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Congressional Research Service

2009-02-04T21:00:58Z

Jonathanstray: New text for public availability section, new CRS products section, intro edits

{{Infobox Government agency
|agency_name = Congressional Research Service
|seal = Congressional Research Service.png
|seal_width = 190 px
|seal_caption =
|formed = 1914
|preceding1 =
|dissolved =
|superseding =
|jurisdiction =
|headquarters = [[Washington, DC]]
|employees =
|budget =
|chief1_name = Daniel P. Mulhollan
|chief1_position = Director
|chief2_name = Angela M. Evans
|chief2_position = Deputy Director
|website = [http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/ www.loc.gov/crsinfo/]
}}
The '''Congressional Research Service''' (CRS) is the [[public policy]] research arm of the [[United States Congress]]. As a legislative branch agency within the [[Library of Congress]], CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a confidential, nonpartisan basis. CRS reports are highly regarded as in-depth, accurate, objective, and timely, but as a matter of policy they are not made directly available to members of the public.

There have been several attempts to pass legislation requiring all reports to be made available online, most recently in 2003, but none have passed. Instead, the public must request individual reports from their Senators and Representatives in Congress, purchase them from private vendors, or search for them in various web archives of previously-released documents.

==History and mission==
Congress created CRS in order to have its own source of nonpartisan, objective analysis and research on all legislative issues. Indeed, the sole mission of CRS is to serve the United States Congress. CRS has been carrying out this mission since 1914, when it was first established as the '''Legislative Reference Service'''. Renamed the Congressional Research Service by the [[Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970]], CRS is committed to providing the Congress, throughout the legislative process, comprehensive and reliable analysis, research and information services that are timely, objective, nonpartisan, and confidential, thereby contributing to an informed national legislature.

In fiscal year 2003, CRS had a budget of $86,386,812 funded mostly by taxpayer dollars.<ref>http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/CRS03_AnnRpt.pdf Congressional Research Service FY2003 Annual Report p. 38. Congressional Research Service Home Page. 21 April 2005</ref>

==CRS Products==
Librarian Stephen Young summarizes the documents produced by the CRS as follows:

:CRS produces a number of document types although the most commonly requested are the reports (almost 4,000 reports are currently in existence). The purpose of a report is to clearly define the issue in the legislative context. The reports may take many forms including policy analysis, economic studies, statistical reviews, and legal analyses, and can be either Short Reports (RS), which are typically under 7 pages in length, or Long Reports (RL), which can include major studies on a particular topic. Over 700 new CRS reports are produced each year and made available on CRS Web to the select groups identified above. A second type of CRS document is the Issue Briefs (IB). These short documents, no longer than 16 pages, include issue definitions, background and policy analyses, legislation passed and pending, a bibliography of hearings, reports and documents and other congressional actions, a chronology of events, and reference sources. Approximately 150 issue briefs are currently in existence. Other documents types include Appropriations Reports (usually released as a Long Report), Electronic Briefing Books, Info Packs and Congressional distribution memoranda. <ref name=young>http://www.llrx.com/features/crsreports.htm Guide to CRS Reports on the Web</ref>''

==Issues Surrounding Public Availability==

CRS reports are highly regarded as in-depth, accurate, objective and timely, and topped the list of the "10 Most-Wanted Government Documents" survey by the Center for Democracy and Technology, 1996.<ref>http://www.cdt.org/righttoknow/10mostwanted/ 10 Most Wanted Government Documents</ref> While CRS products are already available electronically to "members of Congress, Congressional committees, and CRS sister agencies (e.g. GAO)"<ref name="young" /> through the internal CRS Web system, there is no public access.

Many but not all CRS reports can be obtained through specialized publishers such as [http://pennyhill.com/index.php Penny Hill Press], or from web archives such as [http://opencrs.com OpenCRS], which relies on individual submissions to maintain its collection. OpenCRS has also published [http://opencrs.com/requesting.php instructions] for US citizens on how to request reports from their member of congress, but neither the Congress nor the CRS are obligated to satisfy such requests (though they could presumably be compelled to do so through the FOIA.) However, as there is no accurate public list or catalog of CRS publications, all unreleased reports are effectively secret.

There have been numerous attempts to pass legislation requiring the CRS to make its products available on a public web site, including the introduction of bills in 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2003.<ref name="young"/> All have so far failed to pass. Publicly stated reasons for this include legal liability for CRS findings, copyright issues, and increased CRS workload. However, it is far more more likely that the members of Congress who commission CRS reports wish to maintain control over the distribution of any potentially sensitive conclusions. This is illustrated in a 2003 CRS internal memo.

:PLACING CRS PRODUCT LINKS ON CONGRESSIONAL WEB SITES

:Statutory Restriction. The prohibition on publication of CRS products without oversight committee approval appears in the annual appropriations acts for the Legislative Branch. This provision is intended to preserve the role of CRS as a confidential resource solely available to the Congress. The appropriations acts, supplemented by congressional guidance that CRS has received over the years, and supported by judicial opinions, leaves to the Members and committees the decision whether, on a selective basis, to place CRS products in the public domain. Members have long made CRS products available to interested persons either directly, by inclusion in congressional publications, or through their own Web sites.

:[...]

:Key Risks of Wholesale Publication Without Selectivity. Legislation has been introduced in both houses (S. Res. 54 and H.R. 3630) that would authorize the wholesale public dissemination of CRS products, without selectivity, through Member and committee Web sites. Such an approach raises several policy and institutional concerns:

::Impairment of Member Communication with Constituents – The danger of placing CRS, a support agency, in an intermediate position responding directly to constituents instead of preserving the direct relationship between constituents and their elected representatives. This threatens the dialog on policy issues between Members and their constituents that was envisioned by the Constitution.

::Risk to Protection of Confidentiality – The current judicial and administrative perception of CRS might thereby be altered, putting at risk speech or debate protection for confidential work.

::Change in Mission and Congressional Focus – Over time, CRS products might come to be written with a large public audience in mind and could no longer be focused solely on congressional needs.<ref>http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2003/12/crs.html Legislation of Interest to CRS: Public Access to CRS Products</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/whatscrs.html Congressional Research Service welcome page]
*[http://archive-it.org/collections/1078 Internet Archive collection of sites that publish CRS reports]: one-stop shop for CRS reports. harvests include OpenCRS, UNT, FAS, Thurgood Marshall Law Library and others.
*[http://www.llrx.com/features/crsreports.htm Guide to CRS Reports on the Web]
*[http://www.opencrs.com/ Website of OpenCRS.com, which offers free access to many CRS reports]
*[http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Congressional_Research_Service Source Watch website about CRS]
*[http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/index.tkl University of North Texas Libraries Congressional Research Service Reports archive]
*[http://www.opencrs.com/ Center for Democracy and Technology's Open CRS archive]
*[http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/index.html Federation of American Scientists Congressional Research Service Reports archive]
*[http://www.ipmall.info/hosted_resources/crs_reports.asp Franklin Pierce Law Center CRS Reports archive]
*[http://fpc.state.gov//c4763.htm United States Department of State Foreign Press Center CRS Reports archive]
*[http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/crsreports/index.asp University of Maryland School of Law, Thurgood Marshall Law Library CRS Reports archive]

{{USCongress}}

[[Category:Library of Congress]]
[[Category:United States intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Agencies of the United States Congress]]

[[ko:미국 의회조사국]]
[[vi:Vụ Khảo cứu Quốc hội (Hoa Kỳ)]]

Congressional Research Service

2009-02-04T01:46:55Z

Jonathanstray: note that there is no public list of CRS reports

Scientology Int. Base

2007-10-01T12:45:48Z

Jonathanstray: Note the fact (with citations) that Gold Base is in fact the top-level international headquarters of Scientology

{{coord|33|50|3.25|N|116|59|5.85|W|display=title}}
{{ScientologySeries}}
The '''Gold Base''' is the international headquarters of the [[Church of Scientology]]<ref name="tabayoyan">[http://www.whyaretheydead.net/krasel/aff_at.html Affidavit of Andre Tabayoyan] United States District Court, Central District of California case no. CV 91 6426 HLH (Tx)</ref><ref name="prince">[http://lisatrust.bogie.nl/Media/video/legal/prince_erlich.pdf Affidavit of Jesse Prince] United States District Court, Central District of California, San Jose Division case no. C-95-20091 RMW (EAI)</ref>, located on a 500 acre parcel of land near [[Hemet, California|Hemet]], California. It tis named for [[Golden Era Productions]], the media division of the church, which is the largest of the many organizational units located there. [[David Miscavige]] and other top leaders of the church live and work on the Base. <ref name="quill">"[http://www.xenu.net/archive/go/quill.htm Scientology from inside out]" by [[Robert Vaughn Young]], Quill magazine, Volume 81, Number 9, Nov/Dec 1993.</ref><ref name="latimes">[http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-scientology18dec18,0,2963052.story "Tom Cruise and Scientology"], Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2005: "voter registration records list the Gilman Hot Springs complex as Miscavige's residence since the early 1990s and as recently as the 2004 general election"</ref><ref name="stone">"[http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9363363/inside_scientology Inside Scientology]" by Janet Reitman. [[Rolling Stone]], Issue 995. March 9, 2006. Pages 55 - 67.</ref>

==About the Base==
The base is home to all of the highest level management units of the [[Church of Scientology]]<ref name="tabayoyan"/><ref name="prince"/>, all of which are staffed by [[Sea Organization]] members. Among the organizations there are the [[Religious Technology Center]], the [[Commodore's Messenger Organization]] International and [[Golden Era Productions]]. [[Golden Era Productions]] manufactures the [[E-Meter]] and produces and distributes all church audio-visual materials, both internal and promotional.<ref name="goldeneye">{{cite news | first = Thomas C | last = Tobin | title = A place called 'Gold' | url = http://www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/102598/scientologygold.html | publisher = [[St. Petersburg Times]] | date = [[1998-10-25]] | accessdate = 2007-03-18}}</ref>

The Gold Base is also referred to as the "Int Base".<ref name="stone"/> In the pre-internet era, the location of the base and the presence of international management there were kept secret, even to Scientologists at lower organizations.<ref name="prince"/>

In an article published in the [[LA Weekly]], Gale Holland wrote that there are critics of the Church of Scientology who say that Gold Base "houses the church's highly secretive security apparatus".<ref name="UnfairGame">{{cite news | author = Gale Holland | title = Unfair Game: Scientologists Get Their Man | url = http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/unfair-game/4713/ | publisher = [[LA Weekly]] | date = [[2001-06-20]] | accessdate = 2007-08-25}}</ref> There are motion sensors every several feet and mounted video surveillance cameras.<ref name="stone"/>

Currently, most base personnel live in Hemet at the Vista Gardens Apartments or the Kirby Apartments and commute by base-owned bus.<ref name="inland">{{cite web |url = http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2005-12/21006726.pdf |format = [[PDF]]|title = Scientology's inland empire |accessdate = 2007-08-25 |last = Perry |first = Rebecca | coauthors = Kelsen, Don|date = [[2005-12-17]]|work = [[Los Angeles Times]]|publisher = }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Staff | title = After spending half of her life in Scientology, she found truth & freedom in Jesus Christ | journal = Baptist Press | date = August 16, 2005 | url = http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=21407 }}</ref>

Scientology also maintains the [[Trementina Base]] in [[New Mexico]] as a high-tech archive of Hubbard's spoken and written words, with similar archives located in [[Petrolia, California]] and [[Crestline, California]].<ref>http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/trementina-vault3.htm</ref>

==Features==
Notable buildings and features in Gold Base include:
*Upper Villas - RTC offices and housing, where David Miscavige and other high level Scientologists live and work
*BonnieView - L. Ron Hubbard's former home, kept pristine and waiting by staff
*Cine Castle, main film studio in the shape of a castle, for producing church A/V materials
*OGH buildings - Old Gilman House. Formerly "isolation" space for physically ill staff. Possibly now used for [[auditing (Scientology)|auditing]] or solo auditing.
*Del Sol - CSI offices, and auditing rooms for staff.
*Staff berthing - four buildings where staff live.
*Qual Gold - Headquarters for Qual Sec, in charge of "quality control" as per the Hubbard organization policies. In practice this mostly means facilities staff auditing and training.
*MCI - This large building is the staff dining hall, known as "Massacre Canyon Inn" from the building's pre-Scientology name when the property was a resort.

Gold Base also has recreational facilities, including a running track, basketball, volleyball, and soccer facilities, an exercise building, a waterslide, a small lake with a training ship (the ''Laissez-Faire''), two beaches, and a golf course.<ref>http://alley.ethercat.com/cgi-bin/xint/xint.cgi?2</ref><ref name="inland"/>

==Picketing at Gold Base==

[[Keith Henson]] picketed Gold Base compound to protest the deaths of a Scientologist, [[Stacy Moxon]] Meyer, and a non-Scientologist, Ashlee Shaner.

Meyer, the daughter of lead Scientology attorney [[Moxon & Kobrin|Kendrick Moxon]], died in an accident in an underground electrical vault at the Gold Base at about the same time that picketers aboveground were protesting the previous death of Ashlee Shaner. Shaner died in an auto accident on the road fronting Gold Base when a contractor working for the Church was moving a piece of [[Loader (equipment)|construction equipment]] across the highway after dusk without adequate lighting.<ref>http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/shanner-nove.htm</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==

* [http://www.scientologytoday.org/corp/csi5.htm ScientologyToday: Golden Era Productions]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.830819,-116.985984&spn=0.016425,0.027968&t=k&hl=en Satellite photograph of "Gold base", Gilman Hot Springs, California]
*[http://www.lermanet.com/image/hemet-labeled.jpg Similar Satellite photograph with key to features]
* [http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-scientology18dec18,0,2963052.story?coll=la-home-headlines L.A. Times article discussing the Gold Base]

[[Category:Riverside County, California]]
[[Category:Scientology organizations]]

{{Template:Scientologyfooter}}

Scientology Int. Base

2007-10-01T11:34:23Z

Jonathanstray: A few notes about buildings at Gold

{{coord|33|50|3.25|N|116|59|5.85|W|display=title}}
{{ScientologySeries}}
The '''Gold Base''' is a 500 acre parcel and the headquarters of [[Golden Era Productions]], the media division of the [[Church of Scientology]], located near [[Hemet, California|Hemet]], California. Part of the Base borders [[U.S. Department of Defense]] property.

==About the Base==
Gold Base produces the [[E-Meter]]s the [[Church of Scientology]] uses and sells to practitioners.<ref name="goldeneye">{{cite news | first = Thomas C | last = Tobin | title = A place called 'Gold' | url = http://www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/102598/scientologygold.html | publisher = [[St. Petersburg Times]] | date = [[1998-10-25]] | accessdate = 2007-03-18}}</ref> It has film and sound facilities and produces the films used in and sold by the Church. It is staffed by members of the [[Sea Organization]] from the [[Religious Technology Center]], the [[Commodore's Messenger Organization]] International and Golden Era Productions. [[David Miscavige]] and other top leaders of the church live on the Base.<ref>"[http://www.xenu.net/archive/go/quill.htm Scientology from inside out]" by [[Robert Vaughn Young]], Quill magazine, Volume 81, Number 9, Nov/Dec 1993.</ref><ref>[http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-scientology18dec18,0,2963052.story "Tom Cruise and Scientology"], Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2005: "voter registration records list the Gilman Hot Springs complex as Miscavige's residence since the early 1990s and as recently as the 2004 general election"</ref><ref name="stone">"[http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9363363/inside_scientology Inside Scientology]" by Janet Reitman. [[Rolling Stone]], Issue 995. March 9, 2006. Pages 55 - 67.</ref>

The Gold Base is also referred to as the "Int Base".<ref name="stone"/>

In an article published in the [[LA Weekly]], Gale Holland wrote that there are critics of the Church of Scientology who say that Gold Base "houses the church's highly secretive security apparatus".<ref name="UnfairGame">{{cite news | author = Gale Holland | title = Unfair Game: Scientologists Get Their Man | url = http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/unfair-game/4713/ | publisher = [[LA Weekly]] | date = [[2001-06-20]] | accessdate = 2007-08-25}}</ref> There are motion sensors every several feet and mounted video surveillance cameras.<ref name="stone"/>

Currently, most base personnel live in Hemet at the Vista Gardens Apartments or the Kirby Apartments and commute by base-owned bus.<ref name="inland">{{cite web |url = http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2005-12/21006726.pdf |format = [[PDF]]|title = Scientology's inland empire |accessdate = 2007-08-25 |last = Perry |first = Rebecca | coauthors = Kelsen, Don|date = [[2005-12-17]]|work = [[Los Angeles Times]]|publisher = }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Staff | title = After spending half of her life in Scientology, she found truth & freedom in Jesus Christ | journal = Baptist Press | date = August 16, 2005 | url = http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=21407 }}</ref>

Scientology also maintains the [[Trementina Base]] in [[New Mexico]] as a high-tech archive of Hubbard's spoken and written words, with similar archives located in [[Petrolia, California]] and [[Crestline, California]].<ref>http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/trementina-vault3.htm</ref>

==Features==
Notable buildings and features in Gold Base include:
*Upper Villas - where David Miscavige and other high level Scientologists and celebrities stay.
*BonnieView - the home for L. Ron Hubbard when he returns in his next life.
*Cine Castle, main film studio in the shape of a castle, for producing church A/V materials
*Staff berthing - four buildings where staff live.
*CMO Int - [[Commodore's Messengers Organization International]]. CMO Int has the function of establishing and running all management units under Church of Scientology International (CSI)'s control.
*OGH buildings - Old Gilman House. Probably used for [[auditing (Scientology)|auditing]] or solo auditing.
*RTC building - where [[Religious Technology Center]] is headquartered (Upper and Lower Villas).
*Del Sol - auditing rooms for staff.
*Qual Gold - Headquarters for Qual Sec, in charge of "quality control". In practice this mostly means staff auditing and training.

Gold Base also has recreational facilities, including a running track, basketball, volleyball, and soccer facilities, an exercise building, a waterslide, a small lake with a training ship (the ''Laissez-Faire''), two beaches, and a golf course.<ref>http://alley.ethercat.com/cgi-bin/xint/xint.cgi?2</ref><ref name="inland"/>

==Picketing at Gold Base==

[[Keith Henson]] picketed Gold Base compound to protest the deaths of a Scientologist, [[Stacy Moxon]] Meyer, and a non-Scientologist, Ashlee Shaner.

Meyer, the daughter of lead Scientology attorney [[Moxon & Kobrin|Kendrick Moxon]], died in an accident in an underground electrical vault at the Gold Base at about the same time that picketers aboveground were protesting the previous death of Ashlee Shaner. Shaner died in an auto accident on the road fronting Gold Base when a contractor working for the Church was moving a piece of [[Loader (equipment)|construction equipment]] across the highway after dusk without adequate lighting.<ref>http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/shanner-nove.htm</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==

* [http://www.scientologytoday.org/corp/csi5.htm ScientologyToday: Golden Era Productions]
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.830819,-116.985984&spn=0.016425,0.027968&t=k&hl=en Satellite photograph of "Gold base", Gilman Hot Springs, California]
*[http://www.lermanet.com/image/hemet-labeled.jpg Similar Satellite photograph with key to features]
* [http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-scientology18dec18,0,2963052.story?coll=la-home-headlines L.A. Times article discussing the Gold Base]

[[Category:Riverside County, California]]
[[Category:Scientology organizations]]

{{Template:Scientologyfooter}}