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Daily Archives: June 10, 2008

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Coercive Interrogation Techniques

Statement of Glenn A. Fine Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary concerning hearing on Coercive Interrogation Techniques: Do They Work, Are They Reliable, and What Did the FBI Know About Them?, June 10, 2008.

  • “The FBI deployed agents to military zones after the September 11 attacks in large part because of its expertise in conducting custodial interviews and in furtherance of its expanded counterterrorism mission. The FBI has had a long history of success in custodial interrogations using non-coercive, rapport-based interview techniques developed for the law enforcement context. Some FBI agents experienced disputes with the DOD, which used more aggressive interrogation techniques. These disputes placed FBI agents in difficult situations in the military zones. However, apart from raising concerns about the DOD’s techniques, the FBI had little leverage to change DOD policy.”
  • Performance Measurement for Justice Information Systems Projects

    Performance Measurement for Justice Information System Projects – A Guide by the Center for Society, Law and Justice, Texas State University, Bureau of Justice Assistance. “This guide is also designed to assist criminal justice information sharing professionals implement special summary performance measures (to support the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Program Assessment Rating Tool… Continue Reading

    Transatlantic Economic Council Report to the EU-U.S. Summit 2008

    White House, June 10, 2008: Review of progress under the framework for advancing transatlantic economic integration between the European Union and the United States of America. “Believing that transatlantic economic integration will maximize economic benefits for their citizens through competition and stronger growth, while maintaining high standards of safety and protection, at their last summit… Continue Reading

    State Dept. OIG: Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator

    Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (ISP-I-08-23) Feb 2008, Unclassified “HIV/AIDS has become the world’s most important public health crisis. Approximately 33 million people are infected worldwide; two thirds of those are concentrated in a dozen African countries. The number of new HIV infections each year worldwide is 2.5 million people. The incidence of… Continue Reading

    Committee on House Ways and Means Committee: Unemployment Extension Briefing Materials

    Committee on Ways and Means Unemployment Extension Briefing Materials, June 9, 2008 Letters of Support for Unemployment Insurance Extension: A diverse set of bipartisan and nonpartisan organizations and individuals have declared their support for an immediate extension of unemployment insurance benefits, including leaders of State and local governments, economists, faith groups, advocates for working families… Continue Reading

    AG's Report to President on Executive Order 13,392, "Improving Agency Disclosure of Information"

    Attorney General’s Report to the President on Executive Order 13,392, “Improving Agency Disclosure of Information” (posted 06/10/2008) “In the Executive Order, the President directed the head of each Executive Branch agency to designate a senior official (at the Assistant Secretary level or equivalent) to serve as that agency’s Chief FOIA Officer. So as to ensure… Continue Reading

    New GAO Reports: Military Personnel, Digital Television Transition, Employment Verification, Compact of Free Association

    Military Personnel: Army Needs to Better Enforce Requirements and Improve Record Keeping for Soldiers Whose Medical Conditions May Call for Significant Duty Limitations, GAO-08-546, June 10, 2008 Digital Television Transition: Broadcasters’ Transition Status, Low-Power Station Issues, and Information on Consumer Awareness of the DTV Transition, GAO-08-881T, June 10, 2008 Employment Verification: Challenges Exist in Implementing… Continue Reading

    Social Security Administration's Internal Use of Employees' Social Security Numbers

    OIG: The Social Security Administration’s Internal Use of Employees’ Social Security Numbers. A-13-07-27164 06/09/08 “The Social Security number (SSN) was created in 1936 as a means of tracking workers’ earnings and eligibility for Social Security benefits. Nevertheless, the SSN has become a de facto national identifier used by Federal agencies, State and local governments, and… Continue Reading

    Homeland Security Expands Requirements Over Workers, Travelers

    EPIC: “President Bush has signed Executive Order 12989 which gives the Department of Homeland Security authority to review employment eligibility for all federal employees and federal contractors. The decision to expand E-Verify comes after Congress rejected the President’s verification proposal and a federal court struck down the agency’s attempt to establish similar authority by regulation.… Continue Reading

    Working Paper: Do Data Breach Disclosure Laws Reduce Identity Theft?

    Do Data Breach Disclosure Laws Reduce Identity Theft? Sasha Romanosky, Rahul Telang, Alessandro Acquisti, Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University “Identity theft resulted in corporate and consumer losses of $56 billion dollars in 2005, with about 30% of known identity thefts caused by corporate data breaches. Many US states have responded… Continue Reading