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From the Blogs
McCain Proposes New Select Committee on NSA Leaks:
Last week, Senator John McCain introduced a resolution to establish a
new Senate Select Committee to investigate the unauthorized disclosures
of classified information on NSA collection programs and implications
for U.S. policy. The McCain resolution is framed broadly and touches on
many issues besides leaks, including intelligence policy, congressional
oversight, the role of contractors, the constitutionality of current
intelligence programs, and more.
Saving Money and Saving the World: The
United States is struggling with budget problems, along with personnel
issues by U.S. Air Force personnel who monitor nuclear missiles. In a
guest post on the Strategic Security Blog, Alan Robock and Owen Brian
Toon write that one way to save money and make the world a safer place
is to get rid of our nuclear weapons. Robock and Toon write that nuclear
weapons are not just bigger bombs – they can produce an environmental
disaster.
The Fermi Awards: A Celebration of Outstanding Science and Scientists: On
February 3, two outstanding scientists, Dr. Allen Bard and Dr. Andrew
Sessler, received the Enrico Fermi Award in Washington, DC. Dr. Sessler
has been a longstanding member of the Federation of American Scientists
and served as the Chairman of FAS during part of the 1980s. The Fermi
Award is one of the most prestigious awards bestowed by the U.S.
government for outstanding scientific work. Dr. Sessler joins a long
list of FAS leaders and prominent members who have received the Fermi
Award
including Richard Garwin, Freeman Dyson and Hans Bethe.
Iran: Authority to Lift Sanctions and More from CRS: Secrecy News has obtained recently released CRS reports on topics such as Iran sanctions, U.S. relations with Yemen, security issues at the Sochi Winter Olympics and the National Defense Authorization Act for FY12 and beyond.
In Closing:
FAS would like to thank Dr. Y for his service and blogging over the
past two years. Dr. Y has decided to step away from the blog due to
personal and professional reasons. In his final post, he urges readers
to take a skeptical look at the science that underlies claims or stories
based on science.
Leahy Laws Bar Military Aid to Human Rights Violators: By
law, the United States is not supposed to provide certain forms of
military assistance to foreign security forces that have committed gross
violations of human rights. The underlying laws, which were introduced
by Sen. Patrick Leahy in the 1990s and which are known as the Leahy
laws, are described in a new report from the Congressional Research
Service.
FISA Court Appointments and Potential Reforms:
On February 7, Chief Justice Roberts announced two new appointments to
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Secrecy News provides a
listing of the current membership of the FISA Courts, along with
disclosing a new CRS report on potential changes to the court.
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