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Midnight Rulemaking, and More from CRS

New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has declined to make publicly available online include these. Midnight Rulemaking, July 18, 2012 An Analysis of the Distribution of Wealth Across Households, 1989-2010, July 17, 2012 Oil Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline: Background and Selected Environmental Issues, July 16, 2012 Defense Surplus […]

07.19.12 | 1 min read
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FAS
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The History of the Soviet Biological Weapons Program

In 1972, the United States, the Soviet Union and other nations signed the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention that was supposed to ban biological weapons.  At that very time, however, the Soviet Union was embarking on a massive expansion of its offensive biological weapons program, which began in the 1920s and continued under the Russian […]

07.18.12 | 5 min read
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FAS
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FY2013 Defense Authorization and Appropriations, and More from CRS

New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following. Defense: FY2013 Authorization and Appropriations, July 13, 2012 The Unified Command Plan and Combatant Commands: Background and Issues for Congress, July 17, 2012 LIBOR: Frequently Asked Questions, July 16, 2012 The 2001 and […]

07.18.12 | 1 min read
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FAS
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Publishing Scientific Papers with Potential Security Risks

The recent controversy over publication of scientific papers concerning the transmissibility of bird flu virus was reviewed in a new report by the Congressional Research Service. The report cautiously elucidates the relevant policy implications and considers the responses available to Congress. “Because of the complexity of dual-use issues, analysis of a topic according to one […]

07.17.12 | 1 min read
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FAS
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China and Internet Freedom, and More from CRS

Among the latest Congressional Research Service reports that have not been made readily available to the public are the following. China, Internet Freedom, and U.S. Policy, July 13, 2012 Department of Defense Implementation of the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative: Implications for Federal Information Technology Reform Management, July 12, 2012 Confirmation of U.S. Circuit and […]

07.16.12 | 1 min read
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FAS
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ISCAP to Provide Increased Disclosure of Its Decisions

The Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) is preparing to provide improved public notification of its declassification and disclosure decisions. The ISCAP, among its other duties, considers and rules on appeals from the public to declassify records that agencies have refused to release.  The Panel, which was established by executive order in 1995, has actually […]

07.16.12 | 2 min read
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Global Risk
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New Nuclear Notebook: Indian Nuclear Forces, 2012

The Indian government says its first nuclear ballistic missile submarine – the Arihant – will be “inducted” in mid-2013, a term normally meaning delivered to the armed forces. Several boats are thought to be under construction.                               Image: Government of India . […]

07.14.12 | 1 min read
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FAS
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Armed Conflict in Syria, and More from CRS

Newly updated reports of the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following. Armed Conflict in Syria: U.S. and International Response, July 12, 2012 Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians, July 12, 2012 Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers, July 11, 2012 Burma’s Political Prisoners and U.S. Sanctions, […]

07.13.12 | 1 min read
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FAS
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The Due Process Guarantee Act

The Due Process Guarantee Act (S. 2003) is a bill that was introduced last year by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and colleagues to explicitly prohibit the indefinite detention without trial of United States citizens who are apprehended within the United States on suspicion of terrorism. The bill was crafted due to a residual ambiguity in last […]

07.13.12 | 1 min read
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FAS
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Army Intelligence on Language and Cultural Competency

“Language and cultural competency” is the theme of the latest edition of the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin. Topics addressed include cultural relativism, ethnography, “patron-client relations,” the stand-up of AFRICOM (US Africa Command) from an African perspective, and “operational culture training for the French military in Africa.” The Army does not make the Military […]

07.13.12 | 1 min read
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FAS
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Former ISOO Director Again Asks Court to Release NSA Documents

Last May, J. William Leonard, the former director of the Information Security Oversight Office, asked a federal court for permission to disclose and discuss declassified National Security Agency documents that had been cited in the prosecution of former NSA official Thomas Drake.  The documents represented a particularly “egregious” and “willful” case of overclassification, Mr. Leonard […]

07.12.12 | 2 min read
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FAS
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Polygraphs and Leaks: A Look Back at NSDD 84

“I’ve had it up to my keister with these leaks,” President Reagan complained in 1983 after a series of unauthorized disclosures.  “Keister is slang for buttocks,” the Associated Press helpfully explained at that time. One of President Reagan’s responses to the flood of leaks was to direct the use of polygraph examinations in leak investigations. […]

07.12.12 | 2 min read
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