The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity met last week to discuss Gain of Function (GOF) studies. A topic of debate for the past several years, GOF studies involving H5N1 avian influenza and accidents at federal high containment laboratories caused the U.S. government to declare a moratorium in 2014. To find out more about the […]
Fifteen people were killed and more wounded by a small militant group in Quetta, Pakistan. The suicide bomber targeted a polio vaccination center as teams prepared for a three-day immunization campaign. A spokesman for the group claiming responsibility has warned of future attacks on polio teams. More information can be found at the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/police-14-killed-in-bomb-attack-on-polio-vaccination-center-in-southwestern-pakistan/2016/01/13/d27fafd0-b9b9-11e5-85cd-5ad59bc19432_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_daily202
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. The Federal Cybersecurity Workforce: Background and Congressional Oversight Issues for the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, January 8, 2016 The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): In Brief, updated January 8, 2016 American Agriculture and the Trans-Pacific […]
John P. Fitzpatrick, the director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), left his position at the end of last week to join the National Security Council staff. As ISOO director for the past four years or so, Mr. Fitzpatrick was responsible for oversight of national security classification and declassification activities government-wide. “John led ISOO […]
The House of Representatives is expected to approve a new package of amendments to the Freedom of Information Act this week, in a bill known as the FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act of 2015. The sponsors of the bill said it “would strengthen the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to increase transparency and accountability in […]
The Congressional Research Service departed from its usual focus on current policy and legislative issues to produce a new disquisition on the separation of powers in the U.S. government. The separation of powers doctrine “is rooted in a political philosophy that aims to keep power from consolidating in any single person or entity, and a […]
By Charles D. Ferguson North Korea’s boast on January 5 about having detonated a “hydrogen bomb,” the colloquial name for a thermonuclear explosive, seems highly hyperbolic due to the relatively low estimated explosive yield, as inferred from the reported seismic magnitude of about 4.8 (a small- to moderately-sized event). More important, I think the Korean Central […]
The Department of Defense “is moving forward with the development of its insider threat and personnel security reform efforts,” wrote Michael G. Vickers, then-Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence) in an April 2015 report to Congress that was released last month under the Freedom of Information Act. “The Department recognizes the magnitude and complexity of these […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have been withheld from online public distribution include the following. Independent Bids for President, CRS Legal Sidebar, January 6, 2016 The Presidential Nominating Process and the National Party Conventions, 2016: Frequently Asked Questions, updated December 30, 2015 H.R. 1927: Congress Proposes Additional Prerequisite for Class-Action […]
The role of armed forces in an open society may be likened to a potent medicine that is life-saving in the proper dosage but lethal beyond a certain proportion. Military forces have proved to be indispensable for securing the political space in which free institutions can flourish, but they may also trample or destroy those […]
The Department of Defense proposed a new exemption from the Freedom of Information Act last year for information on unclassified “military tactics, techniques and procedures.” The measure was not adopted by Congress in the FY 2016 defense authorization act, but DoD is preparing to pursue it again this year. The proposal that was submitted to […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have been withheld from online public distribution include the following. The Presidential Nominating Process and the National Party Conventions, 2016: Frequently Asked Questions, updated December 30, 2015 Need-Tested Benefits: Estimated Eligibility and Benefit Receipt by Families and Individuals, December 30, 2015 Federal Reserve: Oversight and […]