What Did that Turkey Do to Need a Pardon, Anyway?

Last week, on November 23rd, President Obama participated in the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation, a traditional White House event dating back to at least 1873 with President Ulysses S. Grant, wherein the Commander-In-Chief is presented with a bird for the White House Thanksgiving Dinner.  A newer tradition -- and seemingly now an annual event -- is the Annual Pardoning of the Thanksgiving Turkey, in which the gifted turkeys are released by the President to live the remainder of theirs lives free from the threat of being eaten by the leader of the free world.

President Gerald Ford, in 1975, pardons another turkey.

The affair is light-hearted (and gravy-free), and often provides the President an opportunity to get in a few digs at the media, as President Obama did in his presentation last week.  A video of the 2011 Pardoning is embedded below.

This year the White House Blog also provided its own brief on the history of Presidential Turkey Pardons.

But crafty readers may wonder what these innocent-looking turkeys may have done to need a pardon in the first place.  For the answer to this question, they may wish to turn to Crime in the United States, an annual publication from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program that organizes crime statistics into several (un)appetizing categories such as Property Crimes, Homicides, and even by number of persons arrested.  There is sadly no compilation of statistics specifically for crimes committed during a Walmart Black Friday sale. But perhaps soon.
More hard-hitting statistics are available through the Department of Agriculture, such as this year 2000 report, ominously titled "Structural Change in U.S. Chicken and Turkey Slaughter," in which we learn of America's insatiable appetite for bird meat.

Chilling.  Like unheated cranberry-sauce chilling.  But still no definitive numbers exist for crimes committed by turkeys, or how the crimes of pardoned turkeys might break down by category.  Nevertheless, the archives of the Annual Pardoning ceremonies and the FBI's Crime in the United States publication are just two of the many kinds of Government Documents available on the issues that matter to YOU. 

Also, the government prints cookbooks.  An anti-bird conspiracy if there ever was one.

Appeals Court Upholds Roadless Areas

On October 21 a federal appeals court upheld a rule barring construction of roads in designated areas in national forests and grasslands managed by the U.S. Forest Service.   The rule, which was enacted near the end of Clinton's presidency, has been tied up in the courts ever since.  Environmentalists are elated.  The mining industry is not.  To qualify as roadless areas, the lands should have: high quality or undisturbed soil, water, or air; sources of public drinking water; diversity of plant and animal communities; habitat for threatened, endangered, proposed, candidate, and sensitive species, and for those species dependent on large, undisturbed areas of land; primitive, semi-primitive motorized, and semi-primitive non-motorized classes of dispersed recreation; reference landscapes; natural-appearing landscapes with high scenic quality; traditional cultural properties and sacred sites; and, other locally identified unique characteristics.

Pole Creek near the headwaters of the Rio Grande River in Rio Grande National Forest

Because of concerns expressed by the mining, timber, and ski industries, the State of Colorado would like to have a specific rule that applies to Colorado only.  To learn more about the proposed Colorado Roadless Areas (CRAs) visit the Colorado Rule area of the Roadless Area Conservation website hosted by the Forest Service. 

The Government Information website also has pages on Parks, Forests, Grasslands, Wildlife Refuges, and Historic Places

U.S. Supreme Court to Review Legality of Obama Heath Care Overhaul

As is being reported widely across news services today, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments regarding the constiutionality of provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PDF), the 2010 overhaul of U.S. health insurance and one of the major accomplishments of Barack Obama's presidential administration.

A White House photo from 2009, as then President-elect Obama visits with members of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Predonimantly at question is the Act's provision requiring that citizens of the country purchase some form of health care or be penalized with a fee.  Interestingly, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear five-and-one-half hours of arguments for and against the Act -- a length of time not devoted to a case before SCOTUS since 2003's arguments on the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act in the case of McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (Click here for transcripts of that case's Arguments and the Court's Decsion).

Online at the Supreme Court's Web site now are several publications from the case docket, or the materials filed with the court, including several "Petitions for Writ of Certiorari" -- which are petitions for the Supreme Court to evaulate the ruling of a lower court in cases "of such imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal appellate practice and to require immediate determination" -- and "Briefs in Opposition," which point out "any perceived misstatement of fact or law in the petition" that bears on the issues before the Court, should the certiorari be granted. (See The Rules of the Supreme Court for more details on these terms.)

Embedded above are President Obama's remarks as he signs the Affordable Care Act into 

law (Transcript).  The moment was also notable for Vice President's on-mic comments that

occur about 7:15 into the video.

Whether related to the Court's announcement, or part of an ongoing push by the White House to remove congressional barriers from the passage of additional economic stimuli, a new program was announced today by the adminsitration and the Department of Health and Human Services that ties funding from Affordable Care Act to a "Health Care Innovation Challenge," which grants at least one million dollars to programs designed to "deliver better health, improved care and lower costs to people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program." 

At the very least, the inititive ties to existing efforts by the Obama administration to better publicize the Affordable Care Act, including the White House's own Web site on the issue and the HHS' HealthCare.gov Web site.  The Obama White House has always been savvy with its ability to use technology to promote its agenda, such as in this video pointing out heath care statistics just before the Act's passage.

With a Supreme Court ruling likely appearing in June of 2012, its decision and the results of the White House's efforts in promoting the Act could have a major impact on the court of public opinion going in to the 2012 Presidential election.

Nixon Grand Jury Records

The image (all images are from the Nixon Presidential Photo Gallery) below is just one of the steps in the Watergate crisis that ultimately ended in the resignation of President Richard Nixon on August 9th 1974. The resignation was not the end of the story, today at noon the National Archives released the grand jury testimony taken in 1975 after the resignation. 

President Nixon delivers an Address to the Nation from the Oval Office responding to subpoenas for the White House Tapes with edited transcripts.
Date:   April 29, 1974
Roll-Frame number:   WHPO E2679c-09A

In May 1975, the Watergate Special Prosecution Force (WSPF) decided that it was necessary to question former President Richard M. Nixon in connection with various investigations being conducted by the WSPF. Mr. Nixon was questioned over the period of two days, June 23 and June 24, 1975, and the testimony was taken as part of various investigations being conducted by the January 7, 1974, Grand Jury for the District of Columbia (the third Watergate Grand Jury). Chief Judge George Hart signed an order authorizing that the sworn deposition of Mr. Nixon be taken at the Coast Guard Station in San Mateo, California with two members of the grand jury present. For more details on what was released check out the press release.

These records are available from three sources:

• The Government Printing Office's FDsys database
• Scribd
• National Archives wiki

In addition the Nixon Presidential Library is releasing:

• Four new Dictabelts (Dictaphone transcripts): DB075, DB076, DB079, and DB080
• 45,000 pages from the files of Kenneth Cole, who succeeded John Ehrlichman as the President’s chief domestic policy coordinator in 1973 and about 3,000 pages of formerly classified national security materials, of which a representative sample can be seen online
• Six oral histories, including those with Senator Alan Simpson, Laurence Silberman, Governor William Weld, and Watergate burglar Eugenio Rolando Martinez.
• Released online the previously released Fourth Chronological Conversations from the Nixon White House Tapes, containing audio recorded July 1972-October 1972, listen online to these conversations

These documents supplement the documents already available from the Nixon library, many digitally, and provide illumination on a previously sealed portion of the history of this scandal.

President Nixon leaving the White House
Date:   August 9, 1974
Roll-Frame number:   WHPO E3386c-35

Still want more? Why not get find some more presidential documents using the library's Presidents guide.

Mining the Mountain of Presidential Elections Publications

With television and online news coverage of the 2012 Election only increasing as next year's election day draws near -- but hopefully before Americans become oversaturated with election events -- now seems an opportune time to (re)introduce users to sources and publications about American Presidental Elections.

Clinton and Obama during the 2008 debates.  From AP Iamges.

Our patrons may already be aware that the Government Information Library offers a general guide to resources and useful government links on the issues of Elections and Voting, and they may even know that the GIL has presented pages in the past regarding specific election years, such as 2004 and 2006. 

At the same time, standard "go-to" government web sites like the Federal Election Commission help to illuminate the process of campaign financing, providing useful historical data, as well as information on donations put toward yet-to-be-decided events like the Presidential Elections of 2012.  The Stasitical Abstract of the United States (a publication some may remember is operating under the threat of extinction) offers data on campaign financing, too, but additionally provides overviews of voter participation, the apportionment of membership to the House of Representatives, and demographic characteristics of office holders in its section on Elections. 

The Presidents Bush (43rd and 41st) in 2008.  From AP Images.

From elesewhere around the Web, the University of California Santa barbara's American Presidency Project presents election data more visually at its Elections site, which extends as far back as the first election of a president in 1789 (one of only two U.S. presdiential elections decided by unanimous electoral vote -- though Thomas Jefferson's election to the office in 1804 came awfully close).  They also have a section on 2000's contested election to the office, with transcripts of key events and newscasts featuring both parties.

C-SPAN's Video Library site features over 18,000 programs in the Campaignan & Elections portion of its cataloge, including the now infamous concession of the 200 election by Vice President Al Gore to President-elect, George H. W. Bush.

With all this raw data available, some may surmise that there is no election in the world as well scrutinized as those deciding the President of the Unites States.  And that assumption would have to include more narrative contributions from media journalists over the years, many of whom offer well researched and well documented accounts of the behind-the-scenes events that often decide the canidates Americans are later asked to choose between.  Below are just a few of the literally hundreds of titles offered in the CU Boulder system on some of our country's more recent presidential elections.  Check them out! And for more data or publications about a particular election, stop in to the Government Information Library or the Norlin Library Rsearch Desk.


Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the race of a lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (Click here for more titles on the 2008 Election).

Bush versus Kerry : a functional analysis of campaign 2004 by William L. Benoit (More about the 2004 Election).

The Race to 270 : the Electoral College and the campaign strategies of 2000 and 2004 by Daron R. Shaw (and more on the 2000 Election).

What it Takes: the way to the White House by Richard Ben Cramer (More on the 1988 election).

Reagan's victory : the presidential election of 1980 and the rise of the right by Andrew E. Busch (More on the 1980 election).

Finally, Theodore H. White wrote the series "The Making of the President" for elections in the years 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972. 

GAO Reports and Releases

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) which is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This set of publications from GAO investigates the post office, agriculture, banking, and many other issues. If you would like to know more about GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports

• Biosurveillance: Nonfederal Capabilities Should Be Considered in Creating a National Biosurveillance Strategy. GAO-12-55, October 31.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-55
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1255high.pdf 
• Neutron Detectors: Alternatives To Using Helium-3. GAO-11-753, September 29.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-753
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11753high.pdf 
• Financial Crisis: Review of Federal Reserve System Financial Assistance to American International Group, Inc. GAO-11-616, September 30.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-616
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11616high.pdf 
• USDA's Application of Administrative PAYGO to Its Mandatory Spending Programs. GAO-11-921R, September 29.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-921R 3
• Private Health Insurance: Implementation of the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. GAO-11-875R, September 30.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-875R 
• Aviation Security: TSA Has Taken Steps to Enhance Its Foreign Airport Assessments, but Opportunities Exist to Strengthen the Program. GAO-12-163, October 21.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-163
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d12163high.pdf 
• National Export Initiative: U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service Should Improve Performance and Resource Allocation Management. GAO-11-909, September 29.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-909
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11909high.pdf 
• Language and Culture Training: Opportunities Exist to Improve Visibility and Sustainment of Knowledge and Skills in Army and Marine Corps General Purpose Forces. GAO-12-50, October 31.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-50
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1250high.pdf
•  VA Health Care: VA Uses Medical Injury Tort Claims Data to Assess Veterans' Care, but Should Take Action to Ensure That These Data Are Complete. GAO-12-6R, October 28.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-6R 
• Maritime Security: Coast Guard Should Conduct Required Inspections of Offshore Energy Infrastructure. GAO-12-37, October 28.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-37
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1237high.pdf 
• Federal Courthouses: Improved Collaboration Needed to Meet Demands of a Complex Security Environment. GAO-11-857, September 28.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-857
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11857high.pdf 
• Freight Railroad Safety: Hours of Service Changes Have Increased Rest Time, but More Can Be Done to Address Fatigue Risks. GAO-11-853, September 28. 
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-853
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11853high.pdf 
• International Military Education and Training: Agencies Should Emphasize Human Rights Training and Improve Evaluations. GAO-12-123, October 27.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-123
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d12123high.pdf 
• VA Philippines Office: Maintain Operations, but More Information Needed to Determine Future Presence. GAO-12-20R, October 27.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-20R 
• Indian Health Service: Continued Efforts Needed to Help Strengthen Response to Sexual Assaults and Domestic Violence. GAO-12-29, October 26.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-29
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1229high.pdf 
• Information Technology: OMB Needs to Improve Its Guidance on IT Investments. GAO-11-826, September 29.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-826
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11826high.pdf 
• National Preparedness: Improvements Needed for Acquiring Medical Countermeasures to Threats from Terrorism and Other Sources. GAO-12-121, October 26.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-121
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d12121high.pdf 
• Low Income Countries: International Financial Institutions Met Many Goals in Response to Financial, Food, and Fuel Crises, but Impact on Spending Difficult to Establish. GAO-11-832, September 28.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-832
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11832high.pdf
• Preventing Sexual Harassment: DOD Needs Greater Leadership Commitment and an Oversight Framework. GAO-11-809, September 21.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-809
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11809high.pdf
  Podcast available - http://www.gao.gov/podcast/watchdog_episode_77.html 
• The Federal Government's Long-Term Fiscal Outlook: Fall 2011 Update. GAO-12-28SP, October 24.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-28SP
  Podcast available - http://www.gao.gov/podcast/watchdog_episode_79.html 
• Health Care Price Transparency: Meaningful Price Information is Difficult for Consumers to Obtain Prior to Receiving Care. GAO-11-791, September 23.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-791
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11791high.pdf
  Podcast available - http://www.gao.gov/podcast/watchdog_episode_78.html 
• Department of Defense: Use of Neurocognitive Assessment Tools in Post-Deployment Identification of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. GAO-12-27R, October 24.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-27R 
• Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Actions Needed to Reduce Evolving but Uncertain Federal Financial Risks. GAO-12-86, October 24.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-86
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1286high.pdf 
• U.S. Postal Service: Mail Trends Highlight Need to Fundamentally Change Business Model. GAO-12-159SP, October 14.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-159SP
• Financial Derivatives: Disparate Tax Treatment and Information Gaps Create Uncertainty and Potential Abuse. GAO-11-750, September 20.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-750
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11750high.pdf 
• UN Internal Oversight: Progress Made on Independence and Staffing Issues, but Further Actions Are Needed. GAO-11-871, September 20.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-871
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11871high.pdf 
• Aviation Safety: Status of FAA's Actions to Oversee the Safety of Composite Airplanes. GAO-11-849, September 21.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-849
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11849high.pdf 
• Asbestos Injury Compensation: The Role and Administration of Asbestos Trusts. GAO-11-819, September 23.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-819
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11819high.pdf 
• TANF and Child Welfare Programs: Increased Data Sharing Could Improve Access to Benefits and Services. GAO-12-2, October 7.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-2
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d122high.pdf 
• Federal Reserve Bank Governance: Opportunities Exist to Broaden Director Recruitment Efforts and Increase Transparency. GAO-12-18, October 19.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-18
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1218high.pdf
• Prior Experience and Past Performance as Evaluation Criteria in the Award of Federal Construction Contracts. GAO-12-102R, October 18.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-102R 
• Income Security: Older Adults and the 2007-2009 Recession. GAO-12-76, October 18.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-76
• Federal Chief Information Officers: Opportunities Exist to Improve Role in Information Technology Management. GAO-11-634, September 15.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-634
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11634high.pdf 
• Long-Term Care Hospitals: CMS Oversight Is Limited and Should Be Strengthened. GAO-11-810, September 15.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-810
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11810high.pdf 
• Temporary Assistance For Needy Families: HHS Needs to Improve Guidance and Monitoring of Tribal Programs. GAO-11-758, September 15.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-758
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11758high.pdf 
• Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle: DOD Needs to Ensure New Acquisition Strategy Is Based on Sufficient Information. GAO-11-641, September 15.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-641
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11641high.pdf 
• Yucca Mountain: Information on Alternative Uses of the Site and Related Challenges. GAO-11-847, September 16.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-847
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11847high.pdf 
• Capitol Preservation Fund: Audit of Fiscal Years 2008 through 2010 Transactions. GAO-12-85R, October 14.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-85R 
• VA Mental Health: Number of Veterans Receiving Care, Barriers Faced, and Efforts to Increase Access. GAO-12-12, October 14.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-12
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1212high.pdf
• Aviation Safety: Enhanced Oversight and Improved Availability of Risk-Based Data Could Further Improve Safety. GAO-12-24, October 5.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-24
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1224high.pdf 
• U.S. Postal Service: Allocation of Responsibility for Pension Benefits between the Postal Service and the Federal Government. GAO-12-146, October 13.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-146
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d12146high.pdf 
• Highway Trust Fund: All States Received More Funding Than They Contributed in Highway Taxes from 2005 to 2009. GAO-11-918, September 8.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-918
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11918high.pdf 
• Consumer Product Safety Commission: Action Needed to Strengthen Identification of Potentially Unsafe Products. GAO-12-30, October 12.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-30
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1230high.pdf
• Food Safety: FDA Needs to Reassess Its Approach to Reducing an Illness Caused by Eating Raw Oysters. GAO-11-607, September 8.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-607
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11607high.pdf 
• Warfighter Support: DOD Has Made Progress, but Supply and Distribution Challenges Remain in Afghanistan. GAO-12-138, October 7.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-138
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d12138high.pdf 
• National Cord Blood Inventory: Practices for Increasing Availability for Transplants and Related Challenges. GAO-12-23, October 7.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-23
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1223high.pdf 
• Data Mining: DHS Needs to Improve Executive Oversight of Systems Supporting Counterterrorism. GAO-11-742, September 7.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-742
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11742high.pdf 
• On-the-Job Training: Federal Highway Administration Needs to Strengthen Program Assessment. GAO-11-703, September 7.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-703
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11703high.pdf 
• Tax Administration: IRS's Information Exchanges with Other Countries Could Be Improved through Better Performance Information. GAO-11-730, September 9.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-730
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11730high.pdf
•  

Correspondence

• Military Training: DOD's Report on the Sustainability of Training Ranges Meets Annual Reporting Requirements but Could Be Improved. GAO-12-13R, October 19.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-13R 
• Potential Financial Effect on the U.S. Postal Service of Increased Voting By Mail. GAO-12-72R, October 20.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-72R

Testimonies

• DOD Financial Management: Challenges in the Implementation of Business Systems Could Impact Audit Readiness Efforts, Asif A. Khan, FMA, before House Committee on Armed Services: Defense Financial Management and Auditability Reform Panel. GAO-12-177T, October 27.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-177T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d12177thigh.pdf 
• Supplemental Security Income: Preliminary Observations on Children with Mental Impairments, by Daniel Bertoni, EWIS, before House Committee on Ways and Means: Human Resources Subcommittee. GAO-12-196T, October 27.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-196T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d12196thigh.pdf
• Defense Acquisitions: Future Ground-Based Vehicles and Network Initiatives Face Development and Funding Challenges, by Belva M. Martin, director, acquisition and sourcing management, before the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, House Committee on Armed Services. GAO-12-181T, October 26.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-181T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d12181thigh.pdf 
• Income Security: The Effect of the 2007-2009 Recession on Older Adults, by Barbara D. Bovbjerg, managing director, education, workforce, and income security issues before the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. GAO-12-172T, October 18.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-172T
• Environmental Protection Agency: Management Challenges and Budget Observations, by David Trimble, NRE, before the House Energy And Commerce Committee: Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. GAO-12-149T, October 12.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-149T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d12149thigh.pdf 
• Information Sharing: Progress Made and Challenges Remaining in Sharing Terrorism-Related Information, by Eileen Larence, HSJ, before the Senate Committee On Homeland Security And Governmental Affairs. GAO-12-144T, October 12.
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-144T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d12144thigh.pdf

Comptroller General Presentation

• Meeting Accountability Challenges in a Dynamic Environment, by Gene L. Dodaro, comptroller general of the United States, before the annual meeting of the Alabama Examiners of Public Accounts, in Montgomery, Alabama. GAO-12-167CG, October 17, 2011
  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-167CG

New Federal Sentencing Guidelines Take Effect November 1

Today, November 1, the new federal sentencing guidelines take effect.  One of the most significant changes involves bringing the penalty for possession of crack cocaine in line with the penalties for possession of cocaine in other forms.   In general terms this means lowering the mandatory sentence for possession of crack cocaine.   Although this portion of the new guidelines will take effect retroactively it is not an automatic "get out of jail" card.   Each case must be considered individually by a federal court.  National Public Radio did an interesting story on the changes to crack sentencing that could lead to early releases.  The story notes that the "disparity in sentences for crack versus powder had long been criticized as racially discriminatory because it disproportionately affected black defendants. The Fair Sentencing Act passed by Congress in 2010 and signed by President Barack Obama reduced the disparity for future cases."

For official information, go to the United States Sentencing Commission's website which has an  FAQ with information about the changes for crack cocaine. For more indepth information, consult the commission's report to Congress about the effects of mandatory sentences on the federal prison system.   The commission is charged with making "recommendations to Congress concerning modification or enactment of statutes relating to sentencing, penal, and correctional matters that the Commission finds to be necessary and advisable to carry out an effective, humane, and rational sentencing policy."  Aligning the sentences for crack cocaine with those for other forms of cocaine seems like a good step towards a more rational sentencing policy. 

For additional information on federal drug policy, the The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) website is a good place to start.  In addition to information about drug enforcement, the site includes pictures of drugs, fact sheets on legal and illegal drugs, and other useful information.

Pictures of cocaine from the DEA website.

You can also find more information about drugs and crime using the links on the Government Information's Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use page and on the Crime and Justice page.