Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and supports Members of Congress and congressional committees across the full range of public policy issues and through all stages of the legislative process.This project grant will support the Library in its work to strengthen Congress, including enhancing and expanding the scope of public policy and legislative issue seminars and services offered to Members of Congress and their staff. The Library’s congressional programs will encourage and foster an open exchange of ideas, build bipartisan relationships, bring together scholars and experts to help inform Congressional debate, and strengthen the capacity of Congress to do its job.

The Congressional Research Service is an agency within the Library of Congress that works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and members of both the House and Senate. The purpose of this two-year program grant is to support the service in its work to enhance and expand the scope of public policy and legislative issue seminars and services offered to members of Congress and their staff.

The Kluge Center, the hub of scholarship in the humanities and social sciences at the Library of Congress, will use this two-year grant to fund a Chair in Congressional Policymaking. The two scholars selected will be in residence at the center for three to four months each, one in 2019 and a second in 2020. Given its experience connecting scholarship with Congress, the center is the appropriate setting for this in-residence program. The fellows will conduct research on legislative negotiations using the Library’s collections and will be expected to disseminate their findings to Congress through publications and an event; in addition, the program will support efforts to train senior congressional staff in legislative negotiations.