[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 111 (Wednesday, July 16, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

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                        HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 16, 2014

  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I would like to honor the 100th 
anniversary of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a service unit 
of the Library of Congress. For Members and staff on Capitol Hill, CRS 
is known as our own think tank, providing invaluable information. 
Perhaps most importantly, CRS provides data and analyses free from 
agendas and free from partisanship. They also provide a range of 
reports, confidential memoranda, briefings, and programs to Members and 
staff about policy issues and legislative process. We rely on this 
information to craft legislation, analyze bills pending before 
Congress, respond to our constituents, and to ensure the accuracy of 
communications.
  The idea of a legislative reference service for Congress was first 
championed by Sen. Robert M. LaFollette Sr. (served in the House from 
1885-1891, and in the Senate from 1906-1925), and Rep. John M. Nelson 
(served in the House from 1906-1919, and from 1921-1933). Supporters 
realized their goal through a Senate floor amendment offered by Sen. 
LaFollette to the Library's 1915 appropriations bill. Librarian of 
Congress Herbert Putnam established the Legislative Reference Service 
(LRS) in the Library of Congress by administrative order on July 18, 
1914. In its early years, LRS provided basic reference services to 
assist lawmakers in their work.
  The research service, in its various iterations, has benefited from 
the Library's collections for its research, analysis, and dissemination 
of information and materials to assist the Congress.
  By the 1940s and following World War II, demands on LRS had increased 
significantly. The 1946 Legislative Reorganization Act (LRA) called for 
an increase in the size and scope of LRS and directed it to hire expert 
policy specialists to provide information to Congress in subject fields 
aligned with a new committee system. In 1970, the Service underwent 
another transformation, which renamed it the Congressional Research 
Service.
  Emphasizing the fact that the research and informational needs of the 
Congress required the services of highly-skilled experts, the 1970 Act 
mandated that CRS provide authoritative and objective research and 
analysis and close support for Members and committees. The Service 
evolved into a 21st century organization that utilizes formats and 
delivery methods (e.g., CRS4Congress Twitter, CRS.gov, Congress.gov) 
for CRS products and services.
  Today, CRS provides comprehensive, objective and non-partisan 
research and analysis to the entire Congress on all legislative and 
oversight issues of interest. In the Second Session of this Congress, 
CRS identified over 150 issues of interest to Congress that CRS could 
support.
  CRS has a workforce of over 600 analysts, attorneys, information 
professionals and support staff. These expert, highly-trained and 
collaborative professional staff are dedicated to supporting the work 
of the Congress.
  In FY2013, Members and committees received information and analysis 
from CRS in more than 636,000 responses that took the form of 67,000 
requests for custom analysis and research, 9,000 congressional 
participations in 350 seminars, and over half a million instances of 
Website services.
  I want to congratulate the Congressional Research Service as they 
celebrate this important milestone.

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