You limited your search to:
Collection:
Congressional Research Service Reports
- Iraq: Map Sources
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs4991/
- Federal Rulemaking: The Role of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
- This report discusses the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, which created the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This report addresses OIRA's responsibilities, controversies related to OIRA, and possible legislative issues involving OIRA, including increasing or decreasing the office's funding and staffing, and improvements in the transparency of OIRA's review process. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc26217/
- The State Secrets Privilege: Preventing the Disclosure of Sensitive National Security Information During Civil Litigation
- This report presents an overview of the protections afforded by the state secrets privilege; a discussion of some of the many unresolved issues associated with the privilege; and a selection of high-profile examples of how the privilege has been applied in practice. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc99045/
- Sensitive Covert Action Notifications: Oversight Options for Congress
- Legislation enacted in 1980 gave the executive branch authority to limit advance notification of especially-sensitive covert actions to eight Members of Congress (called the "Gang of Eight") when the President determines that it is essential to limit prior notice in order to meet extraordinary circumstances affecting U.S. vital interests. This report describes the statutory provision authorizing Gang of Eight notifications, reviews the legislative history of the provision, and examines the impact of such notifications on congressional oversight. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc97976/
- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): Background and Policy Options for the 112th Congress
- The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA; 5 U.S.C. §552) enables any person to access—without explanation or justification—certain existing, identifiable, unpublished, executive branch agency records. Pursuant to FOIA, the public has presumptive access to requested agency records unless the material falls within any of FOIA's nine categories of exemption from disclosure. This report discusses FOIA's history, examines its implementation, and provides potential policy approaches for Congress. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc96711/
- Director of National Intelligence Statutory Authorities: Status and Proposals
- 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 from FY2010 through FY2012. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc122317/
- Secrecy Versus Openness: New Proposed Arrangements for Balancing Competing Needs
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5932/
- Sensitive Security Information (SSI) and Transportation Security: Background and Controversies
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5931/
- Secrecy Versus Openness: New Proposed Arrangements for Balancing Competing Needs
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5933/
- Sensitive Security Information and Transportation Security: Issues and Congressional Options
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5929/
- Access to Government Information in the United States
- The U.S. Constitution makes no specific allowance for any one of the three branches of the federal government to have access to information held by the others. No provision in the U.S. Constitution expressly establishes a procedure for public access to government information. Congress has legislated various public access laws. Among these laws are two records access statutes, The Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, and two meetings access statutes, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and the Government in the Sunshine Act. This report offers an overview of the four information access laws noted above, and provides citations to additional resources related to these tools. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc29513/
- Security Classification Policy and Procedure: E.O. 12958, as Amended
- This report describes security classification policy and procedure, largely prescribed in a series of successive presidential executive orders issued over the past 50 years. This policy provides the rationale and arrangements for designating information officially secret for reasons of national security, and for its declassification as well. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc29518/
- Security Classification Policy and Procedure: E.O. 12958, as Amended
- This report describes security classification policy and procedure, largely prescribed in a series of successive presidential executive orders issued over the past 50 years. This policy provides the rationale and arrangements for designating information officially secret for reasons of national security, and for its declassification as well. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc29519/
- Security Classification Policy and Procedure: E.O. 12958, as Amended
- This report describes security classification policy and procedure, largely prescribed in a series of successive presidential executive orders issued over the past 50 years. This policy provides the rationale and arrangements for designating information officially secret for reasons of national security, and for its declassification as well. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc29520/
- Congressional Access to Executive Branch Information: Legislative Tools
- This report begins by reviewing the precedents established during the Washington Administration for withholding documents from Congress. Close examination reveals that the scope of presidential privilege is often exaggerated. Congress had access to more documentation than is commonly believed and might have had more had it pressed for it. Subsequent sections focus on various forms of congressional leverage: the power of the purse, the power to impeach, issuing congressional subpoenas, holding executive officials in contempt, House resolutions of inquiry, GAO investigations, and blocking nominations, all of which may force executive officials to release documents they would otherwise want to keep private and confidential. Even if Presidents announce perfectly plausible grounds for withholding documents, they may have to comply with the congressional will to achieve other more important goals. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6983/
- Conference Reports and Joint Explanatory Statements
- The conference report presents the formal legislative language on which the conference committee has agreed. The joint explanatory statement explains the various elements of the conferees’ agreement in relation to the positions that the House and Senate had committed to the conference committee. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs1479/
- Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
- This report is a guide to locating individual service records and military unit histories from the American Revolution to the present. This guide provides referral information for locating individual service records of discharged and deceased veterans. It includes information regarding locating and obtaining active service records. Also included are relevant addresses and websites of government agencies, historical associations, and a select bibliography. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs10261/
- Security Classification Policy and Procedure: E.O. 12958, as Amended
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6258/
- Critical Infrastructure Information Disclosure and Homeland Security
- This report discusses the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that was passed to ensure by statute citizen access to government information. Nine categories of information may be exempted from disclosure. Three of the nine exemptions provide possible protection against the release of critical infrastructure information: exemption 1 (national security information); exemption 3 (information exempted by statute); and exemption 4 (confidential business information). Congress has considered several proposals to exempt critical infrastructure information from the FOIA. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs2244/
- Nuclear Weapons Complex Reconfiguration: Analysis of an Energy Department Task Force Report
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs9210/
- Critical Infrastructure Information Disclosure and Homeland Security
- This report discusses the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that was passed to ensure by statute citizen access to government information. Nine categories of information may be exempted from disclosure. Three of the nine exemptions provide possible protection against the release of critical infrastructure information: exemption 1 (national security information); exemption 3 (information exempted by statute); and exemption 4 (confidential business information). Congress has considered several proposals to exempt critical infrastructure information from the FOIA. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs3914/
- Intelligence Identities Protection Act
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5060/
- The Department of State's Patterns of Global Terrorism Report: Trends, State Sponsors, and Related Issues
- This report highlights trends and data found in the State Department’s annual Patterns of Global Terrorism report, (Patterns 2003) and addresses selected issues relating to its content. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5794/
- Managing Secrecy: Security Classification Reform - The Government Secrecy Act Proposal
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs705/
- Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs9874/
- The Changing Demographic Profile of the United States
- As noted by the Population Reference Bureau, “The U.S. is getting bigger, older, and more diverse.” The objective of this report is to highlight some of the demographic changes that have already occurred since 1950 and to illustrate how these and future trends will reshape the nation in the decades to come (through 2050). This report discusses the current and projected demographic changes if policymakers accelerate efforts to address and adapt to the changing population profile as it relates to a number of essential domains, such as work, retirement, and pensions, private wealth and income security, and the health and well-being of the aging population. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs9276/
- Conference Reports and Joint Explanatory Statements
- The conference report presents the formal legislative language on which the conference committee has agreed. The joint explanatory statement explains the various elements of the conferees’ agreement in relation to the positions that the House and Senate had committed to the conference committee. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs3963/
- Terrorism Information Sharing and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Report Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report describes the NSI, the rationale for the sharing of terrorism-related 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. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc83930/
- Federal Depository Library Program: Issues for Congress
- A history and overview of current issues regarding the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc85399/
- "Gang of Four" Congressional Intelligence Notifications
- "Gang of Four" intelligence notifications generally are oral briefings of certain particularly sensitive non-covert action intelligence activities, including principally, but not exclusively, intelligence collection programs, that the Intelligence Community typically limits to the chairmen and ranking members of the two congressional intelligence committees, and at times, but not always, to their respective staff directors. This report reviews the history of Gang of Four notification process and compares this procedure with that of the "Gang of Eight" notification procedure. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc26184/
- Appropriations Bills: What is Report Language?
- When the Senate or House Appropriations Committee reports an appropriations bill to the full Senate or House, respectively, the committee typically publishes a committee report explaining the bill. This fact sheet provides a brief overview of what these reports entail and the language used within them. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs7624/
- “Gang of Four” Congressional Intelligence Notifications
- "Gang of Four" intelligence notifications are oral briefings on sensitive non-covert action intelligence activities (including intelligence collection programs) that the Intelligence Community typically limits to the chairmen and ranking members of the two congressional intelligence committees, and at times to their respective staff directors. This report reviews the history of Gang of Four notification process and compares this procedure with that of the "Gang of Eight" notification procedure. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc99008/
- Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
- This guide provides information on locating military unit histories and individual service records of discharged, retired, and deceased military personnel. It includes contact information for military history centers, websites for additional sources of research, and a bibliography of other publications. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc99123/
- U.S. Public Diplomacy: Legislative Proposals to Amend Prohibitions on Disseminating Materials to Domestic Audiences
- This report looks at amendments to the Smith-Mundt Act, proposed by the 112th Congress that would restate provisions to exclude any ban on domestic dissemination of international information materials prepared for foreign public available to a domestic audience. The original legislation was also amended in 1972, and a 1985 provision, popularly known as the Zorinsky Amendment, prohibited domestic dissemination of international information materials and products. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc122261/
- The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework
- This report provides an overview of the relationship between executive and legislative authority over national security information, and summarizes the current laws that form the legal framework protecting classified information, including current executive orders and some agency regulations pertaining to the handling of unauthorized disclosures of classified information by government officers and employees. The report also summarizes criminal laws that pertain specifically to the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc122339/
- Federal Enterprise Architecture and E-Government: Issues for Information Technology Management
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs9154/
- Protection of Classified Information by Congress: Practices and Proposals
- This report discusses safeguards in place to protect conterolled information and proposals for change of some of the mechanisms in place. Congress uses classified national security and other controlled information to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities, particularly overseeing the executive, appropriating funds, and legislating public policy. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc94174/
- The Obama Administration's Open Government Initiative: Issues for Congress
- This report reviews the objectives delineated in President Obama's Open Government Initiative (OGI) and examines the expectations placed on agencies to meet these objectives. This report reviews department and agency attempts to implement Obama Administration initiatives that seek to make the federal government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. The report then analyzes options for congressional action in this area. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc31471/
- Criminal Prohibitions on the Publication of Classified Defense Information
- The recent online publication of classified defense documents by the organization WikiLeaks and subsequent reporting by the New York Times and other news media have focused attention on whether such publication violates U.S. criminal law. The Justice Department and Department of Defense are investigating the circumstances to determine whether any prosecutions will be undertaken in connection with the disclosure. This report discusses the statutory prohibitions that may be implicated, including the Espionage Act; the extraterritorial application of such statutes; and the First Amendment implications related to such prosecutions against domestic or foreign media organizations and associated individuals. The report provides a summary of recent legislation relevant to the issue as well as some previous efforts to criminalize the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc31474/
- Interstate Travel: Constitutional Challenges to the Identification Requirement and Other Transportation Security Regulations
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6087/
- Interstate Travel: Constitutional Challenges to the Identification Requirement and Other Transportation Security Regulations
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6086/
- Protection of Classified Information by Congress: Practices and Proposals
- The protection of classified national security and other controlled information is of concern not only to the executive branch - which determines what information is to be safeguarded, for the most part - but also to Congress, which uses the information to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities. It has established mechanisms to safeguard controlled information in its custody, although these arrangements have varied over time between the two chambers and among panels in each. This report explores and analyzes said mechanisms. It also discusses various proposals for standardization of and modifications to current policies. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs10558/
- China: Suspected Acquisition of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Secrets
- This CRS Report discusses China’s suspected acquisition of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets, including that on the W88, the newest U.S. nuclear warhead, since the late 1970s. This current controversy, began in early 1999, raises policy issues about whether U.S. security is further threatened by the PRC’s suspected use of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets in its development of nuclear forces, as well as whether the Administration’s response to the security problems is effective or mishandled and whether it fairly used or abused its investigative and prosecuting authority. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs1138/
- Protection of Classified Information by Congress: Practices and Proposals
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6259/
- Protection of Classified Information by Congress: Practices and Proposals
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs8779/
- China: Suspected Acquisition of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Secrets
- This CRS Report discusses China’s suspected acquisition of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets, including that on the W88, the newest U.S. nuclear warhead, since the late 1970s. This current controversy, began in early 1999, raises policy issues about whether U.S. security is further threatened by the PRC’s suspected use of U.S. nuclear weapon secrets in its development of nuclear forces, as well as whether the Administration’s response to the security problems is effective or mishandled and whether it fairly used or abused its investigative and prosecuting authority. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs8458/
- Floor Consideration of Conference Reports in the House
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs916/
- Government Access to Phone Calling Activity and Related Records: Legal Authorities
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs9164/
- Toxics Release Inventory: Do Communities Have a Right to Know More?
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs454/
- Protection of Classified Information by Congress: Practices and Proposals
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs8133/