Government Policy Newslinks

Monday
July 7, 2008

Index to today's
Federal Register

Index to yesterday's
Congressional Record
Note: The Government Printing Office usually activates the Federal Register and Congressional Record webpages around 8 a.m. (EST) each weekday. The Congressional Record is not published on days that neither the House nor the Senate are in session.

Yesterday's edition
Use this link to display yesterday's edition. There is a link on each page to the previous day, creating a cascade effect that allows you to visit several weeks' worth of past editions by clicking back one day at a time.

GOVERNMENT
Supreme Court
White House
Federal Departments
Independent Agencies
Congressional Agencies
U.S. Senate
House of Representatives

INTEREST GROUPS
Topics that are covered in today's collection of interest group press releases and statements:
Banking
Climate
Drug policy
Economy
Energy
Food safety
Health & medicine
Health care
Labor
Media
Privacy

Government Policy Newslinks monitors press release activity on more than 2,300 governmental, congressional and public policy-oriented websites. Please visit our homepage for information about us, our mission and our operations.

Browsing tips and shortcuts.

Please report non-working links to the Editor

Need to renew or start a subscription? Use our online subscription form.

Need extra subscriptions? Forwarding this page to others is a violation of our copyright. We offer a generous discount for multiple subscriptions. Please call 304-754-9189 for information.

Copyright, 2008, Government Policy Newslinks.com Neither this page nor its Uniform Resource Locator (URL) may be electronically forwarded to another person. Copyright infringement is a serious violation of federal law.

Ed Zuckerman, Editor

White House

President
Weekly radio address: Independence Day

Roundtable interview by foreign print media at G-8 Summit Meeting

Remarks at ceremonial groundbreaking of National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD

Press Secretary
Statement on death of Sen. Jesse Helms

Fact sheet: Charting a clear course for the economy

Fact sheet: Senate must act quickly on bipartisan foreign intelligence legislation to ensure that our intelligence professionals can better protect America from terrorists

Office of Management & Budget
Releases annual report on benefits and costs of federal regulations

U.S. Trade Representative
Report to leaders on the U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative

Amb. Schwab calls for reinvigoration of regulatory reform in Japan

Fact sheet: 7th report to the leaders on the U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative

Federal Departments

Commerce
Secy. Gutierrez statement on June employment report

Commerce/International Trade Administration
Finds unfair dumping and subsidization of raw flexible magnets from China and Taiwan

Defense
National Guard and Reserve activated as of July 2

Construction begins on Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

10,000th mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicle is delivered

Pilot missing in action from Korean War is identified

Contract announcements for July 2

Energy/Argonne National Laboratory
New tool provides better, faster evaluation of plug-in hybrid vehicle performance

HHS/CMS
Proposes quality improvements and other changes for hospital outpatients

HHS/National Institute on Aging
Resveratrol found to improve health, but not longevity in aging mice on standard diet

Homeland Security/CBP
Unusual smuggling effort is thwarted when agents find 379 pounds of marijuana in man-made holes

Interior/Fish & Wildlife Service
Deaths of 9 wolves is blamed on illegal activity

Justice/Antitrust division
Divestiture ordered for Signature's acquisition of Hawker Beechcraft's flight support services business

Justice/Tax division
Chief Financial Officer of Catholic Diocese of Cleveland is convicted on conspiracy and filing false tax returns

Justice/US Attorney - New Jersey
Newark (NJ) technology contractor made millions by reselling Cisco Systems Inc. replacement computer parts

Justice/US Attorney - Pennsylvania Middle
State trooper indicted in Joint FBI-State Police investigation of public corruption and prostitution

Justice/US Attorney - Tennessee Western
2 physical therapy companies found guilty of defrauding Medicare of $3.5 million

Labor/BLS
Commissioner Hall statement on June employment report

June employment report: 62,000 jobs lost and unemployment held steady at 5.5%

State
Releases annual U.S.-Japan Investment Initiative Report

Special briefing on Inspector General's report on passport records access

Joint U.S.-Russia statement on 1st anniversary of Joint Declaration on Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation

Treasury
10 weeks of economic stimulus payments: 104.9 million checks totaling $86.1 billion

Treasury/Comptroller of the Currency
Approves Basel II standardized approach proposal

Insured commercial banks reported $1.13 billion in trading revenues in 1st quarter

Treasury/Office of Thrift Supervision
Releases 1st Mortgage Metrics Report on mortgage industry efforts to help qualified borrowers avoid foreclosure

USDA/APHIS
Quarantines for citrus greening and Asian citrus psyllid are expanded to Louisiana

USDA/Food Safety & Inspection Service
Kroger Co. (Cincinnati, OH) expands recall of ground beef products due to possible E.Coli contamination

USDA/Rural Development
Announces $1.4 billion in low-interest loans to rural electric cooperatives to finance 6,200 miles of lines for 73,400 customers

Independent Agencies

Consumer Product Safety Commission
Bead Bazaar USA Inc. (Rockville, MD) recalls 13,000 children's jewelry items for risk of lead contamination

Bayside Furnishings (San Diego, CA) recalls 9,350 youth bed/toy chests sold at Costco following death of a 22-month-old child

Environmental Protection Agency
Scam alert: EPA is not performing indoor air sampling in response to Iowa floods

Campaign debuts to help drivers save fuel, money and protect the environment

Federal Election Commission
Federal court upholds contribution limits for political committees that are engaged solely in independent expenditure activity

NASA
Scientists reveal new discoveries from Mercury

National Interagency Fire Center
Wildfire report and statistics for July 5

National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Unique cosmic coincidence allows astronomers to validate an effect predicted by Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity

National Science Foundation
Species have come and gone at different rates than previously believed

National Transportation Safety Board
Issues update on investigation of June 28 cargo airplane fire at San Francisco International Airport

Securities & Exchange Commission
Publishes regulatory actions to streamline filing procedures for self-regulatory organizations

U.S. International Trade Commission
Institutes patent infringement investigation of chemical compounds used in making rubber products

Congressional Agencies

Government Accountability Office
Defense acquisitions: A knowledge-based funding approach could improve major weapon system program outcomes

House of Representatives

Financial Services Committee
Chairman Frank statement on June employment report

Oversight & Government Reform Committee
Major league baseball responds to committee's questions

Berkley, Shelley NV
Presses Dept. of Justice for response to questions about $100 million no-bid legal contract for Yucca Mountain

Courtney, Joe CT
Unveils legislation to provide equal benefits to National Guard technicians

Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana FL
Terrorist attacks demonstrate the challenges that Israel has always faced

Saxton, Jim NJ
House bill includes $11.7 million to clean-up World War I-era ordnance found during beach erosion repair project on Long Beach Island, NJ

Interest Groups

Banking

Consumers Union
Recommends 5 changes to U.S. payments law and 10 principles to guide new payments products and a new payments law

Public Citizen
Michigan Supreme Court nullifies home mortgage foreclosure due to inadequate notice to homeowner

Climate
Conservation International
G-8 Summit meeting is an opportunity for immediate action on climate change

Greenpeace International
Business as usual is not an option for G-8 leaders who can take real action on climate change

Drug policy
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
U.S. is world's leader in illicit drug use

Economy
AFL-CIO
Statement on loss of jobs reported in June

Center for Economic & Policy Research
Job count fell another 62,000 in June; total loss of 578,000 jobs in last 6 months

Institute for Supply Management
Economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector contracted in June

Energy
National Association of Truck Stop Operators
Demand for gas and diesel fuel drops as unregulated market speculation drives prices upwards

National Farmers Union
Coalition claims excessive speculation is a driving force in energy prices

Wilderness Society
Opportunistic campaign to "drill now" on public lands won't ease high gasoline prices

Food safety
Consumer Federation of America
Salmonella outbreak demonstrates need for a standardized traceability system for produce

Health & medicine
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Researchers say seratonin receptor may be leading cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Health care
American Psychiatric Association
Death of psychiatric patient at King's County Hospital (Brooklyn, NY) underscores mental health care crisis

National Alliance on Mental Illness
Kings County death is not an isolated occurrence; survey shows psychiatric emergency room delays are a national problem

Labor
United Automobile Workers of America
National Labor Relations Board certifies UAW as bargaining agent for workers at Indian-owned Foxwoods Casino

Media
Committee to Protect Journalists
Calls for Dept. of Justice investigation into hate mail sent to black journalist

Privacy
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
Issues report on challenges presented by a growing portfolio of electronic records and digital content that must be preserved