CRS Director's Office Explains Reorganization
CRS Director's Office Explains Reorganization
- Institutional AuthorsCongressional Research Service
- Cross-ReferenceFor related text and news coverage, see the Tax Notes Today Table of
Contents for Dec. 18, 1998. - Subject Area/Tax Topics
- Index Termslegislation, taxCRS, personnel actions
- Jurisdictions
- LanguageEnglish
- Tax Analysts Document NumberDoc 98-37273 (9 original pages)
- Tax Analysts Electronic Citation98 TNT 243-16
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
October 19, 1998
SECURING THE FUTURE OF CRS:
REALIGNING STAFF RESOURCES TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE CONGRESS
INTRODUCTION
[1] Twenty-eight years ago this month the Congress placed a renewed trust in CRS by expanding its mission through the enactment of the 1970 Legislative Reorganization Act. Since that time we have earned a reputation for sustained excellence and with that reputation have come high expectations. The reliance on our services is in large part the result of the successful achievement of our mission: "to provide the Congress throughout the legislative process comprehensive and reliable legislative research, analysis, and information services that are timely, objective, non partisan, and confidential thereby contributing to an informed national legislature."
[2] We repeatedly see evidence of congressional appreciation and support for our work. Examples include: continued financial support of CRS even through the most difficult and constrained of budgetary times; support for our succession initiative; high accolades provided regularly through formal correspondence and Congressional Record statements; high volume of return business; feedback we receive from my personal meetings with Members and from other formal outreach activities; repeated use of our work in hearings, mark-ups, during floor debates, and at other critical legislative decision-making points; and support demonstrated by our oversight committees. In this past Congress, I have met with over 300 Members and 80 Senators, and an overwhelming number of them have been extraordinarily complimentary of you and your work. The reason that we are in this enviable position is because of your hard work and dedication to public service.
[3] However, we would not have been able to sustain our reputation if we had not been open to change and adjusted as challenges arose.
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES THAT FACE CRS TODAY?
[4] Today, we face new and significant challenges from a number of sources.
o The needs of Congress are changing -- complexities and
ramifications of policies increase -- more and more
disciplines enter into each legislative deliberation.
o Turnover in Members and congressional staff remains high.
o We are fully immersed in the information age and we are
continually challenged by attendant technological issues. The
Congress has grown dramatically in its use and comfort with
electronic information technologies, while expecting us to
continue, and perhaps modify, our delivery of other
traditional methods of receiving information and analysis --
e.g., paper, in person, and telephone.
o The Congress will have more sophisticated and quality services
available to it, either through its own infrastructure or
through other public and private sources. The services
provided by these entities may be in direct competition with
CRS services.
o Competition for Member and staff time and attention has
increased -- advances in congressional access to alternative
research and reference support provide the Congress with many
information and research sources to choose from.
o Many information and public policy providers are larger than
we are, can focus on selected issues and policies, can afford
top talent, can change their mix of staff more readily, and
can adjust to the needs of the Congress often more quickly
and, therefore, more effectively. Some of these sources now
provide the Congress with information that in the past was
provided primarily by CRS. Examples include: tailored analysis
of client confidential concerns (memos, reports, working
papers); informational and technical support to committees;
comprehensive tracking and descriptive analysis of legislative
issues and procedures; integrative reports on background and
in-depth issue analysis of legislative policy options; and
even close-in legislative analytical and procedural support to
committees and Members.
o One out of ten people in this room are eligible to retire
right now. In only five years, half of us will be eligible.
o Our budget environment continues to be constrained -- we are a
smaller organization (by more than 100 people) than we were
10 years ago. And for some time all reasonable projections
continue to point to no increases in staffing. In fact, if
Congress cuts our salary base further as they have for the
fiscal year 1999, we will continue to shrink.
o The Congress expects the entire Legislative Branch, including
its support agencies, to work smarter, to use business
models, and to determine ways to demonstrate responsible and
effective stewardship of public appropriations.
WHAT DO THESE CHALLENGES MEAN FOR CRS?
[5] We must be willing to take bold initiatives and make significant adjustments to the way we work if we are to successfully meet these challenges and to maintain and ensure the future capacity of CRS to provide excellence in service to the Congress. This is our obligation and represents our legacy. And for some time now, we have been doing just that.
HOW HAVE WE BEEN ADDRESSING THESE CHALLENGES?
[6] We have undertaken systematic examinations and elicited input from many sources. For instance:
o We have assessed the changing congressional environment
examining the increased focus on the appropriation process,
the high turnover in congressional Members and staff, the
increased devolution of Federal responsibility to the States,
the growing reliance on technology, the decreasing resources
available throughout the Federal government as well as the
Legislative Branch, and the growing intensity of partisanship
in the Congress.
o We have met frequently with House and Senate leadership,
individual Members, and their staff to gain insight into their
needs, their expectations, and their concerns.
o We have undertaken a risk assessment to determine the
potential implications of significant staff retirements for
the continuity of the quality of services we offer to the
Congress.
o We have identified and assessed CRS competitors.
o We have examined methodologies for allocating resources within
CRS.
o We have assessed the quality of our products vis-a-vis the
legislative cycle and agenda.
o We have initiated a formal process for planning support of the
legislative agenda for each session of the Congress.
o We have interacted with our appropriation and oversight
committees in both formal settings -- through annual
appropriations and oversight hearings, and through informal
follow-up throughout the session. We have made formal
presentations to the Congress on our use of electronic media,
on our assessments of the risk of losing research capacity due
to retirement, and on how CRS offers unique interdisciplinary
analyses.
o We have elicited your suggestions on streamlining our
operations, on exploring new products and services (electronic
briefing books, appropriations work) and on staffing issues
such as recruiting and mentoring.
o We have examined your research support needs. We have learned
from your suggestions and support requests. You have
identified training needs, reviewed use of commercial
databases, and other on-line resources, you have helped, to
develop new product formats, and you have assisted us in the
exploration of the potential, and consequences, of working in
a growing electronic environment.
o We have undertaken a major management review of strategic
issues and resulting working assumptions -- examining
implications for CRS of the congressional policy and fiscal
environments.
o We have contributed to the Library's strategic planning
efforts required by external audit, congressional directives,
and Library-wide mandates. These efforts are intended to
create Library-wide efficiencies and increase accountability
throughout the Library.
[7] Based on these efforts we have achieved a number of accomplishments:
o We secured congressional support for our succession
initiative. We believe that this is the first time that this
principle not only has been recognized in the Federal sector
but also received financial support.
o We restored and strengthened our graduate recruit program to
address succession needs and enhance diversity efforts.
o We regularized processes for allocating resources.
o We worked with CREA in instituting a process to provide staff
with opportunities to work one-year periods in new areas.
o We completed a risk assessment survey, analyzed capacity risk
and used analysis to determine staffing needs and establish
priorities among these needs.
o We instituted and continue to develop and expand on-line
services to the Congress which now include: electronic
briefing books, e-mail delivery of the Legislative Alert,
electronic access to CRS products through the Home Page,
design of the retrieval system for Congress' Legislative
Information System, appropriations page, and the development
of the CRS Staff Home Page.
o We enhanced centralized support for specific research
information and data needs to broaden access while controlling
costs.
o We implemented and continued development of a state-of-the-art
system for request tracking and refinement of management
information.
o We devoted a greater share of our staff resources to providing
direct support to the Congress.
[8] Three years ago I implemented a reorganization specifically for this last purpose -- that is, applying more of our resources to provide direct service to the Congress. This was an important and successful adjustment, but it was just the first step.
SO WHAT MUST WE DO NOW?
[9] Having devoted more of our resources to direct support, we now must deploy our resources more strategically. As we continue to work on all of the challenges that we face, we must now take this important next step. In my time as Director no other action has involved greater deliberation and consideration on my part.
Realignment Outcome
[10] While assuring continued excellence in the services we provide to meet the needs of the Congress we must realign our resources by:
o clustering subjects and experts around major public policy
issue areas;
o broadening the policy context of research units;
o facilitating interdisciplinary work and collaboration;
o further focusing and facilitating CRS work on the legislative
agenda of the Congress
o focusing division and section managers on research management;
o streamlining research management by reducing the number of
divisions and number of sections within those divisions;
o strengthening direct support for fundamental research
activities;
o placing responsibilities that have Service-wide implications
in the offices of the Associate Directors;
o improving environments to maximize communication within the
Service and with our clients; and
o improving clarity in the assignment of responsibility and
accountability for those responsibilities.
[11] Accepting these actions as necessary, I have decided to realign the Service. This realignment will result in six research divisions and five supporting Associate offices.
Organizational Outline for Divisions
[12] We are redeploying our strong economic and scientific expertise to work more closely with program and subject experts. These six research divisions will provide direct support to the Congress:
o Domestic Social Policy Division: This division will carry
responsibility for human development and human services
programs and policies such as health, medicine, housing,
education, income security, and job training.
o Government and Finance Division: This division will cover
government structure, operations and public and private sector
finance.
o National Security and International Affairs Division: This
division will be responsible for global U.S. relations and
policies, including trade, and national defense issues.
o Natural Resources, Science, and Infrastructure Division: This
division will handle natural resources and physical and
organization structures that support commerce, communications
and transportation and science policy (such as research and
development).
o American Law Division: This division will be responsible for
constitutional, statutory and common law as practiced in the
U.S., and international law.
o Information Research Division: This division will identify,
assess and deliver information across all subject areas.
[13] In order to better support the work of these six divisions, we also are making adjustments in the Associate Director Offices.
Organizational Outline for Associate Directors
[14] The five Offices of Associate Directors will provide Service-wide support. These are:
o The Office of Finance and Administration: This office will
have responsibility for budget planning and execution;
accounting/audits; contracts; administrative support;
procurement; and fund raising.
o The Office of Policy and Quality Assurance: This office will
be responsible for electronic research products and product
quality; review; labor-management; policy guidelines; press
relations; and coordination of responses to agency-relevant
legislation.
o The Office of Research Operations: This office will have
agency-wide responsibility for legislative relations
(including inquiry, seminars and briefings, and outreach);
management information (ISIS, key indicators, management
information systems); and information technology (automation,
information security, systems analysis, and audio-visual).
o The Office of Workforce Development: This office will be
responsible for our succession initiative; recruiting;
mentoring and training; diversity efforts; personnel actions;
performance and promotion review; and personnel records and
directories.
o The Office of Information Resource Management: This office
will lead agency efforts leading to an integrated library
system for procurement, cataloging, distribution and tracking;
a legislative information system (including Bill Digest); and
information resource assessment and support.
RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY TO ACT
[15] The Congress has placed with me, the Director of CRS, the responsibility and authority to take those steps necessary to safeguard the continued services of the organization. I am committed to meeting all of our obligations under the collective bargaining agreement as we undertake this realignment. I strongly believe that the realignment which I have outlined is essential if we are to maintain our capacity to serve the Congress with the quality and scope of services that they have come to expect and rely upon.
SECURING OUR LEGACY
[16] CRS has given each of us a professional home where we are challenged intellectually and where we have enjoyed opportunities to make concrete contributions to decisions made by the representatives of the American people. The CRS we know today is the direct result of your contributions, dedication to service, and your consistent adherence to high standards over the years. It is our obligation to ensure that those who come after us have the same opportunities to contribute effectively to the work of the Congress.
[17] Realigning our resources to strengthen our continued service to the Congress is an important and urgent step for us to take. And if I did not take this step, I would be remiss in my responsibilities as Director. We must leave this institution whole, and on a healthy path, for those who follow us. This is our legacy.
[18] I have known most of you for many years. I know that you, like me, care a great deal about this institution and are committed to its survival and to its ability to thrive and grow. We play an important role in informing the world's leading democracy. The success of this realignment rests with all of us. I am committed to this endeavor and counting on each of you to support this effort.
[Editor's Note: CRS Realignment Plan has been omitted.]
- Institutional AuthorsCongressional Research Service
- Cross-ReferenceFor related text and news coverage, see the Tax Notes Today Table of
Contents for Dec. 18, 1998. - Subject Area/Tax Topics
- Index Termslegislation, taxCRS, personnel actions
- Jurisdictions
- LanguageEnglish
- Tax Analysts Document NumberDoc 98-37273 (9 original pages)
- Tax Analysts Electronic Citation98 TNT 243-16
