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Terrorism Information Sharing and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Report Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report describes the Nationwide SAR Initiative (NSI), the rationale for the sharing of terrorism-related Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), and how the NSI seeks to achieve this objective. It examines the privacy and civil liberties concerns raised by the initiative and identifies other oversight issues for Congress.
Date: November 5, 2009
Creator: Randol, Mark A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Congressional Printing: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides an overview and analysis of issues related to the processing and distribution of congressional information by the Government Printing Office. Subsequent sections address several issues, including funding congressional printing, printing authorizations, current printing practices, and options for Congress. Finally, the report provides congressional printing appropriations, production, and distribution data in a number of tables.
Date: November 5, 2009
Creator: Petersen, R. E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): Issues for the 111th Congress

Description: This report includes a brief history of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), discusses subsequent modifications of FOIA, addresses statutory changes to FOIA that have not yet been implemented, examines Obama Administration efforts to modify the act, and outlines possible legislative issues related to the act.
Date: August 12, 2009
Creator: Ginsberg, Wendy R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The State Secrets Privilege and Other Limits on Litigation Involving Classified Information

Description: This report provides an overview of the protections afforded to government organizations and officials by the state secrets privilege. The state secrets privilege, derived from common law, is an evidentiary privilege that allows the government to resist court-ordered disclosure of information during litigation if there is a reasonable danger that such disclosure would harm the national security of the United States.
Date: May 28, 2009
Creator: Liu, Edward C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Funding Issues and Activities

Description: This report discusses the federal government's role in the country's information technology (IT) research and development (R&D) activities. The government's support of IT R&D began because it had an important interest in creating computers and software that would be capable of addressing the problems and issues the government needed to solve and study.
Date: May 15, 2008
Creator: Figliola, Patricia Moloney
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Funding Issues and Activities

Description: This report discusses the federal government's role in the country's information technology (IT) research and development (R&D) activities. The government's support of IT R&D began because it had an important interest in creating computers that would be capable of addressing the problems and issues the government needed to solve and study.
Date: May 14, 2009
Creator: Moloney Figliola, Patricia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The 2010 Decennial Census: Background and Issues

Description: This report discusses the major innovations that were planned for the 2010 Census, problems encountered in the attempt to automate certain decennial field operations, issues of census accuracy and coverage, and efforts to ensure an equitable count.
Date: April 27, 2009
Creator: Williams, Jennifer D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions

Description: This report examines the statutory procedures governing covert action and associated questions to consider. Published reports have suggested that the Pentagon has expanded its counter-terrorism intelligence activities, and some observers have asserted that the Department of Defense (DOD) may have been conducting certain kinds of counterterrorism intelligence activities that would statutorily qualify as "covert actions," and thus require a presidential finding and the notification of the congres… more
Date: February 9, 2009
Creator: Cumming, Alfred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Iraq: Map Sources

Description: This report identifies online sources for maps of Iraq, including government, library, and organizational websites.
Date: February 6, 2009
Creator: Fischer, Hannah
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Government Access to Phone Calling Activity and Related Records: Legal Authorities

Description: This report summarizes legal authorities regarding access by the government, for either foreign intelligence or law enforcement purposes, to information related to telephone calling patterns or practices. Where pertinent, it also discusses statutory prohibitions against accessing or disclosing such information, along with relevant exceptions to those prohibitions.
Date: February 2, 2009
Creator: Bazan, Elizabeth B.; Liu, Edward C. & Stevens, Gina
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Director of National Intelligence Statutory Authorities: Status and Proposals

Description: This report discusses the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) position created by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-458). It includes an overview of the authorities granted to the DNI by legislation in 2004 and later as well as the varying opinions of Congress regarding new DNI authorities, as well as related legislation.
Date: January 15, 2009
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr. & Cumming, Alfred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice and Recent Developments

Description: This report discusses the background of claims of executive privilege, a right to preserve the confidentiality of information and documents in the face of legislative demands, ending with a look into how President George W. Bush has used them.
Date: August 21, 2008
Creator: Rosenberg, Morton
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Funding Issues and Activities

Description: This report discusses the federal government's role in the country's information technology (IT) research and development (R&D) activities. The government's support of IT R&D began because it had an important interest in creating computers and software that would be capable of addressing the problems and issues the government needed to solve and study.
Date: October 23, 2008
Creator: Figliola, Patricia Moloney
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Lobbyists and Interest Groups: Sources of Information

Description: Lobbyists and interest groups play an active role in the American legislative process. Information on lobbyist registrations and on interest groups in general is available from a variety of online and printed sources, including files available for public inspection. This report is a guide for locating governmental sources that maintain files on lobby groups, their registrations, and finances. Also included in this report are nongovernmental sources that offer background information on the lobby… more
Date: January 10, 2006
Creator: Oboroceanu, Mari-Jana
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Lobbyists and Interest Groups: Sources of Information

Description: Lobbyists and interest groups play an active role in the American legislative process. Information on lobbyist registrations and on interest groups in general is available from a variety of online and printed sources, including files available for public inspection. This report is a guide for locating governmental sources that maintain files on lobby groups, their registrations, and finances. Also included in this report are nongovernmental sources that offer background information on the lobby… more
Date: February 5, 2007
Creator: Watkins, Zina L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Iraq: Map Sources

Description: This report identifies selected websites for maps of Iraq, including government, library, and organizational websites. Maps of the Middle East, Iraq, facilities used by U.S. forces in the Gulf, and U.S. government humanitarian assistance and reconstruction activities in Iraq are also provided.
Date: November 8, 2005
Creator: Fischer, Hannah
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Secrecy Versus Openness: New Proposed Arrangements for Balancing Competing Needs

Description: During the latter half of 2004, disputes arose over whether or not to declassify portions of the sensitive content of reports resulting from congressional investigations and national commission inquiries into the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the war in Iraq, and related matters. As a result, some called for Congress to create a special mechanism for the impartial and expeditious resolution of such disputes (S. 2672/H.R. 4855; S. 2845 amendment). This report discusses the culminatio… more
Date: December 22, 2004
Creator: Relyea, Harold C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Lobbyists and Interest Groups: Sources of Information

Description: Lobbyists and interest groups play an active role in the American legislative process. Information on lobbyist registrations and on interest groups in general is available from a variety of online and printed sources, including files available for public inspection. This report is a guide for locating governmental sources that maintain files on lobby groups, their registrations, and finances. Also included in this report are nongovernmental sources that offer background information on the lobby… more
Date: May 9, 2008
Creator: Watkins, Zina L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Access to Government Information In the United States

Description: The Constitution of the United States makes no specific allowance for any one of the co-equal branches to have access to information held by the others and contains no provision expressly establishing a procedure for, or a right of, public access to government information. Nonetheless, Congress has legislated various public access laws. These include two records access statutes — the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act — and two meetings access statutes — the Federal Advisory Committ… more
Date: April 23, 2007
Creator: Relyea, Harold C. & Kolakowski, Michael W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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