Roll Call – “The walls between members of the public and Capitol Hill’s exclusive division of policy and legal analysts are too tall, according to transparency advocates both inside and outside of Congress. Such sentiment is prompting their calls to lawmakers with jurisdiction over the Library of Congress and the House clerk’s office to examine making public the highly regarded work of the Congressional Research Service. “By providing public access to CRS reports, we can elevate our national discourse and make it easier for citizens to cut through the misinformation that too often confuses the national debate,” Reps. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill., wrote in a June 17 letter to House Administration Committee leaders. Bolstered by The New York Times editorial supporting their proposal to put CRS reports online, the bipartisan pair wrote that the American taxpayer, who helps fund the agency’s nearly $107 million budget, “deserves access to the same objective and nonpartisan CRS analyses on which we rely as Members of Congress.”

• Our collective and continued thanks to Steven Aftergood whose tireless, expert work on many issues that are are critical for librarians, researchers, lawyers, advocacy groups and all citizens – and who continuously makes available to us CRS reports at no cost.