Executive Branch
Bush Blocked Justice Investigation Over Wiretapping
     President Bush personally blocked an internal Justice Department investigation into the ethics of its involvement in wiretapping without warrants, a top official said this week. Under sharp questioning from the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman about why lawyers from Justice's office of professional responsibility, or OPR, could not obtain security clearance to see the relevant documents, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Bush decided against clearance. "Many other lawyers in the Department of Justice had clearance," said Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. "Why not OPR?" Gonzales' response: "The president of the United States makes the decisions." Specter noted that the blockage was the latest in a string of events where the administration sought to exempt its wiretapping program from court and congressional oversight.

Privacy
Panel Moves To Tighten Data Security For Veterans
     The House Veterans' Affairs Committee approved legislation to bolster data security at the Veterans Affairs Department. The measure was approved by voice vote. The bill, H.R. 5835, would centralize the VA's information technology operation under a new undersecretary of information services, who would serve as the department's chief information officer, and three deputies for security, operations and management, and policy and planning. The VA would have to immediately report security breaches to Congress, federal authorities and the veterans whose information is affected. That information could be anything from a birth date or home address, to a Social Security number or financial data. The legislation is a response to the May theft of a laptop computer from the home of a VA employee. It contained the personal information of 26.5 million veterans and military personnel. The laptop later was found, but the incident received wide media attention and sparked a flurry of congressional hearings.

Health
Obstacles To Floor Vote On Health IT Remain
     Those pressing for health information technology legislation to go to the House floor may feel like they are in a doctor's waiting room. They expected to make the list of floor issues shortly after the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees approved the legislation, H.R. 4157, on June 15, but more than a month later, they do not know when their time will come. Republicans said the measure would modernize the nation's healthcare system by pushing the industry away from pen-and-paper records and into the computer age. Democrats, who almost unanimously opposed the measure, said the switch would not happen without federal funding to help smaller healthcare providers adopt new technologies. The Computing Technology Industry Association hopes that when the bill does go to the floor, it includes an amendment to give small providers a $250,000 tax break to invest in health IT.

Broadband
Christian Coalition Ramps Up Net Neutrality Lobbying
     The Christian Coalition will play a critical role in trying to generate essential Republican support for a controversial network neutrality amendment. "The more we get our message out, I think we're turning the tide," said Michele Combs, communications director for the coalition. The amendment would prevent Bell and cable operators of high-speed Internet lines from potentially acting as content gatekeepers or charging firms for premium treatment on the Internet. It is far tougher on broadband operators than language currently in the Senate telecommunications bill. The coalition is worried that if the Internet is divided into faster and slower lanes, it might have difficulty reaching its 3 million members. In August, the group will target about 20 conservative Republicans, using grassroots efforts such as letters, phone calls, e-mails and participation in town-hall meetings, to build support for strict neutrality safeguards.

E-Government
Lawmakers Decry Delays For E-Voting Standards
     A House hearing on e-voting machine guidelines drew an overflow crowd of voters and activists concerned about the accuracy of systems without paper proof of cast ballots or audits. House Science Environment Subcommittee Chairman Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., said the goal of the hearing was to learn how voting technology standards can help achieve two goals -- knowing that every vote is accurately counted and that no citizens' ballots are diluted by illegal votes. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has identified 125 ways the machines can be altered to produce incorrect results. NIST is helping develop voluntary guidelines that were to be implemented last year but that will not be ready until December 2007. "I'm not happy to learn that new standards are not likely to be fully enforceable until 2010 at the earliest -- and that's only in states that choose to adopt them," said Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y.

Campaigns
Social-Networking Sites Become Pa. Campaign Issue
     A Pennsylvania Democrat with his eyes on a House seat is taking aim at his opponent's proposal to limit the access children have to online social networks when at public schools and libraries. Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war veteran who now is gunning for the seat occupied by Republican Mike Fitzpatrick, has made his competing proposal to protect children from online sexual predators a centerpiece of his campaign. Fitzpatrick introduced a bill, H.R. 5319, that would require schools and libraries that receive federal aid to prohibit access to networking sites such as MySpace. The goal is to protect children from sexual predators who lurk on such sites. Murphy recently said a former assistant U.S. attorney and various law enforcers in the congressional district where the two are running have endorsed his competing plan, which emphasizes making filtering software more available to parents.

Net Governance
Law Enforcers Fight For Access To Domain Data
     A White House official told House lawmakers that a proposal to restrict the use of databases containing information on Web site operators would limit the ability of law enforcers to investigate online crimes. At a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing, John Kneuer, the White House nominee to head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said access to the contact information in "Whois" databases maintained by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is essential to combating crime and protecting the privacy of consumers. ICANN is considering a proposal to only allow access to the databases for "technical purposes." The plan would impede the ability of law enforcers to seek online criminals who "hide behind the shield of anonymity," Kneuer said. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., said the databases have many essential and legitimate uses, such as investigating "phishing" schemes that use phony Web sites to solicit money.

Civil Liberties
Report Condemns Web Firms' Compliance In China
     Major U.S. companies have violated their stated corporate values in order to pursue economic gains, Amnesty International alleged in a report released Wednesday evening. The group accused Google, Microsoft and Yahoo of releasing public statements in support of free speech while complying with the conflicting requests of the Chinese government. The group charged Yahoo with giving the government private information leading to the imprisonment of two journalists and with voluntarily signing China's pledge to restrict content. The human rights group charged Microsoft with shutting down the online writings of New York Times researcher Zhao Jing and with limiting the use of certain terms such as "democracy" on MSN Spaces at the request of the Chinese government. Amnesty International further criticized Google for launching a censored version of its search engine in China.