Congressional Research Service Reports - 20 Matching Results

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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
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: April 16, 2007
Creator: Figliola, Patricia Moloney
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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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

The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Background, Funding, 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: April 10, 2015
Creator: Figliola, Patricia Moloney
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions

Description: Published reports have suggested that in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Pentagon has expanded its counterterrorism intelligence activities as part of what the Bush Administration termed the global war on terror. 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 congr… more
Date: April 10, 2013
Creator: Erwin, Marshall C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Intelligence Identities Protection Act

Description: This report summarizes the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, P.L. 97-200, enacted by Congress in 1982 to address the unauthorized disclosure of information that exposes covert U.S. intelligence agents. The act also provides exceptions and defenses to prosecution, makes provision for extraterritorial application for offenders who are U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens, includes reporting requirements to Congress, and sets forth definitions of the terms used in the act.
Date: April 10, 2013
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

"Gang of Four" Congressional Intelligence Notifications

Description: This report reviews the history of the Gang of Four notification process and compares this procedure with that of the "Gang of Eight" notification procedure. The "Gang of Eight" procedure is statutorily based and provides that the chairmen and ranking Members of the intelligence committee, along with the Speaker and minority leader of the House, and Senate majority and minority leaders--rather than the full membership of the intelligence committees-- are to receive prior notice of particularly … more
Date: April 16, 2013
Creator: Erwin, Marshall Curtis
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Sensitive Covert Action Notifications: Oversight Options for Congress

Description: 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.
Date: April 10, 2013
Creator: Erwin, Marshall Curtis
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Congressional Liaison Offices of Selected Federal Agencies

Description: This report provides a list of roughly 200 congressional liaison offices with phone numbers, addresses, and other contact information.
Date: April 26, 2013
Creator: Crane-Hirsch, Audrey C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions

Description: This report discusses the Department of Defense's (DOD) various counter-terrorist intelligence activities, whether or not they constitute classification as "covert action," and the challenge of clarifying the roles and responsibilities of various intelligence activities with regard to clandestine activities. It also examines the statutory procedures governing covert action and associated questions to consider.
Date: April 6, 2011
Creator: Cumming, Alfred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

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
open access

The Congressional Research Service and the American Legislative Process

Description: The Legislative Reference Service, it was charged with responding to congressional requests for information. For more than 50 years, this department assisted Congress primarily by providing facts and publications and by transmitting research and analysis done largely by other government agencies, private organizations, and individual scholars. In 1970, Congress enacted a law transforming the Legislative Reference Service into the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and directing CRS to devote … more
Date: April 12, 2011
Creator: Brudnick, Ida A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

"Sensitive But Unclassified" and Other Federal Security Controls on Scientific and Technical Information: History and Current Controversy

Description: This report (1) summarizes provisions of several laws and regulations, including the Patent Law, the Atomic Energy Act, International Traffic in Arms Control regulations, the USA PATRIOT Act (P.L. 107-56), the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-188), and the Homeland Security Act (P.L. 107-296), that permit the federal government to restrict disclosure of scientific and technical information that could harm national security; (2) describes th… more
Date: April 2, 2003
Creator: Knezo, Genevieve J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Census 2000: The Sampling Debate

Description: Plans by the Bureau of the Census to incorporate data from two new sample surveys into the 2000 decennial census count have had a mixed congressional reception. Three sampling bills in the 105th Congress (H.R. 1220, H.R. 1178, and H.R. 776) have been referred to committee, without further action. Sampling has been debated chiefly in the appropriations process (H.R. 1469, H.R. 1871 [P.L. 105-18; 111 Stat. 158], and H.R. 2267/S. 1022 [P.L. 105-119; 111 Stat. 2440]). The bureau now is a defendant … more
Date: April 27, 1998
Creator: Williams, Jennifer D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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