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Daily Archives: January 11, 2006

CRS Report Reviews Impact of Indictment on Members of Congress

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Status of a Member of the House Who Has Been Indicted for or Convicted of a Felony (14 pages, PDF), January 5, 2006.

  • “There are no federal statutes or Rules of the House of Representatives that directly affect the status of a Member of Congress who has been indicted for a crime that constitutes a felony. No rights or privileges are forfeited under the Constitution, statutory law, or the Rules of the House merely upon an indictment for an offense, prior to an establishment of guilt under the judicial system. Thus, under House Rules, an indicted Member may continue to participate in congressional proceedings and considerations; under the Constitution, a person under indictment is not disqualified from being a Member of or a candidate for re-election to Congress. Internal party rules in the House, however, now require an indicted chairman or ranking Member of a House committee, or a member of the House party leadership, to temporarily step aside from his or her leadership or chairmanship position.”

    • Agency Reports on Violations of the Antideficiency Act

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    Agency Reports on Violations of the Antideficiency Act: GAO has created this database in carrying out the statutory requirement in section 1401 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, Pub. L. No. 108-447 [658 pages, PDF), 118 Stat. 2809, 3192 (Dec. 8, 2004). “The database currently lists reports received by GAO in FY 2005. Interested persons… Continue Reading

    Kennedy Seeks to Clarify Alito’s Statements Relating to Equal Justice

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    Press release: “Today in his rounds of questioning Judge Alito, Senator Edward M. Kennedy pressed Judge Alito on his commitment to equal justice under the law by raising his membership in a radical anti-women, anti-minority alumni organization [Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP)] and several rulings on key cases involving individual rights.” [press release includes supporting… Continue Reading

    E-Gov Site Focuses on Secure Computing and Protecting Personal Info

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    “OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.” Quick facts and related resources are available on the following topics: ID theft, spyware, phishing, spam scams, online shopping, P2P file sharing, and VoIP. The free… Continue Reading

    Public Interest Groups Fight Expansion of Government Secrecy

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    OMB Watch: “Citizens for Sensible Safeguards, a coalition of labor, consumer, and other public interest organizations, filed comments (29 pages, PDF) Jan. 9 on OMB’s Proposed Bulletin on Good Guidance Practices. The bulletin purports to make agency guidance documents “more transparent, consistent, and accountable” by setting new requirements that include high-level review by senior agency… Continue Reading

    Bush Drops Opposition to Hearings on Domestic Surveillance

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    Following up on the series of references that were noted in my posting yesterday, news today that President Bush has apparently dropped his opposition to congressional hearings on the controversial domestic surveillance program about which news has appeared almost every day for the past month. Related reference on the upcoming hearings: President Participates in Discussion… Continue Reading

    USPTO Releases Annual List of Top 10 Organizations Receiving Most U.S. Patents

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    Press release: “The Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today the 2005 top 10 global private sector patent recipients. Listed…are the 10 corporations receiving the most U.S. patents for inventions in 2005, along with their 2004 ranking.” IBM, Canon and HP rank 12, 3 respectively. Continue Reading

    EPA Toxic Release Inventory Database Threatened By Gov’t Opposition

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    Following up on my November 11, 2005 posting, EPA Proposes To Limit Public Access to Pollution Release Inventory, see this new report from OMB Watch, Dismantling the Public’s Right to Know: EPA’s Systematic Weakening of the Toxics Release Inventory (16 pages, PDF): “The report details how under the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)… Continue Reading