-2 I. ESTABLISHMENT OF POLICY TO AFFECT THE FORMULATION OF THE 1. Reinforcing GPO's Role as the Single Source for The Joint Committee on Printing is actively reinforcing the role of the Government Printing Office as the single source for government printing with the assistance of the Appropriations Committees. Language included in the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1991, P.L. 101-520, section 206, continued hereafter the requirement to print or procure Government publications through the Government Printing Office, with few exceptions. The JCP appreciates this invaluable assistance and is now seeking minor changes to this language in an effort to clarify Congressional intent and to further reinforce government printing through GPO. The Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations also included JCP approval language in its Conference Report regarding the consolidation of Department of Defense printing and duplicating. This act of support greatly underscored and endorsed the Joint Committee on Printing's role in ensuring the efficient and economical configuration and operation of field printing plants in Executive Agencies. The JCP is further pursuing the efficient operation of field printing plants and economical procurement through the GPO by the initiation of a comprehensive rechartering process for each plant. 2. Fiscal Year 1991 Joint Committee Hearings. A. Management Practices of the Government Printing Office On January 24, 1991, Chairman Wendell H. Ford and Members of the Joint Committee on Printing held a second hearing to followup on problems identified with management practices at GPO. An audit conducted by the General Accounting Office (GAO) in 1989, revealed a number of problems including weak managerial techniques, ineffective record-keeping, waste of paper, manpower and equipment. The hearing focused on obtaining an update from the Public Printer on changes that had been made since receiving the GAO report and recommendations to improve these management -3 B. Government Information as a Public Asset A The Joint Committee held a hearing on April 25, 1991, to explore the reasons why certain government information is not being made available to depository libraries and the public. number of witnesses testified that publications are disappearing from the program because of poor management of programs by the publishing agencies, the trend toward computerization of information and budgetary restraints. Witnesses included depository librarians, representatives of publishing businesses and Federal Agencies. C. New Technology and the Government Printing Office Two hearings were held on June 19 and July 24, 1991, to discuss the state of technology in the areas of publishing, printing and distribution of documents. Witnesses included experts in the area of Compact Disk Read Only (CD-ROMs), electronic printing and electronic networks. The Public Printer and labor representatives were also asked to testify on the impact of new technology on the workforce as well as the working environment at GPO. D. Department of Defense Proposed Consolidation of Chairman Rose and Members of the Joint Committee held a hearing on September 24, 1991, to examine the proposed Department of Defense consolidation of printing services. Since their announcement of this consolidation in the Fall of 1990, DOD officials refused to provide the Joint Committee with details of the plan and documentation to support questionable savings and benefits. Chairman Rose asked the General Accounting Office in February of 1991 to review this proposal to ensure an efficient and cost-effective implementation and administration of such a plan. Officials of the Department of Defense continued their refusal to supply the background documentation for this plan citing it as "pre-decisional", but nevertheless, scheduled its implementation for October 1, 1991. As a result of this hearing and subsequent language approved on behalf of the Joint Committee which appeared in the Department of Defense Appropriations Conference Report, the consolidation has been delayed until such time that the Joint Committee has the opportunity to review and approve its provisions and other changes to maximize savings. Testimony was received from representatives of the General Accounting office, Departments of Defense, Air Force, Army, Navy -4 3. New JCP Initiatives and Policies Affecting Agency In- For many years, the Joint Committee has promoted the use of new printing and publishing technology by Federal Agencies when it has demonstrated cost savings and other significant benefits to the Government. In Fiscal Year 1991, the Joint Committee was able to effect over $6.4 million in savings of equipment for Executive Branch printing and publishing operations. While we are proud of our achievements in this area, much remains to be done, and the Joint Committee is planning major activities in the immediate future to provide even more efficiencies and cost savings. A. Printing Plant Rechartering Beginning in early 1992, the Committee will initiate a printing plant rechartering effort which will involve approximately 227 JCP-authorized printing plants in the Executive Branch. Many of these plants are currently operating inefficiently with broad charters established in years past before there was a cost-effective GPO printing procurement system. Each facility will be asked to provide the Committee with information and justification for its continued existence. This project is expected to continue over the next several years and will result in significant cost savings to the Government. B. Duplicating Center Oversight Another new area of JCP activity also beginning early in 1992, is the establishment of oversight activities in Federal Agency duplicating centers. Little, if any information exists within the Federal Government about this area. As previously reported, the JCP in past years, has actively pursued downgrading printing plants to duplicating centers, but because the Committee has had no reporting requirements in place for these centers, many Agency printing activities have slipped out of sight. Proper JCP monitoring and collection of information should lead to more efficient operations and a sizable savings in dollars. C. DOD Consolidation of Printing Services The last major area of oversight but certainly not the least significant, is JCP involvement with the Department of Defense and its efforts to put into place a printing consolidation plan involving each of the Services and the Defense Logistics Agency. The Joint Committee's hearing on September 24, 1991, certified that while the concept of consolidation was sound, the Department needed assistance in formulating a plan that would be of benefit to both the Department's printing needs and the taxpayer dollar. The Joint Committee, in close cooperation with the House and Senate Subcommittees on Defense Appropriations, has obtained authorizing language to approve DoD's plan for implementation of this consolidation. Efforts are underway to work out these details 4. -5 Oversight Investigations of Agency Printing Programs During Fiscal Year 1991, the Joint Committee on Printing asked Inspector Generals at several Federal departments and agencies to conduct reviews on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of printing operations and activities within their organizations. Some of these reviews are completed, some are ongoing, and additional investigations are planned for Fiscal Year 1992, when the Committee staff determine that a more detailed analysis of specific printing programs are warranted. The status of these actions follow: A). General Services Administration A review by the Agency's Office of Inspector General determined that GSA had questionably expanded its role in providing printing services. This expansion has occurred at the expense of commercial procurement through GPO which has proven to be approximately onehalf the cost of in-house printing. It has been estimated that correction of these practices could reduce taxpayer costs by ten million dollars. In March, 1991, Chairman Rose asked GSA's Office of Inspector General to conduct a follow-up review to compare GSA printing prices to GPO commercial contracts. Upon receipt of this report, the Joint Committee may pursue a more vigorous approach and review into this Agency's printing and duplicating activities. B). Department of Defense The Joint Committee staff in coordination with GAO has been conducting a comprehensive evaluation into the economics, efficiency and effectiveness of DOD's planned consolidation of the Service's printing and duplicating operations. As a result of the September 24th Joint Committee hearing, the Secretary of Defense agreed with the Committee that the consolidation should not proceed until the General Accounting Office and the JCP have had an opportunity to review the validation study and its supporting documentation. Additionally, the Joint Committee has worked closely with the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations to ultimately achieve the deletion of the Department's request for $20 million for new printing equipment. GAO is currently reviewing information that has subsequently been provided on the consolidation validation study. NASA's C). National Aeronautics & Space Administration Office of Inspector General conducted at the Joint Committee's request, a comprehensive review of the Agency's printing and publishing program which identified numerous compliance problems. A major concern to the Committee was private sector printing and publishing arrangements that were entered into outside of normal GPO channels, resulting in higher costs. NASA's Inspector General has recommended downgrading five of the Agency's six authorized printing plants to duplicating operations and has -6 II. OVERSIGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE'S POLICIES The Joint Committee is directly responsible for overseeing the activities of the Government Printing Office to ensure that the printing needs of Congress and the Executive Branch are met expeditiously and cost-effectively, and to ensure the public has the widest possible access to Government-published information. The Joint Committee fulfills this role by setting policy for the GPO to execute, by providing continuity in GPO programs and encouraging the application of new technologies to GPO's functions. To this end, at the Joint Committee's request, GPO has recently completed and forwarded to the Committee, its recommendations addressing a long-term strategic plan for the Agency designed to further increase its utility and overall operational capabilities. The Joint Committee will actively review and provide its recommendations on all aspects of this plan to assure GPO is properly focused in its future activities. Following are some examples of Joint Committee approvals during 1991 for the modernization of GPO: In cooperation with meeting the needs of the Department of State, a new 6-color passport press was approved by the Joint Committee and ordered to be operational by the Fall of 1992. Joint Committee staff and GPO have worked with the Department of State to identify the most efficient press to acquire for producing the new and more secure passport that will be issued in 1993. The Department of State has committed the continued production of its passports at GPO, and the cost of the new press will be recovered over time, through the normal billing process for ordered work. GPO will also use the same press for printing postal cards for the U. S. Postal Service, thereby producing a cost savings with the more efficient press printing both products. 2. Drug Testing Center The Joint Committee authorized the Public Printer to initiate a drug testing program at GPO and approved the construction of a drug testing facility to be located adjacent to the existing medical unit. Those employees seeking help with drug or alcohol rehabilitation can be enrolled in the program and monitored. Implementation of the program was scheduled for |