PUBLIC PRINTER'S STATEMENT Mr. DIMARIO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. As you indicated, our total budget request is for $137.4 million. Of this amount, $91.6 million is for congressional printing and binding, and $30.3 million is for salaries and expenses of the Office of Superintendent of Documents. In addition to that we have a $15.4 million request for capital improvements to comply with environmental and safety regulations and modernization of our ele vators. The environmental regulations are from the Environmental Protection Agency and go to the reduction of chlorofluorocarbons. We are attempting to comply with them. We also have safety issues, with electrical switchgears. In addition, the elevators are quite old and we have a regular plan of reduction of the costs of operating and maintaining these elevators by replacement programs. The request that we have given you, if you exclude the request for the $15.4 million, is really a zero change in budgeting from last fiscal year. The purpose of that request I think is self-evident because we have indicated that much of the requirements that we undertake in the Government Printing Office are set for us by the Congress in their requests to us for printing and binding for the Congress, and also, as you indicated in the earlier hearing, through the statutory mandates that exist. I want to tell you at the outset that much of the statement that I have put in the record is devoted to really clearing the record in terms of GPO's activities as a modern information agency. While we do printing, we have been in the electronic business since the early 1960's. In fact, we were among the leaders in the early use of electronic photocomposition, and have been producing electronic databases for our internal products exclusively. The printing industry itself has not been up to that speed, and I daresay that the electronic industry until recently has not been doing that. We have a fiber-optic cable that we installed before Capnet came into being up to the Capitol to attempt to communicate back and forth with the activities on the Hill, to transmit copy, to modernize and use electronics as much as possible in the production of our products, and indeed we are finding great success in that. There is greater usage today. As time goes by, we are finding more and more usage on the Hill. There is an education process. There are also the problems that it is a two-way street. We can modernize on our side of the street but the Congress must modernize up here. And much of the difficulties that have underlaid the issue of electronic production and distribution lie in that. Can the agencies that are dealing with GPO meet the electronic capabilities that we have? Can the libraries, that we ultimately distribute the publications to, meet the requirements of an electronic age at the present time? We are moving dramatically into the electronic arena. We have a broad capability in CD-ROM. In 1993, the Congress in its wisdom passed the Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act, signed into law by the President. It gave us the statutory authority to create an on-line Congressional Record and Federal Register, to do it within a 1 year period of time, and to make that available through the Federal depository libraries so that they could get the Record and the Register and other publications in a timely manner, and ultimately reduce the cost of distribution. We met that 1 year mandate. The statute also required that we have an off-site storage facility which in the long run will also help us maintain comprehensive access to Government information and reduce cost. We have met that statutory requirement to create an off-site storage facility. It also required that we create a government information locator system, an electronic system. We have met that requirement. We continue to move forward in the electronics arena. So I would say, contrary to all the statements about GPO in terms of it being an outdated organization, we are as modern as they come. That doesn't speak to the issue of the statute. The statute itself may not be current. But GPO is state of the art. I would invite you, as Congressman Hoyer did, to come over to the Government Printing Office, bring your colleagues, bring your staff, bring anyone you want, and really examine GPO in the light of the current state of technology, and I think will you have a different impression of us. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am prepared to answer any questions. [The information follows:] United States Government Printing Office MICHAEL F. DIMARIO PUBLIC PRINTER PREPARED STATEMENT BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON APPROPRIATIONS ESTIMATES FOR FISCAL YEAR 1996 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1995 9:30 A.M. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to present the funding requirements of the Government Printing Office (GPO) for FY 1996. FY 1996 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST For FY 1996, I am requesting $121.9 million for those programs that require annual appropriations directly to GPO, and $15.4 million for capital expenditures to improve GPO buildings over the next five years. While the total request of $137.3 million is an increase of 13 percent over the funding approved for FY 1995, the increase is solely for building improvements due to environmental and safety requirements. The overall request for programs funded through GPO's two annual appropriations is the same level that was approved for the current year. CONGRESSIONAL PRINTING AND BINDING APPROPRIATION GPO's FY 1996 request for the Congressional Printing and Binding Appropriation is $91.6 million, an increase of $1.9 million, or 2.1 percent, over the level approved for FY 1995. The increase is necessary due to the cost of pay raises, employee benefits, paper, and utilities over a five-year period. Paper prices have been increasing sharply as a result of world-wide supply and demand factors. Over the past nine months, the prices GPO pays for paper have increased an average of 57 percent. Rate changes projected for FY 1996 vary by category of work. Factors affecting the rates include work procedures, labor and equipment efficiency, number of copies per page, and the cost of paper. The daily Congressional Record rate is projected to decline by about 8.5 percent due to increased input of electronic copy, upgrades in GPO's Electronic Photocomposition Division, and new and more efficient presses. While GPO manages the personnel, equipment, and work processes necessary to provide printing and related services to Congress in support of the legislative process, it does not control the demand for congressional printing. GPO must respond to all congressional printing demand and fulfill all congressional orders. Consequently, there have been occasions in the past when requirements exceeded the amounts appropriated, resulting in a budget shortfall. However, due to the unusually low volume of printing in FY 1994, $8.5 million in FY 1994 funds was made available to completely pay off the prior year shortfall. In FY 1996, Congressional volume is projected to increase, based on historical data. For example, an increase is expected in Congressional Record pages, which is typical in second sessions of Congress. The improved management of GPO details to Congress continues to achieve significant cost savings. Over the past two years, total hours worked declined by 24 percent, resulting in a cost avoidance of about $1.2 million. While some of this was due to reduced Congressional workload, it was also due to retirements, electronics, and improved procedures. Continued reductions in the hours worked are projected. 2 Full-text electronic data bases of the Congressional Record, congressional bills, and the U.S. Code are available through the GPO Access system. Eventually, all major congressional publications will be made available online. The Congressional Record is currently being transferred to Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) in order to facilitate improved electronic search and retrieval routines. SALARIES AND EXPENSES APPROPRIATION The FY 1996 request for the Salaries and Expenses Appropriation of the Superintendent of Documents is $30.3 million, a decrease of $1.9 million, or 5.9 percent, from FY 1995. This request is sufficient to maintain our program responsibilities while also managing the transition to the appropriate use of electronic media. The request includes $25.6 million for distribution of publications to depository libraries; $3.3 million for cataloging and indexing Government publications; $599,000 for distributing publications to international exchange libraries; and $836,000 for distributing copies of publications to recipients designated by law. The request includes $15.5 million for printing and reproduction costs of information products to be distributed to depository libraries. This workload emanates from publishing activities outside of GPO. GPO exercises little control over the volume of incoming work, but performs a primarily ministerial role in distributing copies of publications to depository libraries. The request is a reduction of approximately $2.4 million, or 13.4 percent, from the amount approved for FY 1995. It includes $2.2 for online access provided to depository libraries by the GPO Access service, and $13.3 million for the production of paper, microfiche, and CD-ROM publications. The distribution of electronic copies has been steadily increasing, with about 454,000 copies projected for FY 1996, a 50-percent increase over FY 1995. APPROPRIATION FOR NECESSARY CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS The appropriations request includes $15.4 million, to be available until expended, for capital improvements to GPO's buildings. These funds will be used for the replacement of air conditioning chillers as the result of Environmental Protection Agency requirements, the replacement of electrical switchgear to meet current safety codes, and the replacement of aging elevator equipment. We are requesting these funds as a separate appropriation for capital expenses in order to avoid the necessity to recover these essential expenditures through GPO's printing rates. This is the first request for an appropriation for capital improvements that GPO has made since 1974, which involved a request for funds to upgrade our air conditioning systems. A total of $8 million will be required to replace the chillers and control systems in GPO's main air conditioning system and to replace and upgrade air conditioning systems in GPO's Building 4 warehouse. This equipment uses chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's). CFC's will no longer be manufactured after 1995 due to Environmental Protection Agency regulations designed to protect the atmosphere. The chillers will have to be phased out and replaced. |