Distribution of CRS Products to Non-Congressionals (PDF; 132 KB)
Source: Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists)

Attached is an updating of our policy on providing CRS products to non-congressionals. To ensure consistency in the Service’s policy on sharing CRS products with non-congressional audiences, distribution controls are being strengthened and clarified. Following upon discussions held before the Research Policy Council, I have concluded that prior approval should now be required at the division or office level before products are distributed to members of the public. This policy is effective immediately.

Memo by Daniel P. Mulholland, CRS Director, dated 20 March 2007

+ More details available via this post by Steven Aftergood on the FAS’s Secrecy News weblog.

The new policy demonstrates that “this is an organization in freefall,” according to one CRS analyst. “We are now indeed working for Captain Queeg.”

“We’re all sort of shaking,” another CRS staffer told Secrecy News. “I can’t do my work.”

+ Related Washington Post story

All governmental, nongovernmental, foreign-governmental, media researcher-type non-congressionals — and you know who you are — can still have CRS reports, if a CRS supervisor approves.

For the rest of you non-congressionals, the rules have not changed. The answer is no — go ask Congress.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 10:22 am and is filed under Congressional Research Service, Government and politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.