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 confirmation of political appointees, wildland fire management, and federal farm programs. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports

• Confirmation of Political Appointees: Eliciting Nominees' Views on Management Challenges within Agencies and across Government. GAO-09-194, November 17.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-194
• Federal Farm Programs: USDA Needs to Strengthen Controls to Prevent Payments to Individuals Who Exceed Income Eligibility Limits. GAO-09-67, October 24.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-67
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d0967high.pdf
• Foreign Assistance: Continued Efforts Needed to Strengthen USAID's Oversight of U.S. Democracy Assistance for Cuba. GAO-09-165, November 24.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-165
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d09165high.pdf
  
• Human Capital: Diversity in the Federal SES And Processes for Selecting New Executives. GAO-09-110, November 26.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-110
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d09110high.pdf
• Northern Border Security: DHS's Report Could Better Inform Congress by Identifying Actions, Resources, and Time Frames Needed to Address Vulnerabilities. GAO-09-93, November 25.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-93
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d0993high.pdf
• Wildland Fire Management: Interagency Budget Tool Needs Further Development to Fully Meet Key Objectives. GAO-09-68, November 24.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-68
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d0968high.pdf

Correspondence

• Defense Management: Preliminary Observations on DOD's Plans for Developing Language and Cultural Awareness Capabilities. GAO-09-176R, November 25.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-176R

Thanksgiving day free-for-all

271 million turkeys are estimated to be raised in 2008 and I wonder how many million will be eaten tomorrow? This is just one of the fun facts on Thanksgiving you can find on the Census Bureau's Facts for Features web page. This is just one of the sites from the US government to go to for questions on Thanksgiving (or Turkey Day as my family calls it). You can find a list of resources from USA.gov's Thanksgiving Day page.

I think another perennial favorite (see last year's blog post) is the pardoning of the turkey. You can see this year's ceremony and read all about Pumpkin and Pecan at the White House site. This year Pumpkin and Pecan get to go live out the rest of their lives at Disneyland, which sounds good to me.

We hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Waxman Becomes Chair of House Energy & Commerce Committee

Last week U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) became chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. He took the reigns from Representative John Dingell, who had chaired or served as ranking Democrat on the committee for nearly three decades. The Washington Post described this changing of the guard as a blow to the auto industry and a boon for environmentalists.

The Committee on Energy and Commerce handles legislation on a wide variety of topics. Its subcommittees include Consumer, Trade and Consumer Protection; Energy and Air Quality; Environment and Hazardous Materials; Health; Oversight and Investigations; and Telecommunications and the Internet. Colorado is accounted for by Representative Diana DeGette, who currently serves as vice chair of the committee.

See Representative Waxman's website to read his statement after being elected to chair the Committee. You can access Representative Dingell's website here. To find out which bills the representatives have sponsored or co-sponsored in the House, go to the Library of Congress's Thomas website and conduct a search under the heading "Browse Bills by Sponsor." This helpful website provides you with bill numbers, titles, summaries, full text of the legislation, current status of the bill, and other helpful congressional information associated with the legislation.

To find further resources about congressional committees and legislation, see our guide.

Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports

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 only brings us a number of CRS reports on Argentina, the presidential transition, economic crisis, 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 OpenCRS and Secrecy News:

• "Fast Track" Parliamentary Procedures of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act
• The President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy: Issues for Congress
• Human Rights in China: Trends and Policy Implications
• Privacy: An Overview of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping
• Privacy: An Abbreviated Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping
• North Korea: Terrorism List Removal?
• Statutory Interpretation: General Principles and Recent Trends
• The U.S. Financial Crisis: The Global Dimension with Implications for U.S. Policy
• China and the Global Financial Crisis: Implications for the United States
• Reporting Requirements in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
• The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and Current Financial Turmoil: Issues and Analysis
• Russia’s Economic Performance and Policies and Their Implications for the United States
• ‘Political’ Activities of Private Recipients of Federal Grants or Contracts
• Defense: FY2009 Authorization and Appropriations
• Federal Evacuation Policy: Issues for Congress
• Homeland Emergency Preparedness and the National Exercise Program: Background, Policy Implications, and Issues for Congress
• Midnight Rulemaking: Considerations for Congress and a New Administration
• Argentina: Background and U.S. Relations
• Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests
• Cellulosic Biofuels: Analysis of Policy Issues for Congress
• Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2009 (P.L. 110-329): An Overview
• The First Day of a New Congress: A Guide to Proceedings on the House Floor
• The International Space Station and the Space Shuttle
• The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIG TARP)
• The Specialty Metal Provision and the Berry Amendment: Issues for Congress
• Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation: a Possible Role for Congress
• U.S. Foreign Aid to East and South Asia: Selected Recipients
• U.S. Trade and Investment Relationship with Sub-Saharan Africa: The African Growth and Opportunity Act and Beyond
• U.S.-Vietnam Relations: Background and Issues for Congress
• DOD Leases of Foreign-Built Ships: Background for Congress
• Drilling in the Great Lakes: Background and Issues
• Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Legislation for Disaster Assistance: Summary Data FY1989 to FY2005
• Environmental Activities of the U.S. Coast Guard
• Federal Civil Rights Statutes: A Primer
• Federal Loans to the Auto Industry Under the Energy Independence and Security Act
• Federal Reserve Interest Rate Changes: 2000-2008
• Financial Turmoil: Federal Reserve Policy Responses
• General Management Laws: A Compendium
• Intellectual Property Rights Violations: Federal Civil Remedies and Criminal Penalties Related to Copyrights, Trademarks, and Patents
• Quarantine and Isolation: Selected Legal Issues Relating to Employment
• Statutory Construction: General Principles and Recent Trends
• Temporary Farm Labor: The H-2A Program and the U.S. Department of Labor's Proposed Changes in the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR)
• The False Claims Act, the Allison Engine Decision, and Possible Effects on Health Care Fraud Enforcement
• Israeli-Arab Negotiations: Background, Conflicts, and U.S. Policy
• Military Medical Care: Questions and Answers
• Military Pay and Benefits: Key Questions and Answers
• Monetary Policy: Current Policy and Conditions
• NAFTA and the Mexican Economy
• Navy Ship Names: Background For Congress
• Operation Iraqi Freedom: Strategies, Approaches, Results, and Issues for Congress
• Pakistan's Capital Crisis: Implications for U.S. Policy
• Presidential Transition Act: Provisions and Funding

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.

A Current Assessment of U.S.-China Relations

Yesterday the Washington Post reported that when president-elect Barack Obama enters the White House next year, he will have to contend with a new foreign-relations dynamic between the United States and China that is more focused on economics than on human rights. The article states that "China now owns over half-a-trillion dollars in U.S. government bonds, more than any other country, and Washington needs Beijing to continue buying them to help finance the national debt and the $700 billion financial industry bailout."

The Post's report is timely when you consider that the U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission released its 2008 Report to Congress on November 20. If you're unsure whether you want to dive into this entire 405-page PDF, you can read the Commission's press release first. It summarizes China's economic policies as follows: "China relies on heavy-handed government control over its economy to maintain an export advantage over other countries. The result: China has amassed nearly $2 trillion in foreign exchange and has increasingly used its hoard to manipulate currency trading and diplomatic relations with other nations."

For further resources, see our online guides to China and Trade.