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February 20, 2007
Headlines - DHS OIG Audits of Technical Security at Dulles Airport and Implementation of Protective Measures for Personnally Identifiable Information
- HHS OIG Audit of Commissioned Corps' Response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
- Federal Appeals Court Rules Denies Detainees' Use of Habeas Corpus
- National Conference of State Legislatures Guide to Real ID Act
- DOJ OIG Audit of Internal Controls Over Terrorism Reporting
- Group Announces Plan to Sue USDA For Ignoring Organic Regulations
- DOJ Launches First Freedom Project Website
- Annual Energy Outlook 2007 with Projections to 2030
- Council on Environmental Quality Sued For Non Disclosure of Global Warming Documents
- GAO Report on Issues Related to the Structure and Funding of Public Television
- U.S. International Trade Commission Has Launched Online New Journal
- House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Issues Travel Rules
- United Nations Counter-Terrorism Online Handbook
 Federal Appeals Court Rules Denies Detainees' Use of Habeas Corpus On February 20, 2007, a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled 2-1 that detainees held at Guantánamo Bay could not challenge their detention, thereby upholding provisions of the Military Commissions Act denying "enemy combatants" the right to file habeas corpus claims in U.S. Court. Related postings on Military Commissions Act
National Conference of State Legislatures Guide to Real ID Act The National Conference of State Legislatures posted a Countdown to REAL ID (May 11, 2008) guide that includes links to documents arranged by Federal Issues (including text and history of the Act), State Issues (including a REAL ID State Legislation Database) and Web Resources. "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to release regulations and Congress has appropriated only $40 million to assist states with the implementation. Without adequate assistance from the federal government and regulations to guide state efforts to implement the Real ID Act, state driver’s license security is at a stand still. According to a study conducted by NCSL, the National Governors Association and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the act will cost states more than $11 billion to implement over five years and will have a major impact on services to the public..." EPIC testimony at public hearing of the Maryland Senate, by Melissa Ngo, who explained how the privacy and security risks of the REAL ID Act remain unresolved, February 15, 2007. Related postings on Real ID Act
DOJ OIG Audit of Internal Controls Over Terrorism Reporting The Department of Justice's Internal Controls Over Terrorism Reporting, Audit Report 07-20, February 2007, (PDF, 160 pages, Full Report) "...we learned that the collection and reporting of terrorism-related statistics within the Department is decentralized and haphazard. Often the official who reported the statistic gathered it through telephone requests or e-mail to other Department staff. Also, for many of the statistics reported, Department officials either had not established internal controls to ensure the statistics were accurately gathered, classified and reported, or did not document the internal controls used..." Reuters: Report finds U.S. terrorism statistics inaccurate
Group Announces Plan to Sue USDA For Ignoring Organic Regulations Press release: "In a letter sent today, the Cornucopia Institute informed the USDA of their intention to file a complaint in federal district court accusing the agency of ignoring the organic regulations, and the intent of Congress, by their failure to enforce the law. The impending lawsuit is just the latest salvo in a seven-year-long dispute between organic family farmers and the USDA. “A wide cross section of the organic industry has repeatedly petitioned the USDA to crack down on an increasing number of industrial-scale factory-farms that are producing ‘organic’ milk,” said Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst at the Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute...“There are five sections in the federal organ! ic standards that relate to pasture and grazing. Taken together they leave little doubt as to what is expected of organic livestock producers,” said Jim Riddle, of the University of Minnesota and former chair of the National Organic Standards Board. “It is no coincidence that except for the handful of mega-farms, all of the nation’s organic dairy farmers, and most of the certifiers that inspect them, understand that grazing is required and operate their farms in accordance with the law.” See also the USDA National Organic Program Standards
DOJ Launches First Freedom Project Website "On February 20, 2007 Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced a new Department of Justice initiative to protect religious liberty: The First Freedom Project. As detailed in a report issued at the same time as the announcement, Report on Enforcement of Laws Protecting Religious Freedom: Fiscal Years 2001-2006, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice enforces a wide range of laws protecting religious liberty: laws barring discrimination based on religion in employment, public education, housing, credit, and access to public facilities and public accommodations; laws barring zoning authorities from discriminating against houses of worship and religious schools; laws protecting the religious rights of institutionalized persons; and criminal statutes such as the Church Arson Prevention Act making it a federal crime to attack persons or institutions based on thei! r religion, or otherwise interfere with religious exercise."
Annual Energy Outlook 2007 with Projections to 2030 Annual Energy Outlook 2007 with Projections to 2030, Report #:DOE/EIA-0383 (2007), Release date full report: February 20, 2007: "The Annual Energy Outlook 2007 presents a projection and analysis of US energy supply, demand, and prices through 2030. The projections are based on results from the Energy Information Administration's National Energy Modeling System. The AEO2007 includes the reference case, additional cases examining energy markets, and complete documentation." See also Supplemental Tables to the Annual Energy Outlook 2007: "The AEO Supplemental tables were generated for the reference case of the Annual Energy Outlook 2007 (AEO2007) using the National Energy Modeling System, a computer-based model which produces annual projections of energy markets for 2004 to 2030. Most of the tables were not published in the AEO2007, but contain regional and other more detailed projections underlying the AEO2007 projections. The files containing these tables are in spreadsheet formats. A total of one hundred and eighteen tables is presented. (The supplemental tables are currently available in Excel format)." Released February 20, 2007
Council on Environmental Quality Sued For Non Disclosure of Global Warming Documents Press release: "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has sued the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) today for its failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records related to global warming science and policy. CREW filed its FOIA request after media reports -- including a 60 Minutes piece -- and documents gathered by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform revealed that political appointees at CEQ, including former Chief of Staff Philip Cooney, edited various government reports to downplay and obscure scientific findings about global warming."
Related documents: CREW Sends FOIA to Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) May 12, 2006 2/20/2007: CEQ Complaint 2/20/2007: CEQ Exhibits
GAO Report on Issues Related to the Structure and Funding of Public Television Telecommunications: Issues Related to the Structure and Funding of Public Television, GAO-07-150, and Highlights, January 19, 2007. "How to fund public television has been a concern since the first noncommercial educational station went on the air in 1953. The use of federal funds to help support public television has been a particular point of discussion and debate. This report reviews (1) the organizational structure of public television, (2) the programming and other services that public television provides, (3) the current funding sources for public television, (4) the extent to which public television stations are increasing their nonfederal funding sources and developing new sources of nonfederal support, and (5) the extent to which public television benefits financially from business ventures associated with programming and how this compares with commercial broadcasters."
U.S. International Trade Commission Has Launched Online New Journal "The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) is pleased to announce its new Journal of International Commerce and Economics series. This new journal is intended to contribute to the public policy dialogue by providing insightful and in-depth analysis. It will provide rigorous, but accessible, articles for readers concerned about the broad range of developments in international trade. It relies primarily but not exclusively on USITC studies and research on both pressing and emerging issues and strives to foster cross-disciplinary analysis." [ Subscribe via this email link]
House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Issues Travel Rules "The House Rules for the 110th Congress changed the travel rules for Members, staff, and outside sponsors. The new regulations, forms, and instructions were released on February 20, 2007 and affect travel starting March 1, 2007. An Advisory Memorandum providing additional guidance regarding travel will be provided soon."
United Nations Counter-Terrorism Online Handbook Via UN Pulse: "The newly-launched United Nations Counter-Terrorism Online Handbook showcases United Nations' system-wide resources and activities in the field of counter-terrorism. The handbook is a collaborative effort of the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), which brings together 24 UN departments, programmes, funds, offices and agencies that have a counter-terrorism related mandate as well as outside partner organizations. The Handbook may be searched according to broad themes such as preventing a terrorist attack, technical assistance, mitigation and response. Other searches allow users to focus on areas such as financing of terrorism; promoting education, tolerance and dialogue; protecting nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological materials; assisting victims; preventing travel by terrorists; providing training to law enforcement entit! ies; assisting with drafting of anti-terrorism legislation; defending human rights; or dealing with hostage situations; and protecting key infrastructure. The Online Handbook is one initiative that arose from the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which was adopted by the General Assembly in September 2006."
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