More than 35 organizations, including SLA, signed letters sent to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform, and the U.S. Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee Members, asking that legislation be swiftly reintroduced authorizing and encouraging the public distribution of reports that are published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
The signing organizations respect the need for confidentiality of CRS support of members of Congress, and do not intend to overstep boundaries. The organizations are seeking public access only to those "published" reports that are broadly available to any member or staff person through the CRS intranet, and not to any private communications between CRS and an individual member or office.
U.S. taxpayers spend over $100 million a year to fund the CRS, which generates detailed reports relevant to current political events for lawmakers. However, while the reports are non-classified, and play a critical role in U.S. legislative process, they have never been made available in a consistent and transparent way to members of the public.
Read letter to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Read letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Read letter to Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee Members
The reports are classified, and play a crucial role in the U.S. legislative process, have never been made available in a consistent and transparent to the public.
Posted by: אחסון אתרים | October 14, 2011 at 09:56 AM