[govinfo] GovInfo News 8-31-2007
- From: "Patrice McDermott" <pmcdermott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "govinfo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <govinfo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "FOI-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <FOI-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:00:31 -0400
Patrice McDermott, Director
OpenTheGovernment.org
www.openthegovernment.org
202.332.OPEN (6736)
- Justice Examining Gonzales' Honesty
By The Associated Press
August 30, 2007
The Justice Department said Thursday it is investigating whether resigning
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied or otherwise misled Congress last month
in sworn testimony about the Bush administration's domestic terrorist spying
program. The inquiry, confirmed by Justice Department Inspector General
Glenn A. Fine, comes three days after Gonzales abruptly announced he was
stepping down despite months of vowing he would remain on the job. In a
letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, who two weeks ago asked for
the inquiry, Fine said his investigators believe they ''will be able to assess
most of the issues that you raise in your letter.'' more [AP via NYT}
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- What’s in Your Water? The State of Public Notification in 11 U.S. States
(PDF; 619 KB)
Just what is in your water? A new report just released by American Rivers shows
major inconsistencies in how residents from 11 states across the country are
notified about sewage pollution in their local waterways. States in report:
AL, GA, IA, KY, MD, NC, OR, SC, TN, VA, WA [American Rivers]
Link: Report
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- Freedom and Information - Assessing Publicly Available Data Regarding U.S.
Transportation Infrastructure Security
RAND
How much data regarding U.S. anti- and counterterrorism systems,
countermeasures, and defenses is publicly available and how easily could it be
found by individuals seeking to harm U.S. domestic interests? The authors
recommend that procedures for securing sensitive information be evaluated
regularly and that information that can be obtained from easily accessible,
off-site public information sources be included in vulnerability assessments.
more (RAND; thanks to Amy West on FGI)
Link: Report (File size 0.9 MB, pdf)
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- OMB, CIO Council issue enterprise architecture principles
BY Jason Miller
Published on Aug. 27, 2007
The Office of Management and Budget and the CIO Council released today a new
framework that underpins many of the Bush administration’s core management
tenets. The Architecture Principles for the U.S. Government defines what is
important to the administration, said Karen Evans, OMB’s administrator for
e-government and information technology.
The principles include (I have interspersed language from Circular A-130 where
I think the principles delineate a lower standard than A-130):
The federal government focuses on people. That means agencies will design and
apply their business processes and services to benefit people and present a
unified face when doing so.
The federal government is a single unified enterprise. That means agencies need
to work together to reach common goals, including integrating services.
Federal agencies collaborate with other governments and people. That means
agencies will work more closely with other federal, state and local agencies
and private-sector experts. “When we come to conclusions about standards and
what data we use, we will do that in collaborative fashion in all three
sectors.”(Richard Burk, OMB’s chief architect)/ The nation can benefit from
government information disseminated both by Federal agencies and by diverse
nonfederal parties, including State and local government agencies, educational
and other not-for-profit institutions, and for-profit organizations.
The federal architecture is mission-driven. That means agency enterprise
architectures are driven by business needs and guide capital planning and
investment processes.
Security, privacy and protecting information are core government needs.
Agencies must apply security and privacy consistently and monitor compliance.
Security controls also must be clearly defined so cost and risk are
managed./Because the public disclosure of government information is essential
to the operation of a democracy, the management of Federal information
resources should protect the public's right of access to government information.
Information is a national asset. Agencies will improve the information-sharing
environment to disseminate public information. That requires departments to be
the authoritative source of information/ Government information is a valuable
national resource. It provides the public with knowledge of the government,
society, and economy -- past, present, and future. It is a means to ensure the
accountability of government, to manage the government's operations, to
maintain the healthy performance of the economy, and is itself a commodity in
the marketplace. more
Link: Principles
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- CongressLine by Gallerywatch.com: Votes and Whips
By Paul Jenks
Published on August 27, 2007
The real business in Congress all revolves around voting. While this is quite
obvious, since it is a legislative body of members who vote the interests of
their constituents, voting however sometimes gets lost in the glamour of
hearings and legislative minutiae. Except of course, when the vote is close.
more
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- » [govinfo] GovInfo News 8-31-2007