H.R. 6331, Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, July 23, 2008 – Direct spending and revenues effects estimate for the bill enacted as Public Law 110-275 on July 15, 2008 “CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6331 will increase direct spending by less than $50 million over the 2008-2013 period and by $0.3… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legislation
New GAO Reports: Aviation Security, Broadcasting to Cuba, Emergency Management, U.S. Africa Command
Aviation Security: Transportation Security Administration May Face Resource and Other Challenges in Developing a System to Screen All Cargo Transported on Passenger Aircraft, GAO-08-959T, July 15, 2008 Broadcasting to Cuba: Weaknesses in Contracting Practices Reduced Visibility into Selected Award Decisions, GAO-08-764, July 11, 2008 Department of Labor: Case Studies from Ongoing Work Show Examples in… Continue Reading
EPIC Calls for Protection of Passport Privacy During Senate Hearing
“EPIC testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee [hearing: Passport Files: Privacy Protection Needed For All Americans], urging new protections for passport information privacy. The hearing, held at a time of increased information collection and dissemination by the government, addressed an Inspector General report [Review of Controls and Notification for Access to Passport Records in the… Continue Reading
FISA Amendments Act of 2008 Passed by Senate
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… Continue Reading
House Passes Bill to Preserve Electronic Records
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
New GAO Report Reveals Agencies are Not Complying with Requirements to Preserve E-mails
Committee on Oversight: “Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, and Rep. Paul W. Hodes released a new GAO report that finds that senior federal officials are failing to comply with requirements to preserve e-mail records. On Wednesday, the House is expected to consider legislation (H.R. 5811) to modernize the Federal Records Act and… Continue Reading
National War Powers Commission Report Released
News release: “The Miller Center’s National War Powers Commission, co-chaired by former Secretaries of State James A. Baker, III and Warren Christopher, today recommended that Congress repeal the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and substitute a new statute that would provide for more meaningful consultation between the president and Congress on matters of war. In… Continue Reading
DHS 2008 Data Mining Letter Report
2008 Data Mining Letter Report (PDF, 46 pages): “This is the third report by the Privacy Office to Congress on data mining. This letter report identifies the data mining activities deployed or under development within DHS, as defined by the Data Mining Reporting Act, and describes the framework the Department will use to report on… Continue Reading
DOJ Announces Final National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification
News release: “The Department of Justice today announced the final guidelines for Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). The Guidelines provide necessary tools for states, the District of Columbia, territories and certain federally recognized Indian tribes to incorporate SORNA minimum… Continue Reading
United States Copyright Office Releases Section 109 Report
News release: “After more than a year of intensive study, the U.S. Copyright Office issued its report on whether to maintain, modify or eliminate Sections 111, 119 and 122 of the Copyright Act. It will serve as the basis for discussion for possible changes to the statutory licenses. Section 109 of the Satellite Home Viewer… Continue Reading
Committee Chairs Introduce Bill to Strengthen GAO
“Chairman Henry A. Waxman and 18 other committee chairs introduced legislation to strengthen the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and restore GAOs authority to pursue litigation if documents are improperly withheld from the agency. One key provision of the Government Accountability Office Improvement Act of 2008 (H.R. 6388) repudiates the district court decision in Walker v.… Continue Reading
Statutes at Large 109th Congress, 2nd Session Available Online
“The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress. The Statutes at Large is prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Every public and private… Continue Reading
