I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4582
To provide Internet access to congressional documents, including certain
Congressional Research Service publications, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 6, 2000
Mr. DEMINT (for himself, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mrs. CHENOWETH-HAGE,
Mr. COBURN, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. METCALF, Mr. SALMON, Mr.
SANFORD, Mr. TANCREDO, and Mr. TOOMEY) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration
A BILL
To provide Internet access to congressional documents, in-
cluding certain Congressional Research Service publica-
tions, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Citizen Legislature
Empowerment through Access to Resources (CLEAR)
Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) an informed electorate is the most precious
asset of any democracy;
(2) it is often burdensome, difficult, and time-
consuming for citizens to obtain timely access to
records of the Congress;
(3) it is also challenging for Members and com-
mittees of Congress to provide timely access to cur-
rent records of Congress through websites main-
tained by Congress;
(4) congressional documents which are placed
in the Congressional Record are made available to
the public electronically by the Superintendent of
Documents under the direction of the Public Print-
er;
(5) other congressional documents are also
made available electronically on websites maintained
by Members and committees of Congress;
(6) a wide range of records of Congress remain
inaccessible to the public;
(7) the public should have easy and timely ac-
cess, including electronic access, to records of the
Congress; and
(8) Congress should use new technologies to en-
hance public access to records and other important
information of the Congress.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to foster democracy by ensuring public ac-
cess to records of Congress;
(2) to improve public access to records of Con-
gress;
(3) to enhance the electronic public access, in-
cluding access through the Internet, to records of
Congress; and
(4) to further enhance the education of citizens
and encourage their participation in the government
of their country.
SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN CRS INFORMATION.
(a) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Con-
gressional Research Service shall make available
through a centralized electronic database, for the
purpose of Members and committees providing ac-
cess and retrieval by the public as described in sec-
tion 4, all information described in paragraph (2)
which is available through the Congressional Re-
search Service website.
(2) INFORMATION TO BE MADE AVAILABLE.—
The information to be made available under para-
graph (1) is as follows:
(A) Congressional Research Service Issue
Briefs.
(B) Congressional Research Service Re-
ports which are available to Members of Con-
gress through the Congressional Research Serv-
ice website.
(C) Congressional Research Service Au-
thorization of Appropriations Products and Ap-
propriations Products.
(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed to require the Director
to make available under this subsection any docu-
ment or other information which is prepared by the
Congressional Research Service solely in response to
a research request of an individual, office, or com-
mittee for the exclusive use of such individual, office,
or committee.
(b) LIMITATIONS.—
(1) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.—Subsection
(a) does not apply to any information which is con-
fidential, as determined by—
(A) the Director; or
(B) the head of the Federal department or
agency which provided the information to the
Congressional Research Service.
(2) REDACTION
AND
REVISION.—In carrying
out this section, the Director of the Congressional
Research Service may—
(A) remove from the information required
to be made available under subsection (a) the
name and phone number of, and any other in-
formation regarding, an employee of the Con-
gressional Research Service;
(B) remove from the information required
to be made available under subsection (a) any
material for which the Director determines that
making it available under subsection (a) may
infringe the copyright of a work protected
under title 17, United States Code; and
(C) make any changes in the information
required to be made available under subsection
(a) that the Director determines necessary to
ensure that the information is accurate and
current.
(c) TIME.—The Director of the Congressional Re-
search Service shall make available all information re-
quired under this section in a timely and prompt manner.
(d) MANNER.—The Director of the Congressional Re-
search Service shall make information required to be made
available under this section in a manner which—
(1) is practical and reasonable; and
(2) does not permit the submission of comments
from the public.
SEC. 4. METHOD OF ACCESS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Public access to information made
available under this Act shall be provided through the
websites maintained by Members and committees of the
House of Representatives and the Senate. The Director
of the Congressional Research Service shall work with the
Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representa-
tives and the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate to carry
out this subsection.
(b) EDITORIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR CRS REPORTS
ONLINE.—The Director of the Congressional Research
Service is responsible for maintaining and updating the
information made available on the Internet under section
3, and shall have sole discretion to edit that information
under this Act.
(c) FURTHER APPROVAL NOT REQUIRED.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, the Director of the
Congressional Research Service shall make available the
information required to be made available under section
3 to Members and committees of Congress for the pur-
poses described in this Act without the prior approval of
the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate,
the Committee on House Administration of the House of
Representatives, or the Joint Committee on Printing.
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act may be construed—
(1) to modify the role of the Congressional Re-
search Service as an institution whose mission is to
provide service to Congress and not to persons out-
side of Congress; or
(2) to infringe on the constitutional protections
provided for the work product of the Congressional
Research Service which enable the Service to fulfill
its mission of serving Congress.
SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING COMMITTEE MA-
TERIALS.
It is the sense of Congress that each standing and
special committee of the House of Representatives and
Senate and each joint committee of Congress, in accord-
ance with such rules as the committee may adopt, should
provide access to the public through the Internet to pub-
licly available committee information, documents, and pro-
ceedings, including bills, reports, and transcripts of com-
mittee meetings which are open to the public.
Æ