You limited your search to:
Collection:
Congressional Research Service Reports
- 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/
- Senate Committee Reports: Required Contents
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs3961/
- Floor Consideration of Conference Reports in the House
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs3977/
- Floor Consideration of Conference Reports in the Senate
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs3978/
- Protection of Security-Related Information
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs9566/
- Department of Veteran Affairs: Information Security and Information Technology Management Reorganization
- On May 3, 2006, the home of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) data analyst was burglarized, resulting in the theft of a laptop computer and an external data storage device that was reported to contain personal information on more than 26 million veterans and United States military personnel. The VA Secretary testified that he was not informed of the incident until May 16, 2006, almost two weeks after the data had been stolen. VA publicly announced the theft on May 22. On June 29, VA announced that the stolen laptop computer and external hard drive had been recovered intact and that, based on a forensic examination conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the files on the external hard drive had not been compromised. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs9513/
- The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5934/
- Informing Congress: The Role of the Executive in Times of War and Military Conflict, 1941-2001
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs7484/
- Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
- No Description digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs7746/
- Intelligence Spending: Public Disclosure Issues
- This report describes the constituent parts of the intelligence budget, past practice in handling intelligence authorizations and appropriations, the arguments that have been advanced for and against making intelligence spending totals public, a legal analysis of these issues, and a review of the implications of post-Cold War developments on the question. It also describes past congressional interest in keeping intelligence spending totals secret. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc26040/
- Presidential Libraries: The Federal System and Related Legislation
- Through the National Archives and Records Administration, the federal government currently manages and maintains 12 presidential libraries. Inaugurated with the Presidential Libraries Act of 1955, these entities are privately constructed on behalf of former Presidents and, upon completion, are deeded to the federal government. This report provides a brief overview of the federal presidential libraries system and tracks the progress of related legislation. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc26307/