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Daily Archives: July 9, 2008

FISA Amendments Act of 2008 Passed by Senate

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On June 20, 2008 the House passed H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. Today the Senate passed the bill. Related commentary and articles as follows:

  • ACLU: Senate Passes Unconstitutional Spying Bill And Grants Sweeping Immunity To Phone Companies
  • New York Times: Senate Approves Bill to Broaden Wiretap Powers
  • WSJ Law Blog: “As the WSJ reports, the bill renews the legal backing for the federal government’s warrantless surveillance program, allowing the National Security Agency to listen in to Americans’ phone calls to people abroad and read emails sent to people overseas. It would also provide effective legal immunity for the telephone companies who agreed to government requests to access their customers’ phones and emails.”
  • Closing Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On Senate Consideration Of The FISA Amendments: “The bill, if adopted without amendment, seems intended to result in the dismissal of ongoing cases against the telecommunications carriers that participated in the warrantless wiretapping program, without allowing a court ever to review whether the program itself was legal. “

Declaration of Leaders Meeting of Major Economies on Energy Security and Climate Change

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Declaration of Leaders Meeting of Major Economies on Energy Security and Climate Change, July 9, 2008: “We, the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States met as the world’s major economies in… Continue Reading

House Passes Bill to Preserve Electronic Records

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Bill Summary – H.R. 5811: The Electronic Message Preservation Act. Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform “Investigations by the Oversight Committee have revealed significant deficiencies in the preservation of e-mail by the White House and federal agencies. H.R. 5811, the Electronic Message Preservation Act, introduced on April 15, 2008, by… Continue Reading

Oversight Committee Holds Hearing on Manufacturers of FEMA’s Toxic Trailers

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News release, includes links to witness testimony and related documents: “As part of its continuing investigation into the FEMA’s toxic trailers, the Committee held a hearing on July 9, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing examined the role of four manufacturers who provided trailers with dangerous levels of formaldehyde to victims of… Continue Reading

Overview of Selected Tax Provisions Relating to Financing Of Surface Transportation Infrastructure

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Overview Of Selected Tax Provisions Relating To The Financing Of Surface Transportation Infrastructure, Scheduled for a Public Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Finance on July 10, 2008, Prepared by the Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation. “This document…provides a description of present-law provisions relating to Highway Trust Fund and its dedicated taxes, a… Continue Reading

Report: Is the Sky Falling? Energy Security and Transnational Terrorism

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Center for Contemporary Conflict: Is the Sky Falling? Energy Security and Transnational Terrorism by Dr. Michael Mihalka and Dr. David Anderson, July 2008. “This paper will assess the extent to which transnational terrorists, in particular global Jihadists associated with Osama bin Laden, have been interested in attacks against the global energy infrastructure. We then assess… Continue Reading

Report: China Will Surpass U.S. Economically by 2035, Double by Midcentury

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Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: “China’s economy will surpass that of the United States by 2035 and be twice its size by midcentury, a new report by Albert Keidel concludes. China’s rapid growth is driven by domestic demand—not exports—and will sustain high single-digit growth rates well into this century. In China’s Economic Rise—Fact and Fiction,… Continue Reading

Global Challenges and Directions for Agricultural Biotechnology: Workshop Report

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“Many developing countries are exploring whether biotechnology has a role in addressing national issues such as food security and environmental remediation, and are considering whether the putative benefits of the technology for example, enabling greater agricultural productivity and stability in the food supply outweigh concerns that the technology might pose a danger to biodiversity, health,… Continue Reading