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Category Archives: Congress

Google Says It Continues to Allow Apps to Scan Data From Gmail Accounts

WSJ [paywall] via MarketScreener [no paywall]: “Google Inc. told lawmakers it continues to allow other companies to scan and share data from Gmail accounts, responding to questions raised on Capitol Hill about privacy and potential misuse of the information contained in users’ emails.” “In a letter to senators, a top Google official said the company… Continue Reading

Important update about LC Public Access Portal for CRS Reports

Follow up to previous posting – LC Launches Portal for Public Access to Official CRS Reports – with additional pertinent information for researchers Via Steven Aftergood – Secrecy News/FAS: “The Congressional Research Service launched its new public portal this morning, with an initial installment of 628 reports dating back to January of this year. The back… Continue Reading

BYU Law Launches Free Law and Corpus Linguistics Technology Platform

Bob Ambrogi – Law Sites: “A first-of-its-kind technology platform launching today allows legal researchers to examine large collections of historical texts to help determine the meanings of words and phrases in the contexts in which they historically were used. The Law and Corpus Linguistics Technology Platform was developed by BYU Law in Provo, Utah, which… Continue Reading

We invited some of the best musicians in the world to create songs inspired by each of the 27 amendments

Jad Abumrad – host, Radiolab & More Perfect: I’d venture a guess that most Americans (like us, before we started this project) can’t name more than one or two amendments to the Constitution, let alone remember that there are 27 of them.  But these 27 “insertions” to our founding document outline our basic rights as Americans.  Not only… Continue Reading

LC Launches Portal for Public Access to Official CRS Reports

Carla Haydn – Librarian of Congress – Congressional Research Service Reports Now Available Online – “…Moving forward, all new or updated reports will be added to the website as they are made available to Congress. The Library is also working to make available the back catalog of previously published reports as expeditiously as possible. More… Continue Reading

Costs of Government Interventions in Response to the Financial Crisis: A Retrospective, updated September 12, 2018

EveryCRSReport.com – Costs of Government Interventions in Response to the Financial Crisis: A Retrospective, updated September 12, 2018. “In August 2007, asset-backed securities (ABS), particularly those backed by subprime mortgages, suddenly became illiquid and fell sharply in value as an unprecedented housing boom turned into a housing bust. Losses on the many ABS held by… Continue Reading

Testimony – Transparency at CBO: An Update

Testimony on Transparency at CBO: An Update | Congressional Budget Office – Keith Hall, Director Before the Committee on the Budget United States Senate September 13, 2018. “…Transparency can mean many different things, so letme begin by highlighting CBO’s three goals in being transparent: First, we aim to enhance the credibility of our work by… Continue Reading

Supreme Court Appointment Process: Senate Debate and Confirmation Vote

EveryCRSReport.com – Supreme Court Appointment Process: Senate Debate and Confirmation Vote. September 7, 2018 “The procedure for appointing a Justice to the Supreme Court is provided for in the U.S. Constitution in only a few words. The “Appointments Clause” in the Constitution (Article II, Section 2, clause 2) states that the President “shall nominate, and… Continue Reading

Federal Role in U.S. Campaigns and Elections: An Overview

EveryCRSReport.com – Federal Role in U.S. Campaigns and Elections: An Overview R. Sam Garrett, Specialist in American National Government. September 4, 2018. “Conventional wisdom holds that the federal government plays relatively little role in U.S. campaigns and elections. Although states retain authority for most aspects of election administration, a closer look reveals that the federal… Continue Reading

Securing the Vote Protecting American Democracy 2018

The National Academies of Sciences: “During the 2016 presidential election, America’s election infrastructure was targeted by actors sponsored by the Russian government. Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy examines the challenges arising out of the 2016 federal election, assesses current technology and standards for voting, and recommends steps that the federal government, state and local… Continue Reading

GAO – Actions Taken by Equifax and Federal Agencies in Response to the 2017 Breach

Data Protection: Actions Taken by Equifax and Federal Agencies in Response to the 2017 Breach. GAO-18-559: Published: Aug 30, 2018. Publicly Released: Sep 7, 2018: Hackers stole the personal data of nearly 150 million people from Equifax databases in 2017. How did Equifax, a consumer reporting agency, respond to that event? Equifax said that it… Continue Reading

Amazon’s Antitrust Antagonist Has a Breakthrough Idea

The New York Times: “With a single scholarly article, Lina Khan, 29, has reframed decades of monopoly law….In early 2017, when she was an unknown law student, Ms. Khan published “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox” in the Yale Law Journal. Her argument went against a consensus in antitrust circles that dates back to the 1970s — the… Continue Reading