2.1 Action Alerts

Below is our most current action alert for individuals. By taking action, you'll help to deliver our message to key members of Congress. You can find older alerts on our Web site under "Action Alerts"

2009.2 Your Help Needed to Get Free Online Access to CRS Reports
October 16, 2009

AALL believes that the public has a right to free online access to tax-payer funded Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports. We are very pleased that there is legislation pending in the Senate (S. Res. 118) and House (H.R. 3762) to meet this goal. Very importantly, both bills would also require that an index of reports and issue briefs be made publicly available.

In April, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and five additional co-sponsors introduced S. Res. 118 to make CRS reports freely available on the Internet. In a May 11, 2009 editorial, the New York Times reported that Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Chair of the Rules and Administration Committee, was  “working on a plan” that would make CRS reports publicly available, but Chairman Schumer has not yet announced the plan. We need your help to put pressure on Sen. Schumer to bring S. Res. 118 before the committee this year.

On the House side, Representatives Frank Kratovil (D-MD-1) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ-7) introduced the Congressional Research Service Electronic Accessibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3762) on October 8. This bill would provide the public with free online access to CRS reports through House and Senate Web sites. We need your help in getting additional co-sponsors for their bill.

This Alert includes our specific asks, links to the Webmail forms of your members of Congress, and sample emails so that you can easily make contact with your senators and representatives. Thanks for your help and please let us know when you take action!

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED IN THE SENATE

Message to the following Senate co-sponsors of S. Res. 118:

Original Sponsor:
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (ID-CT)

Co-Sponsors:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Sen. Susan M. Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-WI)
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT)
Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-IN)

• Thank him/her for supporting this important resolution, which would provide the public with free online access to CRS reports.
• Ask him/her to contact Rules and Administration Chairman Charles Schumer to request that he explain his plan for providing the public with no-fee access to CRS reports and bring S. Res 118 before the Committee as soon as possible.

Message to the following senators who are on the Committee on Rules and Administration:

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Chair
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. E. Benjamin Nelson (D-NE)
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM)
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA)
Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT), Ranking Member
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Sen. C. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)


• Ask him/her to co-sponsor S. Res. 118.
• Ask him/her to urge Chairman Schumer to take up S. Res. 118 in the Rules Committee.

Message to every other senator:

• Ask him/her to co-sponsor S. Res. 118.
• Ask him/her to contact Rules and Administration Chairman Charles Schumer to request that he explain his plan for providing the public with no-fee access to CRS reports. Ask him/her to urge Chairman Schumer to bring S. Res. 118 before the Rules Committee as soon as possible.

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED IN THE HOUSE

Message to Representatives Frank Kratovil (D-MD-1) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ-7):
• Thank them for introducing H.R. 3762 to provide the public with no-fee online access to CRS reports.

Message to the following representatives who are on the Committee on House Administration:

Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA-1), Chair
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-16), Vice-Chair
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA-8)
Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL-7)
Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA-53)
Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX-20)
Rep. Daniel Lungren (R-CA-3), Ranking Member
Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS-3)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-22)

• Ask him/her to support H.R. 3762, the Congressional Research Service Electronic Accessibility Act of 2009 and hold a hearing on the bill.

Message to every other House representative:

• Ask him/her to co-sponsor H.R. 3762.

Sample Message to Senators:

Please personalize your message by explaining why public access to CRS reports is important to you. Take a look at our list of senators to determine if your senator has a JD. If so, you can personalize your message by mentioning the law school he/she attended or any other connection you might have to him/her.

Dear Senator [last name]:

As a law librarian at [name of law library], I frequently use Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports to help my [students/faculty/patrons] conduct legal research. These well-written, tax-payer funded reports are invaluable to legal researchers. I believe that the public has a right to access these reports, which are currently only available for free to the public if a constituent requests a specific report. I urge you to co-sponsor Sen. Res. 118, which would provide the public with free access to CRS reports through the Internet.

A May 11, 2009 editorial in the New York Times stated that Rules and Administration Committee Chairman Charles Schumer was working on a plan to provide the public with no-fee access to CRS reports. Please contact Chairman Schumer to request that he explain his plan, and urge him to take immediate action on S. Res. 118 in the Rules Committee.

Sincerely,

[your name]

Sample Message to House Representatives:

Please personalize your message by explaining why public access to CRS reports is important to you. Take a look at our list of House representatives to determine if your representative has a JD. If so, you can personalize your message by mentioning the law school he/she attended or any other connection you might have to him/her.

Dear Representative [last name]:

As a law librarian at [name of law library], I frequently use Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports to help my [students/faculty/patrons] conduct legal research. These well-written, tax-payer funded reports are invaluable to legal researchers. I believe that the public has a right to access these reports, which are currently only available for free to the public if a constituent requests a specific report.

I urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 3762, the Congressional Research Service Electronic Accessibility Act of 2009, which would provide the public with free access to CRS reports through the Internet. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[your name]

2009.1 Welcome Your Newly Elected Members of Congress

WELCOME YOUR NEWLY ELECTED MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

With the start of the 111th Congress, more than 60 newly elected Senators and Representatives joined returning members of Congress on Capitol Hill. If you have a new member of Congress, it is especially important that you take some time to educate him or her about our issues. New members often come to D.C. with a blank slate, and they're looking for issues to champion. Below, we've provided some tips for making contact with your new representative so that you can begin to form the important relationships that will allow you to become a successful advocate.

The New Members of the 111th Congress

The Senate welcomed eleven new members in January. The new members are:

Mark Begich (D-AK)
Mark Udall (D-CO)
Jim Risch (R-ID)
Roland Burris (D-IL)
Mike Johanns (R-NE)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Tom Udall (D-NM)
Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY)
Kay Hagan (D-NC)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Mark Warner (D-VA)

The close Minnesota election between Al Franken (D) and incumbent Senator Norm Coleman (R) is still undecided at the time of this writing.

Information about your Senators, including contact information and links to their new Web sites, is located on the Senate Web site here.

In the House, more than 50 new members were elected to office. The Committee on House Administration has provided helpful information about them in the New Member Pictorial Directory. A list of Representatives with links to their Web sites is located on the House Web site here.

Get to Know Your New Member of Congress.

Has your new representative been in public office before? Does he or she have a J.D.? What issues are important to him or her? Take a look at his or her Web site, campaign site, and articles in the news to collect some background information.

Talking Points

With the knowledge you’ve collected about your representative, you’re ready to make contact. Write an email or letter, or better yet, call the district office to set up a face-to-face meeting with local staff. Or, invite them to your library to show your new member how important law libraries are to the community.

Here are some details you may want to include in your first communication:

• Introduce yourself as a constituent and member of the American Association of Law Libraries and your chapter (if applicable).
• Congratulate your new member on his or her election victory.
• Describe your law library and what makes it important to your community. Who are the library users? How does the community benefit from your services?

While we normally recommend that you stick to one issue in your letter, this case is unique because you are establishing an initial communication with a new member. In Section 3.2, you'll find a list of the bills AALL supports. You may want to ask your member of Congress to support or co-sponsor one of these bills. Alternately, you can ask your lawmaker to support one or all of the upcoming issues that we predict will be of importance to law libraries in the coming year. These issues include:

• Improved funding for the Law Library of Congress.

Ask your member to support legislation to provide additional funding for the Law Library of Congress, our Nation's de facto national law library.

• Adequate funding for the Government Printing Office and the Federal Depository Library Program.

Ask your member to show his or her support for public access to government Information by supporting the appropriations request of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO).

• Enactment of net neutrality legislation.

By supporting net neutrality legislation, your legislator can demonstrate his or her commitment to ensuring that that all Internet traffic is treated equally. The issue of net neutrality is very important for law libraries because law librarians are providers, creators and users of digital information.

In closing, thank your legislator and reiterate that you look forward to working with him or her during the 111th Congress. Be sure to include your contact information so that your lawmaker’s staff can follow up. This initial contact will be the basis for developing a successful relationship with your lawmaker which will allow you to become an effective advocate for law libraries in the future.

Chapter 3. AALL's Policy Priorities for the 111th Congress: 2009-2010

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