Via Secrecy News, "Congress Requires Publication of CRS Reports"
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__fas.org_blogs_secrecy_2018_03_crs-2Dpublication_&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=O7ypVG2qZUzxoU0cAcxX-kVjaI1ADFxb_aSt9SwO7vk&s=QzbOusx9nuv89baPNS2mfNPlwjjlt2w_tOCEplalAqo&e= The Congressional
Research Service is an organizational component of the Library of
Congress.  During my tenure as GAO Historian at a legislative branch sister
agency, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, I sometimes was asked by
top officials to assess CRS reports to see how they compared with how GAO
historically had described its statutory authorities and work.  (My new
history book includes a section on its auhorities and interpretations,)  On
a personal note, I also know several people, one a former librarian, now
retired, who worked as CRS analysts (much respect to them for their work in
public service).

As you know from your work as records managers, cultural competence and
cultural awareness are major elements in working collaboratively within
fact-oriented organizations.  (As GAO historian, I served as a Subject
Matter Expert on learning center teams developing new training courses for
incoming analysts, such as one on GAO's Core Values andinternal culture.)

Moving beyond the "on paper" description of an organization or news
accounts sourced to a journalist's go-to experts often depends on
independently reading and assessing multiple perspectives about its work.  I
found that some of the news articles and online debates in 2015 and 2016
about who should be appointed the Librarian of Congress and expectations
for the job missed key points about the position.  Many focused on
traditional librarianship and provided few insights into CRS issues.

in this context, a former CRS analyst, Kevin Kosar (I don't know him in
person but follow his work) blogs about the agency, looking at issues such
as neutrality and objectivity:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.legbranch.com_theblog_2018_2_11_the-2Dstruggle-2Dbetween-2Dobjectivity-2Dvs-2Dneutrality-2Dcontinues-2Dat-2Dthe-2Dcongressional-2Dresearch-2Dservice&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=O7ypVG2qZUzxoU0cAcxX-kVjaI1ADFxb_aSt9SwO7vk&s=ouT48I9zSl_qvY-KInmio9YlYWc_27PpZijO5SbQ1ns&e=

or short link
 https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__bit.ly_2GqCCtH&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=O7ypVG2qZUzxoU0cAcxX-kVjaI1ADFxb_aSt9SwO7vk&s=BnR4A8TO6esTQJWY95uCjRsGpA4xlqjilS8mvtNRvnM&e=

Kevin Kosar mentions at the link the 25% cut to its budget that GAO took to
its budget in the 1990s.  This was during the tenure of the Comptroller
General, Charles A. Bowsher, who is the subject of my newly published
government history book.  I used records, oral history interviews, and
secondary sources, including an article by former GAO analyst  Gail Johnson
(“The GAO: The Government’s Watchdog Under Fire,” The Public Manager, June
22, 1996), to tell the story of the budget cuts for internal and external
readers.  I myself was working at GAO during the time period in question,
during which GAO had to run a Reduction in Force.

I am lucky to have spent 40 years of my 43 year Federal career at two
nonpartisan Federal agencies (one legislative branch, one executive branch)
whose missions focus on facts and evidence. And where practitioners value
fairness and objectivity on the job. And as individuals, often are cool,
stoic (especially in the upper ranks), reserved (many Introverts in both
agencies), thoughtful, and rhetorically and in public and private
representation, low key by nature.

Maarja
[log in to unmask]
Washington, DC
@ArchivesMaarja
Blog:  Archival Explorations
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__archivalexplorations.wordpress.com_&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=O7ypVG2qZUzxoU0cAcxX-kVjaI1ADFxb_aSt9SwO7vk&s=lZnDF1O6O6B-chlna5w4_v-6tUkbZ4kJk-daYsfydlg&e=

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