Modernizing the Congressional Research Service's Access to Data Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BICE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 7593, the Modernizing the Congressional Research Service's Access to Data Act.

In order for Congress to fulfill its Article I obligations and act as the first among coequal branches of government as the Framers intended, its support agencies need to be fully equipped to assist Congress in all of its legislative and representative duties.

When our support agencies falter, we falter, and it is incumbent upon us to fix what is not working. CRS is a case in point. The agency is bound by statute to outdated rules that do not reflect how Congress works today.

CRS' statute was last updated in 1970, and back then committees were very much at the center of the policymaking process. The agency's authority to request data and information from Federal agencies reflected that reality. Requests for data and information could only be made to support the work of committees.

More than five decades later, CRS continues to operate under this narrow and outdated request authority. Congress has evolved as an institution, but in many ways CRS has not. Its ability to fully support today's Congress is hindered by a statute drafted to support yesterday's Congress.

Committees continue to play an important role in the legislative process, but so do Members. Members today are doing more work on behalf of their constituents and relying more heavily on CRS for support. Whether they need data and information to better understand and address a problem in their district or in anticipation of an emerging policy debate, Members rely on CRS for its nonpartisan expertise.

All of this work, for committees and for Members, depends on CRS having access to current and reliable data. It is the basis of the objective and informed analysis on which Congress depends to fulfill its Article I obligations.

When Federal agencies are compelled to share data and information with CRS only when it is requested on behalf of a committee, CRS is unable to fulfill its statutory obligation to support Congress in all of its duties.

H.R. 7593 fixes this limitation by granting CRS the authority to secure information and data from Federal agencies, as necessary, to carry out congressional requests; not committee requests, but congressional requests.

This fix is neither groundbreaking nor controversial. There is a nearly century-long chain of Supreme Court precedents that recognize the authority of Congress and, by extension, the legislative support agencies, to gather information from the executive branch.

In fact, GAO and CBO, CRS' sister support agencies, already enjoy greater access authorities because, as Congress has added to their responsibilities, it has also provided them with the additional tools and authorities needed to carry out that additional work.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for CRS. The agency's work has expanded tremendously since the 1970s, but Congress has failed to pair its extra responsibilities with extra support.

In granting CRS greater access, this bill requires CRS to maintain the same level of confidentiality for the data and information it receives, as is required by law of the agency from which it obtained. Any CRS employee who violates this requirement will be subject to the same statutory penalties that an employee of a providing agency would face. These provisions, it should be noted, mirror CBO's rigorous confidentiality authorities.

CRS has a long-established record of not making inappropriate or overly expansive information and data requests. Nothing about this resolution changes that. The agency routinely engages in an internal consultation process to ensure that requests are properly scoped and tailored. Maintaining these guardrails around its requests helps CRS properly evaluate the potential ways that data and information may be used.

The agency's strict adherence to its statutory mandate to advise and assist Congress without partisan bias has and will continue to guide its requests.

Updating CRS' statute to better reflect how Congress works today is an Article I strengthening endeavor. It does not concern politics or partisanship. It concerns institutions, plain and simple.

When CRS is unable to fully support Congress, Congress cannot fully act as a coequal branch of government, and when CRS is unable to fully support us as Members in our legislative and representational duties, we are unable to fully support our constituents.

Mr. Speaker, I think we can all agree that both of these scenarios are unacceptable. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 7593.

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