From the October 22, 2015 letter [via Politico]: “Dear Chairman Blunt, Chairman Capito, Chairman Miller, Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Schumer, Ranking Member Schatz, Ranking Member Brady, Ranking Member Wasserman Schultz, and Vice Chairman Harper: We are former employees of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), with more than a collective five hundred years with the agency. W e write in strong support of timely, comprehensive free public access to CRS reports. In doing so, we distinguish between C RS reports, which are non-confidential, and other CRS products, such as memoranda, which are confidential. CRS plays a vital role in our legislative process by informing lawmakers and staff about important policy issues. To that end, nothing should impair CRS’s ability to provide confidential support to members of Congress, such as through briefings and confidential memoranda. Nor should Congress take any steps to weaken the Constitutionally-protected status of CRS’s work product. In contrast, CRS reports are widely available on Capitol Hill to staff and lobbyists alike, are released with no expectation of confidentiality , and could be of immense value to the general public…”