Modernizing the Congressional Research Service’s Access to Data Act

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 7593, the Modernizing the Congressional Research Service's Access to Data Act.

In order for Congress to fulfill its Article I obligations and act as the first among coequal branches of government as the Framers intended, its support agencies need to be fully equipped to assist Congress in all of its legislative and representative duties.

When our support agencies falter, we falter, and it is incumbent upon us to fix what is not working. CRS is a case in point. The agency is bound by statute to outdated rules that do not reflect how Congress works today.

CRS' statute was last updated in 1970, and back then committees were very much at the center of the policymaking process. The agency's authority to request data and information from Federal agencies reflected that reality. Requests for data and information could only be made to support the work of committees.

More than five decades later, CRS continues to operate under this narrow and outdated request authority. Congress has evolved as an institution, but in many ways CRS has not. Its ability to fully support today's Congress is hindered by a statute drafted to support yesterday's Congress.

Committees continue to play an important role in the legislative process, but so do Members. Members today are doing more work on behalf of their constituents and relying more heavily on CRS for support. Whether they need data and information to better understand and address a problem in their

district or in anticipation of an emerging policy debate, Members rely on CRS for its nonpartisan expertise.

All of this work, for committees and for Members, depends on CRS having access to current and reliable data. It is the basis of the objective and informed analysis on which Congress depends to fulfill its Article I obligations.

When Federal agencies are compelled to share data and information with CRS only when it is requested on behalf of a committee, CRS is unable to fulfill its statutory obligation to support Congress in all of its duties.

H.R. 7593 fixes this limitation by granting CRS the authority to secure information and data from Federal agencies, as necessary, to carry out congressional requests; not committee requests, but congressional requests.

This fix is neither groundbreaking nor controversial. There is a nearly century-long chain of Supreme Court precedents that recognize the authority of Congress and, by extension, the legislative support agencies, to gather information from the executive branch.

In fact, GAO and CBO, CRS' sister support agencies, already enjoy greater access authorities because, as Congress has added to their responsibilities, it has also provided them with the additional tools and authorities needed to carry out that additional work.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for CRS. The agency's work has expanded tremendously since the 1970s, but Congress has failed to pair its extra responsibilities with extra support.

In granting CRS greater access, this bill requires CRS to maintain the same level of confidentiality for the data and information it receives, as is required by law of the agency from which it obtained. Any CRS employee who violates this requirement will be subject to the same statutory penalties that an employee of a providing agency would face. These provisions, it should be noted, mirror CBO's rigorous confidentiality authorities.

CRS has a long-established record of not making inappropriate or overly expansive information and data requests. Nothing about this resolution changes that. The agency routinely engages in an internal consultation process to ensure that requests are properly scoped and tailored. Maintaining these guardrails around its requests helps CRS properly evaluate the potential ways that data and information may be used.

The agency's strict adherence to its statutory mandate to advise and assist Congress without partisan bias has and will continue to guide its requests.

Updating CRS' statute to better reflect how Congress works today is an Article I strengthening endeavor. It does not concern politics or partisanship. It concerns institutions, plain and simple.

When CRS is unable to fully support Congress, Congress cannot fully act as a coequal branch of government, and when CRS is unable to fully support us as Members in our legislative and representational duties, we are unable to fully support our constituents.

Mr. Speaker, I think we can all agree that both of these scenarios are unacceptable. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 7593.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7592) to direct the Librarian of Congress to promote the more cost-effective, efficient, and expanded availability of the Annotated Constitution and pocket-part supplements by replacing the hardbound versions with digital versions.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 7592.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 7592. Today, Congress will save taxpayers $5 million. Yes, you heard me correctly: Congress will save taxpayer dollars today.

While our Nation is running $32 trillion in debt, and we have a long way to go to get our country back on track, this is a good policy. It will save taxpayers money.

We do this by getting rid of the statutory requirement to print hardbound copies of the Constitution Annotated, or CONAN, as it is better known today.

An easily accessible and up-to-date online version of it already exists and is already used by millions of Americans. Continuing to print hardbound copies not only wastes taxpayer dollars, but it also wastes the time of CRS staff, who could better support the more pressing work of Congress.

It is a positive step in modernizing Congress. At the beginning of the 118th Congress, the Committee on House Administration took the important step of working to modernize how Congress works. The Modernization Subcommittee is led by Chairwoman Stephanie Bice and Ranking Member Derek Kilmer. The subcommittee is bringing good ideas to life by focusing on what we can do to make Congress a more effective and efficient institution.

I have argued that the work of modernizing Congress extends to Congress' support agencies. They need to work in a way that reflects how today's Congress works.

The CONAN print requirement reflects how Congress worked 50 years ago, before the internet even existed. Today, the rules don't make much sense.

We do ourselves a disservice when we require CRS to do work that is no longer necessary, no longer meets our needs. The more Congress can do to optimize tremendous resources like CRS, the better off Congress is, and H.R. 7592 moves us toward that goal.

I recognize Modernization Subcommittee Chairwoman Stephanie Bice, who, along with subcommittee Ranking Member Derek Kilmer, Representative Carey, and Representative Morelle, introduced this measure and worked on a bipartisan basis to bring it to the floor today.

I also recognize Chairwoman Bice for demonstrating that subcommittees have an important role to play in the legislative process. This was the first time in 31 years that a subcommittee of the House Administration Committee held a markup.

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the hard work that went into this important measure, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 7592. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice) to speak on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I again thank the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice), the Modernization Subcommittee chairwoman, for her leadership on this measure that will save taxpayer dollars.

I also recognize, once again, the subcommittee ranking member Mr. Kilmer as well as Mr. Carey and Mr. Morelle. I urge all of my colleagues who want to save taxpayers $5 million to vote in support of H.R. 7592. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7593) to enhance the authority of the Director of the Congressional Research Service to obtain information directly from agencies of the Federal government.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 7593, the Modernizing the Congressional Research Service's Access to Data Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7593, the Modernizing the Congressional Research Service's Access to Data Act.

Congress is a dynamic institution. The way it operates today is different from how it operated 50 years ago. It is probably safe to say that 50 years from now, Congress will look quite different than it does once again today.

The Committee on House Administration is working to modernize Congress. The Subcommittee on Modernization's mandate is to improve and update how Congress works on behalf of the American people. There is no expiration date on this work. Because society evolves, Congress must do the same.

Congress must be capable of continually adapting to address both the issues of the day and Americans' needs. As Congress evolves, its support agencies must do the same. They must be capable of working in a way that reflects how Congress works.

It has been over 50 years since Congress updated CRS' authorizing statute, and much has changed since then in terms of how Congress operates. The Federal policy landscape has grown more and more complex, and back home Americans are confronting a vast range of challenges and are increasingly seeking our help.

As a result, Members are relying on CRS more than ever for supporting their legislative and representational duties. In order for CRS to meet the growing demand, it needs quick access to current and reliable data and information.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 7593 fulfills this need. It updates CRS' statute to ensure that the agency can request data and information from Federal agencies to support its work on behalf of Congress. To be clear, we are talking about information and data that Congress and its support agencies have an established right to access.

This change to the statute reflects how Congress has changed over the past five decades and will greatly improve CRS' ability to support how we work today. I have advocated for a more modern CRS, and this measure fits into those efforts.

I thank the Modernization Subcommittee chairwoman Stephanie Bice for her leadership in bringing H.R. 7593 forward and more generally for her efforts to improve and modernize CRS. I also thank the Modernization Subcommittee ranking member, Derek Kilmer, as well as Representatives Carey and Morelle for their bipartisan support of this measure.

I urge my colleagues to join me in strengthening CRS by supporting H.R. 7593, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice) to speak on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I again thank the Modernization Subcommittee chairwoman, Stephanie Bice, for her leadership on this measure. I also thank Ranking Member Kilmer, as well as Representatives Carey and Morelle.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 7593, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to stand before you today to speak about two bills that have come from the Modernization Subcommittee, which encompass the select committee's mission to make Congress work better for the American people. Each of these bills addresses a problem or challenge we identified through the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.

I thank our subcommittee chair, Stephanie Bice, and our subcommittee colleagues, Joe Morelle and Mike Carey, for their bipartisan partnership on these bills, too, as well as our full committee chairman, Bryan Steil.

As many of you know, the Congressional Research Service, or CRS, mission is to provide timely, objective, and authoritative research and analysis to Congress, its Members, committees, and staff.

The policy proposals we put forth are better for CRS' involvement and support of us. That is why our subcommittee took it very seriously when CRS' interim director, Robert Newlen, approached us about a few challenges CRS was having and ways we could help.

In the select committee, we recommended congressional committees consider the authorities for congressional support agencies and identify those that need updating. H.R. 7592 and our next bill, H.R. 7593, are perfect examples of this.

Under existing law, the Library of Congress is required to produce hardbound copies of the Constitution

with annotations, also referred to as CONAN.

You actually have to be as strong as Conan to lift this. My mother tells me that at birth, I was 6 pounds, 8 ounces. This is 8 pounds, 14 ounces, so it is larger than small Derek Kilmer.

The task of printing this behemoth has fallen to CRS, and the most recent CONAN print cost $1 million per year to print, not to mention the considerable staff time and attention spent formatting, printing, and distributing said books.

The law requiring printed CONAN copies predated widespread internet access. Since 2019, the Library of Congress and CRS have made this same information available online, free of cost, with the added benefit of real-time updates that just aren't possible with printed books.

This bill simply replaces the requirement for the Library of Congress and CRS to prepare hardbound versions of the CONAN and replaces it with a requirement to prepare digital versions and publish them online instead, as they already have been doing.

Through this bill, the American people can receive better and more up-to-date information online. We can save taxpayer dollars and valuable CRS staff capacity. We can eliminate the 8 pounds and 14 ounces of print. I personally would like to eliminate 8 pounds and 14 ounces after the weight I have gained over the August recess.

I think this is a commonsense bill, and I thank my colleague, Chairwoman Bice, for her leadership on this.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I don't have any additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as was mentioned by my colleague Mr. Kilmer, this is the Constitution Annotated, or CONAN, as it is better known today. Its origins date back to 1797 when Congress passed legislation requiring that every Member of Congress be provided a copy of the Constitution.

These copies were then expanded to include Supreme Court case citations so that Members could see which clauses of the Constitution the Court used to decide those cases.

As the number of citations grew, Members became frustrated with the new format. The hundreds of citations listed under each clause of the Constitution were useless to most of them because they had no idea what the cases were about and what questions were before the Court.

In 1921, Congress passed a resolution requiring reprints of the Constitution to include explanatory language that would make sense of all the case citations throughout. This requirement made the reprints much more useful to the Members, and the format created then is one that is still used today.

Initially, CONAN was printed every 10 years or so, but by 1970, Members began to complain that it was outdated almost as soon as it was printed. They addressed this by passing a resolution requiring that a paperbound supplement to CONAN be printed every 2 years, in addition to printing the hardbound version of the CONAN every 10.

Since 1972, that is what we have done: Print a hardbound version of CONAN every 10 years and a paperbound supplement every 2.

CONAN obviously has a rich history dating back over two centuries. The Constitution provides the framework for our government, and understanding that framework and how the Supreme Court has applied it to its decisions over the years is as essential today as it was over 200 years ago.

Nothing about H.R. 7592 erases or changes this important history. In fact, the legislative history of CONAN makes it clear that Congress has consistently prioritized up-to-date interpretation and analysis of court cases, and this resolution honors that longstanding tradition.

Today, people rely on digital sources for the most up-to-date information. This is true whether we are talking about breaking news, airfares, restaurant reviews, or Supreme Court case citations.

CONAN is a case in point. According to the GPO, the number of print copies of CONAN requested in 2012 by the House, Senate, and Joint Committee on Printing was just over 1,000. Ten years later, in 2022, the number of requested copies dropped to just 659.

It is no coincidence that this drop in requests for the hardbound version of CONAN coincides with the 2019 launch of a digital version of