Description
The Congressional Research Service (CRS), a unit of the Library of Congress, requests support for Legislative Issues and Procedures: The CRS Seminar for New Members. This bipartisan seminar orients newly elected House of Representative Members, and will be held over three days at Williamsburg, Virginia in January 2021.
The CRS has organized and conducted orientation seminars for the new Members of every Congress since 1976, with support from the Luce Foundation since 1991. The seminar is an educational program specifically designed to meet the lawmaking needs of legislators who must quickly become familiar with issues and procedures they will face in the upcoming session. Since 1997, it has been the official House–sponsored orientation, and CRS has worked closely with the majority and minority leadership of the House of Representatives to develop an effective program and to ensure its balance. Mary B. Mazanec serves as CRS Director.
To prepare the new Members for their legislative duties, CRS sets three goals for the seminar: (1) to provide them with objective, non–partisan analysis on the critical issues that are likely to be under consideration during their first six months in office; (2) to offer them an overview of the processes and procedures by which Congress operates and enacts legislation; and (3) to allow an opportunity, early in their service, for Members to meet and listen to each other across party lines. By framing policy questions in the context of the legislative environment in which Members will work, the seminar contributes to their ability to consider and deliberate on complex issues.
In collaboration with previous participants, CRS has developed and refined an effective model for transmitting information, introducing the Library’s resources, and encouraging new colleagues to exchange ideas in an informal setting. The seminar brings together nationally recognized experts to discuss a range of domestic and international issues of interest to the Congress, alternating plenary sessions that deal with broad issues with small group sessions that focus on more specific issues and upcoming legislation, as well as individual briefings. In the weeks after the seminar, CRS schedules additional individual briefings for the new Members who are immediately immersed in the Congress’s business but still preoccupied with the transition as they move to Washington and organize staffs.
The content of the seminar is not finally determined until several months before the event, but among the broad issues that will be included are the U.S. economy, globalization, emergency preparedness, and foreign and defense policy matters.
CRS estimates that approximately 60% of the projected new Members and their spouses will attend the January 2021 session. The budget reflects that estimate, and includes funding for participants’ travel and lodging, program and administrative costs, and an evaluation. No honoraria are paid to participants or speakers, and the staff costs of CRS are not included in this budget. Luce funds would cover less than one–fourth of the total cost of $463,000.
Recommendation: That the Directors of the Henry Luce Foundation approve a one–year grant of $100,000 to the Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service for an orientation seminar for new Members of the 117th Congress.
