Secret Congressional Background Reports Leak Again; Debate Continues

It's the American Way. Secret reports compiled for Congress using taxpayer money are being sold to the public by private companies for high prices.

Following a New York Times editorial questioning whether this policy makes sense, a debate has broken out over it. Advocates of publishing the reports say the public has a right to know. Doubters say knowing the reports will be published could lead their expert authors and editors to dumb them down.

Fortunately, for those who do not have hundreds of dollars for a private subscription, the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project publishes them online for free. Here are some recent CRS reports of relevance to environmental journalists.

• "Invasive Species: Issues in Brief," Congressional Research Service (R44049) May 22, 2015, by M. Lynne Corn and Renée Johnson.
• "Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: In Brief," Congressional Research Service (RS22188), June 9, 2015, by  Meghan M. Stuessy.
• "Greenhouse Gas Pledges by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," Congressional Research Service (R44092), July 1, 2015, by Jane A. Leggett.
• "Procedures for Congressional Action in Relation to a Nuclear Agreement with Iran: In Brief," Congressional Research Service (R44085), June 23, 2015, by Valerie Heitshusen and Richard S. Beth.
• "EPA and the Army Corps’ 'Waters of the United States' Rule: Congressional Response and Options," Congressional Research Service (R43943), June 29, 2015, by Claudia Copeland.
• "EPA and the Army Corps’ Rule to Define 'Waters of the United States'," Congressional Research Service (R43455), June 29, 2015, by Claudia Copeland.
• "Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV): World Health Organization Responses," CRS Insights (Congressional Research Service) (IN10306), July 2, 2015, by Tiaji Salaam-Blyther.
• "The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: Lessons Learned and Issues for Congress," Congressional Research Service (R41836), July 2, 2015, by Jonathan L. Ramseur.
• "Public Access to CRS Reports, Revisited," Secrecy News (Federation of American Scientists), June 17, 2015, by Steven Aftergood.
• "Contrasting Views on Public Release of CRS Reports," Secrecy News (Federation of American Scientists), June 30, 2015, by Steven Aftergood.
• "More Calls for Access to CRS’s Formal Reports," Project on Government Oversight (POGO), June 25, 2015, by Sean Moulton and Iulia Gheorghiu.
• Previous Story: WatchDog of July 1, 2015.