Mr. BRAND. That is correct.

Mr. FAZIO. How do you draw the line?

Mr. BRAND. Well, when we get a request, we make an evaluation of whether the activity is-arises in the official context. If it is a witness to an automobile accident or divorce action, obviously that doesn't have anything to do with official duties. We do define official representational duties very broadly, because that is the way the Members and the House define them under the regulations of the Committee on House Administration. We try to be consistent with those regulations; but it is all activity that arises from the official duties of the Member or the staff.

Mr. FAZIO. Very good.

SUIT AGAINST THE HOUSE CHAPLAIN

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Chairman, one of the things Stan has not mentioned is the General Counsel briefed and argued the suit challenging the House Chaplain on October 27, 1982 before the full 12member United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. That case is still pending at the present time.

Mr. FAZIO. Would you send the Members a memo on that case? A lot of people have received large, voluminous correspondence from some quarters on that issue.

Mr. BRAND. We did it originally when it was in the threemember court, and we haven't updated it. But we will do that.

Mr. FAZIO. You might want to do that. Certainly at the conclusion to let Members know, so they can communicate with their constituents concerned about that issue.

Mr. BRAND. We will make sure we do that.

Mr. FAZIO. Thank you.

Mr. BRAND. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

NUMBER OF POSITIONS AUTHORIZED

Mr. GUTHRIE. When the Clerk testified before you last year, we had 487 authorized positions. During 1982 the Committee on House Administration authorized 19 new positions for the Office of the Clerk: two positions in the immediate office (one secretary and one assistant counsel to handle the increasing workload of the office); eight positions (helper) in Property Supply and Repair Service to meet the needs of the loaned furniture department and other property-related activities; three positions in Office Supply Service (one assistant warehouseman, one assistant purchasing clerk and one coordinator) to keep pace with the steadily growing volume of work in that department; and a net increase of six new positions in the Office of Official Reporters (the addition of six recording-technician positions in the office to better enable "in-house" personnel to cover the House committee hearings rather than contracting to private reporting firms). This office was recently restructured and the Office of Summary of Proceedings and Debates was merged with it. This brings the total number of authorized positions to 506.

DISCUSSION ON FISCAL YEAR 1984 REQUEST AND ADDITIONAL POSITIONS

Mr. Chairman, we are requesting $12,502,000 in fiscal year 1984 to fund all operations under the Clerk of the House. This represents an increase of $715,000 over the fiscal year 1983 appropriations approved to date. This increase is attributed to the Federal pay comparability adjustment, longevity increases and new positions.

Mr. FAZIO. Are those the new positions authorized and appropriated for last year?

Mr. GUTHRIE. Calendar year 1982.

Mr. FAZIO. Is there any request for additional personnel this year?

Mr. COLLEY. Actually the new positions we have cover some of fiscal year 1983 and some of fiscal year 1984, particularly these six new reporter positions. We are only now filling those. They will be in fiscal year 1983 but will be annualized in the fiscal year 1984 budget.

Mr. FAZIO. There are no requests that would be pending the approval of the 1984 budget?

Mr. COLLEY. We may make additional requests to the Committee on House Administration. The Clerk has those under study and review right now, looking over all the departments, where there might be a need for an additional position.

Mr. GUTHRIE. We have none pending at the moment, Mr. Chair

man.

Mr. FAZIO. Please explain the need of a traffic coordinator.

Mr. GUTHRIE. That was in our old Stationery Room, now the Office Supply Service. It was needed to enable all the Members when they were receiving shipments of office supplies, stationery supplies to their offices to ensure they were being loaded properly, that things were not being miscounted, that property items were on each delivery. It will slow down the telephone calls where 12 pens showed-12 pens instead of 11, or 10 and not the package of a dozen.

Mr. FAZIO. This seems like a fairly significant year in terms of additional positions. Would that be true in historical terms, terms of the 1983-1984 items you just outlined here? I don't know that that would be the kind of increase you would annually expect.

Mr. GUTHRIE. That is correct, Mr. Chairman. It was a little unusual last year; but with the updating and coordinating, all efforts at this point. We needed additional counsel in the Clerk's Office with the additional secretary, getting to a total of three counsels at the present time.

Mr. COLLEY. Mr. Chairman, we did abolish some positions, too. I believe there is a net of 10 positions; a loss of nine.

Mr. FAZIO. It is important to make that point. These were all authorized by House Administration?

Mr. GUTHRIE. Yes.

Mr. FAZIO. The other positions you eliminated are still authorized, not filled, or totally eliminated?

Mr. GUTHRIE. They have been totally abolished and eliminated. As the new ones are created, the others are abolished.

Mr. FAZIO. Could you update the staffing data on page 27 and 28 of the 1983 hearings?

Mr. GUTHRIE. On personnel rosters for all officers of the House at the same time? We will insert that, Mr. Chairman.

[The information follows:]

OFFICE OF THE CLERK—PERSONNEL ROSTER AS OF JAN. 31, 1983

OFFICE OF THE DOORKEEPER-PERSONNEL ROSTER AS OF JAN. 31, 1983

OFFICE OF THE SERGEANT AT ARMS— PERSONNEL ROSTER AS OF JAN. 31, 1983

OFFICE OF THE SERGEANT AT ARMS-PERSONNEL ROSTER AS OF JAN. 31, 1983-Continued

1 House Resolution 625, Dec. 9, 1982 establishes 1 additional position as Captain on the Capitol Police Force.

Postmaster

Immediate office

Counter Service..

OFFICE OF THE POSTMASTER-PERSONNEL ROSTER AS OF JAN. 31, 1983

Distribution and Collecton Service..

Total..

Mr. LEWIS. Mr. Chairman, if I may take you back for a moment, Ben, the numbers on paper can be very simplistic. I am curious to know about the employees who carry out responsibilities like moving the Members' offices. This year we moved 156 offices, a huge task. On the other hand, when that task is completed, I wonder if those people I always see standing around the halls down in the basement really are employees. Do you increase the number of your employees?

Mr. GUTHRIE. I don't believe so, Mr. Chairman. Our people under the Clerk's Office are identifiable by uniforms, with the Property Office emblem on the uniform as a badge in order that all Members can identify people coming in as far as movement of either electrical equipment or property or furniture itself. All available service shop personnel under the Property Supply Office, namely the Cabinet Shop, Finishing Shop, Upholstery Shop, Drapery Shop, Carpet Shop, drop everything and are called upon for these moves. They go back once they have moved these-all these offices, then we have a job getting the furniture back to the proper loading areas. That is why I personally hope that during the lame duck session between Congresses that we have a little more time frame in order to clear the hallways of the extra equipment. They are being utilized on a regular day-by-day basis at that point.

Mr. LEWIS. Let's presume the job is complete. The offices are moved, the hallways clear. We are three months into the year. What do those people do from that point on?

Mr. GUTHRIE. There is always movement.

Mr. LEWIS. You know what I mean? I realize you are obviously going to have a huge load at moving time. However, there are always blue uniformed personnel hanging around in the basement as if they had nothing to do.

CONTRACT PERSONNEL

Mr. FAZIO. Do you hire contract personnel for some of these moves?

Mr. GUTHRIE. We are coming in with contract personnel and double utilization of the office equipment people with the property people to help do this tremendous movement, and utilizing also I think our building superintendent who helps us at that time. We cannot do it all ourselves.

Mr. COLLEY. Mr. Lewis, I think what you are asking is how we get it all done with what we have normally and what they do after that. We had a meeting with the Building Superintendent and the Architect's people prior to the heavy surge of office relocations. Actually, in Property Supply Service, we told our employees that they could take their annual leave, go to the dentist, get their needs done before a certain date. From that point on, there was no leave granted, that we would be working overtime. We worked weekends, in the evenings, et cetera.

In the Office Equipment Service, we actually do contract with a small number of expert movers to handle the electrical equipment. They work off and on for a couple of weeks. The coordination of the move is done by the Building Superintendent. His staff actually does the move. The property supply people move furniture. The office equipment people move the electrical equipment. For about two weeks, we really just do moves, and the day-to-day tasks may have to go begging.

Very frankly, we got complaints that we weren't doing the dayto-day things. It was impossible to do everything at once. Since the moves were completed at the end of the first week in January, we have been engaged in the catch-up operation.

Mr. LEWIS. Oh, they are completed by the first week of January? Mr. COLLEY. I believe we finished the last one on January 7th. The scheduling of the moves is done by the Building Superintendent. He coordinates the property people, the office equipment people, the telephone people, all of that. The big reason we were late this year was the lame duck session. The retiring Members could not get out of their offices early enough to get us started.

The day-to-day workload is there. We are settling back into it. We really try to accommodate in our Property Office without getting extra people, and we do make a sacrifice. Our employees made a sacrifice.

Mr. FAZIO. Mr. Hightower, do you have a question?

PROPERTY INVENTORY

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Mr. Chairman, as a new Member, I wanted to inquire: Does the Clerk have responsibility for the property inventory?

Mr. GUTHRIE. Yes.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. Is all the furniture and equipment in the offices under the control of the Clerk of the House?

Mr. GUTHRIE. Yes. It is all numbered, each piece.

Mr. HIGHTOWER. There was an interesting story in the Post this morning about the tremendous amount of excess furniture that is