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Category Archives: Congress

CRS – Medicare Financial Status: In Brief

EveryCRSReport – Medicare Financial Status: In Brief – June 24, 2013 – July 2, 2019 R43122. “This report provides a brief overview of the financial status of the two Medicare trust funds (Hospital Insurance and Supplementary Medical Insurance) based on the findings of the 2019 Medicare Trustees Report. It includes an overview of Medicare and… Continue Reading

The Essential Guide to Legislation

PoliticoPro – “During a single Congress, hundreds of bills are enacted into federal law – but the initial legislation proposed by lawmakers in the House and Senate can number well over 10,000 bills per session of Congress. With so much proposed legislation flowing through the standard processes, tracking can quickly become difficult. This guide breaks… Continue Reading

To Break Google’s Monopoly on Search, Make Its Index Public

Bloomberg – The tech giant doesn’t have to be dismantled. Sharing its crown jewel might reshape the internet. ” Recognition is growing worldwide that something big needs to be done about Big Tech, and fast. More than $8 billion in fines have been levied against Google by the European Union since 2017. Facebook Inc., facing… Continue Reading

New Report on the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence

“Everybody seems to be talking about artificial intelligence (AI). Some people laud its possibilities, whereas others envisage nightmare scenarios where robots take over. But what is AI exactly and how are countries dealing with it? The Oxford Dictionary defines AI as “the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human… Continue Reading

Compiling a Federal Legislative History: A Beginner’s Guide

Library of Congress research guide – A comprehensive research guide on finding federal legislative history documents, including congressional committee reports and hearings, presidential signing statements, and the debates of Congress Authors: Barbara Bavis, Bibliographic and Research Instruction Librarian, Law Library of Congress; Robert Brammer, Senior Legal Information Specialist, Law Library of Congress Continue Reading

New Projection: Debt Limit “X Date” Could Arrive in September

“The Bipartisan Policy Center now forecasts a risk that the debt limit “X Date” — the date when the federal government can no longer pay all of its bills in full and on time — could occur in the first half of September. “This “X Date” risk falls earlier than BPC’s previous projection range, based… Continue Reading

CRS – Policy and Legislative Research for Congressional Staff – Finding Documents, Analysis, News and Training

Policy and Legislative Research for Congressional Staff: Finding Documents, Analysis, News, and Training. March 25, 2014 – June 28, 2019. R43434.  Sarah W. Caldwell, Senior Research Librarian; Ada S. Cornell, Senior Research Librarian; Michele L. Malloy. Research Librarian. “This report is intended to serve as a finding aid for congressional documents, executive branch documents and… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues July 7, 2019

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues July 7, 2019 – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the… Continue Reading

FBI, ICE find state driver’s license photos are a gold mine for facial-recognition searches

Washington Post – A cache of records shared with The Washington Post reveals that agents are scanning hundreds of millions of Americans’ faces without their knowledge or consent – “Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have turned state driver’s license databases into a facial-recognition gold mine, scanning through hundreds… Continue Reading

Can a cancer registry keep firefighters safe?

BBC: “A new US cancer database – the Firefighter Cancer Registry which was fully funded by Congress in June – aims to track the careers and health histories of thousands of firefighters in order to better understand the link between emergency work and disease, writes Victoria Oldridge. For thousands of years, firefighters have entered into… Continue Reading

‘A Lot Of Gray Area’: A Legal Expert Explains ‘How To Read The Constitution’

NPR – “What is the president actually allowed to do under the U.S. Constitution? It’s a question that’s comes up from time to time at NPR, and when it does, we’ve turned to experts such as Kim Wehle, now a law professor and CBS News legal commentator. Now, she’s written a book about it. It’s… Continue Reading