Wanted: CRS Director to Set the Records Free

Today CDT, along with more than 30 other public interest groups, sent a letter to Library of Congress Director James Billington asking that his nominee for Director of the Congressional Research be open to working "with Congress to provide online free pubic access to unclassified, non-confidential, taxpayer funded reports produced by CRS."

CDT has long advocated that Congress provide easy access to these documents.  American taxpayers spend more than $100 million a year to fund CRS; the documents they produce are detailed reports relevant to current political events for lawmakers.  

Despite the reports being unclassified, Congress has time and again refused to allow the public access to them.  "Predictably, to fill the public void left by the CRS, several companies now sell copies of the reports at a price," the letter says.