Top 10 Steps to Make the U.S. House More Open

The Open House Project is work­ing to open up the U.S. House to new tech­nolo­gies of Web-​​based access:

We’re try­ing to find the least intru­sive ways to open up the House, the low-​​hanging fruit where the inter­net and Congressional pro­ce­dures come together.

Their report to Representative Pelosi iden­ti­fies 10 steps to take to make the House more open and acces­si­ble to citizens:

1. Legislation data­base.
   • Publish leg­isla­tive data in struc­tured formats.
2. Preserving con­gres­sional information.
   • Protect con­gres­sional infor­ma­tion through archiv­ing and distribution.
3. Congressional com­mit­tees.
   • Recognize com­mit­tees as a pub­lic resource by mak­ing com­mit­tee infor­ma­tion avail­able online.
4. Congressional Research Service.
   • Share non­par­ti­san research beyond Congress.
5. Web access for members.
   • Permit mem­bers to take full advan­tage of Internet resources.
6. Citizen jour­nal­ism access.
   • Grant House access to non-​​traditional journalists.
7. The Office of the Clerk of the House.
   • Serve as a source for dig­i­tal dis­clo­sure information.
8. The Congressional Record.
   • Maintain the verac­ity of a his­tor­i­cal document.
9. Congressional video.
   • Create open video access to House proceedings.
10. Coördinating Web standards.
    • Commit to tech­nol­ogy reform as an admin­is­tra­tive priority.

Republican David All and Democrat Philip de Vellis have col­lab­o­rated on a video to pro­mote the rec­om­men­da­tions: