 86, the questionnaire that must be filled out by all persons who are seeking a security clearance for access to classified information. Although critics have argued that the SF-86 is hopelessly out of date and should be […]
Last summer, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper directed agencies that perform polygraph tests to include a “pre-test dialogue” about the need to prevent leaks of classified information as part of the polygraph interview process. In a July 2012 memorandum to agencies, he said that the CIA’s polygraph program exemplified what he had in […]
Leaks of classified information and the government’s responses to them are the subject of a new study by David Pozen of Columbia Law School. The starting point for his examination is the “dramatic disconnect between the way our laws and our leaders condemn leaking in the abstract and the way they condone it in practice.” […]
The latest products from the Congressional Research Service include the following. China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues, March 11, 2013 China’s Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States, March 4, 2013 Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources, March 8, 2013 Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Reauthorization Proposals […]
At an open hearing on February 28, Pfc. Bradley Manning said that he was responsible for providing U.S. government documents to the WikiLeaks website, including a large collection of U.S. State Department cables, a video of a brutal U.S. Army helicopter attack in Baghdad, and other records. “The decisions that I made to send documents […]
The latest products from the Congressional Research Service include these items. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): Background and Policy Options for the 113th Congress, March 8, 2013 What’s the Difference? — Comparing U.S. and Chinese Trade Data, February 25, 2013 Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, March 8, 2013 Hugo Chavez’s Death: Implications for […]
Last fall, Navy contract linguist James Hitselberger was charged under the Espionage Act with two counts of unlawful retention of national defense information after several classified documents were allegedly found in his possession. (See “Document Collector Charged Under Espionage Statute,” Secrecy News, November 7, 2012.) Two weeks ago, in a superseding indictment, prosecutors added a […]