Mr. ANDERSON. Further, may I call your attention to the staff and my main office and the chiefs of my departments. I mentioned Mr. Colley, the Deputy Clerk. Three other principal assistants in my immediate office are Mr. Dallas Dendy, Mr. William Long and Mrs. Dolores Snow, all of whom are present today. My other key personnel are my general counsel, Mr. Steven Ross, also present; my deputy at the Federal Election Commission, Mr. Douglas Patton, and my administrative assistant, Ms. Ann Fletcher.

In the departments, I have mentioned Mr. Heny, the new Finance Chief, and his associates. Mr. John Kostelnick is Chief of the Department of Office Furnishings, formerly known as Property Supply. Mrs. Jacqueline Byrd, who is with us today, is chief of the Department of Office Systems Management, formerly known as the Office Equipment Service, and if it weren't written here, I would be calling it that. I can't get used to these new names.

Mr. FAZIO. Can these people raise their hands? I think I know many of them.

Mr. ANDERSON. Mrs. Snow right there in the corner, and Mrs. Byrd, Mr. Long, Mr. Dendy, and Steve was right here.

Mr. FAZIO. Steve is over here.

Mr. ANDERSON. And the names of the various chiefs-and I won't go through the litany of departments-is listed on the chart which I have asked to insert.

I want to note that Mr. Bernard Beidel is the Director of the new Office of Employee Assistance, and Mr. Beidel is here today.

Mr. FAZIO. Okay.

Mr. ANDERSON. I want to discuss this new office in more detail, and I have asked the director to be here to review its first year of operation for the benefit of the committee.

And Mrs. Susan Zeleniak, who is the director of the Office of Telecommunications Service, is also present again this year.

All of my offices, as is customary, are preparing their annual reports for 1991, and these reports will be offered for your review, if desired. These are not public reports, but management documents for use in evaluating the activity of the past and coming years.

An interesting and helpful organization has been established by the chiefs and directors of the Clerk's various offices. The members of the clerk's association meet monthly in a luncheon discussion format to discuss various activities of the clerk's organization and prevailing policies. Planning of various projects are a regular activity at these meetings, and I am glad to see that my organization, which is very large and spread out over a considerable territory, is now interacting with each other, since many of our organizations have little reason to make contact.

Mr. FAZIO. Great. Quite a cabinet here.

Tell me, Donn, just what is the difference between a chief and a director?

Mr. ANDERSON. Well, I think we have at least one of each here; I could perhaps ask them.

Mr. FAZIO. I wondered what the term of art really meant.

Mr. ANDERSON. We will be very happy to supply the response in writing.

Mr. ANDERSON. Basically, Mr. Chairman, it is whatever makes the people happy. "Chief" seems to be preferred among our older departments while "Director" is preferred among the newer departments, apparently the term of the Nineties. I am content to be a simple clerk.

Mr. FAZIO. Well, the pay goes well with it.

Mr. ANDERSON. I would like to insert the material in the text through the bottom of page 31. And if you have any questions about the Office of Employee Assistance.

[The information follows:]

The beginning of any new congressional session is always very busy, Mr. Chairman. Time does not permit a lengthy discussion of every office's operations. The Finance Office is an excellent example of our activity, however. Not only has Finance prepared the House budget, but it has handled an end-of-the-year-start-of-the-year deluge of vouchers, payroll changes for salaries, health benefits, savings plans, and related queries and paperwork. In addition to all of these activities, Finance acted as the focal point for the receipt and processing of the House contribution to the Combined Federal Campaign.

It was both an honor and a deeply felt obligation for me to serve as the Chairman of this year's CFC drive in the House. We far exceeded last year's total contributions-the final amount is more than $180,000. I wish to thank every member and employee who contributed to this very worthy program, and to all of those who volunteered to help conduct the House campaign.

Early last year, the demand for our Nation's flags grew spectacularly-inspired by the patriotic desire to display a flag during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Our contracts with manufacturers for 1991 totaled 151,000 flags for sale to Members in the House Office Supply Service. The demand escalated rapidly and suppliers were not prepared to raise production at this pace. It was necessary to obtain another 78,000 flags from our suppliers-who provided them without any price increase. Our total flag sales were almost 230,000, at a cost of approximately $2 million. Members' constituents paid for these flags-most of them were flown over the Capitol prior to shipment. I appreciate the understanding of Members and their constituents over the delay in meeting flag orders. The explanation was, as I stated, very simple. Demand exceeded supply and it required a few weeks for suppliers to expand their production capabilities.

I wish to mention an additional activity of concern in Office Supply Service, the expanding sale of recycled products. Your Subcommittee has been interested in this subject. The items for sale include recycled paper for letterhead printing, recycled envelopes, copy paper, folders, fax paper, toner cartridges, and desk trays. Orders for recycled bond paper in 1991 had a value of approximately $275,000 and approximately 57% of letterhead for Members is now being printed on recycled paper. Our contracts for similar recycled items will continue to expand as the need grows.

The House Recording Studio last year served some 431 Members. The renovation and equipping of one studio was completed and the start of renovation for another is underway. The Studio personnel also provide staff for the House Floor television coverage. All fifty states now receive the House coverage through C-Span. Approximately 4,140 cable systems now carry the coverage-an increase of 240 in 1991. The House signal is available in about 55 million homes with a potential audience of 137 million viewers.

At last year's early February hearing, Mr. Chairman, I mentioned that we would soon open the Office of Employee Assistance. I am pleased to report that the office has been opened, staffed and is functioning to give advice and assistance to any employee or Member who seeks such help. Mr. Beidel is here to answer your questions. I would also like to commend my Assistant, Mr. Bill Long, who joined in the effort to establish both this new office and the office established a few years earlier, the Office of Fair Employment Practices.

Mr. ANDERSON. We will also answer any questions Mr. Lewis has for the record.

QUESTION FROM MR. LEWIS

Question. Could you please explain in detail the need for the additional 24 staff positions that are pending before the Committee on House Administration?

Response. There are currently 8 positions pending before the Committee on House Administration. Ten other positions are anticipated and the remaining 6 were approved by the Committee on House Administration in the summer of 1991.

Immediate Office: Three new positions totalling $136,995. Two of these positions for staff assistants are pending. They will be used to provide support service to senior management to facilitate the administration of business and provide substantive assistance with long range projects and planning with the departments of the Clerk. One General Clerk position is anticipated and will accommodate the anticipated clerical and messenger demands for the Office as it relates to its departments. Official Reporters to House Committees: One Assistant Clerk at an annual cost of $23,027 is anticipated. This position will provide senior administrative support services to the department. One Official Reporter was approved by the Committee on House Administration on July 25, 1991. The Legislative Branch Subcommittee on Appropriations was notified of this action in a letter dated August 15, 1991.

House Library: Three positions totalling $130,885. Two of these positions are pending (Collections Specialist and Registrar). One position of Collections Manager is anticipated. These are required to provide statutorily mandated services in support of the mission of the House of Representatives Fine Arts Board. These positions would form the nucleus of a curatorial staff to implement the policies of the Board and provide professional curatorial services with respect to the property under the Board's jurisdiction.

Records and Registration: One paralegal position at an annual cost of $34,548 is anticipated. This position will provide service to the department and particularly to the Special Deputy to the FEC for FEC related matters.

House Placement Office: Two new positions totalling $46,054. One personnel clerk is pending and the other personnel clerk is anticipated. These positions would bring the department to full strength in response to its increased workload.

Office Systems Management: Two positions totalling $49,445 are anticipated. One Staff Assistant and one Accounts Payable Specialist will be required to enable the accounts payable division to remain current with the work volume and operate at peak capacity.

Office of Employee Assistance: One position of Data Processor at an annual cost of $20,005 is anticipated and is required to support the currently increasing and anticipated further rise in data entry systems requirements.

Department of Office Furnishings: Three positions totalling $105,830 are pending before the Committee on House Administration. Two positions of Journeymen at $35,641 each. These additional positions would help the Cabinetmakers and Finishers remain current with demands for specially constructed furniture and repair of existing furnishings. The Service Consultant is required for similar reasons of increased volume of service requests.

Office of Telecommunications: Two positions are anticipated at a cost of $83,940. One position of Communications Specialist is required to accommodate growing technical and project management requirements, particularly related to video conferencing, paging and district office systems. One Network Administrator is required to administer the expanded Legislative Branch Telecommunications Network (LBTN) and in particular to administer the 1993 RFP for the LBTN long distance network. The position will provide back-up support services for voice mail and cellular services.

One new position of Communications Analyst was approved by the Committee on House Administration on July 25, 1991 at an annual cost of $33,155. The Legislative Branch Subcommittee on Appropriations was notified of this action in a letter dated August 15, 1991.

Office of Official Reporters of Debate: Two new positions have been approved by the Committee on House Administration at an annual cost of $90,885. One Official Reporter for Debate and one Clerk were approved by the Committee on House Administration on July 25, 1991. The Legislative Branch Subcommittee on Appropriations was notified of this action in a letter dated August 15, 1991.

Office of Legislative Computer Systems: Two new positions have been approved by the Committee on House Administration at an annual cost of $96,272. One Operations Supervisor and one Electronics Engineer were approved by the Committee on House Administration on July 25, 1991. The Legislative Branch Subcommittee on

Question. When was the formal request made to House Administration to approve for wage compression?

Response. In a letter from the Clerk of the House to the Chairman of the Committee on House Administration dated February 4, 1991, a formal request was made for wage compression, which is currently pending before the Committee.

Question. What are the Committee ratios for Republicans/Democrats in the House?

Response. The Standing Committee ratios for the One Hundred Second Congress

Question. What is the ratio for Republican/Democratic pages in the House, and how often does the Republican cloakroom borrow Democratic pages?

Response. Of the sixty-six page positions, twelve are assigned to the Republican page service. Due to varying needs for pages there are an average of eight pages from the Democratic appointments who are loaned to the Republican page service

as runners.

PRAISE FOR TWO NEW OFFICES

Mr. FAZIO. Yes, I would be interested just briefly in describing those activities. I realize this has become quite a subject for general discussion.

Mr. ANDERSON. Let me just make one comment first, Bern, and then we will go ahead with you.

As you know, Mr. Chairman, I am a career House employee. It has been my goal as Clerk of the House to improve the workplace conditions for Members and employees. Both the Office of Employee Assistance and the now well-established Office of Fair Employment Practices provide new opportunities, understanding professional and expert assistance to all Members and employees in the area of fair employment policies and personnel assistance. Whenever I leave the House at the conclusion of my service, I would count these two offices, which were approved by the Committee on House Administration and this Subcommittee on Appropriations, as outstanding achievements. We have notified every House em

ability of these services. A few weeks ago the magazine of the Employee Assistance Professional Association published a cover story on the new Office of Employee Assistance. I sent a copy to each Member, and will be pleased to send additional copies if requested. Mr. Beidel.

OFFICE OF EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE

Mr. BEIDEL. Mr. Chairman, thank you.

Basically, our first year of operation has really been a year of development. In really coming into an organization with the diversity of the work force and the variety organizational structures within each congressional office and the committee offices, we really are taking a new path in the employee assistance field.

Generally our real mission in the office is to be available to employees at any level in this organization to provide assistance for a variety of problems, which we know can often, and all too often, impact in the workplace. We have devised our internal procedural guidelines that we are following to conduct our assessment and referral process; basically we are a triage operation. Individuals come to us and present their situations. Based on our assessments, we then lay out a strategy to resolve that situation.

In some cases, what we have seen already is that those problems are relatively straightforward and can be handled at our level. In other cases, they are more deep-seated, more deep-rooted, and require some real subsequent counseling and treatment that has to be done on an outside basis, which raises several issues that we are addressing in our office.

One of the things that we have faced early on is the changing health care system in the country, and certainly that is impacting Federal employees as well. We are very aggressively devising strategies at our level to really make up for the shortfall that we see in terms of providing the long-range kind of care that some of the problems that are presented to us merit.

LIMITATIONS OF HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE

Mr. FAZIO. You mean mental health care?

Mr. BEIDEL. Mental health care, substance abuse. What we have found is that these are generally the two areas where most of our insurance carriers are limiting their coverage, and are putting vehicles in place like managed-care organizations that are conducting reviews of people going into treatment. So we have established liaison with the major mental health carriers and the managed-care operations that provide services to our insurance carriers.

Mr. FAZIO. What you are saying is, it is hard to get mental health services for some of these entities because of purposes of cost containment that make's it very difficult to actually talk to somebody, other than a general practitioner who perhaps is really there in order to prevent you from talking to someone.

Mr. BEIDEL. Absolutely. One of the problems is that a lot of the decisions that are being made are being made over the telephone, whereas we have the person in our office. But what we are doing is my staff and I have been working to come up with some avenues