[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 112 (Thursday, July 17, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1192-E1193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE (CRS) AT THE LIBRARY OF 
                  CONGRESS ON ITS 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 17, 2014

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, today, we celebrate the 100 
year anniversary of the Congressional Research Service at the Library 
of Congress. In honor of their history and continued pursuit of 
knowledge, I would like to commemorate CRS as we celebrate this 
milestone today.
  CRS stands as an invaluable and respected institution in Congress--
providing insight, research, and in-depth analysis on a wide range of 
issues. A Progressive-era invention, this service has evolved over the 
last century, growing in both size and scope since Wisconsin Senator 
Robert LaFollette first championed the idea.
  In the 100 years since their inception, CRS has steadily provided 
comprehensive and objective research to the entire legislature. My 
staff and I have repeatedly benefited from the nonpartisan expertise 
provided by CRS and are fortunate that they continue to serve as a 
shared workforce for Congress. At a time of unprecedented partisanship 
in Washington, CRS has remained the unbiased repository of knowledge 
our nation needs.
  Congratulations to the Congressional Research Service and its 
dedicated staff on this special day. I'd like to submit for the 
Record--a brief history of CRS:


                               Formation

       The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a service unit 
     of the Library of Congress.
       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 Rep. 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.
       Both LRS in 1914, and CRS today, benefits from the 
     Library's collections for its research, analysis, and 
     dissemination of information and materials to assist the 
     Congress.


                               Evolution

       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 expertise to Congress in 
     subject fields aligned with a new committee system.
       In 1970, the Service underwent another transformation with 
     the passage of the LRA 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 as well as 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.


                               CRS Today

       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 they could support.
       CRS provides reports, confidential memoranda, briefings, 
     and programs to Congress about policy issues and the 
     legislative process.
       CRS has a diverse workforce of over 600 analysts, 
     attorneys, information professionals and support staff. The 
     workforce is composed

[[Page E1193]]

     of expert, highly-trained, and collaborative professional 
     staff, dedicated to supporting the work of 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.
       CRS is a repository of objective knowledge and expertise 
     that Congress can rely on when making difficult policy 
     decisions.

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