> Perla,

> Check out this study I did last year on this very topic. These two blog
> posts contain all my research from the 109th Congress. (I have a pdf
> somewhere but I think it's on my mac at home.)

> House Version: http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/node/1596
> And
> Senate Version: http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/node/1617

> Awesome work covering this for the 110th Congress,

> Paul

> -----Original Message-----
> From: openhouseproject@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:openhouseproject@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Perla Ni
> Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 1:24 AM
> To: openhouseproject@googlegroups.com
> Subject: [openhouseproject] Transparency of committee hearings -
> transcript/audio/video

> Hey guys,

> We just did a survey of what transcripts/audio/video is available from
> Congressional Committees.  We've heard from lots of advocacy groups that
> the real stuff is in the committtees rather than on the floor debates
> and that they need to know what's happening in these committees inorder
> to follow and participate in the issues.

> What we've found is pretty sad.   Here's the state of available
> video/audio/transcript for House and Senate committees:
> http://www.voterwatch.org/index.php/voterwatch/blog/

> You'll notice how many committees for which there is no audio, no video
> nor transcript available.  Including the Ethics committee, ironically.

> Also, for the ones that do post video, either it's not posted until
> months after or it's posted, but not archived so if you miss it, you've
> missed it.

> I know that Carl Malamud, John and others have made progress on this
> issue.  (I know the short term procedure is to use the public order
> form, get it signed by the committee chair and then pay $65 for each 60
> minutes of video - all of which add up to a pretty substantial obstacle
> to get information, I'd say.  Or we could try calling up each committee,
> asking for a particular day's transcript/video/audio - this is pretty
> labor intensive and may get the committee staffers irritated with our
> many requests )

> Does anyone have any idea on the timetable for the next step that was
> proposed - for Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Brady approve having the
> videos on FTP servers?  From what I've heard from staffers, all the
> rooms are already wired for video last year.

> --
> Perla Ni
> CEO, Founder, GreatNonprofits
> www.greatnonprofits.org
> "Online Zagat's Guide" About Nonprofits

> Founder, Voterwatch.org
> www.voterwatch.org
> "Searchable CSPAN" for research and web publication

> 415-902-2659
> Skype: Perlani
> ni.pe...@gmail.com