Intermediate Report Of The Committee On Government Operations

Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon dramatically expanded the federal government's domestic security apparatus to cope with social unrest that rocked their administrations. By the mid-1970s, the Justice Department and Army maintained some 400 databanks containing nearly 200 million files on supposedly subversive individuals and organizations. Katherine Scott chronicles the subsequent public response to that government action: a determined citizens' movement to rein in the state. She details the efforts of a group of unheralded heroes who battled to reinvigorate judicial, legislative, and civic oversight of the executive branch in order to curtail and prevent future abuses by government agencies. Working closely with allies in Congress, they challenged state power, instituted open government policies, and protected individual privacy rights. Scott has assembled a cast of characters with compelling stories: Russ Wiggins of the Washington Post, who organized a citizens' campaign for government transparency; Representative John Moss, who called attention to government censorship; ACLU Director Aryeh Neier, who created a legal strategy for judicial oversight of executive branch security measures; Senator Sam Ervin, a civil libertarian who demanded greater oversight of the executive branch; and Morton Halperin, a former NSC staff member, who called attention to the gross constitutional violations of the nation's top security agencies. Rejecting the agendas and methods of both the radical left and the antigovernment right, these progressive reformers sought to bring the American state in line with democratic practice. When Army Captain Christopher Pyle blew the whistle on the U.S. Army's domestic surveillance program, reformers had evidence of illegal domestic spying that they had long suspected but could not confirm. Scott explores how his action united liberals and conservatives to end such abuses. She also assesses how Watergate prompted broad debate in the public sphere about the problems of executive power, the need for greater transparency in domestic security policy, and greater oversight of the activities of the FBI and CIA. These reformers' efforts bore fruit with the passage of a series of major legislative reforms, including the 1974 Freedom of Information Act revisions, the 1974 Privacy Act, the 1976 Government in Sunshine Act, and the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Now that government surveillance of citizens has returned to public consciousness in the wake of 9/11, Scott's stirring account reminds us that power still resides with the people.

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

This reference book is primarily a procedural work which examines the many forms, customs, and practices which have been developed and established for the House of Commons since Confederation in 1867. It provides a distinctive Canadian perspective in describing procedure in the House up to the end of the first session of the 36th Parliament in Sept. 1999. The material is presented with full commentary on the historical circumstances which have shaped the current approach to parliamentary business. Key Speaker's rulings and statements are also documented and the considerable body of practice, interpretation, and precedents unique to the Canadian House of Commons is amply illustrated. Chapters of the book cover the following: parliamentary institutions; parliaments and ministries; privileges and immunities; the House and its Members; parliamentary procedure; the physical & administrative setting; the Speaker & other presiding officers; the parliamentary cycle; sittings of the House; the daily program; oral & written questions; the process of debate; rules of order & decorum; the curtailment of debate; special debates; the legislative process; delegated legislation; financial procedures; committees of the whole House; committees; private Members' business; public petitions; private bills practice; and the parliamentary record. Includes index.