Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports

Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress' request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us reports on Iran, Twitter, taxes, and much more. Although these reports are in the public domain, there is no freely-available central database available to the public. To get a copy of a CRS report, you can request it from your senator or representative. These reports were discovered by OpenCRS and Secrecy News:

Interested in historical CRS reports? If you are here at the Boulder campus, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has reports dating back to 1916.

Not on campus but still want access to additional reports? The library has a guide linking to various additional sources of CRS reports.

Monday, February 08, 2010

Space Shuttle Endeavour Launched Today

Space shuttle Endeavour launched at 4:14 a.m. EST today from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after being delayed by one day because of clouds. Endeavour's mission is to "deliver a third connecting module - the Tranquility node - to the International Space Station and a seven-windowed cupola to be used as a control room for robotics." You can keep track of the space shuttle's progress on this web page of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

NASA's web site provides a variety of information about current and past space shuttle missions, including these web pages:

And although this doesn't come from NASA, I thought I'd draw your attention to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that we recently included on our blog's weekly CRS list:

For additional resources on NASA and space shuttle missions, take a look at our guide to Space and Astronomy.

Friday, February 05, 2010

GAO Reports

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This week GAO investigated the Troubled Asset Relief Program, NASA, highway research, biomonitoring, and other topics. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports

Troubled Asset Relief Program: Treasury Needs to Strengthen Its Decision-Making Process on the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility. GAO-10-25, February 5.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-25
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1025high.pdf

Highway Research: The Second Strategic Highway Research Program Addresses the Four Required Areas, but Some Anticipated Research Was Not Funded. GAO-10-248, February 5.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-248
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d10248high.pdf

Littoral Combat Ship: Actions Needed to Improve Operating Cost Estimates and Mitigate Risks in Implementing New Concepts. GAO-10-257, February 2.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-257
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d10257high.pdf

NASA: Assessments of Selected Large-Scale Projects. GAO-10-227SP, February 1.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-227SP
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d10227sphigh.pdf


Testimony

Biomonitoring: EPA Could Make Better Use of Biomonitoring Data, by John Stephenson, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. GAO-10-419T, February 4.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-419T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d10419thigh.pdf

NASA: Key Management and Program Challenges, by Cristina Chaplain, director, acquisition and sourcing management, before the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, House Committee on Science and Technology. GAO-10-387T, February 3.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-387T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d10387thigh.pdf

Correspondence

Defense Acquisitions: Observations on the Department of Defense Service Contract Inventories for Fiscal Year 2008. GAO-10-350R, January 29.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-350R

Thursday, February 04, 2010

2011 Budget of the U.S. Government Now Online

President Obama's Budget of the United States Government for fiscal year 2011 is now available on FDsys (Federal Digital System), the Government Printing Office's upgraded, more user-friendly version of GPO Access. You can download the 2010 budget from this same location.

On the FDsys web page for the 2011 budget, issued by the Office of Management and Budget, you can download separate files for the full Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Appendix, Historical Tables, or the Public Budget Database. FDsys gives you the option of downloading these documents in their entirety or just downloading separate sections within them.

Want more resources about the U.S. government's budget? Take a look at our guide.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

New Food Distribution Method Launched in Haiti

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has introduced a new, coupon-based food distribution program in Haiti, where 2 million people are still estimated to need food (see "Coupons Feed Chaos in Efforts to Feed Haitians" in the New York Times).

The program offers women colored and dated vouchers that they can exchange for 25-kilogram (55-pound) rice rations at one of 16 centers in Port-au-Prince. The World Food Programme web site explains that "WFP is targeting primarily female heads of household, as women are usually the first to be pushed out of line if people get hungry and desperate at food distributions. The women are the ones who get the coupons to collect food for the family and they alone are allowed into the distribution compound." You can read more about the coupon program in this UN New Centre article. For a description of the logistical details of distributing food in Haiti, take a look at this story by Adventist Development and Relief Agency International--one of WFP's partner relief organizations for food distribution in Haiti. The article is posted on the web site of ReliefWeb, which is a good source for information about relief efforts in Haiti.

For additional resources about food distribution, take a look at our guide to Foreign Relations and International Aid.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports

Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress' request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us reports on arms sales, influenza, the Congressional Review Act, and other topics. Although these reports are in the public domain, there is no central database available to the public. To get a copy of a CRS report, you can request it from your senator or representative. These reports were discovered by OpenCRS and Secrecy News:

Interested in historical CRS reports? If you are here at the Boulder campus, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has reports dating back to 1916.

Not on campus but still want access to additional reports? The library has a guide linking to various additional sources of CRS reports.