Public Release of CRS Reports: FAQ for Congressional Staff

"On March 23, 2018, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 was signed into law. The law directed the Librarian of Congress, in consultation with the CRS Director, to establish and maintain a public website that will contain written CRS products available on CRS.gov. In response, the Library and CRS immediately started work to ensure products required under this new law will be available at launch by Sept. 18, 2018. They also initiated planning to make additional written products available as expeditiously as possible.

The Library of Congress and CRS are committed to implementing this publication directive while maintaining a consistent and high-level of service to Congress. The law does not change the mission or focus of CRS. The law does not affect the confidentiality of congressional requests or responses (such as confidential memoranda). It does not allow congressional requests or confidential responses to be made available to the public. All CRS reports will continue to be written for a congressional audience and focused on the needs of Congress. More details will be added as planning progresses. For more information, please contact the CRS Congressional Programs and Communications Office.

What will the site look like and what content will it include?

The Library plans to make the collection of CRS reports publicly available on the official website for U.S. federal legislative information, Congress.gov (congress.gov/crsreports). The website will employ a simple, Google-like search and will include options for viewing all reports and bulk download. The search results page will look similar to CRS.gov's search results page and feature the same search sorting, filter by category, and display mechanisms.

For the initial public release, the Library will make available in PDF format all of CRS's R-series of "active" reports that were published since the enactment date, as well as the Appropriations Status Table. The publication directive specifically mandates that the public website is to be "updated contemporaneously, automatically, and electronically, to include each new or updated CRS report released on or after" the date on which the Library makes the website available for public access. The Library and CRS will ensure that every CRS report that is published or updated once the public website is active will be so included. The Library and CRS are additionally committed to presenting the full inventory of reports appearing on CRS.gov on the public website as soon as is practicable (with a full migration targeted for completion by spring 2019). After the R-series reports are published, the Library will work to make other written products, such as In Focus products, available..."
CRS Reports