Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. of Wisconsin published a weekly magazine that reflected his progressive views on politics and culture. In a July 1914 issue he announced Congress’s approval of his proposal for a legislative research service. He explained legislators’ pressing need for assistance and expertise in accessing the vast resources of the Library of Congress to make informed decisions.
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. of Wisconsin, photograph, ca. 1911
The Legislative Reference Service
Progressive-Era reformers drew on experts to guide their policy proposals. Believing that the best legislator is a well-informed legislator, a dozen states established legislative reference bureaus between 1903 and 1913. In 1914 Representative John M. Nelson and Senator Robert M. La Follette, both of Wisconsin, were instrumental in creating the Legislative Reference Service (LRS) through an appropriations act amendment. The LRS––renamed the Congressional Research Service in 1970––is part of the Library of Congress. It objectively compiles and analyzes information requested by members of Congress for legislative purposes.
I determined . . . to see to it that a legislative reference bureau be established as an agency of helpfulness for Congress, to enlarge our individual and collective capacity of legislative service, to attain a maximum of legislative efficiency.
Representative John M. Nelson of Wisconsin, Hearings before the Committee on the Library, . . . , February 26, 1912
Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. of Wisconsin published a weekly magazine that reflected his progressive views on politics and culture. In a July 1914 issue he announced Congress’s approval of his proposal for a legislative research service. He explained legislators’ pressing need for assistance and expertise in accessing the vast resources of the Library of Congress to make informed decisions.
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
