Taxpayer Assets Project
Information Policy Note
May 6, 1993
RE: TAP Crown Jewels Campaign
THE U.S. CONGRESSIONAL LEGIS SYSTEMS
THE PRODUCTS
The U.S. House and Senate own two taxpayer funded online information
systems, called Senate LEGIS and the House LEGIS. The House LEGIS system
provides online access to the full text of bills before congress, the
Congressional Record and other items, while the Senate LEGIS system
provides online access to the full text of bills, plus information on
foreign treaties and nominations waiting Senate confirmation, as well as
other information.
THE SCOOP
Access to both systems is currently restricted to Members of Congress
and their staff, except for limited public access in a reading room on
Capital Hill in Washington, DC.
In August more than 150 citizens wrote to Senator Ford and
Representative Charlie Rose asking for online access to these systems.
Representative Rose asked the Congressional Office of Technology
Assessment (OTA) to study the issue of public access to LEGIS and other
Congressional information, but no action has been taken.
Congress sells the data from these systems on magnetic tape to several
online data vendors, such the Mead Data Central LEXIS and the Washington
Post LEGI-SLATE services, who then resell the data to the public.
The barriers to public access are not technical. The House system can
reportedly support up to 30,000 users. The barrier to access is
opposition from commercial data vendors.
THE PLAYERS
In the Senate, policy decisions about public access to LEGIS are made by
the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, chaired by Senator
Wendell Ford. (202/224-6352). The committee staff director for
Information Systems and Technology is Bob Harris. Mailing Address: U.S.
Senate, Committee on Rules and Administration, SR-318, Washington, DC
20510.
Access to the House LEGIS system is controlled by the House
Administration Committee, chaired by Representative Charlie Rose
(202/225-2061). House LEGIS is run by House Information Systems (HIS).
The Director of House Information Systems is Hamish Murray
(202/225-9276). Mailing address: HIS, FHOB Annex 2, 3rd & D St, S.W.,
6th Floor, Washington, DC 20515.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Citizens who want access to these important taxpayer funded information
systems are encouraged to write or call officials who can change things.
>From our experience we know that even one letter can make all the
difference in the world. Potential targets for letters include the
officials named above, plus your own member of Congress (constituents
get the best attention).
a) Describe why you would benefit from public access, and why broad
public access benefits the public interest.
b) Ask the public officials to tell you the specific steps they will
take to make public access available.
It would be helpful if you would provide us with copies of any written
inquiries and the responses that you receive. This will allow us to
build a record of the public interest in these information systems.
Taxpayer Assets Project/Crown Jewels Campaign
P.O. Box 19367; Washington, DC 20036
voice: 202/387-8030; fax 202/234-5176
internet: tap@essential.org
You can reach any member of Congress as follows:
Senator Susan Smith Representative Bob Smith
U.S. Senate U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515
v. 202/224-3121 v. 202/225-3121
THE CROWN JEWELS CAMPAIGN
The Crown Jewels campaign is a grass roots effort to open up access to
several of the federal government's most important information systems.
Future editions will provide updates on LEGIS, as well as information
abut the Department of Justice JURIS system, the SEC EDGAR system, the
Library of Congress SCORPIO system, the CIA Foreign Broadcast
Information System (FBIS), the Patent and Trademark Automated Patent
System (APS), and others. Suggestions for Crown Jewels targets are
welcome.
The Taxpayer Assets Project (TAP) was started by Ralph Nader to monitory
the management and sale of government property, including government
information and information systems.
To receive TAP information policy notes, including all Crown Jewels
Campaign memorandums, send an email note to:
tap-info-request@essential.org
===============================================================
Taxpayer Assets Project, P.O. Box 19367; Washington, DC 20036;
v. 202/837-8030; f. 202/234-5176; internet: tap@essential.org
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