Fall 2007 Federal Depository Library Council Meeting

Encouraging An Informed Citizenry:

Locating and Using Congressional Research Service Reports

presenters: Starr Hoffman & Bill Sleeman

 

Handout

 

What is a CRS Report?

• published by the Congressional Research Service
• created by research specialists at CRS
• created for members of Congress
• center around topics relevant to current legislation
• sample CRS report:

 

About CRS

• public policy arm of the Library of Congress
• formed in 1914 to provide timely, objective research on legislative issues
• six interdisciplinary research divisions
  • American Law
  • Domestic Social Policy
  • Foreign Affairs Defense and Trade
  • Government and Finance
  • Information Research
  • Resources, Science and Industry
• yearly output:
  • almost 1,000 new documents
  • about 4,000 revised documents
  • several different products
    • short reports
    • long reports
    • issue briefs
    • info packs
    • and others

 

Current Public Access

• no public access through CRS
  • only Congress can search CRS website
• must request reports from their member of Congress
  • the public must know of a specific report's existence before making a request from a member of Congress
• can purchase from several third-party vendors
• use one of the freely-provided CRS archives online (see list below)

 

• cannot request reports based merely on a topic

 

Efforts toward Public Access

• started effort to put reports online in 1991
• legislation requesting publicly accessible website for CRS reports was introduced into Congress multiple times:
  • 1998 (S. 1578, H.R. 3131)
  • twice in 1999 (S. 393, H.R. 654)
  • 2001 (S.R. 21)
  • twice in 2003 (S.R. 54, H.R. 3630)
  • 2007 (H.R. 2545); introduced May 24th
    • The Congressional Research Accessibility Act
    • offical title: "To make available on the Internet, for purposes of access and retrieval by the public, certain information available through the Congressional Research Service web site."
    • reports would be made publicly accessible between 30 and 40 days of their publication on the internal CRS website
    • status: referred to the House Committee on House Administration
  • this legislation has never passed both houses of Congress

 

CRS Reports Archive at UNT

• over 10,000 reports available
• wide variety of subjects
• features:
  • browse by topic
  • full-text searching ability
• http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/

 

Other Resources Related to this Presentation

 

Free Sources for CRS Reports:

• OpenCRS
  • http://opencrs.com/
• CRS Reports at Thurgood Marshall Law Library
  • http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/crsreports/index.asp
• CRS Report Archive at the University of North Texas
  • http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/
• CRS Reports from the Federation of American Scientists
  • http://www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRS/index.cfm?&CFID=10842369&CFTOKEN=53883781
  • Intelligence, Military and National Security
• CRS Reports from the National Library for the Environment
  • http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/
  • Environmental Law & Policy
• CRS Reports from the U.S. State Department
  • http://fpc.state.gov/fpc/c18185.htm
  • Foreign Policy and Relations
• IP Mall at Franklin Pierce Law School
  • http://www.ipmall.info/hosted_resources/crs_reports.asp
  • Intellectual Property, Cyberlaw, and Electronic Commerce

 

Resources for Writing Your Member of Congress

• find your Representative: http://www.house.gov/writerep/
• find your Senator: http://www.senate.gov/
• a three-paragraph letter is recommended:

1. State the purpose of the letter, and who you are (list your professional credentials). Include your name and address, even in an email.
2. Provide specific, factual information about why this report is important to you, and/or how you will use it. Cite the report using the proper title and the CRS report number.
3. Close by requesting the action you want taken. This may include having the report sent to you, or you may also request that they vote a specific way on legislation concerning CRS reports.

• addressing Members of Congress
  • To Your Senator (use this address block):
    • The Honorable (full name)
    • (Room #) (Name) Senate Office Building
    • United States Senate
    • Washington, DC 20510
    • open the letter with, "Dear Senator:"
  • To Your Representative (use this address block):
    • The Honorable (full name)
    • (Room #) (Name) House Office Building
    • United States House of Representatives
    • Washington, DC 20515
    • open the letter with, "Dear Representative:"
  • addressing the Chairperson of a Committee or the Speaker of the House:
    • Dear Mr. Chairman (or) Dear Madam Chairwoman
    • Dear Mr. Speaker (or) Dear Madam Speaker
  • use these addresses regardless of whether the communication format is email or a printed letters

 

CRS Director's memo on publications policy:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/crs041807.pdf

 

Sources for this Presentation

• Congressional Research Service website. http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/whatscrs.html
• Stephen Young, CRS Reports, "llrx dot com" (a law zine), Published July 15, 2002 and updated September 17, 2006. http://www.llrx.com/features/crsreports.htm
• Brian Faler, "Hard-to-Get Policy Briefings For Congress Are Now Online. Technology Group Opens Access to Research Reports," Washington Post, June 28, 2005.
• Brudnik, Ida. “The Congressional Research Service and the American Legislative Process,” Congressional Research Service, June 14, 2006.
• Elizabeth Williamson, "Information, Please," Washington Post, February 19, 2007.
• "Congressional Research Service." Congresspedia, from SourceWatch.org. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Congressional_Research_Service
• http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa020199.htm

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