FISHERIES scientists were last month shut out of a valuable source of
information on marine mammals and fish鈥攑roduced by the Congressional
Research Service, the official research arm of the US Congress. Watchdog groups
say that the clampdown is symptomatic of a culture of secrecy within the service
that runs counter to the principles of America鈥檚 democracy. They want Congress
to change the service鈥檚 statutes so that the public can benefit from its
work.
For several years, CRS analyst Gene Buck has prepared daily summaries of news
about marine mammals and fisheries policy for members of Congress, and posted
weekly digests to relevant Internet mailing lists. Drawn mostly from newspaper
reports, the summaries did not contain confidential material.
On 5 March, however, Buck informed the mailing lists that 鈥渋n response to
evolving CRS policy鈥� he would no longer post his digests on the Net. His
announcement raised howls of protest from biologists, conservationists and
fishermen.
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Each year, the CRS produces several thousand reports, many of interest to
scientists. The service provides all its reports to members of Congress, and no
one else. 鈥淭he CRS is regarded as an extension of the congressperson鈥檚 staff,鈥�
says Vernon Ehlers, a Republican congressman who sits on the committee that
oversees the service.
Once reports reach Congress, however, members are free to distribute them as
they see fit. In practice, that means that lobbyists have ready access to most
CRS reports, says Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American 杏吧原创s in
Washington DC. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really just the general public that鈥檚 at a
诲颈蝉补诲惫补苍迟补驳别.鈥�
When Aftergood鈥檚 organisation placed copies of several CRS reports on space
policy on its World Wide Web page recently, the CRS insisted that the federation
include a disclaimer noting that they were posted 鈥渨ithout CRS permission or
肠辞辞辫别谤补迟颈辞苍鈥�.
The CRS already provides its reports to Congress electronically, by way of a
restricted-access Web page that could be made public. 鈥淲e just want them to flip
a switch so we can read this at the same time the lobbyists do,鈥� says Gary
Ruskin of the Congressional Accountability Project, a watchdog group in
Washington DC.
But the CRS does not have the power to tackle such reform on its own. 鈥淯ntil
Congress changes the law, we aren鈥檛 available directly to the public,鈥� says
Erica Wissolik, a spokeswoman for the service. Ehlers says he is sympathetic to
the idea of releasing more CRS analyses, but believes he is in the minority.
The clamour for more openness has already had one result, however. A
Congressional staff member who does not work for the CRS has started to post her
copy of Buck鈥檚 summaries on the Net.