A confidential arm of Congress clarifies its mandate: Secrecy

Members of Congress who are seeking answers to public policy questions from environmental protection to immigration have at their disposal a respected in-house think tank that’s served up in-depth analysis for the House and Senate since 1914. But now the Congressional Research Service’s unusual mandate for secrecy is under attack from advocates for open government, who want much of its research to be made available to the public.

CRS, as it’s known, employs more than 400 analysts who are experts in their fields, “providing Congress with the vital analytical support it needs to address the most complex public policy issues facing the nation,” its Web site says. But this support, at a cost of $100 million a year to taxpayers, is confidential. The research is never made public unless a member of Congress releases it, to allow lawmakers to pursue potentially controversial issues without fear of political pushback. The reports are published on a site, CRS.gov, which is not publicly accessible. This confidentiality -- underscored in a new internal memo sent to CRS staff instructing them to be more secretive -- is being targeted by a coalition of librarians, open-government advocates and advocates against wasteful spending, who are pressing for an end to what they call excessive secrecy in Congress’s research arm.