# Congress finally does something right... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 28, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-finally-does-something-right/811342 "2018-03-28T11:58:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-finally-does-something-right/811342/1 "2018-03-28T11:58:20Z")
… in that Congressional Research Service reports will finally be available to the public. They have a staff of 500 and we pay over $100 million a year for some of the best research and analysis on hundreds of topics which up until now had only been available to Members of Congress and insiders like lobbyists. Buried in the huge spending bill was a lift on the 64 year ban on sharing this info with the public. This is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-finally-does-something-right/811342/2 "2018-03-28T12:09:30Z")
\ Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats. Do not panic. It was an accident. Simply an accident. \ I’m sure this is not a sign of the apocalypse. Uh… I think it is not a sign… uh… Nothing bad will… Oh, sweet Jesus save us all! The end times are here. This is surely a portent of the end times. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-finally-does-something-right/811342/3 "2018-03-29T02:05:58Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > … in that Congressional Research Service reports will finally be available to the public. They have a staff of 500 and we pay over $100 million a year for some of the best research and analysis on hundreds of topics which up until now had only been available to Members of Congress and insiders like lobbyists. Buried in the huge spending bill was a lift on the 64 year ban on sharing this info with the public. > > This is a good thing. I will believe it when I see it. Or they will be available for review at the counter in the back of a warehouse in SE DC from 8AM to 11AM on alternate Tuesdays-you can even copy them at 70 cents a page… ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-finally-does-something-right/811342/4 "2018-03-29T05:15:00Z")
Making CRS reports public is nice and all, but they really need to reconstitute the [Office of Technology Assessment](https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/09/14/bring-back-the-ota/). Stranger ---
**Author:** ![jkirkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-finally-does-something-right/811342/5 "2018-03-29T13:46:20Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > I will believe it when I see it. Or they will be available for review at the counter in the back of a warehouse in SE DC from 8AM to 11AM on alternate Tuesdays-you can even copy them at 70 cents a page… You forgot the “Beware of the Leopard” sign. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-finally-does-something-right/811342/6 "2018-03-29T14:57:16Z")
> [@jkirkman](#): > > You forgot the “Beware of the Leopard” sign. There’s no sign any more. It’s cheaper to keep the leopard fed this way. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-finally-does-something-right/811342/7 "2018-03-29T16:35:43Z")
They were never secret, they were just written with a very narrow audience (congresspeople and their staffs) in mind. You could always get them by writing to your Congressman and asking politely. There were people who just bugged their congressmen for each and every one and maintained archives of them on their own web sites. I think the only change here is that Congress will now publish them directly. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-finally-does-something-right/811342/8 "2018-03-29T17:10:38Z")
As they should since they are funded by public money, are used to inform public policy decisions, and do not contain classified or restricted information. They should have always been in the public record to begin with. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congress-finally-does-something-right/811342/9 "2018-03-29T20:30:01Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > They were never secret, they were just written with a very narrow audience (congresspeople and their staffs) in mind. You could always get them by writing to your Congressman and asking politely. There were people who just bugged their congressmen for each and every one and maintained archives of them on their own web sites. I think the only change here is that Congress will now publish them directly. Which is a huge, overdue change.