For this episode, Jen sat down for an interview with fellow Congress nerd Dr. Maya Kornberg. Dr. Kornberg is a Research Fellow for the Brennan Center for Justice's Elections and Government Program and author of Inside Congressional Committees: Function and Dysfunction in the Legislative Process. They talk about how and why the power of committees has shifted over time, how witnesses are selected for hearings, why the hearing archives disappeared, resources for information that Congress has that we don’t have access to, and where we can find hope for improvements in terms of how Congress functions. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links  Contribute monthly or a lump sum via  Support Congressional Dish via  (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to:   Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media!   Relevant Links   Brennan Center for Justice.   House Natural Resources Committee.  Music Presented in This Episode  by

CD273: Inside Congressional Committees with Dr. Maya Kornberg

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“FISA 702” allows the government to spy on foreigners and store the information that they collect about American citizens incidentally. After more than a decade of FBI officials inappropriately searching the database of our information without warrants, Congress just reauthorized the program and made some changes - some reigning the program in and some expanding it. In this episode, learn what those changes are and how they are likely to affect you. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links  Contribute monthly or a lump sum via  Support Congressional Dish via  (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to:   Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media!   Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes      FISA  Jasper Ward. April 20, 2024. Reuters.  Luke Goldstein. April 12, 2024. The American Prospect.  Zeba Siddiqui. May 19, 2023. Reuters.  April 21, 2022. U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.  December 2019. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General.  Edward C. Liu. April 13, 2016. Congressional Research Service. History of Surveillance  Mark Klein. November 8, 2007. C-SPAN Washington Journal.  James Risen and Eric Lichtblau. December 16, 2005. The New York Times. NSA Spy Center  Kashmir Hill. March 4, 2013. Forbes.  James Bamford. March 15, 2012. Wired. PRISM program  T.C. Sottek and Janus Kopfstein. July 17, 2013. The Verge. Laws   Vote Breakdowns                 Audio Sources  April 19, 2024   April 12, 2024  Speakers:     November 8, 2007 C-SPAN Washington Journal  Music  by  Editing  Production Assistance

CD291: Warrantless Spying Continues

After an unprecedented embassy bombing followed by an unprecedented drone and missile attack, Israel and Iran may have us on the brink of WWIII. In this episode, as Congress and the Biden administration ponder additional support for Israel, we take a look at what has already been approved for Israel in the 2024 defense authorization and funding law. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links  Contribute monthly or a lump sum via  Support Congressional Dish via  (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to:   Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media!   Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes  Netanyahu  Howard Eissenstat. Sept 20, 2012. Slate.  Akiva Eldar. February 10, 2009. Haaretz. Attacks on U.S. Bases  Ken Klippenstein. February 9, 2024. The Intercept.  Doug G. Ware. November 6, 2023. Stars and Stripes.  Doug G. Ware. October 31, 2023. Stars and Stripes. Iran-Israel Conflict  David Hearst. April 15, 2024. Middle East Eye.  Tom Spender. April 15, 2024. BBC.  Ken Klippenstein and Daniel Boguslaw. April 14, 2024. The Intercept.  Barak Ravid. April 14, 2024. Axios.  Ben Samuels. April 14, 2024. Haaretz.  Cassandra Vinograd and Natan Odenheimer. April 14, 2024. The New York Times.  Permanent Mission of I.R.Iran to UN, NY (@Iran_UN). April 13, 2024.  Ellen Knickmeyer and Lolita C. Baldor. April 3, 2024. PBS NewsHour. Fear of U.S. War with Iran  Ali Vaez. April 15, 2024. Foreign Affairs.  Murtaza Hussain. April 14, 2024. The Intercept.  Carol E. Lee et al. April 14, 2024. NBC News.  Uri Misgav. November 23, 2023. Haaretz.  Julian Borger. December 17, 2023. The Guardian.  Marwan Bishara. October 9, 2023. Aljazeera. Defense funding for Israel  Yuval Azulay. April 15, 2024.” CTech by Calcalist.  Noah Robertson. November 15, 2023. Defense News.  Jeremy M. Sharp. March 1, 2023. Congressional Research Service via EveryCRSReport.com.  Raytheon.  2021. Rafael.  Jeremy M. Sharp. September 30, 2014. Congressional Research Service via EveryCRSReport.com.  Tony Capaccio. May 27, 2014. Bloomberg.  January 7, 2014. Boeing. Boeing and Raytheon Campaign Contributions and Lobbying  Open Secrets.  Open Secrets.  Open Secrets.  Open Secrets. Foreign Military Financing  Nathan J. Lucas and Michael J. Vassalotti. February 21, 2020. Congressional Research Service via EveryCRSReport.com.  March 2017. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, U.S. Department of Defense.* Abraham Accords  U.S. Department of State. Jordan  Zvi Bar’el. April 15, 2024. Haaretz.  Jonathan Shamir. April 16, 2023. Haaretz. Saudi Arabia  April 14, 2024. Al Arabiya English. Laws            Executive Producer Recommended Sources  King Abdullah. 1947. From the Internet Archive, originally published in The American Magazine.  Music  by  Editing  Production Assistance

CD290: Israel War Money: What’s Already Law

A bill is quickly moving through Congress that supposedly would “ban TikTok.” While it is clearly aimed at TikTok, this bill is really about creating a new Presidential power to remove Americans’ access to apps, websites, games and other entire tech platforms. In this episode, using the text of the bill itself, we examine how exactly this new censorship power would work if the bill passes the Senate and becomes law. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links  Contribute monthly or a lump sum via  Support Congressional Dish via  (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to:   Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media!   Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes    The Not a TikTok Ban Bill  Drew Harwell et al. March 13, 2024. The Washington Post.  David E. Sanger. March 13, 2024. The New York Times.  Aamer Madhani. March 8, 2024. AP News. Opposition to the bill  Jenna Leventoff. March 13, 2024. ACLU.  Access Now et al. March 12, 2024. ACLU. How we got here  Dan Primack. March 12, 2024. Axios.  Samantha Delouya and Brian Fung. November 30, 2023. CNN.  Emily Baker-White. August 21, 2023. Forbes.  November 20, 2023. Reuters.  Brian Fung. December 30, 2022. CNN.  James K. Jackson. February 14, 2020. Congressional Research Service. Grindr  Echo Wang. May 13, 2019. Reuters.  Jeff Farrah. April 15, 2019. TechCrunch. ByteDance  Lily Kuo and Annabelle Timsit. March 13, 2024. The Washington Post.  April 16, 2023. TikTok. Censorship and Spying  Jonathan Vanian. January 22, 2024. CNBC.  May 16, 2023. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Public Affairs.  Marielle Descalsota. December 27, 2022. Business Insider.  Lily Hay Newman. May 7, 2019. Wired. Israel and AIPAC  Camille Bressange. March 16, 2024. The Wall Street Journal.  Kate Linthicum. March 13, 2024. The Los Angeles Times.  Celine Alkhaldi et al. March 8, 2024. CNN.  December 3, 2023. Velshi on MSNBC.  Rep. Mike Gallagher. November 1, 2023. The Free Press.  Mater Dei High School. TikTok  September 20, 2021. BBC. The Bill     Audio Sources  House Floor March 13, 2024 Clips 19:00 Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY): There was there were some people who were legitimately concerned that this was an overly broad bill and they got an exclusion written into the bill that I want to read. It says the term "covered company" does not include an entity that operates a website or application, whose primary purpose is to allow users to post product reviews, business reviews, or travel information and reviews. Why is this exception in the bill? Why did somebody feel like they needed this exception if the bill itself only covers social media applications that foreign adversaries are running now? 21:15 Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ): While this bill establishes a national security framework that could apply to other applications, much of the public attention is focused on TikTok. 23:15 Rep. Michael Gallagher (R-WI): Mr. Speaker, TikTok is a threat to our national security because it is owned by ByteDance, which does the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party. We know this because ByteDance’s leadership says so and because Chinese law requires it. This bill, therefore, would force TikTok to break up with the Chinese Communist Party. It does not apply to American companies. It only applies to companies subject to the controlof foreign adversaries defined by Congress. It says nothing about election interference and cannot be turned against any American social media platform. It does not impact websites in general. The only impacted sites are those associated with foreign adversary apps, such as TikTok.com. It can never be used to penalize individuals. The text explicitly prohibits that. It cannot be used to censor speech. It takes no position at all on the content of speech, only foreign adversary control of what is becoming the dominant news platform for Americans under 30. 25:55 Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): This divestment requirement is not new. It's not without precedent. When the app Grindr, a popular LGBTQ app, was acquired by a Chinese company, and the United States government determined that sensitive data of LGBTQ members of the military and US government officials got into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, they required divestment. This happened quickly. Why? Because Grindr was a very valuable social media company. The same is true with regard to TikTok, and there will be no disruption to users, just as there was with Grindr. 27:25 Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): Last week, under the leadership of the Chairwoman and the Ranking Member, they brought up for consideration our bill before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. On the morning of that vote, TikTok, delivered a push notification and a pop up to thousands of users across the country. They used geolocation data targeting minor children to then force them to call congressional offices in order to continue using the app. And in doing so, these children called and they asked the question: what is Congress? And what is a Congressman? This influence campaign illustrates the need for this bill. 29:20 Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH): The people sponsoring this bill today claim that the real issue is ownership. But who owns this company? It's not 100% owned by Bytedance. 60% of it's owned by investors, including American investors. 20% are owned by the founders and 20% are owned by over 7000 employees. The company's headquarters is not in China, it's in Singapore. And the American user data isn't housed in China. It's housed in Texas, controlled by a database owned by Oracle. 30:20 Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH): So if we think we can address the privacy concerns, what's left to address? Frankly, content moderation. Remember, before Elon Musk bought the crime scene at Twitter, it was all a conspiracy theory that these algorithms were silencing and canceling people. You guys are crazy. Now when Elon Musk bought Twitter, he did keep it operating with 80% fewer employees. But what we found is a lot of the employees were trying to do content moderation, shape who sees what and how they see it, which algorithms are used, how does it promote certain people and, and filter others? So really, what you're saying here is if you're not fully engaged with America's three letter agencies in content moderation, we plan to 'TikTok' you. And this bill isn't just limited to TikTok. It's a coercive power that can be applied to other apps like Telegram, Tor. Things that provide privacy would be targeted by this bill. 34:20 Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): First of all, this is not a ban on TikTok. I'm a grandmother of teenagers, I understand the entertainment value, the educational value, communication value, the business value for some businesses on this. This is not an attempt to ban TikTok. Its an attempt to make TikTok better. Tic Tac Toe. A winner, a winner. 41:00 Brett Guthrie (R-KY): I was asked, does this just affect TikTok? And no, it's any foreign adversary, or any app that is owned, controlled or unduly influenced by any foreign adversary. We must protect our national security and help keep America's private data out of the hands of our foreign adversaries. I urge support of this bill, and I yield back.  51:55 Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN): After hearing from national security experts last week, it is clear the prolific use of media platforms controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign adversaries poses a danger to our country. 53:15 Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA): This bill would greatly expand the Executive's authority to ban tech companies with zero congressional oversight. I cannot sign a blank check to some future president who would easily and dangerously weaponize this legislation to profit in silence. 55:20 Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL): We aren't banning a company, as the high paid lobbyists for Bytedance - which is owned by China - would lead you to believe. We aren't infringing on constitutionally protected speech or growing the size of government. All we're saying is, Break up with the Chinese Communist Party. 1:02:30 Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY): Who's going to be prosecuted by this bill? Is it Bytedance or TikTok? Will they be taken to court? No. I mean, they're the target of this, but how do you elicit or effect a ban on them? By prosecuting Americans? The only way you can ban TikTok and the other companies from being here is to say what this bill says, which is the government will bring a civil action suit against you, if you so much as host them here. If you have an app store that allows them to be here, you're an American or an American company and you will be the target of this bill. Those are the only people who can be pursued under this bill and I know it's in order to go after TikTok, or so they say.  Music  by  Editing  Production Assistance

CD289: The Not A TikTok Ban Bill

As we enter another round of government funding drama, let’s learn the basics. In this episode, we examine how the process is supposed to work, spot the tell tale signs that something has gone wrong, and decipher all of the DC wonky words that make the appropriations process seem more complicated than it really is. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links  Contribute monthly or a lump sum via  Support Congressional Dish via  (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to:   Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media!   Background Sources Appropriations     February 8, 2023. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations. Mandatory vs. Discretionary Spending  FiscalData.Treasury.gov.  Updated October 24, 2022. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Government Shutdown  February 26, 2024. Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Omnibus Bills  Andrew Taylor. December 22, 2020. AP News. Earmarks  February 9, 2005. Taxpayers for Common Sense. Retrieved from the Wayback Machine version from October 25, 2008. What Happens Next  Jamie Dupree. March 5, 2024. Regular Order. Audio Sources  House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense January 12, 2022  Witness:  Mike McCord, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)  Clips 29:51 Mike McCord: First, as I believe you’re all aware a full year CR, we reduce our funding level below what we requested and what we believe we need. On the surface at the department level as a whole, the reduction to our accounts would appear to be about a billion dollars below our request, which would be significant. Even if that was the only impact. The actual reduction in practice will be much greater. Because we would have significant funding that’s misaligned, trapped or frozen in the wrong places and unusable because we don’t have the tools or flexibilities to realign funds on anything like the scam we would need to fix all the problems that the chiefs are going to describe. 30:27 Mike McCord: I know all of you are very familiar with the fact that virtually all military construction projects in each year’s budget including the FY 22 budget are new starts that cannot be executed under a CR.  Music  by  Editing  Production Assistance

CD288: Government Funding 101

It’s been four months since President Biden requested over $100 billion in war money for Israel and Ukraine and the Senate has now passed a bill that would provide most of the money. In this episode, we examine the events that lead up to and have occurred since President Biden’s address to the nation, and analyze the Senate bill along with its possible paths to becoming law. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links  Contribute monthly or a lump sum via  Support Congressional Dish via  (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to:   Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media!   Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes         October 7 Attack  Aluf Benn. February 21, 2024. Haaretz.  Liza Rozovsky. January 6, 2024. Haaretz.  Amos Harel. November 27, 2023. Haaretz.  November 18, 2023. Josh Breiner. Haaretz.  Hagar Shezaf and Jack Khoury. October 6, 2023. Haaretz. Aftermath of the October 7 Attack  Ran Shimoni et al. February 24, 2024. Haaretz.  October 20, 2023. White House Briefing Room.  Michael D. Shear. October 19, 2023. The New York Times.  October 19, 2023. Democracy Now! History of Palestine and Israel  Bernard Avishai. February 2024. Harper’s Magazine.  October 20, 2023. The World.  Directed by Erin Axelman and Sam Eilertsen, produced by Daniel J. Chalfen, Nadia Saah, and Erin Axelman. 2023.  OCHA. June 2022. UNICEF.  Rashid Khalidi. Macmillan Audio: 2020.  Directed by Abby Martin. 2019. Empire Files.  Ian Black. Tantor Audio: 2018.  Darryl Cooper. 2015-2016. Martyrmade Podcast.  April 16, 2015. Defense for Children International - Palestine.  March 2012. Visualizing Palestine. Balfour Declaration  Zena Al Tahhan. November 2, 2018. Al Jazeera.  Lord Arthur James Balfour. November 2, 1917. Jewish Virtual Library. Vanishing Palestine  Retrieved on February 27, 2024. Wikipedia: the free Encyclopedia.  October 11, 2023. BBC.  Hagar Shezaf. December 11, 2020. Haaretz.  May 12, 2020. Human Rights Watch.  Mitchell Bard. Jewish Virtual Library.  Al Jazeera.  Alex Hartman et al. December 9, 2004. Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.  2003. Creation of Israel  1947.  April 1983. United Nations. Lebanon  Rania Abouzeid. October 21, 2023. The New Yorker.  Tom Perry et al. October 18, 2022. Reuters. Dahiya Doctrine  December 7, 2012. Institute for Middle East Understanding.  Gabi Siboni. October 2, 2008. INSS Insight.  November 23, 2006. UN General Assembly Human Rights Council. Gaza Death Toll  AJLabs. Retrieved on February 27, 2024. Al Jazeera.  Amna Nawaz and Sonia Kopelev. February 9, 2024. PBS NewsHour.  Linda Dayan. December 26, 2023. Haaretz.  June 23, 2015. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  Caabu.  Rory McCarthy. September 15, 2009. The Guardian. Post-October 7 Land Grab  Henriette Chacar. February 23, 2024. Reuters.  Julia Frankel. February 23, 2024. AP News.  Liza Rozovsky. February 15, 2024. Haaretz.  Nir Hasson and Rachel Fink. January 28, 2024. Haaretz.  Abdelraouf Arnaout. January 3, 2024. Anadolu Agency.  Itai Weiss. December 27, 2023. Haaretz.  Yitzhak Benbaji et al. November 30, 2023. Haaretz.  Isaac Chotiner. November 11, 2023. The New Yorker.  Uploaded by LocalCall. October 13, 2023. Scribd. Gas Rights  Walid Abuhelal. February 20, 2024. Middle East Eye. Israeli Nukes  Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation. Ceasefire  Amy Spiro et al. November 30, 2023. The Times of Israel.  Omar Shakir. November 29, 2023. Human Rights Watch. The Destruction of Gaza  James Mackenzie and Nidal Al-Mughrabi. February 15, 2024. Reuters.  Mithil Aggarwal and Yasmine Salam. January 18, 2024. NBC News.  Yahya R. Sarraj. December 24, 2023. The New York Times.  Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber. December 21, 2023. Reuters. U.S. Aid to Israel   Matthew Lee. December 29, 2023. PBS NewsHour.  Michael D. Shear and Karoun Demirjian. October 20, 2023. The New York Times. Limiting Aid to Gaza  Katie Polglase and Muhammad Darwish. February 21, 2024. CNN.  Rachel Fink. February 7, 2024. Haaretz.  Lindsey Hilsum. February 5, 2024. Channel 4 News.  Jessica Le Masurier. February 5, 2024. France 24. Netanyahu Rejects Two State Solution  January 19, 2024. DW. Why Does the U.S. Government Support Israel?  OpenSecrets. Real American History  Howard Zinn. Harper Audio: 2009. Ukraine  Anatol Lieven. February 24, 2024. Time. Border Crisis  Jamie Dupree. February 15, 2024. Regular Order.   Caitlin Yilek. February 14, 2024. CBS News.  Kelly Garrity. February 5, 2024. Politico. Bills     Audio Sources  February 11, 2024 Bernie Sanders on X  October 19, 2023 C-SPAN Executive Producer Recommended Sources  Music  by  Editing  Production Assistance

CD273: Inside Congressional Committees with Dr. Maya Kornberg

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