January 6, 2011

Moving critical policy forward

The end of 2010 was a particularly busy time in Washington D.C., and CISAC scholars played a key role helping move critical policy forward. Michael McFaul, President Obama's senior advisor on Russia, was heavily involved with negotiating the New START treaty, which was ratified in December. William Perry, the former secretary of defense, was also a key advisor to the president on the issue. Obama also signed a bill in December repealing the Don't Ask Don't Tell law that has, since 1993, prohibited the U.S. military from undertaking efforts to determine the sexual preferences of service members. Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, helped lead the White House effort to implement the president's goal of repealing the policy in his role as Special Assistant to President Obama for Justice and Regulatory Policy. Cuéllar also coordinated the president's Food Safety Working Group and negotiated provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which Obama signed in January. The law requires, for the first time, the creation of a National Agriculture and Food Defense Strategy to harness American scientific and technical expertise in protecting the American food supply. The new law's inspection and documentation requirements will also help facilitate monitoring to identify security-related vulnerabilities.

• » Whitehouse.gov blog: "President signs repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell"
• » Whitehouse.gov blog: "Food Safety Modernization Act"
• » Whitehouse.gov blog: "New START Treaty and Protocol"