Hearings on Iraq: The past two days

Unless you avoid all news media you have probably heard something about the two-day hearings on the situation in Iraq. If you want to see what was said there are a few options.

Today's (Wed) hearings:

• Reading this before they finish? Check out the live webcast.
• Reading this later?
• Audio transcript for the morning: Part 1 and Part 2
• Video webcast for the morning: Part 1 and Part 2
• Audio transcript for the afternoon
• Video webcast for the afternoon

Yesterday's (Tues) hearings:

• No video or audio from the Senate, but you can view the prepared statements.
• Want to watch the presidential candidates debate this? Never fear, C-Span has all the video you could need on their pages.

Want some media reaction? Oh, where to start? How about the Washington Post's "Petraeus Dismisses Talk of Another Buildup" or on the other end try "Day 2 of Petreaus-Crocker Hearings Continue Focus on Iraq, Iran" from FoxNews.

Still not enough? Well, how about a library guide on Iraq or the military operations in Iraq.

CRS reports from this week

Today brings us another Tuesday and another collection of CRS reports. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress's request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us CRS reports on the North Korea, taxes, income inequality, and much more. While 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. This list is compiled from CRS reports discovered by Secrecy News and OpenCRS:

• The REAL ID Act of 2005: Legal, Regulatory, and Implementation Issues
• The Social Security Number: Legal Developments Affecting Its Collection, Disclosure, and Confidentiality
• Congressional Authority To Limit U.S. Military Operations in Iraq
• Taiwan’s 2008 Presidential Election
• The North Korean Economy: Leverage and Policy Analysis
• The War Powers Resolution: After Thirty-Four Years
• The Federal Grand Jury
• Federalism, State Sovereignty and the Constitution: Basis and Limits of Congressional Power
• Public-Private Partnership Options for Managing Wireless Networks
• Trends in Discretionary Spending
• Expiration and Extension of the Individual Income Tax Cuts Enacted in 2001 Through 2007
• Medicaid Targeted Case Management (TCM) Benefits
• Tax Provisions of the Economic Stimulus Package
• Financial Turmoil: Federal Reserve Policy Responses
• Understanding Stagflation and the Risk of Its Recurrence
• Coal Mine Safety and Health
• The Disparity Between Retail Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Prices
• Medicaid and Outpatient Hospital Services
• The Conservation Reserve Program: Legal Analysis of Proposed Legislation to Change the Structure and Taxation of Benefits Received
• Medicaid Rehabilitation Services
• Retirement and Survivor Annuities for Former Spouses of Federal Employees
• Income Inequality, Income Mobility, and Economic Policy: U.S. Trends in the 1980s and 1990s
• The Role of Offsets in a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap-and-Trade Program: Potential Benefits and Concerns
• Oil Industry Profit Review 2007

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

Want some country info?

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed the links to guides to countries that are at the end of many of our posts. Well, due to the tireless work of Darci, CU has managed to create a country guide for all the countries of the world!

Each of these pages contains the following information: Government Information, Country Profiles, Articles & Databases, Diplomatic Relations, Health, Peacekeeping & Military Information, Resources in the Catalog and Related Topics.

While there are a few resources that are databases only accessible to CU users, the majority of the resources are freely available to all. Feel free to check out the guides and let us know what ya think.

GAO Releases this week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This week they investigated a variety of issues, such as Yellowstone bison, combating terrorism, and youth education and employment. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports

• Combating Terrorism: State Department's Antiterrorism Program Needs Improved Guidance and More Systematic Assessments of Outcomes. GAO-08-336, February 29.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-336
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08336high.pdf
• Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs. GAO-08-467SP, March 31.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-467SP
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08467sphigh.pdf
• Disconnected Youth: Federal Action Could Address Some of the Challenges Faced by Local Programs That Reconnect Youth to Education and Employment. GAO-08-313, February 28.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-313
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08313high.pdf
• DOD Pharmacy Program: Continued Efforts Needed to Reduce Growth in Spending at Retail Pharmacies. GAO-08-327, April 4.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-327
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08327high.pdf
• Federal Contracting: Congressional Action Needed to Address Long-standing Problems with Reporting of Advisory and Assistance Services. GAO-08-319, March 31.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-319
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08319high.pdf
• Financial Audit: Special Counsel Expenditures for the Six Months Ended September 30, 2007. GAO-08-541, March 31.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-541
• Homeland Security: Strategic Solution for US-VISIT Program Needs to Be Better Defined, Justified, and Coordinated. GAO-08-361, February 29.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-361
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08361high.pdf
• Yellowstone Bison: Interagency Plan and Agencies' Management Need Improvement to Better Address Bison-Cattle Brucellosis Controversy. GAO-08-291, March 7.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-291
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08291high.pdf

Correspondence

• Defense Critical Infrastructure: DOD's Risk Analysis of Its Critical Infrastructure Omits Highly Sensitive Assets. GAO-08-373R, April 2.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-373R
• Defense Infrastructure: DOD Funding for Infrastructure and Road Improvements Surrounding Growth Installations. GAO-08-602R, April 1.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-602R
  
• Internal Control: Improvements Needed in SEC's Accounting and Financial Reporting Process. GAO-08-461R, April 1.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-461R
• Military Personnel: Better Debt Management Procedures and Resolution of Stipend Recoupment Issues Are Needed for Improved Collection of Medical Education Debts. GAO-08-612R, April 1.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-612R
• Nuclear Material: DOE Has Several Potential Options for Dealing with Depleted Uranium Tails, Each of Which Could Benefit the Government. GAO-08-606R, March 31.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-606R
• Temporomandibular Joint and Muscle Disorders: NIH Supports a Wide Range of Research. GAO-08-454R, April 4.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-454R

Testimonies

• Defense Acquisitions: Assessment of Progress Made on Block 2006 Missile Defense Capabilities and Oversight, by Paul Francis, director, acquisition and sourcing management, before the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Senate Committee on Armed Services. GAO-08-608T, April 1.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-608T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08608thigh.pdf
• Defense Acquisitions: DOD's Increased Reliance on Service Contractors Exacerbates Long-standing Challenges, by David M. Walker, then comptroller general of the United States, before the Subcommittee on Defense, House Committee on Appropriations. GAO-08-621T, January 23.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-621T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08621thigh.pdf
• Federal Advisory Committee Act: Issues Related to the Independence and Balance of Advisory Committees, by Robin M. Nazzaro, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. GAO-08-611T, April 2.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-611T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08611thigh.pdf
  
• Federal Compensation Programs: Perspectives on Four Programs for Individuals Injured by Exposure to Harmful Substances, by Anne-Marie F. Lasowski, acting director, education, workforce, and income security issues, before a joint hearing of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, and the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law, House Committee on the Judiciary. GAO-08-628T, April 1.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-628T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08628thigh.pdf
• Human Capital: Diversity in the Federal SES and Senior Levels of the U.S. Postal Service and Processes for Selecting New Executives, by George H. Stalcup, director, strategic issues, and Katherine Siggerud, director, physical infrastructure issues, before the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. GAO-08-609T, April 3.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-609T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08609thigh.pdf
• Medicaid Financing: Long-standing Concerns about Inappropriate State Arrangements Support Need for Improved Federal Oversight, by James C. Cosgrove, acting director, health care, before the Subcommittee on Health, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. GAO-08-650T, April 3.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-650T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08650thigh.pdf
• NASA: Ares I and Orion Project Risks and Key Indicators to Measure Progress, by Cristina T. Chaplain, director, acquisition and sourcing management, before the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, House Committee on Science and Technology. GAO-08-186T, April 3.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-186T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08186thigh.pdf
• Nuclear Material: Several Potential Options for Dealing with DOE's Depleted Uranium Tails Could Benefit the Government, by Robert A. Robinson, managing director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. GAO-08-613T, April 3.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-613T
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08613thigh.pdf

CRS reports from this week

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress's request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us CRS reports on the subprime mortgages, refugees, child molestation, and much more. While 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. This list is compiled from CRS reports discovered by Secrecy News and OpenCRS:

• Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Program
• Unaccompanied Refugee Minors
• The FY2009 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Nicaragua: Political Situation and U.S. Relations
• Merida Initiative: Proposed U.S. Anticrime and Counterdrug Assistance for Mexico and Central America
• Disability Retirement for Federal Employees
• Estate and Gift Tax Revenues: Past and Projected in 2008
• The Budget for Fiscal Year 2009
• Bear Stearns: Crisis and "Rescue" for a Major Provider of Mortgage-Related Products
• Organizing for Homeland Security: The Homeland Security Council Reconsidered
• North Korea's Abduction of Japanese Citizens and the Six-Party Talks
• Medicaid and Graduate Medical Education
• Averting Financial Crisis
• Satellite Surveillance: Domestic Issues
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Reforms: Regulatory Impacts Upon Innovation and Competition
• Medicaid Provider Taxes
• Capital Punishment: Constitutionality for Non-Homicide Crimes Such as Child Rape
• The NATO Summit at Bucharest, 2008
• Government Interventions in Financial Markets: Economic and Historic Analysis of Subprime Mortgage Options
• Medicaid Regulation of Governmental Providers
• The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Department
• Medicaid Financing
• Enlargement Issues at NATO’s Bucharest Summit
• Selected Federal Homeland Security Assistance Programs: A Summary
• Selected Laws Governing the Disclosure of Customer Phone Records by Telecommunications Carriers
  

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