----- Forwarded message from Steven Aftergood <saftergood@fas.org> ----- Date: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 08:08:09 -0700 From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@fas.org> To: eugen@leitl.org Subject: Secrecy News -- 09/08/13 Reply-To: saftergood@fas.org X-Mailer-LID: 1 X-Mailer-RecptId: 399049 X-Mailer-SID: 1873 X-Mailer-Sent-By: 2 Format Note: If you cannot easily read the text below, or you prefer to receive Secrecy News in another format, please reply to this email to let us know. SECRECY NEWS from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy Volume 2013, Issue No. 79 September 6, 2013 Secrecy News Blog: http://blogs.fas.org/secrecy/ ** TRENDS IN INTELLIGENCE SPENDING, AND MORE FROM CRS ** RESOURCES ON CONFLICT IN SYRIA FROM CRS TRENDS IN INTELLIGENCE SPENDING, AND MORE FROM CRS The rise and fall (and rise) of intelligence spending over the past three decades is traced in a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. "Limited publicly available data suggests intelligence spending, measured in constant 2014 dollars, has roughly doubled since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and, before declines over the last three years, was almost double spending at its peak at the end of the cold war," the CRS report notes. The report does not explicitly deal with the latest disclosure of a classified intelligence budget document in the Washington Post. "Because the document leaked to the news media is classified, CRS is unable to provide a discussion of the specific detail of that budget submission." But the report provides a useful compilation of previously disclosed intelligence budget data, along with some sensible extrapolations to round out the picture. CRS also reviews proposals to restructure the intelligence budgeting process. See "Intelligence Spending and Appropriations: Issues for Congress," September 5, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/R42061.pdf But any proposals to modify current intelligence budget practices face strong opposition in Congress. In its report on the FY2014 defense authorization act, the House Armed Services Committee included language to prohibit efforts by the Secretary of Defense to create a new budget account for the National Intelligence Program. (Section 924) http://gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-113hrpt102/html/CRPT-113hrpt102.htm The Committee also said that the Defense Department has been secretly maneuvering to promote a consolidated National Intelligence Program budget within the Department of Defense as a separate budget category -- a step favored by the 9/11 Commission, among others, as a way to increase clarity and accountability in intelligence spending. "The committee is concerned that the executive branch has failed to notify the appropriate congressional committees about its continuing efforts to pursue consolidation of the portion of the Department of Defense budget designated as part of the National Intelligence Program," the House report said. The Committee directed the Department of Defense to submit a report to Congress on "any planning [for future intelligence budget consolidation] that has occurred during the past two years." Some other noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. War in Afghanistan: Campaign Progress, Political Strategy, and Issues for Congress, August 29, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R43196.pdf Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2013, August 30, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42738.pdf Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress, September 3, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RL33741.pdf Banning the Use of Racial Preferences in Higher Education: A Legal Analysis of Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, September 3, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43205.pdf Wildfire Management: Federal Funding and Related Statistics, August 30, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43077.pdf U.S. Farm Income, August 30, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40152.pdf Proposed U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement: Background and Issues for Congress, August 29, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R43204.pdf Kyrgyzstan: Recent Developments and U.S. Interests, August 30, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/97-690.pdf Climate Change and Existing Law: A Survey of Legal Issues Past, Present, and Future, August 28, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42613.pdf RESOURCES ON CONFLICT IN SYRIA FROM CRS Here are some new and updated reports on the conflict in Syria prepared by the Congressional Research Service: Possible U.S. Intervention in Syria: Issues for Congress, September 3, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/R43201.pdf Syria: Overview of the Humanitarian Response, September 4, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/R43119.pdf Syria's Chemical Weapons: Issues for Congress, August 30, 2013: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/R42848.pdf _______________________________________________ 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: http://blogs.fas.org/secrecy/subscribe/ To UNSUBSCRIBE, go to http://blogs.fas.org/secrecy/unsubscribe/ OR email your request to saftergood@fas.org Secrecy News is archived at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html Support the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation: https://members.fas.org/donate _______________________ Steven Aftergood Project on Government Secrecy Federation of American Scientists web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html email: saftergood@fas.org voice: (202) 454-4691 twitter: @saftergood ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://ativel.com http://postbiota.org AC894EC5: 38A5 5F46 A4FF 59B8 336B 47EE F46E 3489 AC89 4EC5