With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 days away, many in the United States are reflecting on the many changes that have occurred since then. We have become more conscious of the intersection between homeland security and larger global issues. One place to look for information on these topics is the Homeland Security Digital Library. Since the University Libraries is a federal depository library, the university community has access to over 92,000 documents that the site has compiled from a wide variety of national and international sources. These include documents outlining the national strategy for defense of the homeland as well as other materials. Recently added document include Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism from the Pew Research Center and Oslo Terrorist Attacks: Analysis, Lessons Learned and Consequences from the Fondation Pour La Recherche Strategique in France.
With material from a wide variety of sources the site is a good place to start research into security-related topics. Links are available on the Government Information's Homeland Security page and from the Find Articles and More page of Chinook.
So maybe you just mailed in your check to the IRS or maybe you are one of the lucky folks who got a tax refund. Either way you might be interested in a new tool the White House released today.
This tool lets you discover where your tax dollars went in the budget. You might be interested to know that a married family with two children making $80,000 probably put $258.86 of their $9,983 in taxes toward interest. Which is still less then the $1,1015.97 they put towards national defense, but this tool will let you see where the US budget is spent. Unsurprisingly, the biggest costs are national defense and health care.
No matter what your position on cutting the deficit (view the White House and Rep. Paul Ryan's plans), this tool helps illustrate the ways the money is spent.
It has been a while since I blogged about any numbers, so this week I thought I would do a few exciting blog posts on budgets. Wait, don't leave, I know budgets can be very tedious, but they are an important part of government. This week brings us two big budget proposals, today, President Obama released his 2012 federal budget. Later this week, Governor Hickenlooper will release the 2012 Colorado budget.
In an attempt to keep you from running away, here are some fun graphics and videos:
Video:
Still here? I'm impressed! I am guessing then that you might be willing to check out some of these less interactive sources:
Budget of the United States Government, FY2012 This is the budge itself, all 216 pages of it. It outlines in detail each of the agencies budget and the strategy that President Obama took in drafting this budget.
Historical Tables Want to know how much the government has spent over time? There are some numbers here back to 1790, but most are 1940 to the present.
I am sure all of you listened to/watched the State of the Union last night, but just in case you missed it, here are some resources to check out:
State of the Union This is the official White House page on the State of the Union address. You can watch the video and read the transcript here. In addition, there are additional ways to continue the discussion through social media, online web meetings and much more.
Republican Address to the Nation As is tradition, the party the President does not belong to gives an address after the State of the Union. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin gave this address and you can view it and/or read his address on his web site.
Washington Post State of the Union Want to read what the hometown DC paper is saying about the address? Here you will get articles analyzing the addresses in depth.
Still want more? Then check out the library's guide to the presidency.
There are often visits from representatives to the US and representatives from the US visit countries all over the world. For example, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has visited 79 countries, traveling 450,137 miles (Travels with the Secretary). This week brings a state visit from President Hu of China to the United States. Interested in learning more? Check out these pages:
Statements from President Obama and Hu These are the statements made by both presidents this morning, their first official public statements. They met for a private dinner last night, although tonight brings a State Dinner.
Live Stream of visit This page brings (when an event is happening) live video of the event. You can also watch archives of the events after they have occurred.
Tomorrow, November 18, is the 35th annual Great American Smokeout, a day when health-related organizations across the country encourage those who indulge in cigarettes to ignore the habit and live a day as a non-smoker.
A recent addition to the national conversation on smoking comes from President Barack Obama, himself a smoker, who last summer signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. One of the main pieces of the Act -- which at 161 pages comes in fairly short for legislation -- was to transfer regulative authority over tobacco to the Food and Drug Administration, and give the FDA discretion over the advertising and promotion of tobacco products. The President, who has been badgered by both the press and his own family about smoking, discussed the risks and costs of smoking, and his own habit, at the signing of the Act on June 22, 2009.
Will these labels be effective in discouraging tobacco use? Do the messages speak well to their intended audience? The longterm answers of the campiagn are unknown, but the evidence of smoking's -- and secondhand smoke's -- effect on individual health is irrefutable. Unless, of course, you work for a tobacco company. We do hope, however, that if you choose to smoke, you will choose not to smoke tomorrow.
FULL DISCLOSURE: The author of this post is himself a former smoker, and now a frequent runner. His secret to quitting was to take more naps and to eat a lot of carrots. Good luck!
Today the co-chairs released the first proposal. The proposal comes as a Power Point slide show or a written explanation of each of the cuts equaling $200 billion. These cuts come through elimination or merging of departments, pay freezes, and much more. This is just the first pass, the commission has been charged with submitting a final report by December 1, 2010 and it requires approval of at least 14 of the 18 bipartisan members.
Now this was just released this afternoon, so the media coverage is just starting, but here are a few major newspaper's start on this story:
Two events last week returned the nation’s attention to the debate on the law that restricts members of the United States military, if they are gay, from openly declaring or overtly practicing their sexuality –- a law popularly known as "Don't Ask, Don’t Tell" or "DADT."
The law has been, since its inception, one of the nation’s most widely discussed legislative activities, and few other recent laws come to mind as capturing as much of the passion of American opinion. DADT's history is a complicated one to summarize, but even the briefest overview shows how greatly the issue resonates with Americans interested in privacy rights, gays rights, and in the unparalleled demands of military service.
Last week, on Tuesday, September 21st, the U.S. Senate voted against attaching Sen. Joseph Lieberman's Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010, (S.3065), which would have explicitly repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. Voting was divided along party lines, as many had expected, and Democrats were unable to overturn the Republican threat of filibustering the vote while any such amendment was attached. Reading the Congressional Record for the day provides insight into the the dialogue and process of the debate on the DADT repeal, before the eventual vote.
It is worth noting that the original DADT policy was also attached as an amendment (H.AMDT.318) to a 1993 Defense appropriations bill, H.R. 2401. What is less commonly known is that the DADT text was added partially in response to a failed amendment, H.AMDT.317, that would have allowed the military to directly ask whether a recruit was homosexual or bisexual, and "whether the person engages in, or has a propensity to engage in, homosexual acts."
As recorded in the Congressional Record for September 28, 1993, the debate between the Meehan (317) and Skelton (318) amendments was contentious. Rep. Meehan's comments in particular appear to speak to legislators today:
"I rise today to say clearly that enough is enough. The issue of homosexuals in the military has been far too divisive, has consumed far too much of the Nation's energy, and has robbed this body of far too much of our legislative agenda. We must put this issue behind us, we must do so immediately. It is my hope that we will do so today."
Indeed, President Clinton’s July 19, 1993 announcement of the DADT policy goal acknowledged the very active divide in opinions on the issue, while attempting to prepare the nation to respond positively to the gradual acceptance of openly gay members of the U.S. military.
Clinton’s policy announcement is embedded below.
Returning to the present day, on September 24th, three days after the Senate stalled S.3065, a court decision from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington challenged the constitutionality of DADT.
As detailed in WITT v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE (Search for: 2010 U.S. Dist LEXIS 100781), Major Margaret Witt was honorably discharged by the Air Force in 2007 after making an unsworn statement that she had both committed adultery with another woman, and had previously been in long-term relationship with a woman. The Major sued the Air Force arguing that the DADT discharge violated "her procedural and substantive due process rights under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment."
Judge Ronald B. Leighton of U.S. District Court agreed, and in his opinion wrote that "the evidence produced at trial overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that the suspension and discharge of Margaret Witt did not significantly further the important government interest in advancing unit morale and cohesion. To the contrary, the actions taken against Major Witt had the opposite effect... Her discharge from the Air Force Reserves violated her substantive due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution."
The Air Force was ordered to reinstate Major Witt to active service.
Clearly, for a law that is only sixteen years old, "Don’t Ask Don’t Tell" is one of the most widely and publicly discussed pieces of legislation in contemporary history, engendering passionate followers to speak out against and in favor of open recognition of homosexuality in the military. In turn, there are literally hundreds of primary documents available from all branches of government discussing and dissecting the effect of the law.
Even the current president has been drawn out to publicly state his policy goals surrounding DADT. During a fund-raising speech for Senator Barbara Boxer (Calif.) in March, President Obama was provoked by an audience member demanding the repeal of DADT. A video of Obama's dialogue with the heckler is embedded below.
In short, there can be no brief summary or compact legislative history of DADT that also captures how deeply the issue speaks to Americans. This is an on-going, active example of not only the power of the legislative process, but of the importance of the citizenry making informed decisions about policies that, while written by others, may have a very direct impact on their everyday lives.
Today President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens (press release). If you want to watch the nomination unfold and hear Kagan's remarks, you can also do that on the White House web site. You can also view the biography of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who has served on the Supreme Court since December 19, 1975. This is the second justice that President Obama has nominated to the Supreme Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor started serving on the court on August 8, 2009.
Want to learn more about the Office of the Solicitor General which Kagan currently leads? Check out their web site, where not only will you get another brief bio of Kagan you can also read the briefs filed since she started serving in 2009.
What to blog on when the federal government in DC has been shut down for most of the week and looks to stay that way for a while.
First, let's get some snow totals. The 9.8 inches that feel at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the past two days breaks the preliminary record for most snowfall in a season set in 1899! It would get the total to 54.9 inches (with at least a month of snow possibilities left) shattering the previous record of 54.4 inches. You can read all about this record from the National Weather Service.
Next, when are they going back to work? Well, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has a message stating that the federal agencies (except for emergency employees) are not expected to work tomorrow, February 11th. The Senate is scheduled to convene at 2:30 PM, the House is not scheduled to meet until Friday at 1 PM.
Finally, some pictures. There is a live web cam of the US Capitol where right now at 5:30 you can see the wind blowing the snow in the lights. The White House has a couple pictures of the first storm over the weekend of the White House and Bo playing. But if you want to see fun stuff, like people walking down the middle of main streets that normally are jammed full of cars, check out the Washington Post's Photo Gallery.
Still want more? Then it is time to go check out on of those library guides, maybe the Climate and Weather guide.
The House Judiciary Committee has released the "on-the-record interview transcripts of Karl Rove and Harriet Miers on the U.S. attorney firings and the Bush administration’s politicization of the Department of Justice" (from the press release). This testimony was given last month, but due to an agreement between the committee and former Bush administration to resolve the committee's lawsuit and contempt charges, they were only released yesterday.
The testimony, along with some White House documents, can be viewed online. If you are interested in reading the history (via press releases and congressional documents), check out the Meirs and Bolton Contempt Report and Documents page.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program released a new report today on climate change and its effect, with a time line, in the United States. “Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States” has sections devoted to the effect on each region. Colorado is divided in two, the Southwest and Great Plains, but the effect for both areas is an increase in temperature and for the Southwest a possible decrease in precipitation. This report's release today has been highlighted by the White House, with blog postings and live streams of the release (although the link wasn't working when I checked).
Why all the discussion? According to the Washington Post's article "Report: Climate Change Already Affecting U.S.": "What's different this time is the report's scope -- at 196 pages, the report attempts to present the fullest picture yet of the threats to the United States -- and its timing. It comes out as Congress is considering a mammoth bill that would impose the first national cap on emissions, and then seek to reduce them sharply over the next 41 years."
H.R. 2454, "To create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy" is the huge (495 sections) bill on energy issues, including a cap and trade provision for emissions. If you are interested in reading, commenting, etc. on this bill you might want to check out the OpenCongress web site. This nonprofit groups provides a forum for discussion of congressional legislation.
Let's skip over any economic, foreign policy or other news for the day and enjoy the fact that today's news can be all about Easter Eggs. The icon to the left is the White House's Easter Egg Roll for 2009 official seal.
If you are one of the lucky ticket holders, your kid gets to roll an egg around the White House a tradition 131 years old (according the Washington Post). For those of us stuck in areas where you still need a jacket, you can enjoy the festivities via live stream on the Easter Egg Roll web site.
Still want more fun stuff? Well, then go and check out some of the government's kids pages.
White House: Economy The new Obama administration has put up a page on the Economy. This page lists statements by the president on the plan and his inauguration speech. For current statements and actions, check out the blog.
The Stimulus Plan: Where the Money Would Go This site has a java applet that lets you explore the areas where the money in the plan will go and how it will be spent. ProPublica is a nonprofit group that focuses on investigative journalism.
OpenCongress: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 This site gathers information on amendments and actions on the bill as well as news reports. It allows you to vote for or against the bill as well as comment. OpenCongress is a nonprofit group that works to provide Congressional information easier to understand and respond to by citizens.
Political Browser This page from the Washington Post gathers the days hot political news into one place and links out to other articles from additional news sources. Right now the top story is the stimulus, but as the day progresses it will shift.
Fox News: Politics This page from Fox News gathers the Fox stories on the top political stories of the day. Right now it has a number of articles on the republican response to the stimulus plan.
Want more information on the legislative process? Why not check out the library's Congress and Legislation guide.
On Monday President-elect Barack Obama announced his national security team nominations: Senator Hillary Clinton for secretary of state; General James Jones, Jr., for national security advisor; Governor Janet Napolitano for secretary of homeland security; Susan Rice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; Eric Holder, Jr., for attorney general; and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will remain in his current position. See today's Chicago Tribune article on Obama's latest cabinet selections.
For those of you who would like to track the transition from a Bush administration to an Obama administration, there are plenty of interesting web pages and documents available directly from the U.S. government. The White House has a Transition website where you can find speeches and news releases from President Bush. Perhaps the most useful page on this website is Fact Sheet: Ensuring a Smooth and Effective Presidential Transition, which provides specifics about the president's Transition Coordinating Council and lists steps that specific agencies are taking to facilitate this transition.
For additional resources on the presidential transition, UC Santa Barbara provides an excellent website on the 2009 Presidential Transition. If you need additional resources, see our guide to Presidents.
In its waning months in office, the Bush Administration is making attempts to finalize deregulations that could weaken consumer protections and the environment. In today's Washington Post you can read about these final regulatory changes.
The Post reports that the "new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo." About 90 new regulations are under consideration, and the article states that nine of them could impact the economy "because they impose costs or promote societal benefits that exceed $100 million annually." The Post also notes that this large number of last-minute regulations would still be fewer than the number of regulations Bill Clinton approved at the end of his presidency.
You can keep track of the status of federal regulations through the Federal Register, which is keyword-searchable and freely available online via GPO Access. You can also check the latest press releases of specific federal agencies mentioned in the article, such as the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Environmental Protection Agency.
If you'd like to learn more about the process through which federal regulations are proposed, published, and made available to the public, see our guide to Regulations.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock (and I can't blame you if you have), you have probably heard about the government plans to deal with the economic crisis. Today, rather then getting into a debate about is it a good idea or not, I thought I would give everyone a few places to read some of the discussion going on in Congress and in the Executive Branch:
Tuesday's Hearing before the Senate Banking Committee:Thanks to CSPAN you can watch these online or read the various statements without watching. The statements miss out on the best part, which is the back and forth between those testifying and the members of the Senate.
Congressional Budget Office analysis: This is testimony from the director of Congressional Budget office on the cost of the "Troubled Asset Relief Act of 2008."
Bills before congress: Wait, there is no link there... Now there has been discussion about this all week and the President has been calling for action by Friday, but thus far no concrete read the bills to check out. What you can read is Senator Dodd's proposed bill. You will have to read the text of the proposal from the New York Times web site.
Still need more information on banking issues, check out the library guide.
Today President Bush gave a speech at National Defense University announcing that the U.S. will withdraw 8,000 American troops from Iraq by February 2009. You can read a full transcript of the speech at the White House's website. He also discussed plans to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, explaining that some troops that were to be deployed to Iraq will now be deployed to Afghanistan.
In his speech President Bush discussed how the war has progressed in Iraq. You can read more about stability and security in Iraq by going to the Department of Defense's web page, "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq." For more information on military action in Iraq, note that there is an official, multinational website providing specifics about Operation Iraqi Freedom.
If you need more resources about the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, see our subject guides on Terrorism Resources (this page contains specific sections focusing on Iraq and Afghanistan) or Military Information Resources and Periodicals. We also offer country pages containing links to government websites for Iraq and Afghanistan.
President Bush released an Executive Order today "Blocking Property of Additional Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe." This order directs that the assets residing in the US of those meeting the criteria in the order cannot be "transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in." This action is a result of the continuing controversy over the elections held on June 27th.
To read up a bit on the Zimbabwean government's perspective, check out Zimbabwe's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You will not find anything yet on the sanctions, but you will find under featured articles more discussion of the elections.
Looking for more resources on Zimbabwe? Check out the library's country guide.
This morning President Bush held a press conference, starting with a brief statement on the economy and some of the actions taken. You can read or watch the press conference on the White House web site.
In addition to the press conference, the White House has also updated two pages on energy and economy. On the energy page you can find a fact sheet on the President's lifting of the executive ban on offshore drilling, this does not lift the Congressional ban though and President Bush urged Congress to lift that ban in his press conference.
