Press release: “The National Security Archive today filed suit [National Security Archive v. Central Intelligence Agency] in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), challenging the Agency’s recent practice of charging Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) fees to journalists pursuing news. The FOIA says that “representatives of the news media” can be charged only copying fees since they help to carry out the mission of the law by disseminating government information; but the CIA last year began claiming authority to assess additional fees if the Agency decides any journalist’s request is not newsworthy enough. In adopting this new practice, the CIA reversed its prior 15-year practice of presumptively waiving additional fees for news media representatives, including the National Security Archive.”
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Daily Archives: June 14, 2006
Annual Disclosure of Congressional Financial Forms
AP: House, Senate Members Disclose Finances: “The reports require lawmakers to list last year’s assets and debts, along with any income beyond the $162,100 salary for the rank-and-file House and Senate members. Rules require lawmakers to donate their speaking fees to charity and to limit gifts from any individual to $100 in a year.” Continue Reading
Hearing on Broadband Internet Access, Competition and Consumer Protection
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Reconsidering Our Communications Laws: Ensuring Competition and Innovation, June 14, 2006. Links to member statements and testimony [HTML] FTC press release on testimony: “The Federal Trade Commission today told the Senate Judiciary Committee that as the Committee considers legislation to amend the Communications Act, it should preserve the FTC’s existing authority… Continue Reading
ACLU Files Suit to Obtain Domestic Surveillance Info on Peace Groups
Press release: “The lawsuit was filed today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by the national ACLU and its affiliates in Florida, Georgia, Rhode Island, Maine, Pennsylvania and Washington. The lawsuit charges that the Defense Department is refusing to comply with national Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking records on… Continue Reading
VA's Information Security Weaknesses Highlighted in GAO Report and Hearings
Related to previous postings on the recent breach of Veterans’ data that was the focus of press and Congressional scrutiny, from GAO today, this report – Veterans Affairs: Leadership Needed to Address Information Security Weaknesses and Privacy Issues, full-text GAO-06-866T, and Highlights, June 14, 2006. From the report: “For many years, significant concerns have been… Continue Reading
Consumer Efforts to Ward Off Span and Spyware Still Fall Short
WSJ free feature: Seeking a Safer Internet – New Tools Flag Sites With Spyware, Spam – But the Technology Is Far From Perfect Continue Reading
Debate Escalates on Current and Future State of Affairs in Iraq
In anticipation of the scheduled 10 hour debate on Iraq tomorrow, authored by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (and posted by Rep. Jack Kingston), this one page fact sheet of 15 bullet points on the current state of affairs in Iraq, for the citizens and the U.S. military. Related documents: Center for American Progress: “Congress this week… Continue Reading
DHS OIG Audit of TSA Aviation Security Fees
Review of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Collection of Aviation Security Service Fees, OIG-06-35 (PDF, 60 pages), June 13, 2006. Continue Reading
GAO Reports on Massive Payment Fraud in Katrina Aftermath
Follow-up to Committee to Review Post Katrina Waste, Fraud, and Abuse, today GAO released the aforementioned report, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Disaster Relief: Improper and Potentially Fraudulent Individual Assistance Payments Estimated to Be Between $600 Million and $1.4 Billion, full-text GAO-06-844T, and Highlights, June 14, 2006. “We estimate that through February 2006, FEMA made about… Continue Reading
DHA OIG Audit on Detention and Removal of Illegal Aliens
Detention and Removal of Illegal Aliens, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), OIG-06-33 (PDF, 52 pages) Continue Reading
