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partners in the effort to meet the many challenges before the Congress. I will begin by describing three of the characteristics which I feel best capture the essence of our work.

First, CRS is people. We are subject and policy analysts, information specialists, economists, scientists, lawyers, legislative procedure experts, bibliographers, and others, who are prepared to address the full range of issues you confront. As this Committee knows first hand, our experts can not only extend the capabilities of your own staff, but in response to your needs they can contribute analytic skills, technical expertise, and the capacity to assess and integrate complex, inter-disciplinary issues. They provide a source of institutional memory on issues that have come before the Congress in the past. They also afford staff independent guidance and access to information resources not only from CRS and the Library of Congress, but also from executive branch agencies, state governments, universities, public policy organizations, and individual experts throughout the country.

Second, CRS is responsive. We are a phone call away. We respond on your timetable -instantly, if necessary. We track congressional issues and associated legislation continuously. We are familiar with the challenges you face and are available to help you define problems, explore options, review and compare legislative proposals, assess social impacts, analyze constitutional and other legal issues, prepare hearings, write reports, and evaluate implementation. We answer both complex and simple questions regarding legislation and other topics of interest to you or your constituents. In addition, we contribute to legislative debates through seminars and publications that have earned national reputations for excellence.

Finally, CRS belongs to you. We work only for Congress -- each Member, each committee

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treat each request confidentially. CRS works to be a stable element in the fluctuating political environment, providing institutional memory of events, proposals, and procedures which often predate the tenure of a given Member or staff person. We pride ourself on the reputation we have earned as an independent, non-partisan, objective resource for Congress. Our purpose and goal is to help every Member of Congress who asks for assistance to make the most informed decisions possible.

Many examples of the wide range of assistance which we have provided in the past are included in our responses to questions posed by this Committee and submitted earlier. I would, however, like to describe one situation which I think illustrates these characteristics of CRS.

When the 1991 Persian Gulf crisis broke, we immediately assembled a team of experts prepared to address virtually all aspects of the situation facing the Congress -- foreign policy and war powers, military readiness and capability, energy resources, international and domestic law implications, trade and embargo consequences, domestic needs and alternatives, economic impacts, and so forth. We produced reports for wide distribution on the Hill as well as confidential responses -- written, in-person, and by telephone to specific questions posed by you and your staffs. We responded to information needs of all types, from policy and legal analysis to factual data, and we were able to do it in the time frame demanded by you. We produced a daily briefing paper, or "Situation Report," delivered to each office every morning for several months. This demonstrated ability to bring a diversity of talents and forms of response to bear on multi-faceted issues of critical importance to the Congress and the Nation is one of our greatest strengths, and it is a capability which I feel is not to be found elsewhere.

After setting out the mission and summarizing the major services provided by CRS, I would like briefly to (1) describe in more detail some of the characteristics of CRS that I feel make it a unique resource for the Congress, (2) underscore our commitment to work with CBO, GAO, OTA, and our parent entity, the Library of Congress, to provide the most comprehensive and useful analysis and information possible, while at the same time avoiding wasteful duplication of the valuable work undertaken by those agencies, (3) describe some recent internal initiatives undertaken by the Service to make its operation as responsive as possible to the needs of the Congress, (4) look at staff development issues for the Service, particularly those related to its efforts to achieve racial and ethnic diversity, and (5) outline some of the technological innovations and planning that have been instituted to provide state of the art information services while at the same time achieving efficiencies in an environment of scarce resources.

THE MISSION OF CRS

Originally created in 1914 as a small reference division within the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service has evolved into a sophisticated and complex organization dedicated to assisting the Congress. This assistance may take the form of research, analysis, consultation, or information services on almost any subject, and is available to all Members, committees, and their staffs to assist them in their legislative, oversight, and representational functions. While CRS remains a department of the Library of Congress, it works exclusively for the Legislature and is assured research independence as it responds to and anticipates congressional needs.

The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as amended in 1970, mandates that CRS perform a variety of functions in accomplishing its overall mission. Generally, the Director is

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is to advise and assist congressional committees in analysis, appraisal, and evaluation of legislative proposals, estimating probable results, and evaluating alternatives. Upon request or on its own initiative, CRS is to "collect, classify and analyze" information having a bearing on legislation and to make that information available to Members and committees.

The mission statement adopted by the Service in 1989 reads as follows:

The Congressional Research Service works exclusively and directly for all Members and committees of Congress in support of their legislative, oversight, and representational functions. This department of the Library of Congress provides research, analysis, and information services that are timely, objective, nonpartisan, and confidential. The Service's staff responds to and anticipates congressional needs, and addresses policy issues in an interdisciplinary, integrative manner. The Service maintains close ties with the Congress and, consistent with its broad congressional mandate, provides a wide variety of services with the goal of contributing to an informed national legislature.

Support is provided at all stages of the legislative process, from the development of proposals, to the preparation and conduct of hearings, to mark-up and the writing of reports, to floor consideration, conference, and beyond to implementation and oversight.

Other functions described in the broad CRS statutory charter include the obligation of CRS to prepare digests of all introduced bills and resolutions (which are available to Congress online), to consult with committees regarding subject and policy areas which they might profitably analyze as a new Congress commences, and to prepare a list of programs and activities under existing law which are scheduled to terminate during the current Congress.

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The Service has also been tasked by the Librarian of Congress with the preparation and periodic supplementation of a hardbound edition of The Constitution of the United States of America, Analysis and Interpretation (also known as the "Constitution Annotated").

As described in its mission statement, CRS addresses issues in an interdisciplinary and integrative manner, applying the expertise of its divisions to respond to congressional requests. Subject divisions are the American Law, Economics, Education and Public Welfare, Environment and Natural Resources Policy, Foreign Affairs and National Defense, Government, and Science Policy Research. In addition, the Congressional Reference and Library Services divisions add reference and library information expertise to the array of skills available to the Congress.

CRS provides these types of assistance in a variety of ways, to include:

Professional and confidential assistance to Members and committees at all stages of the legislative process.

Written policy and legal analyses, in-person and telephone consultations and briefings, and customized packets of information designed to address specific questions by Members and committees on virtually all legislative and public policy issues.

Information and research products, some of which are available electronically, designed for broad congressional distribution and written to meet the needs of many congressional requesters; these include CRS Reports, Issue Briefs, Info Packs, bill