DATA SOURCES: COMMERCIAL AND OTHER NON-GOVERNMENT A number of commercial companies have developed good systems for providing access to legislative information. Developed in the 1980s, after the congressionally funded House, Senate, and Library systems had demonstrated their value, these systems have evolved to serve a growing pay-for-service market. In certain areas, such as committee schedules and activities, political analysis, newspaper stories, case law, and the U.S. Code, they provide more up-to-date information than any of the congressional systems. Many congressional offices as well as the support agencies (GAO, CBO, and CRS) have found various commercial services essential for performing their work. Many of these companies also rely heavily on congressionally produced data (e.g., the text of bills, committee reports, etc.) obtained from GPO, to which they add their own value-added services. A detailed comparative matrix of legislative information available from congressional and from commercial sources is available from CRS upon request.7
For several years, the House and Senate have, under their own separate arrangements, purchased some of the services of these companies to supplement the information provided by congressional systems. The House has tended to purchase selected data elements and integrate them with its own MIN and ISIS system. For several years, the Senate has authorized offices to choose from among several vendors who offer a variety of services. Many Senate offices use these services extensively.
One option for Congress to consider would be to solicit bids from commercial companies to provide its legislative information system entirely through contract. It is impossible to know how much this option might cost without a formal RFP process, although it is important to note that even under such an arrangement, Congress would still have to perform some of the most costly components of such a system, including collecting, verifying, and distributing basic information such as bills, reports, etc. However, there are a number of reasons for suggesting that the legislative information system could take advantage of the value provided by commercial companies without relying on them entirely or exclusively.
The Library recommends instead that the "core legislative information" of Congress should be compiled and made available to its Members and its committees by its own offices and staff through the legislative information system proposed in this plan. The Library suggests the term "core legislative information" to refer to those basic congressional documents and activities that record the fundamental work of the Congress. It includes the text of bills and amendments; committee reports, hearings, prints, and documents; the Congressional Record; committee and floor actions on bills; conference and White House action on legislation; the resulting statutes and U.S. Code; rules of procedure; etc. This list is not comprehensive, but it is likely that there would be general agreement on the core legislative information of the Congress. By contrast, commercial companies provide political analysis and commentary, "insider" information, related newspaper stories, magazine and journal articles, case law, etc. which are also valuable to Congress.
The system developed to provide core legislative information, as proposed in this plan, should be based on an open architecture that encourages commercial providers to continue to offer their services to Congress on a competitive, value added basis. In this environment, Members and committees would be free to purchase the systems and services that were of use to them, and which would complement the legislative information system proposed in this plan. Ideally this would maximize the value received from the commercial services without paying a second time for the information available through the congressional system.
The Library recommends that Congress produce and distribute its core data for several reasons. Continuity and reliability would be ensured. Guaranteed access to the legislative information of Congress should not be dependent on continued success in the marketplace. Commercial companies must also balance the demands of their various customers. Congress, on the other, should have complete control of the collection, validation, and distribution processes for its own data.8
Library staff discussed these proposals with several of the commercial companies that provide legislative information services, including CQ, Legislate, Lexis/Nexis, and West Publishing. While the Library would not presume to represent the official views of these companies, several themes emerged in the discussions. There appeared to be a consensus that the basic proposals were sound, and that Congress should maintain and provide access to its own core legislative information, although all companies reserved final judgment until more details were known. These companies would benefit to the extent that the congressional system improved the timeliness, accuracy, and utility of the core information which they all use in their systems. Some expressed interest in exploring the options for linking their systems or their data to the congressional system, provided that such action provided no threat to the licensed arrangements under which their systems and data were provided.
In addition, some noted the benefit of possibly having a more consistent approach to the procurement of services for the entire Legislative Branch. Historically, the House, Senate, and support agencies have each taken a different approach to this process. This contrasts with some of the benefits that have resulted from the work of the Legislative Branch Telecommunications Network team (LBTN) in procuring long distance services for the Legislative Branch.9 Beyond that, there could be value in developing data standards in an open environment in which companies, to the extent of their interest, would have an opportunity to participate or comment.
The Library believes that its recommendations would create a framework that would enable Congress to maintain control over, and have improved access to its core legislative data, while at the same time continuing to benefit from the services of private companies, who could offer their products in a supportive, but competitive environment.
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