[govinfo] GovInfo News 4-16-2007

  • From: "Patrice McDermott" <pmcdermott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "govinfo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <govinfo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 13:54:27 -0400

- Bush Threatens a Veto Over Intel Bill
- The 8th International Conference on Digital Government Research May 20-23.
- Daniel Metcalfe Says 'Nothing Compares to the Past Two Years'
- D.C. Event - Governing by the Numbers - The Promise of Data-Driven 
Policymaking in the Information Age

Patrice McDermott, Director
OpenTheGovernment.org
www.openthegovernment.org
202.332.OPEN (6736)


- BUSH THREATENS A VETO OVER INTEL BILL
By Katherine Shrader
Apr 12, 10:45 PM (ET)

President Bush is threatening to veto a Senate intelligence bill (S. 372) 
that's laced with provisions that would force the White House and spy agencies 
to be more responsive to Congress.   In a policy statement released Thursday, 
Bush's advisers said the bill fails to provide enough money, "with sufficient 
flexibility," to adequately pay for spying operations.

Among the provisions in the intelligence bill that the Bush administration 
rejects:
_Yearly disclosure of the total amount spent on intelligence. The 
administration has long argued that releasing the figures would be a threat to 
national security.
_A mandate that the White House brief all members of the intelligence 
committees on extraordinarily sensitive matters - not just congressional and 
intelligence committee leaders, as is often the practice now.
_Required reports on interrogation activities and secret prisons, which the 
administration says would raise "grave constitutional issues" and jeopardize 
sensitive information that should not be widely distributed.
_Creation of a statutory inspector general for Office of the Director of 
National Intelligence, who would have the power to direct watchdogs in any of 
the 16 spy agencies. more [AP]

Links:
OMB policy statement: 
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/sap/110-1/s372sap-s.pdf

Related Washington Post article:
Intelligence Community to Reshape Personnel Practices
By Karen DeYoung
Thursday, April 12, 2007

In a series of initiatives set for completion in the next 100 days, Director of 
National Intelligence Mike McConnell ...revealed plans for an outside audit of 
the $42 billion intelligence budget and pledged newly aggressive efforts to 
recruit and vet native Arabic speakers.      McConnell said he will ask Bush 
and Congress to address what he said had been a 40 percent decrease in 
intelligence funding since the early 1990s. more [WPost]

***

- THE 8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DIGITAL GOVERNMENT RESEARCH MAY 20-23.

The 8th International Conference on Digital Government Research is a forum for 
presentation and discussion of interdisciplinary research on digital government 
and its applications in diverse domains. Conference focus includes research on 
digital government as an interdisciplinary domain that "encompasses inquiry at 
the intersections of computing research, social, political, and behavioral 
science research, and the problems and missions of government agencies." (US 
National Science Foundation) The 2007 conference will be held at the Sheraton 
Society Hill in Philadelphia. more

- DANIEL METCALFE SAYS 'NOTHING COMPARES TO THE PAST TWO YEARS'
By Tony Mauro
April 16, 2007

Since the day he arrived at the Department of Justice in February 2005, 
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has "shattered" the department's tradition of 
independence and politicized its operation more than any other attorney general 
in more than 30 years.   ... The day that I decided to retire, for example, was 
one on which I was asked to participate in a matter in which a significant part 
of the department's position was aiming to be - there's no other word for it - 
false. Briefly stated, someone in the White House had determined that it would 
be a good idea for an op-ed piece on the subject of government secrecy to be 
prepared, and although its subject matter extended beyond the Justice 
Department's jurisdiction in multiple respects, it was decided that the Justice 
Department's Office of Public Affairs would take on that task nevertheless. I 
was perfectly able to make several corrections and substantive improvements to 
a last-minute draft that I received but drew a line at even attempting to 
"improve" a Defense Department-related paragraph within it that was incorrect 
by a full 180 degrees.  ....  It's no secret that this first-of-its-kind FOIA 
executive order was issued in the context of proposed FOIA-amendment 
legislation - media-sponsored bills that were introduced on an atypically 
bipartisan basis - and that it served as enough of a countermeasure to 
forestall full action on those potent bills during the last Congress. I surely 
had no illusions to the contrary as I nonetheless worked very hard to 
vigorously implement that executive order from the day it was issued until the 
time of my retirement on Jan. 3. But would it have been issued by this 
administration in any other situation, or for any other purpose? I know of no 
one, inside of government or out, who would credibly assert that. more     
[Legal Times]

***
- GOVERNING BY THE NUMBERS - THE PROMISE OF DATA-DRIVEN POLICYMAKING IN THE 
INFORMATION AGE
Monday, April 23, 2007, Program: 12:30pm to 2:00pm. Admission is free. Lunch 
will be served at noon.
Center for American Progress, 1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20005
More info and RSVP for this Event

 

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