Equal Access to Congressional Service Reports Act of 2016

Every day, Members of Congress and their staffs are forced to consider and make decisions on dozens of critical issues. In order to do that, they need access to unbiased and complete information about these issues. That’s why the Congressional Research Service (CRS), housed within the Library of Congress, is a critical support agency for Congress. However, the reports generated by CRS are not publicly available to taxpayers that fund them. We recently signed onto letters to the House and Senate, led by the Congressional Data Coalition, requesting these reports be made available online as a publicly available resource.

Like it’s better known sister agencies the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) (which produces budgetary and economic analysis for the Congress) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) (which produces long-term investigatory reports at the behest of Members of Congress and Congressional Committees), CRS plays an essential role providing Congress with nonpartisan, unbiased information about pressing issues. At a time when political polarization is at near record highs, CRS acts as a neutral arbiter, making fact-based assessments to inform policymaking for legislators and for the public at large.

But unlike the CBO or GAO, CRS does not publish its reports. During the print age, this policy made more sense - spending taxpayer money to print and distribute reports could be costly and undercut its ability to carry out the core duties of the organization.

In the digital era, this policy makes little sense. These reports should be made public, for a variety of reasons. For one, they could contribute to improving the public’s understanding of complex issues. In addition, these reports are funded by the taxpayer. Like most federally-funded research, and corresponding reports by the CBO and GAO, Americans should have access to these important analyses. Finally, a good portion of the reports are already in the public domain though aggregators like Federation of American Scientists, or through private aggregators who charge a huge premium for access to these reports.

That’s why OTI added its name to the letter, asking Committee leaders in the House and the Senate to take up the Equal Access to Congressional Research Service Reports Act of 2016 (H.R. 4702 and S. 2639, respectively).

The President recently nominated Carla Hayden, the CEO of Enoch Pratt Free Library, to be the next Librarian of Congress. Congress should use the opportunity to press the nominee to bring the Library into the 21st Century, and allow the public access to the important work of CRS.