FDsys To Be Replaced by govinfo

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has provided online access to Government information from all three branches since 1994 when we created the GPO Access website. GPO continued to innovate by launching the Federal Digital System (FDsys) in 2009, and in 2016, GPO debuted the modern, mobile-friendly govinfo.

In December 2018, GPO plans to retire FDsys, and govinfo will take its place as GPO’s source for official Government information.

While FDsys will remain available until its retirement, users are encouraged to transition to govinfo. Immediately before FDsys is retired, redirects from FDsys to govinfo will be enabled, but users should prepare for the FDsys retirement by proactively updating their systems and links to point to govinfo instead of FDsys.

govinfo offers many enhancements over FDsys including: 

Optimization for display on mobile devices

More relevant and precise search results

Integrated social media sharing

New Related Documents feature

Curated content and new ways to browse

Developer tools and data feeds

Expanded help and resources

   

Learn more about govinfo and the transition from FDsys, or contact GPO for more information. And don’t forget to register to attend the free, live training webinar, govinfo – GPO’s Official System for Providing Free Public Access to U.S. Government Information, taking place Tuesday, February 13, 2018.

GPO Completes Digitization of the Historical Congressional Record - Issues final release for the period 1873-1890

In cooperation with the Library of Congress, the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has completed the digitization of all historical issues of the Congressional Record dating to the first appearance of this publication on March 5, 1873. The final release of this project, covering the period 1873-1890, is being made available to the public free of charge on GPO's govinfo. Today’s release covers the debates and proceedings of the House of Representatives and the Senate from the 43rd through the 51st Congresses.

For this project the Library created digital images of the Congressional Record pages. GPO devised the necessary metadata to preserve the pages and make them accessible and searchable by users across a variety of digital platforms. It is one of a series of projects in recent years in which the Library and GPO have collaborated to expand free public access to congressional information in digital formats.

For background on the Congressional Record and the importance of this document, see GPO’s official history, Keeping America Informed: The U.S. Government Publishing Office 1861–2016: A Legacy of Service to the Nation, Washington, DC: GPO, 2016, pp 18-19.
The period of 1873-90 in Congress was notable for a number of events including:

• The second term of President U.S. Grant; the disputed election of 1876, resulting in the presidency of Rutherford Hayes; the election and assassination of President James Garfield; the administration of President Chester Arthur; the election and first non-consecutive term of President Grover Cleveland; and the first two years of the administration of President Benjamin Harrison
• The admission of Colorado, Montana, Washington, North and South Dakota, Idaho, and Wyoming as state
• The Panic of 1873
• The Civil Rights Act of 1875
• The Battle of the Little Bighorn (Custer’s Last Stand)
• The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
• The Sherman Anti-Trust Act
• The Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act

"This final digital release of the historic issues of the Congressional Record gives the public easy access to the historic debates of Congress on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and personal computers," said GPO Acting Director Jim Bradley. “We are pleased to have completed this project with the Library of Congress to provide the public with digital access to this publication that traces the history of our life as a Nation since 1873.”

Future U.S. Role in the World

A July 12, 2017 CRS Report entitled U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress by Ronald O-Rourke and Michael Moodie provides background information and issues for Congress to consider given statements and actions from the Trump Administration that may indicate a change in the role the U.S. plays in world affairs. The central policy issue for this report concerns "whether there should be a change in the U.S. role, and if so, what that change should be, including whether a given proposed change would be feasible or practical, and what consequences may result." The report addresses implications a change in the U.S. role would have for "congressional organization, capacity, and operations relating to foreign policy, national security, and international economic policy."

Summer Recreation - Find a National Park

Looking for an outdoor getaway this summer? The U.S. National Park Service's "Find a Park" page features a map of the U.S. enabling you to click on a particular state and see where national parks are located in that state.  If downloading a map of a national park is taking too long, national park enthusiast and park ranger Matt Holly has collected park maps to streamline download. Holly started his site, http://npmaps.com/ , during the 2013 government shutdown, but has continued adding maps since then. Eventually he plans to have every National Park Service Map on his site.

Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2017

The Department of Defense (DOD) has released its "Annual Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China" which addresses the "current and probable
future course of military-technological development of the People’s Liberation Army and the tenets and probable development of Chinese security strategy and military strategy, and of the military organizations and operational concepts supporting such development over the next 20 years." The report also addresses "United States-China engagement and cooperation on security matters during the period covered by the report, including through United States-China military-to-military contacts, and the United States strategy for such engagement and cooperation in the future."
Read an executive summary or the full report.

  

Congressional Budget Office Report on Repeal of the ACA (Obamacare)

On June 26, 2017 the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released their report on the Senate's amendment to H.R. 1628, Better Care Reconciliation Act of  2017, designed to replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The report indicates the senate version, if passed, would "reduce federal deficits by $321 billion over the coming decade and increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to current law." By 2026 for people under age 65 under the senate version, 49 million are projected to be without insurance compared with 28 million under the current law.  Although the CBO and the JCT state estimates cannot be made with certainty, they conclude "the amount of federal revenues collected and the amount of spending on Medicaid would almost surely both be lower than under current law" in addition to the number of underinsured people being greater than under the current law.


For more information, read a PDF of their report.

Legal Questions About President Trump's Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

On June 9, 2017 the Congressional Research Service (CRS) published a "Legal Sidebar" report and analysis entitled President Trump's Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement Raises Legal Questions.
The questions are:
Pt. 1

• Will the United States Follow the Multi-Year Process for Withdrawal in Article 28?
• Can the United States Immediately Withdraw from the Paris Agreement?
• To What Extent Does the Trump Administration Consider the Paris Agreement Binding Under International Law?
• Will the United States Remain in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change?

Pt. 2

• What is the United States’ Role in Future Climate Change Meetings Organized Under the Paris Agreement?
• What are the Prospects for Legal Challenges to the Withdrawal?
• What Legal Risks did the President Seek to Avoid by Announcing the Exit?

See the answers at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/withdrawal.pdf

Trends in Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Research & Development

 National Laboratories (Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, Naval Research, Pacific Northwest, and Sandia) released a report in June 2017 entitled Trends in Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Research & Development — A Physics Perspective LA-UR-17-21274. According to the abstract, the report "reviews the accessible literature, as it relates to nuclear explosion monitoring and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT, 1996), for four research areas: source physics (understanding signal generation), signal propagation (accounting for changes through physical media), sensors (recording the signals), and signal analysis (processing the signal). Over 40 trends are addressed "exploring the value and benefit (of each) to the monitoring mission." The report also presents "key papers that advanced the science, and promising research and development for the future."