Wanted: Better Access to CRS Reports

Wanted: Better Access to CRS Reports

In a news story today about the imminent arrival of the federal government’s debt limit (“Debt Ceiling Has Some Give, Until Roof Falls In”by Binyamin Appelbaum), the New York Times cited a Congressional Research Service report that was performed “in February” concerning the impact of the debt limit.

But that report has been updated and superseded, though one might not know it due to congressional secrecy policy, which precludes direct public access to CRS publications.  The current version is “Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations” (pdf), April 27, 2011.

I will be participating in a panel discussion on “The Future of CRS,”including prospects for improving public access to non-confidential CRS reports, on Monday, May 9 at 2 pm in 2203 Rayburn House Office Building.  It is sponsored by the Sunlight Foundation.

Source:  Secrecy News (Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists)

Filed under: News, Reports