Representatives Increase Efforts to put Congressional Research Reports Online - December 2, 2003 Vol.4, No.24

December 2, 2003 Vol.4, No.24:

Published: 12/02/2003

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Representatives Increase Efforts to put Congressional Research Reports Online

Members of the House of Representatives interested in public access are pushing for a bill to put all Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports online. This new push comes after the September expiration of a pilot program that provided hundreds of CRS reports to the public on the Internet.

The CRS is the research arm of the U.S. Congress and authors numerous reports and products on issues ranging from the environment to budget. Even though taxpayers pay over $80 million annually to fund CRS operations, the public is unable to access the reports through the organization’s website, a feature restricted to congressional offices. Until the end of September, the House Administration Committee’s test program allowed access to a portion of the CRS research through lawmakers’ sites.

Reps. Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Jay Inslee (D-WA) introduced H.R. 3630, a bill that would require CRS to make all of its reports available to the public 30 to 40 days after Congress receives them. Only confidential research or reports created specifically for a congressional office or committee would be exempt from the requirement. While restricting access to confidential information seems completely reasonable, the rationale behind restricting public access to research conducted for congressional offices and committees remains unclear. The legislation is also co-sponsored by Reps. David Price (D-NC) and Mark Green (R-WI).

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a related resolution, S. Res. 54, to the Senate before the pilot program expired. The resolution, co-sponsored by Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Joseph Liebermann (D-CT), calls upon the Senate sergeant-at-arms to work with CRS to make the reports available to the public electronically.