Public Access to Congressional Research Service Reports Resolution of 2013 or Congressional Research Service Electronic Accessibility Resolution of 2013 - Directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives, in consultation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), to establish and maintain a centralized, searchable, bulk downloadable, electronic database consisting of: (1) CRS Issue Briefs, Reports, Authorization of Appropriations Products and Appropriations Products, and other materials intended or available for general congressional distribution through the CRS website; and (2) an index of such information.
Exempts: (1) any information determined to be confidential by the CRS Director or the head of the agency that provided it to CRS; and (2) any document produced in response to a confidential research request made by a House Member, officer, employee, or office, provided that the document has not been distributed and is not intended for distribution to anyone other than the individual or office making the request.
Directs the Clerk, in addition to the database, to establish and maintain contemporaneously a website containing a searchable, sortable index of all of the information in the database in both human- and machine-readable formats (such as Extensible Markup Language [XML]).
Authorizes the Clerk, on the basis of information provided by the Director, to: (1) remove from the database, and from related CRS products, the name and contact information of CRS employees or material that may infringe the copyright of a protected work; and (2) make any changes that the Director determines are necessary to ensure that information in the database is accurate and current.
Requires each official public website of a House Member, House committee, or joint committee of Congress to permit public use to obtain the information contained in such database to the same extent as House users may obtain such information through the CRS website.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 110 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 110
Directing the Clerk of the House of Representatives to provide members
of the public with Internet access to certain Congressional Research
Service publications, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 12, 2013
Mr. Lance (for himself, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Grijalva, Mr.
Polis, and Mr. Schiff) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Directing the Clerk of the House of Representatives to provide members
of the public with Internet access to certain Congressional Research
Service publications, and for other purposes.
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Public Access to
Congressional Research Service Reports Resolution of 2013'' or the
``Congressional Research Service Electronic Accessibility Resolution of
2013''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Congressional Research Service, a special reference
unit within the Library of Congress, offers invaluable research
and analysis to Members of Congress on all current and emerging
issues of national policy.
(2) The Congressional Research Service staff of
approximately 700 employees, including lawyers, economists,
reference librarians, and social, natural, and physical
scientists, are governed by requirements for accuracy,
objectivity, balance, and nonpartisanship.
(3) The Congressional Research Service has a responsibility
to ensure that Members of Congress have available the best
possible information and analysis on which to base the policy
decisions the American people have elected them to make.
(4) It is often burdensome, difficult, and time-consuming
for citizens to obtain access to objective and nonpartisan
policy analysis on issues affecting their interests.
(5) It will enhance our democracy to provide citizens with
access to unbiased and accurate CRS documents on legislation
and other critical issues before Congress.
(6) Allowing public access to CRS will empower citizens and
enable Members of Congress to become even more effective
``representatives'' of the public's concerns and goals.
SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
INFORMATION.
(a) Establishment and Maintenance of Database of Information.--
(1) In general.--The Clerk of the House of Representatives,
in consultation with the Director of the Congressional Research
Service, shall establish and maintain a centralized,
searchable, bulk downloadable, electronic database consisting
of--
(A) all of the information described in paragraph
(2) that is available to Members, officers, employees,
and offices of the House of Representatives through the
Congressional Research Service website; and
(B) in accordance with subsection (b), an index of
the information described in subparagraph (A).
(2) Information described.--The information described in
this paragraph is as follows:
(A) Congressional Research Service Issue Briefs.
(B) Congressional Research Service Reports.
(C) Congressional Research Service Authorization of
Appropriations Products and Appropriations Products.
(D) Materials intended or available for general
congressional distribution that are the same or
substantially similar in content to CRS Reports, Issue
Briefs, and Appropriations Products.
(3) Specific information for materials included.--With
respect to each issue brief, product, or report included in the
database under this subsection, the Clerk shall include--
(A) the name and identification number;
(B) the dates of initial release and updates (if
any); and
(C) the Congressional Research Service division or
divisions that were responsible for its production.
(4) Updates.--The Clerk, in consultation with the Director,
shall ensure that the information in the database under this
subsection is updated automatically and electronically to
reflect the availability of new information and updates to
existing information described in paragraph (2).
(5) Initial information.--The initial establishment of the
database under this subsection shall include all of the
contents described in paragraph (1) as of the date on which
this resolution is agreed to.
(b) Index of Database Information.--In addition to the database
under subsection (a), the Clerk, in consultation with the Director,
shall establish and maintain contemporaneously a website containing a
searchable, sortable index of all of the information in the database in
both human-readable and machine-readable formats (such as XML) that
includes for each issue brief, product, or report in the database--
(1) the name and identification number;
(2) the dates of initial release and updates (if any); and
(3) the Congressional Research Service division or
divisions that were responsible for its production.
(c) Limitations.--
(1) Confidential information.--Subsections (a) and (b) do
not apply to--
(A) any information that is confidential, as
determined by--
(i) the Director, or
(ii) the head of a Federal department or
agency that provided the information to the
Congressional Research Service; or
(B) any document that--
(i) is the product of a confidential
research request made by a Member, officer,
employee, or office of the House of
Representatives;
(ii) has not been distributed to any
individual or office other than the individual
or office making the request; and
(iii) is not intended for distribution to
any person other than the individual or office
making the request
(2) Redaction and revision.--In carrying out this section,
the Clerk, on the basis of information provided by the
Director, may--
(A) remove from the information included in the
database (including from the issue brief, product, or
report itself) the name and contact information
regarding an employee of the Congressional Research
Service;
(B) remove from the information included in the
database (including from the issue brief, product, or
report itself) any material for which the Director
determines that including the information on the
database may infringe the copyright of a work protected
under title 17, United States Code; and
(C) make any changes in the information included in
the database (including from the issue brief, product,
or report itself) that the Director determines
necessary to ensure that the information is accurate
and current, except that if the Clerk makes any such
change with respect to any material in the database,
the Clerk shall indicate in the database (with such
notation as the Clerk considers appropriate) that more
current information is available with respect to the
material than the information provided in the database.
(3) Method of redaction.--The Clerk shall carry out any
redaction under paragraph (2)(C) in a manner which removes the
least amount of material necessary to carry out the purposes of
the redaction.
(4) Assistance from director for automatic redaction.--The
Clerk shall consult with the Director to ensure the
availability and implementation of such technology as may be
necessary to facilitate the automatic redaction of information
under this subsection.
(d) Furnishing of Necessary Information.--The Clerk shall consult
with the Director to ensure that the Clerk is provided with all of the
information necessary to carry out this section in such format as the
Clerk considers appropriate.
SEC. 3. OTHER METHODS OF PUBLIC ACCESS.
(a) Access Through Websites of Members and Committees.--Each
official public website of a Member of the House of Representatives, a
committee of the House of Representatives, or a joint committee of the
Congress shall permit members of the public to use the website to
obtain the information contained in the database established under
section 2, in the same manner and to the same extent as Members,
officers, employees, and offices of the House of Representatives may
obtain such information through the Congressional Research Service
website.
(b) Regulations.--Subsection (a) shall be carried out in accordance
with regulations promulgated by the Committee on House Administration
of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``Clerk'' means the Clerk of the House of
Representatives;
(2) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the
Congressional Research Service; and
(3) the term ``Member of the House of Representatives''
includes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This resolution shall take effect upon the expiration of the 6-
month period which begins on the date on which the resolution is agreed
to, without regard to whether the regulations described in section 3(b)
or any other regulations have been promulgated prior to the expiration
of such period.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line