[国会记录第162卷，第35号（2016年3月3日，星期四）] [参议院] [PAGES S1279-S1281]关于Leahy先生和麦凯恩先生的账单和联合决议的声明：S。2639。一项法案，指示政府出版办公室主任向公众提供国会研究服务报告的互联网访问权限，并出于其他目的；ReportsReports向规则与行政委员会委员会。利希先生。总统，麦凯恩参议员和我正在介绍两党法规，以使美国公众在线提供国会研究服务处发表的报告。ReportsReports这项立法将为全国各地的学校，大学，研究人员和个人提供一个宝贵的，纳税人资助的资源。CRS成立于100多年前，旨在提供有关影响国家政策的重要问题的全面，无党派的信息。金博宝正规网址2015年，CRS发布了1200多份新报告，并在政府机构的结构到立法ReportsReports提案，外交政策引物以及介于两者之间的所有内容的摘要上，更新了现有的2500种现有产品。这些报告发布ReportsReports在内部网站上，供国会议员及其员工使用，但并未直接分发给公众。在华盛顿太熟悉的非正式安排中，这种不必要的限制创造了一个家庭服务行业，该行业副本可以副本可供游说者获得订阅费。ReportsReports 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[电子邮件保护]，或R Street Institute高级研究员兼治理总监Kevin Kosar[电子邮件保护]感谢您对此事的考虑。亨利·科恩（Henry Cohen），乔治·科斯特洛（George Costello），希瑟·杜金（Heather Durkin），格雷格·埃塞恩温（Gregg Esenwein），路易斯·费舍尔（Louis Fisher），佩吉·加文（Peggy Garvin），伯尼·盖尔布（Bernie Gelb），杰弗里·格里菲斯（Jeffrey C.，乔恩·梅德利亚（Jon Medalia），伊丽莎白·帕尔默（Elizabeth Palmer），哈罗德（Harold Relyea），莫顿·罗森伯格（Morton Rosenberg），丹尼尔·舒曼（Daniel Schuman），克里斯汀·斯科特（Christine Scott），雪莉·夏皮罗（Sherry Shapiro），纽约·史蒂文斯（Nye Stevens）。____ 2015年11月12日。亲爱的董事长Blunt，米勒董事长，排名舒默，排名成员布雷迪和副主席Harper：我们写信：我们写信，支持扩大的公共访问国会研究服务（CRS）报告。ReportsReports长期以来，国会政策允许成员和委员会使用其网站向公众传播CRS产品，尽管CRS本身可能不会直接进行公众传播。这导致令人沮丧的不平等。具有国会山连接的内部人士可以轻松地从20,000名国会工作人员中的任何一个中获得CRS报告，而资源良好的团体可以从订阅服务ReportsReports中访问。但是，公众只能访问一小部分CRS报告，这些报告会间歇性地发布在各种非营利网站上。ReportsReports现在是采用系统解决方案的时候，在保护CRS与国会议员和委员会之间的机密通信的同时，提供及时，全面的免费公众访问和保存非机密报告。ReportsReportsCRS报ReportsReports告 - 与机密的CRS备忘录和其他产品相混淆 - 通过向立法者和员工告知当今重要问题，从而在我们的立法过程中发挥了至关重要的作用。金博宝正规网址公众应具有相同的信息访问。 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[电子邮件保护]，或R Street Institute高级研究员兼治理总监Kevin Kosar[电子邮件保护]感谢您对此事的深思熟虑。最好的问候，美国法律图书馆协会，美国公民自由联盟，美国图书馆协会，美国税收改革协会，研究图书馆协会，人权法案辩护委员会，加利福尼亚州立大学圣马科斯，行动因由，民主和技术中心，有效政府中心，媒体与民主中心，响应政治中心，反对政府浪费的公民，华盛顿的责任和道德公民，国会数据联盟，数据透明联盟，捍卫异议基金会，需求进步，引擎，引擎，基本信息。美国科学家联合会，自由工程，免费政府信息，政府问责制项目，明尼苏达州政府信息联盟，国家历史联盟，国家安全档案馆，国家安全顾问，国家纳税人联盟，纽菲尔德研究图书馆，纽菲尔德研究图书馆，尼斯卡尼中心，OpentheGovernment.org，《政府监督项目》，公共公民，R街研究所，阳光基金会，常识的纳税人，锡拉丘兹大学的交易记录访问交换所（TRAC），有关科学家联盟，西伊利诺伊大学图书馆。艾米·备用，安德鲁·洛佩兹，康涅狄格学院，芭芭拉·琼斯，本·阿马塔，加利福尼亚州立大学，萨克拉曼多，本·多赫蒂，伯纳丁·阿伯特·艾伯特·霍杜斯基Seybold，Brandon Burnette，东南俄克拉荷马州立大学，Brenda Ellis，BWS Johnson，Carol Bredemeyer，Carrie Russell，Carrie Russell，Christine Alvey，Maryland State Archives，Claire King，Claire King，Claire King，堪萨斯州最高法院法律图书馆，水晶学院，水晶学院，国王学院，丹尼尔·巴克利大学，丹尼尔·巴克利大学，丹尼尔·巴克利大学墨西哥，Danya Leebaw，Dave Morrison，万豪图书馆，犹他大学。Deborah Melnick，Llagny，Dianne Oster，Donna Burton，Union College，Dorothy Ormes，Edward Herman，Edward Herman，Eileen Heaser，Eileen Heaser，CSUS图书馆，Ellen Simmons，Eric Mill，Eric Mill，Francis Buckley，Francis Buckley，前文件司令，美国政府校长，美国政府印刷办公室，Gail Fithian，Gail Fithian，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，政府信息图书馆员，Middletown Thrall图书馆，Karen Russ，Kathleen L. Amen，Kathy Carmichael，KC Halstead，Kelly McGlynn，Kristine R. 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. ____________________