Congressional Research Service Reports - 285 Matching Results

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The U.S. Intelligence Community: Selected Cross-Cutting Issues

Description: This report focuses on cross-cutting management issues that affect the Intelligence Community's (IC's) ability to counter "pervasive and emerging threats" to the United States and balance resources both appropriately and wisely. The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is charged with integrating the community of intelligence agencies so that they operate effectively as one team.
Date: April 12, 2016
Creator: Miles, Anne D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: An Overview of Selected Issues

Description: This report briefly outlines some of the perspectives reflected in the ongoing debate related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) focusing on three issues: tension between national security and civil liberties, collection of foreign intelligence information from foreign persons, and limitations on liability for telecommunications providers furnishing aid to the government.
Date: July 7, 2008
Creator: Bazan, Elizabeth B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Covert Action and Clandestine Activities of the Intelligence Community: Selected Definitions in Brief

Description: This report provides definitions of clandestine versus covert intelligence activities and discusses what agencies are authorized to undertake which types of intelligence. It also covers military intelligence terms that are different than ones used by civilian government activities.
Date: April 25, 2018
Creator: DeVine, Michael E. & Peters, Heidi M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The SSCI Study of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program: Issues to Consider

Description: This report briefly discusses issues pertaining to the 500-page Executive Summary of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA's) Detention and Interrogation Program, which released to the public on December 9, 2014 describes the history of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program from late 2001 to January 2009, including a review of each of the 119 individuals known to have been held in CIA custody.
Date: December 16, 2014
Creator: Daugherty Miles, Anne
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Government Collection of Private Information: Background and Issues Related to the USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization

Description: This report discusses the history of constitutional interpretations and legislative responses relevant to the collection of private information for criminal investigation, foreign intelligence gathering, and national security purposes.
Date: March 2, 2010
Creator: Henning, Anna C.; Bazan, Elizabeth B.; Doyle, Charles & Liu, Edward C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Intelligence Authorization Legislation: Status and Challenges

Description: This report assesses the effects of the absence of intelligence authorization legislation since FY2005. Since FY2005, no annual intelligence authorization bill has been enacted. Although the National Security Act requires intelligence activities to be specifically authorized, this requirement has been satisfied in recent years by one-sentence catch-all provisions in defense appropriations acts authorizing intelligence activities.
Date: August 26, 2009
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Intelligence Authorization Legislation: Status and Challenges

Description: This report assesses the effects of the absence of intelligence authorization legislation since FY2005. Since FY2005, no annual intelligence authorization bill has been enacted. Although the National Security Act requires intelligence activities to be specifically authorized, this requirement has been satisfied in recent years by one-sentence catch-all provisions in defense appropriations acts authorizing intelligence activities.
Date: January 27, 2010
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Intelligence Authorization Legislation: Status and Challenges

Description: This report assesses the effects of the absence of intelligence authorization legislation since FY2005. Since FY2005, no annual intelligence authorization bill has been enacted. Although the National Security Act requires intelligence activities to be specifically authorized, this requirement has been satisfied in recent years by one-sentence catch-all provisions in defense appropriations acts authorizing intelligence activities.
Date: February 24, 2009
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Smartphone Data Encryption: A Renewed Boundary for Law Enforcement?

Description: This report briefly examines new issues for law enforcement regarding data encryption and smartphones including cyber-criminals and Apple's new privacy policy that removes the back-doors that law enforcement used to be able to use to access user data.
Date: October 17, 2014
Creator: Finklea, Kristin
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Intelligence Authorization Legislation: Status and Challenges

Description: This report assesses the effects of the absence of intelligence authorization legislation subsequent to FY2005 and indicate the substantial but limited effects of the FY2010 Intelligence Authorization Act (P.L. 111-259)
Date: September 18, 2012
Creator: Grimmett, Richard F. & Lange, Rebecca S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Homeland Security Intelligence: Perceptions, Statutory Definitions, and Approaches

Description: This report provides a potential conceptual model of how to frame homeland security intelligence (HSINT), including geographic, structural/statutory, and holistic approaches. Given that state, local, tribal, and private sector officials play such an important role in HSINT, the holistic model, one not constrained by geography or levels of government, strikes many as the most compelling. The report argues that there is, in effect, a Homeland Security Intelligence Community (HSIC). Although the H… more
Date: January 14, 2009
Creator: Randol, Mark A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Sensitive Covert Action Notifications: Oversight Options for Congress

Description: 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 impa… more
Date: April 6, 2011
Creator: Cumming, Alfred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Terrorist Financing: The 9/11 Commission Recommendation

Description: This report discusses the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that the U.S. government shift the focus of its efforts to counter terrorist financing from a strategy based on seizing terrorist assets to a strategy based on exploiting intelligence gathered from financial investigations.
Date: February 25, 2005
Creator: Weiss, Martin A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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CRS Issue Statement on Intelligence Policy

Description: This report contains the distinction between foreign and law enforcement intelligence that remain important when civil liberties and privacy rights of U.S. persons are involved.
Date: January 15, 2010
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Government Collection of Private Information: Background and Issues Related to the USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization

Description: Congress enacted the USA PATRIOT Act soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The most controversial sections of the act facilitate the federal government's collection of more information, from a greater number of sources, than had previously been authorized in criminal or foreign intelligence investigations. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), and the national security letter (NSL) statutes were all bolstered. With the changes came … more
Date: June 16, 2011
Creator: Liu, Edward C. & Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The National Intelligence Council (NIC): Issues and Options for Congress

Description: It is the purpose of this report to describe the statutory provisions that authorize the NIC, provide a brief history of its work, and review its role within the federal government. The report will focus on congressional interaction with the NIC and describe various options for modifying congressional oversight.
Date: December 27, 2011
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Intelligence Appropriations Process: Issues for Congress

Description: The intelligence appropriations process remains complicated and not well understood, but intelligence is an important and sizable part of the federal budget and will undoubtedly be addressed as Congress considers various alternatives for spending. This report reviews the intelligence appropriations process, describes various changes that have been proposed, and analyzes the issues associated with the proposals.
Date: November 9, 2011
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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National Security Letters: Proposals in the 112th Congress

Description: This report reprints the text of the five National Security Letter (NSL) statutes as they now appear and as they appeared prior to amendment by the USA PATRIOT Act (to which form they would be returned under S.1125 and H.R. 1805). NSLs are roughly comparable to administrative subpoenas. Various intelligence agencies use them to demand certain customer information from communications providers, financial institutions, and consumer credit reporting agencies under the Right to Financial Privacy A… more
Date: June 30, 2011
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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National Security Letters: Proposals in the 112th Congress

Description: This report reprints the text of the five National Security Letter (NSL) statutes as they now appear and as they appeared prior to amendment by the USA PATRIOT Act.
Date: February 1, 2011
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The National Intelligence Council: Issues and Options for Congress

Description: This report to describe the statutory provisions that authorize the National Intelligence Council (NIC), provide a brief history of its work, and review its role within the federal government. The report will focus on congressional interaction with the NIC and describe various options for modifying congressional oversight.
Date: April 10, 2009
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Government Collection of Private Information: Background and Issues Related to the USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization

Description: This report discusses the history of constitutional interpretations and legislative responses relevant to the collection of private information for criminal investigation, foreign intelligence gathering, and national security purposes.
Date: December 9, 2009
Creator: Henning, Anna C.; Bazan, Elizabeth B.; Doyle, Charles & Liu, Edward C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Government Collection of Private Information: Background and Issues Related to the USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization

Description: This report discusses the history of constitutional interpretations and legislative responses relevant to the collection of private information for criminal investigation, foreign intelligence gathering, and national security purposes.
Date: December 23, 2009
Creator: Henning, Anna C.; Bazan, Elizabeth B.; Doyle, Charles & Liu, Edward C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The National Intelligence Council: Issues and Options for Congress

Description: The purpose of this report to describe the statutory provisions that authorize the National Intelligence Council (NIC), provide a brief history of its work, and review its role within the federal government. The report will focus on congressional interaction with the NIC and describe various options for modifying congressional oversight.
Date: September 2, 2009
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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