From: Claude.Vanhorn@f69.n104.z1.fidonet.org (Claude Vanhorn)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ON-LINE
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 92 19:53:17 PST
Organization: FidoNet node 1:104/69 - TelePeople{sm} Memb, West Adams County


                  A PLAN TO MAKE THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD PUBLIC

1.    The Congressional Record is the only non-partisan party-neutral all-
      inclusive record of the speeches, committees, and activities of
      Congress (America's elected representatives).  As such, the content
      and form of the Record belongs to the people, and should be available
      to them in a form that invites ready research and complete availabil-
      ity at any time.  It should be available nights, week-ends, holidays,
      any time a citizen wants to see a speech, opinion, vote, the text of
      a bill, or any other thing published there.

2.    Because of the volume of information that is published in the Record,
      the accessibility to a citizen of an individual opinion, speech,
      vote, text of a bill, or any other matter published there is almost
      nil - except to organizations who can afford on-staff researchers to
      review, test, note, and investigate the information.  A private
      citizen who is being productive has little time to do individual
      research into matters that might interest or effect him/her.  We must
      trust Congress itself and the Media to present the truth to us.  That
      has failed.  Miserably.

3.    Too often, Citizens miss important speeches in the "Special Orders"
      part of the day.  Many do not have the time, or the access to C-Span. 
      Too often we hear Senator Whosis supports the "American Apple Pie and
      Motherhood" bill.  Representative Whatever rose up in opposition to
      the "Tax and Spend" proposal.  Some news magazines and newspapers do
      print full text of the bills and amendments, but not many, and again
      -- the people should not have to search for this information -- it is
      already available IN THE RECORD.

4.    With the popularization of the Personal Computer, and the wide
      availability of national computer networks, it is now possible for
      the Congressional Record to be made available cheaply and effectively
      to all.  Schools would benefit by being able to combine Computer and
      Civics goals.  Our youth would see the reality of Government as it
      is.  Private Citizens could go to their nearest college or public
      library or call from their home to find out what their congress was
      doing.  Congresspeople would not have to stand for hours talking to
      an empty room not knowing if anyone was listening to C-Span or would
      ever hear their impassioned plea.

5.    This proposal would involve practically no cost to the people or the
      government.  It would involve practically no additional time or
      effort on the part of Government employees once the initial work was
      done.  Most probably, the work, equipment, interface, time would be
      donated by interested individuals and companies.  The infrastructure
      already exists to make this possible.  Nothing major would need to be
      accomplished or built or invested in.  Here then is the proposal:

      A.    The Congressional Record is produced by a team of tran-
            scribers onto computer terminals in a federal office or
            offices.  These parts of the record are then assembled
            (again in a computer or computers) into the full document
            which is then printed as the paper version of the Congres-
            sional Record.  The computer files which are an individual
            issue of the Record are then stored away, archived for
            future reference for a period of time - after which they
            are erased.

      B.    There are many computer networks in America.  In any
            community of appreciable size, one or more of these
            networks (Telnet, Sprintnet, Tymenet, Bitnet, Internet,
            etc.) has a local telephone number that residents of that
            community can use as a point of access.

      C.    There are many search programs developed and in place that
            allow rapid sifting through computerized documents to
            locate information and deliver it quickly and efficiently
            to a remote computer terminal.  These programs could be
            used to provide a topical, author, SIC. subject, date, or
            word search of headline, keyword, or full text of a super-
            large database.

      D.    The Federal Communications Commission regulates activities
            of all common carriers (including computer and packet-
            switching networks).  One of their responsibilities is to
            ensure that the use of these carriers is fair to all, and
            in the benefit of Americans.

      E.    Throughout the Federal Government, MainFrame and Mini
            computers are being replaced by newer models with newer
            features and larger storage.  This leaves a quantity of
            machines that would be able to be used for a project of
            this magnitude.  It is also possible that there is in the
            Government a computer with sufficient storage which is
            being under-utilized now.

      F.    Only three things have to be accomplished to make public
            availability to the Congressional Record a reality.  These
            things are not expensive, difficult, or time-consuming.

            1)    As soon as it is printed, Archive all issues
                  of the Congressional Record on a mainframe or
                  mini computer or net-work of computers with
                  sufficient storage and an algebraic search
                  program capable of fast accurate searches.

            2)    Mandate that every publicly accessible comput-
                  er network provide a quantity of node connec-
                  tions to this computer so that any person
                  accessing the network would be able to type "C
                  RECORD" or some simple identifier and be
                  connected to this archive.  The FCC could
                  mandate this, though I suspect the networks
                  might actually cooperate without it.

            3)    Encourage colleges, libraries, newspapers,
                  schools, magazines to publish local numbers
                  and search guides.  Encourage Schools to teach
                  computer searching using the Record.  Encour-
                  age Civics and Government and Law classes to
                  use this database to increase their knowledge
                  and appreciation of the Government and how it
                  works.

6.    I believe that this step alone would increase the responsiveness or
      congress to the people, and of people to the congress.  It would open
      a dialogue that would benefit all Americans.  It would sensitize all
      of us to the depth of thought that goes into decisions made in
      Congress.  It would make posturing transparent.  It would be a great
      step toward re-vitalizing the interest of the people in a government
      they have largely lost faith in.  It would also be a great step in
      awakening Congress to the interest of the people in a government that
      cares what they think.


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