The House Administration Committee unanimously passed two bills on April 30 that would modernize and digitize Congress’ work.
The two bills will now head to the House floor for further consideration.
H.R. 7593, “Modernizing the Congressional Research Service’s (CRS) Access to Data Act,” and H.R. 7592, a bill that requires the Library of Congress to replace hardbound versions of the Constitution Annotated with digital versions, were introduced by the House Administration Modernization Subcommittee.
In its first markup in 31 years, the four-person subcommittee voted on April 11 to favorably report the bills to the full committee.
“Much of the work that the subcommittee does to make Congress a more efficient, more effective institution sometimes flies under the radar,” House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said during the full committee markup today. “The work is focused on improving and modernizing the way we work which in turn helps the American people and it makes a huge difference.”
“Both bills will improve the way the Congressional Research Service works on behalf of Congress to better serve the American people. One eliminates the Constitution Annotated print requirement and moves it to a digital only format,” the congressman said. “The other strengthens CRS’s access to data and information so the agency can better support Congress in all its functions. Both of these bills represent what modernization is all about. CRS needs to work in a way that reflects how Congress works.”
According to subcommittee chair Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., the bill to move the Constitution Annotated from a hardbound version to fully online will save taxpayers $1.25 million.
Rep. Bice – alongside her three subcommittee members – also introduced the Modernizing the CRS’s Access to Data Act on March 8.
The subcommittee held a hearing on the legislation in March.
A key function of the CRS is dealing with inquiries from members, staff, and committees and returning answers and analysis, some of which is based on data from Federal agencies. But the agency has sometimes struggled to extract what it needs from the executive branch, CRS Interim Director Robert Newlen testified during the hearing.
Some agencies have asked CRS to file Freedom of Information Act requests, he said, while others don’t respond at all, or refuse. The new bill would grant the CRS access to agency data on par with the access granted to the Government Accountability Office.
“Strengthening CRS’s access to Federal agency data and information will help better equip the agency to support Congress and its legislative, oversight, and representative functions,” Rep. Bice said as the bill was approved today. “When their work is held up by bureaucratic processes and procedures, our work is held up. That’s unacceptable and our constituents deserve better.”
