Issa Applauds Senate Action to Open Digital Access to Legislative Data

Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., released the following statement on U.S. House Bulk Legislative Task Force Deputy House Clerk Robert Reeves’ announcement that the U.S. Senate will open public access to its legislative information in digital data formats for the 114th Congress:

“I congratulate the Senate for acting to offer Americans digital access to bulk legislative data in this exciting step toward open government,” said Chairman Issa. “By modernizing legislative data and making it available in useful formats, both houses of Congress will demonstrate technology’s capacity to break down barriers to self-government and foster public engagement in the legislative process. This is a victory for our continuing effort to improve government transparency and effectiveness through technology.”

The Senate action follows the House’s establishment in 2012 of a Legislative Bulk Data Task Force and implementation of the task force’s reported recommendation that the Clerk of the House, the Librarian of Congress and the Public Printer work together to make legislative data available to the public in structured formats through Congress.gov or the Government Printing Office’s Federal Digital System (FDsys).