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Montage of Wing Point in Bainbridge Island and the Edmonds Ferry.

Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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Inslee Fights for Information Access

24 November 2003

U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) last Friday introduced the Congressional Research Accessibility Act, a bill to make Congressional Research Service products available to the public.

The Congressional Research Service, a department of the Library of Congress, is a nonpartisan, analytical, research, and reference service for Congress and Congressional staff. This bill requires the Director of the Congressional Research Service to make its research - except confidential reports or those created at the request of an individual, office or committee - accessible to the public by a centralized, searchable electronic database. The information must be posted between 30 and 40 days after it is made available to Congress. It would be accessed via the web site of a Member of Congress or Congressional committee.

The bill would codify the pilot program administered by the Committee on House Administration that was recently suspended.

“I applaud Congressman Shays for his leadership on this bill. This legislation is good for representative government, because it will provide Americans with increased information about issues before Congress,” Inslee said. “I know that my constituents will appreciate having access to these valuable reports from the Congressional Research Service (CRS).”

“CRS products are created with taxpayers’ dollars and the taxpayers should have access to the information,” Shays said. “There is no logical reason why this information should be held under lock and key.”

[ Read the text of the Congressional Research Availability Act ]

View a copy of the letter that Inslee and Shays sent to the Committee on the House Administration, in favor of reinstating the CRS database for the public.

* You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view and print the legislation; download the free software here.