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Category Archives: Congress

GPO and Law Library of Congress Make Volumes of Nation’s Most Treasured Publications Digitally Available

“The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), in collaboration with the Law Library of Congress, has digitized and made available volumes of the United States Congressional Serial Set on GPO’s govinfo, the one-stop shop to information published by the Federal Government. The release comes as part of a large decade-long partnership to digitize more than 15,000… Continue Reading

TikTokers Are Trading Stocks By Copying What Members Of Congress Do

NPR: “Young investors have a new strategy: watching financial disclosures of sitting members of Congress for stock tips. Among a certain community of individual investors on TikTok, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stock trading disclosures are a treasure trove. “Shouts out to Nancy Pelosi, the stock market’s biggest whale,” said user ‘ceowatchlist.’ Another said, “I’ve come… Continue Reading

GPO Digitizes List Of Publications The Federal Government Has Produced Since The 1800s

“The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has digitized the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, a historical list of publications the Federal Government produced from 1895 to 2004, as well as other historic government publication indexes. Librarians, scholars, students, and the general public can use these indexes to find historic publications of the U.S. Government.… Continue Reading

Recent Steps Toward Improved Access to Federal Legislation

Information Today – Barbie E. Keiser – “During recent virtual meetings, representatives of several government entities showed how they had used the time during the pandemic to increase the public’s access to legislative information. The real takeaway from each online meeting is the degree to which these entities collaborate on projects. The Library of Congress… Continue Reading

14 Trillion of Pentagon Spending on war in Afghanistan went to 5 government contractors

Watson Institute, Brown University / William D. Hartung Center for International Policy: Profits of War: Corporate Beneficiaries of the Post-9/11 Pentagon Spending Surge – September 13, 2021: “Pentagon spending has totaled over $14 trillion since the start of the war in Afghanistan, with one-third to one-half of the total going to military contractors.A large portion… Continue Reading

The D.C. Underground Atlas

“Washington, D.C.’s federal architects have a special proclivity for underground tunnels. District residents navigate the tubes like human submarines, and rely on their services for basic needs like drinking water and central heat. Contributing factors include the city’s unique building height limit, extreme weather, and the security considerations of recent decades. As a result, Washington sits atop… Continue Reading

Predicting, Managing, and Preparing for Disasters Like Hurricane Ida

National Academies: “…Today, communities across Louisiana and Southeastern coasts are emerging from the shadow of Hurricane Ida. The storm has left New Orleans without power, surrounding areas flooded, and thousands evacuated from their homes. Since Hurricane Katrina swept through Louisiana almost exactly 16 years ago, the National Academies have helped produce scientific insights and recommendations… Continue Reading

Controlled Digital Lending: Unlocking the Library’s Full Potential

Library Futures – “For many, libraries are a more trusted source of information than government, news, and social media. As physical spaces closed in response to the pandemic and communities turned more to digital resources to access knowledge, libraries moved to meet the challenge with new digital initiatives. Through a process called “controlled digital lending”… Continue Reading

The US Budgetary Costs of the Post 9/11 Wars

20 Years of War – A Costs of War Research Series, Watson Institute of Public and International Affairs, Brown University: “The United States has appropriated and is obligated to spend an estimated $6.4 Trillion through Fiscal Year 2020 in budgetary costs related to and caused by the post-9/11 wars—an estimated $5.4 Trillion in appropriations in… Continue Reading

Copyright Office Releases Report on Sovereign Immunity in Copyright Infringement Cases

“August 31, 2021 the U.S. Copyright Office released a report entitled Copyright and State Sovereign Immunity. The report marks the completion of a study conducted by the Office in response to an April 2020 request by Senators Thom Tillis and Patrick Leahy following the Supreme Court’s decision in Allen v. Cooper. In that case, the… Continue Reading

Partisan divides in media trust widen, driven by a decline among Republicans

“In just five years, the percentage of Republicans with at least some trust in national news organizations has been cut in half – dropping from 70% in 2016 to 35% this year. This decline is fueling the continued widening of the partisan gap in trust of the media. Nearly eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (78%)… Continue Reading