[House Report 118-632]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


118th Congress }                                              {    Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session    }                                              {  118-632

======================================================================

 
TO DIRECT THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS TO PROMOTE THE MORE COST-EFFECTIVE, 
EFFICIENT, AND EXPANDED AVAILABILITY OF THE ANNOTATED CONSTITUTION AND 
   POCKET-PART SUPPLEMENTS BY REPLACING THE HARDBOUND VERSIONS WITH 
                            DIGITAL VERSIONS

                                _______
                                

August 16, 2024.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Steil, from the Committee on House Administration, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 7592]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on House Administration, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 7592) to direct the Librarian of Congress to 
promote the more cost-effective, efficient, and expanded 
availability of the Annotated Constitution and pocket-part 
supplements by replacing the hardbound versions with digital 
versions, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Committee Action.................................................     7
Committee Consideration..........................................     8
Committee Votes..................................................     8
Statement of Constitutional Authority............................     8
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     9
Statement of Budget Authority and Related Items..................     9
Congressional Budget Office Estimate.............................     9
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................    10
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................    10
Advisory on Earmarks.............................................    10
Federal Mandates Statement.......................................    10
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................    10
Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................    10
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................    11
Changes in Existing Law as Reported..............................    11

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 7592, a bill to direct the Librarian of Congress to 
promote the more cost-effective, efficient, and expanded 
availability of the Annotated Constitution and pocket-part 
supplements by replacing the hardbound versions with digital 
versions, introduced by Representative Stephanie Bice (OK-05) 
and co-sponsored by Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06), 
Representative Mike Carey (OH-15), and Representative Joseph 
Morelle (NY-25), replaces the requirement for the Library of 
Congress to prepare hardbound versions of the Constitution 
Annotated and supplements with a requirement for the Library to 
instead prepare digital versions and publish them online. The 
new requirement applies to the supplement after the Supreme 
Court term beginning October 2023 and all subsequent editions.

                  Background and Need for Legislation


                               BACKGROUND

    In 1797, nine years after the U.S. Constitution was 
ratified by all 13 states, Congress passed legislation 
requiring that every Member of Congress be provided a copy of 
the Constitution.\1\ By that time, Congress had already passed 
12 amendments to the Constitution, ten of which were ratified 
by the states and became known as the Bill of Rights.\2\ Our 
federal system of government was still very new and, as Members 
of Congress understood, subject to modification. Over the 
course of the nineteenth century, copies provided to Members 
were expanded to include indexes and Supreme Court case 
citations.\3\ But as constitutional law grew increasingly 
complex, Congress struggled to make sense of how the 
Constitution's provisions applied to a range of legal 
questions. In 1921, the Senate took steps to address this 
limitation and passed S. Res. 151, a resolution providing for 
an updated reprint of the Constitution that would contain 
additional resources.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Cong. Rsch. Serv., Intro.1 The 2022 Edition, https://
constitution.congress.gov/about/
constitution-annotated/
#::text=How%20to%20Cite%20the%20Constitution,.gov%20(last%20 
visited%20Aug. (last visited April 30, 2024).
    \2\The first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill 
of Rights, were ratified by the states in 1791.
    \3\Cong. Rsch. Serv., Intro.1 The 2022 Edition.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The November 23, 1921, Senate floor debate on S. Res. 151 
reflected the frustration Senators increasingly encountered 
when trying to make sense of Supreme Court decisions and lists 
of citations attached to clauses of the Constitution, with no 
accompanying explanations or interpretations. Senator Miles 
Poindexter (R-WA), addressing the bill's manager, Senator Knute 
Nelson (R-MN), argued that merely bringing up to date the 
copies of the Constitution that Senators received was not 
particularly helpful:
          I call the attention of the Senator from Minnesota to 
        the fact that a great deal of that work was practically 
        useless on account of the way in which it was done. As 
        a lawyer I am sure the Senator has had the same 
        experience I have had. The copy of the Constitution 
        which is printed for the use of the Senate contains 
        those annotations. After the various clauses of the 
        Constitution is a list of the decisions of the Supreme 
        Court, sometimes a page or more of citations. In that 
        maze of citations there is not a gleam of light as to 
        what particular question under the section or clause of 
        the Constitution was decided by the case which is 
        cited. In order to make them of very much use the 
        annotator ought to cite in brief language the point 
        decided by the court in the case which he cites.\4\
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    \4\S. REP. No. 8155-8187, at 23 (1921).
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    Senator Frank Brandegee (R-CT) seconded the views expressed 
by Senator Poindexter:
          I agree with the suggestion of the Senator from 
        Washington that really, when we get 100 Supreme Court 
        citations at the foot of one clause of the 
        Constitution, as contained in our manual, without 
        anything to show what particular question was before 
        the court under that clause of the Constitution, it is 
        not much of a labor-saving device, but we have to look 
        through the whole of them to find perhaps the one point 
        which we are seeking.\5\
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    \5\Id.
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    The views expressed by Senators Poindexter and Brandegee 
resonated with many of their colleagues. Prior to voting to 
adopt S. Res. 151 on December 7, 1921, various Senators sought 
to confirm that the updated reprints of the Constitution would 
contain explanatory language, making sense of the case 
citations throughout.\6\ The resolution also authorized the 
Committee on Rules to employ a ``competent person'' to assist 
in preparing the citations and called for printing 1,500 
additional copies for the use of the Senate.
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    \6\S. REP. No. 79-110, at 93-95 (1921).
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    In 1936, the Committee on Rules handed the responsibility 
for preparing citations and drafting explanatory language over 
to the Library of Congress, which assigned the task to the 
Legislative Reference Service (LRS).\7\ Compilations of the 
Constitution Annotated\8\ (or, CONAN as the guide is more 
commonly known today) were printed every 10-13 years until 
Members of Congress once again began to question the guide's 
usefulness. This time around, the issue was that the guide 
quickly became outdated soon after it was printed. In 1970, 
Congress took steps to remedy this limitation. Senator B. 
Everett Jordan (D-NC), then-chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Rules and Administration, introduced S.J. Res. 236, a joint 
resolution requiring the LRS to prepare revised editions of 
CONAN every 10 years, commencing with the June 1972 edition, 
along with cumulative supplements every two years. The 
decennial editions were to be hardbound, and the biennial 
supplements were to be paperbound and designed to fit in a 
pocket in the back of the hardbound volume.\9\
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    \7\The Legislative Reference Service was renamed the Congressional 
Research Service in 1970, as part of the Legislative Reorganization 
Act. See H.R. No. 91-1598 (1970) for context on when the Legislative 
Reference Service began preparing CONAN.
    \8\By 1970, the Constitution of the United States-Analysis and 
Interpretation had become more popularly known as the Constitution 
Annotated. See H.R. No. 91-1598 (1970).
    \9\Id.
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    After the Senate passed S.J. Res. 236 on September 25, 
1970, the joint resolution was sent to the House and referred 
to the Committee on House Administration. The Committee 
favorably reported the joint resolution without amendment to 
the House on October 13, 1970 and recommended that it pass, 
which it did on December 15, 1970.\10\ The Committee on House 
Administration report accompanying S.J. Res. 236 noted that the 
1964 edition of the guide, the most recent edition available at 
that time, was ``regrettably out of date in some fundamentally 
important areas of constitutional law''\11\ due to a number of 
important Supreme Court decisions rendered since 1964. The 
report also noted that Members, judges, scholars, libraries, 
and others had regularly asked the Library of Congress to 
update the Constitution Annotated.\12\ By requiring biennial 
supplements to CONAN, S.J. Res. 236 fulfilled a demand for more 
current information and vastly improved the usefulness of the 
guide.
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    \10\S.J. Res. 236 became PL 91-589 on December 24, 1970. See 2 
U.S.C. 168, codifying PL 91-1589.
    \11\See H.R. No. 91-1598 (1970).
    \12\Id.
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    The new law\13\ commenced with the printing of the 1972 
hardbound edition of CONAN and has not been changed since. But 
while the statute has remained static, the way people access 
information and resources has changed tremendously. The World 
Wide Web entered the public domain in 1993 and made digital 
versions of vast print materials widely available to the 
public.\14\ The Library of Congress debuted its first website 
in 1994\15\ and 25 years later, in 2019, the Constitution 
Annotated website (constitution.congress.gov) was launched. The 
publicly accessible site features hundreds of pages of 
constitutional analysis and content, presented in a concise, 
user-friendly format. The site is searchable, provides links to 
Supreme Court decisions, and is updated in real-time by the 
Congressional Research Service (CRS).\16\ The website has 
received more than 28 million visits and 55 million page views 
since its inception and is an important resource for the 
public, including schools, libraries, and Congress. 
Additionally, CRS works closely with the Chief Information 
Officer at the Library of Congress to ensure that bugs are 
addressed and that useability and accessibility enhancements to 
the website are made regularly.\17\
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    \13\See PL 91-589 (1970).
    \14\World Wide Web Timeline, Pew Research Center (March 11, 2014) 
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/03/11/world-wide-web-
timeline/.
    \15\The Library of Congress: A Timeline, Library of Congress, 
https://www.loc.gov/about/history-of-the-library/timeline/ (last 
visited April 30, 2024).
    \16\See testimony given by Director of the Congressional Research 
Service Robert Randolph Newlen, Legislative Proposals to Support 
Modernizing the Congressional Research Service and the Use of Federal 
Data: Hearing Before the H. Comm. On Admin. Modernization Subcommittee, 
118th Cong. (2024).
    \17\See Newlen Questions for the Record, Legislative Proposals to 
Support Modernizing the Congressional Research Service and the Use of 
Federal Data: Hearing Before the H. Comm. On Admin. Modernization 
Subcommittee, 118th Cong. (2024).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Beginning with the addition of Supreme Court case citations 
in the nineteenth century and followed by the inclusion of case 
interpretations and more frequent updates in the twentieth 
century, Congress has long demonstrated a desire to ensure that 
the Constitution Annotated meets the evolving needs of Members 
and other users. The twenty-first century launch of a web-based 
guide continues this tradition by providing case updates and 
analysis as soon as the Supreme Court issues a new decision, 
which can be several times a week during any given term.
    Because the Constitution Annotated website provides Members 
with the most up-to-date information and analysis available, 
eliminating production of the hardbound version and paperbound 
supplements is a logical next step for Congress. In testimony 
before the Subcommittee on Modernization on March 20, 2024, CRS 
Interim Director Robert Newlen described the hardbound version 
of CONAN as ``outdated upon delivery.''\18\ The legislative 
history of CONAN makes clear that Members and other users want 
the guide to be as current as possible and the website far 
surpasses the hardbound print in this regard. Indeed, proposed 
bill language to eliminate the hardcopy distribution of CONAN 
included in the Library of Congress' FY 2024 budget request 
describes hardcopy products as ``essentially obsolete and 
incapable of timely updates.''\19\
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    \18\See testimony given by Director of the Congressional Research 
Service Robert Randolph Newlen, Legislative Proposals to Support 
Modernizing the Congressional Research Service and the Use of Federal 
Data: Hearing Before the H. Comm. On Admin. Modernization Subcommittee, 
118th Cong. (2024).
    \19\Fiscal 2024 Budget Justification, United States Library of 
Congress, https://www.loc.gov/static/portals/about/reports-and-budgets/
documents/budgets/fy2024.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Replacing the statutory print requirement for the 
Constitution Annotated with a digital requirement would also 
provide significant cost savings for taxpayers. Mr. Newlen's 
testimony describes these projected savings:
          Elimination of the hardbound version of CONAN would 
        provide significant savings for CRS as well as the 
        Government Publishing Office (GPO). Production costs 
        for the 2012 version of CONAN, including labor, paper 
        and binding, totaled over $960,000. In addition to the 
        production of content for the print, time is required 
        of CRS to coordinate formatting and pagination with GPO 
        officials, contractors, and others and to perform other 
        tasks to meet printing deadlines. In total, CRS 
        estimates the time expended on production of the 
        hardbound editions to be the equivalent of the work of 
        three full-time employees. Transitioning CONAN to a 
        digital-only product would enable CRS to better deploy 
        its resources toward the timely production of CONAN'S 
        digital content and enhancements to the website.\20\
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    \20\See testimony given by Director of the Congressional Research 
Service Robert Randolph Newlen, Legislative Proposals to Support 
Modernizing the Congressional Research Service and the Use of Federal 
Data: Hearing Before the H. Comm. On Admin. Modernization Subcommittee, 
118th Cong. (2024).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Government Publishing Office (GPO) produced a total of 
2,685 hardbound copies of CONAN in 2012 and 1,401 copies in 
2022. While the original statute requires GPO to produce a set 
number of print copies for use by the House, Senate, and the 
Joint Committee on Printing (these are referred to as ``bylaw'' 
copies), GPO instead prints only the number requested by these 
entities.\21\ GPO's ability to circumvent the statutory print 
requirement is derived from the Joint Committee on Printing, 
which may use ``any measures it considers necessary to remedy 
neglect, delay, duplication, or waste in the public printing 
and binding and the distribution of Government 
publications.''\22\ In the case of CONAN, the Joint Committee 
on Printing has the authority to direct GPO to only print the 
number of requested copies so as to remedy waste in printing, 
binding, and distribution. In 2012, GPO printed 1,022 bylaw 
copies of CONAN; in 2022, GPO printed just 659 bylaw copies. 
Federal agencies are also afforded the opportunity to order 
hardbound copies, as are the federal deposit libraries.\23\ 
Additional copies are also made available for the public to 
purchase. According to GPO, the 2012 hardbound edition of CONAN 
cost $964,749 to produce and the 2022 edition cost an estimated 
$476,528.\24\
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    \21\2 U.S.C. Sec. 168b.
    \22\See 44 U.S.C. Sec. 103. Joint Committee on Printing: remedial 
powers.
    \23\GPO reports that most of the orders they receive come from the 
federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court, for example, requested 23 
hardbound copies of the 2022 CONAN. Subcommittee staff spoke with the 
Court's acting librarian who noted that the Court's practice is to cite 
print versions of documents whenever they are available. Despite this 
preference for print, the acting librarian noted that the Court has 
adjusted when other publications have moved to digital-only versions.
    \24\The 2022 numbers provided by GPO only noted that the total cost 
was for printing and binding. GPO is currently conducting an internal 
financial audit to determine if that number should also specify labor, 
as is the case for the 2012 costs. GPO also notes that the agency 
changed production processes for the 2022 CONAN so a comprehensive, 
direct ``apples to apples'' comparison of labor costs isn't possible. 
Some of the labor costs related to the 2022 CONAN production were more 
appropriately attributable to building the capability for CONAN 
production into GPO's new XPub composition system as part of its 
development process. As a result, those costs were deemed part of the 
development costs of XPub, similar to how costs associated with 
building the capability to produce bills, resolutions, amendments, and 
reports are considered XPub development costs.
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    While GPO is responsible for printing, binding, and 
distributing CONAN, CRS is responsible for drafting the 
decennial versions, as well as the paperbound updates every two 
years. Today, five CRS employees spend a significant amount of 
their time supporting CONAN functions, although historically, 
other attorneys, support staff, and operations employees have 
contributed portions of their time to CONAN work. The estimated 
cost to CRS for hardbound production, based on work for the 
2022 hardbound copy, is $770,000 or the equivalent of the work 
of three full-time American Law Division employees together 
with contract costs for formatting.\25\
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    \25\See Newlen Questions for the Record, Legislative Proposals to 
Support Modernizing the Congressional Research Service and the Use of 
Federal Data: Hearing Before the H. Comm. On Admin. Modernization 
Subcommittee, 118th Cong. (2024). (Note that these costs do not include 
the estimated cost of performing core CONAN functions, which include 
research, writing, and presenting on constitutional developments 
contemporaneous with the Supreme Court's issuance of new decisions so 
as to ensure that CONAN is always current.)
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    Between GPO and CRS, the total cost of producing the 2022 
edition of CONAN was an estimated $1,246,528.\26\ Notably, this 
figure does not include the cost to CRS of performing the core 
work necessary for maintaining the CONAN website, including 
research, writing, and presenting on constitutional 
developments contemporaneous with the Supreme Court's issuance 
of new decisions. Also not included in this estimate is the 
additional cost of producing and printing the biennial 
paperbound supplements.
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    \26\Id. (GPO provided an estimated total cost figure of $476,528 
for producing the 2022 edition of CONAN. This, combined with CRS's 
estimated cost of $770,000 equals $1,246,528.)
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                          NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Replacing the CONAN print requirement with a digital 
requirement will eliminate inefficient use of both GPO and CRS 
staff time and will save significant costs associated with 
printing, producing, and distributing the hardbound version and 
paperbound supplements. The legislative history of the 
Constitution Annotated makes clear that Congress prioritizes 
current interpretation and analysis of Supreme Court cases, 
which the CONAN website currently provides. The hardbound 
version of CONAN is, by contrast, ``an inferior research tool . 
. . because of the time required to produce the print version, 
there will always be a lag between when the Supreme Court 
issues a decision and when that decision will be available in a 
print format.''\27\
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    \27\See Newlen Questions for the Record, Legislative Proposals to 
Support Modernizing the Congressional Research Service and the Use of 
Federal Data: Hearing Before the H. Comm. On Admin. Modernization 
Subcommittee, 118th Cong. (2024).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    CRS reports that the CONAN website is already important to 
the public, including to schools, libraries, and Congress as 
evidenced by the more than 28 million visits and 55 million 
page views since its 2019 release. Importantly, the web site is 
based on open-source technology in wide use within the Library 
of Congress, ensuring that the site won't be restricted by 
proprietary software constraints or dependent on outside vendor 
expertise. This will help ensure that the site can be 
continually improved.\28\
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    \28\Id.
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    Finally, GPO notes that there is precedent for 
discontinuing print editions of ``prestige documents'' like 
CONAN and replacing them with digital versions. For example, 
the annual print edition of the Public Papers of the Presidents 
of the United States was discontinued effective December 29, 
2022, and made available in a digital-only format.\29\ Because 
the most recent edition of the hardbound CONAN was distributed 
in late 2023, and the next edition is not scheduled to be 
released until 2032, the time is ripe to remove the print 
requirement and switch to a digital-only version.
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    \29\See Discontinuation of Public Papers of the Presidents Book 
Series and Removal of Microfiche as Official Format of the Federal 
Register and Code of Federal Regulations, 87 Fed. Reg. 79999 (Dec. 29, 
2022) (codified at 1 C.F.R. Sec. 2,5,8,10,11,12).
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                            Committee Action


                       INTRODUCTION AND REFERRAL

    On March 8, 2024, Representative Stephanie Bice (OK-05), 
Chairwoman of the Committee on House Administration's 
Subcommittee on Modernization, joined by Representative Derek 
Kilmer (WA-06), Representative Mike Carey (OH-15), and 
Representative Joseph Morelle (NY-25), introduced H.R. 7592, a 
bill to direct the Librarian of Congress to promote the more 
cost-effective, efficient, and expanded availability of the 
Annotated Constitution and pocket-part supplements by replacing 
the hardbound versions with digital versions. The bill was 
referred to the Committee on House Administration on March 8, 
2024, and to the Committee on House Administration's 
Subcommittee on Modernization on March 11, 2024.

                                HEARINGS

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6)(A) of House rule XIII, 
in the 118th Congress, the Subcommittee on Modernization held 
two Subcommittees hearings regarding H.R. 7592.
          1. On April 26, 2023, the Subcommittee on 
        Modernization held a hearing titled, ``The Path Toward 
        a More Modern and Effective Congressional Research 
        Service.'' The hearing focused on CRS's leadership and 
        strategic goals and how CRS can best meet the needs of 
        a modern Congress, including by incorporating 
        technology to better advise and assist Congress. The 
        hearing was a first step in a longer-term process of 
        strengthening and improving the agency to meet the 
        needs of an evolving Congress. The Subcommittee heard 
        testimony from Dr. Mary B. Mazanec, CRS Director, 
        Joseph Dunne, Director of the European Parliament 
        Liaison Office in Washington, D.C., and formerly a 
        Director in the European Parliamentary Research 
        Service, Richard Coffin, Chief of Research and Advocacy 
        at USA Facts, and Kevin Kosar, Senior Fellow of Legal 
        and Constitutional Studies at American Enterprise 
        Institute.\30\
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    \30\The Path Toward a More Modern and Effective Congressional 
Research Service: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Modernization, 
118th Cong. (2023).
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          2. On March 20, 2024, the Subcommittee held a 
        legislative hearing titled, ``Legislative Proposals to 
        Support Modernizing the Congressional Research Service 
        and the Use of Federal Data.'' The purpose of the 
        hearing was to initiate a legislative record and 
        receive testimony on three measures referred to the 
        Subcommittee: H.R. 7592, To Direct the Librarian of 
        Congress to promote the more cost-effective, efficient, 
        and expanded availability of the Annotated Constitution 
        and pocket-part supplements by replacing the hardbound 
        versions with digital versions; H.R. 7593, the 
        Modernizing the Congressional Research Service's Access 
        to Data Act; and H. Con. Res. 49, the Congressional 
        Evidence-Based Policymaking Resolution. The 
        Subcommittee heard testimony from Robert Newlen, CRS 
        Interim Director, Elise J. Bean, Director, Washington 
        Office, Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy 
        at Wayne State University Law School, Dr. Matthew 
        Glassman, Senior Fellow, Government Affairs Institute 
        at Georgetown University, and Dr. Nicholas Hart, 
        President and CEO, Data Foundation.\31\
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    \31\Legislative Proposals to Support Modernizing the Congressional 
Research Service and the Use of Federal Data: Hearing Before the 
Subcommittee on Modernization, 118th Cong. (2024).
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                        Committee Consideration

    On April 11, 2024, the Subcommittee on Modernization met in 
open session and ordered the bill, H.R. 7592, a bill to direct 
the Librarian of Congress to promote the more cost-effective, 
efficient, and expanded availability of the Annotated 
Constitution and pocket-part supplements by replacing the 
hardbound versions with digital versions, reported favorably to 
the Committee on House Administration, by voice vote, a quorum 
being present.
    On April 30, 2024, the Committee on House Administration 
met in open session and ordered the bill, H.R. 7592, a bill to 
direct the Librarian of Congress to promote the more cost-
effective, efficient, and expanded availability of the 
Annotated Constitution and pocket-part supplements by replacing 
the hardbound versions with digital versions, reported 
favorably to the House of Representatives, by voice vote, a 
quorum being present.

                            Committee Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of House rule XIII, the 
following vote occurred during the Committee's consideration of 
H.R. 7592:
          1. Vote to report H.R. 7592 favorably to the House of 
        Representatives, passed by voice vote.

                 Statement of Constitutional Authority

    Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
to the following:
           Article I, Section 8, Clause 18--``To make 
        all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
        carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all 
        other Powers vested by this Constitution in the 
        Government of the United States, or in any Department 
        or Officer thereof.''\32\
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    \32\U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 8, cl. 18.
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                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of House rule XIII, the 
Committee advises that the findings and recommendations of the 
Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) 
of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, are 
incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report.

            Statement of Budget Authority and Related Items

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives and section 308(a)(I) of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the 
following opinion and estimate with respect to new budget 
authority, entitlement authority, and tax expenditures. The 
Committee believes that H.R. 7592 will lead to cost savings and 
efficiencies and does not impact budget or entitlement 
authority or tax expenditures.

                  Congressional Budget Office Estimate

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(3) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, a cost 
estimate provided by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant 
to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 was 
received and included in the report materials. The Chairman of 
the Committee shall cause such an estimate to be printed in the 
Congressional Record if it is received by the Committee.




    H.R. 7592 would eliminate the requirement that the Library 
of Congress (LOC) prepare hardbound copies of the Constitution 
of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation. 
The bill would require the agency to publish the document 
online. The change would apply to editions produced for the 
Supreme Court term beginning October 2023 and subsequent 
editions.
    Using information from LOC, CBO estimates that enacting 
H.R. 7592 would reduce the agency's operating costs by $4 
million over the 2025-2029 period. Any reduction in spending 
would require appropriations to be reduced by the estimated 
amounts.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Susan Beyer. The 
estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.

                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The performance goals and objectives of H.R. 7592 are to 
promote the more cost-effective, efficient, and expanded 
availability of the Annotated Constitution and pocket-part 
supplements by replacing the hardbound versions with digital 
versions.

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of House rule XIII, no provision 
of H.R. 7592 establishes or reauthorizes a program of the 
federal government known to be duplicative of another federal 
program.

                          Advisory on Earmarks

    In accordance with clause 9 of House rule XXI, H.R. 7592 
does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax 
benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clauses 
9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of House rule XXI.

                       Federal Mandates Statement

    An estimate of federal mandates prepared by the Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the 
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chairman 
of the Committee shall cause such an estimate to be printed in 
the Congressional Record if it is received by the Committee.

                      Advisory Committee Statement

    H.R. 7592 does not establish or authorize any new advisory 
committees.

                  Applicability to Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Repeal requirement for Congressional Research Service to 
        prepare Annotated Constitution and supplements in hardbound 
        version

    This section directs the Librarian of Congress to replace 
the hardbound versions of the Annotated Constitution and 
supplements with digital versions, commencing upon the 
completion of the October 2031 term of the Supreme Court.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italics, and existing law in which no 
change is proposed is shown in roman):

                           PUBLIC LAW 91-589



           *       *       *       *       *       *       *
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) 
subject to subsection (b), the Librarian of Congress shall have 
prepared--
          (1) a hardbound revised edition of the Constitution 
        of the United States of America-Analysis and 
        Interpretation, published as Senate Document Numbered 
        39, Eighty-eighth Congress (referred to hereinafter as 
        the ``Constitution Annotated''), which shall contain 
        annotations of decisions of the Supreme Court of the 
        United States through the end of the October 1971 term 
        of the Supreme Court, construing provisions of the 
        Constitution;
          (2) upon the completion of each of the October 1973, 
        October 1975, October 1977, and October 1979 terms of 
        the Supreme Court, a cumulative pocket-part supplement 
        to the hardbound revised edition of the Constitution 
        Annotated prepared pursuant to clause (I), which shall 
        contain cumulative annotations of all such decisions 
        rendered by the Supreme Court after the end of the 
        October 1971 term;
          (3) upon the completion of the October 1981 term of 
        the Supreme Court, and upon the completion of each 
        tenth October term of the Supreme Court thereafter, a 
        hardbound decennial revised edition of the constitution 
        Annotated, which shall contain annotations of all 
        decisicms theretofore rendered by the Supreme Court 
        construing provisions of the Constitution; and
          (4) upon the completion of the October 1983 term of 
        the Supreme Court, and upon the completion of each 
        subsequent October term of the Supreme Court beginning 
        in an odd-numbered year (the final digit of which is 
        not a I), a cumulative pocket-part supplement to the 
        most recent hardbound decennial revised edition of the 
        Constitution Annotated, which shall contain cumulative 
        annotations of all such decisions rendered by the 
        Supreme Court which were not included in that hardbound 
        decennial revised edition of the Constitution 
        Annotated.
  (b)(1) Upon the completion of the October 2031 term of the 
Supreme Court and upon the completion of each tenth October 
term of the Supreme Court thereafter, the Librarian of Congress 
shall have prepared a digital decennial revised edition of the 
Constitution Annotated, which shall contain annotations of all 
decisions theretofore rendered by the Supreme Court construing 
provisions of the Constitution, in place of the hardbound 
decennial revised edition of the Constitution Annotated 
described in subsection (a)(3).
  (2) Upon the completion of the October 2023 term of the 
Supreme Court and upon the completion of each subsequent 
October term of the Supreme Court beginning in an odd-numbered 
year (the final digit of which is not a 1), the Librarian shall 
have prepared a digital cumulative pocket-part supplement to 
the most recent decennial revised edition of the Constitution 
Annotated, which shall contain cumulative annotations of all 
such decisions rendered by the Supreme Court which were not 
included in the most recent revised edition of the Constitution 
Annotated, in place of the hardbound editions of the cumulative 
pocket-part supplement described in subsection (a)(4).
  Sec. 2. (a)  All hardbound revised editions and all 
cumulative pocket-part supplements shall be printed as Senate 
documents.
  (b)(1) The digital decennial revised editions of the 
Constitution Annotated prepared under subsection (b)(1) of the 
first section of this Joint Resolution and the digital 
cumulative pocket-part supplements prepared under subsection 
(b)(2) of the first section of this Joint Resolution shall be 
available at a public website of the Library of Congress.
  (2) The Librarian of Congress shall ensure the continuing 
availability of the documents referred to in paragraph (1) to 
Congress and the public.
  Sec. 3. (a) There shall be printed four thousand eight 
hundred and seventy additional copies of the hardbound revised 
editions prepared pursuant to clause (1) of the first section 
and of all cumulative pocket-part supplements thereto, of which 
two thousand six hundred and thirty-four copies shall be for 
the use of the House of Representatives, one thousand two 
hundred and thirty-six copies shall be for the use of the 
Senate, and one thousand copies shall be for the use of the 
Joint Committee on Printing. All Members of the Congress, Vice 
Presidents of the United States, and Delegates and Resident 
Commissioners, newly elected subsequent to the issuance of the 
hardbound revised edition prepared pursuant to such clause and 
prior to the first hardbound decennial revised edition, who did 
not receive a copy of the edition prepared pursuant to such 
clause, shall, upon timely request, receive one copy of such 
edition and the then current cumulative pocket-part supplement 
and any further supplements thereto. All Members of the 
Congress, Vice Presidents of the United States, and Delegates 
and Resident Commissioners, 110 longer serving after the 
issuance of the hardbound revised edition prepared pursuant to 
such clause and who received such edition, may receive one copy 
of each cumulative pocket-part supplement thereto upon timely 
request.
  (b) Subsection (a) does not apply after completion of the 
October 2023 term of the Supreme Court, and the Librarian of 
Congress shall provide the decennial revised editions of the 
Constitution Annotated and the cumulative pocket part 
supplements prepared under this Joint Resolution exclusively in 
a digital format available at a public website of the Library 
of Congress.
  [Sec. 4. Additional copies of each hardbound decennial 
revised edition and of the cumulative pocket-part supplements 
thereto shall be printed and distributed in accordance with the 
provisions of any concurrent resolution hereafter adopted with 
respect thereto. ]

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