People elected to the U.S. Congress aren’t experts on everything! OK, you probably knew that already. So who can they turn to for factual briefings on unfamiliar topics?
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a big help to them, producing research and analysis on political, legal, and policy topics to help our elected Senators and Representatives make informed decisions. These reports can help you be better informed, too, and your taxes have already paid for them!
You can request a specific CRS report through your Senator or Representative, but some very helpful folks are sharing online the reports they’ve already obtained. Several online collections are listed at http://library.uww.edu/subject/govpubs.htm#colls. You can even add a report you’ve obtained to one of these collections, such as Open CRS.
Here are examples of recent report titles that you might choose to use:
- Foreign Students in the United States: Policies and Legislation (May 11, 2007)
- Immigration Fraud: Policies, Investigations, and Issues (May 17, 2007)
- North Korean Provocative Actions, 1950-2007 (April 20, 2007)
- U.S. Food and Agricultural Imports: Safeguards and Selected Issues (May 21, 2007)
- Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment (April 26, 2007)
- Foreign Direct Investment: Effects of a “Cheap” Dollar (May 11, 2007)
- Stem Cell Research: Federal Research Funding and Oversight (April 18, 2007)
Put your tax dollars to work for you! Take advantage of the research done for Congress to jumpstart your own research.
The University Library is a federal depository with many federal, state, local, and international documents on a variety of current and relevant issues available to you in print, microfiche, CD-ROM, and electronically. Come check out your government at the University Library!
