GPO Makes Documents Easy To Download and Repurpose in New XML Format
From the news release:
The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) makes available a subset of enrolled bills, public and private laws, and the Statutes at Large in Beta United States Legislative Markup (USLM) XML, a format that makes documents easier to download and repurpose. The documents available in the Beta USLM XML format include enrolled bills and public laws beginning with the 113th Congress (2013) and the Statutes at Large beginning with the 108th Congress (2003). They are available on govinfo, GPO’s one-stop site to authentic, published Government information. https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata.
The conversion of legacy formats into Beta USML XML will provide a uniform set of laws for the public to download. This new format maximizes the number of ways the information can be used or repurposed for mobile apps or other digital or print projects. The public will now be able to download large sets of data in one click rather than downloading each file individually, saving significant time for developers and others who seek to repurpose the data.
GPO is collaborating with various legislative and executive branch organizations on this project, including the Office of the Clerk of the House, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, and the Office of the Federal Register. The project is being done in support of the Legislative Branch Bulk Data Task Force which was established to examine the increased dissemination of Congressional information via bulk data download by non-Governmental groups for the purpose of supporting openness and transparency in the legislative process.
“Making these documents available in Beta USLM XML is another example of how GPO is meeting the technological needs of Congress and the public,“ said GPO Acting Deputy Director Herbert H. Jackson, Jr. “GPO is committed to working with Congress on new formats that provide the American people easy access to legislative information.“
GPO is the Federal Government’s official, digital, secure resource for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information products of the U.S. Government. The GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of Congress, the White House, and other Federal agencies in digital and print formats. GPO provides for permanent public access to Federal Government information at no charge through www.govinfo.gov and partnerships with approximately 1,140 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. For more information, please visit www.gpo.gov.
Not that I have lost any of my disdain and distrust for government, but when any government does something good, they should be praised.
Making “enrolled bills, public and private laws, and the Statues at Large in Beta United States Legislative markup (USML) XML” is a step towards to tracing and integrating legislation with those it benefits.
I’m not convinced that if you could trace specific legislation to a set of donations that the outcomes on legislation would be any different. It’s like tracing payments made to a sex worker. That’s their trade, why should they be ashamed of it?
The same holds true for most members of Congress, save that the latest election has swept non-sex worker types into office. It remains to be seen how many will resist the temptation to sell their offices and which will not.
In either case, kudos to the GPO and Lauren Wood, who I understand has been a major driver in this project!