5/3. On May 2, 2007, the House amended and approved HR 1867, the "National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2007", by a vote of 399-17. See, Roll Call No. 295. This bill authorizes funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the next 3 years.

On May 3, 2007, the House approved HR 1868, the "Technology Innovation and Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007", by a vote of 385-23. See, Roll Call No. 301. This bill authorizes funding for the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Both bills are premised on the assumption that the government can increase the amount of technological innovation and creation by increasing government spending on government agencies.

Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), the sponsor of the HR 1867 (NSF bill), stated on the House floor on May 2 that "H.R. 1867, like H.R. 362 and H.R. 363, two other Science and Technology Committee bills that passed the House just last week, is one more important piece of the House leadership's innovation agenda. It is also consistent with the administration's own American Competitiveness Initiative, which called for a 10-year doubling for three science agencies, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy's Office of Science."

Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) (at right), the ranking Republican on the House Science Committee (HSC), stated in the House that the "NSF is one of three agencies targeted by the President's American Competitiveness Initiative. The ACI aims to double the Federal investment in physical science research over the next 10 years. Appropriate investment in research development technology and math and science education will ensure that our country remains the world leader in competitiveness and innovation."

Rep. David Wu (D-OR), the sponsor of HR 1868 (NIST bill) stated that "This legislation means the robust programs at NIST will continue to support U.S. industry and improve our quality of life ... For over 100 years, NIST has made important contributions to public safety, industrial competitiveness, and economic growth through standards and measurements. This ensures that NIST will continue to be a key part of American innovation in the next 100 years."

All of the votes against these two bills were case by Republicans. One such member, Rep. John Campbell (R-CA), argued that "we have a budget problem here in Washington, the Federal Government. The budget that was recently passed off of this floor has a deficit in it, continues that deficit for the next 4 years. It has a tax increase in it, the largest tax increase in American history, going forward."

Moreover, he complained the NSF is funding silly projects such as "Social Relationships and Reproductive Strategies of Phayre's Leaf Monkeys", "Cognitive Model of Superstitious Belief", and "The Sexual Politics of Waste in Dakar". He offered an amendment that would have precluded funding for these projects. It failed overwhelmingly.

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) argued for private sector research, rather than government funded research. He stated in the House that "just a fraction of the research going on in the scientific field is funded by government. The private sector funds it gratefully. And unfortunately, one can make the case and the case is often made persuasively that as we increase government funding in this area, it displaces private sector funding because companies can then rely on government rather than their own R&D budgets."

He asked rhetorically if the taxes used to fund these government agencies' research projects were left in the private sector, would it produce more benefit. He answered that "the private sector tends to do things a lot more efficiently than government does."

Phil Bond of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) stated in a release that "These bills include important support for American innovation through funding for R&D, math and science education and other key areas ... Funding in these areas is critical for our nation’s ability to compete in a global economy and ultimately for our continued prosperity."

Michael Petricone, of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), also praised HR 1867 and HR 1868 in a release. He said that "To maintain our economic competitiveness, we need to ensure that this nation is leading the way in providing the world’s best research and development programs for science, technology, engineering and math.   The Innovation Agenda provides the necessary steps needed to invest in our country’s future innovators and the important work they do to keep us at the forefront of global technology."

5/3. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) held a hearing titled "Offshore Tax Evasion: Stashing Cash Overseas". See, SFC web page with hyperlinks to opening statements of Senators and prepared testimony of other witnesses.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), the Chairman of the SFC, wrote in his opening statement [3 pages in PDF] that "offshore tax evasion has become a large and growing element of the tax gap, that share of taxes legally owed that is not paid."

One witness, Reuven Avi-Yonah, a professor at the University of Michigan law school, focused on the impact of information technologies and internet and communications technologies upon tax avoidance by U.S. residents.

He wrote in his prepared testimony [7 pages in PDF] that "Since about 1980 there has been a dramatic lowering of both legal and technological barriers to the movement of capital, goods and services, as countries have relaxed their tariffs and capital controls, much of the world economy has shifted from goods to services, and electronic means of delivering services and transferring funds have developed."

"Simply put," said professor Avi-Yonah, "we have the technology which enables people to conduct their affairs without regard to national borders and without transparency, while restricting tax collectors to geographic borders, meaningless in today's world."

He discussed what was revealed in a recent series of cases involving involving the Guardian Bank and Trust Co. Ltd., in the Cayman Islands. "First, in today's world, anyone can open a bank account in the Caymans for a minimal fee over the internet ..."

"Second, the account can be opened in the name of a Caymans corporation, which can likewise be set up long-distance for minimal transaction costs (as evident from any perusal of the back pages of the Economist magazine, where law firms advertising such services abound)." (Parentheses in original.)

"Third, money can be transferred into the account electronically from the US or from abroad, and in most cases there would not be any reporting of such transactions to tax authorities. Finally, the funds in the Caymans account can then be used for investments in the US and in other high tax jurisdictions, and there would generally be no withholding taxes on the resulting investment income, no Caymans taxes, and no information on the true identity of the holder available to the IRS or any other tax authority."

Finally, Avi-Yonah stated that "Significantly, other than the use of the Caymans, both the underlying funds that were deposited in the Guardian accounts, and the investment income, were generally purely domestic transactions, and the tax evaded was US income tax on US source income beneficially owned by US residents."

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wrote in its prepared testimony [PDF] that the Congress should make an exception to the there year civil statute of limitations period for taxpayers involved in offshore financial activity to give the IRS more time to investigate. John Harrington of the Department of the Treasury focused in his prepared testimony [PDF] on the process of obtaining information about financial activities in other countries.

The hearing focused on financial activities that are foreign and offshore relative to the U.S. The SFC did not examine financial activities, that are foreign or offshore relative to other countries, and that occur in the U.S. That is, the SFC did not examine the extent or consequences of residents' of other countries use of financial institutions in the U.S. to avoid tax, debt, or other laws or practices in their countries of residence.

5/3. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) held a hearing titled "The Internet: A Portal to Violent Islamist Extremism". See, SHSGAC web page with hyperlinks to opening statements of Senators and prepared testimony of other witnesses.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) said that the U.S. should "shut down" and "dispute" web sites, arguing that they constitute a "clear and present danger". Others argued that the appropriate response is to counter terrorist speech with a peaceful counter message.

Sen. Lieberman (at right) wrote in his opening statement [PDF] that "the internet ... is now being used to recruit and train the terrorists who plot such lethal attacks against American and other western targets". He added that "Islamist terrorists use the internet to broadcast news, propagandize, and conduct on-line classes in terrorist tactics and ideology."

Sen. Lieberman argued that "They are a clear and present danger."

The words "clear and present danger" were used by former Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCUS) Justice Oliver Holmes in his opinion in Schenck v. U.S., 249 U.S. 47 (1919). These words form part of a test to be applied by the courts in determining whether a government restraint on speech is Constitutionally permissible.

In addition, Tom Clancy wrote a book [Amazon] titled "Clear and Present Danger". Also, Paramount Pictures made a movie [PDF] that was based upon this book.

Sen. Lieberman argued that the U.S. "must take the challenge posed by these internet terrorists very seriously and launch an aggressive coordinated and effective response. We cannot cede cyberspace to the Islamist terrorists. We must do everything we can as quickly as we can to disrupt their websites "

"And we must develop the ability to shut these sites down when danger is imminent", said Sen. Lieberman.

In contrast, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) wrote in his opening statement [PDF] that "the U.S. government cannot prevent use of the internet by extremists". He argued that the US should "encourage the development and availability of a peaceful counter-narrative to challenge the extremists’ message".

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) wrote in her opening statement [PDF] that "The recruiting and reference materials on the Web for violent extremists are truly disturbing. Our enemies can consult Web sites to learn techniques for shooting down helicopters, to watch videos of hostage beheadings, to read letters left by suicide bombers, or to listen to messages from militant leaders."

Michael Doran, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, wrote in his prepared testimony [8 pages in PDF] that "Our deep commitment to a free society and the very nature of the web make it virtually impossible to prevent terrorists from using the Internet altogether."

He argued that "The Internet is a tool of a free society, and, as such, it can sometimes be used as a tool to undermine freedom. Nevertheless, the answer to the terrorist message of tyranny, intolerance and violent extremism is to effectively communicate the alternative vision: freedom, tolerance, and mutually-beneficial cooperation."

He also discussed the nature of the technology. He wrote that "The anonymity of the web and the ready availability of a virtual space for posting material in large quantities make it easy for terrorist-related sites to pop up temporarily, publish new material, and then move to another address when necessary. Once the material has been published, it is immediately duplicated on a large number of sites located on servers across the globe."

He added that "the web has created conditions that make it possible for us to imagine a wholly new type of terrorist network -- one that is almost entirely virtual -- composed of individuals who are not personally known to each other but who are animated by the same ideology and willing to coordinate actions in pursuit of it."

Joseph Felter, Director of the U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center, wrote in his prepared testimony [PDF] that "It is not possible to capture, kill, or incarcerate ideas."

He said that the Al-Qa`ida movement "would not be possible without the pervasiveness of Internet accessibility". But, he continued that "We cannot prevent all of these relationships from forming or stop the generation of these ideas, but we can do a better job of understanding how the Internet facilitates these processes so we can monitor and thwart those who join the Jihadi Movement."

He argued that "Attempts to shut down websites have proven as fruitless as a game of whack-a-mole. An open society in the information age offers opportunities for asymmetric warfare that cannot be taken away, only countered."

He noted that use of the internet also exposes weaknesses that the U.S. can exploit. He wrote that "We can monitor them to follow the networks and assess their operational capacity. We can sabotage them by infiltrating their networks and flooding the web with bogus information. And we can anticipate their attacks by reading their strategic literature and following trends on their web forums and discussion boards."

The Committee will hold a hearing titled "Violent Islamist Extremism: Government Efforts to Defeat It" on Thursday, May 10, 2007, at 2:30 PM..

The House will not meet. Its next meeting is on Monday, May 7.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM for morning business.

9:00 AM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) will host a meeting titled "Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Test Materials for the United States Government". See, notice in the Federal Register, April 17, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 73, at Pages 19178-19179. Location: NIST Administration Building, 100 Bureau Drive, Lecture Room B, Gaithersburg, MD.

POSTPONED. 9:30 AM - 2:00 PM. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a convention titled "2nd Annual Internet Security Summit". See, PFF notice, and agenda and registration page. For more information, contact Amy Smorodin at 202-289-8928. A continental breakfast and lunch will be served. Location: Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

10:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NDF) Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure will meet.. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 30, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 61, at Page 15170. Location: 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Room 1235, Arlington, VA.

10:30 AM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Science Board (NSB) will meet in closed session by teleconference to discuss candidates for the NSB Executive Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 3, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 85, at Page 24625.

3:00 - 5:00 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee of International Science and Engineering will meet to provide advice concerning the NSF programs in international science and engineering. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 13, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 71, at Pages 18690-18691. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Room 950, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the Copyright Office regarding its proposed rules changes regarding applications for registration of claims to the renewal term of copyright. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 4, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 64, at Pages 16306-16311.

The House will meet at 12:30 PM.

TIME? The Department of Defense's (DOD) Defense Science Board Task Force on Integrating Sensor-Collected Intelligence will hold another of its closed sessions regarding intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 2, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 62, at Page 15659. Location: Science Applications International Corporation, 4001 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit applications to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to participate in its rural health care pilot subsidy program. See, FCC Public Notice [PDF] (DA 07-1188).

Deadlines to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) regarding its complaint filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the People's Republic of China's (PRC) failure to fulfill its treaty obligations regarding the protection of intellectual property rights. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 23, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 77, at Pages 20144-20146, and notice in the Federal Register, April 23, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 77, at Pages 20143-20144.

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division will hold another of their long running series of workshops on single firm conduct and Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The FTC and DOJ also announced that this is the last panel. The speakers will be Susan Creighton (Wilson Sonsini), Jeffrey Eisenach (Chairman of Criterion Economics), Douglas Melamed (Wilmer Hale), Timothy Muris (George Mason University and O'Melveny & Myers), Robert Pitofsky (Georgetown University Law Center and Arnold & Porter), James Rill (Howrey), Rick Rule (Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft), Gregory Sidak (Georgetown University Law Center). See, FTC notice. Location: FTC HQ, Room 432, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW.

TIME? The Department of Defense's (DOD) Defense Science Board Task Force on Integrating Sensor-Collected Intelligence will hold another of its closed sessions regarding intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 2, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 62, at Page 15659. Location: Science Applications International Corporation, 4001 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA.

9:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, the House Ways and Means Committee's (HWMC) Subcommittee on Trade, and the House Financial Services Committee's (HFSC) Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology will hold a joint hearing titled "Currency Manipulation and Its Effects on U.S. Business and Workers". See, HWMC notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Copyright Office (CO) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will hold a "public roundtable discussion concerning the work at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) on a proposed Treaty on the Protection of the Rights of Broadcasting Organizations". The CO and USPTO add that "The deadline for receipt of requests to observe or participate in the roundtable is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 4, 2007." See, notice in the Federal Register, April 12, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 70, at Pages 18493-18494. See also, WIPO's March 8, 2007, paper [MS Word] titled "Draft Non-paper on the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations", which includes draft treaty language. Location: Mumford Room, 6th floor, Madison Building, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave., SE.

8:00 AM - 5:30 PM. The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) will host a conference titled "The New New Internet: IPv6 conference". See, notice. For more information, contact Trey Hodgkins at thodgkins at itaa dot org. Location: Hyatt Regency, Arllington, VA.

9:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "Digital Future of the United States: Part V: The Future of Video". Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold a hearing titled "Judicial Nominations". Press contact: Tracy Schmaler (Leahy) at Tracy_Schmaler at judiciary dot senate dot gov or 202-224-2154. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee's (HHSC) Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment will hold a hearing titled "Fixing the Homeland Security Information Network: Finding the Way Forward For Better Information Sharing". See, notice. This hearing will not be webcast by the HHSC. For more information, contact Dena Graziano or Adam Comis at 202-225-9978. Location: Room 311, Canon Building.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will hold the second of a series of three meeting to prepare advice for the next meetings of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Working Parties on the Information Economy (WPIE) and Communications and Infrastructure Services Policy (CISP). See, notice in the Federal Register, April 5, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 65, at Page 16868. Location: Room 2533a, Harry Truman Building, 2201 C St., NW.

? 2:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will hold the second of a series of three teleconferences to prepare advice for the next meeting of the International Telecommunication Union's Study Group 9 (Integrated broadband cable networks and television and sound transmission). See, notice in the Federal Register, April 5, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 65, at Page 16868.

6:00 - 8:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Enforcement Committee will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "What to do When the FCC Comes a' Calling: A Practitioner's Guide to FCC Enforcement". The price to attend ranges from $50 to $125. See, registration form [PDF]. Location: Arnold & Porter, 10th floor, 555 12th Street, NW.

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) will host a

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [53 pages in PDF] in its proceeding titled "In the Matter of Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2007". This NPRM is FCC 07-55 in MD Docket No. 07-81.

5/1. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) announced four appointments to the Republican staff of the SFC. David Ross was named International Trade Counsel. He will handle issues involving Europe and China, services, financial services, investment, intellectual property, and World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement issues. He was previously an Associate General Counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR), where he worked on WTO cases. Christopher Armstrong will be Investigator and Counsel working on investigative and oversight projects. He previously worked for the Office of Special Counsel. Paul Thacker will be an Investigator working investigative and oversight projects. He previously worked for the Public Education Center. Chris Condeluci will be Tax and Benefits Counsel. He previously worked for the Groom Law Group.

5/1. Greg Nojeim will join the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) as Senior Counsel and Director of CDT's Project on Freedom, Security and Technology, effective May 7. He previously worked for the ACLU. Nojeim has testified often before Congressional committees and other bodies regarding information technologies, government surveillance, federal law, and privacy and civil liberties. See, for example:
  • April 19, 2005, testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on the PATRIOT Act.
  • April 28, 2005 testimony before the House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Crime, and story titled "House Crime Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Library and ISP Records and § 215 of the Patriot Act and National Security Letters" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,125, April 29, 2005.
  • May 26, 2005, testimony before the House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Crime regarding National Security Letters.
  • March 9, 2007, testimony before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission on domestic wiretapping.

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