Public Access to Congressional Research Service Reports

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is the public policy research arm of Congress. This legislative branch agency works exclusively for Members of Congress, their committees and their staffs. Their reports provide members of Congress and their staff with concise, extensively documented information on issues of interest to Congress. CRS does not provide direct public access to its reports, requiring citizens to request them from their Member of Congress. Additionally, several private companies sell CRS reports to those who can pay. Some reports have been released by members of Congress and are available on the Internet. Making all CRS reports available without charge on the Internet has long been sought by advocates for open access to government-funded information. A coalition of groups including the American Library Association is lobbying Congress to enable no-fee online public access. http://www.opencrs.com/about.php