Congressional Research Service

(noun)

The Congressional Research Service (CRS), known as Congress's think tank, is a public policy research arm of the United States Congress.

Related Terms

Examples of Congressional Research Service in the following topics:

  • The Staff System

    • Congressional staff are employees of the United States Congress or individual members of Congress.
    • The various types of congressional staff are as follows: personal staff, who work for individual members of Congress; committee staff, who serve either the majority or minority on congressional committees; leadership staff, who work for the speaker, majority and minority leaders, and the majority and minority whips; institutional staff, who include the majority and minority party floor staff and non-partisan staff; and the support agency staff, who are the non-partisan employees of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and Government Accountability Office (GAO).
    • Each congressional committee has a staff of varying size.
    • The Russell Senate Office Building houses several Congressional staff members, including those on the United States Senate Committees on Armed Services, Rules and Administration, Veterans' Affairs, and others.
    • Differentiate between the roles of different congressional staff; in the Congressional Research Service, Congressional Budget Office, and Government Accountability Office

  • Congressional Campaign Committees

    • Of the four congressional campaign committees, the DCCC, with a staff of 25, has the largest in-house research department.
    • Discoveries go into hundred-page research books on their targets that are used as bait to recruit candidates, leaked to reporters or cited in campaign advertisements and mail pieces."
    • The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and Senate formed a "Congressional Committee".
    • The Chairman is elected by the House Republican Conference after each Congressional election.
    • Identify the roles and responsibilities of the Congressional Campaign Committees for both major parties

  • Service to Constituents

    • A major role for members of Congress is providing services to constituents.
    • A major role for members of Congress is providing services to constituents.
    • Providing services helps members of Congress win votes and elections and can make a difference in close races.
    • Congressional staff can help citizens navigate government bureaucracies.
    • re-election, these are lawmakers who "never met a voter they did not like" and provide excellent constituent services

  • The Public-Education Function of Congress

    • He instituted the interlibrary loan service, transforming the Library of Congress into what he referred to as a library of last resort.
    • In 1914, Putnam established the Legislative Reference Service as a separative administrative unit of the Library.
    • Based in the Progressive era's philosophy of science as a problem-solver, and modeled after successful research branches of state legislatures, the LRS would provide informed answers to Congressional research inquiries on almost any topic.
    • These efforts ranged from the storage of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution in Fort Knox for safekeeping to researching weather data on the Himalayas for Air Force pilots.
    • Carla Hayden was appointed as the 14th Librarian of Congress, the first woman, and the first African-American to serve in the position.The library is open to the general public for academic research and tourists.

  • The Representation Function

    • A major role for members of Congress is providing services to constituents.
    • Providing services helps members of Congress win votes because elections can make a difference in close races.
    • Congressional staff can help citizens navigate government bureaucracies.
    • First, is if they are generally motivated by reelection: these are lawmakers who never met a voter they did not like and provide excellent constituent services.

  • The Committee System

    • A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in Congress that handles a specific duty.
    • A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the U.S.
    • Congressional committees provide invaluable informational services to Congress by investigating and reporting about specialized subjects.
    • Since 1761, the growing autonomy of committees has fragmented the power of each congressional chamber as a unit.
    • The Russell Senate Office Building houses several Congressional staff members, including those on the United States Senate Committees on Armed Services, Rules and Administration, Veterans' Affairs, and others.

  • A Periodic Table of Associations

    • It established the frame of reference within which chemical research has produced a dramatic increase in understanding and practical accomplishments during the last century.
    • The inducement conferred by the worker on the government is the services he performs, say, as an accountant.
    • When government threatens sanctions against anyone who deliberately kills another or against all who fail to pay 24 per cent of their income to the Internal Revenue Service, it is not selecting particular people or groups of people to threaten.
    • The Constitution requires that such "interstate compacts" go into effect only with congressional consent.

  • The 27th Amendment

    • Congressional cost of living adjustments (COLAs) have been upheld against legal challenges based on this amendment.
    • No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

  • The Fifth Amendment

    • The right was asserted at grand jury or congressional hearings in the 1950s, when witnesses testifying before the House Committee on Un-American Activities or the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee claimed the right in response to questions concerning their alleged membership in the Communist Party.
    • No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

  • The Legislative Function

    • Congressional oversight is usually delegated to committees and is facilitated by Congress's subpoena power.
    • There have been concerns about congressional oversight of executive actions such as warrantless wiretapping, although others respond that Congress did investigate the legality of presidential decisions.
    • Bush have made public statements when signing congressional legislation about how they understand a bill or plan to execute it, and commentators including the American Bar Association have described this practice as against the spirit of the Constitution.
    • In order to form a bill or resolution, first the House Financial Services committee meets.