The Congressional Research Service launched its new public portal this morning, with an initial installment of 628 reports dating back to January of this year. The back catalog of older reports is supposed to be added over time.
The public versions of the reports are lightly redacted to remove the author’s contact information, and to add some boilerplate language about CRS.
At this point, CRS is only posting its primary “R series” reports, such as these newly updated documents (provided here in their original, unmodified format):
American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics, updated September 14, 2018
Congressional Primer on Responding to Major Disasters and Emergencies, updated September 13, 2018
“In keeping with our desire to engage users with the Library and its materials,” wrote Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, “we are happy to see these reports put to the widest use possible.”
But other CRS product lines — including CRS In Focus, CRS Insight, and CRS Legal Sidebar — are not currently available through the public portal. So CRS reports like these must still be obtained independently:
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks in U.S. Agriculture, CRS In Focus, September 17, 2018
Hurricane Florence: Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources, CRS Insight, updated September 13, 2018
Locomotive Idling, Air Quality, and Blocked Crossings, CRS In Focus, updated September 13, 2018
The new public collection of CRS reports was created in response to legislation “ending the legal requirement prohibiting CRS from providing its products to the public,” according to CRS.
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.