Congress and freedom of information: A retrospective and a look at a current issue

Evidence of some lapses in the congressional record of publishing information regarding the activities and operations of the House, the Senate, and their officers and committees is examined.

Abstract

When Congress refined and finally enacted the Freedom of Information Act during the mid-1960s, there were various reasons why this new law was not made applicable to the Senate and the House of Representatives. One of these was the long and impressive congressional record of publishing information regarding the activities and operations of the House, the Senate, and their officers and committees. There has been of late, however, evidence of some lapses in this tradition. Moreover, the availability to the public of the reports of the Congressional Research Service has also recently become a heightened issue. These matters are examined in this overview.