I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 654
To make available on the Internet, for purposes of access and retrieval
by the public, certain information available through the Congressional
Research Service web site.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 9, 1999
Mr. SHAYS (for himself, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr.
SALMON, and Mr. CAMPBELL) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on House Administration
A BILL
To make available on the Internet, for purposes of access
and retrieval by the public, certain information available
through the Congressional Research Service web site.
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 ‘‘Congressional Re-
search Accessibility Act’’.
SEC. 2. 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 pur-
poses of access and retrieval by the public as de-
scribed in section 2, all information described in
paragraph (2) that is available through the Congres-
sional Research Service website.
(2) INFORMATION TO BE MADE AVAILABLE.—
The information to be made available under para-
graph (1) is:
(A) Congressional Research Service Issue
Briefs.
(B) Congressional Research Service Re-
ports that are available to Members of Congress
through the Congressional Research Service
website.
(C) Congressional Research Service Au-
thorization of Appropriations Products and Ap-
propriations Products.
(b) LIMITATIONS.—
(1) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.—Subsection
(a) does 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 is the product of
an individual, office, or committee research re-
quest, other than any document described in
subsection (a)(2).
(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 no earlier than 30 days and no
later than 40 days after the date on which the information
is first made available to Members of Congress through
the Congressional Research Service website.
(d) MANNER.—The Director of the Congressional Re-
search Service shall make information required to be made
available under this section in a manner that—
(1) is practical and reasonable; and
(2) does not permit the submission of comments
from the public.
SEC. 3. 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. The Director of the Congres-
sional Research Service and the Chief Administrative Offi-
cer of the House of Representatives shall work together
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
1, and shall have sole discretion to edit that information
under this Act.
(c) FURTHER APPROVAL NOT REQUIRED.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law to the contrary, the
Director of the Congressional Research Service shall make
the information required to be made available under sec-
tion 1 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.
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