From OpenCongress Wiki

(Difference between revisions)

Revision as of 03:05, September 15, 2012

1 Introduction
2 Quick Facts
3 Blog Posts
4 Policy Documents and Gov't Resources
- 4.1 Government Resources
- 4.2 Civil Society Organization Resources
5 News Stories
6 Additional Resources
7 The History of THOMAS Generally
8 States that provide bulk access to legislative data
9 Historical Resources on the Development of Congress' Legislative Information Systems
- 9.1 Legislative Language and Committee Reports
- 9.2 Documents and Reports Prepared by Congress and Legislative Branch Support Agencies
10
11 Congress's Bulk Data Task Force Questions
12 Ideas for Upgrading THOMAS

Introduction

This wiki gathers information concerning public bulk access to information stored on THOMAS, a comprehensive Internet-accessible database that makes federal legislative information available to the public at no cost. THOMAS is operated by the Library of Congress and was launched in January of 1995 at the inception of the 104th Congress.

Quick Facts

At least twice as many people access congressional legislative information through third party sources than directly through the THOMAS website. Major third party sources include GovTrack.us, OpenCongress.org, and Sunlight's Congress app for Android.
Providing “bulk access to data” means releasing an entire database for use by others.
GPO currently publishes 6 datasets in bulk (including the Federal Register); Data.gov (launched March 2010) has 400,000 datasets; New Jersey and New Hampshire publish legislative data in bulk.
A coalition of organizations issues the major Open House Report calling on Congress to "embrace structured data by publishing the status of legislation and other information to the Web not only as it is now, but also in structured data formats." (May 2007) (http://bit.ly/HkPycb)
The Explanatory Statement accompanying the Committee Print of the House Committee on Appropriations for Public Law 111-9 (March 2009) articulates Congress' support for bulk access to legislative information. (http://1.usa.gov/I2UvJG p. 1770)
In 2008, the Library of Congress says it expected to report on the resources necessary to supply the public with raw legislative data within the first part of the calendar year. It established a bulk data task force that has never completed its deliberations. (http://bit.ly/A4c5le)
Rep. Bill Foster introduced HR 6289 (in the 111th Congress) that would require some legislative data to be made available in bulk and create a THOMAS advisory committee. (Sep. 2010) (http://1.usa.gov/HZthAp)
Congressional Facebook Hackathon endorses bulk access to legislative data as an action item: "Release Structured Machine-Readable Legislative Data: Providing legislative data in a bulk format to enable third-party developers to create more dynamic interfaces for legislative information." (November 2011) (http://1.usa.gov/ygzQpl)
30 organizations and companies call for bulk access to legislative data and the creation of an advisory committee. (April 6, 2012)

Blog Posts

"Rep. Honda Speaks on Bulk Access on the House Floor" by Daniel Schuman (6/8/2012)
"Major Transparency Milestone in Bulk Access Statement" by Daniel Schuman (6/6/2012)
"Issa amendment denied, but leadership supports bulk access" by Matt Rumsey (6/6/2012)
"Issa Offers #FreeTHOMAS Amendment to Leg Approps Bill" by Daniel Schuman (6/5/2012)
"Media Spotlight on Congress Stalling Open Access to Legislation" by Nicko Margolies (6/5/2012)
"Bulk Access Language Tweaked by Approps" by Daniel Schuman (6/5/2012)
"#FreeTHOMAS" by Daniel Schuman (6/4/2012)
"Bulk Access Developments after the H. Approps Hearing" by Daniel Schuman (6/1/2012)
"THOMAS Talking Points" by Daniel Schuman (5/30/2012)
"Appropriators May Undercut Legislative Transparency" by Daniel Schuman and Eric Mill (5/30/2012)
"Full Committee Markup on Leg Approps Set for Thursday" by Daniel Schuman (5/24/2012)
"Will the House's Leg Spending Bill Match Its Transparency Priorities?" by Daniel Schuman (5/24/2012)
"Two Steps Forward on Improving Public Access to Legislative Information" by Daniel Schuman (5/18/2012)
"Appropriators Should Consider Public Access to Leg Info at Friday Mark-up" by Daniel Schuman (5/17/2012)
"News Without Transparency: House Passes Bridge BIll After an Earmark Debate" by Matt Rumsey and Melanie Buck (5/10/2012)
"Improve Public Access to Legislative Information" by Daniel Schuman (4/10/2012)
"Help improve public access to Congressional/legislative information #FDLP" by James Jacobs (3/28/2012)
"GovTrack Users Want Better Transparency From Congress" by Josh Tauburer (3/16/2012)
"Tell Congress to Open Up" by Nicole Aro (3/12/2012)
"Government Transparency “To Do” Your Government Transparency 'To-Do'" by Jim Harper (3/12/2012)
"Partners in Data Transparency: Parliaments and Non-Profits" by Daniel Schuman (3/1/2012)
"Put THOMAS on the Fast Track" by Daniel Schuman (2/9/2012)
"Benchmarks for Measuring Success for Legislative Data Transparency" by Daniel Schuman (2/2/2012)
"Bulk Data at the House Legislative Data Conference" by John Wonderlich (2/2/2012)
"Liberate OpenGovData Now" by David Moore (2/1/2012)
"In #HackWeTrust - The House of Representatives Opens Its Doors to Transparency Through Technology" by Daniel Schuman (12/8/2011)
"House Holding Wonk-a-thon on Public Access to Congressional Info This Thursday" by Daniel Schuman (12/5/2011)
"Sunlight Testimony: Bulk Access to THOMAS and Access to CRS Reports" by Daniel Schuman (12/5/2011)
"Read the Bill 2.0" by Daniel Schuman (11/14/2010)
"Rep. Foster Introduces Bill To Improve THOMAS" by Daniel Schuman (9/30/2010)
"Apps for THOMAS: 3 Wishes" by Daniel Schuman (7/29/2010)
"Birds of a Feather: What's in the DISCLOSE Bills" by Daniel Schuman (5/3/2010)
"Tip of the Hat to THOMAS" by Daniel Schuman (1/6/2010)
"House Leg Branch Appropriations Review" by John Wonderlich (6/27/2009)
"Legislative Databases recommendation makes it to House Leg Branch Appropriations markup" by Josh Tauburer (4/14/2008)
"Congressman Honda on the Open House cause" by Josh Tauburer (2/1/2008)
Discussion on the Open House Project email list (link) (11/14/2007)
"Mash-ups for government transparency" by Josh Tauburer (1/25/2007)
"Finding Bills Online" by Paul Blumenthal (1/9/2007)

Policy Documents and Gov't Resources

Government Resources

"House Leaders Back Bulk Access to Legislative Information" Speaker Boehner Press Office (6/5/2012)
Amendment Offered to H.R. 5882, by Rep. Issa (R-CA) (6/5/2012)
Appropriations Committee Report 112-511 on Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill, 2013 to accompany H.R. 5882 (6/1/2012)
"House Committee on Appropriations, Omnibus Act, 2009, Committee Print of the House Committee on Appropriations H.R. 1105 / Public Law 111-8." See Book G, explanatory statement on Congressional Research Service Salaries and Expenses, the paragraph starting with the phrase "Public Access to Legislative Data" (or page 10 of this PDF) (March 2009). Key language:

Public Access to Legislative Data.--There is support for enhancing public access to legislative documents, bill status, summary information, and other legislative data through more direct methods such as bulk data downloads and other means of no-charge digital access to legislative databases. The Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, and Government Printing Office and the appropriate entities of the House of Representatives are directed to prepare a report on the feasibility of providing advanced search capabilities. This report is to be provided to the Committees on Appropriations of the House and Senate within 120 days of the release of Legislative Information System 2.0.

Congressional Facebook Hackathon endorses bulk access to legislative data as an action item in this report
"Annual Report of the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress for Fiscal Year 2009" (January 2010). See page 20.
"Remarks from the Public Printer of the United States" (October 19, 2009)

Civil Society Organization Resources

30 Organizations Send Letters to Appropriators and Rulemakers regarding bulk access to THOMAS (April 10, 2012)
Comments Submitted for the Record by Joshua Tauburer for House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch regarding bulk data for legislative information (Febuary 6, 2012)
Comments Submitted for the Record by the Sunlight Foundation for the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch Hearing (February 6, 2012)
Comments Submitted for the Record by the Sunlight Foundation for the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch Hearing Regarding Bulk Access to THOMAS data (May 11, 2011)
Open House Project Report: "Congressional Information & the Internet: A Collaborative Examination of the House of Representatives and Internet Technology" Chapter 3: Legislation Database (May 8, 2007)

News Stories

"In Support of Legislative Transparency" Google Public Policy Blog (6/15/2012)
"The State of Personal Democracy: Is Government Really More Secretive? #pdf12" Forbes (6/10/2012)
"Federal News Minute" WNEW-FM - Washington, D.C. (6/8/2012)
"Congressional data may soon be easier to use online" Washington Post (6/8/2012)
"Rep. Crenshaw backs down, loses control over bulk data issue" GovTrack.us (6/7/2012)
"A week ago, we wrote about Congress..." Skimmer Hat (6/6/2012)
"Free THOMAS!" Fierce Government (6/5/2012)
"House Appropriations trims legislative agencies budget request" Fierce Government (6/5/2012)
"Report May Hinder Goal of Open Congress" Roll Call (6/5/2012)
"Of, By and For: A Short Legislative History of THOMAS, the Spirit of the Law, and Elle Woods" Lulu in the Library (6/5/2012)
"Rep. Crenshaw thinks American public can’t be trusted with overseeing Congress" GovTrack.us (6/4/2012)
"Can we stop talking about accountability for a minute? Please?" Legal Information Institute - Cornell University Law School (6/2/2012)
"House Appropriators May Limit Public Availability of Pending Bills" Slashdot (6/1/2012)
"For Transparency Advocates, the Honeymoon with House Republicans May Be Over" Tech President (6/1/2012)
"Hill may freeze THOMAS in digital past" Washington Examiner (5/31/2012)
"Transparency group decries legislative data bulk download prohibition" Fierce Government IT (5/31/2012)
"Transparency Advocates Frustrated With House Appropriators' Plan To Make A Plan" (5/30/2012)
"Congress Refuses to #FreeTHOMAS Open Congress" Open Congress (5/17/2012)
"Open government advocates seek greater access to congressional data" Federal News Radio.Com (4/16/2012)
"GovTrack users want better transparency from Congress" GovTrack.us (4/16/2012)
"US Agency Takes 'Private' Approach to Streamlining IT Procurement" E-Commerce Times (4/14/2012)
"Your Government Transparency 'To Do'" Washington Watch (4/12/2012)
"Transparency Groups Call for THOMAS bulk downloads" Fierce Government IT (4/11/2012)
"Transparency Groups Say THOMAS website is outdated" Federal Computer Week (4/10/2012)
"An API for Federal Legislation? Congress Wants Your Opinion" Threat Level (3/5/2009)
"Congressional Data Mining: Coming Soon?" Mother Jones (3/5/2009)
"Bulk Data Downloads: A Breakthrough in Government Transparency O'Reilly Radar (3/4/2009)
"Lawmakers favor outside access to legislative data Government Executive (1/23/2008)

Additional Resources

"Government: Do you really need an API" by Eric Mill (3/21/2012)
Sites that use GovTrack Data (list)
THOMAS RSS feeds (link)
How often is THOMAS updated (link)
Josh Tauburer on Civic Technology (link)
House of Representatives Adopts Standards for Electronic posting of House and committee documents and data (committee resolution as PDF) (document naming conventions as PDF)
House of Represnetatives launches transparency portal docs.house.gov
Library of Congress letter to Committee on House Administration on THOMAS (4/31/2008)

The History of THOMAS Generally

"Congress on the Internet: New Web Server Organizes Online Information" Library of Congress Information Bulletin (1/25/1995) - Announces the creation of THOMAS and includes introductory remarks at Jan. 5 launch event by then-Speaker Gingrich
Access to Government Information on the Internet Interpersonal Computing and Technology Journal (10/1993) - Discusses the precursor to THOMAS, the Library of Congress Information System (LOCIS)
"The Hill on the Net: Congress Enters the Information Age," by Chris Casey (1996) - Has history of creation of THOMAS.

States that provide bulk access to legislative data

New Hampshire
New Jersey
The Sunlight Foundation scrapes and provides bulk access to [50 of 50 state legislative data]

Historical Resources on the Development of Congress' Legislative Information Systems

Legislative Language and Committee Reports

H. Rept. 103-517 (accompanying P.L. 103-283, Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1995)

H. Rept. 104-733 (accompanying P.L. 104-53, Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1997)

Amendment No. 23: Deletes a provision proposed by the Senate

regarding an electronic information system. The managers on the

part of the House and Senate agree that the Congressional Research

Service, upon the request of the Senate Committee on Rules

and Administration, and in consultation with the Secretary of the

Senate and the heads of the appropriate offices and agencies of the

legislative branch, shall coordinate the development of an electronic

congressional legislative information and document retrieval

system to provide for the legislative information needs of the Senate

through the exchange and retrieval of information and documents

among legislative branch offices and agencies. The managers

on the part of the House and the Senate also agree that the Library

of Congress shall assist the Congressional Research Service

in supporting the Senate in this effort, and shall provide technical

staff and resources as may be necessary.

S. Rept. 105-16 (accompanying Supplementation Appropriations and Rescissions Act, 1997)

The Committee recommends the transfer of $5,000,000 from

funds available under the heading ‘‘Senate’’ to the Secretary of the

Senate, to be available through September 30, 2000, for development

and implementation of a comprehensive, Senatewide legislative

information system [LIS]. The accounts from which the transfers

occur are contingent upon the approval of the Committee on

Appropriations. Pursuant to section 8 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations

Act, 1997, the Secretary is required to develop and implement

LIS under the oversight of the Committee on Rules and

Administration.

H. Rept. 105-196 (accompanying H.R. 2209)

An open exchange of technology, projects, plans and developments

is crucial to the success of a legislative branch wide information

system. It is expected, therefore, that the following organizations

will continue to participate and assist in all the efforts of the

Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate: the Library of

Congress, the Government Printing Office, House Information Resources,

the Senate Computer Center, the General Accounting Office,

the Congressional Budget Office, and the Architect of the Capitol.

The Committee on House Oversight and the Senate Committee

on Rules and Administration have begun a process to develop a

common information dissemination system. The Legislative Information

System (LIS) being developed by the Congressional Research

Service and the Library of Congress, when completed, will

replace the retrieval functions for legislative information systems

currently being operated by House Information Resources (HIR).

The Library and CRS must devote sufficient resources to accomplish

the following during FY1998:

Provide comparable functionality so that legacy retrieval systems

can be retired by 12/31/98;

Improve the productivity of Congressional staff by making significant

progress in implementing previously identified high

priority functionality; and

Improve the accuracy, usability, and timeliness of legislative

information retrieval.

S. Rept. 105-47 (accompanying S. 1019)

In the conference report (H. Rept. 104–733) accompanying the

fiscal year 1997 legislative branch appropriation bill (Public Law

104–197), the Congressional Research Service was directed to coordinate,

and the Library of Congress was directed to provide technical

support for, the development of a legislative information retrieval

system to serve the Senate. The Senate has undertaken a

major program to rebuild its systems for creating and managing its

legislative information. This program, which will take several years

to complete, is being carried out by the Secretary of the Senate

with the oversight of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.

The retrieval system being coordinated by CRS and supported

by the Library is an integral part of that program. CRS and

the Library are, therefore, directed to continue their development

of the legislative retrieval system for the Senate in conjunction

with the Senate’s efforts to manage its legislative information more

efficiently.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and House

Oversight Committee, per the recommendation of the Secretary of

the Senate and the Clerk of the House, have approved the establishment

of a data standards program, including standard generalized

markup language [SGML] for data interchange of legislative

information. The purpose of this program is to ensure that the

preparation and exchange of legislative information is made more

efficient through the use of data standards. Once published these

standards will be used by all legislative branch agencies, including

GPO in transmitting and producing information which is utilized

in the legislative process. The Secretary of the Senate and Clerk

of the House will be responsible for updating and maintaining and

publishing the data interchange standards for legislative information.

S. Rept. 105-204 (accompanying Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1999)

In the conference report (H. Rept. 104–733) accompanying the

fiscal year 1997 legislative branch appropriation bill (Public Law

104–197), the Congressional Research Service was directed to coordinate,

and the Library of Congress was directed to provide technical

support, for the development of a legislative information retrieval

system to serve the Senate.

The Senate has undertaken a major program to rebuild its systems

for creating and managing its legislative information. Although

this program is going to take a number of years to complete,

the Senate is already realizing benefits from this program.

The Secretary of the Senate, with the technical support of the Sergeant

at Arms, is providing Senate offices floor amendments electronically

minutes after being introduced on the floor.

The retrieval system being designed and maintained to provide

a comprehensive legislative resource by the CRS and supported by

the Library is proving to be a valued recourse for Senate and congressional

office. CRS and the Library are, therefore, directed to

continue their development of the legislative retrieval system for

the Senate and provide an annual report outlining the strategic objective

of this initiative.

H. Conf. Rept. 105-734 (accompanying HR 4112)

The conferees agree with language in the House report directing

the Library to develop measurements of the extent of the collections

security problem and with language in the Senate report urging

the Library to continue efforts to assist the Senate with a legislative

information retrieval system.

H. Rept. 106-635 (accompanying the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill 2001)

Information security is a collective responsibility within the legislative

branch. The Clerk of the House in consultation with the Secretary

of the Senate shall consult with all legislative branch entities

that create or store legislative information in electronic form

and prepare standards and procedures for ensuring the security of

such information as well as for establishing a process to routinely

assess risks to the security of legislative information.

The Clerk in consultation with the Secretary shall submit proposals

for standards and procedures for approval to the Committee

on House Administration and the Senate Committee on Rules and

Administration, respectively, on a date to be specified by those

Committees. Upon approval, the Clerk, the Secretary, and the legislative

branch entities shall provide their plans to the House Committee

on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Appropriations.

The Library of Congress and the Government Printing Office

shall work with the Clerk and the Secretary to test, develop, and

implement, no later than January 3, 2001, systems that will enable

them to confirm the authenticity of such legislative information.

S. Rept. 107-37 (accompanying S. 1172, Legislative Branch Appropriations 2002)

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $8,571,000 for

expenses of the Office of the Secretary. The Committee has included

$7,000,000 for the Legislative Information System Augmentation

Project.

H. Rept. 112-511 (accompanying HR 5882)

During the hearings this year, the Committee heard testimony

on the dissemination of congressional information products in Extensible

Markup Language (XML) format. XML permits data to be

reused and repurposed not only for print output but for conversion

into ebooks, mobile web applications, and other forms of content delivery

including data mashups and other analytical tools. The Com-

mittee has heard requests for the increased dissemination of congressional

information via bulk data download from non-governmental

groups supporting openness and transparency in the legislative

process. While sharing these goals, the Committee is also

concerned that Congress maintains the ability to ensure that its

legislative data files remain intact and a trusted source once they

are removed from the Government’s domain to private sites.

The GPO currently ensures the authenticity of the congressional

information it disseminates to the public through its Federal Digital

System and the Library Congress’s THOMAS system by the

use of digital signature technology applied to the Portable Document

Format (PDF) version of the document, which matches the

printed document. The use of this technology attests that the digital

version of the document has not been altered since it was authenticated

and disseminated by GPO. At this time, only PDF files

can be digitally signed in native format for authentication purposes.

There currently is no comparable technology for the application

and verification of digital signatures on XML documents.

While the GPO currently provides bulk data access to information

products of the Office of the Federal Register, the limitations on

the authenticity and integrity of those data files are clearly spelled

out in the user guide that accompanies those files on GPO’s Federal

Digital System.

The GPO and Congress are moving toward the use of XML as

the data standard for legislative information. The House and Senate

are creating bills in XML format and are moving toward creating

other congressional documents in XML for input to the GPO.

At this point, however, the challenge of authenticating downloads

of bulk data legislative data files in XML remains unresolved, and

there continues to be a range of associated questions and issues:

Which Legislative Branch agency would be the provider of bulk

data downloads of legislative information in XML, and how would

this service be authorized. How would ‘‘House’’ information be differentiated

from ‘‘Senate’’ information for the purposes of bulk data

downloads in XML? What would be the impact of bulk downloads

of legislative data in XML on the timeliness and authoritativeness

of congressional information? What would be the estimated

timeline for the development of a system of authentication for bulk

data downloads of legislative information in XML? What are the

projected budgetary impacts of system development and implementation,

including potential costs for support that may be required

by third party users of legislative bulk data sets in XML, as well

as any indirect costs, such as potential requirements for Congress

to confirm or invalidate third party analyses of legislative data

based on bulk downloads in XML? Are there other data models or

alternative that can enhance congressional openness and transparency

without relying on bulk data downloads in XML?

The Committee directs the establishment of a task force composed

of staff representatives of the Library of Congress, the Congressional

Research Service, the Clerk of the House, the Government

Printing Office, and such other congressional offices as may

be necessary, to examine these and any additional issues it considers

relevant and to report back to the Committee on Appropriations

of the House and Senate.

Documents and Reports Prepared by Congress and Legislative Branch Support Agencies

Duplication Among Legislative Tracking Systems: Findings, A Report Prepared by the Library of Congress for the House and Senate Appropriations Committees Pursuant to House Report 103-517 and House Report 104-141, July 14, 1995

A Plan for a New Legislative Information System for the United States Congress, Prepared by the Library of Congress, February 16, 1996

The Legislative Information System Strategic Objective Report, FY2012

Congress's Bulk Data Task Force Questions

Page 18 of the Leg Approps Report (Hrpt 511):

http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/crpt-112hrpt511.pdf

"The GPO and Congress are moving toward the use of XML as the data standard for legislative information. The House and Senate are creating bills in XML format and are moving toward creating other congressional documents in XML for input to the GPO. At this point, however, the challenge of authenticating downloads of bulk data legislative data files in XML remains unresolved, and there continues to be a range of associated questions and issues: Which Legislative Branch agency would be the provider of bulk data downloads of legislative information in XML, and how would this service be authorized. How would ‘‘House’’ information be differentiated from ‘‘Senate’’ information for the purposes of bulk data downloads in XML? What would be the impact of bulk downloads of legislative data in XML on the timeliness and authoritativeness of congressional information? What would be the estimated timeline for the development of a system of authentication for bulk data downloads of legislative information in XML? What are the projected budgetary impacts of system development and implementation, including potential costs for support that may be required by third party users of legislative bulk data sets in XML, as well as any indirect costs, such as potential requirements for Congress to confirm or invalidate third party analyses of legislative data based on bulk downloads in XML? Are there other data models or alternative that can enhance congressional openness and transparency without relying on bulk data downloads in XML? The Committee directs the establishment of a task force composed of staff representatives of the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service, the Clerk of the House, the Government Printing Office, and such other congressional offices as may be necessary, to examine these and any additional issues it considers relevant and to report back to the Committee on Appropriations of the House and Senate. "

A coalition of organizations, including the Sunlight Foundation, drafted answers to those questions, which are available here.

Ideas for Upgrading THOMAS

Top Suggestions

Bulk Access to THOMAS data
Incorporate open data principles

Meta Suggestions

Have regular roundtable discussions with members of public and government to discuss ideas for improving THOMAS
Create THOMAS users group (email discussion?)
Programmer access page: for XML access, RSS feeds, email sign ups, etc.
Work to improve parsability of all search results; more structured data
- All bills in XML
- Singe page (no pagination) that lists every bill in Congress with status; updated daily on a new page (for scraping); preferably in a feed or XML format
Create and make public unique IDs for commonly used entities (or draw upon those created by others)
- List of all Committees and Subcommittees Members
Incorporate Senate Amendments (See S Res. 562)
Consider redesign of site (look at LIS, GovTrak, OpenCongress for ideas + public)
Provide more detailed history of how THOMAS came to be

Specific Suggestions

Make Public Laws Searchable by law number and by name
Allow for bill alerts system (email) for bills and topics
Add short name of bill to weekly top 5 (plus link to archives)
Allow highlighting of "hot" bills -- where there's some kind of legislative action
Word/Phrase vs. Bill Number
- have search box handle both;
- allow search of entire bill text
- make selection of phrase vs number sticky
Improve "related bills" -- run comparison of bill summaries/ text -- both in this Congress and over past Congresses
- Make easier to trace bills through, especially when there is a substitute
- e.g., HR 3200 became HR 3590
Is legislation searchable by CRS tags? (Make available list of tags). Add tags to each bill, so can search for related bills.
Organize front page of THOMAS around what's going on today in congress; with info on yesterday and upcoming
Permalink: "save" on share/save tab is confusing; perhaps make its own link
Daily Digest -- when send email, include contents of daily digest, not just link
Increase size of search fields
3 organizing links:
- what's going on today -- running info from floor embedded into THOMAS
- what happened yesterday
- what's upcoming this week
order plain language search for bills by topic + frequency and tags
Is search boolean?
- want to be able to eliminate terms from search (the "not" function, e.g. Israel not steve)
When in search result, there's a calendar, link to it automatically

Fun Suggestions

Create twitter account to tweet whenever a bill is introduced (see OLRC) or goes to committee, enacted, etc.; tweet top five viewed bills
Mobile version

@@ Line 144: / Line 144: @@
 === '''H. Rept. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-104hrpt733/pdf/CRPT-104hrpt733.pdf 104-733] (accompanying P.L. 104-53, Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1997)''' ===
 <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Amendment No. 23: Deletes a provision proposed by the Senate</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">regarding an electronic information system. The managers on the</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">part of the House and Senate agree that the Congressional Research</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Service, upon the request of the Senate Committee on Rules</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">and Administration, and in consultation with the Secretary of the</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Senate and the heads of the appropriate offices and agencies of the</div><div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">legislative branch, shall coordinate the development of an electronic</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">congressional legislative information and document retrieval</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">system to provide for the legislative information needs of the Senate</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">through the exchange and retrieval of information and documents</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">among legislative branch offices and agencies. The managers</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">on the part of the House and the Senate also agree that the Library</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">of Congress shall assist the Congressional Research Service</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">in supporting the Senate in this effort, and shall provide technical</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">staff and resources as may be necessary.</div></div>
-=== H. Rept. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt196/pdf/CRPT-105hrpt196.pdf 105-196] (accompanying H.R. 2209) ===
+=== S. Rept. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-105srpt16/pdf/CRPT-105srpt16.pdf 105-16] (accompanying Supplementation Appropriations and Rescissions Act, 1997) ===
+<div style="margin-left: 40px; ">The Committee recommends the transfer of $5,000,000 from</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">funds available under the heading ‘‘Senate’’ to the Secretary of the</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">Senate, to be available through September 30, 2000, for development</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">and implementation of a comprehensive, Senatewide legislative</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">information system [LIS]. The accounts from which the transfers</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">occur are contingent upon the approval of the Committee on</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">Appropriations. Pursuant to section 8 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">Act, 1997, the Secretary is required to develop and implement</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">LIS under the oversight of the Committee on Rules and</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">Administration.</div>
+=== <div>H. Rept. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt196/pdf/CRPT-105hrpt196.pdf 105-196] (accompanying H.R. 2209)</div> ===
 <div style="margin-left: 40px;">An open exchange of technology, projects, plans and developments</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">is crucial to the success of a legislative branch wide information</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">system. It is expected, therefore, that the following organizations</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">will continue to participate and assist in all the efforts of the</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate: the Library of</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Congress, the Government Printing Office, House Information Resources,</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">the Senate Computer Center, the General Accounting Office,</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">the Congressional Budget Office, and the Architect of the Capitol.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br/></div><div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Committee on House Oversight and the Senate Committee</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">on Rules and Administration have begun a process to develop a</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">common information dissemination system. The Legislative Information</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">System (LIS) being developed by the Congressional Research</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Service and the Library of Congress, when completed, will</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">replace the retrieval functions for legislative information systems</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">currently being operated by House Information Resources (HIR).</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Library and CRS must devote sufficient resources to accomplish</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">the following during FY1998:</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 80px;">Provide comparable functionality so that legacy retrieval systems</div><div style="margin-left: 80px;">can be retired by 12/31/98;</div><div style="margin-left: 80px;"><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 80px;">Improve the productivity of Congressional staff by making significant</div><div style="margin-left: 80px;">progress in implementing previously identified high</div><div style="margin-left: 80px;">priority functionality; and</div><div style="margin-left: 80px;"><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 80px;">Improve the accuracy, usability, and timeliness of legislative</div><div style="margin-left: 80px;">information retrieval.</div></div>
 === S. Rept. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-105srpt47/pdf/CRPT-105srpt47.pdf 105-47] (accompanying S. 1019) ===
@@ Line 151: / Line 155: @@
 </div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and House</div><div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Oversight Committee, per the recommendation of the Secretary of</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">the Senate and the Clerk of the House, have approved the establishment</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">of a data standards program, including standard generalized</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">markup language [SGML] for data interchange of legislative</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">information. The purpose of this program is to ensure that the</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">preparation and exchange of legislative information is made more</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">efficient through the use of data standards. Once published these</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">standards will be used by all legislative branch agencies, including</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">GPO in transmitting and producing information which is utilized</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">in the legislative process. The Secretary of the Senate and Clerk</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">of the House will be responsible for updating and maintaining and</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">publishing the data interchange standards for legislative information.</div></div></div>
 === S. Rept. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-105srpt204/pdf/CRPT-105srpt204.pdf 105-204] (accompanying Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1999) ===
-<div style="margin-left: 40px;">In the conference report (H. Rept. 104–733) accompanying the</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">fiscal year 1997 legislative branch appropriation bill (Public Law</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">104–197), the Congressional Research Service was directed to coordinate,</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">and the Library of Congress was directed to provide technical</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">support, for the development of a legislative information retrieval</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">system to serve the Senate.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Senate has undertaken a major program to rebuild its systems</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">for creating and managing its legislative information. Although</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">this program is going to take a number of years to complete,</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">the Senate is already realizing benefits from this program.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Secretary of the Senate, with the technical support of the Sergeant</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">at Arms, is providing Senate offices floor amendments electronically</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">minutes after being introduced on the floor.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The retrieval system being designed and maintained to provide</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">a comprehensive legislative resource by the CRS and supported by</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">the Library is proving to be a valued recourse for Senate and congressional</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">office. CRS and the Library are, therefore, directed to</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">continue their development of the legislative retrieval system for</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">the Senate and provide an annual report outlining the strategic objective</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">of this initiative.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br/></div>
+<div style="margin-left: 40px;">In the conference report (H. Rept. 104–733) accompanying the</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">fiscal year 1997 legislative branch appropriation bill (Public Law</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">104–197), the Congressional Research Service was directed to coordinate,</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">and the Library of Congress was directed to provide technical</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">support, for the development of a legislative information retrieval</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">system to serve the Senate.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Senate has undertaken a major program to rebuild its systems</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">for creating and managing its legislative information. Although</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">this program is going to take a number of years to complete,</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">the Senate is already realizing benefits from this program.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Secretary of the Senate, with the technical support of the Sergeant</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">at Arms, is providing Senate offices floor amendments electronically</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">minutes after being introduced on the floor.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The retrieval system being designed and maintained to provide</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">a comprehensive legislative resource by the CRS and supported by</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">the Library is proving to be a valued recourse for Senate and congressional</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">office. CRS and the Library are, therefore, directed to</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">continue their development of the legislative retrieval system for</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">the Senate and provide an annual report outlining the strategic objective</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">of this initiative.</div>
-=== H. Rept. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-106hrpt635/pdf/CRPT-106hrpt635.pdf 106-635] (accompanying the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill 2001) ===
+=== H. Conf. Rept. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt734/pdf/CRPT-105hrpt734.pdf 105-734] (accompanying HR 4112) ===
-<div style="margin-left: 40px; ">Information security is a collective responsibility within the legislative</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">branch. The Clerk of the House in consultation with the Secretary</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">of the Senate shall consult with all legislative branch entities</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">that create or store legislative information in electronic form</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">and prepare standards and procedures for ensuring the security of</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">such information as well as for establishing a process to routinely</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">assess risks to the security of legislative information.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; "><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">The Clerk in consultation with the Secretary shall submit proposals</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">for standards and procedures for approval to the Committee</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">on House Administration and the Senate Committee on Rules and</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">Administration, respectively, on a date to be specified by those</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">Committees. Upon approval, the Clerk, the Secretary, and the legislative</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">branch entities shall provide their plans to the House Committee</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Appropriations.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; "><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">The Library of Congress and the Government Printing Office</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">shall work with the Clerk and the Secretary to test, develop, and</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">implement, no later than January 3, 2001, systems that will enable</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">them to confirm the authenticity of such legislative information.</div>
+<div style="margin-left: 40px; ">The conferees agree with language in the House report directing</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">the Library to develop measurements of the extent of the collections</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">security problem and with language in the Senate report urging</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">the Library to continue efforts to assist the Senate with a legislative</div><div style="margin-left: 40px; ">information retrieval system.</div>
+=== H. Rept. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-106hrpt635/pdf/CRPT-106hrpt635.pdf 106-635] (accompanying the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill 2001) ===
+<div style="margin-left: 40px;">Information security is a collective responsibility within the legislative</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">branch. The Clerk of the House in consultation with the Secretary</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">of the Senate shall consult with all legislative branch entities</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">that create or store legislative information in electronic form</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">and prepare standards and procedures for ensuring the security of</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">such information as well as for establishing a process to routinely</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">assess risks to the security of legislative information.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Clerk in consultation with the Secretary shall submit proposals</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">for standards and procedures for approval to the Committee</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">on House Administration and the Senate Committee on Rules and</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Administration, respectively, on a date to be specified by those</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Committees. Upon approval, the Clerk, the Secretary, and the legislative</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">branch entities shall provide their plans to the House Committee</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Appropriations.</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br/></div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Library of Congress and the Government Printing Office</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">shall work with the Clerk and the Secretary to test, develop, and</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">implement, no later than January 3, 2001, systems that will enable</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">them to confirm the authenticity of such legislative information.</div>
 === S. Rept. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-107srpt37/pdf/CRPT-107srpt37.pdf 107-37] (accompanying S. 1172, Legislative Branch Appropriations 2002) ===
 <div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Committee recommends an appropriation of $8,571,000 for</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">expenses of the Office of the Secretary. The Committee has included</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">$7,000,000 for the Legislative Information System Augmentation</div><div style="margin-left: 40px;">Project.</div>

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