[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 35 (Thursday, March 3, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1279-S1281]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. McCain):
S. 2639. A bill to direct the Director of the Government Publishing
Office to provide members of the public with Internet access to
Congressional Research Service reports, and for other purposes; to the
Committee on Rules and Administration.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Senator McCain and I are introducing
bipartisan, bicameral legislation to make reports published by the
Congressional Research Service, CRS, available to the American public
online. This legislation will open up an invaluable, taxpayer-funded
resource for use by schools, universities, researchers, libraries, and
individuals across the country.
The CRS was founded more than 100 years ago to provide comprehensive,
non-partisan information on vital issues affecting national policy. In
2015, CRS issued over 1200 new reports and updated almost 2500 existing
products, on matters ranging from the structure of government agencies,
to summaries of legislative proposals, foreign policy primers, and
everything in between. These reports are posted on an internal website
for use by Members of Congress and their staff, but they are not
distributed directly to the public. In an informal arrangement that is
all too familiar in Washington, this unnecessary restriction has
created a cottage industry of services that make copies of the reports
available to lobbyists for a subscription fee. Schools and the general
public cannot access them, nor do readers know whether the scattering
of CRS reports they can find online through third-party websites are
authentic, complete, or up-to-date. That's not very `public' and does
nothing for the average citizen in Vermont or the rest of the country
who does not have easy access to Washington.
Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation stops this unequal access by
providing for CRS Reports to be published online in a comprehensive
free, and searchable database on the website of the Government
Publishing Office, GPO. This straightforward but important step has
long been called for by libraries, educators, and public interest
groups across the country. It is also supported by retired and former
CRS employees, who note that ``CRS reports are widely available on
Capitol Hill to staff and lobbyists alike, are released with no
expectation of confidentiality, and could be of immense value to the
general public.''
The century-old CRS was founded on the principles of nonpartisanship
and respect for accurate, thoughtful information to inform the policy
conversations of the day. It is a testament to the best ideals of
Congress, and all Americans should benefit from the work and resources
it provides. When I think of my grandchildren working on research
reports for school, I want them to have access to this resource. I also
want the American people to know what information their Members of
Congress are receiving on leading policy issues of the day.
The legislation includes several important measures--responsive to
concerns from CRS--to ensure that only appropriate materials are shared
online. It makes clear that the GPO website will include only final,
non-confidential CRS Reports and similar written, non-confidential CRS
products that are intended for general Congressional distribution. It
firmly excludes from publication any memoranda or other custom
materials that CRS provides in response to a research request from an
individual Member of Congress. The bill allows for identifying
information for individual CRS researchers to be redacted so that CRS,
not individual staffers, is the named author of a work. It also
requires the inclusion of a written notification in all CRS Reports to
explain that the materials were prepared by CRS for use by Congress,
and should not be relied upon for purposes other than public
understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members
of Congress in connection with CRS's institutional role.
This is an exciting time for the Library of Congress and its
divisions such as CRS. For the first time since 1987, the President has
nominated, and I hope the Senate Rules Committee will soon consider, a
new Librarian of Congress to lead one of the largest libraries in the
world. As we move further into the digital age, now is an important
moment to consider the promise of this great American institution and
the resources it provides.
I thank Senator McCain for his long partnership with me on this
effort, as well as Representatives Lance and Quigley who today are
introducing bipartisan companion legislation in the House. I hope
members will join us in supporting this straightforward, but important,
step to make CRS reports available to the public so that all Americans
may enjoy this invaluable resource equally.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that letters of support be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
October 22, 2015.
Dear Chairman Blunt, Chairman Capito, Chairman Miller,
Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Schumer, Ranking Member
Schatz, Ranking Member Brady, Ranking Member Wasserman
Schultz, and Vice Chairman Harper: We are former employees of
the Congressional Research Service (CRS), with more than a
collective five hundred years with the agency. We write in
strong support of timely, comprehensive free public access to
CRS reports. In doing so, we distinguish between CRS reports,
which are non-confidential, and other CRS products, such as
memoranda, which are confidential.
CRS plays a vital role in our legislative process by
informing lawmakers and staff about important policy issues.
To that end, nothing should impair CRS's ability to provide
confidential support to members of Congress, such as through
briefings and confidential memoranda. Nor should Congress
take any steps to weaken the Constitutionally-protected
status of CRS's work product. In contrast, CRS reports are
widely available on Capitol Hill to staff and lobbyists
alike, are released with no expectation of confidentiality,
and could be of immense value to the general public.
Longstanding congressional policy allows Members and
committees to distribute CRS products to the public, which
they do in a variety of ways. In addition, CRS provides
reports upon request to the judicial branch, to journalists,
and to the executive branch, which often publishes them on
agency websites. Insiders with relationships to congressional
staff can easily obtain the reports, and well-resourced
groups pay for access from third-party subscription services.
Members of the public, however, can freely access only a
subset of CRS reports, usually via third parties.
It is difficult for the public to know the scope of CRS
products they could obtain from Congress. A Google search
returned over 27,000 products including 4,260 hosted on .gov
domains, but there is no way to know if those documents are
up to date, whether the search is comprehensive, or when the
documents might disappear from view.
[[Page S1280]]
We believe Congress should provide a central online source
for timely public access to CRS reports. That would place all
members of the public on an equal footing to one another with
respect to access. It would resolve concerns around public
and congressional use of the most up-to-date version.
Additionally, it would ensure the public can verify it is
using an authentic version. And it would diminish requests to
analysts to provide a copy of the most recent report. Other
legislative support agencies, i.e., the Congressional Budget
Office and the Government Accountability Office, publish non-
confidential reports on their websites as a matter of course.
Doing so does not appear to harm their ability to perform
their mission for Congress.
We thank you for the opportunity to share our thoughts on
implementing full public access to non-confidential CRS
reports. If you wish to discuss this further, please contact
Daniel Schuman, Demand Progress policy director, at
daniel@demandprogress.org, or Kevin Kosar, R Street Institute
senior fellow and governance director, at kkosar@rstreet.org.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
With best regards,
Henry Cohen, George Costello, Heather Durkin, Gregg
Esenwein, Louis Fisher, Peggy Garvin, Bernie Gelb,
Jeffrey C. Griffith, Pamela Hairston, Glennon J.
Harrison, Kevin Holland, Thomas Hungerford, W. Jackson,
Kevin Kosar, Jon Medalia, Elizabeth Palmer, Harold
Relyea, Morton Rosenberg, Daniel Schuman, Christine
Scott, Sherry Shapiro, Nye Stevens.
____
November 12, 2015.
Dear Chairman Blunt, Chairman Miller, Ranking Member
Schumer, Ranking Member Brady, and Vice Chairman Harper: We
write in support of expanded public access to Congressional
Research Service (CRS) reports. Longstanding congressional
policy allows Members and committees to use their websites to
disseminate CRS products to the public, although CRS itself
may not engage in direct public dissemination. This results
in a disheartening inequity. Insiders with Capitol Hill
connections can easily obtain CRS reports from any of the
20,000 congressional staffers and well-resourced groups can
pay for access from subscription services. However, members
of the public can access only a small subset of CRS reports
that are posted on an assortment of not-for-profit websites
on an intermittent basis. Now is the time for a systematic
solution that provides timely, comprehensive free public
access to and preservation of non-confidential reports while
protecting confidential communications between CRS and
Members and committees of Congress.
CRS reports--not to be confused with confidential CRS
memoranda and other products--play a critical role in our
legislative process by informing lawmakers and staff about
the important issues of the day. The public should have the
same access to information. In 2014 CRS completed over 1,000
new reports and updated over 2,500 existing products. (CRS
also produced nearly 3,000 confidential memoranda.)
Our interest in free public access to non-confidential CRS
reports illustrates the esteem in which the agency is held.
CRS reports are regularly requested by members of the public
and are frequently cited by the courts and the media. For
example, over the last decade CRS reports were cited in 190
federal court opinions, including 64 at the appellate level.
Over the same time period, CRS reports were cited 67 times in
the Washington Post and 45 times the New York Times. CRS
reports often are published in the record of legislative
proceedings.
Taxpayers provide more than $100 million annually in
support of CRS, and yet members of the public often must look
to private companies for consistent access. Some citizens are
priced out of these services, resulting in inequitable access
to information about government activity that is produced at
public expense.
In fact, while CRS generates a list of all the reports it
has issued over the previous year, it silently redacts that
information from the public-facing version of its annual
report, making it difficult for the public to even know the
scope of CRS products they could obtain from Congress. A
Google search returned over 27,000 reports including 4,260
hosted on .gov domains, but there is no way to know if those
documents are up to date, what might be missing, or when they
might disappear from view.
Comprehensive free public access to non-confidential CRS
reports would place the reports in line with publications by
other legislative support agencies in the United States and
around the globe. The Government Accountability Office, the
Congressional Budget Office, the Law Library of Congress, and
85% of G-20 countries whose parliaments have subject matter
experts routinely make reports available to the public.
We hasten to emphasize that we are not calling for public
access to CRS products that should be kept confidential or
are distributed only to a small network on Capitol Hill.
Memoranda produced at the request of a Member or committee
and provided to an office in direct response to a request
should remain confidential unless the office itself chooses
to release the report. By comparison, we believe no such
protection should attach to reports typically published on
CRS' internal website or otherwise widely disseminated.
We value the work of CRS and in no way wish to impede its
ability to serve Congress. CRS reports already undergo
multiple levels of administrative review to ensure they are
accurate, non-partisan, balanced, and well-written. Authors
of every CRS product are aware of the likelihood that reports
will become publicly available.
We do not make a specific recommendation on who should
comprehensively publish non-confidential CRS reports online,
although the approaches outlined in H. Res. 34 (114th
Congress) and S. Res. 118 (111th Congress) are reasonable.
The Clerk of the House, the Secretary of the Senate, the
Government Publishing Office (GPO), the Library of Congress
and libraries in the Federal Depository Library Program
(FDLP) are all reasonable places for the public to gain
access to these documents. Even bulk publication on GPO's
website would be a major step forward.
We ask only that all non-confidential reports be published
as they are released, updated, or withdrawn; that they be
published in their full, final form; that they are freely
downloadable individually and in bulk; and that they be
accompanied by an index or metadata that includes the report
ID, the date issued/updated, the report name, a hyperlink to
the report, the division that produced the report, and
possibly the report author(s) as well.
In the attached appendix we briefly address concerns often
raised by CRS regarding public access to reports. In doing
so, we note that many committees, including the Senate Rules
Committee, have published CRS reports on their websites.
Also, that many CRS reports are available through third
parties. We urge you to give great weight to the significant
public benefit that would result from comprehensive, timely
access.
We welcome the opportunity to further discuss implementing
systematic public access to non-confidential CRS reports.
Please contact Daniel Schuman, Demand Progress policy
director, at daniel@demandprogress.org, or Kevin Kosar, R
Street Institute senior fellow and governance director, at
kkosar@rstreet.org. Thank you for your thoughtful
consideration of this matter.
With best regards,
American Association of Law Libraries, American Civil
Liberties Union, American Library Association, Americans for
Tax Reform, Association of Research Libraries, Bill of Rights
Defense Committee, California State University San Marcos,
Cause of Action, Center for Democracy and Technology, Center
for Effective Government, Center for Media and Democracy,
Center for Responsive Politics, Citizens Against Government
Waste, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington,
Congressional Data Coalition, Data Transparency Coalition,
Defending Dissent Foundation, Demand Progress, Engine,
Essential Information.
Federation of American Scientists, Freedom Works, Free
Government Information, Government Accountability Project,
Middlebury College Library, Minnesota Coalition On Government
Information, National Coalition for History, National
Security
Archive, National Security Counselors, National Taxpayers
Union, NewFields Research Library, Niskanen Center,
OpenTheGovernment.org, Project on Government Oversight,
Public Citizen, R Street Institute, Sunlight Foundation,
Taxpayers for Common Sense, Transactional Records Access
Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, Union of
Concerned Scientists, Western Illinois University Libraries.
Amy Spare, Andrew Lopez, Connecticut College, Barbara
Jones, Ben Amata, California State University, Sacramento,
Ben Doherty, Bernadine Abbott Hoduski, Professional Staff
Member, Joint Committee on Printing, retired, Bert Chapman,
Purdue University Libraries, Bill Olbrich, Bradley Seybold,
Brandon Burnette, Southeastern Oklahoma State University,
Brenda Ellis, BWS Johnson, Carol Bredemeyer, Carrie Russell,
Christine Alvey, Maryland State Archives, Claire King, Kansas
Supreme Court Law Library, Crystal Davidson, King College,
Daniel Barkley, University of New Mexico, Danya Leebaw, Dave
Morrison, Marriott Library, University of Utah.
Deborah Melnick, LLAGNY, Dianne Oster, Donna Burton, Union
College, Dorothy Ormes, Edward Herman, Eileen Heaser, CSUS
Library, Ellen Simmons, Eric Mill, Francis Buckley, former
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Gail Fithian, Gail Whittemore, Genevieve Nicholson, Helen
Burke, Jacque Howell, Jane Larrington, Janetta Paschal,
Jeanette Sparks, Jennifer Pesetsky, JoAnne Deeken, Joy T.
Pile, Middlebury College.
Judith Downie, Julia Hughes, Karen Heil, Government
Information Librarian, Middletown Thrall Library, Karen Russ,
Kathleen L. Amen, Kathy Carmichael, KC Halstead, Kelly
McGlynn, Kristine R. Kreilick, LaRita Schandorff, Larry
Romans, Laura G. Harper, Linda Johnson, University of New
Hampshire, Lois Fundis, Mary H. Weir Public Library, Lori
Gwinett, Lori L. Smith, Louise Buckley, University of New
Hampshire Library, Louise England, Marna Morland, Mamita
Simpson, University of Virginia Law Library.
Mary Anne Curlee, Mary Jo Lazun, Megan Brooks, Melissa
Pinch, Michael J. Malbin, Professor of Political Science,
SUNY Albany, Michele Hayslett, UNC at Chapel Hill, Mike
Lynch, Mohamed Haian Abdirahman, Norman Ornstein, P. Duerr,
Patricia J. Powell, Government Documents Librarian, Roanoke
College Library, Professor Patricia B.M. Brennan, Rachel H.
Carpenter, Reference Government Documents Librarian,
[[Page S1281]]
Rhode Island College, Rebecca Richardson, Robert Sippel,
Florida Institute of Technology, Rosemary Campagna, Sandy
Schiefer, University of Missouri--Columbia, Schuyler M. Cook,
Scott Casper, Shari Laster.
Stephanie Braunstein, Stephen Hayes, Hesburgh Libraries,
University of Notre Dame, Susan Bucks, Monmouth University,
Susan Udry, Tammy Savinski, Taylor Fitchett, Thomas E.
Hickman, Thomas E. Mann, Victoria Mitchell, Wendy Swanberg,
Wilhelmina Randtke.
____
February 29, 2016.
Dear Chairman Miller, Chairman Blunt, and Vice Chairman
Harper: As a coalition of 12 conservative, free market
organizations we urge you to expand public access to
Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports.
Each year CRS receives $100 million in taxpayer funding to
produce and update thousands of nonpartisan reports
describing government agencies, explaining public policy, and
tallying government spending. They are an invaluable resource
to Congress in its efforts to oversee our massive federal
government and hold it accountable.
Members of Congress and their staff have easy access to CRS
reports. So too do lobbyists and other Beltway insiders, who
often pay for the reports through expensive subscription
services. But taxpayers cannot easily get copies of CRS
reports.
This policy is unfair and outdated. It also stands in stark
contrast to other legislative branch agencies: both the
Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability
Office release their reports to the public.
Making CRS reports easily accessible by the public will
increase transparency in government, and allow everyday
citizens access to important information that will better
educate them on the issues before Congress. The bottom line
is taxpayers pay for these reports. It is only fair that they
have easy access to them.
Sincerely,
Phil Kerpen, President, American Commitment; Grover
Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform; Norm
Singleton, President, Campaign for Liberty; Neil
Bradley, Chief Strategy Officer, Conservative Reform
Network; Tom Schatz, President, Council for Citizens
Against Government Waste; Adam Brandon, President and
CEO, Freedom Works; Michael Needham, CEO, Heritage
Action for America; Michael Ostrolenk, Co-Founder,
Liberty Coalition; Brandon Arnold, Executive Director,
National Taxpayers Union; Jerry Taylor, President,
Niskanen Center; Kevin Kosar, Senior Fellow and
Director of the Governance Project, R Street Institute;
David Williams, President, Taxpayers Protection
Alliance.
____________________
