[net-gold] Secrecy News -- 09/16/11
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:35:47 -0400 (EDT)
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Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:36:32 -0400
From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
To: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Secrecy News -- 09/16/11
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SECRECY NEWS
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from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2011, Issue No. 88
September 16, 2011
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Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
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** NRO OBSERVES 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH DECLASSIFICATION
** RISING ECONOMIC POWERS, AND MORE FROM CRS
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NRO OBSERVES 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH DECLASSIFICATION
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The National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that develops and operates
U.S. intelligence satellites, is observing the 50th anniversary of its
establishment in 1961 with a burst of declassification activity.
Tomorrow, September 17, the newly declassified KH-9 HEXAGON satellite will
go on public display -- for one day only -- in the parking lot of the
Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum.
http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/pressroom/releaseDetail.cfm?releaseID=268
The KH-9 HEXAGON was a photographic reconnaissance satellite that was first
launched in 1971 and ceased operation in the mid-1980s. At sixty feet long
and ten feet in diameter, it is said to be the largest intelligence
satellite ever launched by the U.S.
The GAMBIT satellite is also to be unveiled at a Saturday evening reception.
In addition, "almost all" of the voluminous historical intelligence imagery
captured by the KH-9 is expected to be released.
"The National Reconnaissance Office is a hybrid organization consisting of
some 3,000 personnel that is jointly staffed by members of the Armed
Services, the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense
civilians," noted Rep. C.W. Bill Young yesterday. "Headquartered in
Chantilly, Virginia, the National Reconnaissance Office launches from Cape
Canaveral, FL and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, while maintaining
ground station operations in Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, the United
Kingdom, and Australia."
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2011_cr/nro50.html
After a series of expensive missteps in recent years, the National
Reconnaissance Office now seems to be performing with growing consistency
and reliability, having successfully launched six satellites in seven months
over the past year. ("NRO Has 'Most Aggressive' Launch Record in 25 Years,"
Secrecy News, August 25, 2011).
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2011/08/nro_aggressive.html
It may be no coincidence that the NRO is the only intelligence agency whose
expenditures are capable of being independently audited. For the last two
years, the agency's financial statements have been reviewed by an outside
auditor. And for the second time this year, the agency's financial
statements were found to "present fairly the financial position and the
results of the organization's operations in accordance with U.S. generally
accepted accounting principles."
http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2011/02/nro021811.pdf
By contrast, other U.S. intelligence agencies are not and cannot be audited.
They simply do not generate the type of data that would enable an
independent reviewer to verify the integrity of agency expenditures.
It will not be feasible to audit the other large intelligence agencies for
several more years, said Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper
last Tuesday. "Right now our stated objective, I think, is to be fully
auditable by 2016," he told a joint hearing of the House and Senate
Intelligence Committees.
RISING ECONOMIC POWERS, AND MORE FROM CRS
For those who may not have been paying attention, "A small group of
developing countries are transforming the global economic landscape," the
Congressional Research Service observed in a report last month. "Led by
China, India, and Brazil, these rising economic powers pose varied
challenges and opportunities for U.S. economic interests and leadership of
the global economy." See "Rising Economic Powers and the Global Economy:
Trends and Issues for Congress," August 22, 2011:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41969.pdf
Other new reports from CRS that have not been made readily available to the
public include the following.
"Cost-Benefit and Other Analysis Requirements in the Rulemaking Process,"
August 30, 2011:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41974.pdf
"Climate Change: Conceptual Approaches and Policy Tools," August 29, 2011:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41973.pdf
"Financing Recovery After a Catastrophic Earthquake or Nuclear Power
Incident," August 25, 2011:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41968.pdf
"Addressing the Long-Run Budget Deficit: A Comparison of Approaches," August
25, 2011:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41970.pdf
"Homeland Security Department: FY2012 Appropriations," September 2, 2011:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R41982.pdf
"Congressional Primer on Major Disasters and Emergencies," August 31, 2011:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R41981.pdf
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_______________________________________________
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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation
of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
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To UNSUBSCRIBE, go to
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OR email your request to saftergood@xxxxxxx
Secrecy News is archived at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html
Support the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation:
http://www.fas.org/member/donate_today.html
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_______________________
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Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@xxxxxxx
voice: (202) 454-4691
twitter: @saftergood
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