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Category Archives: Congress

Compiling Congressional Districts

Via Center for Data Innovation – Grossmann, M., Lucas, C., McCrain, J, & Ostrander, I. (2022). CongressData. East Lansing, MI: Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR) – “Researchers at Michigan State University have created a dataset tracking the history of U.S. congressional districts. The dataset consists of congressional districts from 1789 to 2021… Continue Reading

Warren, Wyden, Murray, Whitehouse, Sanders Introduce Legislation to Ban Data Brokers from Selling Americans’ Location and Health Data

Bill Text (PDF) | One-Pager (PDF) – “United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced the Health and Location Data Protection Act, legislation that bans data brokers from selling some of the most sensitive data available about everyday Americans: their health and location data. The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chair of the… Continue Reading

What the TSA could teach Congress about gun control

Recode – “TSA PreCheck uses enhanced background checks to make everyone safer. With the country continually in mourning over gun violence — we keep seeing mass shooting after mass shooting after mass shooting — it’s time to find ways to prevent it, lest we remain the “only nation where this regularly happens.” Those solutions needn’t be… Continue Reading

As traditional news use declines, online news isn’t making up the gap

Nieman Lab: ” The pandemic brought a bump in news consumption that now seems to be fading away, Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) found in its 2022 Digital News Report, out this week. RISJ surveyed more than 90,000 people in 46 countries about their digital news consumption, and found evidence of… Continue Reading

Your connected car could be putting your privacy at risk

Popular Science – “As the U.S. enters a new era of lawmaking, connected cars could become the new front of legal battles. Most modern cars know their locations better than their owners do. As suites of connected-car apps become mainstream for both emergency functionality (such as General Motors’ OnStar) or for owner conveniences such as remote… Continue Reading

Short-and Long-Term Solutions to Extreme Drought in the Western United States

CRS – Statement of Charles V. Stern, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy, Before Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate Hearing on “Short-and Long-Term Solutions to Extreme Drought in the Western United States” June 14, 2022: “Chairman Manchin, Ranking Member Barrasso, and Members of the committee, thank you for inviting the Congressional Research Service… Continue Reading

CRS – How Treasury Issues Debt

How Treasury Issues Debt, Updated June 14, 2022 [21 pages]: “The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), among other roles, manages the country’s debt. The primary objective of Treasury’s debt management strategy is to finance the government’s borrowing needs at the lowest cost over time. To accomplish this Treasury adheres to three principles: (1) to… Continue Reading

CRS 6 Part Series – The Political Doctrine Question

LSB10756| The Political Question Doctrine: An Introduction (Part 1) Joanna R. Lampe Jun 14, 2022 – “This Legal Sidebar is the first in a six-part series that discusses the Supreme Court’s political question doctrine, which instructs that federal courts should forbear from resolving questions when doing so would require the judiciary to make policy decisions,… Continue Reading

First Open Testimony Before January 6 Committee

C-SPAN – January 6 Hearings – First Open Testimony Before January 6 Committee. Held June 9, 2022. After months of closed door investigations, the House January 6 Committee held its first hearing with public testimony about what transpired-and why-during the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Users may search the transcript by choosing text, people or… Continue Reading

Stablecoins: Legal Issues and Regulatory Options

CRS Legal Sidebar – Stablecoins: Legal Issues and Regulatory Options, Part 1 – June 9, 2022 -“…stablecoins—cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to a reference asset like the U.S. dollar.While stablecoin issuers attempt to maintain these pegs in different ways, most of the regulatory attention has focused on coins that are putatively backed with reserves of… Continue Reading

The One Video You Need to Watch From Last Night’s Capitol Riot Hearing

Gizmodo: “Last night [June 9, 2022], almost every major TV network devoted three hours to a congressional hearing by the January 6th Committee, which is investigating the attempted coup by Donald Trump and his supporters after the former president lost the election in 2020. But if you missed the broadcast, there’s only one video you… Continue Reading

Don’t Forget the First Half of the Second Amendment

The Atlantic – The amendment doesn’t prohibit gun regulations; it demands them. By Thomas P. Crocker “…[the first half of the] Second Amendment reads, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State.” The Supreme Court barely contemplated the text’s meaning in Heller v. District of Columbia, asking no more than… Continue Reading