Repeal Requirement for Congressional Research Service to Prepare Annotated Constitution and Supplements in Hardbound Version

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BICE. Mr. Speaker, as was mentioned by my colleague Mr. Kilmer, this is the Constitution Annotated, or CONAN, as it is better known today. Its origins date back to 1797 when Congress passed legislation requiring that every Member of Congress be provided a copy of the Constitution.

These copies were then expanded to include Supreme Court case citations so that Members could see which clauses of the Constitution the Court used to decide those cases.

As the number of citations grew, Members became frustrated with the new format. The hundreds of citations listed under each clause of the Constitution were useless to most of them because they had no idea what the cases were about and what questions were before the Court.

In 1921, Congress passed a resolution requiring reprints of the Constitution to include explanatory language that would make sense of all the case citations throughout. This requirement made the reprints much more useful to the Members, and the format created then is one that is still used today.

Initially, CONAN was printed every 10 years or so, but by 1970, Members began to complain that it was outdated almost as soon as it was printed. They addressed this by passing a resolution requiring that a paperbound supplement to CONAN be printed every 2 years, in addition to printing the hardbound version of the CONAN every 10.

Since 1972, that is what we have done: Print a hardbound version of CONAN every 10 years and a paperbound supplement every 2.

CONAN obviously has a rich history dating back over two centuries. The Constitution provides the framework for our government, and understanding that framework and how the Supreme Court has applied it to its decisions over the years is as essential today as it was over 200 years ago.

Nothing about H.R. 7592 erases or changes this important history. In fact, the legislative history of CONAN makes it clear that Congress has consistently prioritized up-to-date interpretation and analysis of court cases, and this resolution honors that longstanding tradition.

Today, people rely on digital sources for the most up-to-date information. This is true whether we are talking about breaking news, airfares, restaurant reviews, or Supreme Court case citations.

CONAN is a case in point. According to the GPO, the number of print copies of CONAN requested in 2012 by the House, Senate, and Joint Committee on Printing was just over 1,000. Ten years later, in 2022, the number of requested copies dropped to just 659.

It is no coincidence that this drop in requests for the hardbound version of CONAN coincides with the 2019 launch of a digital version of CONAN.

Over the past 5 years, the CONAN website has become an invaluable resource to individuals, citizens, schools, libraries, and, of course, Congress. The user-friendly site has received more than 28 million visits since it was created and features hundreds of pages of constitutional analysis and content.

The site is publicly accessible, easy to search, and provides links to Supreme Court decisions. Perhaps most importantly, it is updated in real time by CRS.

All of this raises the question of why we are wasting taxpayer dollars printing this giant hardcover version of CONAN along with paperbound supplements when a superior digital version already exists.

According to the CBO, replacing this version of CONAN with a digital version would reduce the Library of Congress' operating costs by millions over the next few years.

Eliminating the print requirement will also eliminate inefficient use of CRS staff time. In addition to updating the online version of CONAN in real time, CRS staff have to spend countless hours formatting and paginating the print version of CONAN. A more efficient CRS ultimately benefits Congress and, in turn, our constituents.

Mr. Speaker, replacing the CONAN print requirement with a digital requirement is a no-brainer. The digital version provides Members and other users with the most up-to-date information and analysis available at a significant cost savings for taxpayers.

History shows that Congress has consistently taken steps to ensure that CONAN meets the evolving needs of Members and other users. Passing this legislation is a logical next step in maintaining CONAN's relevancy and usefulness, both to Congress and to the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 7592.

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