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I encourage everyone to contact their members of Congress in
support of this legislation. The CRS material is of significant
importance to the public policy community.
Steven Clift
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 14:55:02 -0500 (EST)
Reply-to: [log in to unmask]
From: Gary Ruskin <[log in to unmask]>
To: Multiple recipients of list CONG-REFORM <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Update: Bills to Put CRS reports on the Internet
Congressional Reform Briefings March 10, 1998
-- Please contact U.S. Senators on the Rules and Administration
Committee to support bills placing Congressional Research Service
(CRS) reports and products on the Internet. The bills are facing
heavy lobbying opposition from CRS.
Excellent bills have been introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of
Representatives to put Congressional Research Service reports and
products on the Internet (S. 1578, H.R. 3131).
The good news is that the bills have received a boost from enthusiastic
newspaper editorials in the Houston Chronicle, Arizona Republic, Dallas
Morning News, Indianapolis Star, and Hartford Courant.
The bad news is that the Congressional Research Service is conducting an
intensive lobbying effort to prevent its reports from being placed on
the Internet.
Most of the legislative action on the bills is focused in the Senate
Rules and Administration Committee, which held two hearings touching
upon whether CRS reports should be placed on the Internet. At those
hearings, Chairman John Warner (R-VA) and Ranking Minority Member
Wendell Ford (D-KY) expressed concerns about placing CRS reports on the
Internet.
At a March 4 Rules Committee hearing, Chairman Warner suggested that if
citizens could read CRS reports on the Internet, they might ask Members
of Congress for additional new CRS reports, which might, in turn,
overburden CRS.
In our view, it may be true that the CRS is understaffed. If so, their
budget should be increased. But that is no reason to deny taxpayers
access to CRS reports via the Internet. Taxpayers ought to be able to
read the research that they pay for.
Please call, write, phone, fax, or e-mail Chairman Warner and Senators
on the Rules and Administration Committee. Tell them you want to read
CRS reports and products on the Internet, and that you want them to
support S. 1578.
Senate Rules and Administration Committee:
Republicans:
John Warner, Chairman (VA) phone: 202-224-2023, fax: 202-224-6295,
[log in to unmask]
Jesse Helms (NC) ph: 224-6342, fax: 228-1339,
[log in to unmask]
Ted Stevens (AK) ph: 224-3004, fax: 224-2354,
[log in to unmask]
Mitch McConnell (KY) ph: 224-2541, fax: 224-2499,
[log in to unmask]
Thad Cochran (MS) ph: 224-5054, fax: 224-9450,
[log in to unmask]
Rick Santorum (PA) ph: 224-6324, fax: 228-0604,
[log in to unmask]
Don Nickles (OK) ph: 224-5754, fax: 224-6008, [log in to unmask]
Trent Lott (MS) ph: 224-6253, fax: 224-2262, [log in to unmask]
Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) ph: 224-5922, fax: 224-0776,
[log in to unmask]
Democrats:
Wendell Ford, Ranking Member (KY) ph: 224-4343, fax: 224-0046,
[log in to unmask]
Robert Byrd (WV) ph: 224-3954, fax: 228-0007,
[log in to unmask]
Daniel Inouye (HI) ph: 224-3934, fax: 224-6747,
[log in to unmask]
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (NY) ph: 224-4451, 228-0406,
[log in to unmask]
Christopher Dodd (CT) ph: 224-2823, fax: 224-1083,
[log in to unmask]
Dianne Feinstein (CA) ph: 224-3841, fax 228-3954,
[log in to unmask]
Robert Torricelli (NJ) ph: 224-3224, fax: 224-8567,
[log in to unmask]
For e-mail addresses of Members of Congress, check The Internet
Activist. The congressional switchboard phone number is 202-224-3121.
What newspaper editorialists have written about the McCain-Coats and
Shays-Price bills to put CRS reports and products on the Internet:
"Under the twin theories that citizens ought to know as much as possible
about their government and ought to get their money's worth out of that
government, a bill has been introduced to make the Congressional
Research Service available over the Internet. The bill deserves hearty
support....By putting CRS on line, Congress will give citizens ready
access to what they've already paid for. More important, citizens will
have access to material that can help them understand more fully the
complicated issues and legislation that emanate from Washington. And
that will help them be better citizens and better voters. Put the CRS
on line now." ("On Line: Make Congressional Research More Accessible on
`Net" Houston Chronicle, 2/10/98.)
"The CRS is a particularly good source for finding out how much money
the federal government is spending on various programs. Roll Call, the
Capitol Hill newspaper for Washington insiders, has described CRS
reports as `often the most trenchant and useful monographs available.'
Information is power. Washington lobbyists know how to tap into this
information source, but the general public has no direct way to obtain
these reports....[The bill is] a significant and long overdue step
toward making the processes of Congress more transparent to the voting
public. As it is, far too much of what Congress does is blocked from
public access on the Internet." ("Opening Government," The Indianapolis
Star, 2/18/98.)
Putting CRS reports on the Internet is "a great idea that wouldn't cost
much....Voters ought to have easy access to the research used in
legislative debates. In a cyberspace age, access to timely information
is the essence of good decision-making." ("Cyber Democracy: Research
Should Be Available to the Public," The Dallas Morning News, 2/17/98.)
"...a variety of congressional documents are still unavailable on the
Library of Congress' THOMAS online computer search system, or any other
free government online service. That is why Sen. John McCain's recently
introduced legislation providing public access to Congressional Research
Service (CRS) reports and products on the Internet - at no cost - is
particularly appropriate. It serves as a defibrillator to jolt the
Capitol information system back to life." ("More Access Online:
Fulfilling a Pledge," The Arizona Republic, 2/10/98.)
"Mr. Shays and his co-sponsors are to be commended for insisting that
this useful CRS material be posted on the Internet. The information
will help citizens to better understand issues before Congress. It can
be done quickly and at little cost. Not everyone has access to the
Internet, but it's a good bet that more people will see the research
once it's launched in cyberspace than see it now. Congress mostly uses
the Internet to distribute self-serving fluff. It should pass the
legislation to put CRS reports on the Internet and follow that up with
posting drafts of important bills, a nonpartisan database of voting
records, transcripts of hearings, lobbyist disclosure reports,
congressional office expenditure reports and the like." ("Put the
Research on the Internet," The Hartford Courant, 2/20/98.)
The Congressional Accountability Project is a congressional reform group
affiliated with Ralph Nader. For more information about Internet access
to Congressional documents or CRS reports, see
<http://www.essential.org/orgs/CAP/CAP.html>.
For more information about the failure of the Congress to place its
documents on the Internet, see
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/fedguide/stories/fig112197.htm>.
For more information about the long list of excellent reports produced
by the Congressional Research Service, look at the web page for Penny
Hill Press, which sells CRS products.
<http://www.clark.net/pub/pennyhill/pennyhill.html>.
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---------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Ruskin | [log in to unmask] |
Congressional Accountability Project | 1611 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite #3A | Washington, DC 20009
Phone: (202) 296-2787 | Fax (202) 833-2406
http://www.essential.org/orgs/CAP/CAP.html
--------------------------------------------------------------
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Steven Clift - Public Strategies for the Online World
3454 Fremont Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408 USA
T: +1.612.822.8667(NEW) E: [log in to unmask]
Democracies Online - http://www.e-democracy.org/do
Universal E-mail - http://www.iaginteractive.com/emfa
Consulting and Home Page - http://www.publicus.net
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