Negotiating a treaty to reduce nuclear weapons is so cumbersome and
fraught with political minefields that it can actually retard the process
of disarmament. “It usually takes far longer to reduce nuclear forces
through a bilateral arms control treaty than it takes to adopt unilateral
adjustments to nuclear forces,” according to a new report from the
Congressional Research Service.
“If the Obama Administration reduces U.S. nuclear forces in parallel with
Russia, but without a formal treaty, the two nations could avoid months or
years in negotiation,” the CRS report says. See “Next Steps in Nuclear Arms
Control with Russia: Issues for Congress,” April 10, 2013:
“Recent data… challenge the belief that the [U.S.] manufacturing sector,
taken as a whole, will continue to flourish,” says a newly updated CRS
report. “One interpretation of these data is that manufacturing is
‘hollowing out’ as companies undertake a larger proportion of their
high-value work abroad. These developments raise the question of whether
the United States will continue to generate highly skilled, high-wage jobs
related to advanced manufacturing.” See “‘Hollowing Out’ in U.S.
Manufacturing: Analysis and Issues for Congress,” April 15, 2013:
A rich compilation of information about discretionary government spending
was presented in “Trends in Discretionary Spending,” April 15, 2013:
Some other new or newly updated CRS reports that Congress has not made
publicly available include the following.
Federal Authority to Regulate the Compounding of Human Drugs, April 12,
2013:
Federal Traffic Safety Programs: An Overview, April 1, 2013:
The STOCK Act, Insider Trading, and Public Financial Reporting by Federal
Officials, April 12, 2013:
International Trade and Finance: Key Policy Issues for the 113th Congress,
April 15, 2013:
Why Certain Trade Agreements Are Approved as Congressional-Executive
Agreements Rather Than as Treaties, April 15, 2013:
The United Kingdom and U.S.-UK Relations, April 15, 2013:
A FRESH LOOK AT INVENTION SECRECY
The Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 has been used for more than half a
century to restrict disclosure of patent applications that could be
“detrimental to national security.” At the end of the last fiscal year, no
fewer than 5,321 secrecy orders were in effect.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/invention/index.html
These secrecy orders have been difficult to penetrate and the stories
behind them have usually been left untold. But several inventors whose
work prompted imposition of a secrecy order were interviewed by G.W. Schulz
of the Center for Investigative Reporting. See his new account in
“Government secrecy orders on patents keep lid on inventions,” April 16,
2013.
JOURNAL OF NATIONAL SECURITY LAW & POLICY
The latest issue of the Journal of National Security Law & Policy has just
been published and can be found online here:
Titles of likely interest include “Free Speech Aboard the Leaky Ship of
State: Calibrating First Amendment Protections for Leakers of Classified
Information” by Heidi Kitrosser, and “Unknotting the Tangled Threads of
Watergate Lore,” a review of Max Holland’s book “Leak” written by M.E.
(Spike) Bowman, among others.
DEFENSE SUPPORT OF CIVILIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
In last Friday’s Federal Register the Department of Defense published a
final rule on “Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies.” The
rule specifies and defines the support that DoD may provide to federal,
state and local law enforcement agencies, “including responses to civil
disturbances.”
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2013/04/dsclea.html
“The President is authorized by the Constitution and laws of the United
States to employ the Armed Forces of the United States to suppress
insurrections, rebellions, and domestic violence under various conditions
and circumstances,” the new rule states.
“Planning and preparedness by the Federal Government, including the
Department of Defense, for civil disturbances is important due to the
potential severity of the consequences of such events for the Nation and
the population. The employment of Federal military forces to control civil
disturbances shall only occur in a specified civil jurisdiction under
specific circumstances as authorized by the President, normally through
issuance of an Executive order or other Presidential directive authorizing
and directing the Secretary of Defense to provide for the restoration of
law and order in a specific State or locality.”
The new rule, which forms part of the Code of Federal Regulations, is
almost identical to DoD Instruction 3025.21 on “Defense Support of Civilian
Law Enforcement Agencies” that was issued on February 27, 2013 (noted by
PublicIntelligence.net on April 11).
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.
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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@fas.org
voice: (202) 454-4691
twitter: @saftergood
Bernd Pulch 