Reports by the Congressional Research Service, usually referred to as CRS Reports , are the encyclopedic, public domain research reports written to clearly define issues in a legislative context.. Over 700 new CRS reports are produced each year; almost 4,000 are currently in existence.
While some CRS research and reports may reach the American public, the policy of CRS is to not make them directly available to members of the public; instead, they are "leaked" to the public at the discretion of congressional clients. There have been several attempts to pass legislation requiring all reports to be made available online, most recently in 2003, but none have passed
Instead, the public must request individual reports from their Senators and Representatives in Congress, purchase them from private vendors, or search for them in various web archives of previously-released documents. CRS reports topped the list of the "10 Most-Wanted Government Documents" survey by the Center for Democracy and Technology, 1996.
Predecessors
Other than a passing generic reference to “reports” in its statutory charter, CRS has no mandate for these products. They are created in the context of the overall mission of CRS to provide research support to Congress.
The Library of Congress, the home of CRS, had experimented during the 1940s with unrestricted publication Public Affairs Bulletins , which were produced by staff of the Legislative Reference Service, and devoted to various public policy issues. They were promoted by Archibald MacLeish, the Librarian of Congress, and, among other topics, addressed timely policy issues, such as American national defense. About 100 Public Affairs Bulletins were generated before congressional appropriators ended their production in 1951.
When the Congressional Research Service Review was launched in 1980, it continued for a little more than a decade before congressional appropriators, once again, invoked fiscal closure with the last issue published v. 13 #9 (Sept. 1992). The Review, which was published ten times a year and available to the public by subscription, offered original analytical articles, summaries highlighting CRS research products, and other kinds of assistance to the congressional community.
Copyright status
CRS reports may contain excerpts of material from copyrighted sources. However, this content will be "appropriately credited". Thus, persons seeking public domain content in CRS reports can avoid infringing copyright by paying attention to the internal citations.
The New York Times has written,
However, in a passage analyzing its own liability under United States copyright law, the CRS has written that its works may contain copyrighted information, but that these excerpts are always "appropriately credited":
CRS adds that:
Appearance
CRS written work product includes "CRS Reports," issue briefs, appropriations Reports (usually released as a Long Report), Electronic Briefing Books, Info Packs and Congressional distribution memoranda. The Issue Briefs (IB), no longer than 16 pages, include issue definitions, background and policy analyses, legislation passed and pending, a bibliography of hearings, reports and documents and other congressional actions, a chronology of events, and reference sources. Approximately 150 issue briefs are currently in existence.
Formats of "CRS Reports" include policy analysis, economic studies, statistical reviews, and legal analyses. "Short Reports (RS), typically under 7 pages, or Long Reports (RL), which can include major studies on a particular topic.
How to access CRS Reports
Many but not all CRS reports can be obtained through specialized publishers such as Penny Hill Press, or from web archives such as OpenCRS, which relies on individual submissions to maintain its collection. OpenCRS has also published instructions for US citizens on how to request reports from their member of congress, but neither the Congress nor the CRS are obligated to satisfy such requests. However, as there is no accurate public list or catalog of CRS publications, all unreleased reports are effectively secret.
On February 8, 2009 Wikileaks released 6,780 Congressional Research Service reports, totaling more than 127,000 pages of text.
Over the years, and at the request of CRS, the Joint Committee on the Library has authorized a very limited number of CRS publications for broader distribution through depository libraries, the sales program of the Superintendent of Documents, and to the public through individual purchases. In addition, several CRS products are published as the result of specific statutory authorization: the Digest of General Public Bills and Resolutions (Bill Digest) and three publications for which CRS has been given responsibility by the Librarian of Congress: the Constitution of the United States of America, Analysis and Interpretation (Constitution Annotated); and the national high school and college debate topic manuals.
Congress's attitudes towards CRS confidentiality
CRS annual appropriations legislation
According to the CRS, Congress has historically reserved to itself control over the dissemination of CRS products to the public on the principle that CRS, as an extension of congressional staff, works exclusively for the Congress.
A provision has been included in CRS annual appropriations acts since FY1952 requiring approval by one of its two congressional oversight committees for acts of "publication" by the CRS.
The limitation began in the House as a flat prohibition on publications by the Library of Congress using funds appropriated to the Legislative Reference Service (now CRS).
In 1954 a provision was added providing for exception only with the approval of our oversight committees.
The standard appropriations language text which appears annually in the law appropriating funds for the Legislative Branch today reads as follows:
Mulhollan notes that the term "publication" in this context has generally been construed to encompass all manner of communicating information to the public, based on the legislative history of the provision (with its concern over diverting CRS (then LRS) resources to providing materials to the public) and subsequent Joint Committee on the Library guidance.
The prohibition appears each year in the annual appropriations act for the Legislative Branch and is intended to preserve the role of CRS as a confidential resource. The appropriations acts, supplemented by other congressional guidance that CRS has received over the years, and supported by judicial opinions, leave to the Members and committees the decision whether and how to place individual CRS products in the public domain.
The CRS notes that Congress has never authorized the wholesale public dissemination of CRS analytical products such as Reports or Issue Briefs (and has seldom authorized publication of other products), whether by CRS or the Congress, but rather has preferred to rely on congressional release of individual products on a case-by-case basis.
1978 proposal by the National Conference of State Legislatures
In 1978, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) issued a proposal under which CRS would have received access to the files of State research materials abstracted by the NCSL, and would have had the opportunity to order copies of desired items for use in answering congressional inquiries. In return, CRS would have provided the NCSL with periodic listings of CRS Reports (called "multiliths" at that time) and with only one copy of those CRS Reports which the NCSL requested. Under this proposal the NCSL also would have gained access to certain files from the Library of Congress's SCORPIO system, including CRS Issue Briefs.
On September 27, 1978, the Joint Committee on the Library held a hearing to consider the proposal. At the hearing, the Committee concluded that any transmission of CRS material contained in SCORPIO to noncongressional users via computer terminal would constitute a "publication" and thus, under the terms of the language contained in CRS's annual appropriations legislation (noted above) would require the prior approval of either the Committee on House Administration or the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Moreover, members of the Joint Committee expressed serious reservations about any activity that might divert CRS resources and priorities from its statutory responsibilities to Congress. Finally, members of the Committee expressed the view that it was appropriate for Members of Congress, rather than CRS, to determine whether and to what extent various CRS products should be publicly disseminated. As a result, no action was taken to implement the proposed CRS-NCSL exchange.
1980 communication of the Joint Committee on the Library
In a communication dated March 21, 1980, the Joint Committee on the Library released a policy statement regarding the publication of CRS written products:
Reflecting on this passage in 2007, CRS Director David Mulhollan wrote, "It is noteworthy that in this instance the Joint Committee referred to the restriction on "circulation" of CRS materials, making it clear that the term "publication" in the statute is interpreted broadly."
Senate Resolution 396, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. 1980
A March 27, 1980 Senate Resolution (S. Res. 396, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. 1980), occasioned by a subpoena issued in an administrative proceedin
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