TITLE III - Enhancing Public Access to Congressional Research Service Information

Sec. 301. Availability of certain Congressional Research Service Information. (2 Comments) subscribe to the comments feed

CRS reports are important tools Members of Congress use to educate themselves on an extremely broad range of issues. They are available on an ad hoc basis when non-profit organizations or Members make them public on their own Web sites, and when profit-making companies make them available for a fee. A fairer system would ensure that all members of the public, regardless of their ability to pay, are able to search for and access reports. See S. Res. 401

  1. Availability of Information-

    1. IN GENERAL- The Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, in consultation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, shall make available through a centralized electronic system, for purposes of access and retrieval by the public under section 4 of this resolution, all information described in paragraph (2) that is available through the Congressional Research Service Web site.

    2. INFORMATION TO BE MADE AVAILABLE- The information to be made available under paragraph (1) is:

      1. Congressional Research Service Issue Briefs.

      2. Congressional Research Service Reports that are available to Members of Congress through the Congressional Research Service Web site.

      3. Congressional Research Service Authorization of Appropriations Products and Appropriations Products.

  2. Limitations-

    1. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION- Subsection (a) does not apply to-

      1. any information that is confidential, as determined by--

        1. the Director; or

        2. the head of a Federal department or agency that provided the information to the Congressional Research Service; or

      2. any documents that are the product of an individual, office, or committee research request (other than a document described in subsection (a)(2)).

    2. REDACTION AND REVISION- In carrying out this section, the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, in consultation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, may-

      1. remove from the information required to be made available under subsection (a) the name and phone number of, and any other information regarding, an employee of the Congressional Research Service;

      2. remove from the information required to be made available under subsection (a) any material for which the Director determines that making it available under subsection (a) may infringe the copyright of a work protected under title 17, United States Code; and

      3. make any changes in the information required to be made available under subsection (a) that the Director determines necessary to ensure that the information is accurate and current.

  3. MANNER- The Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, in consultation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, shall make the information required under this section available in a manner that is practical and reasonable.

2 comments on Sec. 301. Availability of certain Congressional Research Service Information.

  • For (a)(2), I would suggest that it instead include all information, regardless of what it is called, subject only the limitation in part b. Then add that some examples of products to be made available include issue briefs (and successor documents), reports on the CRS web site, etc. Then strike B(1)(b)

    For limitations, I should suggest that the Director be required to designate each item as confidential, rather than have the ability to give a blanket designation.

    posted by ds at March 28, 2008

  • While the spirit of the idea of not relying on what the document is called is in the right place, striking B(1)(b) would be a mistake politically. The biggest complaint that we hear from Congressional staff is that their "internal memos" will be made public. The broad language in B(1)(b) ensures that won't happen.

    I do agree that the Director should be required to designate each item.

    posted by Ari Schwartz, CDT at April 24, 2008

Comment on Sec. 301. Availability of certain Congressional Research Service Information.

(You may comment anonymously. Moderators may remove offensive or off-topic comments.)

Your Name (and Organization*):

Your Comment: (HTML is not permitted, but links will be automatically linked)

*We encourage you to take credit for your comments by including your name and organization.

Preview Your Comment

The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government. This Site may contain links to Internet sites that are not operated by Sunlight Foundation. These links are provided as a service and do not imply any endorsement of the activities or content of these sites, nor any association with their operators. Sunlight Foundation does not control these Internet sites and is not responsible for their content, security, or privacy practices. We urge you to review the privacy policy posted on web sites you visit before using the site or providing personal information.