[Page: S8565]

(Ordered to lie on the table.)

Mr. McCAIN (for himself, Mr. Coats, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Faircloth, Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Kerrey, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Abraham, and Mr. Robb) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by them to the bill, H.R. 4112, supra; as follows:

In the appropriate place in the bill insert the following:

SEC. 311. AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN CRS WEB SITE INFORMATION.
(a) Availability of Information:

(1) In general: The Director of the Congressional Research Service shall make available on the Internet, for purposes of access and retrieval by the public, all information that--

(A) is available through the Congressional Research Service web site;

(B) is described in paragraph (2); and

(C) is not confidential as determined by--

(i) the Director; or

(ii) the head of a Federal department or agency that provided the information to the Congressional Research Service.

(2) Information: The information referred to in paragraph (1)(B) is as follows:

(A) All Congressional Research Service Issue Briefs.

(B) All Congressional Research Service Reports that are available to Members of Congress through the Congressional Research Service web site.

(C) All Congressional Research Service Authorization of Appropriations Products or Appropriations Products.

(3) Removal of information; changes and updates: Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Director of the Congressional Research Service may--

(A) remove from the information required to be made available on the Internet under this section the name of, phone number of, and information regarding, an employee of the Congressional Research Service;

(B) remove from the information required to be made available on the Internet under this section, any material the Director determines may infringe the copyright of a work protected under title 17, United States Code; and

(C) make any changes or updates in the information required to be made available on the Internet under this section that the Director determines are necessary to ensure that the information is accurate.
(b) Time: The information shall be so made available not earlier than 30 days after the first day the information is available to Members of Congress through the Congressional Research Service web site.
(c) Requirements: The Director of the Congressional Research Service shall make the information available in a manner that the Director determines--

(1) is practical and reasonable; and

(2) does not permit the submission of comments from the public.
(d) Method of Public Access: The public shall have access to the web page containing Congressional Research Service information that is available to the public only through the Library of Congress' THOMAS web page (http://thomas.loc.gov). The Director of Congressional Research Service shall work with the Librarian of Congress to establish an appropriate Internet link to carry out this subsection. The Director of Congressional Research Service shall be responsible for maintaining and updating the web page containing Congressional Research Service products. The Director of Congressional Research Service shall have sole discretion to edit the web page based on the criteria established by this Act. The Librarian of Congress shall have the responsibility of working with the Director of Congressional Research Service only to the extent necessary to establish the link from the THOMAS web page to the public access Congressional Research Service web page. Nothing in this Act may be construed to interfere with the Librarian's normal duties concerning THOMAS.
(e) Further Approval Not Required: Notwithstanding the first proviso under the subheading `salaries and expenses' under the subheading `Congressional Research Service' under the heading `LIBRARY OF CONGRESS' under title I of this Act (relating to prior approval of certain publications), the Director shall make information available in accordance with this section without the prior approval of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate or the Committee on House Oversight of the House of Representatives.

END