"The Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides comprehensive research and analysis on all legislative and oversight issues of interest to Congress. CRS assists Congress by responding to specific questions and by preparing reports on legislative issues in anticipation of questions and emerging issues. CRS works with Members, committees, and congressional staff to objectively, authoritatively, and confidentially identify and clarify policy problems, assess the implications of proposed policy alternatives, and provide timely responses to meet immediate and long-term needs." (United States Government Manual, 2012)
The Legislative Reference Service was first established in 1914 and was renamed the Congressional Research Service in 1970.
Before September 2018, the CRS had not made its reports directly available to the public, making them difficult to find. Listed here are some sources for CRS Reports. None of these sources is comprehensive.
| Years | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1916-2013 | ProQuestCongressional. Best Bet for 1916-2013 | A comprehensive collection for 1916-2013 of >43,000 CRS Reports. You can limit your search to "CRS Reports" on the advanced search page. |
| 1930s-present | HeinOnline. | Choose U.S. Congressional Documents then limit to CRS Reports. As of February 2023, includes >56,000 reports. |
| 1996-present | Nexis Uni | Choose: Menu > All Sources > Search Within Sources > Congressional Research Services Reports. As of April 2021, includes >13,500 reports. |
| 1999-2019 | Congressional Research Service Reports, UNT Digital Library | As of June 2022, includes >43,000 reports. |
| unknown-present | CRS Reports, Library of Congress. Best Bet for very recent years | This is a new collection as of September 2018. "Moving forward, all new or updated reports will be added to the website as they are made available to Congress. The Library is also working to make available the back catalog of previously published reports as expeditiously as possible." As of October 2023, includes >11,500 reports. |
| unknown | CRS Reports, Homeland Security Digital Library | As of February 2023, includes >30,000 reports. |
| unknown | EveryCRSReport.com | As of June 2022, includes >19,000 reports. |
| unknown | Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports, Stanford University |
