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| No | 7% | 5 votes | Total: 72 votes | |
| Yes | 93% | 67 votes |
No
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Yes, all Congressional Research reports without risk national security issue should be available to the public, but at a minimal cost. With technology, we can provide information at minimal personal cost or make the information available for a limited time through a public entity without a fee.
User Fees
With a government that operates with an unacceptable deficit in order to prevent increasing taxes to all government needs to use user fees. User fees are fees that citizens use if they use the services of government pay the cost of those services. These remains an easy area to assess since the citizen is asking for a product. Auditing standards can protect the citizens from inflating the cost beyond actual cost. With technology, the cost could be minimal with a website available for downloading or reading the document or the emailing to the citizen. An exception for all participants in the research or parties to the research could receive the document as compensation for participating in the research.
Public Entity
The community could receive a zero cost document to a public entity if they are willing to have the document available to the public and the person making the request. Libraries offer services that fit this scenario perfectly. A system could develop between the library networks and if the library is willing, they can have a hard copy or an electronic copy. If after the requesting person, the library can decide whether to keep the item in their collection and offer availability to any future requests. Since it becomes a document for the masses, it deserves a free cost. Protection of privacy rights requires that once the person reads the document or has it copied at the library, record of the request be dismissed
Reasons
An informed citizenry provides for true democracy, but public information is costly to create, and publish. Some might over request in order to burden the government. At this time, there are many instances of public information requests exceeding true need. Government should promote general interest in their government and if a request can serve as many citizens as possible provides for many. Providing every piece of written material of government research is an ideal desirable to transparency of government, but care to keep cost in balance, enable government to provide the transparency and serve the public within a budget.
Congressman do not have the time to read all the research they should read in order to make the best voting decisions because of the large size of the documents. The size makes it beyond cost effectiveness for the open government provision. A low reimbursement provides for protection from excessive cost.
Government answering to its citizens remains important to a democracy, but as every family must provide for their needs within a budget. No government should provide Congressional Research free of charge.
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Learn more about this author, Kris Kennedy.
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Yes
Should Congressional Research Reports be available to the public for free?
Yes.
I don't know if you mean reports are submitted to Congress by outside experts or reports by government for government.
I am a political journalist, and not an official member of "the media", and have always found it easy to access congressional research written by both individuals and agencies that exist separately from government, and reports by government itself.
There are many accountability reports put together by government by oversight departments, whose job it is, is to report on government itself. The most well known of these of course is the "Government Accountability Office". These very comprehensive reports, are widely available on the Internet, just by googling.
I started off my career just as a concerned member of the public. I was surfing and googling online, and decided to try to find the government agency who runs the program I was concerned about. Literally, within minutes I had comprehensive statistics, and reports at my fingertips!
I was truly suprised at just how easy it is for the general public to access free research.
I encourage my readers to get their information directly from government resources if they want more in depth information on a subject that concerns them.
Almost every department in government has important information that is available to the general public at no cost. I read alot of Congressional research that ones from committee hearings in different area's of government. Alot of this research contains testimonies by experts in whatever field the committee is focused on.
When I have access to a television, I love to watch C-Span. C-Span gives me direct access to what is happening in Congress, whether it's a debate, a hearing or a vote. Over time you get to know alot of individual members of congress, and their views. I always keep a pen or paper handy to write down who the experts are testifying in hearings, and google their names, and usually come up with a wealth of reports.
Some of the people seen frequently, who provide research to government are a huge network of fellows, professors, analysts, researchers from the Pew Center, and the Heritage Foundation. Those are very good places to look for a wide variety of free reports.
I've have also had numerous analysts in government departments and several University professor's I've emailed, email congressional reports, that might be hard to find at no cost.
There is an abundance of information currently available online.
Learn more about this author, Titania Jones.
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