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Congressional Hearings
A United States congressional hearing is the principal formal method by which United States congressional committees collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. Whether confirmation hearings (a procedure unique to the United States Senate), legislative, oversight, investigative, or a combination of these, all hearings share common elements of preparation and conduct. Hearings usually include oral testimony from witnesses and questioning of the witnesses by members of Congress. George B. Galloway termed congressional hearings a goldmine of information for all the public problems of the United States. A leading authority on U.S. government publications has referred to the published hearings as "the most important publications originating within Congress." The Senate Library in a similar vein noted "Hearings are among the most important publications originating in Congress."''Cumulative Index of Congressional Committee Hearings (Not Confidential i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teapot Dome Scandal
The Teapot Dome scandal was a political corruption scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Warren G. Harding. It centered on Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, who had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming, as well as two locations in California, to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding. The leases were the subject of an investigation by Senator Thomas J. Walsh. Convicted of accepting bribes from the oil companies, Fall became the first presidential cabinet member to go to prison, but no one was convicted of paying the bribes. Before the Watergate scandal, Teapot Dome was regarded as the "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics". It permanently damaged the reputation of the Harding administration, already hurt by its handling of the Great Railroad Strike of 1922 and Harding's 1922 veto of the Bonus Bill. Congress subsequently passed permanent legislation granting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
106th Congress
The 106th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1999, to January 3, 2001, during the last two years of Bill Clinton's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1990 United States census. Both chambers maintained a Republican majority. This is the most recent Congress with Republican senators from the states of Delaware (William Roth), Michigan (Spencer Abraham) and Washington ( Slade Gorton), all of whom lost re-election in 2000. Major events * January 7, 1999 – February 12, 1999: Impeachment trial of Bill Clinton * March 24, 1999 – June 10, 1999: NATO bombing of Yugoslavia * March 29, 1999: Dow Jones Industrial Average ended above 10,000 for the first time. * April 20, 1999: Columbine High School massacre * April 3, 2000: '' United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous administrative division, autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the north Atlantic Ocean.* * * Metropolitan Denmark, also called "continental Denmark" or "Denmark proper", consists of the northern Jutland peninsula and an archipelago of 406 islands. It is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries, lying southwest of Sweden, south of Norway, and north of Germany, with which it shares a short border. Denmark proper is situated between the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east.The island of Bornholm is offset to the east of the rest of the country, in the Baltic Sea. The Kingdom of Denmark, including the Faroe Islands and Greenland, has roughly List of islands of Denmark, 1,400 islands greater than in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It comprises an area of , and its population was estimated at 29 million in 2022. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas. The continental territory is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Colombia, Brazil on the south, Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east and on the east by Guyana. Venezuela is a presidential republic consisting of States of Venezuela, 23 states, the Venezuelan Capital District, Capital District and Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, federal dependencies covering Venezuela's offshore islands. Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America; the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north and in the capital. The territory o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,300 other islands and islets on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. Its capital Tallinn and Tartu are the two largest List of cities and towns in Estonia, urban areas. The Estonian language is the official language and the first language of the Estonians, majority of its population of nearly 1.4 million. Estonia is one of the least populous members of the European Union and NATO. Present-day Estonia has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BC. The Ancient Estonia#Early Middle Ages, medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Northern Crusades in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996, but has not entered into force, as nine specific nations have not ratified the treaty. History Background The movement for international control of nuclear weapons began in 1945, with a call from Canada and the United Kingdom for a conference on the subject. In June 1946, Bernard Baruch, an emissary of President Harry S. Truman, proposed the Baruch Plan before the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, which called for an international system of controls on the production of atomic energy. The plan, which would serve as the basis for U.S. nuclear policy into the 1950s, was rejected by the Soviet Union as a US ploy to cement its nuclear dominance. Between the Trinity nuclear test of 16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Senate Committee On Armed Services
The Committee on Armed Services, sometimes abbreviated SASC for Senate Armed Services Committee, is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with Congressional oversight, legislative oversight of the Military of the United States, nation's military, including the United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear power, nuclear energy (as pertaining to national security), benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System, and other matters related to defense policy. The Armed Services Committee was created as a result of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 following the U.S. victory in World War II. The bill merged the responsibilities of the Committee on Naval Affairs, established in 1816, and the Committee on Military Affairs, also established in 1816. Considered one of the most powerful Senate committees, its broad mandate allowed it to report some of the most extensive and revolutionary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Committee On Foreign Relations
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for authorizing and overseeing foreign aid programs; arms sales and training for national allies; and holding confirmation hearings for high-level positions in the Department of State. Its sister committee in the House of Representatives is the Committee on Foreign Affairs.Renamed from Committee on International Relations by the 110th Congress in January 2007. Along with the Finance and Judiciary committees, the Foreign Relations Committee is among the oldest in the Senate, dating to the initial creation of committees in 1816. It has played a leading role in several important treaties and foreign policy initiatives throughout U.S. history, including the Alaska purchase, the establishment of the United Nations, and the passage of the Marshall Plan. The committee has also produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treaty Clause
The Treaty Clause of the United States Constitution ( Article II, Section 2, Clause 2) establishes the procedure for ratifying international agreements. It empowers the President as the primary negotiator of agreements between the United States and other countries, and holds that the advice and consent of a two-thirds supermajority of the Senate renders a treaty binding with the force of federal law. Text Background Treaties under the Articles of Confederation As with the drafting of the U.S. Constitution as a whole, the Treaty Clause was influenced by perceived flaws and limitations of the Articles of Confederation, the first governmental framework of the United States. The Articles established a weak central government and accorded significant autonomy and deference to the individual states. The unicameral Congress of the Confederation was the sole national governing body, with both legislative and executive functions, including the power to make treaties. However, to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appointments Clause
The Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution empowers the president of the United States to nominate and, with the advice and consent (confirmation) of the United States Senate, appoint public officials. Although the Senate must confirm certain principal officers (including ambassadors, Cabinet of the United States, Cabinet secretaries, and United States federal judge, federal judges), Congress may by Act of Congress, law invest the appointment of "inferior" officers to the President alone, or to courts of law or heads of departments. Text The Appointments Clause appears at Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 and provides: Appointments Clause aspects Nomination The president has plenary power to nominate political appointees, and the Senate's role is only advisory to the nomination, because the president is not bound to appoint his own nominee even with their advice. As Gouverneur Morris stated in the Constitutional Convention (United States), Constitutional Conventio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advice And Consent
Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in List of enacting formulae, enacting formulae of bill (proposed law), bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enactment of a bill, enacts something previously approved of by the legislative branch or where the legislative branch concurs and approves something previously enacted by a strong executive branch. General The concept serves to moderate the power of one branch of government by requiring the concurrence of another branch for selected actions. The expression is frequently used in weak executive systems where the head of state has little practical power, and in practice the important part of the passage of a law is in its adoption by the legislature. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a constitutional monarchy, bills are headed: BE IT ENACTED by the Queen of the United Kingdom, King's most Excellent Majesty, by an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
