In its first markup in 31 years, the House Administration Modernization Subcommittee voted Thursday to approve the Modernizing the Congressional Research Service’s (CRS) Access to Data Act.
The four-member subcommittee favorably reported the bill to the full committee for further consideration. The legislation would codify CRS’ ability to obtain Federal agency data, speeding up its access to critical information and saving money.
“These measures will help streamline processes and improve the way the Congressional Research Service works on behalf of Congress,” subcommittee chair Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., said during the April 11 markup. “By prioritizing a more efficient Congress, we’re saving taxpayer dollars.”
“[The bill] would modernize CRS’s access to Federal agency data and information, also creating efficiencies,” she continued, adding, “In order to provide timely and accurate research and analysis to Congress, CRS needs quick and reliable access to data. While CRS’s work is held up by bureaucratic processes and procedures, our work is held up. That is unacceptable, and our constituents deserve better.”
Rep. Bice – alongside her three subcommittee members – introduced the Modernizing the CRS’s Access to Data Act on March 8.
The subcommittee held a hearing on the legislation on March 20.
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 last month.
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.
Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., noted Thursday that the panel’s new legislation would bring the CRS, and “by extension this institution, further into the future.”
“CRS leadership has indicated that they at times have struggled to access necessary information from Federal agencies to execute their mission,” Rep. Kilmer said. “CRS should be able to update and report on nationally significant issues proactively and respond to specific member office requests, and their access should be on par with that provided to other [legislative] branch support agencies, like the [Congressional Budget Office], for example.”
