Secrecy News: April 3, 2017

Secrecy News: April 3, 2017
View this email in your browser
SECRECY NEWS
From the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2017, Issue No. 24
April 3, 2017
Secrecy News Blog:  https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/


**     MANDATING DECLASSIFICATION IN CONGRESS
**     THE TRUMP DEFENSE BUDGET PROPOSALS, & MORE FROM CRS


MANDATING DECLASSIFICATION IN CONGRESS

Last week a bill was introduced in the Senate "to require the Secretary of Defense to declassify certain documents related to incidents in which members of the Armed Forces were exposed to toxic substances."

The bill (S. 726), introduced by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), generally requires declassification of all "documents related to any known incident in which not fewer than 100 members of the Armed Forces were exposed to a toxic substance that resulted in at least one case of a disability that a member of the medical profession has determined to be associated with that toxic substance."

The bill is the latest example of congressional action to initiate, prioritize or override executive branch policy on declassification of national security records.

The new bill grants an exception from the declassification requirement "if the Secretary [of Defense] determines that declassification of those documents would materially and immediately threaten the security of the United States." This is a notably narrower exemption than that provided by the Freedom of Information Act, which deems records properly classified and therefore exempt if their disclosure would simply cause "damage" to national security.

The bill would not provide any new funding for declassification. So it would presumably be implemented at the expense of current declassification programs.

The Moran-Tester bill may or may not advance through the legislative process. But numerous other congressional declassification initiatives have been enacted into law over the years.

In a report last week, for example, the Senate Intelligence Committee recalled that it had successfully legislated "a requirement that the DNI complete a declassification review of information on the past terrorist activities of detainees transferred or released from Guantanamo, [and] make resulting declassified information publicly available."  See SSCI Report on activities during the 114th Congress, S.Rpt. 115-13, March 29.


THE TRUMP DEFENSE BUDGET PROPOSALS, & MORE FROM CRS

Would the Trump Administration’s defense budget proposals comply with the current Budget Control Act limits on defense spending?

"No," answered the Congressional Research Service CRS in a new report, which was authored by CRS specialist Pat Towell and analyst Lynn M. Williams. See The Trump Administration's March 2017 Defense Budget Proposals: Frequently Asked Questions, April 3, 2017.

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

The War Powers Resolution: Concepts and Practice, updated March 28, 2017

FY2017 Defense Appropriations Fact Sheet: Selected Highlights of H.R. 5293, S. 3000, and H.R. 1301, updated March 28, 2017

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), updated March 31, 2017

The Army's Sustainable Readiness Model (SRM), CRS Insight, March 31, 2017

Votes on Measures to Adjust the Statutory Debt Limit, 1978 to Present, updated March 30, 2017

Keystone XL Pipeline: Development Issues, CRS Insight, March 30, 2017

Expiring Funds for Primary Care, CRS Insight, March 30, 2017

Overview of CEQ Guidance on Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change, CRS Insight, updated March 30, 2017

The Civil Service Reform Act: Due Process and Misconduct-Related Adverse Actions, March 29, 2017

A Brief Overview of Rulemaking and Judicial Review, updated March 27, 2017

Major Disaster Assistance from the Disaster Relief Fund: State Profiles, updated March 29, 2017

Sub-Saharan Africa: Key Issues, Challenges, and U.S. Responses, March 21, 2017

Libya: Transition and U.S. Policy, updated March 29, 2017

Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, updated March 28, 2017

Burma's Political Prisoners and U.S. Policy: In Brief, March 30, 2017

Iran Sanctions, updated March 31, 2017

China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities -- Background and Issues for Congress, updated March 29, 2017
_____________________________________

Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

The Secrecy News Blog is at:
     https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/

To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
     https://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/subscribe.html

To UNSUBSCRIBE, go to
     https://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/unsubscribe.html

OR email your request to saftergood@fas.org

Secrecy News is also archived at:
     https://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html

Support the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation:
     https://www.fas.org/donate/

_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web:    https://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email:  saftergood@fas.org
voice:  (202)454-4691
twitter:  @saftergood

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Awareness of EBE Contact

David Jacobs      I would estimate that %99.99 of all abductees are unaware of what has happened to them. Perhaps many of them know that they have had strange, out of the ordinary experiences like missing time events, Out of Body Experiences, "astral travel," seen ghosts, or even had deceased relatives visit them at the foot of their beds, but these experiences are chalked up to "normality" oftentimes.      They have an available menu of culturally determined explanations of strange occurrences and they pick and chose among them to help explain what has happened to them. Only a tiny fraction of abductees have systematically explored their experiences with me or with Budd Hopkins and are fully aware of the situation that they are involved in. I have handed out a questionnaire geared toward helping me to gauge how many people might have had abductions. I have given it to about 900 students at Temple University over the past few years. Right now my sta...
Read more

The Mystery of Rh-Negative Blood Genetic Origin Unknown

Image
  Authenticity and legitimacy are based on factual history and the power of sacred history. What Does the absence of Rhesus monkey factor mean? No solid scientific explanation exists as to how or why Rh- blood came about. It is presumed to be the result of a random mutation. Have you ever felt you were weird or different? It may be due to your DNA ... 85% of humans have the monkey gene (RH+) and 15% do not (RH-) and maybe have an alien gene instead. RH- people are characterized by higher IQs, sensitive vision, lower body temperatures, sensitivity to heat and sunlight, psychic power, ability to stop watches and electrical appliances and having extra vertebrae. This film explores the possibility that we were bred as a slave race for labor, since 97% of our genetic code is disabled, with only 3% left for us to survive. RH negative blood group is from ANNUNAKI heritage Of the human blood types, O is the most common. It is a universal blood type. Blood types are further bro...
Read more

American Airlines Flight 77 Evidence

Image
American Airlines Flight 77 Evidence The following blog contains a straight forward, easy to follow and to the point list of evidence to show that American Airlines Flight 77, and only American Airlines Flight 77, hit the Pentagon on 11 September 2001. Table of Contents Video Evidence -  Original Footage (Higher quality and clearer) Eye Witnesses - Summary of 136 eye witnesses Damage - Aircraft damage to the Pentagon structure and surroundings Flight 77's RADAR information - Final Radar Track with ATC Audio Audio Records - Air Traffic Control recordings and others The Black Box; AAL77's Flight Data Recorder - The "Maneuver"; AAL77's final turn and dive Durability of Airliners to handle High Loads & Over-speed - Real world examples of airliners surviving near crash situations at high speed Passenger DNA Recovered Inside the Pentagon - Remains of September 11 Hijackers Held Bodies Recovered Inside the Pe...
Read more