What started the let-me-Google-that-for-you act

The National Technical Information Service, a longtime branch of the Commerce Department, collects and sells government reports. Only many show up free with a quick Google search.

Lawmakers are calling for the agency’s elimination -- the Let Me Google That For You Act -- and landed it in the center of a debate over open data, online accessibility and wasted taxpayer dollars. This tension started percolating more than a decade ago, when the Commerce secretary warned that the advent of the Internet rendered the agency obsolete. A 2012 report by the Government Accountability Office also spotted structural problems. And while NTIS has expanded its services and now provides electronic documents, some of its core functions contradict priorities of an administration that has vowed to push government into the 21st century.