Public Feedback Sought for Congress.gov

If you want current information on the federal legislation that is accurate and official, the best site to use is Congress.gov. 

Congress.gov is a collaboration among the Library of Congress, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Government Publishing Office. The site is searchable and free and provides the status, full text, and summary to each bill before Congress. It also provides direct links to the Congressional Budget Office which analyzes the cost estimates of each bill. The Congressional Record (which provides a daily transcript of speeches and actions of Congress) provides the process of the bill through Congress. The site gives access to the entire Congressional Record back to its first publication in 1873. Background information on the site are profiles of each member of Congress, legislative process videos, Committee profile pages, historic access to previous bills, and previous public forums. 

Once a year, in September, the Library of Congress conducts a public forum to educate the public and to gather feedback on the site. The next public forum has been scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 18 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. 

If you would like to attend the forum virtually here is the registration link. If you are lucky enough to be in Washington and can attend in person at the beautiful Library of Congress, register here. 

The forum will present enhancements to Congress.gov based on previous user feedback. It will also show how “legislative information is gathered and made available to the public.” There will also be Q&A discussion segments where attendees can learn about the site and share ideas for future enhancements. Those who cannot attend can also submit suggestions before and after the forum at Congress.gov Public Forum Survey Form.

From the Library of Congress: The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

It's Complicated: Modernization Requires Legal Statute(s)

On March 20, 2024 the Modernization Subcommittee of the Committee on House Administration of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing entitled "Legislative Proposals to Support Modernizing the Congressional Research Service and the Use of Federal Data.” 

The Congressional Research Service, or CRS, serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. Since 1914, CRS has existed by law as a department of the Library of Congress and works directly for Congress. CRS gathers, synthesizes, and analyzes information and data to assist in the formation and enaction of legislation – from earliest bill drafting through oversight of implementation. The CRS approaches complex topics and policy issues with meticulous and comprehensive research, expert and diversified resources, confidential consultation, and a nonpartisan mindset. The statute empowering the CRS was last updated in 1970. 

Much of the information in CRS reports relies on data from the various Federal agencies which are under the authority of the Executive Branch of the government. Federal agencies are required by law to comply with a request for information by the CRS when the request has been authorized by a Congressional committee. 

The first bill before the subcommittee was a CRS request to be freed from the legal requirement to publish a print edition of the Constitution of the United States Analysis and Interpretation, also called Constitution Annotated or CONAN. In 1970 Congress passed a law requiring CRS to publish every 10 years annotations of all cases decided by the Supreme Court up to that date, with biennial cumulative updates. (Previous annotations had been published but not at regular intervals.) The last published edition cost $1 million to produce. However, since 2019, CRS has also maintained the Constitution Annotated website which is updated much more frequently. Eliminating the print edition of CONAN would free up time, personnel, and financial resources for the CRS. 

A second bill discussed in the subcommittee hearing addresses the need for CRS to have access to data produced by federal agencies. Although federal agencies must comply with a CRS request for information authorized by a committee, they do not have to legally comply with requests authorized by an individual member of Congress. This bill would also allow CRS on its own to request information when they anticipate a need for information. 

Other elements of modernization CRS is exploring at this time are presentation and use of data (use of visualizations, data dashboards, cloud based solutions, etc.) in their reports and implementation of AI.

To see the opening remarks of Mr. Robert Randolph Newlen, Interim Director, Congressional Research Service click here.

To see the opening remarks of witnesses (Ms. Elise Bean, Director, Washington Office, Carl Levin Center for Oversight & Democracy, Dr. Matthew Glassman, Senior Fellow, Government Affairs Institute, Georgetown University, and Dr. Nicholas Hart, President & CEO, Data Foundation) in support of the second bill click here.  

 

Widgets for Accesssing News about Congressional Bills

Votetocracy, a Web site that allows people to vote on bills before Congress, is now providing widgets to enable bloggers and Web site owners to show bills currently in Congress. Widgets are available for the following categories: economy, education, environment, health care, technology, war and military, and latest votes in Congress.
Here's what the latest votes in Congress widget looks like: