Ten reports have gone missing. Under a federal law passed in 2008, President Barack Obama is required to nominate members of a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), an independent office in the executive branch of the U.S. Government. Fusion Center administrators and information sharing specialists are required by law to take civil liberties [...]

Tom Carper intends to hold Obama Administration officials accountable for the President’s embrace of pro-smog policies. Carper will hold a hearing of the Clean Air Subcommittee about the decision to abandon anti-ozone regulations, at which Obama White House officials will be forced to testify.

American intelligence has been proven highly unreliable. The rush to invade Iraq to destroy weapons of mass destruction that did not exist is a notable case in point. We ought not trust the Pentagon to lead America into war in the ever more obscure, blizzard-prone realm of the Internet.

This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Fair Elections Now Act, legislation that would establish a public-funding system for congressional elections to counterbalance the corrupting influence of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.

This study may have a strong impact itself – on the debate over whether to allow fracking, which creates significant risks of pollution of groundwater, to be conducted over large areas of the United States that have been heretofore untouched. Natural gas has been promoted as a “clean burning” energy source, when compared to coal and petroleum, but the release of dangerous gases in the mining process has not been taken into account in such analyses.

House of Representatives: Homeland Security Committee, Thursday March 31, 10 AM: A hearing on US involvement in the drug war in Mexico, with updates on drug-related violence in Mexico. Judiciary Committee, Wednesday March 30, 10 AM: The Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee will be holding a hearing on the permanent surveillance provisions of the [...]

On March 7, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be traveling to Colchester, Vermont for a special hearing entitled “Strategies to Protect and Promote Vermont Brands.” How does this state-level business marketing question fall under the jurisdiction of the national-level Judiciary Committee? Will judges be tasked with the milking of cows or the tapping of maple [...]

This week, Barbara Boxer will lead the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to consider 4 very, very important environmental bills: One bill to rename a courthouse, and three bills to rename federal office buildings.

In response to a report revealing that American money has been used to pay for cooks and cleaners for Taliban commanders, Republican senators complained that the report “failed to acknowledge the positive impact of providing employment to local inhabitants”.

Shaheen wasn’t adequately prepared. Shaheen didn’t ask follow-up questions. She didn’t demand specific evidence from BP to back up their assertions. She allowed David Rainey to act like Sarah Palin.