Congressional Research Accessibility Act

Rep. Chris Shays (R-Connecticut) tossed the Congressional Research Accessibility Act, H.R. 2524, into the bill hopper this week. The bill would require CRS to make their regular reports to Congress available online" no earlier than 30 days and no later than 40 days after the date on which the information is first made available to Members of Congress through the [closed] Congressional Research Service website." This means commercial vendors who somehow have real time access to CRS reports could still profit under the bill. I could live with that provision.

Hat tip to beSpacific and Coalition of Journalists for Open Government, both linking to CRS Director Defends No Release Policy (April 18, 2007) [JH]