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S. HRG. 112–458 

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR 

FISCAL YEAR 2012 

HEARINGS 

BEFORE A

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE 

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

ON

H.R. 2551 

AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH FOR 

THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2012, AND FOR OTHER 

PURPOSES 

Architect of the Capitol (except House items) 

Congressional Budget Office 

Government Accountability Office 

Government Printing Office 

Library of Congress 

Office of Compliance 

United States Capitol Police 

U.S. Senate 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/ 

committee.action?chamber=senate&committee=appropriations 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Chairman 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

TOM HARKIN, Iowa 

BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland 

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin 

PATTY MURRAY, Washington 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois 

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

JACK REED, Rhode Island 

FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey 

BEN NELSON, Nebraska 

MARK PRYOR, Arkansas 

JON TESTER, Montana 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi, Ranking 

MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky 

RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama 

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas 

LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee 

SUSAN COLLINS, Maine 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

MARK KIRK, Illinois 

DANIEL COATS, Indiana 

ROY BLUNT, Missouri 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin 

CHARLES J. HOUY, Staff Director 

BRUCE EVANS, Minority Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

BEN NELSON, Nebraska, Chairman 

JON TESTER, Montana 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii (ex officio) 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi (ex officio) 

Professional Staff 

LILA HELMS

RACHELLE G. SCHROEDER (Minority) 

KATIE BATTE (Minority) 

Administrative Support 

MARIA VEKLICH
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011 

Page 

Architect of the Capitol ........................................................................................... 1 

Office of Compliance ................................................................................................ 18 

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011 

Government Accountability Office .......................................................................... 45 

Government Printing Office .................................................................................... 54 

Congressional Budget Office ................................................................................... 61 

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2011 

Library of Congress ................................................................................................. 87 

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 

U.S. Senate: 

Office of the Secretary ...................................................................................... 121 

Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper .................................................................. 192 

United States Capitol Police ................................................................................... 217 

(1) 

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR 

FISCAL YEAR 2012 

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011 

U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met at 2:32 p.m., in room SD–138, Dirksen 

Senate Office Building, Hon. Ben Nelson (chairman) presiding. 

Present: Senators Nelson and Hoeven. 

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL 

STATEMENT OF STEPHEN T. AYERS, ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BEN NELSON

Senator NELSON. The subcommittee will come to order officially. 

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome. 

This is our first hearing of fiscal year 2012, and I want to start 

by welcoming my new ranking member, Senator Hoeven, from 

North Dakota, a former Governor. 

I look forward to working closely with you, Senator, as I did with 

my former ranking member and good friend, Senator Murkowski. 

I also want to welcome the other members of the subcommittee: 

Senator Tester, Senator Brown, and Senator Graham. 

I look forward to having the additional assistance in providing 

appropriations and oversight for the legislative branch of our Government. 

It seems a little odd to be meeting today, talking about fiscal 

year 2012 appropriations, but we do live in interesting times, and 

finishing up our fiscal year 2011 appropriations bill has proven to 

be more than a slight challenge. Maybe the greatest challenge I’ll 

have today is to stay on track as we discuss fiscal year 2012 requests while operating at fiscal year 2010 levels during fiscal year 

2011. 

Nevertheless, we do meet today to take the testimony on the fiscal 2012 budget requests from the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) 

and the Office of Compliance (OOC). 

I want to welcome our two witnesses today: Stephen Ayers, Architect of the Capitol and Tamara Chrisler, Esq., Executive Director of the Office of Compliance. 

Mr. Ayers, when we met here last year, I introduced you as ‘‘Acting’’ Architect of the Capitol. And so, I want to first congratulate 

you on your recent confirmation as the 11th Architect of the Capitol. 
2 

Mr. AYERS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator NELSON. We appreciate your service over the last few 

years and wish you all the best in this endeavor. 

I also want to congratulate Ms. Beth Plemmons, on your staff, 

for her recent appointment as CEO of Visitor Services. Your budget request this year totals $706 million, an increase of $104 million, or 17 percent, more than the current year. And by 

‘‘current year’’, I’m once again referring to fiscal year 2010 enacted, 

which is what we are currently operating under. 

Mr. Ayers, you are understandably under an awful lot of pressure to accomplish what you need to in keeping the campus operating safely and efficiently. I, on the other hand, am also under a 

great deal of pressure to control Government spending. So, we’ll 

need to work together to tighten this budget where we can, without 

subjecting our Visitors Services employees to hazardous conditions. Included in your request is $179 million worth of line-item construction projects, out of which two-thirds is for repairs and improvements, campuswide, and one-fifth involve life safety. Now, as 

important as these projects are, the reality is that many of these 

will have to be suspended and wait until another time. 

Ms. Chrisler, the fiscal year 2012 budget request for the OOC totals $4.8 million, an increase of $405,000, or 9 percent, more than 

the current year. 

As I just noted regarding Mr. Ayers’ request, this is something 

the subcommittee may not be able to support in the current budget 

environment. However, we appreciate the efforts that both of your 

agencies have made to work cooperatively toward resolving the 

many fire- and life-safety needs around the complex given the limited resources. 

We look forward to your testimonies, in both cases, and to discussing the status of health and safety conditions throughout the 

Capitol. 

And now it’s my pleasure to turn to the ranking member, Senator Hoeven, for any opening remarks that he may have. 

STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN HOEVEN

Senator HOEVEN. Thank you, Senator Nelson. I look forward to 

working with you, as the Chairman, on this subcommittee, and also 

want to thank both Mr. Ayers and Ms. Chrisler for being here 

today, and look forward to listening to your testimony. 

Like you, Senator Nelson, I bring a background as a Governor to 

this job, and certainly in that respect, working not only with a legislative body, as is the case with this Congress, but also working 

on a budget. And, of course, as a State, we had to balance a budget. 

I know that’s true in Nebraska, as well. And the Chairman’s right, 

obviously—and something that you all well know—that we have to 

work within the confines that we have. And that is that we have 

a significant and growing deficit and debt. And so we’re going to 

have to find ways to trim and prioritize. And that’s part of the 

process that we’ll go through together and do the very best job that 

we can. 

Obviously I have a learning curve here with understanding your 

budgets. It’s certainly good to hear directly from you and to work 

on this prioritization, and do the very best job we can for the peo-
3 

ple that we represent. Your expertise is vital in the process. I respect that greatly, and am going to work to do the best I can to 

produce the very best budget within the constraints that we have, 

both as we work through the balance, of fiscal year 2011, but also 

as we to get into working on fiscal year 2012. 

And I’m very hopeful that, as we do, we’re going to get into a 

process where we go through that normal budgeting process, where 

we do our subcommittee work, where we, you know, have our authorizations, where we work on our appropriations, where we provide that opportunity for testimony and input, and that we bring 

those budgets up, and that we not only do our subcommittee work, 

then we get to the full committee, and from there to the floor, we 

take each of these appropriation budgets up to the floor, have our 

debate—our colleagues in the House do the same thing—and go do 

our subcommittee work in our conference committee. And that is 

the process, and I’m very anxious to get going on that for fiscal 

year 2012. So, we’re hopefully working ahead of the curve within 

the process that we should have here in the Congress. 

Throughout that process, and throughout this process, in terms 

of finishing up fiscal year 2011, again, I do want to emphasize that 

I certainly recognize that you’re the experts in this area and will 

do everything I can to take your input and use it to best advantage. 

At the same time, we have limitations we’re going to have to work 

within and meet. 

Senator HOEVEN. Thank you for being here today. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you, Senator. 

Now I’d like to begin with the witnesses. If it’s possible to keep 

your opening statements to somewhere around 5 minutes and submit the rest for the record, that would work best. 

So, we’ll start first, Mr. Ayers, with you, and then we’ll hear 

from Ms. Chrisler. So, please proceed. 

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF STEPHEN T. AYERS

Mr. AYERS. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and Senator Hoeven. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding our fiscal 

year 2012 budget request. 

Today, we face significant challenges as our facilities and infrastructure continue to age and our mission continues to expand. In 

fact, we currently have a backlog of nearly $1.5 billion in deferred 

maintenance and capital renewal projects that, if left unaddressed, 

could greatly impact the safety and security of the Capitol campus. 

And, as steward of this Capitol campus, I know that investment in 

our aging and historic infrastructure is vital. However, I also realize that the current fiscal environment presents a very difficult 

challenge for us to do more with less, and I think our budget request reflects this challenge. 

To ensure that we make the maximum use of every taxpayer dollar, we continue to identify cost savings and efficiencies and to aggressively address the most effective ways to use our limited resources. We’ve implemented comprehensive performance metrics, 

and they’ve led to significant improvements and cost savings in our 

organization. 

For example, we’ve recently reduced our inventory of supplies on 

hand from $56 million down to $7.5 million. We’ve consolidated in-
4 

formation technology (IT) equipment across the agency and eliminated 150 printers and fax machines. And we’ve successfully leveraged the use of performance specifications, thereby eliminating unnecessary design fees for several projects. Little things like this add 

up, and we can use those savings toward our more important 

projects. 

We’ve utilized public private partnerships to finance energy reduction projects, allowing us to invest appropriated funds in higher 

priorities. We’ve also renegotiated several leases to get lower rates, 

and have reduced our staff through attrition, without impacting 

our ability to achieve our mission. 

PRIORITIZED PROJECTS

In addition to implementing operational and business-process efficiencies, we’ve carefully prioritized projects and operational funding. We’ve examined all existing accounts, identified available 

funds from nearly completed projects, and took on additional risk 

by reducing our construction contingency funding on several of 

these projects. And through this effort, we funded nearly $15 million in new projects with money that’s already been appropriated 

to us. And this has enabled us to further reduce our fiscal year 

2012 request. 

This budget reflects the highest requirements to prevent or delay 

further deterioration in our buildings. We’ve also included projects 

to improve security and safety across the campus. And, in addition, 

Mr. Chairman, we have deferred nearly $130 million of projects 

that are necessary and ready to proceed. 

AOC’S COMMITMENT AND STAFF

Through the work of our professional staff, we’re able to address 

client needs on a daily basis, maintain our facilities and mitigate 

the amount the project funds currently require. However, even at 

this level of funding, the operational budget alone won’t enable us 

to defer projects indefinitely. In fact, problems will only become 

more severe and, in the end, cost more. 

The AOC embodies a commitment to preserving and maintaining 

the historic fabric of our country. And our fiscal year 2012 request 

reflects the seriousness with which we take this commitment. We 

continue to be successful in our mission due to the skilled work and 

talent of our dedicated staff. We continually reap the benefits of 

their knowledge, skills, and experience. And I’m proud and honored 

to lead this dedicated team. 

PREPARED STATEMENT

And their work has not gone unnoticed, as our 2010 customer 

satisfaction surveys have shown again that more than 90 percent 

of our customers are fully satisfied with the level of service we provide them on a daily basis. And we’re very proud of that. 

Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to testify. 

And I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. 

[The statement follows:] 
5 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF STEPHEN T. AYERS

Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

the opportunity to testify today regarding the Architect of the Capitol’s (AOC) fiscal 

year 2012 budget request. 

I would like to begin by expressing my thanks to this subcommittee and to the 

Congress for its support of the AOC over the past several years as we worked to 

fulfill our mission of serving the Congress and the American people by maintaining 

and preserving the wonderful historic treasures entrusted to our care. 

We know first-hand the challenges of preserving historic buildings and planning 

for current and future requirements. It requires ingenuity, craftsmanship, perseverance, astute planning, diligence, and judicious management of resources. Our staff 

works around the clock to provide a safe and accessible environment for all who 

work and visit here. 

With the Congress’ support, significant investments have been made in the buildings and infrastructure. Today, we face even greater challenges as the facilities continue to age and our mission continues to expand. In fact, we currently have a backlog of nearly $1.5 billion in deferred maintenance and capital renewal projects that, 
6 

if left unaddressed over a significant length of time, could greatly impact safety and 

security across the Capitol campus. 

As steward of the Capitol campus, I know that investment in our aging and historic infrastructure is vital. However, we do realize that the current fiscal environment presents a very difficult challenge for the Congress, the AOC, and the American public to do more with less funding. Our fiscal year 2012 budget request reflects this challenge. We have carefully and systematically prioritized projects and 

meticulously developed our operational funding. 

To further ensure that we make the maximum use of every taxpayer dollar, we 

continue to identify additional cost savings and efficiencies, and to aggressively address the most effective way to use limited resources. We have implemented comprehensive performance measurements and metrics for nearly every aspect of our 

organization and these have led to significant agency improvements and cost savings. This data-driven management culture permeates our agency and gets results. 

For example, by improving our internal controls and requiring more extensive reporting, we have dramatically decreased leave errors in our time and attendance 

process. We also have established goals to improve efficiencies in our operations, 

such as our efforts to increase procurement opportunities for small businesses. In 

fiscal year 2010, we exceeded those goals by awarding more than $20 million in contracts to small businesses. 

Assisting me in these efforts is our Chief Operating Officer, Christine Merdon. 

Ms. Merdon joined the AOC in September 2010, and she brings a wealth of experience to our organization from both the public and private sectors, including small 

business acumen. 

She began her Federal career in 1981 as a cooperative education engineering student for the Navy. After earning her Bachelor of Science degree in 1987, from the 

University of Maryland in Civil Engineering, she continued her career with the 

Navy as a project engineer and project manager. In 1998, she received a Master of 

Science degree in Civil Engineering. 

In 1990, she joined the White House Military Office as a Project Manager responsible for managing classified design and construction projects at the White House, 

Camp David, and other Presidential support facilities. In 1998, Ms. Merdon was 

hired by Clark Construction, LLC, where she was project manager and superintendent for numerous projects including the American Red Cross Headquarters, 

Bethesda Place II, and the renovation of Baltimore’s historic Hippodrome Theater. 

Ms. Merdon joined McKissack & McKissack in 2000, where she ascended to the 

role of Senior Vice President of Program and Construction Management. Her responsibilities included operations and business development for program and construction management contracts in Washington, DC; Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California. There she was responsible for the successful management of more 

than $11 billion in major construction projects and programs including: Washington 

Nationals Major League Baseball stadium; O’Hare Modernization Program; Eisenhower Executive Office Building life-safety upgrades; Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial; Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum for African American 

History; and the Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson Memorial Renovations. 

Over the past several months, Ms. Merdon and I have been working to save the 

taxpayers time and money. For example, we reduced our inventory of supplies on 

hand from $56 million to $7.5 million. We are also consolidating information technology equipment agency-wide and have eliminated more than 150 printers and fax 

machines over the past 18 months. We have successfully leveraged the use of performance specifications to avoid unnecessary design fees for several Senate projects, 

and we are using in-house staff on many of our major construction projects, which 

has resulted in saving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. 

We also modified how we staffed the postelection office moves, bringing on temporary staff versus contracting out for the services, which resulted in significant 

savings. During one of the hottest summers on record last year, we expanded our 

energy curtailment program from a few hours on ‘‘gold days’’ to 24 hours a day, 7 

days a week during State work periods. In addition, we have utilized public-private 

partnerships to finance energy reduction projects, allowing us to invest appropriated 

funds in other priority projects. At the Capitol Power Plant (CPP), we utilized a 

‘‘free cooling’’ initiative where we used cold, outside air to create chilled water without running the chillers, thereby conserving electricity and saving money. We also 

renegotiated several leases to get the best rates, and we have looked to reduce staff 

through attrition where we can without impacting our ability to achieve our mission. 
7 

FISCAL YEAR 2012 CAPITOL BUDGET REQUEST

In addition to implementing these operational and business process efficiencies, 

we have carefully and meticulously prioritized projects and operational funding. 

For example, in fiscal year 2010, we examined all of our existing accounts, worked 

to identify available funds from projects that were nearly complete, and took on additional risk by decreasing construction contingency funding in some cases. Through 

this effort, we were able to fund nearly $15 million in new projects with existing 

resources, further decreasing our need for fiscal year 2011 funding. This, in turn, 

enabled us to further decrease our fiscal year 2012 request. Moving forward, we will 

continue to evaluate our ongoing projects, assess associated risks to congressional 

operations, and continue to find ways to fund projects with existing funds. 

However, we also identified projects or requirements that could be deferred, albeit 

not without significant risk. As funding is delayed, the requirements will worsen, 

the risk will escalate, and when funded, the projects will be more costly. 

As a result of these exercises, we are requesting funding for only the most urgent 

projects and operational shortfalls. Our fiscal year 2012 request of $706 million is 

nearly $50 million lower than our fiscal year 2011 request, and represents a 6.5 percent decrease from our fiscal year 2011 request. 
8 

The fiscal year 2012 budget request reflects the highest requirements to prevent 

or delay further deterioration and system malfunctions and/or failures. We have included more than $7 million for projects to improve security on the Capitol campus, 

and $38.4 million for life-safety projects. 

As I noted earlier, we have identified projects that might be deferred, but we have 

also assumed a level of risk in doing so. We will rely on our operating budgets to 

manage these risks. This will enable us to continue to maintain and sustain equipment, components, and systems; however, it would not guarantee that we could provide the necessary replacements in the event of system failure. 

CAPITOL BUDGET REQUEST AND PROJECT PRIORITIZATION

We currently have a backlog of nearly $1.5 billion in deferred maintenance and 

capital renewal projects. One of our greatest challenges is to prioritize our efforts 

to ensure every taxpayer dollar goes toward the most important work. We have developed a world-class project prioritization process that ranks these projects based 

on the condition of the facilities, and the level of maintenance required to ensure 

they remain functional and viable working environments. 

This triage process for facilities attends to the most serious issues first, while addressing the necessary life-safety issues, security requirements, energy-savings 

projects, historic preservation measures, and the needs of our clients, while deferring the growing need for Capitol improvement and Capitol construction projects 

until later. 

We believe we have built our fiscal year 2012 budget that best balances these 

needs and requirements in these fiscally constrained times. We are requesting 

$179.2 million for Capitol projects, which is a $37 million or 17 percent decrease 

from the fiscal year 2011 Capitol projects request. We also are recommending that 

an additional $129 million in necessary work, which is ready to proceed, be deferred 

to a later fiscal year due to the austere budget environment. 

We have several tools that we use to assess which facilities need emergency care 

versus those that can be nursed along until funding becomes available to address 

specific deferred maintenance and/or capital renewal projects in those particular 

buildings. These tools include facility condition assessments, the Capitol Complex 

Master Plan, jurisdiction plans, and the Five-Year Capitol Improvements Plan, 

which examines phasing opportunities, project sequencing, and other factors to better facilitate the timing of the execution of major deferred maintenance and capital 

renewal projects. 

Our comprehensive prioritization process rates projects on a number of objective 

factors to produce an overall hierarchy of importance. During this process, projects 

are classified by type and urgency. The projects are then scored against six criteria: 

—security; 

—safety and regulatory compliance; 

—historic preservation; 

—mission; 
9 

—economics; and 

—energy efficiency and environmental quality. 

We rank projects based on a composite rating consisting of classification, urgency, 

and project importance. This year, we also applied a criticality and risk-decision 

model to the overall prioritization list, and the resulting outcome was used as one 

filter to inform which projects should be included in the fiscal year 2012 budget request. We also recognize that our facilities need life-safety, security, and functional 

improvements to provide a safe working environment to support the Congress’ mission, and our request reflects improvements in those areas. 

To further refine the data on which our planning is based, for the past several 

years we have conducted independent, third-party facility condition assessments. 

These assessments identify the most critical issues in the facilities, and the objective 

data collected during this process helps us identify the urgent needs that must be 

addressed. 

The charts on the next page compare the facility condition index from fiscal year 

2009 to fiscal year 2010. While the condition of the majority of congressional facilities, which are rated poor or fair, have not changed significantly, facilities once 

rated as excellent are beginning to trend downward. In fiscal year 2009, nine buildings were rated in excellent condition. In fiscal year 2010, there were just six. In 

fiscal year 2009, three buildings were listed as good. Now there are seven. 
10 

Without regular and prudent investments made in these facilities, this unfortunate trend will continue, and the deterioration will continue, possibly to the point 

of impacting congressional operations. We will work to reduce the deterioration to 

avoid operational impacts, however, in this fiscally restrained climate; we will need 

to focus resources on those activities and projects that most directly support the 

Congress. 

To provide us with a 20-year, strategic look ahead to queue up priorities, investments, and projects, we use the Capitol Complex Master Plan. We have worked with 

the Congress over the past several years to develop the Master Plan and its related 

jurisdiction plans. 

There are nine jurisdiction plans that describe the facilities that are maintained 

and improved by each jurisdiction, detail the current use of space, and identify longterm facility needs of each jurisdiction. These plans help us make future decisions 

about facility renewal requirements and new projects. For example, there may be 

instances where major, whole building renovations should be undertaken rather 

than a myriad of smaller projects. 
11 

The Capitol Complex Master Plan assumes incremental decisionmaking; providing 

the AOC and the Congress with a blueprint for facility-related decisionmaking and 

investment. It is an important tool because it: 

—Establishes stakeholder goals and direction on key decision points. 

—Assesses physical condition and capacities of buildings. 

—Identifies short- and long-range facility requirements. 

—Addresses sequencing issues. 

—Guides the Capitol Improvements Plan and funding requirements. 

—Manages stakeholder and building occupants’ expectations. 

The Five-Year Capitol Improvements Plan helps us meet several goals by analyzing all of the facility requirements, grouping them into logical and economical sequencing and phasing, prioritizing the resulting requirements using a set of objective criteria, and establishing measureable outcomes. 

The chart above provides a snapshot of proposed funding requests in future years 

by appropriation. If investments are not made to address the backlog of deferred 

maintenance and capital renewal projects, the bow wave will continue to grow into 

a tidal wave of projects that could potentially lead to catastrophic results including 

system failures or building closures. 

A large portion of our Capitol budget request is to address deferred maintenance—$76.7 million or nearly 43 percent—that is critical to prevent or delay further deterioration. Several of these deferred maintenance projects that we are requesting funding for in fiscal year 2012 also address life-safety and security issues. 

These include: 

—Utility Tunnel Improvement Program. 

—Sprinkler system installation, Thomas Jefferson Building. 

—Skylight replacement, Hart Senate Office Building. 

—Structural repairs to underground garage, John Adams Building. 

—West House underground garage rehabilitation. 

—Modernize mechanical systems, Dirksen Senate Office Building. 
12 

Other Capitol projects will help improve energy efficiencies, and thereby help save 

money, such as the relocation and replacement of 35-year-old chillers at the CPP, 

and upgrading utility distribution system components throughout the Capitol campus, including completing the Utility Tunnel Improvement Program, or support our 

Government’s time-honored traditions with the construction of the stands and the 

planning of the support activities associated with the 2013 Presidential Inaugural 

ceremony. 

LIFE-SAFETY ENHANCEMENTS AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS

Two areas that are top priorities for our agency are safety and energy reduction, 

and we continue to see dramatic results due to our efforts in identifying and managing risks, and increasing efficiencies and reducing energy consumption, which in 

turn, saves taxpayers money. 

Just as we have a robust and successful project prioritization process, we have 

a focused and proactive process in place to abate hazards, and have made substantial improvements to the Capitol campus infrastructure to enhance safety. With the 

Congress support, we have made significant investments to improve fire and lifesafety systems within congressional buildings and on the Capitol grounds. As a result, the Capitol campus is safer today than ever, as evidenced by a 59 percent reduction in hazards identified by the Office of Compliance since the 109th Congress. 

This is particularly significant because the amount of square footage of facilities 

that we maintain has dramatically increased over the same period of time. Between 

the 109th Congress and the 110th, the physical inventory that the AOC maintains 

was increased by 10 percent in additional square footage. During the 111th Congress, another 3 percent was added. 

Moving forward, we will continue to partner with the Congress to execute lifesafety projects in a planned manner that is fiscally responsible, efficient, and effective in order to further protect those who work in and visit the Capitol campus. 

Capitol-wide energy reduction efforts have yielded great results for the fifth year 

in a row. In fiscal year 2010, the Congress met the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) requirement of reducing energy consumption by 15 percent. 

To reduce reliance on direct appropriations, we are using privately financed public-private partnerships, known as Energy Savings Performance Contracts, to fund 

the project work that needs to be completed to conserve resources and reduce energy 

consumption. For example, in the Senate, we have begun construction on the following energy conservation projects: 

—installing 31,000 energy-efficient lighting fixtures in each of the Senate office 

buildings; 

—upgrading existing pneumatic and electronic controls for heating, ventilating, 

and air-conditioning systems with direct digital controls; 

—replacing existing transformers with high-efficiency transformers; and 

—installing removable insulation covers for steam valves to reduce heat loss. 

After implementation of all energy conservation measures over the 36-month construction period, the Senate office buildings are estimated to potentially realize a 

36 percent reduction in total energy consumption, and approximately $3.9 million 

in annual energy savings. We anticipate that this investment will save approximately 7 percent annually toward the EISA 2007 goal. 
13 

In the House office buildings this past year, we installed 30,000 energy-efficient 

light fixtures, and converted 2,700 bathroom fixtures to automatic, low-flow units. 

We have achieved a 23.3 percent reduction in water consumption in the House office 

buildings from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2010. In addition, approximately 1,250 

bathroom fixtures were diverted from landfills and sent to a local asphalt plant for 

recycling. We also installed a new dimmable LED lighting technology in the Rayburn cafeteria. In a matter of months, energy consumption for lighting in the cafeteria was reduced by more than 70 percent. 

After implementation of all energy conservation measures over the 30-month construction period, the House office buildings are estimated to potentially realize a 23 

percent reduction in total energy consumption, and approximately $3.3 million in 

annual energy savings. We anticipate this investment will save approximately 5.4 

percent annually toward the EISA 2007 goal. 

In the Capitol Building, the following projects are ongoing: upgrading existing 

light fixtures with high-efficiency lamps, ballasts, and reflectors; modernizing Building Automation Systems, including existing pneumatic and electronic controls for 

heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems with direct digital controls, and 

replacing air-handling systems. 

After implementation of all energy conservation measures over the 27-month construction period, the Capitol Building is estimated to potentially realize a 38 percent 

reduction in total energy consumption, and approximately $2.2 million in annual energy savings. This will contribute an anticipated 5 percent annually toward the 

EISA 2007 goal. 

In addition, our employees are doing their part to help save energy by using the 

mass transit and flexible work schedule programs. More than 35 percent of AOC 

employees use public transportation to commute to work. In addition, more than 930 

AOC employees participate in the flexible work schedule program, and more than 

125 are enrolled in the AOC’s Telework Program. 

Because the CPP plays a critical role in our long-term energy conservation strategy, we are continually working to improve and upgrade operations there. In December 2010, the CPP marked its 100th anniversary of steady service of steam and 

chilled water to heat and cool congressional buildings. In that century of service, 

the plant has undergone significant changes as new buildings were built, and modern equipment was installed. However, in order to continue to provide these services 

into the future, significant investment is needed to replace aging infrastructure and 

to install new, energy-efficient equipment. 

Last year, with the assistance of the National Academy of Science, we completed 

our Strategic Long-Term Energy Plan, which we are using to guide our future energy program planning, and to identify and explore options that will help realize 

continued energy efficiencies and opportunities to save money. 

After careful review of several technologies that can further improve efficiencies 

and help meet future energy requirements of the Capitol campus, we are planning 

to incorporate the use of cogeneration at the CPP to generate on-site power. Cogeneration is the use of a combustion turbine in order to generate both useful heat and 

electricity. It is anticipated that the equipment would generate enough electricity 

to operate the CPP, and the use of the heat generated from this operation would 

produce enough steam to reduce reliance on the existing boilers. This would increase 

system reliability and the increased efficiency would help save money. The proposed 
14 

cogeneration system also would significantly reduce emissions while providing a reliable source of electricity to the CPP and steam for heating congressional facilities. 

We are proposing the use of a utility energy services contract to finance construction 

of the cogeneration plant. This public-private partnership leverages private funding 

allowing us to initiate design and execute construction in a timelier manner, and 

allows us to use limited appropriated funds for other priorities, such as deferred 

maintenance or life-safety projects. 

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET REQUEST

Our fiscal year 2012 annual operating budget request for $436.4 million provides 

funding for continuing the critical activities of operating and maintaining the infrastructure which supports the Congress, other legislative branch agencies, and the 

public, as well as other AOC essential mission support services. This is a slight decrease from our fiscal year 2011 budget request. Some of these services include safety, human resources, financial management, project and construction management, 

planning and development, communications, information technology, and procurement. In our effort to further improve efficiencies and reduce costs, we are requesting funds to add internal controls software tools, and to update obsolete planning 

and project software. 

Through the work of our in-house, professional staff, we are able to address client 

needs on a daily basis, maintain facilities, and mitigate the amount of project funds 

required at the present time. However, even at this level of funding, the operating 

budget alone will not enable us to defer projects indefinitely. The longer we delay 

in addressing these issues, the more conditions will continue to worsen. Ignoring 

these issues will not make them go away. In fact, the problems will only become 

more serious and, in the end, cost more. 

Mr. Chairman, one of the many areas in which our employees excel is in the preservation of our heritage assets. We take great pride in maintaining and conserving 

the national treasures entrusted to our care, and last year our efforts were recognized with the 2010 Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and 

Care of Collections. Heritage Preservation and the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works presents the award to the organization that has 

been exemplary in the importance and priority it has given to conservation concerns, and in the sustained commitment it has shown to the preservation and care 

of cultural property. The AOC was recognized as ‘‘a model of exemplary stewardship 

of the historic collections in its care.’’ 
15 

It was a great honor to receive this award because it recognized the efforts of our 

talented and dedicated staff that work to preserve these irreplaceable treasures, 

serve the Congress, and welcome millions of visitors every year. They take great 

pride in what they do and they put their unique and special skills to work every 

day to ensure our U.S. Capitol continues to stand as a powerful and iconic symbol 

of our Government. 

AOC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Receiving this award was one of many significant achievements the AOC recorded 

this past year. As I mentioned earlier, we have implemented comprehensive measures and metrics across the agency that have led to significant improvements. For 

example, we continued to improve our cost accounting procedures and internal controls, and received our sixth consecutive clean audit opinion from independent auditors on all of our financial statements. In addition, our annual building services customer satisfaction surveys for fiscal year 2010 again showed that a large majority 

of our customers are satisfied or very satisfied with the level of service the AOC 

is providing them. 

Not only do we take care of our customers, we take care of our people. We are 

committed to being the best in our industry, and we have implemented several programs to recruit and retain the best talent. To further this goal, worker safety remains one of our top priorities, and we have successfully reduced our injury and illness rate by 75 percent since fiscal year 2000. We reduced the claims rate of 17.9 

injuries per 100 employees in fiscal year 2000, to fewer than 4 injuries per 100 employees in fiscal year 2010. 
16 

Our talented staff have completed a number of projects this past year in our efforts to maintain and preserve the historic assets entrusted to our care, including 

painting the Capitol dome as an interim step to protect and weatherproof the castiron structure; repairing and replacing the Thomas Jefferson Building’s lantern windows and frames, as well as conserving the Blashfield mural, ‘‘Human Understanding’’, and installing a lift system to provide access to the House rostrum, and 

allowing, for the first time in the Chamber’s history, a Representative in a wheelchair to preside over a House session. 

Our employees work tirelessly on the front lines to create a positive first impression of the Congress, the Capitol, and public stewardship. In 2010, the Capitol Visitor Center welcomed its 4 millionth visitor. At the U.S. Botanic Garden, more than 

1 million guests enjoyed its amenities and educational programs, including the annual orchid show. 

CONCLUSION

Mr. Chairman, the AOC embodies a commitment to preserving and maintaining 

the historic fabric of our country, including the U.S. Capitol Building and its iconic 

dome that serves as a symbol of our country and our Government. 

Our fiscal year 2012 budget request reflects the seriousness with which we take 

this commitment. We understand the challenges that an austere fiscal environment 

presents, and we have developed this budget request in an effort to balance our 

stewardship responsibilities with fiscal responsibility. 
17 

We have been successful in our mission due to the tireless work of our skilled 

craftsmen and professional staff who maintain and preserve our national treasures. 

Their efforts ensure that we continue to provide exceptional services to the Congress, and they have prevented catastrophic system and facility failures to date. The 

full measure of the dedication they display in their jobs may be difficult to measure, 

but we continuously reap the benefits of their knowledge, skills, and experience. I 

am very proud to lead this wonderful and dedicated team. 

We look forward to continuing to work with this subcommittee, the congressional 

leadership, and our oversight committees to address our mutual concerns for conserving the past while planning for the future of the Capitol and the facilities for 

the Congress and the American people. 

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

Ms. Chrisler. 
(18) 

OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE 

STATEMENT OF TAMARA E. CHRISLER, ESQ., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE 

Ms. CHRISLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven. 

I’m honored to appear before you today on behalf of the OOC. As 

you know, the OOC is a small agency with a broad statutory mission established by the passage of the Congressional Accountability 

Act of 1995 (CAA). The OOC is required to carry out a Dispute 

Resolution Program (DRP) for employing offices and employees, inspect legislative branch facilities for compliance in safety and 

health and disability access laws, promulgate regulations for implementation of applicable laws under the CAA, and educate members 

of the covered community about their rights and responsibilities 

under the act. These are our mandates. This is the work you have 

asked us to do. 

With the continued support of this subcommittee, we have been 

able to do our work. You have allocated the resources necessary for 

us to complete required inspections, you have authorized needed 

personnel to manage our Safety and Health Program and to oversee the implementation of the settlement agreement to abate lifethreatening hazards in the Capitol Power Plant (CPP) utility tunnels. 

Mr. Chairman, it was through your efforts on this subcommittee, 

and your membership on the Rules Committee, that a blue ribbon 

panel of architects and fire-safety experts was convened to provide 

an independent assessment of fire-safety issues in the Russell Senate Office Building. 

Indeed, it is this subcommittee’s dedication to fire-safety issues 

that paved the way for the OOC and the Office of the AOC to engage in a cooperative effort to set abatement priorities among the 

fire- and life-safety hazards present in legislative branch facilities. 

Surely, the scheduling of the two agencies today to appear before 

you is reflective of the subcommittee’s commitment to address 

these issues promptly and comprehensively. With the sustained 

support of this subcommittee, the OOC can continue to do the work 

that you’ve asked us to do. 

For fiscal year 2011, the OOC requested approximately $298,000 

in additional funding to support several initiatives, two in particular: the development and implementation of the risk-based inspection, an abatement approach that the Conference Committee 

on fiscal year 2010 directed OOC to institute; and essential improvements to our anticipated and increasingly inefficient IT infrastructure. 

RISK-BASED APPROACH TO INVESTIGATIONS

The first is the risk-based approach. This approach to inspections 

and abatement allows the OOC to target the riskiest workplaces 
19 

and work activities, such as machine shops, high-voltage areas, and 

boiler rooms, where the risks are highest. A risk-based approach is 

resource-intensive because our staff will carefully examine written 

programs, observe employees while they work, and engage them in 

discussion to determine their understanding of safety programs. 

It’s different than just conducting an inspection of a building. It 

takes more time, but it’s cost effective and it makes sense. And it’s 

what you’ve asked us to do. 

We’ll focus our assistance on reducing the on-the-job injuries and 

illnesses, and remedy those violations that pose the more serious 

threats to worker safety, which, in the end, will save money, with 

fewer injuries and accidents, fewer illnesses, and less workers compensation. 

NEED FOR INSPECTORS

The OOC approached the 2012 appropriations cycle knowing that 

only minimal funding would be available. That being the case, we 

did not seek contract funding for a safety and health inspector, despite the facts that, one, we have fewer inspectors, one fewer inspector than in the past; two, the risk-based approach requires 

more time and expertise than inspections in the past; and three, 

we are facing roughly 18 million square feet of legislative branch 

workspace to inspect this fiscal year and next. 

Our efforts to obtain a nonreimbursable detailee from the Department of Labor or another executive branch agency has failed, 

as fiscal and other constraints have prevented other agencies from 

supplying a detailee. As a result, the OOC will be unable to offer 

the same level of service as in prior years. We won’t be able to inspect every workspace. Instead, we’ll rely on employing offices to 

conduct self-inspections of certain lower-risk offices and administrative areas. 

IMPACT OF BUDGET CUTS

Should there be cuts below the current spending level of fiscal 

year 2010, the OOC will be forced to cut back on the services that 

you have mandated. 

Funding our DRP facilitates parties’ ability to reach confidential 

settlements at an early stage of the process. A reduction in this 

funding might force us to reduce the number and duration of our 

contracts with mediators and hearing officers, which may impact 

the success of early resolution. For example, just last week, the 

OOC was able to provide additional mediation services to parties 

in a particular case. These additional services enabled the parties 

to reach an amicable settlement. A cut to these resources would 

mean less mediation time, thus diminishing the likelihood of favorable settlements. The result is protracted litigation involving depositions, testimony, pleadings, appeals, all of which are resource intensive and all of which put an unnecessary drain on taxpayer dollars. 

PREPARED STATEMENT

As I stated, the OOC is realistic about the available resources in 

fiscal year 2012. We understand the challenges faced by the Fed-
20 

eral Government and, in particular, this subcommittee. We recognize the need to present a bare-bones appropriations request, so 

we’ve done just that. What that leaves us with, however, with is 

reduced services. Our work is vital to the Congress. We administer 

basic fundamental rights. With the requested funding, we can ensure that these protections continue to be administered. 

I thank you for your time, and am happy to answer any questions you have. 

[The statement follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF TAMARA E. CHRISLER

Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, 

I am honored to appear before you today on behalf of the Office of Compliance 

(OOC). Joining me today are General Counsel Peter Ames Eveleth; Deputy Executive Director Barbara J. Sapin; Deputy Executive Director John P. Isa; and Budget 

and Finance Officer Allan Holland. Collectively, we present to you the OOC’s request for appropriations for fiscal year 2012, and we seek your support for our request. For fiscal year 2012, the agency is requesting a total of $4,782,000, a $106,509 

or 2.28 percent increase over the agency’s fiscal year 2011 requested appropriations 

level of $4,675,491, and an increase of $405,001 or 9.25 percent increase from the 

fiscal year 2010 enacted appropriations level of $4,377,000. This funding would provide the OOC with the resources necessary to continue the most critical services 

that are required by the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA). As discussed below, however, even with the requested funding, certain mandatory services 

will be beyond our means. The minimal increase for fiscal year 2012 includes funding for increased costs of administrative services from the Library of Congress 

(LOC) and funding for basic operations to perform our core programs: 

—administrative dispute resolution services, safety and health and disability access inspections; and 

—education and outreach services, all of which are mandated by the CAA. 

The OOC is a small agency with a broad statutory mission. Established by the 

passage of the CAA, this agency was created by the Congress to administer the 

workplace rights laws, safety and health laws, and public accessibility laws that applied to the private sector and, in the case of some laws, to the rest of the Federal 

Government. The CAA requires that the OOC carry out a dispute resolution program (DRP) for employing offices and employees; inspect legislative branch facilities 

for compliance with safety and health and disability access laws; promulgate regulations for implementation of applicable laws under the CAA; and educate members 

of the covered community about their rights and responsibilities under the act. 

These are our mandates; this is the work you have asked us to do. 

Over the years, this subcommittee has demonstrated a real appreciation for the 

work performed by the OOC. In particular, this subcommittee has shown strong 

support for our safety and health program by allocating the resources necessary for 

us to complete the required inspections of legislative branch workplaces. Further, 

the subcommittee has authorized needed personnel to manage our safety and health 

program and to oversee the implementation of the settlement agreement that is 

abating the life-threatening hazards in the Capitol Power Plant (CPP) utility tunnels. Mr. Chairman, it was through your efforts on this subcommittee and your 

work on the Rules Committee that a Blue Ribbon Panel of architects and fire-safety 

experts was convened to provide an independent assessment of fire-safety issues in 

the Russell Senate Office Building. Indeed, it is this subcommittee’s dedication to 

fire-safety issues that paved the way for the OOC and the AOC to engage in a cooperative effort to set abatement priorities among the fire- and life-safety hazards 

present in legislative branch facilities. Surely, the scheduling of the two agencies 

to appear before you today is reflective of the subcommittee’s commitment to address these issues promptly and comprehensively. 

With the sustained support of this subcommittee, the OOC has been able to ensure that legislative branch workplaces are subject to the same laws applicable to 

workplaces in the private sector and other Federal agencies. Our fiscal year 2012 

requested increase is minimal: $106,509, almost half of which is attributable to the 

LOC increased charge for administrative services it provides to this agency. The remainder of the increase reflects additional costs due to inflation and for minimal 

operational costs. We have essentially presented you with a flat budget for fiscal 

year 2012. 
21 

WHAT WE CAN DO WITH FISCAL YEAR 2011 AND FISCAL YEAR 2012 FUNDING

In fiscal year 2011, the OOC requested an additional $298,491 in funding to support several initiatives: 

—the development and implementation of the risk-based inspection and abatement approach that the Conference Committee on fiscal year 2010 legislative 

branch appropriations directed the OOC to institute; 

—essential improvements to our antiquated and increasingly inefficient IT infrastructure; and 

—the salary increase required by Federal law. 

For the fiscal year 2011 appropriations cycle, staff of the OOC examined our programs in conjunction with our statutory mandates and made significant efforts to 

streamline our appropriations request to reflect the country’s and the Government’s 

economic difficulties. As a result, we presented an appropriations request that contained only those items necessary to meet the most fundamental of our statutory 

mandates. 

Fiscal year 2012 funding at the requested level (inclusive of fiscal year 2011 requested funding) will allow the OOC to employ the risk-based biennial inspection 

and abatement approach contemplated in the fiscal year 2011 budget request. This 

risk-based approach is resource-intensive for our agency, but should result in cost 

savings across other agencies in the legislative branch. This approach allows the 

OOC to target the riskiest workplaces and work activities, such as machine shops, 

high-voltage areas, and boiler rooms. We would concentrate our limited resources 

on areas where the risks are highest (the CPP and hazardous chemical storage 

rooms, for example); focus the technical assistance we provide on reducing on-thejob injuries and illnesses; and remedy those violations that pose the most serious 

threats to workers’ safety. Of course, cooperation with the AOC’s staff, as well as 

with other employing offices, is an integral part of the development and implementation of this approach. Working with the employing offices, our inspectors would 

carefully review and assist in the development of written safety programs that protect employees who work with certain hazardous materials. Our staff will observe 

employees while they work to determine their understanding of safety programs designed to protect against injuries. A careful examination of fire prevention programs 

is essential in the many Capitol Hill facilities that have serious life-safety deficiencies. 

This subcommittee’s support of the OOC’s requested appropriations for fiscal year 

2011 and fiscal year 2012 will allow the OOC to continue to work with high-quality 

mediators and hearing officers. One of the OOC’s core statutory functions is to provide confidential and timely counseling, mediation, and hearing services to assist 

employees and employing offices in resolving workplace rights claims, such as discrimination and harassment. Supplying the parties with highly skilled mediators 

and hearing officers allows the OOC to equip the parties with the tools necessary 

to reach amicable agreement and to fairly resolve and adjudicate claims. 

In addition, fiscal year 2012 funding at the requested level (inclusive of fiscal year 

2011 requested funding) will allow the OOC to update its out-of-date communications and IT systems to improve efficiency and enhance the security of vital information. The OOC’s IT systems are the warehouse for workplace rights claims filed 

against Members of Congress. Accordingly, it is essential that these systems use the 

best security measures available to protect your confidential information. The OOC 

has already begun collaborative efforts with the LOC to share services and develop 

OOC IT systems that maintain the confidentiality of this information and meet the 

highest of security standards. 

WHAT WE CANNOT DO EVEN WITH WHAT WE REQUESTED

Our fiscal year 2012 request is basically flat. We approached fiscal year 2012 

knowing that only minimal funding essential to meet the bare requirements of our 

mission would be available. That being the case, we did not seek contract funding 

for a safety and health inspector despite the fact that we have one fewer inspector 

than in the past. In our fiscal year 2010 and fiscal year 2011 budget requests, we 

noted our need for such an inspector, but indicated our intention to fill the need 

by obtaining a nonreimbursable detailee from the Department of Labor or other executive branch agency. Fiscal and other constraints have prevented other agencies 

from supplying such a detailee, and we have been advised that no detailee will be 

available in the foreseeable future. The need remains, however: the risk-based approach requires more time and expertise than the inspections of the past. At the 

same time, we are facing roughly 1 million additional square feet of legislative 

branch work space (to add to the existing 17 million square feet) that is expected 

in fiscal year 2011 and 2012. As a consequence, our agency will be unable to offer 
22 

all the services described above at the same level as in prior years. Some services 

may be reduced, while others may need to be discontinued altogether. In particular, 

the tradeoff is that we will not be able to inspect every workplace; instead, we will 

rely on employing offices to self-inspect certain lower-risk offices and administrative 

spaces. While we intend to inspect high-hazard workspaces, our ability to inspect 

all such areas is likely to be limited as well. 

WHAT HAPPENS WITH CUTS BELOW CURRENT LEVELS

Should there be cuts below the current spending level of fiscal year 2010, the 

OOC will be forced to cut other services, as well as associated resources. As a statutorily mandated service agency, our business is largely driven by requests to our office—requests for information, requests for counseling, requests for mediation, requests for technical assistance, requests for inspection. Given that our agency’s visibility has increased over the years, we are currently receiving more requests than 

we have in the past, from employees and employing offices alike. Consequently, any 

gap between our resources and our work will be immediately apparent to the covered community. 

The OOC’s staff remains small. There are no overlapping functions. Thus, reductions to our resources could require us to eliminate not only positions, but entire 

programs as well. Should our resources be reduced below current levels, we will be 

faced with cutting back the services that you have mandated, and the delivery of 

remaining services may suffer. 

Specifically, as mentioned above, the OOC will struggle to meet our safety and 

health mandate even if our request is fully funded. Further reductions will mean 

fewer electrical shops inspected, less time observing workers’ use of hazardous 

chemicals and reduced reviews of fire prevention programs in buildings with deficient emergency exits. The result would likely be more workplace injuries and illnesses, which in turn require higher workers’ compensation costs, more overtime 

hours and reduced productivity—all on top of the pain and suffering experienced by 

the injured employee. Further cuts would thus be both painful and counterproductive. 

Additional reductions would likely force us to reduce or even terminate our disability access activities. We are obligated to ensure that members of the public do 

not confront barriers when seeking access to their elected representatives. With full 

funding, we will survey the routes between public transportation and congressional 

buildings to ensure that they are barrier-free. Any cuts below present levels may 

require us to discontinue this effort. 

In addition, funding for our DRP facilitates parties’ ability to reach confidential 

settlements at an early stage of the process. A reduction in funding might force us 

to reduce the number and duration of our contracts with mediators and hearing officers. These resources are vital to the success of early resolution efforts. In fact, just 

last week, the OOC was able to provide additional mediation services for the parties 

to a particular dispute. These additional services enabled the parties to reach an 

amicable settlement. A cut to these resources would mean less mediation time, thus 

diminishing the likelihood of favorable settlements. The result is protracted litigation—involving depositions, testimony, pleadings, appeals—all of which are resource-intensive, and all of which put an unnecessary drain on taxpayer dollars. 

CONCLUSION

As stated above, the OOC is realistic about the available resources in fiscal year 

2012. We understand the challenges faced by the Federal Government, and this subcommittee in particular. We recognize the need to present a bare-bones appropriations request; so we have done just that. What that leaves us with, however, is reduced services. The OOC’s work is integral to the safety and health of each and 

every employee of the legislative branch; it is essential to the fair workplace that 

the Congress provides; and it is needed by people with disabilities who, like all 

other citizens, deserve access to their elected officials. Our work is vital to the work 

of the Congress: we administer basic, fundamental rights for individuals, and we do 

so because you have determined that you want these protections. With the requested funding, we can ensure that these protections continue to be administered. 

On behalf of the Board of Directors and the entire staff of the Office of Compliance, I thank you for your support of this agency. I would be pleased to answer any 

questions. 

BUDGET CUTS AND IMPACT

Senator NELSON. Thank you. Thanks, to both of you. 
23 

If it’s okay, maybe we can do about a 5-minute round of questions, here. 

First of all, as it relates to the AOC, your fiscal year 2012 budget 

totals $706 million, which, as I said, is an increase of $104 million, 

or 17 percent. It’s not exactly the right direction, but as you explained it might have been even more if you had been unrestrained 

in how you could approach this. 

What would be the impact of an actual cut of 5 percent or 6 percent or 7 percent to the current budget, without any increase, but 

a cut? And give us some idea of what you would have to defer, 

what you would have to put aside, and what you would have to reduce in overhead expenditures. 

Senator NELSON. You can it to give us, generally; and then for 

the record, you can do it—to lay it out in more detail. But, just for 

the moment, give us some idea of what that impact would be. 

Mr. AYERS. Absolutely. Mr. Chairman, the overarching theme 

would be—we have two large portions of money in our budget. One 

is our operations and maintenance budget and the second part is 

our capital improvements or line-item construction project budget. 

And on that line-item construction project portion, we have a really 

good prioritization process that presents to the subcommittee a list 

of the projects that need to be done, that are in priority order. We 

do that as a tool to help the subcommittee, and us, work collectively to make adjustments to that. 

So, typically what we would do is move the funding line from 

where we’ve recommended it up to wherever that budget cut needs 

to be. So, in essence, the first thing that would happen is many of 

the projects and capital improvements that we have identified in 

our budget would be cut. So, that would then increase our backlog 

of deferred maintenance and capital renewal work; the condition of 

our facilities would deteriorate and worsen. As I know you know, 

those projects that ultimately need to be done and will cost a little 

more later. 

On the operational side, we would work to find areas where we 

can be more efficient. We would work to find areas where we can 

cut services. We would work across the legislative branch to see 

where there are any areas of duplication which we can eliminate 

to begin to work to reduce the operational side. 

Senator NELSON. It was noticed that the increase in your operation budgets has been 47 percent over the past 6 years. That’s 

why I raise the question of what would be the impact on your operations. I understand the capital accounts would be—for construction improvements—would—could be deferred, but what about the 

operational—the growth in operational expenses over that period of 

time of 6 years? You’re only accountable for part of that, but maybe 

you can explain that. 

Mr. AYERS. Well, I think much of that increase in growth comes 

from new mission requirements. A great example of that is opening 

the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC), 2 years ago, where we have approximately 250 employees there in the CVC. So, that represents 

probably the biggest increment of that operational growth in those 

salaries that you see on the operations side of our budget. 

Senator NELSON. That’s what I was hoping you would point out. 
24 

Now, this is one of those smaller items, but I don’t know what 

the impact would be. I note that you recently updated your Web 

site and logo; and so, I’m assuming that that results in all kinds 

of other changes to literature, printing requirements, and so forth. 

In the decision to do that, did you consider what the cost would be, 

versus the necessity to incur the costs at this challenging budget 

time? 

Mr. AYERS. We did. And that was one of the important tenets 

that we used to make that decision. What we’ve done is eliminate 

the need for stationery. We created a logo that’s computer printer 

friendly. We since we’ve changed that logo, we no longer purchase 

preprinted stationery. Our logo is all generated—and our memoranda are all generated from our computer system. So, we think, 

ultimately, in the end, that will save money. 

In addition, our approach with our staff has been, ‘‘Use all existing resources. Don’t throw anything away. Use everything you have 

before you switch to using these new products.’’ 

Senator NELSON. That’s all I have, for the moment. 

Senator Hoeven. 

Senator HOEVEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

PROJECT PRIORITIZATION PROCESS

This is a question I would address to each of you. Just putting 

in context I anticipate our resource base being for the balance of 

this cycle, and then going into 2012. Right now, if you look at the 

legislation that the House has passed, they’re at a total of about 

$60 to $61 billion below the current spending level, which is the 

fiscal year 2010 spending level. That’s the spending level we’re at 

now. So, that’s one number that’s out there. 

On the Senate side, the majority in the Senate has said, ‘‘Well, 

more in line, or in keeping with the administration budget, we 

should hold funding about at the current spending level.’’ So, if you 

take those two as ends of the spectrum, and then there’s certainly 

the possibility that we could end up at one of those, or somewhere 

in between. In that context, what I’d like you to do is talk in terms 

of these budgets, rather than—in both cases, you’ve submitted 

budgets with increases; and, in the case of the AOC, I think it’s 6.5 

percent increase from the fiscal year 2011, and I think it’s around 

9.5 or 9.6 percent in the case of the OOC. 

So, I think, in terms of a level budget to a budget where you 

could be looking at up to a 10 percent reduction, or in that range, 

prioritize for me how you would work to get to that level, and then 

even with a reduction. Talk about that prioritization in terms of operating budget and people, and then also your project budget. 

Mr. Ayers, maybe you’d like to start. 

Mr. AYERS. I’d be happy to. First, I haven’t had the opportunity 

to explain the project prioritization process before, Mr. Hoeven. So, 

I’d like to take a minute to do that. 

It really is a good process that we’ve worked really hard, over a 

number of years, to put together. First, it takes every capital 

project that comes to us, from ourselves or our customers or our 

consultants or whomever it is, and puts it through a process where 

we evaluate it and give it a numeric score with a set of predetermined criteria on mission, economics, energy, regulatory compli-
25 

ance, security, and historic preservation. We evaluate the whole 

project and give all of those elements a numeric score. Then we 

also determine whether it’s an immediate requirement or of immediate urgency, or high or medium or low. Then, last, we categorize 

that project as either deferred maintenance through the spectrum 

to capital construction; deferred maintenance being something 

that’s broken that needs to be fixed. Capitol construction, on the 

other end of the spectrum, is something that’s new construction. 

So, then our algorithm prioritizes these hundreds of projects that 

come in to us, and ultimately delivers what you see in our budget 

request: a list of prioritized projects where you literally can move 

the line from the bottom of the list up and still have confidence 

that what remains are the highest-priority projects for us to execute. 

So, that would be the first thing we’d do. We would use that tool 

and move that line up to where that reduction needs to be. 

And similarly, we would go through our operational budget with 

the same kind of tenacity to make reductions across the board in 

all of our operating budgets and our overhead rates and our lease 

rates and, you name it, to get to that objective. 

ADDRESSING DEFERRED PROJECTS WITHIN BUDGET CONSTRAINTS

Senator HOEVEN. Well, I’m still obviously new to this process, 

but I expect, at some point, we’re going to have a number that 

we’re going to have to achieve. So, I want to commend you—and 

I may have to come back, in my next 5 minutes, to you, Ms. 

Chrisler—and certainly want to do that. 

I have that prioritization right in front of me, both for construction projects and for deferred. I think that’s an excellent way to do 

it. And I think you went right where I kind of thought you might, 

and rightly so. Because, at some point, that is probably how we’re 

going to have to do this. We’re going to have to work through these 

projects and do as many as we can within the constraint that we’re 

given, and then balance that with—going back to that operating 

line and having you talk about—and working with our analysts, 

saying, ‘‘Okay, what do we do there?’’ In other words, in a sense, 

you’ve almost and rightly so—prepared yourself, on the project 

side, both for new projects and for deferred. And I commend you 

for that. 

But, we’re going to have to mix that in with the operating side, 

and take a hard look there. And I know, when you’re talking about 

with people it’s tougher, always. So, you know, we really need to 

work with you on that piece. Also, in terms of how we marry up 

the deferred versus the new projects. And, of course, that’s going 

to be a function of what, in your expert judgment and those of your 

people, which deferred items absolutely need to be done. 

I know sometimes it comes down to it would be cheaper and better to do it new and—you know, if you had the dollars, that is perhaps the most cost-effective way to go. But, in some of these cases, 

we may have to go to the deferred maintenance to keep it going 

for another 5 years or 7 years, versus perhaps what we’d like to 

do otherwise. 

So, I think you’ve got a good start here, and I think that’s the 

direction I would try to work with you in terms of probably setting 
26 

up these different scenarios so we’re prepared for the number that 

we’re ultimately going to get, in terms of the budget we have to 

achieve. 

And, Ms. Chrisler, in my next 5 minutes, I’d love to come and 

kind of go through some of the same things with you. 

Ms. CHRISLER. Thank you. 

Senator HOEVEN. Yes. 

BLUE RIBBON PANEL

Senator NELSON. Well, Ms. Chrisler, you mentioned the blue ribbon panel that met. Could you give us what their recommendations 

were, or what their conclusions were, with respect to, first, the 

Russell Senate Office Building stairs. That was an issue that we 

spent time on last year. It still raises questions about how you deal 

with life-safety issues in connection with historic buildings. So, 

maybe you can give us what you’ve taken from their report, their 

recommendations. 

Ms. CHRISLER. The blue ribbon panel has submitted its final report. I know the Rules Committee is waiting to receive that report. 

Our office has taken a look at it and has prepared a response that 

we would be happy to provide for the record. We would also be 

happy to provide that to the Rules Committee once they have received the final report. 

There are a number of recommendations that the panel made 

with respect to different options. And, so that I don’t misquote 

those—— 

Senator NELSON. Sure enough. 

Ms. CHRISLER [continuing]. Recommendations, I’d be happy to 

provide them for the record. 

[The information follows:] 

Under the life-safety code, buildings on Capitol Hill must provide protected exit 

routes so that their occupants will be able to safely leave the buildings during an 

emergency evacuation without being exposed to fire, smoke, or toxic gasses. Because 

the Russell House Office Building (RHOB) does not have enclosed stairwells or other 

protected escape route, the General Counsel of the Office of Compliance (OOC) 

issued a citation (Citation 19) in 2000 to require that this life-threatening hazard 

be abated. In 2008, the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) developed a plan to abate 

this hazard (known as the Senate Alternative Life Safety Approach or SALSA) that 

was subsequently approved by the OOC general counsel. The SALSA plan was designed to provide an alternative to enclosing monumental stairways within the 

RHOB. It proposed to create separate ‘‘fire zones’’ within the building that would 

both contain the fire and provide protected areas within the building and would enable occupants to either completely exit the building or be sheltered in place, free 

from exposure to fire, smoke, and toxic gases. This compartmentalization would be 

accomplished by installing fire-rated doors mounted flush with corridor walls that 

would be closed automatically upon activation of fire alarms. Thereafter, at the request of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the AOC established 

a Blue Ribbon Panel (Panel) of experts to address concerns about the effect the 

SALSA plan might have on the historic fabric of the RHOB. 

In its final report, dated August 23, 2010, the Panel assessed both fire-safety and 

historic-preservation concerns. As the Panel found, the hazards in the RHOB include unprotected exit pathways, insufficient emergency exit capacity, and excessive 

exit travel distances in contravention of life-safety code requirements. It concluded 

that fire-safety hazards in the RHOB could be rectified ‘‘in a manner that is consistent with historic preservation goals.’’ The Panel considered three design options, 

along with the AOC’s SALSA plan, to address the deficiencies and proposed nine 

‘‘general recommendations’’ to be implemented in addition to whichever design option was selected. The general recommendations are divided into immediate, shortterm, and long-term recommendations. The immediate recommendations involve 
27 

attic improvements (removal of stored combustible materials or installation of automatic sprinkler protection along with smoke barriers and compartmentalization), 

basement workshop and storage improvements (removal of the furniture refinishing 

workshop, enclosing other workshops with 1-hour fire separation and removal of 

combustible materials in the basement corridor), and inspections (develop and implement an annual inspection program focusing on fire prevention best practices). 

As to these items, the Panel concluded that they ‘‘will have a significant impact on 

the level of fire safety in the buildings and are envisioned as viable, discreet, and 

relatively easy to accomplish. These improvements should be undertaken as soon as 

possible.’’ 

The short-term recommendations involve providing smoke control in the atrium 

and providing a remote means of egress for all assembly spaces with occupant loads 

exceeding 50 persons. The long-term recommendations include adding protective 

materials to the attic roof structure, modifying, or replacing the HVAC systems to 

eliminate air-transfer openings, providing fire stopping for or replacing utility shafts 

and floor openings, and removing the combustible courtyard structure. 

The Panel evaluated SALSA and the three design options by considering the historic preservation goals as well as nine life-safety objectives: 

—maintaining structural integrity during a fire; 

—separating hazardous areas from the remainder of the building; 

—restricting smoke movement from rooms to the exit corridors and to other areas 

of the building; 

—providing protected occupant egress paths; 

—restricting vertical smoke movement in the Atrium; 

—restricting vertical smoke movement throughout the building; 

—providing adequate egress capacity; 

—limiting exit travel distances; and 

—creating contiguous protected exit paths. 

While the Panel acknowledged that SALSA together with the general recommendations would meet these nine safety objectives, the Panel dismissed this as 

an option because it failed to meet historic preservation goals. 

The Panel did not evaluate option 1 in detail. It provides for an extended automatic sprinkler system for fire and smoke control, improvements that already are 

underway. Option 2 would meet both the historic preservation goals and the lifesafety objectives because, in addition to extending sprinklers and smoke detectors, 

it provides for compartmentalization of the RHOB into separate fire zones. This is 

accomplished by installing fire-rated pocket doors within the walls that are activated only in the event of a fire thereby preventing the spread of fire and toxic gasses while creating protected areas for occupants to escape safely from the building. 

Option 3 would also meet the historic preservation goals and life-safety objectives 

through the use of a smoke control system, perhaps in conjunction with 

compartmentalization, to limit the amount and extent of fire spread in the building. 

However, the Panel cautioned that the feasibility and potential benefit of this approach have not been evaluated and would require further technical investigation 

and computational fire and egress modeling. 

In sum, design option 2 and the AOC’s SALSA plan, together with the general 

recommendations, address all of the life-safety objectives that the Panel identified. 

Design option 3 requires further study and may be neither technologically nor economically feasible. Design option 1, which the Panel found provided the least potential for risk reduction, addresses none of the identified life-safety objectives. 

The OOC has concluded: 

—In addition to whichever design option is selected, each of the general recommendations developed by the Panel for improving the level of fire safety 

should be implemented on an immediate, short-term, and long-term basis as 

soon as practicable. 

—Design option 1, unlike the other options, does not create separate fire zones 

in order to compartmentalize and therefore limit the area of smoke and fire 

spread. Hence, it would neither prevent the spread of fire, smoke, and toxic 

gases throughout the RHOB nor address the building’s lack of exit capacity or 

excessive travel distances. Hence, it would not abate citation 19. Consequently, 

the OOC cannot support this option as currently proposed. Vertical compartments reduce the number of occupants exposed to the effects of a fire, allow the 

occupants to egress horizontally (an essential feature for those who are physically unable to use stairs), reduce exit travel distances, increase available 

egress capacity, and create areas of safety to protect occupants from the effects 

of a fire in an adjacent compartment. That said, we assume that the AOC will 

continue to extend automatic sprinkler protection and upgrade the fire detection 
28 

and alarm system to provide area smoke detection throughout the building as 

contemplated by option 1. 

—Design option 2, if implemented with the general recommendations, would 

abate citation 19. Options 2a, 2b, 2c and SALSA, in conjunction with the general recommendations, all are sufficient to establish a reasonable level of fire 

protection within the RHOB. Unlike the cross-corridor solid doors in the SALSA 

plan that would remain open except in an emergency, all variations of option 

2 involve installation of concealed cross-corridor accordion (Won Door) partitions. The three variations of option 2 differ in cost, extent of 

compartmentalization within the building, the degree of building intervention, 

and level of fire protection. 

—Design option 3 requires extensive further study and computer-generated smoke 

modeling to determine its feasibility and benefit. Accordingly, without such information, the OOC is unable to opine on the merits of this option at this time. 

Thus, we agree in major part with the Panel’s findings respecting fire and lifesafety conditions as well as the measures necessary to achieve an acceptable level 

of fire safety. 

The Panel’s final report also contained a legal analysis of the OOC’s citation authority. We agree with parts of this analysis and strongly disagree with other parts. 

We agree to the extent it recognizes that the OOC has clear authority to issue citations for alleged violations of the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA), that the 

OOC’s issuance of a citation for these types of hazards is consistent with Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s practices regarding similar historic buildings, and that these hazards can reasonably be viewed as a violation of section 5 

of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHAct). However, we do take 

strong issue with the report respecting two significant matters as to which we believe it is in substantial error. First, it questions the authority of this office to require compliance with the safety and health standards promulgated by the Secretary of Labor under the OSHAct absent adoption by OOC of regulations incorporating those standards and approval of those regulations by the Congress. The 

analysis disregards the plain language of the CAA requiring employing offices to 

comply with the standards. In so doing, it ignores the well-recognized distinction between ‘‘standards’’ and ‘‘regulations’’. Only the OOC promulgated regulations that 

implement standards, unlike the standards themselves, require congressional approval. The legislative history of the CAA supports this interpretation of the CAA. 

Second, the analysis errs by challenging the exclusive authority of the general counsel of the OOC to make compliance decisions and to enforce its citations. Again, the 

CAA makes plain that this enforcement authority lies exclusively with the general 

counsel of the OOC. 

Senator NELSON. Sure. We’d like them for the record. But, can 

you give us, generally, some idea of whether—and maybe this is a 

better question for Mr. Ayers, as an architect—are they consistent 

with architectural integrity? Because that was one of our concerns. 

Obviously, we want things to be safe. But, we don’t want to destroy 

the architectural integrity. Were the recommendations, do you 

think, consistent with that? 

Mr. AYERS. I think so, Mr. Chairman. The group did go out and 

look at a number of other historic buildings, both locally and in 

other cities, and determined that other buildings in other jurisdictions have implemented the kind of controls we’re looking to implement, as well. And many jurisdictions have decided to implement 

them, and some have decided, ‘‘We’re not going to implement 

them.’’ I think the blue ribbon panel gave us a series of recommendations that go from ‘‘do nothing,’’ was one of their recommendations, through sort of a sliding scale of implementing full 

building smoke compartmentation throughout the building. I think, 

ultimately, the answer will be somewhere in between. 

Senator NELSON. Okay. Thank you. 
29 

CAPITOL DOME PROJECT

For the Capitol dome project, last year you requested, we had included, in our fiscal year 2011 bill, $20 million for repairs to the 

Capitol dome; and because of the continuing resolution, the funding 

has not been made available. Can we still begin the project, given 

the timeframe of the 2013 Inaugural? I think that was one of the 

time points that was important. Or, will we have all kinds of construction going on in the Capitol dome at the time of the Inaugural? 

Mr. AYERS. We certainly cannot let that happen, Mr. Chairman—— 

Senator NELSON. Right, exactly. 

Mr. AYERS [continuing]. And rest assured, we won’t. 

Senator NELSON. All right. 

Mr. AYERS. We’ve looked at that, and we think we can still implement that project up until June of this year. If we don’t receive 

that money prior to June, we think it’s best to postpone it until 

after the 2013 Inaugural. It’s about a year-and-a-half in construction. So we’re comfortable with June of this year. 

Senator NELSON. Okay. And if we do put it off—obviously, deferred maintenance has its challenges—does it create any more extraordinary issues, in terms of life safety or deterioration of the 

dome? 

Mr. AYERS. I wouldn’t characterize it as extraordinary, no. Waiting from 2011 until 2013 would not be extraordinary, in my mind, 

but deterioration will increase. 

Senator NELSON. But, we are going to have to do it—— 

Mr. AYERS. Yes. It is of immediate urgency. 

Senator NELSON [continuing]. As I understand it. 

Mr. AYERS. Yes, sir. 

UTILITY TUNNEL REPAIRS—RADIO PROJECT

Senator NELSON. On the utility tunnel repairs, you requested 

$17.4 million. Are you on schedule to complete the repairs in 2012, 

recognizing we’re still dealing with continuing resolutions? 

Mr. AYERS. Yes, Mr. Chairman. We are on schedule. We’re very 

confident we will complete that required work by June 2012. 

Senator NELSON. And I know you also have some responsibilities 

for the Capitol Police (USCP) radio project, the facilities portion. 

Can you give us a bit of an update on your work with the USCP 

radio modernization effort, recognizing how important it is for that 

to function the way we want it to function for Capitol Hill’s security? 

Mr. AYERS. I’d be happy to. That is a very important project. We 

have four overarching responsibilities as part of our work on that 

project. One is the design and construction of the primary site. The 

second is the design and construction of the mirror site, or the 

backup site. Third, is the creation of pathways and conduits for the 

antenna, to be run throughout all of the office buildings here on 

campus. And then, the last part of that is coordinating throughout 

the District of Columbia, finding places and antenna towers to 

lease antenna space and get utilities to that space. 
30 

So, on the primary site, we are nearly finished with that. I think 

we’re about 95 percent complete with construction. On the mirror 

site, we’ve just awarded the construction contract. We’ll be finished 

with that by July or August of this year, so both of those are within 

schedule. The antenna infrastructure within the buildings is proceeding well and on schedule. We’ve completed a number of buildings, like—the CPP and the USCP headquarters, among others, are 

complete, and others are in progress. And we’re comfortable with 

the schedule there. And then, finally, the leasing of antenna sites 

throughout the city; we are just now getting started on that process, identifying the sites and working with the radio manufacturer 

or, radio designer, U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, to study the 

interference between their system and other antennas that are on 

the sites that we’ve outlined. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. I know Senator Hoeven will be interested in the radio project, given that when 9/11 occurred, it was 

clear that our radio facilities were totally inadequate to deal with 

the communications required on Capitol Hill, perhaps just in ordinary circumstances, let alone the emergency that we experienced. 

So, when Sergeant at Arms Gainer and Chief Morse are here, we’ll 

probably go into that a little bit more. 

Thank you. 

REDUCING COSTS/SERVICES

Senator HOEVEN. Well, I’m not too surprised to hear that. I think 

there were a lot of places around the country—found out on 9/11 

that, in terms of their radio systems and interoperability that they 

had some challenges. So, I’m not too surprised to hear that. 

Ms. Chrisler, maybe you could comment a little bit on some of 

those level to a reduction in funding. How—and I know you’re certainly personnel-intensive, in terms of what you do—how would 

you approach that? 

Ms. CHRISLER. Thank you for the question. And it’s something 

that we’ve thought about. 

As you mentioned, our agency is heavily personnel- and resourcereliant, with respect to our infrastructure. The other side of that 

same coin is that the work that we have is largely controlled by 

the congressional population, with respect to our DRP. We have 

counseling services, mediation services, hearing services, and administrative dispute resolution services that we offer to employees 

and employing offices when they need them. So, they come to us 

when they need us. So, it’s not as if it’s a cost or an amount of 

work that we can control. If, by some instance, 100 employees come 

to our office in a given month, requesting our services, we’re mandated to provide those services. So, in some respects, the costs that 

we incur are not within our control. 

Even with that in mind, there are things that we’ve thought 

about. There are things that we have done to reduce the cost of our 

services. We’ve engaged in interagency agreements with executive 

branch agencies and other agencies to reduce the cost of our mediation and our hearing services. We have contemplated, and have 

tried to organize, teleconferences for—we have a five-member board 

of directors, who are experts in the substantive areas of our office 

and live across the country. They convene in Washington, DC, peri-
31 

odically, for meetings. We try to cut those meetings down and hold 

them telephonically so that we can save costs. So, the cost-cutting 

efforts that we’ve made continue. 

Looking forward at a reduction in our funding means that we 

will have to reduce—prior to reducing services, we’ll have to look 

at a different way to do business. Perhaps, the additional mediation services that we offer employees, we won’t—and employing 

offices—we won’t be able to offer. We may have to limit the rounds 

of mediation. We may have to limit our services in other respects. 

So, not eliminating the services, because it’s a—it’s a mandate of 

the statute, but reducing the duration of the contracts, reducing 

the number of contracts, renegotiating our contracts with other entities, is something that we’ve looked at, as well. That’s the services. 

The other side of that is that we have staffing that would more 

than likely need to be reduced. Within our Safety and Health Program, we have inspectors. We’re short one inspector now, so 

we’re—with additional cuts, we would be looking at additional 

shortages, which is difficult to conduct the work that we are mandated by the statute to do, and in a—in a cost-effective way. The 

risk-based approach to inspections and abatement is the smart way 

to do things. But, it is resource-intensive. So, looking at where 

we’re going to save money. Are you going to save money on the 

front part? Or, are we going to save money on the back part? And 

the back part is where the money—the real savings comes in, because we’re looking at reduction of illnesses and injuries and accidents and workers compensation. That’s a real savings. 

Similar with the DRP. We have the mediation, so we can cut 

funding and cut services on the front end, or do we want to cut it 

on the back end? Cost savings when we enter into an amicable settlement between the parties, as opposed to engaging in the protracted litigation. 

These are the considerations that we’ve made. 

Senator HOEVEN. So, if your requirement to handle these cases 

for remediation, and so forth, remains the same, and you have a 

smaller resource base, does that mean it just generates a backlog? 

Is that essentially what ends up happening? Or what are you anticipating? 

Ms. CHRISLER. Right. Pardon me. That’s one of the results. We 

would have the backlog. And again, we would have to reduce the 

services. So, yes, the services would be offered in the dispute resolution, but they wouldn’t be offered to the level that we offer them 

now. We work with the parties exhaustively for them to reach a 

mutually acceptable settlement or a mutually acceptable agreement. You know, we may not be able to extend services that comprehensively. We may just be able to just give them the bare bones 

and meet the requirements of the statute, as opposed to engaging 

with them and helping them meet the solution that’s best suited 

for them. That’s on the dispute resolution end. 

On the safety and health end, we may not be able to conduct inspections of every facility. We’ve—we completed three comprehensive biennial inspections. So, each Congress, we’ve—for the last 

three Congresses, we’ve conducted comprehensive inspections. So, 

we’ve seen a lot of places. We’ve worked with the employing offices 
32 

in a lot of areas. So, we may not, to the extent that we have in 

the past, conduct inspections of absolutely every facility. We may 

rely on the offices to conduct self-inspections. And then we would 

spot check and go to those areas that have the highest risk. So, 

yes, we would be offering the services that we’re required to, but 

at a much lower level. 

Senator HOEVEN. Are there statutory changes that come to mind 

that would help you streamline any of that process? 

Ms. CHRISLER. As I sit here, I can’t think of a statutory change 

that would assist us in that, because the statute is requiring that 

we offer the services that are necessary to give the protections that 

the act contemplates, that we offer the inspections, and that we engage in administering the rights that the statute is providing to 

employees and employing offices. So, it’s not a matter of amending 

the statute. That would result in limiting the protections, which I 

don’t think anyone is really looking to do. 

Senator HOEVEN. Okay. But, I think it’s something to think 

about if there are statutory changes that would strengthen your 

ability to do some of these things more effectively or more efficiently, in a streamlined way—contract for services, any number of 

things—you ought to think about it. And then, depending on the 

wishes of the Chairman, I do have another question about your 

computer system, but I can come back—— 

Senator NELSON. You can go ahead. 

Senator HOEVEN. Okay. 

You’re operating on a computer system that requires, as I understand it that each of your employees use two computers. And I 

have to use two BlackBerrys, because one’s personal and one’s for 

all the Senate stuff. And I do my best to keep all that in the right 

spot. But, one’s personal, so I really only have one BlackBerry for 

Senate use. But, my understanding is that your employees are having to operate with two work computers, which doesn’t seem like 

the most cost-effective or efficient way to do things. So, if you 

would, just explain why that’s the case and then what your plan 

is to migrate away from it, and the costs involved the one time, and 

then the savings you would hope to realize. 

Ms. CHRISLER. Sure. Thank you. And you’re absolutely right, it’s 

not effective—it’s not efficient way to conduct business. And as we 

migrate to a more technological society, it hinders the work of our 

staff. It prevents us from telecommuting. It prevents us from accessing documents remotely. The reason behind it is because of the 

location of the agency and the way that our IT structure is designed. Right now, our agency is physically located in the Adams 

Building of the LOC. And as a very small agency, we, in essence, 

piggyback on their server to connect with the outside world. So, we 

have one computer that connects to the LOC’s server that allows 

us to access the Internet and communicate with the outside world. 

The LOC has—administers that network. And we have an internal 

network, where we keep our confidential information claims that 

discrimination—claims that—are filed against Members of Congress—all confidential information that we maintain under the 

statute, we maintain within our internal server. So, we have two 

computers that we work on. It’s not efficient. It is cost prohibitive. 

But, because of the way our office functions and the mandates that 
33 

we have, it’s the best way for us, at the moment, to protect that 

information. 

What we’re doing is working with the LOC to be able to migrate 

our two computers into one and put up a firewall so that we can 

maintain the protection of the information, but still be connected 

to the system, because that is very cost effective for our agency— 

to be able to utilize the LOC’s network for the external—the Internet purposes. As a very small agency with, what you see, a very 

small budget, having the fiscal—the financial responsibility of 

maintaining that on our own would just be costs that are unnecessary—— 

Senator HOEVEN. Right. 

Ms. CHRISLER [continuing]. Given the situation that we have 

now. So, putting that firewall up and—will allow us to migrate to 

the one box. 

Senator HOEVEN. Mr. Chairman, I have a couple followups. 

Should I continue, or would you—— 

Senator NELSON. Yes, go ahead. 

Senator HOEVEN. Okay. 

Well, then building the security system or the firewall is the 

issue, right? In other words, it’s most cost effective for you to use 

the LOC computer. As you said, small agency. That makes sense. 

So, you’re on their server and so forth. 

Ms. CHRISLER. Right. 

Senator HOEVEN. So, the real issue is just programming, building 

an adequate firewall for that secure information. 

Ms. CHRISLER. That’s right. And that’s a cost and that we have 

requested in prior appropriations requests. It’s something that we 

continue to work with the LOC on. Right now, they’re engaged in 

an extensive restructuring of their security systems. And they have 

been working with us on migrating to one box, but we’ve made 

some modifications to that plan, because of the changes that 

they’re making to their security system. So, we continue to work 

with them to get that firewall up. Once that’s in place, we can 

move forward for our cost savings. And the numbers, I can provide 

for you for the record. 

Senator HOEVEN. Do they, in essence, act as a service bureau, 

where you just pay them a fee out of your budget for the use of 

their time on their servers and their computers? Is that how it 

works? 

Ms. CHRISLER. We have an interagency agreement with the LOC 

that involves a lot of different things, and one of them is for the 

IT work. 

Senator HOEVEN. And are they actually building that security 

system, or firewall, so that you then can migrate to the one computer, and it’s just a matter of them getting that done? 

Ms. CHRISLER. I don’t think they’re building it. We’ve got IT staff 

within our agency that have taken this initiative, and we’re working collaboratively with the LOC from our end. And so, I don’t 

think they’re needed to build it, but they—we need their help to 

implement it, of course. 

Senator HOEVEN. And they’re working on that now. 
34 

Ms. CHRISLER. Well, they are—they’ve indicated that they will 

continue to work with us once they’ve met some other priorities 

that they have. 

Senator HOEVEN. Okay. If you could have them give us that cost, 

that anticipated time to build it, and then what the resulting savings might be, that would be helpful. 

[The information follows:] 

The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 requires the Office of Compliance 

(OOC) to maintain confidentiality of certain information that is brought to our agency. As a result, we currently maintain a dual network system: one internal/closed 

system (which consists of servers, desktops, custom applications, and an email system) to allow for the maintenance of confidential information, and one external/open 

system, provided by the Library of Congress (LOC) to allow for access to the Internet. The OOC maintains agency data within the closed network. 

This configuration allows the agency to maintain confidential information; however, there are many drawbacks in the current separation of the networks. There 

are significant costs associated with maintaining the internal network infrastructure; the cost of updating two computers (one for the external and one for the internal) is an additional expense incurred by the agency; and the loss of productivity 

for each OOC employee to use two computers daily is an inefficient way to conduct 

business. 

The OOC has designed a plan to install a firewall on the backbone of the LOC 

network. This design will allow the OOC to eliminate the internal network and 

move all OOC servers, custom applications and data to the open LOC network, 

where our Internet-accessible desktops currently sit. The firewall will provide the 

necessary security measures required to maintain the confidentiality of OOC data. 

The OOC’s information technology staff will no longer need to maintain an internal 

email system or internal desktops, and the human resources costs associated with 

operating in a dual network environment will be eliminated. 

The OOC expects to realize the following from the elimination of the internal network: 

—One computer for each employee, rather than two; 

—Offset a forthcoming $50,000 cyclical computer desktop replacement cycle in fiscal year 2012; and 

—A significant decrease in annual productivity costs. 

Currently, the OOC loses 3 percent of productivity per staffer, daily, as a result 

of our current configuration. Given an agency of our size, with our limited resources 

and the multiple job duties performed by each staffer, a 3 percent daily loss is comparable to a 30 percent loss in a larger agency. 

Ms. CHRISLER. Thank you. And I want to thank you for your 

question about changes to the act. That is something that we will 

think about. We’ll talk to Rachelle and Lila about and—— 

Senator HOEVEN. Well, sometimes you have to go through a series of steps which may make sense or, based on the statute, now 

that you’ve been doing this you may want to say, ‘‘You know, if we 

didn’t have to do a couple of these things, we could still get a good 

outcome.’’ 

Ms. CHRISLER. Sure. 

Senator HOEVEN. So. If there is something like that. 

Ms. CHRISLER. Thank you. 

Senator HOEVEN. You bet. 

Senator NELSON. In that regard, Ms. Chrisler, probably the act 

requires you to take certain actions for inspections. It doesn’t specify how many or how often or that you have to do it, which is 

what—I believe—you are trying to do as judiciously as you can and 

with as much effort toward protecting life, fire, and safety issues. 

So, maybe it wouldn’t be required to change the language authorizing you to do it, and empowering you to do it, unless it’s too specific and you can’t meet the requirements because of the reduction 

in staff. 
35 

Ms. CHRISLER. That is—that the language within this—the 

OSHA inspection section is something that we will definitely take 

a look at and sit down and examine thoroughly to address the 

amount of inspections. I do believe it does say ‘‘every Congress.’’ So, 

there—it gives us that requirement that we do have to do this 

every Congress. And it may say ‘‘each facility.’’ So, it may be specific. But, we’ll take a look at it and follow up, as necessary. 

Senator NELSON. And if it needs to be modified, it wouldn’t necessarily prohibit self-inspections with oversight. Is that possible? 

Ms. CHRISLER. I’m sorry? 

Senator NELSON. Well, if we did change the language in some 

way, you could still have directions for inspections without prohibiting self-inspection. In other words, authorizing some self-inspections with your oversight, with your requirements, and then seeing 

if they comply. 

Ms. CHRISLER. And I think that we would want to maintain that 

relationship. 

Senator NELSON. Absolutely. 

Ms. CHRISLER. Yes. 

Senator NELSON. I understand that. Yes. 

INTEGRATING FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Now, we’ve been thinking, for some time, how we can realize 

some cost savings and efficiencies by converting the all the legislative branch agencies’ financial management systems to a single entity. And we’re back to the LOC. The General Accounting Office 

has found this idea to be a logical approach. And, as a first step, 

the USCP recently went through a very successful conversion of 

their financial management. We’re not talking about IT, here, as 

much as it is financial management system to the LOC’s. Mr. 

Ayers, have you looked at perhaps doing that, from the standpoint 

of your office? 

Mr. AYERS. We have begun to, Mr. Chairman—we have begun to 

consider that. Our proposal was to let the USCP do it first—— 

Senator NELSON. Yes, sure. 

Mr. AYERS [continuing]. Quite frankly, and shake out the bugs 

for us. And I think they’ve done that. It was successful. And there 

were very few and very minor issues with that conversion. I think 

that has paved the way for the rest of us in the legislative branch 

to do the same thing. 

GAP ANALYSIS

Senator NELSON. Well, I have to ask you, Ms. Chrisler, has Dr. 

Billington already done that in your case? Are you looking at it 

yet? 

Ms. CHRISLER. This is something that our agency has been a part 

of for some time now. 

Senator NELSON. Yes. 

Ms. CHRISLER. Yes. 

Senator NELSON. And he continues to collect his money, I suspect. 

Mr. Ayers, have you done what might be called the ‘‘gap analysis’’ that might be important to close in that connection, now that 
36 

perhaps the first entity, the USCP have been able to go through 

it? Because there will be a gap to close. 

We have not done a gap analysis. We do think that one should 

be done before we move our appropriations over and our financial 

management systems over. We obviously did convert, a year ago, 

as you may know or may recall, Mr. Chairman, that we were using 

a company, that was hosting our financial management system. We 

competed that and moved it to a different company, and saved $1 

million a year in doing just that. 

So, we’re familiar with those conversions. We do think a gap 

analysis is necessary. But, we’ve not done one yet. 

Senator NELSON. You did mention that you’re working on the CPP. I notice you’re requesting $16.4 million for the east plant 

chiller relocation project. Is that as a result of the question of compliance, the citation that was issued some time ago? 

Mr. AYERS. No, Mr. Chairman, that’s not a result of a safety 

problem or anything from the OOC or citation or anything like 

that. 

ENERGY REDUCTION REQUIREMENTS

There are two areas in the CPP where we make chilled water. 

One of them is in the west plant, and there’s money in our 2012 

request to upgrade some of those chillers. And, similarly, there are 

two relatively new pieces of equipment—I think they date from 

2003—that are in the east plant that are not connected to the west 

plant. We need to move them into the west plant to utilize those 

pieces of equipment. So, that’s what those two projects are. 

Senator NELSON. I see. Will we realize any savings from the 

House’s decision to discontinue the Greening the Capitol Initiative? 

In other words, I know that initially, there are costs associated 

with conversion, but not converting, will we save some money up 

front that would perhaps cost us on the back end later? 

Mr. AYERS. Would you repeat the question? 

Senator NELSON. Well, what I’m saying is, the House has decided, as I understand it, to discontinue the project called ‘‘Greening the Capitol.’’ In other words, making it much more energy efficient, with some changes to requirements that would do it. For example, if you look at your fiscal year 2012 budget, do you have anything in that budget for the greening project that if they prevailed, 

would not be spent for that project up front, recognizing that investing up front for the greening project could end up being cost 

effective at a later date? But, there could be some cost savings up 

front of not having the money spent. 

Mr. AYERS. Yes, I understand. I think if that program is discontinued, I think the immediate savings would be the staff that are 

focused on that, that are funded by the Chief Administrative Officer of the House. I think, subsequent to that, in the AOC’s appropriation, we have a number of energy-savings projects that we 

think are required for us to meet the energy savings and—— 

Senator NELSON. But, they wouldn’t necessarily be a part of that 

initiative. 

Mr. AYERS. They would not. Not necessarily, no. 

You know, all of the—or, most of the energy saving initiatives 

and ideas that come out of that office, we are the implementer of 
37 

those. And ultimately, they help us meet our statutory energy reduction goals. 

Senator NELSON. But it also raises the questions about, Where 

do you cut and what do you cut? 

Thank you. 

Senator HOEVEN. Thanks, Mr. Chairman, just a couple other 

questions. 

Mr. Ayers, how would you, in terms of both this concept of a level 

budget and then even a 10 percent reduction budget, so I know 

what those scenarios look like, and that we’re prepared. And I also 

think that that will lead you to come back to me and really point 

out the tough spots. And we’ll do what we can. 

DEFERRED MAINTENANCE VS. NEW PROJECTS

But, under that scenario, just address, for a minute, how much 

you bring in on the deferred, versus how much on the new. That’s 

one question. Because there may be some correlation there. In 

other words, if you don’t do new—some of the new stuff, you may 

have to do more of the deferred, and so forth. And again, that may 

be something you have to kind of analyze. That would be one question. 

The other is, in these projects, both the new and the deferred, 

does that affect your personnel cost? In other words, are all the 

costs of doing those projects—is the personnel cost, the operating 

variable cost, built in there? Or, if you’re not doing some of those 

new projects, then does that make a difference in terms of what 

your other operating and personnel costs are? 

So, those two questions. 

Mr. AYERS. Yes, sir. I think there may be a little confusion over 

the two lists that we provided in our budget that you may have before you. One of those lists, and the first one, is called our ‘‘Recommended Project List’’. And I think that totals $179 million. 

Senator HOEVEN. $179,168,000. 

Mr. AYERS. Correct. 

Senator HOEVEN. Not including the $50 million that’s in what 

you call this ‘‘House Historic Buildings Revitalization Trust Fund’’, 

which I’m going to ask you about, too. So. 

Mr. AYERS. Yes. 

Senator HOEVEN. That’s the list I’m looking at. 

Mr. AYERS. So, that list is the list of projects that we recommend 

be funded. 

The second list that we include in our budget, simply for information purposes only, is the second page there. That’s a list of 

projects that I’ve considered. My staff has brought them to me. 

They’re ready to execute. And we have made the decision to defer 

those and not seek the money for those. 

Senator HOEVEN. Oh, so that’s not deferred maintenance. 

Mr. AYERS. No, no. 

Senator HOEVEN. That’s actually deferred projects. So, this 

$128,982,000 is—that’s what’s coming someday, not—— 

Mr. AYERS. Yes. 

Senator HOEVEN [continuing]. Deferred maintenance that needs 

to be addressed. 
38 

Mr. AYERS. Some are deferred maintenance, many of them. They 

need to be addressed. But I’ve made the decision not to request 

them this year. 

OPERATIONS BUDGET PERSONNEL COSTS

Senator HOEVEN. So, your priority list is your priority list. Got 

that. Then what about the variable costs? 

Mr. AYERS. The way we approach these capital improvements, 

most of those have personnel costs built into them. And typically, 

if we do a major construction effort, we obviously will have to ramp 

up staff at the beginning and throughout it; and at the end, that 

staff then departs. And we do that, typically, through consulting 

services, construction management companies, and companies that 

provide program and construction management. Those kinds of 

costs are built into the numbers you see before you. However, our 

staff typically remains the same size. We hire consultants to help 

us through the ups and downs of various capital improvements. 

Senator HOEVEN. So, it won’t affect your other personnel and operating costs. 

Mr. AYERS. Not generally. 

Senator HOEVEN. How far we go down that list, which we’ll see, 

won’t affect your other operating line. 

Mr. AYERS. Well, I think we could fund all of those projects in 

our project operations budget, and staff would not go up, because 

we would hire consultants to temporarily help us with those. When 

the projects are over, the consultants go away. 

Senator HOEVEN. Then the—— 

Mr. AYERS. So, our operations side stays the same. 

Senator HOEVEN. Okay. Then the other thing, as it relates to the 

operating, is, you know, with our analysts, we’ll want to make sure 

that you go through and really look at the operating, vis a vis how 

far we go down that capital project line. I mean, it’s going to be 

important to hit the right balance there, particularly in your case. 

Obviously, in Ms. Chrisler’s case, it’s tougher, because it’s pretty 

much all people and operating. But, we need a good balance, so 

we’re taking a good look at the personnel and the operating line. 

HOUSE HISTORIC BUILDINGS REVITALIZATION TRUST FUND

The second thing is, if you would, just tell me how this $50 million works, on what you refer to as the ‘‘House Historic Buildings 

Revitalization Trust Fund’’. 

Mr. AYERS. Yes, sir. On the first one, you’re absolutely right, 

finding that right balance between the capital budget improvements—the operating budget. And our look at that is that, as we 

tighten the capital projects, the value and the necessity for the operating budget increases, because we’re not doing the projects, 

we’re not revitalizing, and we’re not replacing equipment; therefore, our staff that keeps this equipment running day-to-day becomes more and more important to that. So, finding that balance, 

you’re absolutely right, is important, and not cutting one or the 

other one too deeply. 

On the House Historic Building Revitalization Trust Fund, we 

think that that’s a really important approach to the long-term viability of the Capitol campus. There are—as you see—have seen in 
39 

our budget, there are some major building revitalizations that are 

before us—5 years out, 10 years out, 15 and 20 years out. And 

those building revitalizations could cost a half a billion or a $1 billion, depending upon what building they are. And to be able to accommodate a project of that magnitude and make a request of $750 

million in one fiscal year, and to have the legislative branch be able 

to appropriate that in one year, for us to execute the building revitalization, we don’t think is a sustainable approach, and we don’t 

think it’s reality, quite frankly. 

So, we think a better approach is to invest in our future, and invest in our infrastructure incrementally, and to build up a corpus 

of funds so that when a historic building needs to be revitalized, 

we have money there to do it. 

And I think, second, with that—and most importantly to me—is 

that if we don’t do that, that money will then compete for the 

projects, the deferred maintenance projects that are on this list. 

And those deferred maintenance projects won’t get done. And that’s 

when I think we really get in trouble with our building systems 

and our infrastructure. 

Senator HOEVEN. Well, and you, being an architect, would have 

a good understanding of how best to do that. That’s a better approach than a phased approach, where, if it were $50 million, one 

option would be to put $50 million in that fund to build to a certain 

number that you can do the whole project. Another approach would 

be to say, ‘‘Okay, we’re going to do phase one of five phases, or 

whatever. And we’re going to do $50 million worth of work.’’ So, 

that’s a better approach than a phased approach, is what you’re 

saying? 

Mr. AYERS. Well, I think both of those are viable approaches, 

quite frankly. 

Senator HOEVEN. Okay. Is it project dependent? Is that kind of 

how that works? 

Mr. AYERS. It typically is project dependent. It depends. There 

are efficiencies and inefficiencies in both of those approaches. Phasing, obviously, is a little more inefficient. And when we have to 

move people out of a building, it become extremely complicated. 

BUDGET CHALLENGES

Senator HOEVEN. Sure. 

Is there anything that either of you would want to bring up that 

I haven’t asked you about? I mean, is there something that, as you 

look at these budgets, or as we’ve talked about these things today, 

that you think it’s important to bring up that we haven’t talked 

about? 

Mr. AYERS. Not me. 

Ms. CHRISLER. I think that we’ve talked about the significant 

issues. I would love to be able to maintain the line of communication and continue to meet with Rachelle and Lila so that we can 

work through these issues as we explore the different levels that 

you’ve mentioned and, you know, deal with the challenges that we 

face. 

Senator HOEVEN. Thank you. And I think that’s absolutely the 

right approach. And I appreciate that. 

Thanks. 
40 

Senator NELSON. Yes, I would agree 100 percent with that. We’re 

facing a situation where a number of our colleagues are out there 

with a number or a percentage for cuts, in search of a plan. Our 

approach is to find the plan and work our way into it, so that we 

don’t get into a situation where, in order to meet the objective, 

somebody thinks we should close the CVC 2 days a week, or something like that. 

What we want to do is preserve the security on Capitol Hill. We 

want to preserve the integrity of the structures on Capitol Hill. We 

want to preserve the function of Government on Capitol Hill. We’re 

just faced with doing it in tight times. And so, working together, 

I think, will help us develop the smoothest possible approach to 

meeting all those objectives, and doing the best we can with the 

taxpayers’ money in the process. 

So, thank you. I’ve asked everything I plan to ask today, except 

I’ll ask the same thing of my colleague—‘‘What question haven’t I 

asked that I should ask?’’ You know, I guess that’s sort of the way 

to hear it. If you think of something, please, during our continuing 

discussions, share it. 

Mr. AYERS. Thank you. 

Senator NELSON. Thanks, to both of you. 

Ms. CHRISLER. Thank you. 

ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

[The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but were 

submitted to the agencies for response subsequent to the hearing:] 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO TAMARA CHRISLER

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY SENATOR JOHN HOEVEN

BUDGET CUTS

Question. How would a reduction in appropriated funds affect your operations, 

services, and programs? 

Answer. We believe that any reduction in our funding below current levels would 

be a false economy because such action would only serve to shift costs to or increase 

costs for other legislative branch agencies as well as the judicial branch. 

Based on our analysis, we have determined that any reduction in funding for our 

occupational safety and health program would seriously jeopardize the risk-based 

inspection process we have inaugurated at the urging of this subcommittee. The importance of our biennial inspections in identifying and reducing hazards cannot be 

overemphasized: during the 109th Congress, we identified more than 13,000 serious 

hazards; in the latest biennial inspection in the 111th Congress, we found 5,400 

hazards—a significant reduction in hazards and a corresponding increase in safety. 

The safety and health inspections are currently being performed with a skeletal 

staff consisting of one full-time employee and one full-time contractor. With higherrisk areas being dispersed over an area that is greater than 17 million square feet, 

the inspection staff is spread as thin as it can be. The risk-based inspection program 

requires that the work of these inspectors be supplemented by staff that can thoroughly analyze the procedures being followed in higher-risk areas such as the machine shops, mechanical spaces, and utility areas so that hazards can be identified. 

This staff must then work with the employing offices to adjust processes and procedures so that potential hazards are minimized or abated. To perform this process 

in a collaborative manner requires more time and resources than simply performing 

walk-through inspections and issuing citations wherever violations are found. While 

we are confident that implementing this risk-based inspection process is worth the 

time and resources the Congress has invested in the program because it will result 

in a significant reduction in injuries illnesses, and the related costs incurred by legislative branch agencies when these injuries and illnesses occur, we are also very 

cognizant that we have stretched our resources as far as we can to provide this enhanced service. As it stands now, we are uncertain whether we will be able to com-
41 

plete this targeted schedule with our current level of funding. Any further reduction 

in funding would probably force us to abandon the risk-based approach and return 

to an enforcement method involving walk-through inspections and citations. This 

would mean that the anticipated savings in injury costs associated with the riskbased program would be lost. 

Moreover, as we look to the immediate future, the Office of Compliance (OOC) 

sees an increased need for thorough inspections of higher-risk areas as maintenance 

and capital improvement projects are being deferred in order to save costs. Deferral 

of capital projects not only increases maintenance costs, but increases the need for 

frequent safety inspections. If facilities use mechanical and electrical systems well 

beyond their useful life expectancy, the risk that these systems will fail and cause 

fire or injury increases dramatically. It may make sense to defer expensive capital 

improvement projects during this time of budget constraints; however, it must be 

recognized that this type of deferral will also increase the need for maintenance and 

inspection (and the costs associated with them). When these systems reside in buildings with known egress and fire-hazard deficiencies, the failure to be vigilant about 

safety inspections can be catastrophic. Interim measures such as increasing fire prevention through the use of inspections are a cost-effective way to allow continued 

use of outdated facilities and systems while maintaining an acceptable level of safety. 

Similarly, any reduction in the OOC’s funding would reduce our Americans With 

Disabilities Act (ADA) inspections and would be more than offset by the increased 

costs that the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) would incur. As it stands, ADA inspections can only be performed occasionally when we are able to squeeze time out of 

the schedules of employees and contractors who are assigned to other duties. There 

is no specific funding for this program so there is nothing there to cut. In addition, 

this program is being administered in a way that should result in significant savings. The ADA requires that new construction and alterations be designed and constructed in strict compliance with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design. In the 

past, the AOC has incurred additional costs when it was discovered that alterations 

and new construction did not comply with the ADA standards. The OOC is now 

finding ways to work with the AOC at the design and preconstruction stages to ensure that new construction and alterations comply with the ADA, thereby saving the 

costs associated with re-constructing completed projects so that they comply with 

the standards. Our inspection of the Capitol Visitor Center, prior to the completion 

of construction, is a perfect example of how ADA inspections result in cost savings. 

In addition, reducing funding to our employment dispute resolution program 

would result in diminished services and not in any net savings. The success of the 

confidential counseling and mediation program is largely due to the OOC’s ability 

to offer these services in an expedited manner. The Congressional Accountability 

Act (CAA) requires that counseling be completed within 30 days of the request for 

counseling and that mediation, which lasts 30 days, be commenced within 15 days 

of the end of counseling. See CAA §§ 402 and 403. Based upon our experience with 

this program, we have found that employment disputes can often be resolved efficiently and less expensively when access to confidential mediation services can be 

provided before the parties incur substantial costs, become entrenched in their 

stances, and begin ‘‘trying’’ their cases in the press. We, therefore, believe that any 

cuts to this program will reduce the level of mediation services and drive up the 

cost of unnecessary litigation. 

The OOC also anticipates that the number of requests for counseling relating to 

employment disputes will increase as funding for legislative branch offices is reduced. These budget cuts will result in more layoffs and terminations, which in turn 

will likely result in more employees filing requests with the OOC challenging those 

layoff and termination decisions. Furthermore, because the cuts are occurring 

throughout all levels of Government, more terminated and laid-off employees will 

be unable to obtain another Government position after termination or layoff. This 

too is likely to fuel an increase in the number of employees filing with the OOC. 

As unemployment rates increased in the private sector during the last few years, 

the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) saw a dramatic increase 

in the number of discrimination complaints filed with its offices. In fiscal year 2010, 

the EEOC received almost 100,000 complaints (99,992). In the 10 years between fiscal year 1997 and 2007, the EEOC consistently averaged approximately 80,000 complaints per year (fluctuating between 75,428 and 84,442). In the last 3 years, the 

EEOC is averaging closer to 95,000 complaints per year (95,402 in fiscal year 2008, 

93,277 in fiscal year 2009, and 99,992 in fiscal year 2010). The OOC anticipates that 

it, too, will experience a large increase in the number of filings as budget cuts cause 

staff reductions. Again, we do not believe that it makes sense to reduce funding for 

these services at a time of overall budget cuts because this is a time when both the 
42 

need for these services will be increasing and the probable litigation costs incurred 

by not providing these services will undoubtedly surpass any apparent savings associated with cutting the services. 

CHANGES TO THE CAA

Question. Please describe any statutory changes that could help make your programs or processes more ‘‘streamlined’’ or efficient or that would otherwise save 

money? 

Answer. Pursuant to section 102b of the CAA, each Congress, the board of directors prepares a report analyzing current laws and determining whether those laws 

should be made applicable to the legislative branch. This most recent 102b report 

‘‘Recommendations for Improvements to the Congressional Accountability Act’’ not 

only provides key recommendations, but also focuses on how these recommendations 

can produce cost savings across the legislative branch. 

SAFETY AND HEALTH AMENDMENTS THAT WILL RESULT IN COST SAVINGS

Subpoena Authority in Safety and Health Investigations.—Unlike the Department 

of Labor (DOL) and other State and Federal entities, subpoena authority in aid of 

investigations was not given to the OOC under the CAA. This exemption limits the 

OOC’s ability to investigate promptly and effectively safety and health hazards 

within congressional workplaces. Currently, the OOC is dependent on information 

that is voluntarily provided by employing offices and employees when it conducts 

safety and health investigations. In some instances, the absence of investigatory 

subpoena authority has significantly contributed to protracted delays in investigations, which results in additional personnel costs for OOC staff conducting the investigation and congressional staff responding to the investigatory requests. Inordinate delay or provision of only partial information results in faulty witness recollection, the lack and loss of evidence, untimely completion of inspections, and unnecessarily prolonged employee exposure time to hazardous conditions. 

Safety and Health Recordkeeping.—The recordkeeping requirements included in 

section 8c of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 recognize the need for 

full and accurate information to administer effectively a safety and health program. 

With records, the OOC could better pinpoint worksites with high numbers of injuries and illness and identify and analyze their causes and use targeted safety programs to reduce and prevent such hazards. 

At the urging of this subcommittee, the OOC is no longer conducting the type of 

‘‘wall-to-wall’’ inspections that were performed during the prior three Congresses. 

Beginning with the 112th Congress, the OOC has implemented a risk-based inspection process that allows us to focus our inspections on higher-risk areas. We implemented this risk-based process by hiring an Occupational Safety and Health Program Manager who has experience working in the insurance industry performing 

risk-based assessments of safety hazards. She has worked with the employing offices to develop a risk-based inspection process that focuses on higher-risk areas and 

allows lower-risk areas to be self-inspected by the employing offices based upon criteria established by the OOC, with oversight and spot-checking also provided by the 

OOC. We believe that this approach to inspections is consistent with the existing 

statutory language which grants sufficient discretion to the OOC’s general counsel 

regarding the procedure and methods used to conduct the biennial inspections mandated by CAA §§ 215(e). 

While the OOC has implemented this process by compiling a tentative and somewhat speculative list of higher-risk areas, the OOC has been hampered in its ability 

to identify higher-risk areas because there is no requirement in the CAA that legislative branch agencies maintain injury and illness logs or records. Nor does the CAA 

require that these logs or records be provided to the OOC when they are being 

maintained by agencies. 

Without these logs and records, the OOC general counsel cannot access the information needed to develop fully and efficiently a targeted risk-based inspection program aimed at the causes and prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses, as 

was envisioned by this subcommittee. As the DOL recognized, ‘‘analysis of the data 

is a widely recognized method for discovering workplace safety and health problems 

and tracking progress in solving these problems.’’ See, ‘‘Frequently Asked Questions 

for OSHA’s Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Rule for Federal Agencies’’, 

www.osha.gov/dep/fap/recordkeepingfaqs.html. 

In February 2004, the then General Accounting Office (GAO) issued its report, Office of Compliance, Status of Management Control Efforts to Improve Effectiveness, 

GAO–04–400. In its report, the GAO made a number of recommendations to improve the OOC’s effectiveness, one of which was to increase ‘‘its capacity to use occu-
43 

pational safety and health data to facilitate risk-based decisionmaking’’ to ensure 

that the OOC’s activities contribute to ‘‘a safer and healthier workplace.’’ (pp. 4, 14). 

The inability to acquire relevant and targeted employing office accident and injury 

data (OSHA section 8(c)(2)) hinders the general counsel’s effort to tailor the biennial 

inspections, focusing its limited resources on work areas that have the highest incidence of illness or injury. 

WORKPLACE RIGHTS AMENDMENTS THAT WILL RESULT IN COST SAVINGS

Notice Posting of Rights.—Almost all Federal anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, safety and health, and other workplace rights laws require that employers 

prominently post notices of those rights and information pertinent to asserting 

claims for alleged violations of those rights. By providing such notices, employees 

have a clearer understanding of their rights. Such notices also serve as a reminder 

to supervisors and co-workers that certain behaviors, such as sexual harassment, 

are not tolerated in the congressional workplace and that there are legal consequences for such behaviors. By deterring such behavior, it is anticipated that 

workplace conflict would diminish and the Congress would spend less money and 

time defending against discrimination claims. 

Mandatory Anti-discrimination/harassment Training.—The private sector and 

Federal executive branch have long recognized the benefits of mandatory anti-discrimination training for all employees. Much like with ethics laws, managers who 

do not understand their obligations under workplace rights laws are bound to run 

afoul of them. By helping managers to better understand workplace rights laws, 

compliance with those laws improve. Furthermore, managers will know how to 

quickly address such workplace strife rather than allowing it to fester and grow, resulting in greater legal consequence. It also informs employees about their workplace rights and how workplace conflicts can be resolved. The short amount of time 

spent on anti-discrimination training ‘‘at the front end’’ can prevent much greater 

time spent on litigation. The OOC is looking into the possibility of implementing 

this training through computer-based programs, a method that appears to be on the 

increase in the private sector. This could prove to be cost-efficient as well as effective. 

Consolidation of Dispute Resolution Programs for All Legislative Branch Agencies.—Another area of potential statutory change involves expanding the coverage 

of OOC procedures to include those legislative branch agencies currently excluded 

from some of the provisions of the CAA, i.e., the Library of Congress (LOC), the 

Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Government Printing Office 

(GPO). Such a change would be consistent with ongoing efforts to consolidate specific services in particular legislative branch offices, such as consolidating all police 

and security services with the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) (eliminating a separate 

LOC police force), moving all accessibility services to a separate Congressional Office of Accessibility Services (eliminating separate House and Senate offices), and 

implementing a uniform financial management system across all legislative branch 

agencies. Pursuant to a mandate from the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch in fiscal year 2005, this issue has been under 

study since fiscal year 2006 by the foregoing agencies. The OOC could accelerate 

this process to identify potential cost savings that would result from such a legislative change. 

Although the GPO is part of the legislative branch, it is not subject to any of the 

provisions of the CAA. Most GPO employees are included in the Federal competitive 

service and employment laws that apply generally in the executive branch apply at 

GPO. While covered under their own statutory schemes, the GAO and LOC are not 

subject to the provisions of the CAA providing protections in the areas of employment discrimination, Fair Labor Standards, labor-management relations, genetic information use and disclosure, veterans’ preference, and disability access to public 

services and accommodations. The GAO and LOC, however, are subject to the provisions in the CAA relating to occupational safety and health, and presumably to 

those provisions covering polygraph use and procedures, worker adjustment and retraining, uniformed services employment and re-employment, and family and medical leave. 

In the areas where there is no coverage under the CAA, GAO, LOC, and GPO 

utilize their own internal procedures and staff to provide the processes and procedures they are otherwise required to provide by law. In some cases, these agencies 

also use related agency employment dispute resolution panels or executive branch 

agencies. Thus, in addition to its own internal processes, the GAO is subject to the 

dispute resolution procedures of its own Personnel Appeals Board. Labor relations 

matters of the LOC are regulated by the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the 
44 

GPO is covered by employment dispute agencies of the executive branch (the Merit 

Systems Protection Board, the EEOC, the Office of the Special Counsel, and the 

Federal Labor Relations Authority). Many of the processes used by the LOC, GAO, 

and GPO are duplicative of the services provided to the legislative branch by the 

OOC under the CAA. 

The mandatory counseling and mediation provisions of the CAA provide a costeffective means to resolve employment disputes. Indeed, these procedures are already in use by such agencies of the legislative branch such as the AOC, the Congressional Budget Office, and the USCP. Employing offices within the House of Representatives and the Senate also utilize the case processing procedures of the OOC. 

The CAA’s hearing process is a cost-effective alternative to litigation for all parties. 

Consolidating all counseling, mediation, and hearing services for all legislative 

branch agencies with the OOC would eliminate the needless duplication of resources 

that is currently occurring in the LOC, GAO, and GPO. 

Recordkeeping.—Another recordkeeping recommendation involves workplace 

rights other than those listed above with respect to safety and health. Most Federal 

workplace rights statutes that apply to private and public sector employers require 

the employer to retain personnel records in a certain manner and for a certain period of time. Although some employing offices in the Congress keep personnel 

records, there are no legal requirements to do so under the CAA. Mandating these 

requirements would assist in speedier resolution of claims because documentary evidence would be available to assist in adjudicating the merits of an employee’s 

claims: employers would be able to use records to assist in demonstrating that personnel actions were carried out in a nondiscriminatory manner; employees would be 

able to show that the employer acted improperly; mediators may use such records 

to assist the parties in arriving at a resolution; and hearing officers may use such 

records to determine the merits of a case and whether certain cases should proceed 

to a hearing or be dismissed without a hearing. In the absence of such records, both 

parties must present their evidence with lengthy depositions and witness testimonies, all resulting in increased expenditure of taxpayer dollars. 

Whistleblower Protections.—The Congress has long recognized whistleblowers as 

saving taxpayer dollars by exposing waste, fraud, and abuse. The anti-retaliation 

provisions of the CAA only provide protection to employees who exercise their rights 

under current provisions of the CAA, and provisions for disclosures of alleged violations of law, abuses, or mismanagement are not included in the CAA. If the CAA 

were amended to include whistleblower protections, the OOC would not investigate 

or prosecute claims of waste, fraud, or abuse (the proper authorities would); rather 

employees who face retaliation for reporting waste, fraud, or abuse to the proper authorities would bring retaliation claims through the confidential alternative dispute 

resolution process as they would any other workplace rights claim. As in the private 

sector and Federal executive branch, congressional staffers would have whistleblower protections and the Congress would witness the taxpayer savings that whistleblower protections bring. 

SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

Senator NELSON. The hearing is recessed. 

[Whereupon, at 3:42 p.m., Thursday, March 3, the hearing was 

concluded, and the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of the Chair.] 
(45) 

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR 

FISCAL YEAR 2012 

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011 

U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met at 2:28 p.m., in room SD–138, Dirksen 

Senate Office Building, Hon. Ben Nelson (chairman) presiding. 

Present: Senator Nelson. 

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 

STATEMENT OF GENE L. DODARO, COMPTROLLER GENERAL 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BEN NELSON

Senator NELSON. This meeting will come to order. Senator 

Hoeven is not going to be able to join us today. So we will proceed 

as we would ordinarily. 

We meet this afternoon to take testimony on the fiscal year 2012 

budget request from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), 

the Government Printing Office (GPO), and the Congressional 

Budget Office (CBO). 

And I am happy to welcome today our witnesses—Gene Dodaro, 

Comptroller General; William Boarman, Public Printer; and Doug 

Elmendorf, Director of the CBO. 

I want to reiterate a few of my concerns going into fiscal year 

2012. Here, in Washington, it is clear that we need to get serious 

about controlling and cutting costs. And I can’t fix the entire problem of overspending in the Congress, but I hope we can set an example here in the legislative branch. 

I started this process last year, as everyone here and the witnesses can attest to, when Senator Murkowski and I worked together to make reductions to this bill. And this year, it is the goal 

of Senator Hoeven and I, to work together to make even further 

cuts to next year’s budget. 

Cutting spending for the Congress is an effort to lead by example. In many ways, our message, to paraphrase Harry Truman, is, 

‘‘The buck shrinks here.’’ 

I appreciate the contributions made by each of our agencies in 

assisting the Congress in its service to the country. We are truly 

grateful for the work you do, and we look forward to hearing from 

you and discussing your budget requests. 

Mr. Dodaro, last year when you appeared before this subcommittee, I introduced you as Acting Comptroller General of the 
46 

GAO. So I want to congratulate you on your confirmation as the 

eighth Comptroller General of the United States and also to recognize you for being the first career GAO employee to achieve this 

impressive milestone. That is really quite an accomplishment, and 

obviously, we wish for you to continue your good work and have 

our good wishes. This year, the GAO is requesting a total of $556.8 million, the 

same as the fiscal year 2010 enacted level, and a total of 3,220 fulltime equivalents (FTEs). I appreciate the work that you and your 

staff have put into keeping the GAO’s budget request flat this year, 

and I look forward to hearing the specifics of the request, specifically where we might, if necessary, as we think it would be, to 

make some additional cuts. 

As you know, unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished. And 

so, we will try to avoid having that happen. But thank you. 

This is your first time appearing before this subcommittee since 

your December 29 appointment to the post of Public Printer, Mr. 

Boarman. Congratulations on your appointment, and welcome. 

And I understand that the GPO recently celebrated 150 years of 

service to the Federal Government, and I would like to congratulate you and your entire staff on that accomplishment, as well. The 

GPO is requesting a total of $148.5 million, which is $1 million, or 

0.7 percent, more than the fiscal year 2010 enacted level. 

Dr. Elmendorf, it is always good to see you and good to see you 

again here today. The CBO is requesting $46.8 million in fiscal 

year 2012, an increase of roughly $1.7 million, or 3.8 percent, more 

than the current year. As you and as I have discussed, there are 

some explanations that would be very helpful in relating previous 

years to the current year request, and I look forward to discussing 

the particulars of your budget in just a few minutes. 

Now let us begin, I would like to call on Mr. Dodaro for your 

opening statement, followed by Mr. Boarman, and then Dr. Elmendorf. And I hope, if you could, keep your opening statements as 

brief as possible, perhaps as little as 5 minutes. But we wouldn’t 

want to shut down your opportunity for opening comments. 

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF GENE L. DODARO

Mr. DODARO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to discuss the 

GAO’s budget request for fiscal year 2012. I want to make sure we 

answer all your questions, so I will be very brief. I would like to 

make just four points. 

The first has to do with the breadth and scope of the GAO’s support to the Congress. Second, is the return on investment that the 

Congress and the taxpayers receive as a result of their investment 

in the GAO. Third, is the importance we place on having a dedicated, skilled, and motivated workforce. And fourth, briefly, the rationale for our budget submission. 

First, in terms of the breadth of our support to the institution of 

the Congress, the GAO supports every standing committee of the 

Congress, and 70 percent of the subcommittees have requested our 

assistance. We issue hundreds of reports and testimonies every 

year across the full breadth of the Federal Government’s responsibilities—from healthcare to defense. Just last week, for example, 
47 

we testified at 13 hearings on everything from flood insurance to 

cybersecurity. 

The return on investment last year, as a result of the Congress 

and agencies implementing our recommendations, was $49.9 billion 

in financial benefits. That is an $87 return for every $1 invested 

in the GAO. 

Beyond this record, more than 1,300 other documented benefits 

occurred as a result of the GAO’s work that didn’t result in financial benefits, but resulted in improved service to the public or 

greater efficiencies and effectiveness of Government programs. For 

example, recommendations that we made improved oversight of 

nursing home safety. 

Eighty-two percent of our recommendations are implemented 

over a period of time. So we think we make—on a continual basis— 

a good effort to help ensure the accountability of the Federal Government and improve its performance. 

Now these accomplishments aren’t possible without dedicated, 

talented people, and at the GAO we have a multidisciplinary workforce, as you know. We put a lot of effort into making sure that we 

have the right skills and types of people, both in technical disciplines and subject areas. To work on this, we provide support in 

making sure that they keep their training up to date so that we 

are using the most state-of-the-art methodologies and technologies. 

And we also put a big investment on working with our employees. 

As you know, and as you have commented in the past, we are 

rated as one of the best places to work in the Federal Government. 

We are very proud of that record. We work hard with our employees and with our union to have good, constructive ongoing relationships. We value that, and we are making good progress in that regard. 

Last, as the auditor of the consolidated financial statements of 

the Federal Government, I am acutely aware of the fiscal stress 

that our Government is under. And as we have said for a number 

of years, it is on an unsustainable long-term path. But I also recognize that during these times of making decisions on where to cut 

and how to allocate resources, that GAO’s services are even that 

much more important to the Congress in order to help it make the 

best decisions possible to eliminate waste, to deal with a variety of 

issues, and to make cuts without having unintended negative consequences on the citizens. 

PREPARED STATEMENT

And so, therefore, we put forth what we believe to be a prudent, 

modest request. We have tried to gain as many efficiencies as possible, and we believe, with the request that we have put forward, 

that we can meet the highest-priority needs of the committees 

across the Congress. 

I know this subcommittee will give careful consideration, as you 

have in the past, to our request, and I look forward to answering 

your questions. 

[The statement follows:] 
48 

1GAO–11–2SP, United States Government Accountability Office Performance and Accountability Report Fiscal Year 2010 and GAO–11–3SP, Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2010. 2GAO–11–318SP, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, 

Save Tax Dollars and Enhance Revenue. 3Our 2011 High-Risk List is included in Appendix I. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF GENE L. DODARO

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee: I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to discuss the Government Accountability 

Office’s (GAO) budget request for fiscal year 2012. I want to thank the subcommittee for its continued support of the GAO. We very much appreciate the confidence you have shown in our efforts to help support the Congress in carrying out 

its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve Government performance and 

accountability for the benefit of the American people. 

With this subcommittee’s support, in fiscal year 2010, the GAO provided assistance to every standing congressional committee and 70 percent of their subcommittees. Our work yielded significant results across the Government, including financial benefits of $49.9 billion—a return on investment of $87 for every $1 invested 

in the GAO. In addition, we documented more than 1,300 other benefits resulting 

from our work that helped improve services to the public, promote improved management throughout Government and change laws, such as the Improper Payments 

Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010.1

Recently, we issued two major reports that underscore the GAO’s continuing value 

in helping the Congress and the administration reduce costs and improve Government, particularly in a time of reduced resources. 

—First, just last week on March 1, 2011, we detailed 81 opportunities to reduce 

duplication, overlap, or fragmentation.2 These opportunities span a range of 

Federal Government mission areas such as agriculture, defense, economic development, energy, general government, health, homeland security, international 

affairs, and social services. Within and across these missions, our report touches 

on hundreds of Federal programs, affecting virtually all major Federal departments and agencies. By reducing or eliminating unnecessary duplication, overlap, or fragmentation and by addressing the other cost-saving and revenue-enhancing opportunities contained in the report, the Federal Government could 

save tens of billions of tax dollars annually and help agencies provide more efficient and effective services. 

—Second, our high-risk update issued on February 17, 2011, identified 30 Federal 

areas and programs at risk of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, and 

those in need of broad-based transformation. Solutions to high-risk problems 

offer the potential to save billions of dollars, dramatically improve service to the 

public, and strengthen confidence and trust in the performance and accountability of the U.S. Government.3

Looking ahead to fiscal year 2012, the GAO is acutely aware of our dual responsibilities in a time of fiscal austerity. First, the Congress has rightly come to rely 

upon the GAO to help identify billions of dollars in cost-saving opportunities to 

tighten Federal budgets or to point out revenue enhancement opportunities. We 

know our mission becomes ever more critical when the Nation faces difficult financial times. But second, the GAO must also ensure it meets this responsibility while 

implementing all possible cost savings in its own operations without diminishing our 

traditionally high-quality work that lays the foundation for critical decisionmaking 

and oversight by the Congress. 

Accordingly, we are seeking only to maintain our fiscal year 2010 funding level 

of $556.8 million in fiscal year 2012 and plan to maintain our current authorized 

staffing levels. While operating at this funding level with no increase poses challenges, the GAO is committed to reducing our own costs as much as possible in 

order to absorb the additional demands and increasing costs of the coming year 

without additional resources. Our budget request attempts to balance tradeoffs and 

assumes that we will be able to manage at reduced funding levels, and try to maintain our staffing levels to provide insightful analyses on the most important priorities for congressional oversight and decisionmaking. 

However, if the GAO’s funding is reduced below the requested level, more drastic 

measures would be needed, such as reductions in our staff capacity, which would 

result in increased delays in responding to congressional requests, limit our ability 

to provide timely responses to support congressional oversight, and reduce the number of requests that we could complete. 
49 

4 A list of selected issues on which GAO staff testified before the Congress during fiscal year 

2010 is included as Appendix II. 

THE GAO’S EFFORTS HELP THE CONGRESS ADDRESS DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL

CHALLENGES

The GAO stands ready to serve the Congress and the American people at this historically critical juncture and is uniquely positioned to help address our Nation’s 

challenges and identify opportunities. Pressures to reduce the Federal deficit following an economic recovery will mean a greater need for analyses of programs and 

their effectiveness, as well as a reduction in improper Federal payments and closing 

the gap between taxes owed and paid. 

Congressional demand for GAO services remains high as evidenced by our workload. We expect that trend to continue as a result of the pressures on Federal finances and our economy. For example, we will be working to produce future annual 

reports outlining duplication, overlap, and fragmentation as well as opportunities to 

reduce costs and enhance revenue. Additionally, the Wall Street Reform Act contained 44 new statutory requirements or authorities for GAO assistance, including 

audits related to the Federal Reserve. 

Our past performance is evidence of the critical role our dedicated staff play in 

helping the Congress and the American people better understand issues, both as 

they arise and over the long term. For example, in fiscal year 2010, the GAO issuearea experts testified 192 times before the Congress on a wide range of issues, ranging from air cargo, border and cyber security issues and the Department of Defense’s planning for the drawdown of United States forces from Iraq to the Medicare 

prescription drug program, processing of disability claims and funding for broad 

band services.4

The GAO’s strategic plan for serving the Congress and the Nation, highlights the 

broad scope of our efforts to help the Congress respond to domestic and international challenges, such as: 

—threats confronting U.S. national security interests; 

—fiscal sustainability and debt challenges; 

—economic recovery and restored job growth; and 

—advances in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

The GAO seeks not only to help position the Government to better manage risks 

that could compromise the Nation’s security, health, and solvency, but also to identify opportunities for managing Government resources wisely for a more sustainable 

future. 

Our strategic plan covers the following goals and objectives: 

Goal 1.—Help the Congress address current and emerging challenges to the wellbeing and financial security of the American people. 

—Financing and programs to serve the health needs of an aging and diverse population; 

—Lifelong learning to enhance U.S. competitiveness; 

—Benefits and protections for workers, families, and children; 

—Financial security for an aging population; 

—A responsive, fair, and effective system of justice; 

—Viable communities; 

—A stable financial system and consumer protection; 

—Responsible stewardship of natural resources and the environment; and 

—A viable, efficient, safe, and accessible national infrastructure. 

Goal 2.—Help the Congress respond to changing security threats and the challenges of global interdependence. 

—Protect and secure the homeland from threats and disasters; 

—Ensure military capabilities and readiness; 

—Advance and protect U.S. foreign policy interests; and 

—Respond to the impact of global market forces on U.S. economic and security 

interests. 

Goal 3.—Help transform the Federal Government to address national challenges. 

—Analyze the Government’s fiscal position and opportunities to strengthen approaches to address the current and projected fiscal gap; 

—Identify fraud, waste, and abuse; and 

—Support congressional oversight of major management challenges and program 

risks. 

Our strategic plan framework is included in Appendix IV. 
50 

CONSTRAINED FISCAL YEAR 2012 BUDGET REQUEST

Our requested funding level of $556.8 million will allow us to try to support a 

staffing level of 3,220 FTEs to provide insightful analysis on the most important priorities for congressional oversight and decisionmaking. We will continue to outreach 

to the Congress to understand and set priorities to ensure that we focus on the most 

important issues for congressional oversight. 

Although operating under a flat budget for 3 years provides significant operational challenges, we have carefully considered our resource requirements and 

made tradeoffs to ensure that we try to maintain our staff capacity within our current funding level to allow us to provide the Congress with high-quality, timely, and 

objective analyses of Government programs, operations, and finances—information 

that the Congress needs to make policy choices, ensure transparency and accountability, and protect the taxpayer. 

However, since 80 percent of our budget covers staff compensation and benefits, 

our flexibility to control costs without diminishing our staff capacity is limited. 

Without additional funding in fiscal year 2013 and beyond, we would need to reduce 

our staff capacity which would increase the delay in starting work on congressional 

requests, limit our ability to provide timely responses and analyses to support congressional oversight, and reduce the number of requests that we could undertake. 

THE GAO MAINTAINS EFFECTIVE WORKFORCE RELATIONS

We could not have achieved our level of performance without the hard work and 

dedication of our professional, diverse, and multidisciplinary staff. Recognizing that 

the GAO’s accomplishments are a direct result of our dedicated workforce, we continuously strive to maintain a work environment that promotes employee well-being 

and productivity. We are also proud of the results from our 2010 annual employee 

feedback survey, which indicate that employee satisfaction continues to increase and 

that we continue to make progress toward our goal to create a more inclusive work 

environment. In 2010, the GAO was once again rated second on the list of the ‘‘Best 

Places to Work’’ in the Federal Government by the Partnership for Public Service. 

The GAO regularly seeks and values the input we receive from our employee organizations. Recently, we reached tentative agreement with the GAO’s Employees 

Organization—International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, 

Local 1921—on a master contract that has since been ratified by its members and 

is pending legal review. We are also working with our Employee Advisory Council 

and the Diversity Advisory Council on a range of issues. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS

I believe that you will find our prudent budget request is fiscally responsible and 

essential to ensure that we can maintain our capacity to assist the Congress in this 

challenging period in our Nation’s history. 

We have a proven track record of helping the Congress evaluate critical issues of 

national importance and improving the transparency and accountability of our national government. Our new strategic plan for serving the Congress through fiscal 

year 2015 provides the framework for reporting on progress toward our institutional 

goals. 

We remain committed to providing accurate, objective, nonpartisan, and constructive information to the Congress to help it conduct effective oversight and fulfill its 

constitutional responsibilities. I appreciate, as always, your careful consideration of 

our submission and look forward to discussing our proposal with you. 

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Hoeven, members of the subcommittee, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased to respond to any questions that 

you or other members of the subcommittee might have. 

APPENDIX I.—THE GAO’S 2011 HIGH-RISK LIST

Strengthening the foundation for efficiency and effectiveness: 

—Management of Federal oil and gas resources (new); 

—Modernizing the outdated U.S. financial regulatory system; 

—Restructuring the U.S. Postal Service to achieve sustainable financial viability; 

—Funding the Nation’s surface transportation system; 

—Strategic human capital management; and 

—Managing Federal real property. 

Transforming the Department of Defense (DOD) program management: 

—DOD approach to business transformation; 

—DOD business systems modernization; 

—DOD support infrastructure management; 
51 

—DOD financial management; 

—DOD supply chain management; and 

—DOD weapon systems acquisition. 

Ensuring public safety and security: 

—Implementing and transforming the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); 

—Establishing effective mechanisms for sharing and managing terrorism-related 

information to protect the homeland; 

—Protecting the Federal Government’s information systems and the Nation’s critical cyber infrastructures; 

—Ensuring the effective protection of technologies critical to U.S. national security interests; 

—Revamping Federal oversight of food safety; 

—Protecting public health through enhanced oversight of medical products; and 

—Transforming the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) process for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals. 

Managing Federal contracting more effectively: 

—DOD contract management; 

—the Department of Energy’s (DOE) contract management for the National Nuclear Security Administration and Office of Environmental Management; 

—NASA acquisition management; and 

—Management of interagency contracting. 

Assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of tax law administration: 

—Enforcement of tax laws; and 

—Internal Revenue Service (IRS) business systems modernization. 

Modernizing and safeguarding insurance and benefit programs: 

—Improving and modernizing Federal disability programs; 

—Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation insurance programs; 

—Medicare program; 

—Medicaid program; and 

—National flood insurance program. 

APPENDIX II.—SELECTED TESTIMONY TOPICS: FISCAL YEAR 2010

Goal 1.—Address current and emerging challenges to the well-being and financial 

security of the American people. 

—Unemployment insurance trust funds; 

—Social Security disability; 

—Underfunded pension plans; 

—Proprietary schools; 

—Medicare high-cost drugs; 

—Toxic substance abuses disease registry; 

—Concussions in high school athletes; 

—Children’s access to Medicaid dental services; 

—Corporate crime; 

—the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division enforcement efforts; 

—Community emergency preparedness; 

—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; 

—Department of the Interior’s oversight of oil and gas; 

—Clean Water Act enforcement efforts; 

—U.S. Postal Service financial viability; 

—Federal facilities security; 

—High-speed rail projects; and 

—Commercial aviation consumer fees. 

Goal 2.—Respond to changing security interdependence threats and the challenges of global independence. 

—Financial markets regulation; 

—National flood insurance program; 

—Climate change; 

—Alien smuggling along Southwest Border; 

—Aviation security advanced imaging technology; 

—Terrorist watchlist screening; 

—Combating nuclear smuggling; 

—Iran sanctions; 

—Counternarcotics and anticrime efforts in Mexico; 

—Global food security; 

—Intellectual property enforcement efforts; 

—Afghanistan security force capacity; 

—DOD military and civilian employee compensation; 
52 

—Warfighter contract support; and 

—Joint Strike Fighter challenges. 

Goal 3.—Help transform the Federal Government to address national challenges. 

—Defense space acquisitions; 

—Military language skills; 

—Interagency collaboration for national security interagency contracting strategies; 

—NASA management and program challenges; 

—Balancing the Government-to-contractor workforce; 

—Iraq and Afghanistan contract and grant management; 

—American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) oversight; 

—First-time homebuyer tax credit; 

—Equal employment opportunity at DHS; 

—2010 Census management challenges; 

—U.S. Government financial statements; 

—DHS financial management systems consolidation; 

—Protecting Federal information systems; 

—Environmental satellites; 

—Debt settlement risks to consumers; 

—Service-disabled, veteran-owned small business program fraud prevention; 

—HEAD START Program fraud; and 

—Defense contract audit agency vulnerabilities. 

APPENDIX III.—HOW THE GAO ASSISTED THE NATION: FISCAL YEAR 2010

Goal 1.—Address current and emerging challenges to the well-being and financial 

security of the American people. 

—Identified ways for the Department of Health and Human Services to strengthen inspections of ambulatory surgical centers leading to a fourfold increase in 

the proportion of centers found to have deficient practices; 

—Appointed 49 experts and stakeholders to three organizations created in new 

healthcare legislation; 

—Recommended food safety improvements that the Congress included in legislation for the Department of Agriculture’s school lunch program; 

—Facilitated expedited claims process for the Department of Labor’s black lung 

benefits program; 

—Increased the EPA focus on environmental threats to children’s health; 

—Identified factors to consider in restructuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; 

—Proposed changes to improve control of toxic chemicals in consumer products; 

and 

—Identified hidden fees for air travel that should be disclosed to consumers. 

Goal 2.—Respond to changing security threats and the challenges of global interdependence. 

—Led the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to begin developing 

a strategic plan to improve the national public alert and warning system; 

—Exposed weaknesses in the Transportation Security Administration’s behaviorbased identification of high-risk air passengers; 

—Recommended changes that FEMA implemented to better plan for national 

emergency response capabilities; 

—Informed the DHS’s top-level review of weaknesses and risks in the multibillion 

dollar Secure Border Initiative; 

—Contributed to a more robust missile defense acquisition policy; 

—Encouraged reforms in the United Nations’ procurement, internal oversight, 

and employment processes; 

—Provided insight to the Congress that led to expanding United States sanctions 

against Iran; and 

—Informed development of a framework to reform the U.S. export control system. 

Goal 3.—Help transform the Federal Government to address national challenges. 

—Informed the IRS’ decision to extend regulation of paid tax preparers, including 

requiring them to obtain an identifying number and be tested for competency; 

—Exposed ENERGY STAR as a self-certification program by obtaining certification for bogus products which led the DOE and EPA to adopt improvements 

in their approval process; 

—Led General Services Administration to strengthen requirements due to improper spending on premium-class Government travel; 

—Surfaced weaknesses in the Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient scheduling IT systems; 
53 

—Developed a methodology adopted by the Congress to efficiently target billions 

of dollars in Medicaid assistance through the ARRA; 

—Assessed IT risks for the 2010 Census to ensure successful execution; and 

—Profiled selected DHS investments in a 2-page format to provide the Congress 

with a new, easy reference on acquisition oversight, planning, and execution. 

Goal 4.—Maximize the value of the GAO by enabling quality, timely service to 

the Congress and being a leading practices Federal agency. 

—Implemented leading practices to attract a more diverse workforce and foster 

an inclusive work environment; 

—Leveraged technology to facilitate business process improvements in financial 

and administrative IT systems; 

—Improved access to our products with a new mobile Web site for users of small 

screen devices and a new electronic product format; 

—Collaborated with international accountability organizations to enhance their 

audit guidelines by incorporating private sector international auditing standards; and 

—Led development of a strategic plan for the international accountability community. 

APPENDIX IV.—SERVING THE CONGRESS AND THE NATION: THE GAO’S STRATEGIC PLAN

FRAMEWORK

Mission.—The GAO exists to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional 

responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability 

of the Federal Government for the benefit of the American people. 

Trends.—National security threats; fiscal sustainability challenges; economic recovery and growth; global interdependence; science and technology; networks and 

virtualization; shifting roles of Government; and demographic and societal change. 

Goals Objectives 

Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the Federal Government: 

To address current and emerging challenges to the 

well-being and financial security of the American 

people related to 

Healthcare needs; lifelong learning; benefits and protections 

for workers, families, and children; financial security; effective system of justice; viable communities; stable financial system and consumer protection; stewardship of 

natural resources and the environment; and infrastructure. 

Respond to changing security threats and the challenges of global interdependence involving Homeland security; military capabilities and readiness; advancement of U.S. interests; and global market forces. 

Help transform the Federal Government to address national 

challenges by assessing.

Government’s fiscal position and options for closing gap; 

Fraud, waste, and abuse; and major management challenges and program risks. 

Maximize the value of the GAO by enabling quality, timely 

service to the Congress and being a leading practices 

Federal agency in the areas of.

Efficiency, effectiveness, and quality; diverse and inclusive 

work environment; professional networks and collaboration; and institutional stewardship and resource management. 

Core Values.—Accountability, integrity, and reliability. 

THE GAO’S MISSION

The GAO—the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the Congress—exists to 

support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of the Federal Government for the American people. The GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates Federal programs 

and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help 

the Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. The GAO’s 

commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability. 

Senator NELSON. I appreciate your opening statement, and your 

point is well-made. 

So, Mr. Boarman, we would appreciate your thoughts, too. 
(54) 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM J. BOARMAN, PUBLIC PRINTER 

Mr. BOARMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

And it is an honor for me to be here today in my first time testifying before your subcommittee, and I will keep my statement 

brief. But there are some important points that I would like to 

make about the GPO and its accountability and what it does for 

the Congress. 

The GPO, of course, is responsible for the production and distribution of information products for all three branches of the Government. These include passports for the State Department and 

the official publications of the Congress, Federal agencies, and the 

courts. We provide products in both print and a variety of digital 

formats. 

We support open and transparent Government by providing online access to authenticated information at no charge through our 

Federal Digital System (FDSys). FDSys has more than 250,000 

Federal titles and more than 25 million documents downloaded 

every month. 

We also partner with more than 1,200 libraries nationwide, participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. The libraries 

work with us to provide free public access to Government information in print and in digital form. 

Following my appointment by the President in late December, I 

returned to the GPO, where I had worked as a practical printer 

more than 35 years ago. The GPO today is a much different agency 

than the one that I left. 

At that time, there were more than 8,000 employees. Now there 

are barely more than a quarter of that number, but we are responsible for a broad range of products and activities that could only 

have been dreamed of back then—online databases of official Federal documents, passports, and smart cards and electronic chips 

carrying biometric data, print products on sustainable recycled 

paper using vegetable oil inks, and a robust information technology 

(IT) enterprise architecture, and more. 

These operations are managed by a uniquely skilled, small, and 

dedicated staff. Their support for the Congress is exemplary. They 

work through the night—sometimes under extremely difficult 

workloads and conditions such as snowstorms that close the rest of 

the Government—to assemble the databases and publications you 

need to carry out your critically important work. 

Our present and future are being defined by digital technology. 

The Congressional Record, bills, reports, and hearings, and other 

documents are generated from digital databases the GPO creates 

in response to the information needs of the Congress. No other 

agency is equipped to carry out that mission. 
55 

Let me repeat that. No other agency is equipped to carry out this 

mission. 

Our use of databases has cut the cost of congressional information products over the past generation by more than two-thirds 

measured in constant dollars. Our databases are the foundation of 

our online dissemination capability, which has been in operation 

since 1994. The capability has expanded public access to Government information exponentially while reducing the cost of distributing print products. 

Our databases are also the platform for several key information 

systems serving the Congress today. They are used by the Library 

of Congress (LOC) to support the THOMAS system, as well as the 

legislative information systems the LOC makes available to the 

Senate and House offices. 

Creating these databases is the majority of the work funded by 

the congressional printing and binding appropriation. Even though 

the name on this account may be old-fashioned, it is the source of 

the financing for the digital information platform we have built and 

manage for the Congress. Because of the way it is structured, this 

appropriation can only be accessed when we actually print for the 

Congress. 

GPO’S SUPPORT FOR THE CONGRESS

The GPO’s support for the Congress is extensive. My guess is 

that our work is more closely integrated with your daily operations 

than any other congressional support agency, as important and as 

valuable as their work is. But it is provided quietly in the background, and it is often not immediately clear what we do, but we 

are working to educate Members of Congress and their staff of our 

essential services. 

Since taking office, I have met with Members, officials, and staff 

of the Senate and House to discuss how the GPO can best service 

their needs. We have also been working cooperatively with the Appropriations Committees. We have reduced spending within the 

GPO by cutting travel, outside hiring, and by other costs. We have 

cut $5.2 million from the 2012 appropriations request originally 

submitted to Office of Management and Budget by my predecessor 

late last year. 

PREPARED STATEMENT

For the record, our request includes two one-time components— 

$1.4 million for printing-related items for the 2013 Presidential Inauguration and another $1.4 million to fund a shortfall in congressional printing carried forward from fiscal year 2009. Without 

these, our request would be $1.8 million under the level of funding 

provided to the GPO by the continuing resolution. 

Also, we have $2.5 million left over from fiscal year 2006 that 

could be transferred to the revolving fund under current law. With 

the transfer, our overall request for new funding would be reduced 

by this amount, which would also bring us under the level provided 

by the continuing resolution. 

[The statement follows:] 
56 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF WILLIAM J. BOARMAN

Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven, and members of the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch: It is an honor to be here today to present the appropriations request 

of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) for fiscal year 2012. Our request is 

for the congressional printing and binding appropriation and the salaries and expenses appropriation of the Superintendent of Documents, both of which are included in the annual legislative branch appropriations bill. These two accounts cover 

the GPO’s provision of congressional information products and services as authorized by law and our provision of public access to congressional and other Government information products through statutorily established information dissemination programs under the Superintendent of Documents. 

All other the GPO functions and activities—including the production of U.S. passports for the State Department as well as secure credentials for congressional and 

agency use, the procurement of information products and services in partnership 

with the private sector, the sales of Government information products and services 

to the public, and related operations—are financed on a reimbursable basis through 

the GPO’s business-like revolving fund, which is authorized through the annual legislative branch appropriations bill. 

GPO

Background 

With just 2,200 employees, the GPO is the Federal Government’s primary centralized resource for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information products of the U.S. Government in 

digital and tangible forms. The agency is responsible for the production and distribution of information products for all three branches of the Federal Government, 

including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of the Congress, the White House and other Federal agencies, and the courts. 

Along with sales of publications in digital and tangible formats to the public, the 

GPO supports openness and transparency in Government by providing permanent 

public access to Federal Government information at no charge through its Federal 

Digital System (www.fdsys.gov), which has more than 250,000 Federal titles online 

and sees more than 25 million documents downloaded every month, and through 

partnerships with approximately 1,220 libraries nationwide participating in the 

Federal Depository Library Program. In addition to the GPO’s Web site, 

www.gpo.gov, we communicate with the public routinely via Twitter twitter.com/ 

USGPO, YouTube www.youtube.com/user/gpoprinter, and Facebook 

www.facebook.com/USGPO. 

We first opened our doors for business 150 years ago this month, on March 4, 

1861, the same day Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as our 16th President. Our 

mission can be traced to the requirement in Article I of the Constitution that each 

House shall keep a journal of its proceedings and from time to time publish the 

same. Senator Schumer put as statement in the Congressional Record recognizing 

the GPO’s anniversary, which I’m pleased to attach to this statement. 

In our history we have produced every great American state paper—and an uncounted number of other Government publications—since President Lincoln’s time, 

including the Emancipation Proclamation. Social Security cards, Medicare and Medicaid information, Census forms, tax forms, citizenship forms, military histories 

ranging from the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion to the latest accounts 

of our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, emergency documents like the ration cards 

and the ‘‘Buy Bonds’’ posters used during World War II, the Warren Commission 

Report on President Kennedy’s assassination, the Watergate transcripts, the 9/11 

Commission Report, Presidential Inaugural Addresses, Supreme Court opinions, and 

the great acts of the Congress that have shaped our society—all these as well as 

millions of other documents from the historic to the humble have been produced by 

the GPO on their way to use by the Congress, Federal agencies, and the American 

public. 

For the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House, and the committees of 

the Senate and House, we produce the documents and publications required by the 

legislative and oversight processes of the Congress, including the daily Congressional Record, bills, reports, legislative calendars, hearings, committee prints, and 

other documents, as well as stationery, franked envelopes, and other materials such 

as memorials and condolence books, programs and invitations, phone books, and the 

other products needed to conduct business of the Congress. We also detail expert 

staff to support the information product requirements of Senate and House committees and congressional offices such as the Senate Office of Legislative Counsel. 
57 

The production of the Congressional Record alone is a remarkable job, averaging 

about 170 pages per issue, but ranging in size from a few pages to hundreds of 

pages per night depending on the amount of business transacted, all formatted, 

paginated, proofed, corrected, uploaded for online access, printed, and delivered 

overnight, every night the Congress is in session. The history of our Nation as revealed in the proceedings of the Congress is preserved for generations to come in 

the permanent edition of the Congressional Record and in the Congressional Serial 

Set, containing all the numbered reports and documents of each Congress and published continuously since 1817, both produced by the GPO. 

Since taking office in early January, I’ve met with the Secretary of the Senate 

and the Clerk of the House and various Members and staff, and have heard repeatedly about the utility of the products we provide for Members and staff in performing the work of their offices and their committees. Ensuring that utility—supporting the Congress in carrying out its constitutional legislative function—is our 

most important job. In addition, with the Library of Congress (LOC) and the National Archives, the work we perform is a basic part of governmental openness and 

transparency, and an integral part of the creation and preservation of the record 

of our Government for the American people. 

The GPO and Digital Information Technologies 

As Archivist of the United States David Ferriero recently said, the GPO has not 

rested with drums of printer’s ink and rolls of paper measured by the ton. Our 

present and future are clearly being defined by digital technology, and digital technology itself has radically changed the way printing is performed today. This is especially true where the information products used by the Senate and House of Representatives are concerned. The GPO’s conversion to digital databases for the composition of congressional publications occurred more than a generation ago. Today 

the activities associated with creating congressional information databases comprise 

the majority of the work funded by our annual congressional printing and binding 

appropriation. 

In addition to using these databases to produce printed products as required by 

the Congress, we upload them to the Internet via our online information systems, 

known previously as GPO Access and today as the GPO’s FDSys. Since we first 

went online with congressional information in 1994, these systems have provided 

the Congress and the public with the definitive source not only of legislative but 

executive and judicial information online. 

Our creation of digital databases of congressional information from which we can 

print and provide online public access has dramatically increasing productivity and 

dramatically reduced costs to the taxpayer. As our budget submission shows, our 

digital production systems have reduced the level of the congressional printing and 

binding appropriation by more than two-thirds in constant-dollar terms since 1975 

while expanding our information capabilities exponentially. 

The GPO’s congressional database systems also form the basic building blocks of 

other information systems supporting the Congress. Our congressional information 

databases are provided directly to the LOC to support its THOMAS system as well 

as the legislative information systems the LOC makes available to Senate and 

House offices. The GPO and the LOC are also collaborating today on the digitization 

of previously printed documents, such as the Congressional Record and the Statutes 

at Large, to make them more broadly available to the Congress and the public, and 

we are jointly developing a new process for updating the digital edition of the Constitution Annotated. 

The GPO’s digital systems also support other key Federal publications, including 

the U.S. budget and, most importantly, the Federal Register and associated products, which we also produce. Through the GPO’s efforts, the online Federal Register 

is being made available in extensible markup language (XML) to support bulk data 

downloads via www.data.gov, and with the Office of the Federal Register we developed the online Federal Register 2.0, an innovative approach to making information 

on Federal regulations and related documents available to the public. Our advanced 

authentication systems, supported by public key infrastructure (PKI), are an essential component for assuring the digital security of congressional and agency documents. 

The other major products that the GPO produces are U.S. passports for the Department of State, the premier component of our secure and intelligent documents 

business unit. At one time no more than a conventionally printed document, passports today incorporate a chip and antenna array capable of carrying biometric identification data, which with other security features has transformed this document 

into the most secure identification credential obtainable. We have also developed a 

line of secure identification ‘‘smart cards’’ to support the credential requirements of 
58 

the Department of Homeland Security for certain border crossing documents, and 

our secure credential unit has been certified as the only Government-to-Government 

provider of credentials meeting the requirements of Homeland Security Presidential 

Directive 12. 

The GPO in Partnership With Industry 

Other than congressional and inherently governmental work such as the Federal 

Register, the budget, and secure and intelligent documents, we produce virtually all 

other information product requirements via contract through a longstanding partnership with the private sector printing industry. In fact, our procurement operation 

handles approximately 75 percent of all work sent to the GPO for production, 

amounting to $450–$500 million annually. This system is one of the Government’s 

longest running and most successful programs of utilizing the private sector, which 

is represented by more than 16,600 individual firms registered to do business with 

us, the vast majority of whom are small businesses averaging 20 employees per 

firm. Contracts are awarded on a purely competitive basis; there are no set-asides 

or preferences in contracting other than what is specified in law and regulation, including a requirement for the Buy American Act. This partnership provides great 

economic opportunity for the private sector. 

The GPO and Open, Transparent Government 

Producing and distributing the official publications of our Government fulfills an 

informing role originally envisioned by the Founders, when James Madison said: 

‘‘A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring 

it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm 

themselves with the power which knowledge gives.’’ 

A key mechanism for this purpose is the Federal Depository Library Program, 

which today serves millions of Americans through a network of some 1,220 public, 

academic, law, and other libraries located in virtually every Congressional District 

across the Nation. These libraries are critical links between ‘‘We the People’’ and 

the information provided by the Federal Government. The GPO provides the libraries with information products in online or tangible formats, and the libraries in turn 

make these available to the public at no charge and provide additional help and assistance to depository library users. One of the other programs we operate is in fulfillment of an international treaty. Under it, we distribute certain Federal publications to other governments abroad as designated by the LOC. In return, they send 

the LOC their official publications, which the LOC then makes available for the use 

of the Congress and the public. This helps maintain the universal nature of the 

LOC’s collections, as Librarian of Congress James Billington recently pointed out. 

Along with these programs, we also provide public access to the wealth of official 

Federal information through public sales featuring secure ordering through an online bookstore for the GPO sales publications and a partnership with the private 

sector to offer Federal publications as e-Books, and we operate effective and efficient 

information distribution programs for other Federal agencies on a reimbursable 

basis, including the General Services Administration’s Consumer Information Center publications. 

Recent Actions 

Since taking office on January 3 this year, my management team and I have 

worked to reduce spending and ensure that the GPO’s finances remain sound in the 

face of ongoing constraints on the Federal budget. We have reduced our appropriations request for fiscal year 2012 by more than $5 million from what was originally 

submitted to Office of Management and Budget (OMB). We cut the GPO’s annual 

spending plan as previously submitted to the Joint Committee on Printing by $15 

million and implemented controls on hiring, travel, certain contractual services, and 

related discretionary accounts. We realigned the GPO’s organization so the Chief Financial Officer reports directly to me rather than through subordinate officers, and 

implemented a task force on recovery of outstanding payments from Federal agencies. Otherwise, there is continuity of ongoing initiatives such as the development 

of FDSys, support for our Oracle suite of business enterprise services, and planning 

for continuity of operations (COOP). We are also pursuing additional revenue opportunities, particularly in the field of secure credentialing, as well as increased utilization of our printing procurement capability by Federal agencies. 

My meetings with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House were 

to discuss how the GPO can best assist them in supporting the needs of the Congress. We have been meeting with both staff and Members of the appropriations 

committees and cooperating with them in their effort to provide for appropriations 
59 

beyond the current continuing resolution. We fully understand the intention of the 

Congress to control its spending and you will have our cooperation in meeting this 

goal. 

FISCAL YEAR 2012 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

For fiscal year 2012, we are requesting a total of $148,474,000, a reduction of $5.2 

million, or 3.4 percent, from the amount submitted to the Office of Management and 

Budget late last year, and an increase of just $1,013,000 more than the continuing 

resolution (Public Law 111–242, as amended). 

Our request includes two one-time components: $1.4 million for work supporting the 2013 Presidential Inauguration and $1.4 million to fund a shortfall in the congressional printing and binding appropriation carried forward from fiscal year 2009. 

Excluding these one-time requests, our overall request would be $145,674,000, a decrease of $1,787,000 from the current continuing resolution. 

There is an unexpended balance of $2.5 million in the salaries and expenses appropriation from fiscal year 2006 that could be transferred to the revolving fund 

under current law. If the transfer is approved by the Appropriations Committees, 

it would reduce our overall request for new funding to $145,974,000. 

Our funding request for fiscal year 2012 is designed to: 

—meet projected requirements for congressional information products and services as authorized by law, provide the necessary funds for materials required 

for the 2013 Presidential Inauguration, and recover the shortfall in this account 

carried forward from fiscal year 2009; 

—fund the operation of the GPO’s statutory programs that provide public access 

to congressional and other Government information products nationwide; and 

—continue the development of the GPO’s FDSys, which provides the Congress, 

Federal agencies, and the public with no-fee digital access to a vast range of 

congressional and other Federal information products, and support our Oraclebased enterprise infrastructure. 

Congressional Printing and Binding Appropriation 

We are requesting $100,001,000 for this account to cover the estimated cost of 

congressional information products and services as authorized by law. This represents an increase of $6,233,000 more than the level provided by the current continuing resolution. 

Of the increase, $1.4 million is estimated to be required for work to support the 

2013 Presidential Inaugural and $1,390,000 is required to fund the shortfall in this 

appropriation carried forward from fiscal year 2009. The balance of the increase, or 

$3,443,000, includes $2,909,000 for estimated volume increases in certain work categories—principally the Congressional Record, business calendars, and hearings— 

offset by estimated volume decreases in other categories, primarily miscellaneous 

publications and bills. It also includes $534,000 for price level changes averaging 0.6 

percent that are attributable to existing wage contracts and projected cost increases 

for materials and supplies. 

Salaries and Expenses Appropriation of the Superintendent of Documents 

We are requesting $42,173,000 for this account to support public access to congressional and other Government information products through the GPO’s statutory 

information dissemination programs, primarily the Federal Depository Library Program. Our request represents an increase of $1,262,000 more than the level approved in the current continuing resolution. 

Included in the increase is $196,000 for mandatory pay costs (pertaining only to 

within-grade increases) and price level changes, $262,000 for the level of the GPO 

overhead required to be distributed to salaries and expenses programs, and 

$304,000 for FDSys annual operating costs attributable to Superintendent of Documents programs. In addition, we are requesting $500,000 to continue legacy systems 

migration and modernization costs, as well as historical digitization projects approved by the Joint Committee on Printing and involving collaboration with the 

LOC. 

As noted above, there is an unexpended balance of $2.5 million in the salaries and 

expenses appropriation from fiscal year 2006 that could be transferred to the revolving fund under current law. If the transfer is approved by the Appropriations Committees, it would reduce our request for new funding to the salaries and expenses 

appropriation by that amount. 

Revolving Fund 

We are requesting $6.3 million for this account, to remain available until expended, to fund essential investments in information technology development. These 
60 

include $5 million to continue developing FDSys and $1.3 million for support for our 

Oracle-based enterprise infrastructure. The GPO has requested these funds as additions to the revolving fund’s working capital to enable the fund to continue financing 

other investments in upgrades of technology, equipment, and plant modernization. 

Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee, this concludes 

my prepared statement. We look forward to working with you and the subcommittee 

in your consideration of our appropriations request for fiscal year 2012. 

[From the Congressional Record, March 4, 2011] 

150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

(By Senator Charles E. Schumer) 

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise today as the chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing to recognize the Government Printing Office, GPO, on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. GPO opened its doors on March 4, 1861, the same 

day that President Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office for his first term. Since 

that time, the agency has used constantly changing technologies to meet the needs 

of the Congress, Federal agencies, and the public. During GPO’s early days, employees relied on ink and paper to publish the text of President Lincoln’s Emancipation 

Proclamation. Today, as another President from Illinois leads the Nation, GPO employees are using the latest digital technology to document the activities and decisions of our Government and to fulfill GPO’s founding mission, which is ‘‘Keeping 

America Informed.’’ 

While GPO’s past has been about printing, its present and future are being defined by electronic publishing. GPO has been investing for more than a generation 

in digital production and dissemination technology, an investment that has yielded 

significant improvements in productivity, capability, and savings for the taxpayers. 

The GPO estimates that converting to electronic, digital technology has resulted in 

a savings of 66 percent on the cost of congressional printing alone. Deploying such 

technology has also reduced the number of employees to fewer than at any time in 

the past century. And it has reduced dramatically the number of copies of official 

documents that are printed. 

GPO’s partnership with the printing industry supports tens of thousands of jobs. 

At the same time, by using GPO as a central procurement agency, the Federal Government reduces substantially the cost of these contracts to the taxpayers. 

GPO now has a range of products and services that could only have been dreamed 

of 30 years ago: Online databases of Federal documents with state- of-the-art search 

and retrieval capabilities available to the public without charge, Government publications available as e-Books, and a public presence not only on the Web but also 

on Twitter, Facebook, and You Tube. No longer is GPO primarily a publisher of 

printed government documents, but a fully integrated electronic publisher and clearinghouse whose products are available in many Internet-based locations. In addition, the State Department relies on GPO to provide highly secure U.S. passports 

containing sophisticated smart chips. GPO does this in conjunction with the private 

sector, which supplies certain critical components. 

Another key function of GPO is its partnership with more than 1,200 Federal depository libraries across the country. These libraries, established by statute in all 

50 States, make Federal documents available to millions of students, researchers, 

businesses, and others every year in both digital and print formats. 

In short, 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 the 

Congress, the White House, and other Federal agencies. In addition to publication 

sales, GPO offers permanent public access to Federal Government information at no 

charge through GPO’s Federal Digital System—www.fdsys.gov—and through partnerships with approximately 1,200 libraries nationwide that are part of the Federal 

Depository Library Program. 

I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the GPO on its 150th anniversary and on its contributions to keeping the public informed. 

Mr. BOARMAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very, very much, and 

I will be happy to answer any questions that you have. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

Dr. Elmendorf. 
(61) 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE 

STATEMENT OF DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF, Ph.D., DIRECTOR 

Dr. ELMENDORF. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I appreciate the opportunity to present the CBO’s budget request 

for fiscal year 2012. 

As you know, the CBO’s mission is to provide the Congress with 

objective, impartial analyses of budget and economic issues, including the information and cost estimates needed for the congressional 

budget process. 

There are about 250 people currently working at the CBO. In the 

coming year, we anticipate a workload of roughly 650 formal cost 

estimates. It is worth emphasizing that the formal estimates are 

just the tip of the iceberg because more and more, we are being 

asked for informal estimates or proposals at early stages of the legislative process. We will do, literally, thousands of those in the 

coming year. 

We also expect to release approximately 100 analytic reports and 

other publications, covering our budget and economic outlook, analysis of the President’s budget, long-term budget projections, monthly budget reviews, and in-depth analyses of a broad range of policy 

issues, including healthcare delivery and financing, policies for increasing economic growth and employment, tax reform, and proposals to address the country’s long-term budgetary imbalance. 

In fulfilling our mission, the CBO relies on a highly skilled workforce. Most of our analysts have advanced degrees and are in high 

demand outside the Government and in agencies in the executive 

branch. So we need to recruit them and retain them in a highly 

competitive job market. 

CBO BUDGET

As a result, about 90 percent of our budget represents compensation for the agency staff. About 5 percent is for IT equipment and 

services, and the remainder is for training, office supplies, and 

other items. 

Therefore, the contour of the CBO’s budget is closely linked to 

the agency’s staffing level. The staffing level is, in turn, closely 

linked to the output we can provide to the Congress. 

Of course, we do not expect and are not requesting to be spared 

from the budget stringency facing the rest of the Federal Government. Our proposed budget for fiscal year 2012, prepared a few 

months ago, is equal to the total resources that were provided to 

the agency 2 years earlier, in 2010. That represents a scaling back 

of the multiyear staffing plan that was the basis for our budget request last year. 

As you noted, Mr. Chairman, comparing our 2012 budget request 

with our 2010 resources is complicated by the fact that the agency 

received a 2009 supplemental appropriation, which was available 
62 

for use in 2010 as well. And the figure I think you may have in 

front of you and is in the written testimony tries to summarize that 

situation. 

SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS

A small amount of supplemental funds was used in 2009. Most 

was used in 2010. Indeed, the CBO’s regular 2010 appropriation 

was reduced to take account of the availability of those supplemental funds. 

As a result, the CBO’s overall resources received little net boost 

from the supplemental, and the 2010 regular appropriation was artificially low. The CBO’s request for 2012, the far right bar in the 

picture, of $46.9 million equals our 2010 appropriation of $45.2 million, plus the $1.7 million from the 2009 supplemental that was 

used in 2010. 

CURRENT FISCAL YEAR FUNDING

But let me say just a few words about our funding in the current 

fiscal year. Like the rest of the Government, we have been operating under a continuing resolution so far. The funding for the 

CBO has been equal to the agency’s regular 2010 appropriation, as 

shown in the figure. But that represents an effective cut in resources relative to last year because only $45.2 million of last 

year’s funding came from the regular appropriation, with the rest 

coming from the supplemental. 

As a result, if the CBO’s funding for this fiscal year remained at 

the continuing resolution level, we would face a reduction of about 

4 percent in our funds relative to last year. If our funding for this 

year is cut below the continuing resolution level, we would face, of 

course, a larger reduction relative to last year’s resources. For example, if the CBO’s funding was cut 5 percent below the continuing 
63 

resolution level, we would face roughly a 9 percent cut from the 

funding provided for 2010. 

In recognition of the possibility of a cut relative to the continuing 

resolution level, we have stopped hiring, except for a small number 

of key management positions that have come open. We have delayed purchases of IT equipment and other things, purchases of 

data for our analysis, canceled our summer internship program on 

its paid basis, and cut back sharply on travel and training. 

Without new hiring, attrition will lead to a reduction in the size 

of the CBO staff. Still, because the continuing resolution level is already below last year’s funding, a further significant cut relative to 

the continuing resolution level would probably require a more rapid 

decline in staffing than can be achieved through attrition alone. 

PREPARED STATEMENT

In closing, I want to thank the subcommittee for the support you 

provide to the CBO, enabling us to carry out our responsibilities to 

provide budgetary and economic information to the Congress. 

Thank you. 

[The statement follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF

Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

the opportunity to present the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) budget request 

for fiscal year 2012. 

The CBO’s mission is to provide the Congress with objective, impartial analyses 

of budget and economic issues, including the information and cost estimates needed 

for the Congressional budget process. In fulfilling that mission, the CBO depends 

on a highly skilled workforce. Roughly 90 percent of the CBO’s budget represents 

compensation for the agency’s staff, about 5 percent is for information technology 

(IT) equipment and services, and the remainder is for training, office supplies, and 

related items. Therefore, the contours of the CBO’s budget and the agency’s staffing 

level are closely linked. 

The CBO’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2012—$46.9 million—is equal to the 

total resources that were available to the agency 2 years earlier, in 2010. This proposal incorporates a scaling back of the multiyear staffing plan that was the basis 

for the agency’s 2011 budget request. Even with a reduction in proposed staffing, 

supporting the work of the agency in 2012 with the same resources provided in 2010 

would be possible only by significantly restraining salaries and spending on IT. Neither of those two actions can be sustained indefinitely without diminishing the support that the CBO provides to the Congress. 

Comparing the CBO’s 2012 budget request with its 2010 resources is complicated 

by the fact that the agency received a 2009 supplemental appropriation, which was 

available for fiscal year 2010 as well. In fact, most of it was used in 2010, and the 

2010 appropriation was reduced to take account of the availability of those supplemental funds. As a result, the CBO’s overall resources received little net boost from 

the supplemental appropriation, and the 2010 appropriation was artificially low. 

The CBO’s request for 2012 equals the agency’s 2010 appropriation of $45.2 million 

plus the $1.7 million from the 2009 supplemental appropriation that was used in 

2010. 
64 

RECENT FUNDING HISTORY

Between fiscal year 2001 and fiscal year 2008, the number of full-time-equivalent 

positions (FTEs) at the CBO averaged 230, and the number varied little from year 

to year. In 2008, however, the CBO became concerned that it did not have sufficient 

resources to analyze policy changes regarding the delivery and financing of 

healthcare that were emerging as a critical issue in the Congress. In addition, the 

agency was delivering an increasing number of testimonies and formal cost estimates and engaging in a growing amount of informal communications with congressional staff on a wide range of topics, so shifting a significant number of positions 

from other areas in order to analyze healthcare proposals did not seem feasible. 

Accordingly, the CBO proposed to the Congress a multiyear plan to boost the size 

of the agency to 259 FTEs, an increase of a little more than 10 percent. The Congress approved the first leg of the proposed increase in the CBO’s fiscal year 2009 

budget, and the agency averaged 242 FTEs that year. As expected, analyzing competing healthcare proposals absorbed a huge share of the CBO’s resources. At the 

same time, the financial crisis led to a jump in the Federal Government’s involvement in the financial sector (including the creation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and expanded activities 

of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), which increased congressional demand for analyses, budget projections, and cost estimates 

in that area. Consequently, during the course of fiscal year 2009, the Congress approved a 2-year supplemental appropriation of $2 million, aimed particularly at enhancing the CBO’s ability to analyze complex health proposals. Of that amount, the 

CBO used about $0.3 million during fiscal year 2009 and remaining $1.7 million in 

2010. 

For fiscal year 2010, the Congress approved an appropriation of $45.2 million for 

the CBO. That amount was $1.2 million less than the agency’s request for that year, 

reflecting the availability of funds from the 2009 supplemental appropriation. The 

total funding of $46.9 million—$45.2 million from the regular appropriation and 

$1.7 million from the earlier supplemental appropriation—was intended to support 

an additional 12 FTEs ‘‘to increase CBO’s capacity to analyze healthcare policy, fi-
65 

nancial and housing markets, and other areas of high Congressional interest.’’ Accordingly, the CBO averaged about 250 FTEs during fiscal year 2010. 

For fiscal year 2011, the CBO requested $47.3 million in funding to support 258 

FTEs, which would have essentially completed the multiyear increase that the agency proposed 3 years ago. The enactment last year of significant healthcare legislation has made the CBO’s regular budget projections and analyses of most healthcare 

proposals much more complex and labor-intensive than had previously been the 

case. Moreover, the demand for analysis of major new healthcare proposals has 

abated only a little. In addition, the depth and duration of the economic downturn, 

as well as the surge in Federal debt and projected deficits, have led the Congress 

to ask the CBO for more analyses on a range of economic and budgetary issues. 

Like the rest of the Federal Government, the CBO has been functioning under 

continuing resolutions so far in fiscal year 2011. The funding for the CBO has been 

equal to the agency’s regular 2010 appropriation—but that represents an effective 

cut in resources, because only $45.2 million of the CBO’s $46.9 million in 2010 funding came from the regular appropriation. If the CBO’s funding for 2011 remained 

at that continuing resolution level, the agency would have about $1.7 million less 

to work with this year than in 2010—a reduction of about 4 percent. 

If the CBO’s funding for 2011 was cut below the continuing resolution level, the 

agency would face a larger reduction relative to its 2010 resources. For example, if 

the CBO’s funding was cut 5 percent below the continuing resolution level, the agency would face roughly a 9 percent total cut from the funding provided for 2010. In 

recognition of the possibility of a cut relative to the continuing resolution level, the 

CBO has stopped hiring (except for a small number of key management positions 

that have come open), is delaying purchases of IT equipment and other things, has 

canceled its paid summer internship program, and has cut back sharply on travel 

and training. Without new hiring, attrition will lead to a reduction in the size of 

the CBO staff. Still, because the continuing resolution level is already below last 

year’s funding, a further significant cut relative to the continuing resolution level 

would probably require a more rapid decline in staffing than could be achieved 

through attrition alone and therefore would probably require a reduction in force. 

SOME DETAILS OF THE CBO’S FISCAL YEAR 2012 BUDGET REQUEST

In fiscal year 2012, the CBO will continue to focus on its core functions of providing nonpartisan budgetary and economic information and analyses to the Congress, including budget and economic outlook reports, an analysis of the President’s 

budget, long-term budgetary projections, cost estimates, mandate statements, and 

scorekeeping reports. In addition, the CBO will continue to prepare in-depth analyses of a broad range of program and policy issues, as requested by committees or 

Members. The specific issues that the Congress will be addressing in 2012 will, of 

course, depend on circumstances at the time, but the CBO’s analyses are likely to 

include work on healthcare, policies for increasing economic growth and employment, energy policy, tax reform, immigration issues, infrastructure, defense policy, 

the Government’s role in financial markets, and proposals to address the long-term 

budgetary imbalance. The agency will devote effort to further improving its longterm analyses of legislative proposals for healthcare, Social Security, and broad fiscal policy changes by continuing to develop its budgetary and economic models. 

The CBO anticipates a workload of roughly 650 formal cost estimates (most of 

which include both estimates of Federal costs of legislation and assessments of the 

cost of mandates in the legislation that would affect State, local, and tribal governments or the private sector) and thousands of informal estimates; approximately 100 

analytical reports along with other publications; and a substantial schedule of congressional testimonies. The formal estimates are just the tip of the iceberg because, 

more and more, the CBO is being asked for informal estimates of the budgetary impact of proposals at early stages in the legislative process and of potential floor 

amendments. 

Recognizing the stringency of the Government’s budget situation, the CBO proposes to cut short the planned multiyear increase in the CBO staff and to continue 

with the currently budgeted number of 254 FTEs for fiscal year 2012. In addition, 

consistent with the rest of the Federal Government, the CBO is not providing any 

across-the-board increase in salaries for employees in calendar years 2011 or 2012 

and has reduced the size of performance-based pay raises. 

Specifically, the CBO’s request supports the following: 

—$32.2 million for personnel compensation; 

—$10.4 million for personnel benefits; and 

—$4.3 million for services, equipment, training, and supplies. 
66 

Funding at this level would enable the CBO to continue to provide the kinds and 

quantity of estimates and analyses that the agency has been producing for the Congress during the past 2 years. 

In closing, I would like to thank the subcommittee for the support it has provided 

the CBO, enabling the agency to carry out its responsibilities to provide budgetary 

and economic information to the Congress. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

The votes were supposed to begin at 3 p.m. They have moved it 

up. 

But let me ask a couple of questions first before I go. Mr. 

Boarman, I heard from a colleague that we are now into paperless 

production of information. Therefore, we don’t need a ‘‘printing office.’’ Perhaps we ought to consider changing the name of your office to something ‘‘communications’’ or whatever it is to avoid having that happen because, obviously, it is not simply about printing. 

Certainly not just printing on paper, although obviously that is one 

of the major things that we have. 

Not everybody is IT trained or able to pull everything up. So we 

are still going to be stuck with paper in some areas. Can you tell 

me what percentage of your budget might be used in paper communication? Is that possible? 

Mr. BOARMAN. Well—— 

Senator NELSON. Just a rough estimate. 

PRINTING COSTS

Mr. BOARMAN [continuing]. Yes. Using the Congressional Record 

as an example, about 70 percent of it is the IT side, or the prepress. Getting it prepared, to putting it up online every night so 

that—— 

Senator NELSON. You would have that expense anyway? 

Mr. BOARMAN. Exactly. And so, the 30 percent left for printing 

is the smallest piece of it because once the press starts to run, I 

mean, the first impression might cost you $250 a page. After that, 

it is about a penny. 

I have met with a number of Members of Congress who have 

raised the very issue you did. Actually, I had a chairman of a committee say, you know, I have got a bunch of new Members who 

don’t like Government, and they don’t understand why we have 

printing. And when I explained to him, well, do they know that we 

have the digital platform, that we produce all of the information 

electronically every night, he said, ‘‘No, they don’t know that.’’ 

So we are going to try to educate Members so that they understand that the GPO is the only agency that provides the information so that you can go paperless. Now, if you decide to do that, 

I am sure there are going to be people printing copies out in their 

office. That is the thinking that is going on. 

And when you do that, it is nearly 7 cents a page to do it on your 

office printer. We can do it for 5.5 cents a page. And when a document gets above 64 pages, the cost per page drops to 4 cents a 

page. And we print on both sides of the page. We print on recycled 

paper. We use vegetable oil-based ink, which is good for the environment and saves a lot of money. 

This is last night’s Congressional Record. It is about a half an 

inch thick, printed on both sides. If you printed this out on an office printer, it would probably be this thick at 7 cents a copy. And 
67 

so, when I talk to Members and staffs, both in the House and Senate, they say we don’t know how we could function without our 

Congressional Record. 

Let me just give you a couple of statistics. In 1994, we printed 

20,000 copies of the Congressional Record every day. Today, we 

only print a little more than 3,700 a day. And of that, the House 

gets 950 copies, and the Senate gets 1,100, and the rest are distributed to depository libraries, the White House, and others. We get 

about 30 copies in our office for indexing. 

So we have dropped from 20,000 to 3,700 daily copies. And once 

the press starts to run, after we have done all of the infrastructure 

of building the platform to run it, it is very inexpensive to continue 

to print small quantities. I hope that answers your question. 

Senator NELSON. That does. And I think we need to get that information out. 

I will go vote and be right back. 

Thank you. 

We will continue. 

Your fiscal year 2012 budget request totals $148.5 million. It is 

$1 million above the 2010 enacted level, and is relatively flat. But 

you have a $1.4 million for the Presidential Inaugural. What is 

your timeframe for producing printed materials and credentials for 

the 2013 Presidential Inauguration? 

I know you can’t start up the day of the Inauguration. But what 

kind of a timeframe are we looking at here? Is it within the parameter that some of this could be held off until the following year, or 

is it necessary to print documents well in advance, which would 

mean that it would be included in this budget? 

INAUGURAL PRINTING

Mr. BOARMAN. Well, historically, Mr. Chairman, I think that for 

each Inauguration, the money is asked for and appropriated in this 

particular cycle. And so, I am told that it needs to be in this budget. 

A lot of people don’t understand that the Inauguration is a congressional event. They think of the parade and balls. But the Congress pays for the actual swearing-in ceremony, and I think this is 

a small portion of what you are actually going to lay out. But we 

do credentials. We do all the invitations and programs. We do all 

the tickets and signs for entry to the area for the Inauguration. 

And I think at some point, the Joint Congressional Committee on 

Inaugural Ceremonies will be coming together in fiscal year 2012, 

and they will be spending money. And so, my understanding is, 

that is why it is there. 

Senator NELSON. And I hope that in putting the preparations together, I know it is not all your responsibility to direct. You have 

got security issues. You have got other things. 

Mr. BOARMAN. Right. 

Senator NELSON. This is essentially the documentation or anything that is related to that? 

Mr. BOARMAN. Right. And of course, we did do credentials last 

time. We had probably the most secure credentials in the history 

of the Inauguration, the GPO did. But my understanding is the 
68 

Capitol Police did pay for that, and so it came out of the legislative 

branch, but it was not out of the GPO’s budget. 

Senator NELSON. When it comes to Capitol improvement costs 

that are being appropriated through the revolving fund, you request $6.3 million for two Capitol improvement projects: one, 

FDSys at $5 million and, two, the GPO Business Information System at $1.3 million. 

Why are these costs separated out for a specific appropriation 

rather than being factored into and charged to all agencies as part 

of the cost of doing business? 

INVESTMENT FUNDS

Mr. BOARMAN. Well, these are essentially additions to working 

capital for our revolving fund, which is where our monies for investment come from. And we do have money in that fund from 

other agencies. For instance, the State Department allocates money 

to our capital improvement fund, but it can only be used, obviously, 

for capital improvements for passport issues and State Department 

issues. 

This digital technology is so expensive. I had a meeting with 

Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson from Missouri yesterday, and she 

is a member of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee on the House side, and she also serves as chair of their 

Financial Services Subcommittee. 

And she was saying to me that the cost of this IT is just out of 

hand, and you have got to try to get a handle on it. The Congress 

has made a tremendous investment in the FDSys program. Probably from 1994 on, when GPO first went online, maybe $100 million. In the last 5 years, maybe $40 million to get us to where we 

are. 

Now we have to maintain this platform as well as our Oracle system. We can’t allow them to collapse. I am not an IT expert, but 

I have people that are, and they tell me in order for us to make 

sure that we can authenticate and do the other things that are necessary, this is what it is going to cost. 

Additionally, we are working in cooperation with the LOC, and 

they are helping us digitize a lot of the older documents. Everything from 1994 on, we have been able to digitize. But before that, 

it all has to be digitized. 

So these things are what the money is for, and in view of their 

importance to the Congress, I think it is appropriate that they are 

funded by appropriations to the revolving fund. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

GAO RESOURCES USED TO OVERSEE THE TROUBLED ASSET RELIEF

PROGRAM (TARP)

Mr. Dodaro, your fiscal year 2012 budget request totals $556.8 

million in appropriated funding, which is the same as the fiscal 

year 2010 level and totals the same level of staffing at 3,220 FTEs. 

Now, in your budget submission, we noted that you have an additional 25 FTEs that are reimbursed by the Department of the 

Treasury for TARP-related work. 

If you know, how much does the Department of the Treasury pay 

in reimbursement for those 25 FTEs? And perhaps, as well, how 
69 

long will these 25 FTEs be dedicated to the TARP-related activities? 

Mr. DODARO. As you will recall, when the TARP program was 

created in October 2008, it was outside of the normal appropriations cycle. So we never built funding for it into our appropriation. 

I am told here that it would be approximately $7.1 million in fiscal year 2011 for 30 FTEs and $5.2 million in fiscal year 2012 for 

25 FTEs that is reimbursed. Now the law requires that we provide 

reports every 60 days on the TARP program. Given the status of 

the program now, I am planning to seek legislative relief to provide 

less frequent reporting, which I think is appropriate given the status of the program. 

The Economic Stabilization Act requires us to audit TARP money 

until the last dollar is repaid. So we are in it for the long haul, 

until AIG and the automakers repay their loans. The home mortgage modification program is set to expire at the end of 2012, but 

for other entities that have to repay the money, it could take a significant amount of time. 

But we are hoping our costs go down, and we are also required 

to do an annual financial audit of the TARP funds, which we do. 

Senator NELSON. One would hope that when we are down to the 

last dollar, we wouldn’t still have the need for 25 FTEs. So I am 

assuming there will be some point in time when the numbers become less significant and we might be able to find another way to 

do this, which wouldn’t add to the total cost with a significant 

number of FTEs? 

Mr. DODARO. I expect that figure to go down gradually as the 

money is repaid. And if I can get legislative relief from the 60-day 

reporting requirement, that would further reduce the costs. 

Senator NELSON. Well, keep us posted on how you are doing in 

terms of getting legislative relief because we certainly would be 

supportive of every effort to do that, recognizing that you are still 

going to have a need for a certain number. But hopefully, that 

would reduce the requirement. 

Mr. DODARO. Yes, it would. I would note also in the Wall Street 

Reform Act that was passed last July, there were 44 new mandates 

for GAO work, and very few of those involved reimbursement. 

Senator NELSON. Expect that to happen in your spare time. 

Mr. DODARO. Yes. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

METHODOLOGY BEHIND GAO’S REPORT ON PROGRAM DUPLICATION— 

GAO–11–318SP

We are looking at your March 1 report on redundancy in Government. I am going to pay close attention to it because I think it is 

important that if we are going to be cutting our budget we need 

to be aware of where there is redundancy and how we can root it 

out and save the taxpayers money. Because that is, at the end of 

the day, what we want. 

So you highlight this report. Can you tell us a little bit about 

your methodology and how you came about to actually producing 

this report? Did you consult with the CBO or the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)? At the end of the day we are all inter-
70 

ested in the same thing, but maybe you can help me understand 

how the GAO went about doing this? 

Mr. DODARO. We first did research on existing GAO studies 

where we had tackled this issue across the Federal Government. In 

fact, many of the items covered in the report we had already looked 

at as a result of requests from more than 60 percent of the committees in the Senate and in the House. 

We also looked at other reports—the CBO, the OMB, what was 

in the President’s budget submission—as opportunities to reduce 

overlap and duplication. We did literature reviews on studies by 

think tanks and others to gather an inventory. We tapped into our 

institutional knowledge of the Government to do initial work going 

forward. 

The original concept was to cover the entire Federal Government 

over a 3-year period. This was our first installment. We are doing 

our planning activities right now for year 2 and year 3, and we are 

going to create a methodology to make sure that we cover all areas 

where there are potential for overlap and duplication. 

We also had extensive consultations with the Congress. While 

the legislation did not require us to report to specific committees, 

we focused on the Appropriation Committees, the Budget Committees, and our oversight committees in the Congress. We had extensive consultations with them to get their ideas and to discuss our 

work plans with them. I felt that we did a very thorough job. 

Now we also added to the report, beyond overlap, duplication, 

and fragmentation, other ideas we had about cost-savings opportunities and revenue enhancements to help provide a fuller menu for 

the Congress to look at, because they all have the same objective— 

how to reduce cost, and enhance Government revenues. And so our 

recommendations were based upon previous GAO work that we updated for the report. 

And we are also planning in future reports, Mr. Chairman, to include a listing of what actions were taken as a result of the prior 

year’s report so there is a clear scorecard going forward. 

Senator NELSON. You were anticipating where I was going perhaps because that was my next point. It would be helpful to develop a scorecard because I suspect that as you went back and 

looked at other reports, some of the things that were suggested in 

the past were still not done and questions still not answered. 

So it would be helpful to know, as things are considered and as 

we move forward, whether or not your recommendations are being 

considered. And I am sure some of them will be objectionable to 

some folks, but not all of them. So, hopefully, that scorecard would 

help us see how we are doing in rooting out the redundancies. 

Mr. DODARO. Yes, we will definitely do that. 

Senator NELSON. Dr. Elmendorf, I know you are concerned about 

making certain that we get it right with respect to your budget. 

And so, we are focused on that. I think we internally understand 

the discrepancies between numbers and years. 

So I suspect that if we don’t get it quite right, we would ask for 

a CBO study to help us get that in order. 

Dr. ELMENDORF. We trust you entirely, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator NELSON. In 2012, we notice that you have increased 

funding for your staff levels by 6.6 percent above fiscal year 2010 
71 

enacted level, and you proposed to reduce funding for IT infrastructure by $1.2 million, or 51 percent below fiscal year 2010 enacted. 

IT RESOURCES

While other agencies are using technology to improve their efficiency, you are actually cutting your IT. And I am not opposed to 

cutting. My question is what IT projects are you cutting, and how 

are you finding some efficiencies there to be able to do that perhaps 

could be shared with others as well? 

Dr. ELMENDORF. I think what you are seeing there, Mr. Chairman, is principally a cycle in the replacement of aging equipment. 

For a number of years coming up to now, we did not have sufficient 

funds to keep up with the pace of advancing technology. We were 

able to direct a piece of our appropriated funds in the past few 

years, though, to catching up in a way. 

That is very important. One of the simple uses that we put that 

supplemental appropriation to was buying faster computers that 

could—which we could use to run our complicated models of the 

health insurance system more rapidly. So we are very attentive to 

the need to maintain high-level technology to keep our productivity 

high. 

But having made that investment now in the past few years, we 

see less need for that in the coming year or two, and we don’t want 

to just buy new computers because they are new and out there. So 

we have deliberately scaled back on that. As we say in the budget, 

that is not sustainable for the long run. There will come a need to 

do that replacement later. 

STAFFING LEVEL

But in order to maintain the staffing level, which we think we 

need to provide the service we provide to the Congress, in the face 

of a competitive labor market for the people that we are trying to 

attract and retain while keeping the overall funding level for the 

agency in 2012, as we proposed it the same as it was in 2010, requires us to spend somewhat more on those people. And we have 

been able to do that in our proposal by squeezing down on the 

money we spend in other areas. 

COST ESTIMATES

Senator NELSON. Now you are anticipating a request for roughly, 

650 formal cost estimates in fiscal year 2010, in addition to the 

thousands of informal estimates, and approximately, 100 analytical 

reports. If you could, help me understand what does it cost for a 

typical CBO analysis? 

Let us first take the formal request and then perhaps the informal. Of the formal requests, do you have sort of a ballpark number 

of what the cost is internally? 

Dr. ELMENDORF. No I don’t. Partly because there is a tremendous 

variation in the complexity in the cost estimates. 

Senator NELSON. And there probably is no average, right? 

Dr. ELMENDORF. I think that is right. I mean, we do a lot of estimates that are a page or two pages. A single analyst might spend 

a few days talking to the various Government agencies or people 
72 

in the private sector or whatever is necessary to learn enough to 

do the estimate well. So that would be just one analyst for a few 

days. 

Then we do other estimates, for example, of healthcare reform, 

where we had dozens of people working for months. So it is just 

tremendous variation. We haven’t tried to calculate an average. I 

am not sure it would be very helpful. 

Senator NELSON. And in addition to having your own internal 

costs, don’t you engage specialists outside to come and help where 

perhaps you don’t have that level of expertise or you are looking 

for a second approach? 

Dr. ELMENDORF. Yes, we do exactly that. We reach out to a lot 

of people on the outside who will help us for free. We talk to analysts and universities and analysts in the private sector, many of 

whom will just talk with us because they recognize that it is an opportunity for them to be helpful in important work. 

But on the other hand, there are some services we do need to pay 

for. We have a contract with actuaries. And when we do our work 

on health insurance, when we first started doing work on financial 

issues, the CBO did not have a very deep bench in that area. And 

as the Government plunged in to more and more large financial 

transactions, we initially hired some of those services from the outside. 

As we gained the capacity and built the capacity internally to 

deal with that, we stopped those contracts. We think, in many 

cases, over time we can acquire the knowledge ourselves, and that 

is a little cheaper. But when it is necessary for us to learn from 

outside people, we don’t want to pretend we have all the knowledge 

in-house because we don’t. 

REQUEST FOR STUDIES

Senator NELSON. When you are requested for a study, I know 

you have to prioritize what you currently have versus what you are 

being asked to do. Can you give me some idea of how, I am not 

asking who you put highest in priority, but how you prioritize, in 

general, other than by who is asking? 

Dr. ELMENDORF. Well, so the who is asking is part of it. The Congressional Budget Act that established the CBO set our priorities 

as working first for the Budget Committees, then for the Ways and 

Means and Finance and Appropriations Committees, then for other 

committees and Members, to the extent time allows. So that does 

matter. 

We also try to focus on the proposals that are receiving the most 

attention in the Congress. In order to be the most helpful to the 

most Members that we can, we direct more energy to proposals 

that are moving through the legislative process that seem to be 

headed for action by committees, votes on the floor of the Senate 

or the House. 

And we consult with the Budget Committees, with the other 

main committees I mentioned, with the leadership in the Senate 

and the House on a regular basis to try to be sure that we are 

working on the projects that are most helpful. It is often hard to 

be sure what will be helpful. 
73 

One recent example, when the House was debating on the floor 

H.R. 1, the continuing resolution, they had an open amendment 

process. I think there were more than 600 amendments that were 

filed. We produced cost estimates of more than 300 of them in the 

space of a frantic week. 

We tried to do the ones that seemed to be attracting the most 

attention among House Members. I am sure we didn’t get that exactly right. We did the very best that we could, but the limitation 

on resources, of course, affects the amount of the product that we 

can provide to the Congress. 

ENTITLEMENT ANALYSES

Senator NELSON. Well, assuming that the Congress gets totally 

serious about dealing with entitlements and chooses to do all the 

entitlements at the same time, will your staff, at the current level, 

be able to deal with the requests that are going to be very obvious, 

such as, the analyses that are going to be requested for Social Security, Medicare, and perhaps on some other areas as well, Medicaid? 

Dr. ELMENDORF. We will do our absolute best to keep up with the 

Congress. It is challenging. In the space of the last month or two, 

as we have worked on our updated baseline estimates and analysis 

of the President’s budget that we will be releasing tomorrow, actually, we have had to put aside work on a variety of proposals that 

various committees in the Senate and the House wanted very much 

for us to move ahead on, and we told them that we can’t do that 

now. 

So we are always setting priorities. We have lost a number of 

health staffers who I think basically were worn out by the events 

of the past 2 years. We have been able to hire some replacements. 

But we have stopped hiring now, given the budget situation. So we 

are leaner than I would like us to be, and I am more worried about 

that. 

But you and your colleagues should have confidence that we will 

work desperately hard to provide you what we can, given the resources that remain available to us. 

STAFFING AND HIRING

Senator NELSON. And that you will be totally candid about what 

your needs are at that time. Either you are adequately staffed for 

the requests, or if you are not, what the delay would be or what 

the cost to meet those requirements might be. 

Dr. ELMENDORF. We try to be straightforward about that. As you 

understand, part of the problem is that one can’t create the capacity overnight. So, for example, in the economist job market, much 

of the hiring happens in the winter. We had lined up a number of 

promising candidates to work in key areas that we expect the Congress to be pressing us for analysis in. 

We did not make job offers to those people. We cut that process 

off in midstream because of the uncertainty about this year’s budget and next year’s budget. It is not easy to hire those people now, 

in a sense. We have, for a number of those people, we basically 

passed on this entire annual cycle, and our next chance to hire 

many of those people will be next winter. 
74 

It is just a peculiarity of the way this particular job market 

works. Other areas, we can hire more readily throughout the year. 

But even then, people don’t come in with all the expertise usually 

that we need. We hire people who are terrifically well-trained and 

have various different experiences, but not necessarily doing the 

precise sort of work that we do. 

So we can’t really ramp up overnight. And that is part of what 

concerns me is, given the freeze that we have on hiring now, that 

we will end up with attrition in areas that may not be—well, there 

is no good place, but maybe in the areas that would be of particular 

interest to the Congress. And if we don’t have the funds to replace 

those people, then I am worried that we will not be able to do as 

much as we otherwise would be able to do. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

GAO BALANCES RESOURCES WITH PRIORITIES

Mr. Dodaro, would that be true in your case as well with the accountability requirements that are constantly being asked from 

you? 

Mr. DODARO. Definitely. Our highest priorities are statutory requirements, either in law, conference reports, or committee reports 

because they are an expression of a broader congressional interest. 

By law, we also have to respond to requests from chairs of committees where we have the competency to do so. We treat ranking 

members the same to maintain our nonpartisan status, and then 

requests from Members of Congress. 

We haven’t been able to respond to a request from an individual 

Member of Congress for many years because of the workload demands. But when unusual circumstances come up, as in the case 

of the TARP program, I thought it was reasonable to ask the Congress to have that reimbursed since it was outside of the appropriations cycle. 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was a similar situation. The Congress gave us one-time funds of $25 million to help 

as we deployed people across the country to track the money. 

So when unusual requirements arise, I am not bashful in asking 

the Congress for help. Our base appropriation, if our request is 

granted, would be enough, I believe, to work with the committees 

on their highest-priority needs as we know them now. 

Senator NELSON. Mr. Boarman, what about yours? Obviously, 

you are affected by things that go on in the Congress. If priorities 

change or suddenly there is a workload increase, you are affected 

by that as well. How does that impact you, your budget, and your 

thinking about the future? 

GPO STAFFING

Mr. BOARMAN. Well, when I came onboard, Mr. Chairman, we 

had around 2,300 FTEs, and we are down to nearly 2,200. And so, 

in anticipation of a flat budget or less, we haven’t hired anybody. 

But I am concerned on the operations side of the house where all 

the work is done and where the chargeable hours are, we are very, 

very slim in staffing. And these are the people that mostly work 

on the nightshift that come in and respond to the overnight needs 
75 

of the Congress, and we are down to almost 800 people in that 

area. 

I mentioned earlier in my testimony, we had 8,000 people working there when I worked there back 35 years ago. And just in the 

division that I worked in, we had 1,600. Today, we have 800 in all 

of these different divisions—bindery, press, prepress, IT. So, obviously, I am concerned. 

But we get it. We know there is an issue, there is a problem 

here, and we are going to try to do the best we can with less. I 

have cut out all travel except what is necessary, and any hires 

have to come to me and be approved because we have no idea what 

the Congress is going to do with the budget. But we hope they will 

recognize that we are a valuable, valuable partner, and we provide, 

like Dr. Elmendorf and Mr. Dodaro, we provide services that I don’t 

think anybody else could do for the Congress. 

I don’t think you could operate, open your doors every day without the services we do. And I just hope that the Appropriations 

Committee will keep that in mind because we do work hard for 

you. 

Senator NELSON. Well, I will ask all three of you, is there something I should have asked that I haven’t. 

Dr. ELMENDORF. Well, Mr. Chairman, as usual, your questions 

were right on point. 

Senator NELSON. Well, thank you. 

Dr. ELMENDORF. I think, I guess, the final thing I would say is 

that I think we are already doing as much as we can with the resources that we are provided. We strive every day to work hard 

and give the Congress the best value that we can for the resources 

we were provided with. 

And if the Congress decides that it wants a smaller CBO, that 

is, of course, the prerogative of you and your colleagues. But I 

think that should be done with an understanding that it will reduce the output that we can give you. There will be fewer cost estimates. The analyses will be less fully worked out. It will take 

longer to get things done. And obviously, that is what happens 

when one has to make hard choices about where to use resources. 

But I think cutbacks should not be made with a sense that somehow we will do more with less. 

Senator NELSON. Yes. 

Dr. ELMENDORF. We are doing all we can. And I think if we get 

less, then we will, unfortunately, do less. 

Senator NELSON. Mr. Boarman. 

GPO ESTIMATES OF WORK

Mr. BOARMAN. Mr. Chairman, I think your first question was certainly the most important, and I was happy to have a chance to 

get that on the record because I think it is important. 

But beyond that, I think that what would concern me is that if 

our appropriation was so low and the Congress continued to order 

printing beyond what we were appropriated, we would still have to 

do the work. And then we would be in what is called deficit spending, and that is something that the Congress is trying to get out 

of. 
76 

In our appropriations, we are asking for some additional money 

because of our estimates. We estimate what we think you are going 

to do. And it is based on historical data. If it is a Presidential election year, usually the Congress is in less than they are in a nonPresidential election year. And so, we make our best guess, but we 

are not always right. And so, when we come up short, we ask that 

we be paid for the work that we did. 

And so, if we estimate that you are going to print 700 reports, 

and then you print 850, which I think was the case in the previous 

year, we have to print it. The law requires us to do that, and you 

require us to do that. 

So that would be the one thing if you would ask me that, that 

I would say we will do it. But at some point, it would put GPO in 

a position where the comptroller or the chief financial officer, who 

is sitting behind me, would be tapping me on the shoulder, saying, 

‘‘You know, we have no money to pay anybody. So we have to shut 

down.’’ 

And that would be a terrible thing. So I just ask you to keep that 

in mind. 

Senator NELSON. Well, thank you. You gave me an idea. 

Mr. BOARMAN. I didn’t intend to do that. 

Senator NELSON. No, no. It just struck me that if we are in session less, there would be less paper, less printing, less work. 

Mr. BOARMAN. Well—— 

Senator NELSON. You have to share that with the majority leader. As a matter of fact, if people have wanted us to give them less 

Government, this would certainly be one way to do it. 

Mr. BOARMAN [continuing]. For years, I think Public Printers 

have told the Congress if you want to reduce your printing budget, 

you have to talk a little bit less. 

Senator NELSON. Never happened. 

Mr. BOARMAN. But that has never happened. So I mean, it is not 

up to me to decide how late the Congress stays in session at night. 

We stay there. When we see the light on in the Dome, we know 

we have got to be there all night and late into the morning, and 

we do whatever we have to do to get the Congressional Record and 

the bills and the hearings and the calendars and the reports. 

I get a report on my BlackBerry every morning from Lyle Green, 

who is sitting behind me, who is our Congressional Publishing Director, telling me we are going to be on time with this and we are 

going to be on time with that. And I go, ‘‘Whew.’’ Because it is so 

important that we do these. 

The Congress pays for it, and we want to be on time. And most 

of the times we are. 

GAO ASSISTANCE HELPS THE CONGRESS MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS

Senator NELSON. And we appreciate that. 

Mr. Dodaro, anything that I haven’t asked that I should have? 

Mr. DODARO. At the risk of giving you another idea, I would venture two points. One, I certainly understand the desire of the Congress to lead by example in cutting their own operations. But I 

think that the magnitude of our problems and challenges on the 

fiscal front are so significant that the Congress also ought to be 
77 

asking whether it has the proper information and resources to 

make informed, difficult choices in the years ahead? 

And certainly, cutting both congressional staff and the support 

office staffs is something that bears a lot of careful deliberation and 

that consequences because I think the country want the Congress 

to lead by example, but also to make really well-informed decisions 

in what is going to be a difficult period for everybody in the country 

until we can get on a more sustainable path. 

The second point that I would make would be that the extent to 

which we can have some sort of stability over a multiple-year period would really help us properly plan ahead. It is something I 

really never wanted to become an expert at, but managing under 

continuing resolutions is not an easy process. While I recognize 

that this is a difficult issue to deal with, I think that sort of stability would be the other idea I would try to leave you with. 

Senator NELSON. Well, your point is well made. In the absence 

of predictability and stability, no one could run a business. And the 

absence of that in our case makes it very difficult to continue to 

function at the level we need to. My hope is that we just voted for 

the last short-term continuing resolution and that the next effort 

at the end of this 3-week period we will finish out the rest of the 

year and the 2012 budget we are working on right now will be 

treated in the ordinary course of business by regular order. 

And I hope that it is where we will be able to function. It certainly is a time when we want business to invest here at home. A 

stable Government, predictable policy, and predictable regulatory 

responses are all essential to the decisions to invest here. And 

where investment occurs is where jobs will be created. 

So this is why it is essential that we get out of this rut that we 

are in and just kicking the can down the road, for whatever purpose. 

ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

[The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but were 

submitted to the Department for response subsequent to the hearing:] 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO GENE L. DODARO

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY SENATOR JOHN HOEVEN

GENERAL BUDGET

Question. Considering that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) budget 

request of $556.8 million is equivalent to the fiscal year 2010 enacted level and the 

current fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution, under which the agency has been operating for the last 5 months, would you please tell the subcommittee what steps 

has GAO has already taken to reduce costs? 

Answer. GAO is committed to implementing cost savings and efficiencies without 

diminishing our traditionally high-quality work that lays the foundation for critical 

decisionmaking and oversight by the Congress. This will entail difficult tradeoffs as 

we face increasing workload demands while trying to support the staff capacity of 

3,220 full-time equivalents we need to maintain our level of service to the Congress 

without additional resources. 

In fiscal year 2010, we reduced hiring in anticipation of limited funding in fiscal 

year 2011. In fiscal year 2011, we further reduced hiring and have begun implementing significant reductions across a broad range of programs to streamline our 

operations, reduce discretionary spending, reduce and defer investments, and lever-
78 

age technology to help us achieve our mission more effectively and efficiently. These 

areas include: 

—limiting hiring to only replace critical staff losses; 

—reducing staff travel while leveraging other means of communication, including 

teleconference and video-conference capabilities, whenever practical; 

—limiting contracts related to congressional engagements to those that obtain 

critical subject or technical expertise; 

—limiting external training opportunities to staff who represent the GAO at professional forums or necessary to meet certain professional certification requirements, such as State bar requirements; 

—deferring some security clearance upgrades for employees and contract staff; 

—reducing the cost of operating our facility, including energy consumption; 

—reducing contract support in information technology and other sensitive areas; 

—deferring technology enhancements which would improve staff efficiency; and 

deferring investments in critical infrastructure programs to improve aging building systems. 

Question. What percentage of GAO’s budget covers staffing? How will reduced 

funding in fiscal year 2011 and 2012 impact support of congressional requests? 

Answer. As a knowledge-based organization, about 80 percent of GAO’s budget 

funds staff compensation and benefits with the balance of our budget funding mandatory operating expenses, such as operating costs for our headquarters and field 

facilities, security services, and other critical infrastructure services required for ongoing operations. 

While difficult, reducing our costs is necessary to fulfill our goal to balance efficiency and productivity in a tight budget environment. Despite the added challenges, at a fiscal year 2010 funding level GAO will still be able to meet the highestpriority congressional needs in a timely manner. We will outreach to the Congress 

to understand and set priorities to ensure that we focus on the most important 

issues for congressional oversight. However, if GAO is funded below the requested 

fiscal year 2010 funding level, it would negatively impact our ability to provide timely GAO to the range of congressional requests and mandates, increase the length 

of time it takes us to staff requested assignments, diminish our capacity to conduct 

engagements, increase the number of pending requests, and adversely impact our 

ability to effectively assist the Congress in addressing the broad array of challenges 

facing the Nation. 

Question. How many legislative mandates requiring GAO to do work have been 

written into law in the past year and how many individual legislative requests have 

been sent directly to GAO? Is this an increase or decrease over the previous year? 

Answer. Over the last 4 years, the number of congressional requests and legislative mandates averages almost 1,100 annually. In fiscal year 2010, GAO received 

979 congressional requests, including 173 legislative mandates and 806 requests 

from committees, subcommittees, and Members requesting GAO to do work. In fiscal year 2010, the number of new legislatively mandated studies increased by more 

than 30 percent more than the prior fiscal year. 

We have identified a number of legislative mandates that we believe need to be 

modified or repealed. For example, many of the mandates impose recurring reporting requirements on GAO. We are outreaching to the appropriate committees to discuss the potential for legislative relief from these mandates. Eliminating these mandates would conserve resources while preserving the option for congressional committees to request GAO work in areas covered by the specific mandates. 

DUPLICATION REPORT

Question. How does the first annual GAO report on ‘‘Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue’’—the ‘‘duplication report’’—differ from the High-Risk Series that the GAO has 

issued on a biennial basis since 1990? Is the new report a duplication of effort on 

the part of GAO? 

Answer. The two reports have very different purposes. The primary purpose of the 

‘‘duplication report’’ is to identify Federal programs or functional areas where unnecessary duplication, overlap, or fragmentation exists, the actions needed to address such conditions, and the potential financial and other benefits of doing so. 

From our prior work, we also highlighted other areas of potential cost savings or 

enhanced revenues. In contrast, the biennial high-risk report identifies Government 

operations that are at high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, 

abuse, and mismanagement or the need for transformation to address economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. There are a limited number of areas identified 

in both reports as an opportunity to reduce potential duplication and as a high risk 
79 

based upon one body of work. An example is food safety oversight which is highly 

fragmented. In addition, the current system has caused inconsistent oversight, ineffective coordination, and inefficient use of resources. 

We prepared GAO’s first annual report to the Congress in answer to a statutory 

requirement included in the public debt limit increase that GAO identify Federal 

programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives, either within Departments or Government-wide, which have duplicative goals or activities. The Congress asked GAO to 

conduct this work and to report annually on our findings. This work will inform 

Government policymakers as they address the rapidly building fiscal pressures facing our national government. GAO’s most recent update of its annual simulations 

of the Federal Government’s fiscal outlook underscores the need to address the longterm sustainability of the Federal Government’s fiscal policies. 

In the report, we included 81 areas for consideration based on the GAO’s prior 

and ongoing work. We presented 34 areas where agencies, offices, or initiatives have 

similar or overlapping objectives or provide similar services to the same populations; 

or where Government missions are fragmented across multiple agencies or programs. These areas span a range of Government missions: 

—agriculture; 

—defense; 

—economic development; 

—energy; 

—general government; 

—health; 

—homeland security; 

—international affairs; and 

—social services. 

Within and across these missions, this report touches on hundreds of Federal programs, affecting virtually all major Federal departments and agencies. Overlap and 

fragmentation among Government programs or activities can be harbingers of unnecessary duplication. Reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation could potentially save billions of tax dollars annually and help agencies provide 

more efficient and effective services. The areas identified in the report are not intended to represent the full universe of duplication, overlap, or fragmentation within 

the Federal Government. We will continue to identify additional issues in future reports. 

Given today’s fiscal environment, we also presented 47 additional areas—beyond 

those directly related to duplication, overlap, or fragmentation—describing other opportunities for agencies or the Congress to consider taking action that could either 

reduce the cost of Government operations or enhance revenue collections for the 

Treasury. These cost savings and revenue opportunities also span a wide range of 

Federal Government agencies and mission areas. 

In 1990, we began our high-risk program to highlight long-standing challenges 

facing the Federal Government. Historically, we designated high-risk areas based on 

their increased susceptibility to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. As the 

program has evolved, we have increasingly used the high-risk designation to draw 

attention to the need for broad-based transformation to achieve greater efficiency, 

effectiveness, accountability, and sustainability of key Government programs and 

operations. This effort, supported by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform, has brought much-needed focus to problems impeding effective Government 

and costing billions of dollars each year. To help improve these high-risk operations, 

GAO has made hundreds of recommendations and the administration and agencies 

have addressed, or are addressing, many of them and the Congress continues to 

take actions that are important to helping resolve high-risk issues. 

In the past two decades, attention to high-risk areas has brought results. More 

than one-third of the areas previously designated as high risk have been removed 

from the list because sufficient progress was made to address problems. Further, 

progress had been made in nearly all of the areas that remain on GAO’s list as a 

result of congressional oversight and action, high-level administration attention, efforts of the responsible agencies, and support from GAO through our many recommendations and consistent follow-up on the implementation of recommended actions. In three areas—strategic human capital management, managing Federal real 

property, and Department of Defense support infrastructure management—progress 

has been sufficient for GAO to narrow the scope of the high-risk issue. However, 

additional progress is both possible and needed in all 30 high-risk areas to save billions of dollars more and further improve the performance of Federal programs and 

operations. 
80 

Question. If the Congress and the executive branch have not had ample time to 

address the issues detailed in the first report, and policy and funding changes have 

not been fully implemented, is it reasonable to assume that GAO will be able to 

produce a valuable duplication report on an annual basis? 

Answer. Yes. The original concept was to cover the entire Federal Government 

over a 3-year period. We are currently planning activities for year 2 and year 3. We 

plan to create a methodology to ensure that we cover all areas where there is a potential for overlap and duplication. Also, future reports will include a listing of the 

actions taken as a result of the prior year’s report and actions that remain open. 

Question. What are the costs to GAO for compiling each of these reports? If committees and Members of Congress are going to continue to ask GAO to produce 

these reports, and at the same time provide reduced funding for the agency, it 

would be helpful to know the general cost associated with producing a report so that 

we might re-evaluate and streamline our own requests. 

Answer. As a knowledge-based organization, GAO’s most significant resource is its 

staff. As a result, GAO manages engagements based on the staffing resources needed to conduct the engagement rather than applying a dollar or budget figure to represent the engagement’s cost. In addition, we allocate staff resources and measure 

our performance by strategic goal rather than by engagement, as described in our 

annual ‘‘Performance and Accountability Report’’. It should be noted that the data 

GAO collects and analyzes when conducting its work is often used on multiple engagements and because there are so many engagements that share data, it would 

not be cost-effective—or perhaps even possible—to accurately isolate the cost of any 

particular engagement. 

To produce these reports we draw upon an extensive body of work across GAO, 

including ongoing and previously completed work. The body of work used in this effort was performed for a wide variety of committees and subcommittees in both 

chambers, including more than 60 percent of the committees in the House and more 

than 60 percent of the committees in the Senate. Our first report on overlap and 

duplication also included updates to prior GAO work and recommendations, and in 

some cases, required that we complete ongoing work or conduct new work to identify 

what additional actions agencies may need to take and the Congress may wish to 

consider, and considered the work of other agencies such as the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office. 

Question. What are the benefits to GAO of compiling these reports? What sort of 

return does GAO’s work generate for the taxpayer? 

Answer. As a result of the information contained in the GAO’s first annual report 

on duplication and overlap, the Federal Government has the opportunity to save 

tens of billions of tax dollars annually by reducing or eliminating unnecessary duplication, overlap, or fragmentation and by addressing the other cost-saving and revenue-enhancing opportunities contained in the report. 

Solutions to high-risk problems offer the potential to save billions of dollars, dramatically improve service to the public, and strengthen confidence and trust in the 

performance and accountability of the U.S. Government. In fiscal year 2010, we 

issued 151 reports, delivered 67 testimonies to the Congress, and prepared several 

other products, such as briefings and presentations, related to our high-risk work. 

In addition, we documented nearly $27 billion in financial benefits and 522 nonfinancial benefits related to high-risk areas. These results are based on reviews 

spanning a wide range of issues such as implementing and transforming the Department of Homeland Security, revamping Federal oversight of food safety, executing 

the 2010 Census, and managing Federal real property. 

GAO FIELD OFFICES

Question. When GAO’s field offices were established in the 1950s, there may have 

been a real need for setting these up around the country because of the limited ability to travel, the costs associated with travel, and the inability to gather and share 

information as easily and quickly as we can now in this instant communication age. 

Is it still necessary for GAO to maintain 11 field offices? 

Answer. As telecommunications, transportation, and access to information has improved, GAO has reduced the number of field locations from 43 to 11. We believe 

11 offices are needed at this time. We periodically assess our field structure and believe it is appropriate to maintain field office locations to do original data collection 

and provide first-hand information on Federal activities and expenditures around 

the country. This information is obtained through direct observation, interviews, inspections, and examination of activities where the action takes place and Federal 

funds are spent. 
81 

GAO’s strategic plan for 2010 to 2015 discusses challenges facing the Nation and 

issues we plan to address over the next 5 years. Together with its headquarters’ office, the GAO’s field structure provides excellent coverage of Federal expenditures 

on such areas as national defense operations; protecting the homeland by securing 

ports, borders, and critical assets; management of the Nation’s natural resources; 

and hundreds of billions of dollars in Federal aid to States and localities through 

programs that provide medical assistance, education, child nutrition, income support, and highway investment. Illustrative examples follow: 

—Much of GAO’s national security work is conducted at military facilities, such 

as the Aeronautical Systems Center (Air Force Materiel Command) at WrightPatterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, which manages most major Air Force 

aircraft programs. Our Norfolk staff recently completed work at naval commands in Virginia such as the Aegis Training Center in Dahlgren, Virginia and 

the U.S. Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia. In addition, Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama is home to the Army Aviation and Missile Command, the Army Aviation Research, Development, and Engineering Center, the 

Missile Defense Agency, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and minutes away from our Huntsville field office. 

—A majority of our Customs and Border Protection work is performed in the field. 

For example, our Los Angeles office offers easy access to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Nations’ top two ports. It also is proximate to the Mexican border, where much enforcement and interdiction activity is focused. 

—A large portion of GAO’s healthcare work is done in our field office locations. 

For example, our Atlanta staff is currently performing work at the Centers for 

Disease Control, headquartered in Atlanta. 

—GAO field staff conduct critical work in our western field offices that are proximate to numerous facilities where nuclear weapons development, nuclear cleanup, and other activities are subject to GAO reviews occur. Maintaining a core 

group of GAO staff at these field offices that has the necessary security clearances to access sites and that has knowledge of associated programs, allows the 

agency to accomplish its work more efficiently and help inform multiple engagements simultaneously. 

—Most of GAO’s oil and gas development and other work on Federal lands occurs 

in the Western States; having staff positioned in Denver, San Francisco, and 

Seattle has allowed us easy access to these areas and to Federal and State offices and officials who manage these programs. Ongoing work on oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico has also benefited from the participation of 

GAO staff in Dallas. 

Moreover, the ability to draw and retain top talent in locations with less competition for that talent than in Washington, DC allows the GAO to maintain a highly 

skilled, diverse workforce that lives and works where the Congress’ constituents live 

and work. This provides the GAO the opportunity to recruit from a large pool of 

academic institutions, bringing diverse perspectives to our work from many regions 

of the country. 

In addition, GAO field staff partner with their accountability professional colleagues through the intergovernmental audit forums across the country with State 

and local auditors. This allows GAO to develop local, State, and Federal geographically dispersed networks to share information and best practices from all levels of 

government. These relationships were extremely beneficial when conducting our 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act work as we quickly deployed field staff 

to cover 16 States for a 2-year period. These already established networks provided 

quick access to the organizational entities we needed to engage and allowed strong 

collaboration across the multiple layers of government. 

Question. Would there be any savings realized by GAO if any, or all, of the field 

offices were eliminated? Or would eliminating the field offices increase the travel 

costs for employees? 

Answer. GAO has not done a recent analysis to determine what if any savings 

could be realized through closure of some or all of the field offices. In order to continue to provide the same level of service to the Congress in future years, GAO 

would need to maintain our staff capacity, which includes subject matter expertise 

housed in our field locations. Theoretically, we would continue to incur the same 

types of costs whether staff are located in the field or in headquarters and could 

potentially increase travel costs as a result of closing offices in close proximity to 

many sites that we visit to conduct our work. 

GAO periodically revisits our field structure, resulting in multiple realignments 

over the years, specifically undertaking a number of initiatives to realign our field 

structure in response to changing conditions and workloads. The overriding goal of 

these initiatives has been to realize long-term efficiencies in the way we do our 
82 

work. Most recently, we have taken actions to maximize efficiencies and reduce the 

costs of travel to maintain our current field structure (e.g., increased 

videoconferencing capability, virtual meetings, Internet Protocol television (IPTV), 

document sharing through technology, centralized training hubs, and e-learning.) 

With these cost-saving initiatives, coupled with the mission-related benefits, we believe that the decision to maintain our field structure is well supported. 

Question. I understand that GAO has established a field presence in Iraq and is 

working with the State Department on similar activities in support of its work in 

Afghanistan and Pakistan. Why is it necessary for GAO to have a permanent presence in these countries? How many staff will be stationed in these locations? Does 

GAO receive any reimbursement from the State Department for these activities? 

Answer. We currently have three long-term temporary duty staff stationed in the 

International Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. We plan to continue this level of presence into 

fiscal year 2012. The staff work on multiple GAO engagements related to U.S. military and civilian activities and afford us a firm oversight presence in the country 

that has been supported by numerous Members of Congress. We believe it is critical 

to have a limited number of GAO staff on the ground in Iraq to effectively carry 

out GAO’s mission and to serve the broad interests of the Congress. The State Department and the Chiefs of Mission have afforded GAO excellent support and cooperation in our efforts to access the necessary data, facilities, and representatives 

of the Government of Iraq and other program implementers in Iraq. Our presence 

in Iraq is further necessary to address recent congressional mandates to assess the 

campaign plan for Iraq, review the effect of drawing down resources in Iraq, and 

evaluate contracting activities there. 

We are currently planning on establishing a presence in Afghanistan to meet congressional mandates and interests in the region. As is the case in Iraq, we believe 

having staff on the ground will allow us to establish the relationships and have 

ready access to information and people to be more responsive to concerns raised by 

the Congress. As in Iraq, we have congressional mandates to assess United States 

progress toward achieving goals in the integrated civilian-military plan and to 

evaluate contracting activities in Afghanistan. Having a presence in Afghanistan 

will enable us to leverage multiple GAO engagements related to United States military operational activities, civilian agency programs, and contract oversight of billions of dollars invested in Afghanistan. 

In late 2009, we requested State Department support in establishing a five-person 

temporary duty presence in Kabul, Afghanistan. We are currently awaiting State 

Department’s approval of our request. 

We continue to conduct engagements in Pakistan, but we have no plans to establish a long-term presence at this time. 

The GAO does not receive any reimbursement from the State Department for 

these activities. 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO WILLIAM J. BOARMAN

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY SENATOR JOHN HOEVEN

CONGRESSIONAL PRINTING AND BINDING

Question. Of the requested increase for congressional printing and binding, $1.39 

million is required to reimburse the Government Printing Office (GPO) for services 

it provided to the Congress in fiscal year 2009 beyond the funding that was appropriated for this account. Why was the estimated cost to cover congressional printing 

not sufficient to cover expenses in fiscal year 2009? Does a shortfall of this nature 

happen often? 

Answer. The estimated cost was not sufficient because the volume of printing required was underestimated. Based on past trends, GPO estimated that in fiscal year 

2009, the volume of hearings would be about 263,000 pages and the volume of bills, 

resolutions, and amendments would be about 131,000 pages. The actual volumes 

were substantially higher, a total of 311,350 pages of hearings and 183,000 pages 

of bills, resolutions, and amendments were required. There are often estimating 

variances in this account because GPO does not control the actual volume of work 

required to be performed. If a shortfall occurs, GPO is obligated to perform the work 

and temporarily finance the shortfall through its revolving fund. GPO will then seek 

to have the shortfall funded in a subsequent appropriation. 

Question. Almost $3 million of the requested increase for congressional printing 

and binding is attributed to estimated volume increases in some work categories, 
83 

offset by decreases in other categories. How does GPO calculate the estimation for 

congressional printing and binding when formulating its budget request? 

Answer. The estimation is based on actual historical data for the specific categories of congressional work in past congressional session years and any known 

special printing requirements for the budget year. For example, in fiscal year 2012, 

obligations for the 2013 Presidential Inaugural will be incurred. 

SALARIES AND EXPENSES OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS

Question. I understand that $500,000 of the requested increase for salaries and 

expenses of the Superintendent of Documents is needed for legacy systems migration and modernization, and historical digitization projects that have been approved 

by the Joint Committee on Printing in collaboration with the Library of Congress 

(LOC). Please describe for the subcommittee the legacy systems and historical 

digitization projects that would benefit from this funding. What is the plan for 

digitizing legacy collections of Federal publications? If the subcommittee is not able 

to provide the requested funding in fiscal year 2012, what is the impact to these 

projects? 

Answer. The GPO is migrating five critical legacy systems that are not currently 

supportable to a modern sustainable architecture (the Depository Distribution Information; Acquisitions, Classification, and Shipment Information; Automated Depository Distribution; Item Lister; and Amendment to Item Selection systems). This is 

called the Library Information System Transformation (LIST) Project, and it is part 

of an ongoing effort for system modernization that has been funded in the past. Approximately $400,000 is needed to complete the migration. An additional $100,000 

is required to support an ongoing collaboration with the LOC to digitize historic 

printed issues of the Congressional Record dating to 1873. Lack of funding will result in project delays, and where legacy systems are concerned, will prolong the vulnerability of these dated systems to malfunction or breakdown. 

Question. Of the requested increase, $304,000 is for the annual operating costs of 

the Federal Digital System (FDSys). Is this an increase from previous annual operating costs? If so, why has this cost increased? 

Answer. The increase is attributable to necessary support tasks that were not initiated in fiscal year 2011, including support for parsers, applications, and developmental tools that has not been contracted for in fiscal year 2011. The GPO anticipates that an additional $304,000 will be required to support FDSys to enhance permanent public access and ensure system availability. 

REVOLVING FUND

Question. I understand that $5 million is included in the fiscal year 2012 budget 

request to continue the development of the FDSys. How much has been spent to 

date on getting this new system up and running? How much additional funding is 

necessary to complete the installation of this system? When it is completed, what 

is the anticipated annual cost of maintaining FDSys? 

Answer. FDSys is the successor system to GPO Access, our original Web site, 

which began operations in 1994 and provided free online access to information from 

the Congress, Federal agencies, and the courts. FDSys provides free public access 

to the same range of information and features state-of-the-art content management 

and information search and retrieval systems that meet the needs of today Government information users. Through February 2011, total spending on FDSys has been 

approximately $43.6 million, and the GPO has completed release 1 of the system, 

which fully replaces GPO Access, including a failover continuity of operations capability. Release 2, which is the submission functionality of the system, is currently 

being developed. The costs of this work are expected to increase total system development costs to between $45 million and $50 million. In addition, annual operating 

costs are anticipated to be $3.25 million, including licensing, staffing, and system 

refresh costs (these costs are anticipated to decrease to the extent we can transfer 

contractor functions to the GPO staff). Future developmental costs, which are optional, could potentially reach $4.75 million annually. The funding requested for fiscal year 2012 is to complete development of release 2 and help support annual operating cost requirements. 
84 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY SENATOR JOHN HOEVEN

DECREASE FUNDING

Question. While I appreciate the fact that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) 

has presented a budget request for fiscal year 2012 that represents no change from 

the funding level provided in fiscal year 2010, if the subcommittee is not able to 

provide the full funding request for fiscal year 2012, what would be the impact to 

the CBO? 

Answer. The impact of a budget reduction in 2012 would depend on the magnitude of the reduction. If it were modest, CBO would try to accommodate that reduction in ways that did not significantly affect the amount of information and analysis we provide to the Congress. As a first step, CBO would reduce its nonpay 

spending—primarily for information technology—as much as possible without degrading necessary support requirements. But more than 90 percent of CBO’s budget 

represents compensation for the agency’s staff. (About 5 percent is for IT equipment 

and services, and the remainder is for training, printing, furniture, office supplies, 

and related items.) Therefore, a significant reduction in the agency’s budget would 

necessitate a downsizing of CBO staff—preferably by attrition—but under some scenarios, layoffs might be necessary. 

Because the demand for CBO’s analysis by the Congress already far exceeds the 

agency’s current ability to provide it, reducing staffing could slow the production of 

cost estimates and mandate statements for pending legislation, delay analyses of 

large-scale budget proposals, limit the types and complexity of analyses the agency 

could undertake, reduce the number and scope of alternative legislative provisions 

the agency could examine, and decrease the number of amendments to bills on the 

floor of the House and Senate for which estimates can be generated. CBO would 

prioritize requirements to meet the most critical efforts required for the Congress 

to accomplish its mission. However, downsizing accomplished through little or no 

new hiring to replace departing staff would probably result in an allocation of staff 

that was not well-matched to Congress’s needs. 

IMPACT ON ANALYSES

Question. What can the Congress do to change its requirements and expectations 

of the analyses that CBO provides, given the fact that we may have to decrease 

funding for the agency? 

Answer. Both the timeliness and the quantity of CBO’s products could be affected. 

The agency would work closely with the budget committees to identify the ways to 

adjust CBO’s output so as to maintain the most support possible for the congressional budget process. 

As specified by the Congressional Budget Act, much of CBO’s work is for committees. They might need to allow more time between when bills are marked up and 

when they are reported in order to obtain CBO cost estimates and mandate statements for reported bills. (Those are required by the Congressional Budget Act.) 

Committees might seek less analytical support in drafting legislation in the form 

of fewer requests for cost estimates for alternative policy proposals and for broad 

policy studies—and they might need to allow for greater turnaround time on such 

work. The preparation of testimony is very time consuming; the CBO might need 

to limit testimony to the highest-priority requests. 

When feasible, the CBO also tries to respond to requests for information from individual Members. If the CBO were smaller, Members would need to anticipate that 

fewer of those requests could be addressed. The CBO also has been doing more and 

more estimates for floor amendments; the leadership and the Budget Committees 

might need to allow more time for such estimates or allow for the fact that the CBO 

might be able to prepare fewer such estimates in the short time that is usually 

available. 

SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

Senator NELSON. So I appreciate very much your answers and 

your proposals. Obviously, we are going to continue to try to work 

together to get this done in a fair and appropriate way. 

So thank you all. 

With that, we are recessed. Thank you. 
85 

[Whereupon, at 3:58 p.m., Thursday, March 17, the hearing was 

concluded, and the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of the Chair.] 

(87) 

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR 

FISCAL YEAR 2012 

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2011 

U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, 

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met at 2:31 p.m., in room SD–138, Dirksen 

Senate Office Building, Hon. Ben Nelson (chairman) presiding. 

Present: Senator Nelson. 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES H. BILLINGTON, LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS 

ACCOMPANIED BY: 

ROBERT DIZARD JR., CHIEF OF STAFF 

DANIEL P. MULHOLLAN, DIRECTOR, CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH 

SERVICE 

MARIA PALLANTE, ACTING REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS, COPYRIGHT OFFICE 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BEN NELSON

Senator NELSON. The subcommittee will come to order. 

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome. 

We meet this afternoon to take the testimony on the fiscal year 

2012 budget request for the Library of Congress (LOC) and the 

Open World Leadership Center (OWLC). 

Senator Hoeven may be able to join us later, but he asked that 

we go ahead and proceed. And I hope to be joined by maybe one 

or the other of the other members of the subcommittee this afternoon as well. 

I want to welcome our witnesses today—Dr. James Billington, 

the Librarian of Congress and Ambassador John O’Keefe, Executive Director of the OWLC. It’s always good to have you gentlemen 

here, and we look forward to hearing from you. It would be helpful 

if you could keep your statements brief, about 5 minutes, and we’ll 

accept the rest of your testimony for the record. 

One thing we established at our first two hearings, and I think 

it bears repeating, is that we’re in no position to entertain increases to the legislative branch budget this year. As you know, the 

fiscal year 2011 appropriations process has proven to be quite a 

challenge, as we find ourselves more than half the way through the 

fiscal year without a bill. And I don’t imagine fiscal year 2012 is 

going to be an easy task for us, or an easy year for us, either. We’re 
88 

looking for your guidance in helping us to address your agencies’ 

needs in 2012, but this is not the year for the ‘‘nice to haves’’. Senator Hoeven and I have looked forward to working with you in this 

regard, and we hope that we can create a partnership. 

Dr. Billington, I want to welcome you and your Chief of Staff, 

Robert Dizard Jr. On behalf of the subcommittee I want to thank 

you for your service as the Librarian of Congress for the last 23 

years. Your service in this capacity is highly commendable, and is 

greatly appreciated. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF DAN MULHOLLAN

I also want to take a moment to acknowledge Dan Mulhollan, Director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), who’s retiring 

this week—or next—after 42 years of service to the Congress. Dan 

joined the LOC in 1969 and has served as the Director of CRS 

since 1994. Prior to that he led CRS’ efforts on issues such as the 

Watergate hearings, and a number of congressional reform efforts 

before becoming chief of CRS’ Government Division in 1991. 

On behalf of this subcommittee I want to thank Dan for his invaluable service to the Congress, and to wish him all the best in 

his future endeavors. 

And I know that Dr. Billington is going to get that very last 

minute out of you before you leave. Please stand. 

Let’s recognize Dan. Thank you. 

The LOC’s fiscal year 2012 request totals $660.7 million, an in- crease of $23.3 million, or 3.6 percent more than the fiscal year 

2010 enacted level. I understand that part of this increase is for 

information technology (IT) security enhancements totaling $2.75 

million, and five additional full-time equivalents (FTEs) for LOC. You’re also requesting an increase of $4.6 million and 17 additional FTEs for CRS. 

I also want to welcome Ambassador O’Keefe of the OWLC. Your 

budget request totals $12.6 million, an increase of $600,000, or 5 

percent more than the current year. I strongly support the work of 

OWLC, and look forward to hearing your testimony, as well. 

Now we’ll turn to Dr. Billington for his opening statement, followed by Ambassador O’Keefe. 

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES H. BILLINGTON

Dr. BILLINGTON. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And 

thank you for recognizing Dan Mulhollan’s extraordinary record of 

leadership. 

I should also point to one other person who hasn’t appeared before—the Acting Register of Copyrights, Maria Pallante, who is 

here and is doing a wonderful job, as we look for new permanent 

leadership in both CRS and the Copyright Office. 

Mr. Chairman, the Congress of the United States has been the 

greatest patron of a library in the history of the world. All of us 

at LOC are deeply grateful that for the last 211 years the Congress 

has created, sustained, and instructed its library through good 

times and bad. Thanks to the Congress, this institution has become, first of all, the world’s largest collection of knowledge in almost all languages and formats; second, the closest thing we have 

to a mint record of American private sector creativity; and, third, 
89 

the leading American public institution in both preserving information on the Internet and sharing collections online. 

LOC embodies key ideals on which this Nation was founded—the 

rights of a free people to have unfettered access to the world’s 

knowledge, to the record of our citizens’ creativity, as well as material incentives for innovation. In this information age, what LOC 

is doing and can do for the United States of America is more important than ever. Our budget request for fiscal year 2012, Mr. Chairman, is designed to maximize our contribution to America and minimize the cost. 

Serving the Congress is LOC’s top priority. And of course, CRS 

has—for almost a century—embodied the distinctive American 

ideal of a knowledge-based democracy. CRS serves the Congress exclusively, providing objective nonpartisan information and analysis 

for the first branch of Government, which also makes extensive use 

of our law library. 

In this time of rapid global change, both America’s international 

economic competitiveness and our national security depend increasingly on knowledge and information drawn from every part of the 

globe. And that’s precisely what you have in LOC—it’s the mother 

lode of the Nation’s strategic information reserve, increasingly essential for the successful work of the Congress and other Government agencies. Even as we speak, our Cairo office is systematically 

sending us the pictures, pamphlets, and social messaging of the 

current uprisings in the Middle East. 

LOC is making a unique contribution to education throughout 

America, and currently delivering—free of charge on the Internet— 

24.5 million items, mostly primary documents of American history 

and culture. We have also now begun to include in our widely used 

Web services similarly unique documents with expert comment 

from other world cultures, with authoritative commentary in seven 

languages, working with many of our 120 partner institutions from 

all over the United States and the world. We’re also working with 

more than 185 other U.S. partners from 44 States and 37 other national libraries in our congressionally mandated program for digital 

preservation. 

Almost all LOC programs provide one-of-a-kind national resources and services, services that no one else in either our public 

or private sectors arguably can reasonably be expected to replicate 

if we were to stop doing them. 

ADDRESSING FISCAL CHALLENGES

Mr. Chairman, we want to address responsibly, at the same time, 

the massive fiscal challenges posed by the Federal deficit. For a 

number of years now, we’ve been submitting constrained budgets 

for which the committees have commended us. And, if we set aside 

the normal inflationary pay and price level increases that all Government agencies request, our 2012 budget request would include 

less than 1 percent for our only two program increases in CRS and 

cybersecurity. 

Even under a best-case budget outlook, funding at the fiscal year 

2010 level for both fiscal years 2011 and 2012 would result in an 

effective budget cut of more than $31 million, or 4.8 percent 

against the fiscal year 2010 base. This alone would require sub-
90 

stantial program and staff sacrifices. And some of the reduction 

scenarios currently being proposed could cut to the bone and require us to take steps that not even past wars and depressions 

have forced the LOC to consider in its 211-year history. 

If faced with major cuts, we would have to ask ourselves where 

we should cut the core programs. In our de-acidification of brittle 

books and manuscripts that will then become unusable? In our cataloging and standards services for the Nation, that will increase 

the burden on already strained local and State libraries? In providing fewer books and magazine titles free to 800,000 blind and 

physically handicapped Americans, who generally read much more 

than sighted people? 

If we cut back our public services significantly, Mr. Chairman, 

we would reluctantly also have to consider furloughing or cutting 

back on personnel. Our dedicated, experienced, and multitalented 

staff account for 63 percent of LOC’s overall budget, and 89 percent 

of CRS’. LOC is now doing far more work than in 1992, but with 

1,076 fewer people on our staff, and half of those reductions have 

occurred just in the last 5 years. 

PREPARED STATEMENTS

In conclusion, I should say we are also critically dependent on 

sustaining the successful collections storage program at Fort 

Meade and ask for your approval of funds for construction of Module 5, which is included in the Architect of the Capitol’s budget. 

America’s oldest Federal cultural institution, Mr. Chairman, has 

become part of the infrastructure for innovative American leadership in the information age. 

I thank you again for your historic support of the LOC, and for 

your consideration of our fiscal year 2012 request. 

[The statements follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. JAMES H. BILLINGTON

Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee: I am pleased 

to present the Library of Congress’ (LOC) fiscal 2012 budget request. 

The Congress of the United States has been the greatest patron of a library in 

the history of the world. Mr. Chairman, all of us at LOC are deeply grateful for the 

Congress’s support over the last 211 years. 

What the Congress created, sustained, and instructed its library to undertake 

through good times and bad has made this institution into— 

—the world’s largest collection of knowledge in almost all languages and formats; 

—the closest thing to a mint record of American private sector creativity and innovation; and 

—the leading American public institution in both capturing transient information 

on the Internet and sharing our collections online. 

In presenting our budget request for fiscal 2012, Mr. Chairman, I propose to answer three big questions that we have asked of ourselves—and that you might well 

wish to ask of us at this time of so many pressing national concerns: What does 

LOC do that is important for the United States of America? 

LOC embodies key ideals on which this Nation was founded: 

—the right of a free people to have unfettered access to knowledge; 

—the necessity for a productive people to have material incentives for innovation; 

and 

—the need to preserve the record of our citizens’ creativity. 

Serving the Congress is LOC’s top priority. LOC’s Congressional Research Service 

(CRS) has—for almost a century—embodied the distinctive American ideal of a 

knowledge-based democracy. CRS serves the Congress exclusively. And LOC’s law 

library also provides objective nonpartisan information and analysis to the first 

branch of Government. 
91 

Never have the core activities of LOC been more important to America than now 

in the information age. Both our international economic competitiveness and our national security depend increasingly on knowledge and information drawn from every 

part of the globe. LOC is the mother lode of the Nation’s strategic information reserve for the work of the Congress and other Government agencies. Even as we 

speak, our Cairo office is systematically sending us the pictures, pamphlets, and social messaging of the current uprisings in the Middle East. 

LOC is making a unique and original contribution to the all-important crisis in 

K–12 education throughout America with its authoritative Internet outreach. We 

are delivering more than 20 million items free of charge, most of which are primary 

documents of American history and culture. We have also now begun to include in 

our widely used Web services similarly unique documents from other world cultures—drawing from our own collections and from many of our 135 partner institutions from all over the United States and the world. We are also working with 167 

other U.S. partners on our congressionally mandated program for digital preservation. 

A second—and crucial—question at this time is: Have we responsibly addressed 

the massive fiscal challenges posed by the Federal deficit, about which the Congress 

is understandably concerned? 

For a number of years now, we have been submitting constrained budgets. If we 

set aside the normal inflationary pay and price level increases that all agencies request, LOC in the last 4 years has asked for program increases averaging only 2.3 

percent of the base budget. The committees have commended these modest requests. 

In fiscal 2012, LOC requests funding to meet a critical need to expand incident 

handling and response capacity to keep pace with the evolving IT security threat 

landscape. The enhancements include expanding the incident handling and response 

function to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The enhancements also 

include advanced security incident and event monitoring, net flow analysis, and 

other systems and processes commonly used across other Government agencies. 

LOC also requests funding and 17 full-time equivalents for CRS, first requested 

in fiscal 2011, to broaden its expertise and strengthen analytical capacity in the 

areas of science and technology, healthcare, financial economics and accounting, and 

social policy related to employment, immigration, and the workforce. This funding 

will enable CRS to provide enhanced multidisciplinary analysis on complex and 

emerging policy issues before the Congress. Additional analytical capacity will also 

give CRS the long-term flexibility to adapt to rapidly changing issues and debates 

in these critical areas. 

These two program requests represent less than 1 percent of the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution base. The great bulk (77 percent) of our overall 3.45 percent requested increase is for the mandatory pay and price level increases of $18 million. 

LOC programs are not ‘‘nice to have’’. Almost all provide one-of-a-kind national 

resources and services that no one else in either our public or private sectors can 

reasonably be expected to replicate. 

Even under a best-case budget outlook, funding at the fiscal 2010 level for both 

fiscal 2011 and 2012 would result in an effective budget cut of more than $31 million, or 4.8 percent, against the fiscal 2010 base. This alone would require substantial program and staff sacrifices. And some of the reduction scenarios currently 

being proposed could cut to the bone and require us to take steps that not even past 

wars and depressions have forced us to consider in LOC’s 211-year history. This possibility leads to a final question. 

How would we handle major budget cuts? 

We would have to ask ourselves where among the many services that we uniquely 

perform we should reduce funding: In our deacidification of brittle books and manuscripts that will then become unusable? In our cataloging and standards service that 

will increase the burden on already strained local and State libraries? In providing 

fewer books and magazine titles free to 800,000 blind and physically handicapped 

Americans who generally read much more than sighted people? 

Even if we cut back our public services significantly, we would reluctantly also 

have to consider furloughing or cutting back on personnel. Our dedicated, experienced, and multi-talented staff accounts for 63 percent of LOC’s overall budget, and 

89 percent of CRS’. LOC is now doing far more work than in 1992, but with 1,076 

fewer people on the staff. Half of those reductions have occurred just in the last 5 

years. 

We are also critically dependent on sustaining the successful collections storage 

program at Fort Meade and ask for your approval of funds for construction of Module 5—included in the Architect of the Capitol budget. 

Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee, America’s oldest Federal cultural institution has become part of the innovative infrastructure of 
92 

America in the information age. I thank you again for your support of LOC and for 

your consideration of our fiscal 2012 request. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DANIEL P. MULHOLLAN, DIRECTOR, CONGRESSIONAL

RESEARCH SERVICE

Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee: Thank you for 

the opportunity to present the fiscal year 2012 budget request for the Congressional 

Research Service (CRS). In addition to presenting our budget request and describing 

some of the support we have provided the Congress over the past year, I would also 

like to describe how CRS’ mission of being a pooled resource shared by the entire 

Congress enables it to provide the information and analysis necessary for the Congress to perform its legislative and oversight functions in an efficient and economical manner. 

CRS: POOLED STAFF FOR THE CONGRESS

CRS has always viewed itself as an extension of congressional staff, a pooled resource that is available to all of the Congress. The range of its expertise and the 

disciplines that make up the informational and analytical capacity of CRS were intended to relieve Member and committee offices of the need to hire their own specialized experts to cover the many issues they confront on a daily basis. This was 

a primary rationale for the enhancement of CRS in the Legislative Reorganization 

Act of 1970. 

In that act, among other institutional changes, the Congress increased our permanent staff and the CRS was reconstituted from the Legislative Reference Service 

and established as a cost-effective shared resource available to every Member regardless of seniority, party or position, and to every committee. The House Committee on Rules Report on the 1970 act emphasized the importance of having such 

a nonpartisan resource accessible to all when it wrote that a shared staff would: 

‘‘Insure the equal availability of information to both Houses of Congress; insulate 

the analytical phase of program review and policy analysis from political biases and 

therefore produce a more credible and objective product and more easily develop 

common frames of reference and analytical techniques that would make such analyses more useful and meaningful to all committees.’’ 

The Rules Committee went on to stress the efficiency of such a shared research 

staff: 

‘‘Finally, the pooling principle underlying supplementary staffs makes them inherently more economical and efficient than dispersed staffs, for they can more easily 

reallocate resources as changing conditions and congressional needs warrant.’’ 

CRS was referred to as a ‘‘research pool’’ by the Senate Committee on Government Operations in describing a predecessor version of the 1970 Legislative Reorganization Act. 

The House Committee’s reference to CRS’ ability to ‘‘develop common frames of 

reference and analytical techniques that would make such analyses more useful and 

meaningful to all committees’’ points to important hallmarks of CRS’ work, namely 

its experts’ familiarity with how issues are positioned in the legislative context, 

their knowledge of how the Congress and the law work and their insights into the 

decisionmaking processes of the executive agencies that implement the law. This, 

combined with institutional memory developed over years of working with Members 

and committees, make for a potent resource available nowhere else. 

We, of course, are prepared to do our part to achieve savings and contribute to 

the goal of efficient legislative branch operations. I feel that our request for additional staff in certain specialized areas is consistent with the vision of a CRS that 

efficiently serves all of the Congress. It is staff that can be shared with all Members 

and committees. 

We also plan to leverage web tools and client and management information systems to enable more focused and responsive support. In difficult budget times, CRS 

offers a model that achieves economies and savings and at the same time provides 

the expertise and resources the Congress needs to legislate in an informed manner 

and to effectively oversee the operations of Government. 
93 

SUPPORT FOR THE CONGRESS

Highlights of the last session of the 111th Congress and CRS’ preparations for the 

112th Congress illustrate how CRS can bring to bear the breadth and depth of its 

expertise to provide continuing legislative assistance to Members and committees. 

Before the postelection session of the 111th Congress ended, CRS was planning 

for the 112th by identifying the issues that were likely to be on the legislative agenda, forming multidisciplinary teams around these current legislative issues, preparing and updating reports and positioning itself to help Members and committees 

more clearly understand the problems facing them and the country and identify and 

analyze options for dealing with them. We cluster this work around a current legislative issues framework which is an organizing principle for our collaborative work 

across the CRS and a primary means by which we present this work on our Web 

site. 

More than 160 issues were identified and, shortly after the 112th Congress convened, we had populated our Web site with relevant products and prepared overview issue statements for each of the issues. That array of analysis and information 

provides all Members access to the best thinking of CRS analysts and information 

professionals on the issues that are currently or likely to appear on the legislative 

agenda. The analysis and information are available to all. But just as important, 

if not more so, this body of work enables direct access to our experts, whose names, 

phone numbers and e-mail addresses appear on all of our reports. These experts 

stand ready to consult with Members and congressional staff, prepare tailored analyses of specific questions, and to regularly update their reports to reflect where 

issues are currently positioned in the legislative process. 

This anticipatory legislative planning work spanned several months and resulted 

in CRS being well placed to provide products and services to the incoming 112th 

Congress. However, as we all know, even the best planning cannot anticipate all 

issues that may suddenly confront the Congress. CRS has the analytical flexibility 

to address quickly emerging issues. For example, when the earthquake and tsunami 

struck Japan, CRS had reports on earthquakes, tsunamis, and relief efforts on its 

Web site within 24 hours. When security of nuclear plants quickly became an issue, 

CRS’ body of work on nuclear energy and security was available and new reports, 

building on these previous reports, were added to provide the Congress with a full 

perspective on the crisis in Japan. 

In another example, the ousting of the President of Tunisia quickly fanned unrest 

in Egypt and other countries in the Middle East. As pressure mounted on President 

Mubarak to leave office, we quickly updated our reports on Egypt and other countries such as Bahrain, Yemen, and Libya that were experiencing popular uprisings 

and highlighted that body of work on the home page of our Web site. We also reorganized our current legislative issues framework for the Middle East to focus on the 

unrest that was engulfing the region. In addition to products focused on specific 

countries, analyses also treated the impact of the unrest on oil supplies, the security 

posture of the United States and the legal, military, and economic impacts of a nofly zone over Libya. And, of course, our Middle East experts conducted numerous 

briefings and prepared tailored analyses of questions raised by the turmoil. 

The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and its sinking in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 was another event that required CRS to mobilize its resources 

quickly. We prepared analyses of the implications of the spill and also posted new 

research resources on our Web site with links to news, relevant legislation, hearings 

in both chambers, and an oil spill events time line. CRS developed timely research 

and analytical support at every stage of the ensuing legislative process, including 

numerous hearings and development of legislative proposals. CRS specialists—with 

economic, scientific, and legal expertise—provided expert witnesses at hearings and 

collaborated with lawmakers on many aspects of Federal jurisdiction over Outer 

Continental Shelf resources, fisheries, worker safety, emergency response, insurance, and—after the well was capped—the use of moneys from the Oil Spill Liability 

Trust Fund for the Federal spill response and implications of the deepwater drilling 

moratorium. 

This confluence of our regular legislative planning work and the mobilization of 

our expertise in response to breaking events demonstrates how CRS can pool its resources and stand ready to serve the long- and short-term needs of the Congress. 

These first few months of the 112th Congress have underscored the contributions 

CRS can make to the policy debates in the Congress. CRS places the array of issues 

that the Congress is likely to face in a framework that is accessible and that discusses those issues in the legislative context in which they will be debated. And the 

CRS can respond quickly to events that can overtake the legislative agenda and de-
94 

mand the attention of the Congress and the country with focused analyses and 

ready availability of experts from all disciplines. 

I must also note another important aspect of our support of the Congress—our 

congressional operations work. We maintain a large body of reports and information 

on the procedures and operations of the Congress and these will soon be better integrated into our Web site offerings to make them more accessible. Our expertise on 

congressional procedure is unparalleled and we make that expertise available not 

only through reports and tailored work by legislative procedure analysts but also 

through an extensive education program of seminars on all aspects of the legislative 

process. We were able to bring this expertise to bear to assist the Senate in the confirmation process for Associate Justice Kagan and the impeachment proceedings 

against Federal District Judge Porteous, which resulted in his conviction and removal from office in December 2010. 

A number of high-profile events in the last session of the 111th Congress also 

demonstrate the breadth and depth of the support CRS provides to the Congress. 

2010 saw enactment of major financial regulatory and healthcare legislation. With 

respect to the latter, CRS supported the Congress throughout the legislative process, 

including detailed analyses of proposals and numerous briefings and programs. CRS 

experts addressed such complex issues as the implications of changes in dependency 

coverage, establishment of State high-risk pools for individuals with pre-existing 

health conditions, the creation of small business health insurance tax credits, and 

also explored legal and policy issues associated with mandating that individuals 

purchase health insurance. After passage of the law, CRS prepared analyses of the 

numerous new entities created by the law as well as the steps needed to be taken 

in the rule-making process. Our attorneys have also tracked the continuing litigation over the validity of the law and analyzed the court decisions as they have been 

issued. 

With respect to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 

lawmakers relied on CRS testimony, numerous reports and memoranda, personal 

consultations, programs and authoritative comparisons of legislative provisions contained in the House and Senate versions of the legislation. Our experts also supported congressional committees in overseeing the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief 

Program (TARP) and examined other Federal assistance given to large financial institutions by the Federal Reserve. 

CRS analysis also addressed efforts in the last Congress to promote job creation 

and increase employment in the wake of the economic crisis and recession. Because 

of the severity of the recession and the subsequent slow pace of economic recovery, 

the Congress sought analysis and information on the relative depth of the recent 

recession compared to past recessions and on programs and policies that have the 

potential of helping unemployed workers secure work. CRS analyzed employment 

trends before and after the end of previous recessions, long-term unemployment and 

recessions, countercyclical job creation programs, the employment effects of infrastructure spending, and training programs available for unemployed workers. 

CRS provided support regarding numerous foreign policy issues in 2010, including 

the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, United States-Pakistan relations, the Greek and 

European debt crises, trade issues with China, and Iran and North Korean sanctions. CRS experts also provided insight to the Congress as it began to explore the 

emerging areas of cyber security and other cyber operations, including the relationship between information operations and cyber warfare. 

Immigration reform re-emerged in 2010 and CRS was asked to assess various reform proposals as well as to analyze the actions that States were taking with respect to immigrants and border security. Tax experts analyzed the impact of various 

tax proposals including extending prior years’ tax cuts. Military detainees, campaign 

finance, and gun control continued to be of congressional interest, the debates being 

influenced by recent court decisions. CRS attorneys and policy experts collaborated 

on analyses of these issues. 

The foregoing are examples of the degree of involvement of CRS in the legislative 

and oversight work of the last Congress as well as during the initial months of this 

Congress. The collaboration among multidisciplinary experts, the breadth of issue 

coverage, the ability to respond in the face of breaking events and the close proximity of CRS to the Congress all combine to enable CRS to serve efficiently as 

shared staff and a pooled resource to be drawn upon by all offices and committees 

of the Congress. 

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

I noted in my testimony last year, that the CRS, at the direction of the conference 

on the legislative branch appropriations bill, contracted with LMI, a not-for-profit 
95 

strategic consulting firm, to independently evaluate CRS’ current staffing models 

and procedures to determine how effectively we are meeting our statutory mandate. 

LMI conducted Member and staff surveys and interviews, reported on best practices 

for research organizations geared to ensuring responsiveness to client needs, and assessed communication channels that would ensure that CRS remains aligned with 

the work of the Congress and the needs of its clients. 

LMI found a high degree of satisfaction with CRS products and services and found 

us to be a reliable, timely and authoritative source of expertise for the entire range 

of congressional clients. We are addressing areas in which LMI recommended improvements based on the feedback it obtained, including examining our product line, 

improving our Web site and options to ensure that CRS availability is aligned with 

the operations of congressional staff. It was gratifying to receive the confirmation 

that we are doing a good job of serving the Congress. However, there is always room 

for improvement and it is all the more imperative in these challenging budget times 

that we remain the most efficient and cost-effective resource for the Congress that 

we can be. 

FISCAL YEAR 2012 BUDGET REQUEST

The CRS budget request for fiscal year 2012 is $117.1 million, with almost 90 percent devoted to pay and benefits for our staff. CRS continues to operate at its lowest 

staff level in more than three decades, and the small percentage of nonpay expenditures is limited to basic operational needs. The requested program increase will obtain additional specialized technical skills and policy expertise to expand the capabilities of CRS and meet the growing policy demands placed upon the Congress. 

An internal review of our capabilities to analyze the rapidly evolving and increasingly complex challenges facing the Congress identified gaps in the specialized skills 

needed for comprehensive multidisciplinary analyses and assessments. This budget 

request includes $2.7 million for 17 full-time equivalents (FTEs) needed to address 

these concerns. This will strengthen research capabilities in science, engineering 

and technology and the broader expertise in these areas will enable CRS to respond 

more readily to rapidly changing science and technology policy debates. The economic crisis and the major financial regulatory legislation enacted in its aftermath 

require additional CRS expertise in financial accounting, consumer protection and 

financial sector regulation in order to effectively support the Congress’ legislative 

and oversight work in these areas. Additional expertise is also needed to support 

multidisciplinary research on policy options in the wake of the enactment of 

healthcare reform legislation as well as analysis of the potential effects of proposed 

changes in the organization, financing and delivery of healthcare services. Finally, 

CRS is asking for additional positions to address the many complex issues pertaining to employment, immigration, the workforce and the economic well-being of 

U.S. residents. 

CONCLUSION

This budget request identifies resources that I feel are needed for CRS to provide 

the full scope of information and analysis that is relevant to the work of the Congress. CRS developed this spending plan to ensure that returns justified the investment while cognizant of the difficult budget climate. My colleagues and I are committed to continually examine every activity and program for efficiencies and reduce 

or eliminate costs where possible while fulfilling our mission. We are proud of our 

unique role as a pooled staff resource for nonpartisan, confidential, authoritative, 

and objective analysis for the Congress. 

I want to thank you for your support and the support the CRS has received over 

the years that has made it into the institution it is today. This will be the final time 

I will submit testimony before the subcommittee. After 17 years as Director and 42 

years with the Congressional Research Service, I am retiring from congressional 

service in April. It has been an honor and privilege to have served in a variety of 

capacities in CRS, an organization that I believe is critical to maintaining an informed national legislature. 

Thank you. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MARIA A. PALLANTE, ACTING REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS

Mr. Chairman Nelson, Senator Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee: Thank 

you for the opportunity to present the fiscal 2012 budget request of the U.S. Copyright Office. 
96 

1Stephen E. Siwek, Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2003–2007 Report, prepared by Economists, Inc. for the International Intellectual Property Alliance (2009). 

We deeply respect the commitment of the Congress to address the Federal deficit 

and Government spending, and we appreciate your consideration of our budgetary 

needs. Indeed, our talented and hardworking employees have always carried out the 

work of the Copyright Office with a sense of purpose and are fully prepared to share 

in the burden of these austere times. We are not seeking additional full-time equivalents (FTEs) or funding for new projects at this time. However, we do wish to ensure 

that our existing staff is compensated competitively so that we may maintain a 

highly skilled and motivated workforce at a time when copyright law is increasingly 

complex and the Office’s services are increasingly technical and in demand. Specifically, our requests are as follows: 

—A 1.7 percent increase ($0.843 million) more than fiscal year 2011 to support 

mandatory pay-related and price-level increases affecting administration of the 

Office’s core business systems and public services; and 

—A 1.7 percent increase ($0.095 million) more than fiscal year 2011 in offsetting 

collection authority of the Copyright Licensing Division to support mandatory 

pay-related and price-level increases affecting the administration of the Office’s 

licensing functions. 

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The U.S. Copyright Office has been part of the Library of Congress (LOC) since 

1870. The Office administers the copyright law of the United States, which traces 

its roots to the Constitution. Principal functions of the Office include administration 

of the national copyright registration and recordation systems and the mandatory 

deposit provisions for published works. Each year, the Office acquires hundreds of 

thousands of books, films, sound recordings, and other creative works of authorship 

to LOC’s national collection. In fiscal 2010, the Office transferred 814,243 copies to 

LOC at a value of approximately $33 million. 

The Office also administers the compulsory and statutory license provisions of the 

Copyright Act, including licenses for satellite and cable transmissions. The Licensing Division is responsible for collecting and investing royalty fees for later distribution to copyright owners, examining related documentation, and recording certain 

licensing documents. 

In terms of the larger U.S. economy, many authors, composers, book and software 

publishers, film and television producers, and creators of musical works depend on 

the registration system to help them enforce against copyright infringement. Based 

on a study released in 2009,1 these core sectors—whose primary purpose is to 

produce and distribute creative works—account for more than 6 percent of the U.S. 

domestic gross product, or $889 billion (reflecting 2007 data, the most recent year 

for which data are available). The core copyright industries also employed 5.6 million workers (4.05 percent of U.S. workers), and that number doubles to more than 

11.7 million people (8.5 percent of the U.S. workforce) when the workers that help 

and support the distribution of these works are added into the equation. The Office 

facilitates transactions in the marketplace by assisting users of content to track the 

ownership of copyrighted content and the transfers and licenses of the exclusive 

rights afforded by law. 

The Office has a dedicated team of legal and policy experts who advise the Congress on domestic and international policy activities (for example, on legislation) and 

who also provide assistance and information to the judiciary and executive branch 

agencies (for example, on litigation of interest to the United States or on matters 

of bilateral or plurilateral trade). These duties are prescribed in chapter seven of 

the copyright law (17 U.S.C. § 701). 

The Copyright Office is currently in a period of transition, following the retirement of Marybeth Peters on December 31, 2010, who directed the staff and functions for 16 years. As the Acting Register, I, along with LOC’s Chief of Staff, have 

spent many weeks speaking with a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the copyright 

community, from book publishers to the technology sector, discussing with them the 

issues that are or should be priorities of the Office in the coming years. 

I have also been meeting with the managers and staff of the Copyright Office, individually or in small groups, to assess the views of those who work here and administer our public services, and to help set a path for our future business and the 

workplace environment of our employees. This assessment is still under way, but 

has already proved to be quite helpful to the Librarian and to me and should prove 

invaluable to the next Register, once appointed. 
97 

PROGRAM FUNDING

Funding for the Office derives from two sources—user fees and appropriations. 

More than 60 percent of the Office’s budget is collected from fees paid for copyright 

registration, document recordation, and related services. The remaining operating 

budget covers the policy, legal, adjudicatory, and support operations. To ensure that 

fees represent current costs and market conditions, the Office undertakes a triennial 

fee study, the most recent of which was published in fiscal 2009 with another 

planned for fiscal 2012. The Office’s fiscal 2011 budget request was approximately 

$55.5 million, approximately $34 million of which was funded by Office revenues. 

REGISTRATION OF COPYRIGHT CLAIMS

The Copyright Office has made tremendous progress in the past year in reducing 

the backlog of claims that occurred with the transition to an electronic registration 

system. In fiscal 2012, we will continue our efforts to improve operational efficiencies in the electronic registration system, including our continued efforts to decrease processing times for registration and recordation filings. Today, the system 

allows claimants to file registration applications online and, in many cases, to 

upload a digital copy of the work to fulfill the deposit requirement. 

Since they were made available in July 2008, electronic filings quickly displaced 

the use of paper applications. To date in fiscal 2011, electronic filings constitute 

more than 80 percent of all claims received. The Copyright Office typically handles 

more than 500,000 copyright claims each year, representing well more than 1 million works. In fiscal 2010, the Office received 522,796 claims to copyright, and closed 

682,148, of which it registered 636,527 claims. The Office answered almost 316,000 

nonfee information and reference inquiries and served a substantial number of visitors to the Public Information Office and the Copyright Public Records Reading 

Room. 

In building the electronic system, the Office experienced a backlog of claims that 

was not unexpected given the major work process changes, temporary staff relocations, system testing and servicing, and widespread workforce training. The backlog 

peaked in 2009, but with support from LOC, the Office has reduced the backlog by 

hundreds of thousands of claims to around 167,000 as of this writing, while at the 

same time processing new claims at an average rate of 10,000 a week. We expect 

that our work on hand will fall to 150,000 claims within the next several weeks— 

an achievement that speaks to the dedication of our employees. 

One issue we will continue to explore going forward is what might constitute a 

reasonable amount of work on hand for purposes of assessing operational success. 

Because the electronic filing system allows for hybrid submissions (where the application and fee, submitted online, are followed up by a hardcopy deposit mailed separately), and because some claims require the Office to further correspond with the 

applicant, the Office will always have categories of work that cannot be immediately 

processed. These claims (presently about 95,000) do not contribute to a backlog but 

are in fact an anticipated and routine part of the Office’s business operations. 

The Office is also cognizant of the need for quality assurance. While we are constantly exploring ways to improve our speed and efficiency, we remain mindful of 

our obligation to ensure the integrity of the registration records that we create and 

maintain. Fast processing times, although virtuous, cannot come at the expense of 

the accuracy and completeness of our public records. 

COPYRIGHT RECORDS DIGITIZATION PROJECT

We continue to make progress in our multi-year project to digitize the millions 

of disparate pre-1977 copyright records, many of which represent works still protected by copyright law. (Records for post-1977 registrations are already available 

online.) This project is of utmost historic importance, as there is no complete back 

up of such records for preservation or security purposes. It is also of critical importance to our mission as an office of public record, making it easier for persons to 

locate copyright owners, analyze copyright term, and facilitate licensing. The records 

include registration information, assignments of copyrights, and licensing documentation going back to the beginning of the Copyright Office and may well implicate works published before the Civil War. 

In terms of legal relevance, the Office is prioritizing records for works published 

between 1923 and 1977, as in many instances, the copyright in such works has not 

yet expired. We plan to complete up to 50 percent of the card catalog records from 

this era by the end of fiscal 2012. In so doing, we will continue to test imaging quality, clarity, create searchable metadata, and plan for cross-referencing of the imaged 

records. 
98 

LICENSING DIVISION RE-ENGINEERING

Business re-engineering efforts for the Licensing Division began in fiscal 2011. 

Thus far, the Office has completed an operational baseline, consulted with external 

stakeholders, and begun benchmarking exercises against entities with similar functions. The goals of this re-engineering effort are to: 

—decrease processing times for statements of account by 30 percent or more; 

—implement an online filing process; and 

—improve public access to Office records. 

In fiscal year 2010, the Licensing Division collected more than $274 million in 

royalties from cable and satellite companies subject to statutory licenses, accrued 

more than $4.3 million in interest on royalties for the copyright owners, and distributed more than $249 million to copyright owners. As part of our fiscal 2011 budget 

request, we sought an additional one-time authorization of $500,000 to cover any 

unforeseen re-engineering expenses. As always, any funds not expended will be returned to the royalty pools. 

In fiscal year 2012, the Licensing Division will continue to collect and distribute 

royalty fees and examine licensing documentation. It also will implement and refine 

its new processes and technology systems. It will test systems for online cable licensing and expects to implement an electronic version of its more complex statements of account, which currently take up to 14 months to process and which are 

typically of most interest to users. The Licensing Division will soon solicit proposals 

to develop the technical infrastructure required by re-engineering. 

As mentioned below, we are preparing, and will deliver to the Congress, a report 

on market alternatives to statutory licensing, due in August 2011. The Office stands 

ready to assist and advise the Congress with consideration of that report and to 

modify its operations should the Congress enact any changes to current law. 

ELECTRONIC SERIALS PROJECT

As more and more journals, magazines, and newspapers are ‘‘born digital’’, the 

Copyright Office is leading a LOC-wide effort to study, identify, obtain, and manage 

serials that publishers supply to us in electronic formats (eSerials). Although the 

project currently focuses on the mandatory deposit provisions under the law (i.e., 

the provisions requiring publishers to deposit copies of certain works with the LOC 

within 3 months of publication), it serves as a test bed for the intake of works by 

LOC through other mechanisms, including the registration system. The Copyright 

Office administers the mandatory deposit provisions of the law and is currently 

working with other LOC service units to develop an agencywide accommodation for 

eSerials. We expect the initial phase of that project to be completed in September 

2011. 

LEGAL AND POLICY ACTIVITIES

The Office is never without complex work on the domestic and international policy 

fronts. 

Online Piracy 

Throughout the past several weeks, the Office has been conducting meetings with 

a wide spectrum of stakeholders in order to explore the current state of online infringement of copyright law and sale of counterfeit goods via so-called ‘‘rogue 

websites’’ and possible mechanisms by which to combat such piracy and widespread 

counterfeiting. The Judiciary Committees of both the House and Senate of the 112th 

Congress are focused on this issue. On March 14, I testified on the issue before the 

House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet (testimony may be accessed at http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hearl03142011.html). 

We will be working very closely in support of the both the Senate and House as 

the Committees deliberate further and prepare legislative text. 

Technical Clarifications 

At the end of fiscal 2010, the Office advised the Judiciary Committees of the need 

for legislation amending certain provisions of the Copyright Act to clarify the law, 

permit the Office to perform certain functions more efficiently by relying on electronic resources, and make technical corrections. The Copyright Cleanup, Clarifications, and Correction Act of 2010, based upon the Office’s recommendations, was 

signed into law on December 9, 2010. 

Termination of Transfers and Licenses by Authors 

During fiscal 2011, the Office provided the Congress with an analysis of the situation with respect to so-called ‘‘gap grants’’ under the termination provisions of title 
99 

17; specifically, the analysis concerned grants entered into before January 1, 1978 

for works that were not created until January 1, 1978 or later and discussed certain 

possible clarifications. The Office led an extensive public consultation process that 

included holding a public comment process on its preliminary proposals related to 

the outcome of the report, as well as a related regulatory process for which it expects to issue a final rule in fiscal 2012. The law requires that authors record the 

notices they serve on licensees with the Copyright Office (pursuant to certain deadlines) as a condition of termination. 

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) 

In fiscal 2010, the Office concluded its fourth rulemaking on exemptions from the 

prohibition on circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works, as provided in 17 U.S.C. § 1201. The law requires that every 3 years 

the Copyright Office make recommendations to the Librarian of Congress regarding 

works that should be exempt from the statutory prohibition on the circumvention 

of access control mechanisms, provided the circumvention takes place in order to engage in noninfringing uses of copyrighted works. 

In the most recent iteration issued in July 2010, the Librarian announced six 

classes of works that are entitled to exemption. Notable exemptions include motion 

pictures on DVD, if the circumvention takes place for purposes of using short portions for the purpose of criticism or comment; software on mobile phones if circumvention is performed for the purpose of making the phone interoperable with 

other applications; and literary works distributed in eBook format for the benefit 

of the blind and visually impaired, provided that existing eBook versions of the title 

prevent access to the ‘‘read-aloud’’ function or to screen readers. 

Other recent regulatory actions would allow the LOC to demand the electronic deposit of published works available only online and allow the Copyright Office to accommodate on online submission of applications for group registrations involving 

photographs. 

Report on Statutory Licenses 

The Copyright Office worked closely with the staff of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees as well as the Congressional Budget Office in addressing issues 

relating to passage of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act, which reauthorized the statutory license for satellite carriers to carry certain over-the-air 

broadcast signals. In that legislation, the Congress assigned the Copyright Office 

the task of preparing a comprehensive report to identify and explore marketplace 

alternatives to the statutory licenses in the law that allow for retransmission of 

over-the-air broadcast signals. To date, we have held a number of meetings with 

stakeholders and published a notice of inquiry seeking public comments. We expect 

to submit our report by the August 29, 2011 deadline. This is a significant study 

because, although the Congress has asked us on several occasions to study the cable 

and satellite statutory licenses for television programming, and we have on several 

occasions recommended the eventual phasing out of the those studies, this marks 

the first time the Congress has expressly asked us to make recommendations on 

how to phase out those licenses 

Report on Pre-1972 Sound Recordings 

The Office is also in the midst of its study on the copyright treatment of pre-1972 

sound recordings, which was mandated in the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. 

Specifically, the Office has been directed to study the desirability of, and means for, 

bringing sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, into the Federal statutory 

copyright regime. Currently, State law governs such pre-1972 sound recordings, 

which in many cases is not well defined. Federal copyright law allows States to protect these pre-1972 sound recordings until February 15, 2067. Although behind 

schedule for this report, the Office began its preparatory work last year, including 

publishing a notice of inquiry for which we have received more than 50 comments 

thus far. We will follow up in the spring of 2011 with hearings or roundtables, and 

expects to prepare its analysis and recommendations in the summer and fall. We 

are grateful for the subcommittee’s agreement to extend the deadline for our report 

from March 11, 2011 to December 31, 2011. 

Litigation 

As in previous years, the Office assisted the Justice Department in a number of 

court cases involving copyright issues, including the preparation of an amicus brief 

filed with the Supreme Court in Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Omega S.A., a case concerning the first sale doctrine and the exclusive importation right that was affirmed 

by an equally divided court; and Golan v. Holder, a defense against a constitutional 
100 

2See Statement of Interest of the United States of America Regarding Proposed Class Settlement (September 18, 2009) and the Statement of Interest of the United States of America Regarding Proposed Amended Settlement Agreement (February 4, 2010), both available at http:// 

www.justice.gov/atr/cases/authorsguild.htm. 

challenge to the ‘‘copyright restoration’’ provision of the Uruguay Round Agreements 

Act. 

The Office continued to spend significant time evaluating the legal and business 

implications of the ongoing Google book search litigation and proposed settlement 

agreement, including the broader implications of the proposed settlement on the 

mass digitization of books and the treatment of ‘‘orphan’’ works—works for which 

rights holders are unknown or cannot be located. The Department of Justice filed 

two statements of interest with the court on which the Copyright Office provided 

significant advice.2 The former Register of Copyrights, Marybeth Peters, also testified before House Judiciary Committee on the matter in 2009 about copyright concerns. On March 22, 2011, Judge Chin denied the parties’ motion for approval of 

the proposed settlement, consistent with the recommendation of the U.S. Government. The Office is pleased with the court’s opinion and will continue to monitor 

the progress of the case in anticipation of likely appeals. It will also continue to 

work with congressional committees, the parties and other stakeholders on policy 

issues raised by the case that are better suited to the Congress than the courts. 

Accessible Works for the Blind and Individuals With Print Disabilities 

Copyright Office attorneys continued to spend considerable time in fiscal 2011 examining the ways in which the United States provides copyrighted works in accessible formats to the blind, visually impaired and print-disabled, as well as similar 

issues involving cross-border access to copyrighted works in the context of national 

exceptions for the blind, visually impaired, and print-disabled and international 

copyright treaty obligations. The Office has worked diligently with other U.S. Government agencies in preparing for and attending meetings of the World Intellectual 

Property Organization’s (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related 

Rights, which has this issue on its agenda. 

In fiscal year 2010, in partnership with WIPO, we organized and hosted a weeklong training for developing countries and countries in transition, the focus of which 

was accessibility and standard for protection under copyright laws worldwide. The 

Office is currently working with LOC’s National Library Service for the Blind, as 

well as with advocates for the blind and other stakeholders, to explore ways to improve standards, resources and responsible cross border movement of works in accessible formats, including through participation in a voluntary WIPO Stakeholders’ 

Platform pilot project for the cross-border transfer of accessible works. 

Both LOC and the Office are working with the Department of Education and 

other Federal Government agencies as part of a statutorily mandated commission 

on issues involving access to copyright works for the visually impaired in the context of higher education. I am the chairperson of the legal subcommittee of the Commission, which will deliver a report to the Congress before the end of fiscal 2012. 

Anti-Piracy and Other International Developments 

Finally, the Copyright Office continues to play an important role in intergovernmental negotiations and international discussions of copyright law and policy, including the importance of antipiracy efforts and the proper framework for exceptions 

and limitations. We continue our long-standing tradition of participating in important WIPO meetings that addressed copyright issues (including the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights), working with other Government leaders 

and copyright offices from around the world. 

The Office also continues its significant role in assisting Federal Government 

agencies with many multilateral, regional, and bilateral negotiations and served on 

many U.S. delegations, including negotiations regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting 

Trade Agreement, the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership, and the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade with China in addition to negotiations and meetings 

relating to the implementation of intellectual property provisions of existing Free 

Trade Agreements and Trade Promotion Agreements. We participated on the interagency committee charged with preparing the annual special 301 report issued by 

the United States Trade Representative. 

Our day-to-day international work involved reviewing and commenting on the national copyright laws and proposed amendments from numerous countries, either as 

part of the World Trade Organization accession or trade policy review proceedings 

or based on requests by other U.S. or foreign entities. One goal of these reviews was 

to ensure that copyright laws around the world meet binding treaty obligations and 
101 

provide effective copyright enforcement mechanisms. Over the past year, we reviewed the copyright laws or proposed revisions in at least 23 countries, and participated in bilateral negotiations and consultations that covered these themes and 

more with at least 18 countries. 

The Office requested funds in fiscal 2011 to organize and host another international copyright training for developing countries, the intended focus of which is 

collective licensing and other innovative means of making copyrighted works available in the marketplace. 

CONCLUSION

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for your consideration of our budget request 

today and for the subcommittee’s past support of the U.S. Copyright Office. Thank 

you in particular for considering the funding we require to sustain a first-rate staff 

and meet necessary expenses, enabling us to perform our core duties under the law. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

Ambassador O’Keefe. 

STATEMENT OF AMBASSADOR JOHN O’KEEFE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

OPEN WORLD LEADERSHIP CENTER 

Ambassador O’KEEFE. Thank you Senator. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to testify on the 

OWLC’s fiscal year 2012 budget request. 

As a unique congressional center and resource, the OWLC 

strengthens ties with a region of the world that contains not only 

the world’s largest gas reserves, but also one of the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Our program enlists civic-minded people 

in communities throughout the United States who show our delegates how democracy really works. We recognize their devotion and 

commitment. 

I would like to pause at this moment to honor Judge John M. 

Roll of Tucson, who had hosted 38 judges and other legal professionals from Russia and Ukraine for us since 2002, and Gabe Zimmerman of Representative Giffords’ staff, who was so welcoming to 

so many of our participants. We mourn their passing. 

EFFECTIVENESS OF OWLC

Entering a new decade of programs, the OWLC continues to 

identify leaders of tomorrow from Eurasia, introduce them to U.S. 

democratic values, connect them to counterparts throughout America, and provide resources for partnerships. Four new members of 

the Senate met with OWLC delegates prior to entering the 112th 

Congress, including Senator Hoeven when he was Governor. 

As an example of the power of those meetings, a Kyrgyz parliamentarian, hosted by Montana State senators in 2007, said after 

last year’s revolution, ‘‘I can say that I am the father of the judiciary bloc in the new constitution. My experience from the Open 

World program helped in revising the constitution, using the basic 

principles and concepts that work in the U.S.’’ 

INVESTMENT FOR THE CONGRESS AND ASSET FOR CONSTITUENTS

Looking forward, the new strategic plan builds on the quality of 

programs and our influential alumni network to reach out to a 

greater number of young leaders. We now see the Russian Government starting to build unprecedented reverse programs, bringing 

university student body presidents of America to Russia, inspired 

by and modeled after the OWLC program. 
102 

We keep costs low and quality high. Every grant contains costshared elements, and more than 75 percent of our appropriation is 

spent in the American economy every year. At the requested level 

of $12.6 million, we can fulfill the board-mandated goals. 

PREPARED STATEMENT

The OWLC offers an extraordinary investment in the future of 

U.S. relations with the program countries. Thousands of American 

host volunteers are making the world safer, more prosperous, and 

more open by demonstrating our own democracy in action, and by 

developing community partnerships. Their devotion and energy, 

combined with the renown of the legislative branch, makes this 

program a nationwide asset for Members of Congress and their 

constituents. 

Thank you, Sir. 

[The statement follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF AMBASSADOR JOHN O’KEEFE

Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee, I am pleased 

to submit testimony on the Open World Leadership Center’s (OWLC) budget request 

for fiscal year 2012. The OWLC, of which I am the Executive Director, is a unique 

resource that links the Congress and its constituents to the strategically important 

regions of Eurasia that contain not only the world’s largest gas reserves, but also 

one of the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons. In this capacity, the OWLC administers the OWLC program that allows community leaders throughout America to 

discuss issues ranging from nonproliferation to rule of law in face-to-face settings 

with emerging young, professional counterparts from Eurasia to develop projects 

and partnerships. In the past 11 years, OWLC grants have enabled some 6,500 

American families in almost 2,000 communities around the country to host program 

participants. 

Since its inception, the OWLC has awarded grants for overseeing our U.S. exchanges to 61 organizations headquartered in 25 different States and the District 

of Columbia. These grantee organizations host delegations themselves or award subgrants to local host organizations. By 2011, well more than 700 local host organizations—including Rotary clubs and other service organizations, sister-city associations, international visitor councils, universities and community colleges, and other 

nonprofits in all 50 States and the District of Columbia—had conducted OWLC exchanges. 

More than 75 percent of OWLC’s fiscal year 2010 appropriated funds were expended on U.S. goods and services through contracts and grants—much of it at the 

local community level. American volunteers in 49 States and the District of Columbia home hosted OWLC participants in calendar year 2010, contributing a large portion of the estimated $1.9 million given to the program through cost shares. 

Nearly 17,000 emerging leaders from Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, 

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Lithuania, and Uzbekistan have participated in OWLC. Earlier this month, our inaugural delegation 

of women-as-leaders from Armenia will travel to Des Moines, Iowa. While all the 

countries where OWLC is active are strategically important to the interests of the 

U.S. Government, they are also areas of growing economies where opportunities for 

foreign investment and trade increase yearly. 

With the requested funding level of $12.6 million, the OWLC will be able to continue its support of the Congress in inter-parliamentary and other legislative activities and bring 1,300 or more participants to communities throughout the United 

States in 2012. Actual allocations of participant slots to individual countries will be 

based on the board of trustees recommendations and consultations with the subcommittee and the U.S. Embassies in these countries. The requested funding will 

allow us to fulfill the board-mandated strategic plan to expand into Uzbekistan and 

Belarus, to meet our continuing plan to intensify legislator to legislator programs, 

and to reach the rising new generation in Russia and elsewhere who remember the 

Cold War as a fading memory, if at all. 

OWLC will facilitate existing projects and partnerships among hundreds of American civic organizations, numerous communities, and thousands of participating constituents and the regional parliamentarians and other leaders from OWLC countries 
103 

hosted here. We ask for an increase of $600,000 to begin our Board of Trustees-approved expansion into Belarus, and to resume our Uzbek program suspended in 

2005. 

Major categories of requested funding for a total of $12.6 million are: 

—Program expenses ($0.5 million); and 

—Operating expenses ($0.9 million) 

—Contract ($7.2 million—awarded to U.S.-based entities) that include: 

—Coordinating the delegate nomination and vetting process; 

—Obtaining visas and other travel documents; 

—Arranging and paying for air travel; and 

—Coordinating with grantees and placing delegates. 

—Grants ($4 million—awarded to U.S. host organizations) that include: 

—Professional programming for delegates; 

—Meals outside of those provided by home hosts; 

—Community activities; 

—Professional interpretation; and 

—Administrative support. 

OWLC AND THE CONGRESS

As a U.S. legislative branch entity, the OWLC actively supports the foreign relations efforts of the Congress by linking our delegates to members and to experienced 

and enthusiastic constituents throughout the United States who are engaged in 

projects and programs in OWLC countries. The OWLC program routinely involves 

members in its hosting activities with more than 50 percent of delegates meeting 

with Members of Congress or their staff representatives last year. 

The OWLC also regularly consults with the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; the Congressional Georgia Caucus; the Congressional Ukrainian 

Caucus; the Russia Caucus; the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus; the Congressional Caucus on Central Asia; the Friends of Kazakhstan Caucus; other congressional entities; and individual Members with specific interests in OWLC countries 

or thematic areas. 

‘‘In December 2010, Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine gave a delegation of legislators from the Chechen Republic a joint resolution encouraging the peace process, a 

return to civil society and international cooperation, and signed by 200 representatives in the legislature of the State of Maine. The resolution reflects the State of 

Maine’s support for stability and engagement in the region. The Senator had tried 

unsuccessfully to deliver the resolution via the Russian Embassy in Washington several times since 2008, so was pleased to be able to pass it on to the Chechen group. 

Last March, Representative Peter Roskam greeted education officials from the Republic of Georgia in the home of their host, George Palamattam, on their first day 

in Chicago. Representative Roskam surprised and delighted the delegates and host 

families present with the news that as a student he had visited Georgia. The discussion that followed covered a variety of topics that was very informational and educational for the Congressman, the host families, and everyone else who was present. 

Last month, Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Robert Aderholt, Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Representative Robert J. Wittman, and Representative 

Dennis Kucinich met with two members of the Russian Federation lower house of 

parliament (Duma) on their first visit to the United States. They discussed topics 

related to education, labor, employment and parliamentary ties. The Russians also 

met with Maryland State Assembly members, State Department officials, foreign 

policy experts, and students and faculty of Georgetown University and the University of Maryland.’’ 

Members of Congress and their staffs also provide OWLC delegates with invaluable firsthand information on the U.S. legislative process, constituent relations, and 

other aspects of the U.S. Government in face-to-face meetings that forcefully demonstrate how accessible the offices of elected officials can and should be. It is a message not lost on OWLC participants, who come from a part of the world where such 

openness is still the exception rather than the rule and where constituent services 

are nonexistent or diminishing. 

OWLC’s board-approved strategic plan for 2012–2015 emphasizes increasing the 

OWLC’s legislative activities and focus. One of the key goals is to serve Members 

of Congress by becoming a recognized resource that connects them to emerging leaders of participating countries. Currently, we have scheduled five delegations of Parliamentarians from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (2), Moldova, and Russia and are planning three more from Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Ukraine. Furthermore, OWLC is 

able to link Members traveling to OWLC countries with alumni who can offer an 
104 

unfiltered view of the issues of interest to United States. To this end, OWLC will 

seek to increase the number of legislator participants from program countries and 

meetings with U.S. legislators; broaden the legislative component of local host programs; and partner more effectively with U.S. organizations that will increase 

OWLC’s effectiveness in serving members. 

RECENT PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS AND RESULTS

In 2010, OWLC continued to focus on hosting in themes of interest to the Congress and of transnational impact, including human-trafficking prevention, government and court transparency, nonproliferation, and environmental protection. 

OWLC also sponsors hosting that promote economic and civic partnerships between 

American communities or States and their counterparts abroad. 

Kyrgyzstan 

Erkin Alymbekov participated in the OWLC program as a member of the first delegation of parliamentarians from Kyrgyzstan in June 2007, when he was ViceSpeaker of the Kyrgyz Parliament. He was hosted in Montana on a program focusing on accountable governance, and the following year he hosted Carol Williams, 

president of the Montana State Senate, when she visited Kyrgyzstan. Following a 

revolution in Kyrgyzstan and the ouster of President Bakiev in April 2010, he was 

tasked by interim President Roza Otunbayeva to be one of the co-authors of the 

draft of the new constitution. Mr. Alymbekov later stated that his OWLC experience 

and a copy of the Montana constitution helped him in revising his country’s own 

using the basic principles and concepts that work in the United States. Passed by 

a referendum held in June 2010, the new constitution shifted many powers from the 

executive branch to that of the legislature, enabling Kyrgyzstan to become the first 

parliamentary democracy in Central Asia. 

Georgia 

Attorney John Hall, of Atlanta, Georgia, first hosted OWLC delegates from the 

Republic of Georgia in 2007. After hosting several such delegations, he developed 

an interest in the region as well as a network that led to his becoming the Honorary 

Consul General of the Republic of Georgia in 2009 and the opening of his firm’s 

business in Tbilisi last year. In regard to OWLC’s role in this, he stated: 

‘‘As a direct result of this program and the continued relationships (we have 

hosted eight additional OWLC delegations since February 2007, we have become 

leaders of the Atlanta Tbilisi Sister City Program, [have] partnered with U.S. Department of Commerce to put on two economic forums, helped coordinate the visit 

of five Members of Congress to Tbilisi, [and] arranged an American development 

company to start a project in Georgia. This and many other activities are a direct 

result of Open World’s Congressional exchange program. I urge the Congress to 

keep this valuable program together and would welcome the opportunity to show 

Members the many different facets of, and opportunities in, the Republic of Georgia.’’ 

Moldova 

Before March 2010, Moldovan mayors and local legislators belonged to different 

regional associations in Moldova. After their visit on the OWLC program, and with 

the support of an organization active in local reforms, these alumni decided to form 

the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM), uniting all four regional associations. The Congress plans to create a strategy for decentralization, provide counsel to local governments, lobby on behalf of local governments, support local social 

and economic development, and increase the effectiveness of public procurement. 

Nine OWLC alumni are on the association’s governing board, including the association’s president, Tatiana Badan. There are currently 300 members in the Congress 

of Local Authorities of Moldova and 63 of them are on the governing board representing 29 regions. 

U.S. Ambassador to Moldova Asif Chaudhry highlighted this result in a letter to 

OWLC Executive Director John O’Keefe, stating that ‘‘Open World directly supports 

key U.S. policy priorities in Moldova and the region’’ and that he applauds ‘‘Open 

World’s focus on building partnerships between Moldovan and American people and 

institutions.’’ (letter of February 17, 2011). 

Russia 

OWLC alumnus and former ship navigator Eduard Perepelkin became a crusader 

for Russia’s ‘‘street’’ children. Perepelkin’s 2008 OWLC visit, which included an inspiring session at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, made 
105 

him even more determined. On his return home, he did what is still, in post-Soviet 

Russia, the unthinkable—he strode uninvited into the mayor’s office and persuaded 

him to increase funding for youth services. In July 2010, Perepelkin was back in 

Washington, the site of his 2008 OWLC visit, for a meeting of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission’s Working Group on Civil Society. And now that 

Perepelkin’s efforts have caught the attention of national officials, this former ship 

navigator hopes to help his country steer many more children away from the streets. 

One of the hallmarks of the OWLC program is the multiplier effect and impact 

on both the hosting community in America and that of the participants. From the 

get-go and throughout the program participants understand that, in many ways, the 

program only really begins once they return to their countries of origin to bring 

about partnerships and joint projects. One such example is a $150,000 grant from 

the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to an OWLC partner that will allow nurses 

in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Balakovo, Russia, to work together on cancer prevention and treatment. OWLC alumni will participate in education programs with nursing faculty from Gundersen Lutheran Health System and will apply their new 

knowledge and skills at the Balakovo Secondary Medical School for nurses. At the 

end of the 2-year project, it is anticipated that OWLC alumni will have trained approximately 500 nurses in state-of-the-art cancer care. 

Ukraine 

Olena Sichkar, Deputy Head of State Social Services for Family, Children and 

Youth, met with John Picarelli, Social Science Analyst, Member of the U.S. Government Special Policy Operating Group on Trafficking and Carson Osberg, Case Manager, Counter-Trafficking Unit of the International Organization for Migration 

(IOM). On March 18, 2010, Mrs. Sichkar’s agency and the IOM signed an indefiniteterm partnership agreement. This partnership is focused on joint project work and 

organizing seminars, conferences, and study programs to prevent international 

human trafficking and to inform the Ukrainian population about this serious social 

issue. 

OWLC’S 2011 ACTIVITIES AND PLANS FOR 2012

For 2011, OWLC continues to host in thematic areas that advance U.S. national 

interests in general, and congressional interests in particular, and that generate 

concrete results while strengthening the ties between American communities and 

their partners abroad. 

In 2011, the OWLC will host additional members of the legislative branches of 

current OWLC countries—especially legislators from Central Asia and the caucasus, 

based on congressional interest. In February 2011, the OWLC hosted seven groups 

of Russian legislators and an additional delegation of State Duma (House) members. 

The following month, we brought five groups of Ukrainian regional legislators. And 

in the fall, we are bringing a dynamic group of Ukrainian women leaders through 

contacts developed by Representative Marcy Kaptur. By the end of 2011, we will 

have brought more than 100 regional and Federal legislators from Georgia, 

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine. 

OWLC is becoming an increasingly recognized resource for American citizens engaged in citizen diplomacy. Earlier this month, former Congressman James Symington worked with OWLC alumni to organize an art exhibit in Moscow focused on 

Abraham Lincoln and the Czar Liberator, Alexander II. Congressman James Moran 

hosted an art exhibit in the Rayburn House Office Building featuring artworks by 

Russian orphans in collaboration with civil society leaders based in his Congressional District who approached OWLC for guidance. Up to 60 United States university student body presidents will have visited Russia by December 2011 in a Russian Government sponsored exchange program that is both informed and inspired 

by the OWLC model. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senator Roger Wicker, 

Senator Bill Nelson, and Senator Bernie Sanders were some of the Members of Congress who nominated student body presidents for this exchange. 

OWLC, through private funding, will continue to develop its more than 16,500- 

person alumni network by holding forums and workshops and making use of contemporary technology provided by such services as Skype and social networking 

sites in the official languages of OWLC countries. This alumni network plays a 

major role in maintaining program momentum and vibrancy by helping to identify 

new emerging leaders who might participate in OWLC. Alumni are also central to 

furthering projects and partnerships that demand regular and effective communication. One very important group that exemplifies this trait is the 100-strong participants of the OWLC nonproliferation program from the last 2 years who will be convening in May. The communications technology that OWLC has set up enables 
106 

these relationships to thrive in a cost-effective manner during these times of budgetary constraints. 

CONCLUSION

OWLC offers an extraordinary ‘‘bang for the buck’’ in terms of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, value, and an investment in the future U.S. relations with the countries 

where the program operates. OWLC boasts an overhead rate of about 7 percent, 

every grant contains cost-shared elements, and more than 75 percent of our appropriation is plowed back into the American economy every year. 

In the future, there will be in-depth program changes that will increase congressional involvement in OWLC and will increase support to the constituent hosts who 

have established programs and partnerships in OWLC countries. With funding at 

the requested level of $12.6 million, Americans in hundreds of Congressional Districts throughout the United States will engage up-and-coming Eurasian political 

and civic leaders—such as parliamentarians, environmentalists, and anti-human 

trafficking activists—in projects and ongoing partnerships. Americans will, once 

again, open their doors and give generously to help sustain this successful congressional program that focuses on a region of profound interest to U.S. foreign policy. 

To that end, the subcommittee’s interest and support have been essential ingredients in OWLC’s success. 

IMPACT OF FISCAL YEAR 2011 CONTINUING RESOLUTION

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

The first question that I’d like to ask is regarding the impact of 

funding the ongoing resolution at the fiscal year 2010 enacted level. 

I think that it’s important to point out that every agency of Government is going to be faced with the problem of how to continue 

to operate during the next 6 months. If we’re able to get a continuing resolution for even that period of time in the next few days, 

what will the impact be for cuts along the way? 

In your testimony, Dr. Billington, you alluded to the implications. But could you give us a little bit more on the specific impact 

of how mid-term cuts affect the operations of LOC? 

Of course, it’s dependent of how much the cut is, but what would 

the implication be? 

Dr. BILLINGTON. For the remainder of this current year? 

Senator NELSON. Yes, for the current year, and then we’ll talk 

about next year, fiscal year 2012. 

Dr. BILLINGTON. Well, I’m not sure what the exact number would 

be. We calculated what it would be if it were sustained through the 

following year as well. But, the impact would be substantial because, as I pointed out, we are doing much more with much less. 

There are really only two areas where we could, or we can make 

significant cuts, in an institution where 70 percent of all of our 

major areas of appropriation are in personnel. All of the program 

areas—I could go over them with you—are unique and it would not 

be likely, and probably almost impossible, for anybody else to replicate these programs if we were to stop doing them. So, we might 

have to make some cuts in programs. 

I don’t know if it would be in the remaining months of this fiscal 

year, but it wouldn’t be very far after that that we’d have to consider scaling services back. You can’t really cut these programs 

very heavily, without experiencing some damage since we’ve been 

basically operating with almost no increase for the last 4 years, 

only a 2 percent programmatic increase. So, we would have to start 

examining which of these programs we would do away with or significantly reduce. I have examined three of the larger appropriations and am aware of how difficult this would be. 
107 

Maybe Mr. Dizard, who’s been occupied with this in a little more 

detail would like to comment. 

Mr. DIZARD. Sure, I can do that. I’d be happy to. 

Mr. Chairman, for this fiscal year, if you get into a 3 percent 

range, then we’re talking probably hiring freezes, as well as reducing our contracts for equipment, custodial service, some of our IT 

planned investments, and security equipment. And we would probably be looking at 3 or 4 days of furloughs across LOC. And as you 

get beyond that, if you wanted to go into 5 percent cuts, as Dr. 

Billington mentioned, in 6 months, with very limited ability to deal 

with personnel, our recourse would be just to increase the amount 

of furloughs as we reach towards October 1—if we’re just talking 

this fiscal year. 

PERMANENT DAMAGE OF REDUCING ACQUISITIONS

Senator NELSON. Dr. Billington, you mentioned that if you have 

subscriptions and you stop them for 1 year, it’s not as though you 

lost 12 volumes, or, 12 issues, but it’s an even bigger impact than 

that. 

Dr. BILLINGTON. Yes. The fundamental core things that LOC has 

to do are to acquire, preserve, and make accessible the world’s 

knowledge and America’s creativity. 

The price of all of these things tend to go up and up. We keep 

reviewing our policies in all of these areas. But if you’re going to 

have the kind of universal collection that we have historically acquired, beginning with Jefferson’s old library, which was in 16 languages—and now we’ve collected in 470 languages; if you’re going 

to continue that, you simply can’t miss a year, because then you 

have to acquire double the amount the following year. And besides, 

what you miss will probably not be attainable, except in the year 

in which it is published. 

We purchase about 1 million items a year, and more than twice 

that amount comes to LOC through gift exchange, copyright deposit, cataloging in publication, and other sources. We receive 

about 22,000 items a day, of which we only keep 10,000. But, if you 

stop a year’s subscription of a crucial scientific or important magazine—and, you know, it’s hard to know what’s going to be the most 

important—if you stop it, you aren’t diminishing the value of it by 

just one hundredth. You’re diminishing it about in half—particularly in areas that serve the fast-moving needs of the Congress and 

of the Government. And so, you can’t ever make up a lost period. 

You have to either sustain the acquisition process, or change the 

nature of your mission. 

And preserving that mission is also affected in large part by the 

personnel ceiling. Collecting requires this degree of universality. 

The collections are an enormous asset. We call it the strategic information reserve of the United States. And the differential between what LOC collects and makes accessible, and what other research libraries in America do, is increasing, because the strain on 

public libraries and university-based libraries is very great, even on 

other national libraries. 

So, the uniqueness of LOC’s collections and making them more 

accessible, more useful to the Congress and our country are of 

paramount importance in an age when balance of trade and the 
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economic productivity depends more and more on knowledge of 

what’s going on all over the world. 

You can’t let the collections go for a year without producing an 

irreversible slippage and decline into becoming more a museum of 

the book than a dynamic of a creative culture that has invented 

most of our current information technology and has the most 

envied higher research capabilities in the world. Physical preservation is another thing. We’re a throw-away society. We don’t realize 

that almost every medium on which knowledge and creativity is recorded, is highly perishable. 

BROAD SCOPE OF THE LOC MISSION

So, all of that is the essential mission that we have to perform, 

not for LOC, but for the United States of America. And if it can’t 

be sustained, that represents a fundamental mission failure, and 

puts a greater limitation on the way America will be able to answer—and the Congress in particular—with firm, objective, factually based knowledge and information and analysis of what is going 

on in the world, and even within our own country. 

So, I think it’s expensive, but it is something that is unique in 

human history. It’s a great American accomplishment. 

I think, Mr. Chairman, I’m the only person who, when he signs 

for an acquisition for LOC, I don’t sign for LOC. I sign for the 

United States of America. And the idea that legislation has to be 

based on knowledge that goes right back to the nature of the 

Founding Fathers, and putting this whole experiment in democracy 

and the creative society together. 

IMPACT OF PERSONNEL CUTS

So, it’s really kind of a noble mission. And then we get into the 

question of cuts, major cuts, and then you’re talking personnel. And 

when we’re talking personnel, you’re dealing with a wide variety of 

talents—a diversity of backgrounds, talents. Very much of what 

LOC staff does is one-of-a-kind work that really isn’t being done 

anywhere else to the same degree. 

So, it’s a very difficult thing to avoid. But once you cut back into 

the bone of the mission programs—that’s what we’re talking about, 

that’s where all the appropriated money, practically all of it goes— 

then you’re cutting back, on our fundamental mission. 

One of my instructions consistently has been—and I have great 

consensus among all our top managers on this—that LOC shouldn’t 

do anything that anybody else is doing as well or better. But we 

have to do things that represent the public good and address the 

objective needs of the United States. So, if we stop doing something 

or severely curtail it to make significant, major reductions, we will 

jeopardize, really, our fundamental mission. We’re now integrating 

more of the digital collections so that we’re able to knowledge-navigate and provide access to an expanded range of knowledge in the 

digital world, as well as the analog. 

If you get into the area of cutting personnel, we have very little 

flexibility to deal with this. For instance, our average term of service for personnel is 16 years. The average age of personnel is 49. 

So, we have a lot of expert knowledge banked at LOC. We’re start-
109 

ing a mentoring program so that they can pass their one-of-a-kind 

knowledge on to successors. 

A lot of the people who are keeping us at the forefront of the digital revolution are young and recent hires. So, the point is, if you 

start cutting into the personnel, which is the bulk of our budget, 

you are going to lose people prematurely, on whom we’re in many 

cases the most dependent. 

LIMITED FLEXIBILITY TO ABSORB CUTS

I think if you put it to our staff, they understand the budgetary 

pressures. But I cannot suggest to the staff that we all take a salary cut, for instance, everybody take a little percentage to absorb 

it equitably, because there are legal requirements that prevent me 

from doing that. So, there’s very little managerial flexibility. 

We would probably be talking, in terms of cuts, about furloughs. 

But even that gets to be a serious and difficult thing to manage. 

So, we don’t really have the kind of flexibility to absorb substantial 

reductions and sustain the mission in a dynamic, changing world. 

I don’t think our mission calls for infinite, continued expansion. 

We’ve only been asking for a little, about a 2 percent annual increase over the last 4 years for anything other than inflation, in 

anticipation that there was going to be a need for constrained 

budgets. We have a whole new management agenda which is calling for greater synergies, much more coming together, regulating 

IT investment—there’s a special committee for that, and there’s another special committee that Mr. Dizard is chairing, to bring the 

digital people together with the analog people, with the traditional 

books and materials. 

This is a pioneering institution that has already demonstrated 

that we can do more with less, that is getting very deep into the 

muscle, and we risk getting down to the bone. 

Senator NELSON. Well, clearly, cutting mid-term has ramifications that could be draconian. 

MINIMAL INCREASE IN FISCAL 2012 REQUEST

Now, in looking at fiscal year 2012, which provides for minimal 

growth. Is there a way that some of LOC’s priorities that are already being deferred, as a result of the need to tighten our belts, 

can continue to be deferred in an effort to help us reduce the budgetary request for that fiscal year? 

Dr. BILLINGTON. Well, maybe. 

Senator NELSON. I’m sorry, if I am not being clear in what I’m 

trying to find? 

Dr. BILLINGTON. Yes. 

Senator NELSON. You must have deferred something to hold the 

budget down to the level that you have. 

Dr. BILLINGTON. Right. 

Senator NELSON. Is it possible that there are some other things 

that could be held back, pushed into the future, to address a lower 

request for 2012? 

Mr. DIZARD. We went through the process for fiscal year 2012, 

and as you recognized, there were many things that were deferred 

that we did not ask for. We did feel we needed to highlight the 

need for additional expertise in CRS and our IT security needs. 
110 

I think, as Dr. Billington mentioned, and I mentioned before, our 

options really are going to be to limit hiring, next year. That has 

to be our first option. 

If we start to get into decreasing our acquisitions, tightening our 

collections policies or restricting them, then we are changing the 

fundamental nature of the institution. 

The other area where, that’s nonpersonnel, that’s of significance, 

is preservation. And, if you delay there, you’re having an impact 

way into the future as well. 

So, I think we generally would restrict some of our contracting. 

But the immediate recourse would probably have to be shrinking 

staff, and not hiring, and reducing staff through attrition, or even 

considering early outs or buy-outs, or the like. I think that’s where 

we would have to go initially. 

OPPORTUNITIES TO DEFER REQUIREMENTS

Dr. BILLINGTON. We have, in fact, Mr. Chairman, for instance, 

deferred one very significant need. We’re 9 years behind in the 

schedule for storage modules at Fort Meade for this immense collection that we’re custodians of. Items stored at Fort Meade have 

a 100 percent retrieval rate. Retrieval from the shelves is robotic, 

it’s extremely efficient. But what we agreed to do is to string it out 

so that the cost would go over 2 years, rather than the first one. 

And we can do some things like that, but there are not that many, 

because we’re operating on four consecutive very stringent budgets, 

where we’ve consistently been exercising this kind of restraint. 

So, yes, we’ll have to take a hard look at all options to cut back 

in ways that don’t affect programs. Both CRS and the Copyright 

Office have defined missions and clientele that they must serve. 

And they, like other parts of LOC, have suffered considerable personnel losses over recent years. 

CRS REQUEST

The one programmatic increase that we’ve requested for CRS is 

not really an increase. It is to bring them up to where they once 

were and it’s to enable them to address a whole new set of technical, scientific, and financial questions, accounting, all manner of 

scientific and technical problems that are arising in the world, to 

get CRS able to do what you need. 

It is not really an increase in the sense that it is meant to get 

to where CRS was. It’s just to meet that distinct requirement of 

our client, the Congress. 

INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE INFORMATION AGE

Anyhow, we certainly want to be as cooperative as we can. But 

the mission is providing essential infrastructure in the information 

age to the company that generates the knowledge and information 

but is not able to preserve it or make it as accessible as it should 

be to as many people as it should be. It’s such an important mission for the United States, when you consider the different audiences that depend on the services that we provide—including the 

networks. 
111 

As you can see, the partnerships that we’re establishing—and we 

hope to establish more—depend on our leadership, because ours is 

the responsibility to determine what’s important for the Nation, 

and then to work with others. And so, much of what we do is 

shared, it is assembling and enabling others to add to what we do, 

rather than try to start up and do it all themselves. 

Senator NELSON. Well, if we turn to CRS, your request for an additional 17 FTEs, does it take 17 people to replace Dan? Is it possible that some of that hiring could extend over a longer period of 

time, or are you experiencing the same thing that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Government Accountability Office 

(GAO) are experiencing, and that is more requests from the Congress for more reports? And that puts the pressure on. We’re our 

own worst enemy in that regard. We want more information, but 

we want to pay less for it. So, I do understand the squeeze that 

it creates. But is it possible to extend that hiring over a longer period of time, or with attrition? 

What I’m looking for is some way, not with the current resolution, but with fiscal year 2012, to reduce some of the expenses that 

are projected and put them into next year’s budget. As you said, 

you’ve been through 4 very tight years budget-wise, and so it’s not 

as easy as it may seem, but we are going to be under an awful lot 

of pressure to hold the line in the legislative branch, and so I’m 

looking for help. 

Dr. BILLINGTON. Well, I would stress that this was very carefully 

reviewed by the entire executive committee. But I think we ought 

to let—— 

Senator NELSON. Sure. 

Dr. BILLINGTON [continuing].—Mr. Mulhollan speak to this. But 

let me just stress that this was the only, real programmatic increase. 

Senator NELSON. I know. 

Dr. BILLINGTON. The cybersecurity request was virtually a mandate, to cover the communications and so forth. But this is something that was very carefully weighed by the executive committee. 

It’s his baby, so let him speak. 

Mr. MULHOLLAN. Yes. My baby. 

SPECIFICS OF CRS REQUEST

Actually, this is a stretched out request. Because we asked for 

34 FTE over 2 years. The subcommittee said it was not able to 

fund additional FTE in fiscal year 2011 due to budgetary constraints. We asked for 17 last fiscal year, and 17 for this fiscal 

year. The reason is, back in 2008 we were at 705 FTEs. We’re now 

at 675 and we’re going down. 

Both our sister agencies, the CBO and GAO, they’re facing the 

same problem, because you’re facing the same problem. It’s probably trite to say, but after 40 years of looking at it, I honestly believe the problems are inherently more complex. You can’t raise an 

issue without international, constitutional, environmental, as well 

as economic impacts, so in this global economy you’re looking at the 

end of a period where issues heretofore could have been more confined. Dodd-Frank is an incredible example of how trying to get our 

financial house in order has impacts in Europe, Canada, and else-
112 

where, as well as Asia. That’s why, for instance, in the financial 

accounting and auditing capacity, we found ourselves wanting. 

We do our best to present to you a faculty of expertise. For instance, on carbon capture and sequestration, we have a geological 

engineering capacity to take a look at that, independent of any advocacy, so you can trust the assessment. And our statute calls for 

anticipating the consequences of alternative provisions. So, it is our 

best judgment in asking for these positions—these are competencies we’re not going to just need now, but for the next decade. 

And this was a lot of work. 

Certainly, if we extend it for 2 years we can extend it for 4 years. 

My only cry of the heart, is that these problems don’t wait. In the 

last months we’ve had to call upon, again, geologists for earthquake 

issues—what are the earthquake predictions in the United States? 

We’ve had to look at the question of nuclear safety. We just have 

a report out on nuclear safety and the vulnerabilities across the 

United States on earthquakes. 

We have looked at the history of no-fly zones in Bosnia and 

Iraq—what are the consequences internationally? What are the 

costs? We have an excellent piece out on the Odyssey Dawn. We 

are the only institution I think that has the institutional memory 

of war power resolution and Presidential compliance. 

That capacity that you have invested in at CRS, to be perfectly 

frank, is even more important when you’re reducing Senate staff 

and appropriation staff, because since 1970 CRS has been a shared 

pool of expertise. That was the notion. You can be more cost effective having an expert available to one side of the aisle and the 

other side of the aisle, and to both Chambers. And I think that’s 

proven to be the case. But we could draw that out further, yes, Sir. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

BROAD PERSPECTIVE OF MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES

Dr. BILLINGTON. I’d like to add one other thing that I think that 

they’ve done that’s quite extraordinary. Speaking from a background as a one-time university professor and veteran of a number 

of faculty discussions, it’s very difficult in highly compartmentalized, discipline-oriented universities to get the perspectives of 

different disciplines focused on a problem. And I think the organization of CRS, which gets teams working in response to the problem, and getting different perspectives is the only way to go, because we’re learning more and more, as you see, now events, for 

instance, in the Middle East, where the events have all kinds of aspects that are very different from just economics, or just politics, 

or just military. There are tumultuous changes and things going 

on. And you’re better able to deal with them if you have people in 

different disciplines working together to answer whatever the question is that is on the Congress’ mind. 

So, I think that getting these specialized personnel is not just so 

that you get a little more exotic detail. It’s a question of getting different—something which does not happen enough in our society— 

getting different disciplines and different approaches to talk to 

each other, to answer a question that is right on your mind in the 

Congress. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 
113 

OPEN WORLD STRATEGIC PLAN OBJECTIVES AND COSTS

Ambassador O’Keefe, I noticed in seeking a $600,000 increase for 

fiscal year 2012, it would be to initiate an expansion into Armenia, 

Belarus, and Uzbekistan. Can you give us some idea of what, how 

that $600,000 would be used specifically? Will there be any kind 

of actual exchanges with these countries in fiscal year 2012, or will 

this be simply the start-up cost to set up an exchange at some 

point in the future? 

Ambassador O’KEEFE. Sir, this is all going into exchanges. We already have the backbone and infrastructure, and I’ve discussed this 

with the charge d’affaires in Uzbekistan, which I think is the most 

important of the three countries, and also with Ambassador 

Yovanovitch in Armenia. 

So, if we were to begin the programs, the costs would be about 

what we have per participant. There are no real start-up costs. 

Also, for a place like Armenia and Belarus, we might be able to 

actually have a lower cost, since we would have Embassy personnel 

do more of the work as their cost share. We’re starting with that 

model. It gives us more bang for the buck. 

RAMIFICATIONS OF FUNDING AT FISCAL YEAR 2010 LEVEL

Senator NELSON. As we all are aware of the fiscal constrains, if 

additional funding isn’t provided and if you’re funded at the fiscal 

year 2010 enacted level, what would it take within your budget to 

absorb that kind of a budget cut? 

Ambassador O’KEEFE. Yes, Sir. We’ve looked at that, and, just as 

a first principle, we want to preserve the momentum of the numbers of people coming. It makes a big difference for alumni networks, for qualify of nominations and, frankly, quality of programming. 

Also, by preserving those numbers we don’t reduce the grants to 

the communities, and these are community colleges, service clubs, 

rotaries, and lots of different community organizations. We did 700 

communities last year. 

So, our going, in principle, is not to diminish that, and if we do 

so then, as a last resort. So, it means that you give up somewhat 

on quality in terms of oversight. We do like to be able to monitor 

a certain number of programs per year—especially programs where 

we get the reports that they’re not as good as the other ones. And 

you do that by actually observing how it’s done. We give up a little 

bit of quality on that. 

The other approach, and the one that we would take, is we’d 

have to look at our staffing, and we’d have to look at travel and 

other things. At the end of the day, if we can’t absorb rising costs 

of transportation, hotels and other things, we would reduce numbers. That’s a last resort. 

IN-KIND GIVING AND SUPPORT

Senator NELSON. You’ve done an outstanding job in leveraging 

nonappropriated funds over the last several years. I think it’s $1.7 

million in donated goods and services from hosts and grantees in 

2009, and as your testimony indicates that this level is estimated 

to be even higher in 2010, at $1.9 million. 
114 

Has the sluggish economy hampered your efforts to leverage 

more nonappropriated funds, or are you able to continue to do just 

about what you would expect to do? 

Ambassador O’KEEFE. It’s odd. I think we must be counter-cyclical, because we still have this great demand from communities to 

host about twice what we can sustain. And they continue to be generous, even in these difficult circumstances. So, I am so impressed 

by the dedication of the communities that are welcoming all of the 

delegates, and their willingness to continue to do the home hosting, 

to pick up the meals, and other things. 

Senator NELSON. Do you see the opportunity, then to be able to 

continue to grow at the same level that you’ve enjoyed in the last 

couple of years? 

Ambassador O’KEEFE. I think that there’s, frankly, an absorptive 

capacity. And so, I think that number may remain the same. 

What we are looking at now is partnering with other organizations that would put up the money for airfare, putting up the 

money for, perhaps, part of the programming in the United States. 

Organizations that already bring people to the United States. And 

then, for about one-third of the cost that we ordinarily would have, 

take their delegates and give them a 4- or 5-day OWLC experience. 

Senator NELSON. If we increased those efforts, would it help you 

make up that $600,000 difference? 

Ambassador O’KEEFE. I hope so. But I can’t guarantee anything, 

Senator. 

Senator NELSON. I appreciate that. 

Well, I’ve asked a number of questions. Is there any question 

that I haven’t asked that I should have? 

Well, if not, I appreciate very much your candor. Obviously, we’re 

in this together. We want to find a way to make it work for, as Dr. 

Billington says, the United States of America. It’s about more than 

just us. It’s about our country. 

And we understand the importance of LOC as a part of this overall institution we call our country. 

Thank you so very, very much for being here. We hear what 

you’re saying. We clearly empathize with it. We understand what 

the consequences are if cuts are not made in an appropriate and 

responsive way. 

One thing that I’ve found not just in this position, but also as 

Governor is that the more I knew about a program, the harder it 

was to cut. 

ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

Senator NELSON. So, you have given me a lot of information to 

make it even harder to think about cutting. 

Thank you very much. 

Dr. BILLINGTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very, very much. 

We’re willing to work with you on these difficult problems. Thank 

you so much. 

[The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but were 

submitted to the agencies for response subsequent to the hearing:] 
115 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO DR. JAMES H. BILLINGTON

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY SENATOR JOHN HOEVEN

IMPACT OF REDUCED FUNDING

Question. The Library of Congress’s (LOC) fiscal year 2012 appropriations request is $666.7 million, an increase of $23.4 million, or 3.6 percent, more than the fiscal 

year 2010 enacted level. Unfortunately for all of us, the Congress is still negotiating 

the end game for the fiscal year 2011 budget, and as you are well aware we are 

contemplating how much to reduce your funding from the current level, not how 

much to increase it. Please provide the subcommittee with the impact of a 5 percent 

and a 10 percent reduction to LOC’s total 2010 appropriation. 

Answer. A 5 percent reduction to the fiscal 2010 base appropriation level—a fiscal 2011 funding level of $650.1 million—would require that LOC freeze hiring, freeze 

travel and training, substantially reduce all contracts, grants, and general purchases, and implement a staff furlough of 11 days. Fiscal year 2011 funding level 

at 10 percent below the fiscal 2010 budget—or $613.5 million—would require all of 

those cuts plus an additional 11-day staff furlough (total furlough of 22 days). 

FORT MEADE MODULE 5

Dr. Billington, you mentioned that one of the top-priority projects for LOC in fis- cal year 2012 is $8.88 million for Collection Storage Module 5 (phase I of II) at Fort 

Meade, to expand the storage capacity for LOC’s collections. I note that LOC’s request of $666.7 million, which is an increase of $23.4 million, or 3.6 percent, more 

than the fiscal year 2010 enacted level and the fiscal year 2011 current funding 

level, does not include the $67.9 million requested in the Architect of the Capitol’s 

(AOC) budget for the ‘‘Library Buildings and Grounds’’ account. The subcommittee 

is not in a position this year to be able to fully fund all of these increases, and we 

must balance LOC’s requests with AOC’s requests and each of the other agencies 

funded in the legislative branch bill. 

Question. In order to fund the $8.88 million for Collection Storage Module 5 at 

Fort Meade, would LOC be willing to forgo other increases in its fiscal year 2012 

budget request (not AOC’s requests) to offset the cost of the storage module? 

Answer. LOC focused its priorities and limited the fiscal 2012 budget request to 

the most critical and timely needs. Aside from mandatory pay and price-level adjustments, LOC’s 3.6 percent increase represented funding requests for a mandatory information technology (IT) security initiative and for expanded research expertise 

that would enable the Congressional Research Service to better respond to the research and analysis needs of the Congress. 

The $8.88 million request to fund the Collection Storage Module 5 at Fort Meade 

was included in AOC’s budget. LOC partnered with AOC to both prioritize the 

projects and initiatives that were included in AOC’s budget and to formulate a 

phased approach to funding the Collection Storage Module 5 project so as make this 

major capital investment as economically viable as possible for the legislative 

branch budget. 

Given the careful deliberations LOC went through to formulate the fiscal year 

2012 budget request, LOC is not in a position to forego other requested increases 

to fund the $8.88 million for Collection Storage Module 5. However, LOC is committed to working with the subcommittee to determine the most-efficient approach 

to fund critical needs, just as we worked diligently with your subcommittee staff to 

assess priorities and evaluate trade-offs in this year’s (fiscal year 2011) budget process. 

Question. What exactly will the $8.88 million provide with regard to Collection 

Storage Module 5? Will all of this funding be obligated in fiscal year 2012? 

Answer. The benefit of the two-phased construction approach is to distribute the 

total cost of construction over 2 fiscal years, and to allow for the construction of a 

complete and usable facility, following each phase. This approach also allows for the 

funding to be provided in consecutive fiscal years, which would provide for the completion of the final project phase, without delay or interruption. 

Under the two-phased construction approach, the $8.88 million investment of 

phase I would complete all site infrastructure, building structure, overhead fire suppression sprinklers, lighting, and the basic building systems of heating and ventilation. This would allow for temporary storage of boxed or palletized library materials 

and unprocessed collections up to a height of 12 feet. The estimate for phase I does 

not include the cost of high-bay shelving, pallet racking, or climate control for the 

preservation-quality environment needed for permanent collections storage. It is estimated the construction period would be 2 years. 
116 

Question. For phase I of II, $8,89 million is requested—do you know yet how much 

funding will be required to complete phase II? 

Answer. Approximately 90 percent of the funding requested for phase I would be 

obligated in fiscal year 2012. The remainder would be utilized in fiscal year 2013 

to accommodate construction contingency, construction administration, and related 

testing and commissioning activity. 

AOC cost estimate for phase II is $9.58 million. This investment includes customized high-bay collection storage shelving up to 32 feet with integrated fire suppression systems, and a specialized climate control system for permanent collections’ 

preservation. AOC estimates the total project cost of Collection Storage Module 5 

(phase I and II) in the amount of $18.46 million. 

IT SECURITY FUNDING

Question. LOC is requesting $2.75 million and five additional full-time equivalents within the Office of Strategic Initiatives to expand LOC’s information security 

incident handling and response function. 

If the subcommittee is able to provide the requested increase of $2.75 million, how 

is that funding to be allocated? 

Answer. The requested $2.75 million will enhance our security incident handling 

and response function. This enhancement, resulting form discussions with the 

House and Senate regarding assuring confidentiality of LOC research provided to 

Members, will provide protections similar to the House and Senate. 

The funding will pay for security staff, contractor support, and security tools. 

IMPACT OF NOT FUNDING IT SECURITY

Question. If the subcommittee is unable to provide this increase, what is the impact to LOC? 

Answer. Lack of funding for this security enhancement effort will likely result in 

delays in the detection of threats, and delays in the response to security incidents, 

including the investigation and remediation of cybersecurity events at LOC. This 

could cause information to be compromised and pose a risk to LOC and agencies 

with which LOC interacts. 

CONTENT MANAGEMENT

Question. Security of electronic information is an important part of every Federal 

Government agency’s daily operations—to try to prevent, or mitigate the effects of, 

the accidental or purposeful deletion or corruption of information stored electronically. 

How would LOC know if any of its electronic information had been deleted or corrupted? 

Answer. Long-term storage solutions have policy settings that include when to delete information from the systems based on events, age, etc. At LOC the long-term 

storage solution preservation policies are set to never delete. Currently, data integrity is checked when the file is ingested and when the file is migrated to newer solutions. (LOC migrates archive data, e.g., our digital collections, every 3–5 years as 

part of ensuring the data is not stored on obsolete technology. During this process, 

the data integrity is checked.) 

LOC is also working on a plan to re-architect the content management of our digital collections. This will include separate data integrity check policies for the various collections. 

RESTORING INFORMATION

Question. Does LOC have a plan for restoring information that has been deleted 

or corrupted? 

Answer. LOC protects its data from loss by deletion or corruption by making multiple copies of the data in multiple locations. Even if information has been accidentally deleted from disk by a user or administrator and marked as deleted, the file 

is not physically deleted from the primary or secondary copy. It can be recovered. 

If data is deleted or corrupted on disk it can be retrieved and restored from the primary copy or the remote secondary copy. Business and Web data are backed up 

through scheduled processes using industry standard backup and recovery software. 

Partial and full backups are taken and a second copy is written to a remote cite. 

This data can be recovered using the backup and recovery software. 

Long-term storage of preservation data is stored on magnetic tape. This data is 

ingested to a large disk cache where it goes through a workflow process and then 
117 

is written to tape and a second copy is written to a remote site. The data is stored 

in a manner that makes recall and use of this data fairly simple. 

CONSOLIDATION OF DATA CENTER ASSETS

Question. According to a recently released GAO report entitled ‘‘Opportunities to 

Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue (the Duplication Report)’’, ‘‘In recent years, as Federal agencies modernized their operations, put more of their services online, and increased their information security profiles, they have demanded more computing power and data storage resources. According to OMB, the number of Federal data centers grew from 432 

in 1998 to more than 2,000 in 2010. These data centers often house similar types 

of equipment and provide similar processing and storage capabilities. These factors 

have led to concerns associated with the provision of redundant capabilities, the underutilization of resources, and the significant consumption of energy.’’ 

In February 2010, the administration launched the Federal Data Center Consolidation initiative and issued guidance for Federal CIO Council agencies that called 

for agencies to inventory their data center assets, develop consolidation plans 

throughout fiscal year 2010, and integrate those plans into agency fiscal year 2012 

budget submissions. 

Is LOC working to reduce the size of its data center footprint? 

Answer. Unlike most agencies LOC is in the business of collecting and preserving 

data for future generations. The amount of LOC data grows each year as more and 

more collection and preservation data is acquired and stored in LOC systems. LOC 

is continually planning and reworking the layout of the Data Center to maintain 

or shrink the footprint. 

Wherever possible, LOC backs data up on tape rather than spinning disk, which 

uses more space and power. LOC also continually migrates data on tape to the latest (higher-density tape) technologies available. This allows LOC to grow collection 

and preservation data and maintain the same footprint in the data center. 

In an effort to reduce LOC data center footprint to allow for future data storage 

growth, LOC has recently implemented a virtualization infrastructure. The key benefit of this infrastructure, as it relates to the question, is that centralizing and reducing the number of physical servers will reduce the required amount of power, 

air conditioning, and physical space allocations. LOC is also in the process of implementing new network switches in the primary data center (Madison Building.). Implementing these newer technology switches will reduce the overall number of data 

center switches from 10 to 2. This will further reduce the network infrastructure 

footprint in the data center. 

Last, in an effort to optimize the data centers operational capabilities, LOC recently performed a study of all four LOC data centers. This study examined the current environment with regards to space allocation, power consumption and cooling 

capabilities. This information was used to project future space and environmental 

requirements based on current growth rates. 

Question. How does LOC protect and backup its electronic data? 

Answer. LOC protects its data by making multiple copies of the data in multiple 

locations. LOC uses different strategies according to the needs of the different categories of information: 

Business and Web Data.—Business and Web data are backed up through 

scheduled processes using industry standard backup and recovery software. 

Partial and full backups are taken and a second copy is written to a remote site. 

Long-term Storage of Preservation Data.—Currently, LOC takes in approximately 120 TB of preservation data a month. This will increase to approximately 200 TBs a month by the end of 2011. LOC has chosen to store this data 

on magnetic tape. Tape is a reliable, mature technology that has an error rate 

several magnitudes smaller than disk. It also has a very dense footprint and 

consumes very little power. This data is ingested to a large disk cache where 

it goes through a workflow process and then is written to tape and a second 

copy is written to a remote site. The data is stored in a manner that makes 

recall and use of this data fairly simple. 

Disk Replication and Disaster Recovery.—To support Continuity of Operations 

Planning and disaster recovery, mission-critical application data is replicated on 

disk at a remote site. Bringing these applications on line at the remote site is 

performed according to a priority set by LOC leadership. For instance, one of 

the higher-priority applications is the Legislative Information Service (LIS). LIS 

data is replicated remotely and in the event of a disaster, the application and 

its data can be brought online within a matter of hours. This data is also protected by complete backup as well. 
118 

Question. What is LOC doing to take advantage of newer, more reliable, diskbased storage, and back-up technology which can drive down costs by reducing the 

overall data footprint at data centers? 

Answer. LOC has built into its future technology plans a technology refresh that 

migrates data from older technology to newer, denser, and power-saving technology. 

Over the past 5–7 years LOC has moved from using disks that can store 100 GB 

of data per disk drive to storing data on disks that can store 2 TB of data per disk 

drive. This is a 20-fold increase in density for nearly the same power requirements. 

LOC continues to look at new disk technologies and assess their applicability to 

LOC needs. 

Regarding back-up technology, LOC has adopted tape technology wherever possible. Disks are expensive and require more power and cooling than magnetic tapes. 

Magnetic tape technology provides a denser, less power-hungry, less error-prone, 

and less-expensive alternative to spinning disks. It has a known migration path and 

mature methods for assuring data integrity. LOC also has an audit program to assure quality of the media and hardware. 

COST OF PROTECTING ELECTRONIC INFORMATION

Question. What are the costs associated with protecting LOC’s electronic information? Please submit a breakdown to the subcommittee. 

Answer. The initial cost associated with protecting LOC’s electronic information 

is $13.976 million. In addition, there is an annually recurring cost of $5.48 million. 

CLOUD COMPUTING

Question. The Federal CIO Council recently outlined a 25-point plan that puts in 

place a cloud-computing first strategy for all Federal IT. The plan boasts that cloud 

IT infrastructure creates the following benefits: 

Economical.—Cloud computing is a pay-as-you-go approach to IT, in which a 

low initial investment is required to begin, and additional investment is needed 

only as system use increases. 

Flexible.—IT departments that anticipate fluctuations in user demand no 

longer need to scramble for additional hardware and software. With cloud computing, they can add or subtract capacity quickly and easily. 

Fast.—Cloud computing eliminates long procurement and certification processes, while providing a near-limitless selection of services. 

Does LOC currently utilize, or plan to implement, a cloud-based IT infrastructure 

to operate and deliver programs to the public? 

Answer. LOC is currently implementing a virtualized environment to provide 

cloud-based IT infrastructure that, while currently planned for internal use only, 

can be adapted to provide public service. Many of LOC’s public facing services currently run on an internal cloud-based infrastructure using shared CPUs, memory, 

and storage. LOC runs two internal hosting environments, the Application Hosting 

Environment (AHE) and the Financial Hosting Environment (FHE). The FHE hosts 

sensitive systems and data. Examples includes the Momentum Financial Management System, Health Services Organization (HSO) Medical Information Management System (MIMS—sometimes referred to as Medgate, Medgate is the actual software name). The AHE hosts most of LOC’s other applications. 

CONSIDERED PROGRAMS FOR THE CLOUD

Question. Are there particular computer applications like email or other programs 

that LOC is considering moving to the cloud? 

Answer. LOC is evaluating moving the current New Visitor Experience (NVE) and 

MyLOC.gov from a Hosted Environment to a Cloud Environment. The NLS/BPH is 

evaluating placing their Electronic Books on a cloud system to enhance downloading 

electronic books to West Coast States. 

LOC is currently using the cloud to host the Global Legal Information Network 

(GLIN). Moreover, the OSI Digitization Projects System is a cloud application using 

an Application as a Service cloud offering from Appian. 

We will continue to monitor the Federal agency guidance being developed by the 

Office of Management and Budget, National Institutes of Standards and Technology, 

and General Services Administration prior to broadly implementing any cloud computing initiatives. 

SENSITIVE DATA CONTROLS

Question. What current controls do you have in place to ensure sensitive data is 

not being released to the public? 
119 

Answer. LOC’s IT security policies are based on best practices, such as the NIST 

standards. Moreover, LOC uses best practices for technical controls using guides 

from Defense Information Systems Agency and the Center for Internet Security to 

secure servers, routers, switches, workstations, Web servers, and databases. LOC 

uses certification testing to ensure that security controls are in place before new systems go into production and continuous monitoring techniques to ensure that new 

vulnerabilities are addressed in a timely manner. As part of LOC’s IT security process, information is evaluated to determine sensitivity and the security controls are 

based on the level of sensitivity. Systems with sensitive information are placed into 

a separate environment with more stringent security controls. Additionally, LOC is 

monitoring for unusual data traffic patterns that would indicate sensitive data being 

removed inappropriately from LOC. 

SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

Senator NELSON. This hearing is now concluded. 

[Whereupon, at 3:21 p.m., Thursday, March 31, the hearing was 

concluded, and the subcommittee recessed, to reconvene subject to 

the call of the Chair.] 

(121) 

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR 

FISCAL YEAR 2012 

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 

U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, 

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met at 1:30 p.m., in room SD–138, Dirksen 

Senate Office Building, Hon. Ben Nelson (chairman) presiding. 

Present: Senators Nelson and Hoeven. 

U.S. SENATE 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

STATEMENT OF HON. NANCY ERICKSON, SECRETARY OF THE SENATE 

ACCOMPANIED BY: 

CHRIS DOBY, FINANCIAL CLERK 

SHEILA DWYER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BEN NELSON

Senator NELSON. The subcommittee will come to order. Good 

afternoon, everyone, and welcome. 

My colleague Senator Hoeven has an Energy Task Force meeting 

at this point in time. We have a 2 o’clock vote. So, what will happen is, I will go until 2 o’clock, then we’ll recess for however long 

it takes me to go and vote, and then hopefully the Senator will be 

able to join us after. 

We meet, this afternoon, to take testimony on the fiscal year 

2012 budget request for the Secretary of the Senate, Senate Sergeant at Arms (SAA), and the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP). This is 

our fourth and final hearing for fiscal year 2012. 

I want to welcome our three witnesses today: Nancy Erickson, 

Secretary of the Senate; Terrance W. Gainer, Senate Sergeant at 

Arms; and Phillip D. Morse, Sr., Chief of the Capitol Police. 

I want to start, today, by acknowledging the dedication and hard 

work of all of your staff. The services provided by many of your employees are rarely seen, but are highly relied upon for the day-today operation of the Senate. I know that the Senate is a very demanding place to work often requiring long hours, under extraordinary pressure. And we sometimes are accused of being high 

maintenance. But, I want you to know that we sincerely appreciate 

everyone’s work, and we’re grateful to all of the men and women 

who keep the Senate running safely and smoothly every day. 
122 

I’d like to reiterate a few points that were made during our first 

three hearings this year. My goal, going into fiscal year 2011, was 

to hold the legislative branch flat; and I’m proud to say that, despite the challenges we face, we’ve surpassed that goal by cutting 

just more than $100 million below the fiscal year 2010 enacted 

level. Furthermore, we have accomplished this without requiring 

the agencies that assist us in our day-to-day operations to implement, ‘‘reductions in force’’. And, as you may have heard, in fiscal 

year 2012 I plan to cut even further below the fiscal year 2011 

number so that we can lead by example on this subcommittee, 

when it comes to getting our fiscal house in order. Putting forth a 

reasonable, responsible budget for the legislative branch in fiscal 

year 2012 is my number one priority. 

Ms. Erickson, we are pleased to have you here this afternoon. I 

look forward to hearing your testimony. For fiscal year 2012, your 

office is requesting a total of $32 million, which is the same level 

of funding recently provided to your office in the fiscal year 2011 

continuing resolution. I realize this level of funding is a reflection 

of the transfer of a $4.2 million Senate Information System (SIS), 

last year, to your office from the SAA. I look forward to hearing 

more about the specifics of your budget request and receiving an 

update on the progress of the new Senate payroll system. 

Mr. Gainer, first, I want to commend you for your smart thinking, earlier this year, when you hired Nancy Olkewicz. 

We’ve all benefited from her steadfast dedication and loyalty to 

the United States Senate. And we continue to get that now, as she 

works with the Appropriations Committee, and this subcommittee, 

in particular. I’m certain you’ve already benefited tenfold from the 

detailed knowledge and understanding of this institution that she 

has brought with her to the new job. 

We’re still recovering from our loss of her here on this subcommittee, but Lila Helms is doing an outstanding job. It happens 

to be her birthday today. The SAA request for 2012 totals $219 million, an increase of $214,000 more than the recently enacted fiscal 

year 2011 level. I look forward to hearing an update on the relocation of your printing, graphics, and direct mail shop, and any security-related updates that you may have to share with us. 

Finally, Chief Morse, your fiscal year 2012 request totals $387.6 

million, which is an increase of $47 million, or 14 percent, more 

than the recently enacted fiscal year 2011 level. I also want to note 

that, when it came to setting the fiscal year 2011 levels, every 

agency, with the exception of the USCP and the Congressional 

Budget Office (CBO), took a cut in funding. You received a $12 million increase more than the 2010 funding level. Granted, much of 

this increase was to annualize the funding correction, due to a salary miscalculation at the department in fiscal year 2010. We will 

need to look carefully at this request, given just how tight budgets 

are going to be in fiscal year 2012. In particular, we’ll be reviewing 

the seven or so new initiatives you’ve identified, to see where we 

might be able to realize some savings. I also look forward to receiving an update on the radio modernization project from you, as well. 

Now I’d like to begin with the witnesses. I’d appreciate if you 

might be able to keep your opening remarks to about 5 minutes, 

and submit the rest of your statements for the record. 
123 

Ms. Erickson, we’ll start with you, and then we’ll hear from Mr. 

Gainer, and then Chief Morse. 

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF NANCY ERICKSON

Ms. ERICKSON. Chairman Nelson, I appreciate this opportunity to 

provide testimony on behalf of the Office of the Secretary and its 

employees. I’m joined today by Sheila Dwyer, the Assistant Secretary, and Chris Doby, our Financial Clerk, who provides the 

steady hand in overseeing the Senate Disbursing Office. 

Since 1789, the Secretary of the Senate has been tasked with legislative, financial, and administrative responsibilities to support 

the Senate. I was reminded of our office’s historic role in supporting the Senate during new Member orientation, when I had the 

opportunity to accompany our new Senators and their spouses to 

the National Archives legislative vault, where some of the Senate’s 

earliest records are stored. We looked, in awe, at the very first Senate journal, and noted the Secretary’s constitutional responsibility 

in documenting the Senate’s very first day of business on March 4, 

1789. Admiring the first Secretary of the Senate’s beautiful handwriting, I must say that I’m grateful that this constitutional responsibility is carried out by our Senate Journal Clerks who can 

rely on laptops to compile the Senate Journal. This year, I’m requesting $31,990,000 to support the operations of the Office of the Secretary. This includes $25,790,000 for salaries, $2 million for operations, and $4.2 million for the SIS program. 

I’d like to highlight three points. First, the budget request includes no increase for salaries or operations. Second, the operating 

budget for the administration of the SIS program, operations of 

which were assumed by this office last year, is also unchanged. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not point out that our 2012 budget 

request for operations is the same as our 2008 appropriation. 

Getting to this number has required careful assessments of not 

only how we use our financial resources, but also how we efficiently 

and effectively deploy our human resources. I’m very proud of our 

26 department managers and our accounts administrator, who 

have been careful stewards of our resources, and who have committed themselves to rethinking how we work, with the goal of continuing superior service to the Senate. 

Compared to the budgets of our legislative branch partners, the 

Office of the Secretary’s budget is small. However, we’re fortunate 

that we’re structured in a way that allows our office to operate efficiently. One example of this is our relationship with the Senate 

SAA in the area of information technology (IT). We rely on the SAA 

for our IT support requirements, ranging from the technical support for our payroll and financial systems to our enormous databases in the Office of Public Records, which includes Senate campaign reports, financial disclosure filings, travel reports, as well as 

registrant and lobbyist filings under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, 

as amended. We appreciate this relationship and underscore the 

importance of these systems in carrying out our congressional mandates. 

As you know, the SIS program was established by regulation by 

the Rules Committee in 1987 to provide all Senate offices access to 
124 

online research services. During the past year, we focused our efforts on cost containment and gathered feedback from Senate staff 

on their research needs and the tools they use. On the cost-containment front, as a result of contract negotiations led by the Senate 

Librarian and procurement staff, SIS program costs in 2011 were 

held to 2010 levels. The successful negotiations, however, do not 

guarantee that there will not be future price increases and, potentially, hard decisions about what SIS services are added. 

Based on feedback from Senate staff, it’s clear that online research plays a critical role in the daily work of the Senate. These 

resources are focused on real-time news, legislative, legal, and policy resources that are valued by staff. The online research industry 

is rapidly changing. And as we move forward in managing the SIS 

program, we will be vigilant in pursuing opportunities to maximize 

the Senate’s investment while being mindful of costs. 

With respect to our financial responsibilities, the Disbursing Office, in tandem with SAA technical support, researched and procured a vendor to implement a new payroll system that met the 

Senate’s unique requirements. We have a rigorous schedule to ensure a smooth implementation, including parallel testing with our 

current system before it’s launched early next year. The next phase 

of the payroll project will include self-service options for employees. 

[The information follows:] 

As I mentioned in my testimony, the new payroll system will be implemented in 

three phases. Phase I will replace existing functionality. Phase II of the project will 

involve the implementation of self-service functions for employees, such as changeof-address requests, revising withholding amounts, and, eventually, making changes 

in benefit selections, and will allow for electronic payroll information notices to be 

sent, replacing the paper notices that employees now receive. Phase III, which is 

not yet funded, is the rollout of the new personnel system for Senate offices. When 

all three phases are implemented, we envision that offices will be able, pending approval of a digital signature format by the Committee on Rules and Administration, 

to submit payroll changes electronically. 

Ms. ERICKSON. As we’ve worked on the implementation of this 

enormous and complex payroll project, I’m reminded of a simpler 

time, when Senators and staff were paid with crisp $20 bills at the 

front counter of the Disbursing Office, a Senate practice until 1972. 

Our Disbursing Office and Senate Webmaster, in coordination 

with the Government Printing Office, are implementing a statutory 

requirement that the report of the Secretary be publicly posted on 

the Internet. The first posting of this report will occur at the end 

of November 2011 and will be available from a link on senate.gov 

in a PDF format. 

We will continue work on the paperless voucher initiative to reduce paper, streamline the voucher process, and for continuity-ofoperation purposes. In the meantime, I’m pleased to report that 

paper vouchers were processed 10 percent faster than the previous 

year, which is good news for your office managers and your State 

vendors. 

Following past practice, I asked the Government Accountability 

Office (GAO) to audit the accounting books and inventory processes 

in our stationery room and gift shop. And I’m pleased to report that 

we received a positive audit with valuable feedback. In fact, the 

GAO singled out our inventory processes and warehouse operations 

as a model for other similar Government entities. 
125 

PREPARED STATEMENT

I felt fortunate to be on the Senate floor to hear many of the 

farewell remarks of departing Senators this past December. And I 

was struck by a recurring theme in their recognition of the staff 

who work behind the scenes to support the Senate. Our staff, who 

have legislative, financial, and administrative responsibilities, take 

great pride in their historic role in serving the United States Senate, and we appreciate your subcommittee’s recognition and support of their important work. 

Thank you. 

[The statement follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF NANCY ERICKSON

Mr. Chairman, Senator Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

your invitation to present testimony in support of the budget request of the Office 

of the Secretary of the Senate for fiscal year 2012. 

It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to draw attention to the accomplishments 

of the dedicated and outstanding employees of the Office of the Secretary. The annual reports which follow provide detailed information about the work of each department of the office, their recent achievements, and their plans for the upcoming 

fiscal year. 

My statement includes: 

—presenting the fiscal year 2012 budget request; 

—implementing mandated systems—Financial Management Information System 

(FMIS) and Legislative Information System (LIS); 

—Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP); and 

—maintaining and improving current and historic legislative, financial, and administrative services. 

PRESENTING THE FISCAL YEAR 2012 BUDGET REQUEST

I am requesting a total fiscal year 2012 budget of $31,990,000. The request in- cludes $25,790,000 in salary costs and $6.2 million for the operating budget of the 

Office of the Secretary. This request has been kept at fiscal year 2011 levels and 

represents a flat budget. No increase has been requested for salaries or operating 

expenses. In addition, the operating budget for the administration of Senate Information Services (SIS) program that was assumed by this office last year has not 

been increased. 

My total budget request for fiscal year 2012 is the same as last year. The balance 

of our request is consistent with the amounts requested and received in 2011 

through the legislative branch appropriations process. 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY APPORTIONMENT SCHEDULE 

[In thousands of dollars] 

Items 

Amount available 

fiscal year 2011 

(pending) 

Budget estimates 

fiscal year 2012 Difference 

Departmental operating budget: 

Executive office ................................................................................. 550 550 ........................

Administrative services ..................................................................... 5,590 5,590 ........................

Legislative services ........................................................................... 60 60 ........................

Total operating budget ................................................................. 6,200 6,200 ........................

IMPLEMENTING MANDATED SYSTEMS

Two systems critical to our operation are mandated by law, and I would like to 

spend a few moments on each to highlight recent progress, and to thank the subcommittee for your ongoing support of both. 

FMIS 

The FMIS is used by approximately 140 Senate offices. Consistent with our strategic plan, the Disbursing Office continues to modernize processes and applications 
126 

to meet the continued demand by Senate offices for efficiency, accountability, and 

ease of use. Our goals are to move to an integrated, paperless voucher system, improve the WebFMIS system, and make payroll and accounting system improvements. 

During fiscal year 2010 and the beginning of fiscal year 2011, specific progress 

made on the FMIS project included: 

—WebFMIS was upgraded three times this year: in January 2010, August 2010, 

and November 2010. This system is used by administrative managers, committee clerks, staff in the Sergeant at Arms Office (SAA), and the Secretary’s 

office to create vouchers and manage their office funds, by the Disbursing Office 

to review vouchers and by the Committee on Rules and Administration to sanction vouchers. Additionally, it is used by staff who incur official expenses, primarily staff who travel, to prepare their Expense Summary Reports (ESRs). The 

releases provided both technical and functional changes. 

—FMIS 2010–1 was implemented in January 2010. This release included a 

small number of enhancements for WebFMIS users including an automated 

password reset feature, a warning to the ESRs user when their document violates the 60-day election rule limitations, adding graphs to the WebFMIS 

summary reports, and implementing a pilot of electronic invoice (EI) 

functionality, which allows a user to easily create credit card reimbursement 

vouchers based on invoices received electronically from the Senate’s credit 

card vendor. A pilot of the EI functionality began in January and was offered 

to all offices in June 2010. By the end of 2010, 33 offices were using the EI 

functionality. 

—FMIS 2010–2 was implemented in August 2010. This release included a small 

number of enhancements for ESR users, but was focused on implementing 

new functionality for the SAA accounts payable (A/P) process. Processes were 

simplified by automated retrieval of data from existing purchase orders. An 

application, WebPICS provides pop-up windows where users enter the required data which the system uses to retrieve information from the purchase 

order. The users verifies retrieved data and adds information necessary to 

complete the process to create receiving reports, invoices, and vouchers for 

payments against purchase orders. 

—FMIS 2011–1 was implemented in November 2010 and included two new 

fields (invoice date and invoice receipt date) on the WebFMIS document create page and the document search criteria page for all users; it gives SAA 

users the ability to search by project code and job code using the document 

search criteria page and users using the EI functionality, the ability to search 

by traveler’s name. A new version of the ESR, ‘‘Line Item Entry’’ was also 

introduced to a pilot group. This enables users to select from 1 of 3 travel 

types of the ESR; single trip, multiple trips, or interdepartmental travel, requiring different types of information based on the type selected. It is anticipated that this new version of the ESR will reduce rekeying by staff and reduce the corrections to itineraries made by administrative mangers, chief 

clerks and Disbursing’s A/P staff. A pilot of 10 offices and committees began 

in November 2010. This version was given to all new Senators of the 112th 

Congress. 

—The computing infrastructure for FMIS is provided by the SAA. Each year the 

SAA staff upgrades the infrastructure hardware and software. During 2010 the 

SAA implemented two major upgrades to the FMIS infrastructure. These included upgrading the database, DB2, to version 9 in a two-step process, and upgrading the mainframe operating system to version 1, release 11. 

—During 2008 Disbursing implemented a prototype imaging system in which 

paper vouchers and supporting documentation were imaged by Disbursing staff 

and routed electronically. The hands-on experience of this prototype was especially useful in refining system requirements. In 2009 and completed in 2010, 

the software for the image database and image viewer was selected, and imaging and electronic signature requirements were finalized. This information was 

coordinated with a separate SAA smart card ID project to be utilized for electronic signatures. In October 2010, a task order for adding document imaging 

and electronic signatures to WebFMIS was signed. This task order outlines 

work to be completed in 2010 through the spring of 2013. 

—Finalized the selection of the PeopleSoft payroll system integrator through a 

competitive bid process, signed the contract and started with the fit gap sessions for the implementation of the new system. 

—Implemented State tax remittances via direct deposit for six additional States 

and updated our access to the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) due to a change in 

FRB-supplied equipment. 
127 

During the remainder of fiscal year 2011 the following FMIS activities are anticipated: 

—Implementing WebPICS release for phase III which will focus on SAA purchase 

order creation and approval; 

—Coordinating with SAA the timeframes for the implementation of the smart 

card ID project for electronic signatures; 

—Implementing on-line distribution of monthly ledger reports using Reveal via 

WebFMIS; 

—Implementing Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment for the 16 remaining 

State taxes jurisdictions which require a programming change; 

—Participating in the yearly disaster recovery test; and 

—Implementing FMIS release 2011–2 during the spring 2011. This release is expected to allow the SAA A/P group and the Secretary’s account administrator 

the ability to image and attach supporting documentation to the documents created via WebPICS or WebFMIS. 

During fiscal year 2012 the following FMIS activities are anticipated: 

—Continuing the implementation of online financial reports; 

—Implementing FMIS 2011–3, which includes the deployment of an imaging and 

electronic signatures pilot by Senate office. 

—Implementing FMIS 2012–1 to include additional imaging features from the 

pilot group requirements to support extended pilot office participation. 

—Implementing FMIS 2012–2 to provide capacity and stability enhancements to 

support rollout to all offices and committees, as well as enhancements to the 

pilot functionality based on feedback gained through user group meeting and 

training sessions; 

—Continuing with the new payroll system implementation, conversion and testing; and 

—Reviewing existing systems and developing a long-term modification and replacement plan for key financial systems. 

A more detailed report on FMIS is included in the departmental report of the Disbursing Office. 

LEGISLATIVE OFFICES

The Legislative Department provides support essential to Senators in carrying out 

their daily chamber activities as well as the constitutional responsibilities of the 

Senate. The Legislative Clerk sits at the Secretary’s desk in the Senate Chamber 

and reads aloud bills, amendments, the Senate Journal, Presidential messages, and 

other such materials when so directed by the Presiding Officer of the Senate. The 

Legislative Clerk calls the roll of Members to establish the presence of a quorum 

and to record and tally all yea and nay votes. The office staff prepares the Senate 

Calendar of Business, published each day that the Senate is in session, and prepares additional publications relating to Senate class membership and committee 

and subcommittee assignments. The Legislative Clerk maintains the official copy of 

all measures pending before the Senate and must incorporate into those measures 

any amendments that are agreed to. This office retains custody of official messages 

received from the House of Representatives and conference reports awaiting action 

by the Senate. The office staff is responsible for verifying the accuracy of information entered into the LIS system by the various offices of the Secretary. 

Additionally, the Legislative Clerk acts as supervisor for the Legislative Department, responsible for overall coordination, supervision, scheduling, and cross-training. The department consists of eight offices: 

—the Bill Clerk; 

—Captioning Services; 

—Daily Digest; 

—Enrolling Clerk; 

—Executive Clerk; 

—Journal Clerk; 

—Legislative Clerk; and 

—the Official Reporters of Debates. 

Summary of Activity 

The Senate completed its legislative business and adjourned sine die on December 

22, 2010. During 2010, the Senate was in session 158 days and conducted 299 roll 

call votes and eight live quorum calls. There were 388 measures reported from committees and six special reports submitted to the Senate. There were 569 total measures passed or agreed to. In addition, there were 4,924 amendments submitted to 

the desk. 
128 

Cross-training and COOP Planning 

Recognizing the importance of planning for the continuity of Senate business, 

under both normal and possibly extenuating circumstances, cross-training continues 

to be strongly emphasized among the Secretary’s legislative staff. To ensure additional staff are trained to perform the basic floor responsibilities of the Legislative 

Clerk, as well as the various other floor-related responsibilities of the Secretary, approximately one-half of the legislative staff are currently involved or have recently 

been involved in cross-training. 

Each office and staff within the Legislative Department participated in numerous 

ongoing COOP discussions and exercises throughout the past year. These discussions and exercises are a joint effort involving the Office of the Secretary, the U.S. 

Capitol Police (USCP), and the SAA. 

Succession Planning 

The average number of years of Senate service among the Secretary’s Legislative 

Department supervisors is 19 years. It is critical that the Secretary’s Legislative Department attract and keep talented employees, especially the second tier of employees just behind the current supervisors because of the unique nature of the Senate 

as a legislative institution. The arcane practices and voluminous precedents of the 

Senate make institutional experience and knowledge extremely valuable. 

BILL CLERK

The Office of the Bill Clerk collects and records data on the legislative activity 

of the Senate, which becomes the historical record of official Senate business. The 

Bill Clerk’s staff keeps this information in its handwritten files and ledgers and also 

enters it into the Senate’s automated retrieval system so that it is available to all 

House and Senate offices through the LIS. The Bill Clerk records actions of the Senate with regard to bills, resolutions, reports, amendments, cosponsors, Public Law 

numbers, and recorded votes. The Bill Clerk is responsible for preparing for print 

all measures introduced, received, submitted, and reported in the Senate. The Bill 

Clerk also assigns numbers to all Senate bills and resolutions. All the information 

received in this office comes directly from the Senate Floor in written form within 

moments of the action involved, so the Bill Clerk’s office is generally regarded as 

the most timely and most accurate source of legislative information. 

Assistance From the Government Printing Office (GPO) 

The Bill Clerk’s staff maintains an exceptionally good working relationship with 

the GPO and seeks to provide the best service possible to meet the needs of the Senate. The GPO continues to respond in a timely manner to the Secretary’s request, 

through the Bill Clerk’s office, for the printing of bills and reports, including the 

expedited printing of priority matters for the Senate Chamber. 

Legislative Activity 

The Bill Clerk’s staff processed 1,099 fewer legislative items than in the previous 

Congress for an overall decrease of slightly less than 9 percent. For comparative 

purposes, below is a summary of the second sessions of the 110th and 111th Congresses, and then between the combined sessions of each Congress. 

110th Congress, 

2nd Session 

111th Congress, 

2nd Session 

Percentage 

change 

Senate bills ................................................................................................ 1,217 1,139 ¥6.41 

Senate Joint Resolutions ............................................................................ 19 17 ¥10.53 

Senate Concurrent Resolutions .................................................................. 43 30 ¥30.23 

Senate Resolutions .................................................................................... 311 320 ∂2.89 

Amendments submitted ............................................................................. 1,812 1,626 ¥10.26 

House bills ................................................................................................. 427 333 ¥22.01 

House Joint Resolutions ............................................................................. 4 6 ∂50.00 

House Concurrent Resolutions ................................................................... 93 51 ¥45.16 

Measures reported ..................................................................................... 452 388 ¥14.16 

Written reports ........................................................................................... 274 275 ∂41.61 

Total legislation ............................................................................ 4,652 4,298 ¥7.61 

Roll call votes ............................................................................................ 215 299 ∂39.07 

House messages 1 ...................................................................................... 283 332 ∂17.31 
129 

110th Congress, 

2nd Session 

111th Congress, 

2nd Session 

Percentage 

change 

Cosponsor requests .................................................................................... 7,306 4,947 ¥32.29 

1 This number reflects how many messages from the House are typed up by the Bill Clerks for inclusion in the Congressional Record. It excludes additional activity on these bills. 

110th Congress 111th Congress Percentage 

change 

Senate bills ................................................................................................ 3,741 4,059 ∂8.5 

Senate Joint Resolutions ............................................................................ 46 42 ¥8.7 

Senate Concurrent Resolutions .................................................................. 107 78 ¥27.1 

Senate Resolutions .................................................................................... 729 707 ¥3.02 

Amendments Submitted ............................................................................. 5,704 4,924 ¥13.67 

House bills ................................................................................................. 940 715 ¥23.94 

House Joint Resolutions ............................................................................. 13 16 ∂23.08 

House Concurrent Resolutions ................................................................... 186 118 ¥36.56 

Measures reported ..................................................................................... 880 388 ¥55.91 

Total legislation ............................................................................ 12,346 11,047 ¥10.52 

CAPTIONING SERVICES

The Office of Captioning Services provides realtime captioning of Senate Floor 

proceedings for the deaf and hard-of-hearing and unofficial electronic transcripts of 

Senate Floor proceedings to Senate offices on Webster, the Senate Intranet. 

General Overview 

Captioning Services strives to provide the highest-quality closed captions. For the 

17th year in a row, the Office has achieved an overall accuracy average above 99 

percent. Overall caption quality is monitored through daily translation data reports, 

monitoring of captions in real-time, and review of caption files on Webster. In an 

effort to decrease paper consumption and printing costs, accuracy reviews and reports will be completed and archived in electronic form for the upcoming year. 

The real-time searchable closed caption log, available to Senate offices on Webster, continues to be an invaluable tool for all of the Senate community. Legislative 

floor staff, in particular, continue to depend upon its availability, reliability and contents to help them in the performance of their duties. Additionally, the Senate Recording Studio’s complementary video component, Video Vault, adds searchable 

video to the audio and text and has proven to be a valuable new tool for Senate 

offices to utilize. 

COOP Planning 

COOP and preparation continue to be a top priority to ensure that the office and 

staff are prepared and confident about the ability to relocate and successfully function from a remote location in the event of an emergency. Continual updates and 

review of the COOP plan and discussion with staff throughout the year prepare individuals to have confidence if called upon to execute the plan. The office also participates with the Recording Studio in an off-site location exercise of the COOP at 

least once a year. 

DAILY DIGEST

The Office of the Senate Daily Digest is pleased to transmit its annual report on 

Senate activities during the second session of the 111th Congress. First, a brief 

summary of a compilation of Senate statistics: 

Chamber Activity 

The Senate was in session a total of 158 days, for a total of 1,074 hours and 40 

minutes. There were eight live quorum calls and 299 roll call votes. (See attachment 

for 2009 Year Comparison of Senate Legislative Activity). 

Committee Activity 

Senate committees held a total of 827 meetings during the second session, as contrasted with 1,138 meetings during the first session of the 111th Congress. 

All hearings and business meetings (including joint meetings and conferences) are 

scheduled through the Office of the Senate Daily Digest and are published in the 

Congressional Record, on its Web site on Senate.gov, and entered in the LIS, the 

Web-based applications system. Meeting outcomes are also published by the Daily 
130 

Digest in the Congressional Record each day and continuously updated on the Web 

site. 

Computer Activities 

The Digest staff continues to work closely with Senate computer staff to refine 

the LIS/document management system (DMS), including further refinements to the 

Senate Committee Scheduling application which will improve the data entry process. 

The Digest office continues to electronically transmit the complete publication at 

the end of each day to the GPO. 

GPO 

The Daily Digest staff work closely with the GPO on printing issues and are 

pleased to report that occurrences of editing corrections or transcript errors are infrequent. 
131 

20-YEAR COMPARISON OF SENATE LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY 1

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 

Senate convened ............................................... 1/3 1/3 1/5 1/25 1/4 1/3 1/3 1/27 1/6 1/24 Senate adjourned .............................................. 1/3/92 10/9 11/26 12/01 1/3/96 10/4 11/13 10/21 11/19 12/15 Days in session ................................................ 158 129 153 138 211 132 153 143 162 141 Hours in session ............................................... 1,200′44′′ 1,091′09′′ 1,269′41′′ 1,243′33′′ 1,839′10′′ 1,036′45′′ 1,093′07′′ 1,095′05′′ 1,183′57′′ 1,017′51′′ Average hours per day ..................................... 7.6 8.5 8.3 9.0 8.7 7.8 7.1 7.7 7.3 7.2 Total measures passed .................................... 626 651 473 465 346 476 386 506 549 696 Roll call votes ................................................... 280 270 395 329 613 306 298 314 374 298 Quorum calls .................................................... 3 5 2 6 3 2 6 4 7 6 Public Laws ...................................................... 243 347 210 255 88 245 153 241 170 410 Treaties ratified ................................................ 15 32 20 8 10 28 15 53 13 39 Nominations confirmed ..................................... 45,369 30,619 38,676 37,446 40,535 33,176 25,576 20,302 22,468 22,512Average voting attendance ............................... 97.16 95.4 97.6 97.02 98.07 98.22 98.68 97.47 98.02 96.99 Sessions convened before 12 noon .................. 126 112 128 120 184 113 115 109 118 107 Sessions convened at 12 noon ........................ 9 6 6 9 2 15 12 31 17 25 Sessions convened after 12 noon .................... 23 10 15 17 12 7 7 2 19 24 Sessions continued after 6 p.m ....................... 102 91 100 100 158 88 96 93 113 94 Sessions continued after 12 midnight ............. 4 9 7 3 1 ...................... ...................... ...................... ...................... 2 Saturday sessions ............................................. 2 2 2 3 5 1 1 1 3 1 Sunday sessions ............................................... ...................... ...................... ...................... ...................... 3 ...................... 1 ...................... ...................... 1 

20-YEAR COMPARISON OF SENATE LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY—Continued 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 

Senate convened ............................................... 1/3 1/23 1/7 1/20 1/4 1/3 1/4 1/3 1/6 1/5 Senate adjourned .............................................. 12/20 11/20 12/9 12/8 12/22 12/9 12/31 1/2 12/24 12/22 Days in session ................................................ 173 149 167 133 159 138 189 184 191 158 Hours in session ............................................... 1,236′15′′ 1,043′23′′ 1,454′05′′ 1,031′31′′ 1,222′26′′ 1,027′48′′ 1,375′54′′ 988′31′′ 1,420′39′′ 1,074′40′′ Average hours per day ..................................... 7.1 7.0 8.7 7.7 7.7 7.4 7.2 5.37 7.44 6.8 Total measures passed .................................... 425 523 590 663 624 635 621 589 478 569 Roll call votes ................................................... 380 253 459 216 366 279 442 215 397 299 Quorum calls .................................................... 3 2 3 1 3 1 6 3 3 8 Public Laws ...................................................... 136 241 198 300 169 313 180 280 125 258 Treaties ratified ................................................ 3 17 11 15 6 14 8 30 1 6 Nominations confirmed ..................................... 25,091 23,633 21,580 24,420 25,942 29,603 22,892 21,785 23,051 23,327Average voting attendance ............................... 98.29 96.36 96.07 95.54 97.41 97.13 94.99 94.36 96.99 95.88 
132 

20-YEAR COMPARISON OF SENATE LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY—Continued—Continued 

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 

Sessions convened before 12 noon .................. 140 119 133 104 121 110 156 147 148 116 Sessions convened at 12 noon ........................ 10 12 4 9 1 4 4 4 2 6 Sessions convened after 12 noon .................... 21 23 23 21 36 24 32 33 41 36 Sessions continued after 6 p.m. ...................... 108 103 134 129 120 129 144 110 152 116 Sessions continued after 12 midnight ............. 3 8 2 3 3 4 4 2 2 1 Saturday sessions ............................................. 3 ...................... 1 2 2 2 1 3 5 2 Sunday sessions ............................................... ...................... ...................... 1 1 2 ...................... 1 1 4 1 

1 Prepared by the Senate Daily Digest—Office of the Secretary. 
133 

ENROLLING CLERK

The Enrolling Clerk prepares, proofreads, corrects, and prints all legislation 

passed by the Senate prior to its transmittal to the Secretary of the Senate, House 

of Representatives, the White House, the National Archives, and the United States 

Claims Court. 

During the second session of the 111th Congress the Enrolling Clerk’s office prepared the enrollment of 78 Senate bills (transmitted to the President); 4 Senate enrolled joint resolutions (transmitted to the President); 7 Senate concurrent resolutions (transmitted to the National Archives); and 40 Senate appointments (transmitted to the House of Representatives). In addition, approximately 177 House of 

Representatives bills; 30 House Concurrent Resolutions; 5 House Joint Resolutions; 

and 2 conference reports, were either amended, passed, or acted on by the Senate 

requiring the Enrolling Clerk’s office staff to work hundreds of amendments in a 

tightly managed schedule. In all there were 61 messages delivered to the Clerk’s 

office and 84 to the House Chamber by the Enrolling Clerk’s office relative to Senate 

action and passage of legislation. The office also handled the appropriate delivery 

to the House Clerk’s office of approximately 248 House enrolled bills and 11 House 

joint resolutions (1 vetoed) after they had been signed by the President pro tempore. 

During the second session, the Enrolling Clerk’s office was also involved in preparing and proofreading documents and taking messages to the House of Representatives relative to the impeachment of Judge Gabriel Thomas Porteous, Jr. of Louisiana. The Enrolling Clerk also assisted the Executive Clerk in putting together the 

official copy of the START Treaty agreement and helped organize Treaty amendments, in addition to proofreading the document. The office performance was successful, and all deadlines were met. 

A total of 569 pieces of legislation were passed or agreed to during the second session of the 111th Congress. Many other Senate bills were placed on the calendar, 

all of which were processed in the Enrolling Clerk’s office including approximately 

99 engrossed Senate bills, 4 joint resolutions, 15 concurrent resolutions, and 244 

Senate resolutions. The office is also responsible for keeping the original official copies of bills, resolutions, and appointments from the Senate Floor through the end 

of each Congress. At the end of the second session, the Enrolling Clerk’s office 

places all official papers in archive boxes where they are sent to the Senate Archivist for storage at the National Archives. 

The Senate Enrolling Clerk’s is also responsible for transmitting to the GPO electronically, for overnight printing, copies of the original files of engrossed and enrolled legislation proofread and formatted accordingly in our office. 

COOP 

In the second quarter 2010 the Enrolling Clerk attended two COOP exercises at 

the GPO to test a number of printers for the COOP fly-away kit designated to be 

available for the enrolling clerks in the event of a COOP situation. In addition to 

testing the printers, the exercise encompassed the important details of our operations necessary for the engrossment and enrollment of legislation involving the use 

of printers and specific paper stock supplied by the GPO. 

Cost Savings 

The Enrolling Clerk has reduced printing requests by one-third over the past few 

years in addition to reducing its distribution of bills from the GPO by one-half. 

EXECUTIVE CLERK

The Executive Clerk prepares an accurate record of actions taken by the Senate 

during executive sessions (proceedings on nominations and treaties) which is published as the Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate at the end of each 

session of Congress. The Executive Clerk also prepares daily the Executive Calendar 

as well as all nomination and treaty resolutions for transmittal to the President. Additionally, the Executive Clerk’s office processes all executive communications, Presidential messages, and petitions and memorials. 

Nominations 

During the second session of the 111th Congress, there were 1,077 nomination 

messages sent to the Senate by the President, transmitting 21,836 nominations to 

positions requiring Senate confirmation and 21 messages withdrawing nominations 

sent to the Senate during the second session of the 111th Congress. Of the total 

nominations transmitted, 435 were for civilian positions other than lists in the Foreign Service, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and 

Public Health Service. In addition, there were 2,240 nominees in the ‘‘civilian list@’’ 

categories named above. Military nominations received this session totaled 19,161 
134 

(6,600 Air Force; 7,486 Army; 4,448 Navy; and 627 Marine Corps). The Senate confirmed 23,327 nominations this session. Pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 6 

of Senate Rule XXXI, 366 nominations were returned to the President during the 

second session of the 111th Congress. 

Treaties 

There were four treaties transmitted to the Senate by the President during the 

second session of the 111th Congress for its advice and consent to ratification, which 

were ordered printed as treaty documents for the use of the Senate (Treaty Doc. 

111–5 through 111–8). 

The Senate gave its advice and consent to six treaties with various amendments, 

conditions, declarations, understandings, and provisos to the resolutions of advice 

and consent to ratification. 

Executive Reports and Roll Call Votes 

There were six executive reports relating to treaties ordered printed for the use 

of the Senate during the second session of the 111th Congress (Executive Report 

111–2 through 111–7). The Senate conducted 50 roll call votes in executive session, 

all on or in relation to nominations and treaties. 

Executive Communications 

For the second session of the 111th Congress, 4,468 executive communications, 62 

petitions and memorials, and 29 Presidential messages were received and processed. 

Environmental Impact 

In an effort to save money and eliminate unnecessary paper, the Executive Clerk 

reduced the copies of nominations printed for the committees by 95 percent during 

the 111th Congress, as all committees except one allow the paperwork to be transmitted by email decreasing the need for duplicate paper copies. 

JOURNAL CLERK

The Journal Clerk takes notes of the daily legislative proceedings of the Senate 

in the ‘‘Minute Book’’ and prepares a history of bills and resolutions for the printed 

Journal of the Proceedings of the Senate, or Senate Journal, as required by article 

I, section V of the Constitution. The content of the Senate Journal is governed by 

Senate Rule IV, and is approved by the Senate on a daily basis. The Senate Journal 

is published each calendar year. 

The Journal staff take 90-minute turns at the Rostrum in the Senate Chamber, 

noting the following by hand for inclusion in the Minute Book: 

—all orders (entered into by the Senate through unanimous consent agreements); 

—legislative messages received from the President of the United States; 

—messages from the House of Representatives; 

—legislative actions as taken by the Senate (including motions made by Senators, 

points of order raised, and roll call votes taken); 

—amendments submitted and proposed for consideration; 

—bills and joint resolutions introduced; and 

—concurrent and Senate resolutions as submitted. 

These notes of the proceedings are then compiled in electronic form for eventual 

publication of the Senate Journal at the end of each calendar year. Compilation is 

efficiently accomplished through utilization of the LIS Senate Journal Authoring 

System. The Senate Journal is published each calendar year, and in 2010, the Journal Clerk completed the production of the 1,125 page 2009 volume. It is anticipated 

that work on the 2010 volume, including the Impeachment Journal, will conclude 

by December 2011. 

COOP 

In 2010, in support of the Office of the Secretary’s commitment to COOP, the Office of the Journal Clerk participated in the annual Chamber Protective Actions/ 

Briefing Center exercise in May. Additionally, monthly tests of BlackBerry emergency notification and laptop remote access procedures are conducted. The Journal 

Clerk continued the practice of scanning the daily Minute Book pages into a secure 

directory. The files are also copied onto a flash drive storage device weekly, and 

transported off-site each night. Although the actual Minute Books for each session 

of a Congress are sent to the National Archives a year following the end of a Congress, having easily accessible files, both on a remote server and on a secure portable storage device, will ensure timely reconstitution of the Minute Book data in the 

event of damage to, or destruction of, the physical Minute Book. 
135 

OFFICIAL REPORTERS OF DEBATES

The Office of the Official Reporters of Debates is responsible for the stenographic 

reporting, transcribing, and editing of the Senate Floor proceedings for publication 

in the Congressional Record. The Chief Reporter acts as the editor-in-chief, and the 

Coordinator functions as the technical production manager of the Senate portion of 

the Record. The office interacts with Senate personnel on additional materials to be 

included in the Record. 

On a continuing basis, all materials to be printed in the next day’s edition of the 

Record are transmitted electronically and on paper to the GPO. Much of the transcript of Senate Floor proceedings and Morning Business is sent to the GPO electronically to allow for production of the Record in a cost-conscious and timely manner. In most instances, the paper copy of the Record is delivered by the GPO within 

2 to 3 hours of its content being placed on the Internet at approximately 7 a.m. 

every day. 

The Chief Reporter, in conjunction with Senate office and committee staff, works 

to ensure compliance with the ‘‘2-page rule’’ to cut down on the printing costs of the 

Record by controlling the amount of extraneous printing to be done by the GPO. As 

a result, these materials are often condensed so as not to exceed the rule and/or are 

cited and printed on Web sites with referencing so that they are available to the 

interested public. 

The Official Reporters of Debate completed the upgrade of its stenotype machines 

this year. This past year, the office purchased five additional Pro Cat Stylus stenotype machines, complementing the three machines that were purchased last fiscal 

year, resulting in the most efficient and up-to-date method of paperless recording 

of Senate debate. All reporters’ stenographic notes are now saved to electronic files 

and are held for 5 years or more, saving the cost of storage and purchase of bundled 

stenotype paper that was used in the older machines. 

PARLIAMENTARIAN

The Parliamentarian’s Office continues to perform its essential institutional responsibilities to act as a neutral arbiter among all parties with an interest in the 

legislative process. These responsibilities include advising the chair, Senators and 

their staff, committee staff, House Members and their staffs, and administration officials on all matters requiring an interpretation of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the precedents of the Senate, and unanimous consent agreements, as well as 

provisions of public law affecting the proceedings of the Senate. 

The Parliamentarian or one of his assistants is always present on the Senate 

Floor when the Senate is in session, ready to assist the Presiding Officer in his or 

her official duties, as well as to assist any other Senator on procedural matters. The 

parliamentarians work closely with the staff of the Vice President of the United 

States and the Vice President himself whenever he performs his duties as President 

of the Senate. 

The parliamentarians serve as the agents of the Senate in coordinating the flow 

of legislation with the House of Representatives and with the President, and ensure 

that enrolled bills are signed in a timely manner by duly authorized officers of the 

Senate for presentation to the President. 

The parliamentarians monitor all proceedings on the floor of the Senate, advise 

the Presiding Officer on the competing rights of the Senators on the floor, and advise all Senators as to what is appropriate in debate. The parliamentarians keep 

track of time on the floor of the Senate when time is limited or controlled under 

the provisions of time agreements, statutes, or standing orders. The parliamentarians keep track of the amendments offered to the legislation pending on the Senate 

Floor, and monitor them for points of order. In this respect, the parliamentarians 

reviewed more than 1,600 amendments during 2010 to determine if they met various procedural requirements, such as germaneness. The parliamentarians also reviewed thousands of pages of conference reports to determine what provisions could 

appropriately be included therein. 

The Office of the Parliamentarian is responsible for the referral to the appropriate 

committees of all legislation introduced in the Senate, all legislation received from 

the House, as well as all communications received from the executive branch, State 

and local governments, and private citizens. In order to perform this responsibility, 

the parliamentarians do extensive legal and legislative research. During 2010, the 

Parliamentarian and his assistants referred 2,623 measures and 4,559 communications to the appropriate Senate committees. The office worked extensively with Senators and their staffs to advise them of the jurisdictional consequences of countless 

drafts of legislation, and evaluated the jurisdictional effect of proposed modifications 

in drafting. In 2010, as in the past, the parliamentarians conducted several brief-
136 

ings on Senate procedure to various groups of Senate staff and visiting international 

parliamentary staff, on a nonpartisan basis. 

During 2010, as has been the case in the past, the staff of the Parliamentarian’s 

Office was frequently called on to analyze and advise Senators on a great number 

of issues arising under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Trade Act of 1974, 

the Congressional Review Act, and many other provisions of law that authorize special procedural consideration of measures. 

During all of 2010, the parliamentarians were involved in interpreting the ethics 

reform proposals adopted in 2007, especially the language dealing with earmark accountability and scope of conference. 

Throughout 2010 until the convening of the 112th Congress, the parliamentarians 

reviewed all of the Senators’ certificates of election for sufficiency and accuracy, returning those that were defective and reviewing their replacements. 

Since the election in 2010, all of the parliamentarians have participated in the 

orientation sessions for the newly elected Senators and have assisted each of them 

in their initial hours as Presiding Officers. The parliamentarians also participated 

in an orientation session on the Senate Floor for Senate staff. 

COOP 

The parliamentarians have each been trained on and successfully remotely access 

the office’s computers and hard drives, facilitating communications, research, and 

other work after hours, and enabling them to have the office function during possible emergencies. The Parliamentarian’s Office continues to participate extensively 

in emergency preparedness training for the Senate Chamber and has been heavily 

involved with the SAA Office of Police Operations, Security and Emergency Preparedness for years in the planning phases of the Senate’s evacuation and shelterin-place procedures. 

FINANCIAL OPERATIONS

Disbursing Office 

The mission of the Senate Disbursing Office is to provide efficient and effective 

central financial and human resource data management, information, and advice to 

the offices of the United States Senate and to Members and employees of the Senate. The Senate Disbursing Office manages the collection of information from the 

distributed accounting locations within the Senate to formulate and consolidate the 

agency level budget, disburse the payroll, pay the Senate’s bills, and provide appropriate counseling and advice. The Senate Disbursing Office collects information from 

Members and employees that is necessary to maintain and administer the retirement, health insurance, life insurance, and other central human resource programs 

and provides responsive, personal attention to Members and employees on an unbiased and confidential basis. The Senate Disbursing Office also manages the distribution of central financial and human resource information to the individual 

Member offices, committees, administrative and leadership offices in the Senate 

while maintaining the confidentiality of information for Members and Senate employees. 

The organization is structured to enhance its ability to provide quality work, 

maintain a high level of customer service, promote good internal controls, efficiency 

and teamwork, and provide for the appropriate levels of supervision and management. The long-term financial needs of the Senate are best served by an organization staffed with highly trained professionals who possess a high degree of institutional knowledge, sound judgment, and interpersonal skills that reflect the unique 

nature of the United States Senate. 

Executive Office 

The primary responsibilities, among others, of the Executive Office are to: 

—oversee the day-to-day operations of the Disbursing Office; 

—respond to any inquiries or questions; 

—maintain fully and properly trained staff; 

—ensure that the office is prepared to respond quickly and efficiently to any disaster or unique situation that may arise; 

—provide excellent customer service; 

—assist the Secretary of the Senate in the implementation of new legislation affecting any of her departments; and 

—handle all information requests from the Committee on Appropriations and the 

Committee on Rules and Administration 

The Disbursing Office, the Committee on Rules and Administration, the House of 

Representatives and the U.S. Treasury finalized an interagency agreement concerning payments for expenses made on behalf of the Congressional Oversight Panel 
137 

established by Public Law 110–343, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The 

Disbursing Office continues to offer administrative support to this office. 

The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2010, Public Law 111–68 included an 

administrative provision requiring the Report of the Secretary of the Senate to be 

published and publicly posted online, starting with the report covering the first full 

semi-annual period of the 112th Congress. Disbursing met several times with the 

GPO to start the design of the Web page, and additional meetings will be held with 

all interested parties in the coming months to finalize the development of the report. 

Front Office—Administrative and Financial Services 

The Front Office is the main service area for all general Senate business and financial activity. The Front Office staff maintains the Senate’s internal accountability of funds used in the groups daily operations. The reconciliation of such funds 

is executed on a daily basis. The Front Office staff also provides training to newly 

authorized payroll contacts along with continuing guidance to all contacts in the 

execution of business operations. It is the receiving point for most incoming expense 

vouchers, payroll actions, and employee benefits-related forms, and is the initial 

verification point to ensure that paperwork received in the Disbursing Office conforms to all applicable Senate rules, regulations, and statutes. The Front Office is 

the first line of service provided to Senators, officers, and employees. All new Senate 

employees (permanent and temporary) who will work in the Capitol Hill Senate offices are administered the required Oath of Office and Personnel Affidavit. Staff is 

also provided verbal and written detailed information regarding pay and benefits. 

Advances are issued to Senate staff authorized for official Senate travel through the 

Front Office and cash and check advances are entered and reconciled in Web FMIS. 

After the processing of certified expenses is complete, cash travel advances are repaid. 

Numerous inquiries are handled daily, ranging from pay, benefits, taxes and 

voucher processing, to reporting, laws, and Senate regulations; and must always be 

answered accurately and fully to provide the highest degree of customer service. 

Cash and checks received from Senate entities as part of their daily business are 

handled through the Front Office and become part of the Senate’s accountability of 

federally appropriated funds and are then processed through the Senate’s general 

ledger system. The Front Office maintains the Official Office Information Authorization Forms that authorize individuals to conduct various types of business with the 

Disbursing Office. 

General Activities 

Processed approximately 530 cash advances during the year and initialized 920 

check/direct deposit advances. 

Received and processed more than 21,600 checks. 

Administered Oath of Office and Personnel Affidavits to more than 1,700 new 

Senate staff and advised them of their benefits eligibility. 

Maintained brochures for 12 Federal health insurance carriers and distributed approximately 3,500 brochures to existing staff during the annual Federal Benefits 

Open Season and to new Senate employees during their Federal Employees Health 

Benefits (FEHB) selection process. 

Provided 22 training sessions to new administrative managers. 

Administratively guided the three offices of the appointed Senators that resulted 

from the death or resignation of sitting Senators, and the 16 new Senate offices 

through the Senator-elect phase. 

The Front Office continues its daily reconciliation of operations and strengthening 

of internal office controls. Training and guidance to new administrative managers 

and business contacts continued and was enhanced by the revamping of training 

materials that were provided to newly authorized personnel. The Front Office initiated a scanning procedure that ensured secure flow of payroll-related documents 

through the processing phase. Front Office staff continued assisting employees in 

maximizing their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) contributions and making sure they are 

aware of the TSP Catch-Up provisions. The contribution level for the new TSP employee automatic enrollment was emphasized. The Front Office continued to provide 

the Senate community with prompt, courteous, and informative advice regarding 

Disbursing Office operations. 

Payroll Section 

The Payroll Section maintains the Human Resources Management System 

(HRMS) and is responsible for processing, verifying, and warehousing all payroll information submitted to the Disbursing Office by Senators, committees, and other appointing officials for their staff, including appointments of employees, salary 

changes, title changes, transfers, and terminations. It is also responsible for input 
138 

of all enrollments and elections submitted by Members and employees that affect 

their pay (e.g., retirement and benefits elections, tax withholding, TSP participation, 

allotments from pay, address changes, direct deposit elections, levies and garnishments, etc.) and for the issuance of accurate salary payments to Members and employees. The Payroll Section is responsible for the administration of the Senate Student Loan Repayment Program (SLP) and for the audit and reconciliation of the 

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FED VIP) bill files received each pay period. The payroll section 

jointly maintains the ACH FedLine facilities with the A/P section for the normal 

transmittal of payroll deposits to the FRB. Payroll expenditure, projection, and allowance reports are distributed electronically to all Senate offices semimonthly. The 

payroll section issues the proper withholding and agency contribution reports to the 

Accounting Department and transmits the proper TSP information to the National 

Finance Center. In addition, the payroll section maintains earnings records, which 

are distributed to the Social Security Administration and employees’ taxable earnings records, which are used for W–2 statements. This section is also responsible 

for the payroll expenditure data portion of the Report of the Secretary of the Senate 

and calculates, reconciles, and bills the Senate Employees Child Care Center for 

their staff employee contributions and forwards payment of those contributions to 

the Accounting Section. The Payroll Section provides guidance and counseling to 

staff and administrative managers on issues of pay, salaries, allowances, and projections. 

General Activities 

In January 2010, the payroll section conducted all year-end processing and reconciliation of pay records and produced W–2 forms for employees and Federal and 

State tax agencies. They also facilitated the imaging of those documents to the Document Imaging System. The payroll section maintained the normal schedule of processing TSP election forms. 

In January 2010, an employee cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) of 2.42 percent 

was authorized and administered. Statutory rates and program caps were updated 

in HRMS. Required documentation was issued, received, reconciled, input, and adjusted as designated by appointing officials. 

The Disbursing Office, in tandem with SAA Technical Support, researched and 

procured a vendor to implement a new payroll system. The proposals of the bidders 

were diligently assessed and modifications requested. Several demonstrations and 

technical forums were attended and rated. Specific attention was paid to how the 

vendors would accommodate the Senate’s unique requirements, laws and regulations governing the services and programs administered by the payroll system. After 

extensive coordination, feedback and assessment, an implementer selection was 

made. Staff attended week-long training to enhance their ability to participate in 

system requirements, development, and implementation. The Payroll Section also 

drafted and edited a complete revision and update of the Payroll Procedures Manual 

in anticipation of its need as a tool to facilitate the development and implementation 

of the new payroll system. 

As 2010 came to an end, the Disbursing Office and SAA had begun the process 

of system development and implementation with the new vendor. Fit gap sessions 

to analyze requirements started in February with an expected completion of Phase 

I of the project during fiscal year 2012. 

As a result of the passage of the Reservist Differential Pay legislation, the office 

worked with the SAA computer support staff to determine requirements, develop, 

test and implement programming changes, develop processes and procedures, and 

implement those within the guidelines set forth by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Defense Financial and Accounting Services. Offices and affected 

employees were notified of the impact of the legislation. 

The automatic enrollment provisions of the TSP Enhancement Act of 2009 took 

effect in August 2010. The office worked in tandem with the SAA computer support 

staff and the TSP to determine system requirements, develop, test, and implement 

changes and follow through with postimplementation testing and reporting. New 

procedures were developed and implemented and Senate-wide communications were 

written and distributed. 

Other minor changes were made to the HRMS as the need arose as a result of 

regulated and policy changes. Changes to the retirement creditability of Federal 

Employee Retirement System (FERS) sick leave required legislative and procedural 

interpretation and required interagency cooperation and coordination. The Disbursing Office developed procedures and distributed communications throughout the 

Senate. 
139 

The office procured a new retirement calculator tool that will provide additional 

functionality to retirement counselors and enhance their ability to provide a greater 

number of retirement estimates. Procedures, training and usage development will 

occur in 2011. 

In 2010, the payroll section implemented a number of system modifications as a 

result of legislative, regulatory, and procedural changes. The Department of the 

Treasury implemented a new Web-based process for purchasing savings bonds by 

payroll deduction, which required changes to existing procedures and required notification to the affected Senate Members and employees. Passage of Reservist Differential Pay was handled with coordinated development of requirements, testing, 

system implementation, and procedural development to facilitate the proper payments and tracking. Unusual changes to specific State tax law required system 

modifications so that residents of that State could remain in compliance with regards to their State tax withholding. This required system development, testing, implementation, and notification to the affected Members and staff. 

As a result of the 2010 expiring terms of several appointed Senators, the payroll 

section provided assistance and guidance to the offices of incoming and outgoing 

Members. They also assisted Senator Robert C. Byrd’s staff upon his death. In addition, the staff researched the specifics of applicable Senate resolutions to determine 

their impact, if any, on outgoing and potentially outgoing staff in order to ensure 

that current procedures allowed for the proper administration of the resolutions and 

provided guidance to staff on those resolutions. 

The Payroll Section administers the SLP, which includes initiation, tracking and 

transmission of the payments, determination of eligibility, and coordination and reconciliation with office administrators and program participants. Because of regulatory changes within the Department of Education, extensive vendor processing 

changes were necessitated. As a result many payments to vendors were not being 

routed correctly once received at the designated address. This led to a higher than 

usual need for payment tracking, reconciliation, and check reissue. The SLP Administrator continues to improve processes for administration of the program and documenting procedures. In addition, the SLP Administrator developed an extensive list 

of ‘‘frequently asked questions’’ which were distributed to administrative managers 

and staff, and which have been published to Webster, the Senate’s Intranet. 

Employee Benefits Section (EBS) 

The primary responsibilities of the EBS are administration of health insurance, 

life insurance, TSP, and all retirement programs for Members and employees of the 

Senate. This includes counseling, processing of paperwork, research, dissemination 

of information, and interpretation of retirement and benefits laws and regulations. 

The EBS staff is also expected to have a working knowledge of the FSA Program, 

the Federal Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance Program and Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP). In addition, the sectional work includes research and verification of all prior Federal service and prior Senate service 

for new and returning appointees. 

The EBS provides this information for payroll input. It also verifies the accuracy 

of the information provided and reconciles, as necessary, when official personnel 

folders and transcripts of service from other Federal agencies are received. Senate 

transcripts of service, including all official retirement and benefits documentation, 

are provided to other Federal agencies when Senate Members and staff are hired 

elsewhere in the Government. The EBS is responsible for the administration and 

tracking of employees placed in leave without pay to perform military service, including counseling with regard to continued benefits, TSP Make-up contributions 

and Reservist Differential payments. The EBS participates fully in the Centralized 

Enrollment Clearinghouse System (CLER) Program sponsored by OPM to reconcile 

all FEHB enrollments with carriers through the National Finance Center. EBS is 

responsible for its own forms inventory ordering and maintenance, as well as all 

benefits, TSP, and retirement brochures, for the Disbursing Office. The EBS processes employment verifications for loans, bar exams, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, OPM, and the Department of Defense (DOD), among others. Unemployment claim forms are completed, and employees are counseled on their eligibility. 

Department of Labor billings for unemployment compensation paid to Senate employees are reviewed in the EBS and submitted by voucher to the Accounting Section for payment, as are the employee fees associated with FSAs. Designations of 

Beneficiary for Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI), retirement, and 

unpaid compensation are filed and checked by the EBS. 
140 

General Activities 

The year began with an extended 2009 benefits open season through January 31, 

2010, as mandated by the OPM. 

With the death of Senator Robert C. Byrd, EBS counseled the Senator’s survivors 

regarding all benefits payable and assisted with claims processing. EBS also provided benefits transition counseling to all staff employed by Senator Robert C. Byrd, 

as well as, the processing of the resultant retirement cases. EBS provided incoming 

benefits counseling to Senators who were appointed in 2010. In addition, the EBS 

provided outgoing counseling and retirement case processing to Senators who left 

office in 2010 and to their staff. 

The year brought about many benefits changes. OPM issued guidance resulting 

from Public Law 111–84, which allows for unused sick leave to be credited towards 

FERS retirement and the ability to redeposit FERS refunds. The Affordable Care 

Act of 2010 created important benefits changes that were emphasized in the 2010 

Federal Benefits Open Season. FEHB and FSA incurred major changes in dependent eligibility rules. Flexible spending account, health savings accounts, and health 

reimbursement accounts were subject to over the counter over-the-counter drug eligibility and grace period changes. Premium assistance for temporary continuation 

of health insurance coverage under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

of 2009 was extended through May 31, 2010. 

OPM issued final regulations to expand the definition of ‘‘qualified relatives’’ 

under the long-term care insurance. TSP changes in 2010 included the establishment of Spouse Beneficiary Accounts, the L Fund 2050, and the August 1, 2010 implementation of the TSP Automatic Enrollment provisions. In addition, the enrollment/change period for the FEGLI Program was increased to 60 days. 

Many employees changed health plans during the annual benefits open season. 

These changes were processed and reported to carriers very quickly. The Disbursing 

Office again offered Senate employees access to the online ‘‘Checkbook Guide to 

Health Plans’’ to research and compare FEHB plans. The Disbursing Office also 

hosted an open season benefits fair, which was informational and well attended. The 

Benefits Fair included representatives from local and national FEHB plans, as well 

as representatives from LTC, FSA, and FEDVIP. 

EBS conducted an agency-wide FERS seminar and attended interagency Benefits 

Officers and TSP meetings. This was especially important this year due to the many 

ongoing changes to many of the benefits programs. 

EBS coordinated with the Office of Education and Training to provide outgoing 

offices two sessions with the DC Department of Employment Services and two sessions with the OPM to assist with navigation of the Federal jobs Web site, USAJobs. 

Disbursing Office Financial Management 

Headed by the Deputy for Financial Management, the mission of Disbursing Office Financial Management is to coordinate all central financial policies, procedures, 

and activities; to process and pay expense vouchers within reasonable timeframes; 

and to provide professional customer service, training and confidential financial 

guidance to all Senate accounting locations. In addition, the Financial Management 

group is responsible for the compilation of the annual operating budget of the 

United States Senate for presentation to the Committee on Appropriations, and for 

the formulation, presentation and execution of the budget for the Senate. On a semiannual basis, this group is also responsible for the compilation, validation and completion of the Report of the Secretary of the Senate. Disbursing Office financial 

management is segmented into three functional departments: 

—Accounting; 

—Accounts Payable; and 

—Budget. 

The Accounts Payable department is further subdivided into three sections: 

—Vendor Administration; 

—Disbursements; and 

—Audit. 

The deputy coordinates the activities of the three functional departments, establishes central financial policies and procedures, and carries out the directives of the 

Financial Clerk and the Secretary of the Senate. 

Accounting Department 

During 2010, the Accounting Department approved 52,000 expense reimbursement vouchers and vendor uploads including 1,585 deposits for items ranging from 

receipts received by the Senate operations, such as the Senate’s revolving funds, to 

cancelled subscription refunds from Member offices. General ledger maintenance 

also prompted the entry of thousands of adjustment entries that include the entry 
141 

of all appropriation and allowance funding limitation transactions, all accounting 

cycle-closing entries, and all nonvoucher reimbursement transactions such as payroll adjustments, COLA budget uploads, stop payment requests, travel advances and 

repayments, and limited payability reimbursements. The department continues to 

scan all documentation for journal vouchers, deposits, accounting memos, and letters of certification to facilitate both storage concerns and COOP backup. The section also completed the 2009 year-end process to close and reset revenue, expense, 

and budgetary general ledger accounts to zero. 

The Disbursing Office also started working with a Member’s office and the Senate 

Stationery Room to establish and design an online flag ordering system using the 

Department of the Treasury’s Pay.gov system capabilities. The form has been completed and is undergoing review by the Treasury. The Member’s office will serve as 

a pilot office with other offices joining as the process is refined. Testing is planned 

for February 2011 with a possibility of other offices joining in March 2011. 

The Department of the Treasury’s monthly financial reporting requirements includes a ‘‘Statement of Accountability’’ that details all increases and decreases to the 

accountability of the Secretary of the Senate, such as checks issued during the 

month and deposits received, as well as a detailed listing of cash on hand. Also, reported to the Department of the Treasury on a monthly basis is the ‘‘Statement of 

Transactions According to Appropriations, Fund and Receipt Accounts,’’ a summary 

of activity of all monies disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate through the Financial Clerk of the Senate. All activity by appropriation account is reconciled with the 

Department of the Treasury on a monthly and annual basis. The annual reconciliation of the Treasury Combined Statement is also used in the reporting to the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) as part of the submission of the annual operating budget of the Senate. During 2010, the Accounting Department tested and implemented a FAMIS system report to calculate the Treasury Combined Statement 

which is used for the OMB budget submissions. 

The Accounting Department continues to transmit Federal tax payments for Federal, Social Security, and Medicare taxes withheld from payroll expenditures, as 

well as the Senate’s matching contribution for Social Security and Medicare to the 

FRB through the IRS Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). EFTPS is 

also be used to transmit the quarterly 941 reports to the IRS. Payments for employee withholdings for State income taxes were reported and paid on a quarterly 

basis to each State with applicable State income taxes withheld. System modifications installed in 2008 allow electronic ACH payment of quarterly State taxes has 

resulted in a 64 percent participation rate by taxing jurisdictions, up from 50 percent last year. Twenty-seven of 42 tax jurisdictions are receiving their quarterly 

State tax payments via ACH. Six States were added to the ACH payments for the 

third quarter payments. System modifications are necessary to transmit the remaining 15 tax jurisdictions via ACH because of the unique State requirements for their 

transmissions. Monthly reconciliations were performed with the National Finance 

Center regarding the employee withholdings and agency matching contributions for 

the TSP. 

There are also internal reporting requirements, such as the monthly ledger statements. These ledger statements detail all of the financial activity for the appropriate 

accounting period with regard to official expenditures in detail and summary form. 

It is the responsibility of the Accounting Department to review and verify the accuracy of the statements before Senate-wide distribution. During 2010 the Accounting 

Department worked with the SAA computer staff to test the electronic distribution 

of these monthly reports. It is hoped that this will be implemented in 2011. 

The Accounting Department, in conjunction with the Deputy for Financial Management and the Assistant Financial Clerk, continues to work closely with the SAA 

Finance Department in creating Senate-wide financial statements in accordance 

with OMB Bulletin 01–09, ‘‘Form and Content of Agency Financial Statements’’ and 

any updates required by OMB Circular A–136, ‘‘Form and Content of the Performance and Accountability Reports’’. Work continues toward the implementation of the 

fixed asset system, and financial management software has been upgraded and the 

license renewed. 

Accounting also has a budget division whose primary responsibility is compiling 

the annual operating budget of the United States Senate for presentation to the 

Committee on Appropriations. The Budget division is responsible for the preparation, issuance, and distribution of the budget justification worksheets. The budget 

justification worksheets for fiscal year 2012 were mailed to the Senate accounting 

locations and processed in November 2010. The budget baseline estimates for fiscal 

year 2012 were reported to OMB by mid-January 2011. The budget analyst is also 

responsible for the preparation of 1099’s and the prompt submission of forms to the 

IRS before the end of the January. 
142 

A/P: Vendor Administration 

The Vendor Administration Section maintains the accuracy and integrity of the 

Senate’s central vendor (payee) file for the prompt completion of new vendor file requests and service requests related to the Disbursing Office’s Web-based payment 

tracking system. This section also assists the information technology (IT) department by performing periodic testing and by monitoring the performance of the vendor system. Currently, more than 17,300 vendor records are stored in the vendor 

file, in addition to approximately 10,000 employee records. Daily requests for new 

vendor addresses or updates to existing vendor information are processed within 24 

hours of receipt. Besides updating mailing addresses, the section facilitates the use 

of ACH by switching the mode of vendor payment from paper check to electronic 

deposit. Whenever a new remittance address is added to the vendor file, a standard 

letter is mailed to the vendor requesting tax and banking information, as well as 

contact and email information. If a vendor responds indicating they would like to 

receive ACH payments in the future, the method of payment is changed. 

All Web FMIS users are using the Staffer Functionality exclusively, and new offices are automatically established with it. Senate employees can electronically create, save, and file expense reimbursement forms, track their progress, and get detailed information on payments using this system. The most common service requests are for system user identification and passwords and for the reactivation of 

accounts. Employees may also request an alternative expense payment method. Employees can choose to have their payroll set up for direct deposit or paper check, 

but can have their expenses reimbursed by a method that differs from their salary 

payment method. 

The Vendor section works closely with the A/P Disbursements group to resolve returned ACH payments. ACH payments are returned periodically for a variety of reasons, including incorrect account numbers, incorrect routing numbers, and, in rare 

instances, a nonparticipating financial institution. 

The Vendor section electronically scans and stores all supporting documentation 

of existing vendor records and new vendor file requests. When this section receives 

replies asking for ACH participation, the vendors are asked if they wish to be notified by email when payments are sent. Currently, more than 95 percent of ACH participants also receive email notification of payment. 

During 2010, the Vendor section processed more than 2,200 vendor file additions, 

completed more than 3,200 service requests, mailed approximately 1,100 vendor information letters, and converted more than 450 vendors from check payment to electronic payment. 

A/P: Disbursements Department 

The Disbursements Department is the entry and exit point for voucher payments. 

The department physically and electronically receives all vouchers submitted for 

payment. It also pays all of these vouchers, as well as the items submitted by 

upload and the various certifications and adjustments that are submitted periodically. The department received approximately 107,000 vouchers. All of these items 

were paid by the department via Treasury check or ACH. Multiple payments to the 

same payee are often combined. As a result, 18,500 checks were issued, while 71,100 

ACH payments were required. The ACH volume increased 13 percent while the 

check volume decreased 18 percent for the year. This is a desired result as the department continues its efforts to substantially reduce reliance on paper checks. 

The checkwriter system was upgraded and is now incorporated into Web FMIS. 

The new functionality allows greater ease of access to payment schedules for COOP 

purposes, but still maintains the security necessary to prevent unauthorized use of 

the system. Payment schedules may be retrieved, but payments cannot be made 

without proper authorization. Tests have been conducted to ensure functionality in 

case of emergency situations. 

After vouchers are paid, they are sorted and filed by document number. Vouchers 

are grouped in 6-month ‘‘clusters’’ to accommodate their retrieval for the semi-annual Report of the Secretary of the Senate. Files are maintained in-house for the 

current period and two prior periods, as space is limited. Older documents are 

stored in the Senate Support Facility (SSF). The inventoried items are sorted and 

recorded in a database for easy document retrieval. Several document retrieval missions were successfully conducted, and the department continues to work closely 

with warehouse personnel. 

A major function of the department is to prepare adjustment documents. Adjustments are varied, and include re-issuance of items held as accounts receivable collections, re-issuance of payments for which nonreceipt is claimed, and various supplemental adjustments received from the Payroll Department. Such adjustments are 

usually disbursed by check, but an increasing number are now handled electroni-
143 

cally through the ACH. The department maintains a spreadsheet that tracks cases 

of nonreceipt of salary checks, including stop payment requests and re-issuance. 

The department also prepares the stop payments forms as required by the Department of the Treasury. Stop payments are requested by employees who have not received salary or expense reimbursements, and vendors claiming nonreceipt of expense checks. The Treasury Check Information System (TCIS) allows the department to electronically submit stop-payment requests and provides online access to 

digital images of negotiated checks for viewing and printing. Once a check is viewed, 

it is printed and may be scanned. Scanned images are then forwarded to the appropriate accounting locations via email. During 2010, approximately 500 digital images of negotiated checks were provided, and an additional 125 requests were received for stop payments. The stop payment volume is a significant reduction (75 

percent) and is attributable to increased ACH payment and the TCIS check copy 

retrieval. The TCIS saves the Disbursing Office time, a $7.50 processing fee for each 

request, is Web-based, and is accessible from multiple workstations in Disbursing. 

A/P: Audit Department 

The A/P Audit Section is responsible for auditing vouchers and answering questions regarding voucher preparation and the permissibility of expenses and advances. This section provides advice and recommendations on the discretionary use 

of funds to the various accounting locations; identifies duplicate payments submitted 

by offices; monitors payments related to contracts; trains new administrative managers and chief clerks about Senate financial practices and the Senate’s FMIS; and 

assists in the production of the Report of the Secretary of the Senate. 

The section is organized at three different levels. The first level is the supervisor. 

In addition to performing managerial tasks, the supervisor also audits and sanctions 

vouchers as needed, and coordinates testing related to system implementation and 

upgrades. Eleven auditors process all incoming vouchers and uploads, and 3 of them 

have the authority to sanction, on behalf of the Committee on Rules and Administration, vouchers not exceeding $100. They also sanction all travel and petty cash 

advances as well as non-Contingent Fund items such as legal counsel, legislative 

counsel, and the Office of Congressional Accessibility Services, as well as the for the 

Congressional Oversight Panel. 

A major function of the section is monitoring the fund advances for travel and 

petty cash. Travel advances must be repaid within 30 days of trip completion and 

petty cash advances must be repaid whenever new funding authority is established. 

The system accommodates the issuance, tracking, and repayment of advances. It 

also facilitates the entry and editing of election dates and vouchers for Senatorselect. In addition to other functionality, an advance type of petty cash was created 

and is in use. Regular petty cash audits are performed by the section, and all petty 

cash accounts were successfully audited in 2010. 

The A/P Audit Section processed more than 107,000 expense items in 2010. Audit 

sanctioned approximately 56,000 vouchers under authority delegated by the Committee on Rules and Administration. This translates to roughly 9,600 vouchers processed per auditor, and 11,000 vouchers posted per certifier. The voucher processing 

consisted of providing interpretation of Senate rules, regulations and statutes and 

applying the same to expense claims, monitoring of contracts, and direct involvement with the Senate’s central vendor file. On average, vouchers greater than $100 

that do not have any issues or questions are received, audited, sanctioned electronically by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration using Web FMIS, and 

are expected to be paid within 8 to 10 business days. These vouchers comprised 

more than 40 percent of all vouchers, and, as in the previous year, Disbursing 

passed two postpayment audits performed by the Committee on Rules and Administration. In 2010, the average for Committee on Rules and Administration-sanctioned 

items was 5.45 days, and the average for Disbursing sanctioned items was 3.55 

days, roughly 10 percent faster than the previous year. 

Uploaded items are of two varieties: 

—certified expenses; and 

—vendor payments. 

Certified expenses have been around since the 1980s, and include items such as 

stationery, telecommunications, postage, and equipment. Currently, the certifications include mass mail, franked mail, excess copy charges, Photography Studio, 

and Recording Studio charges. Expenses incurred by the various Senate offices are 

certified by SAA to the Disbursing Office on a monthly basis. The expenses are detailed on a spreadsheet which is also electronically uploaded. The physical voucher 

is audited and appropriate revisions are made. Telecommunications charges excepted, concentrated effort is put forth to ensure certified items appear as paid in 
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the same month they are incurred. Telecommunications charges usually run 1 

month behind as the SAA must wait for the bills from external vendors. 

Vendor uploads are used to pay vendors for the Senate Stationery Room, Senate 

Gift Shop and State office rentals, and refund security deposits for the Senate Page 

School. The methodology is roughly the same as that for certifications, but the payments rendered are for the individual vendors. Although these items are generally 

processed and paid quickly, the State office rents are generally paid a few days prior 

to the month of the rental, which is consistent with the general policy of paying rent 

in advance. 

The A/P Audit Group provided training sessions in the use of new systems: the 

process for generation of expense claims and the permissibility of expenses. They 

also participated in seminars sponsored by the Secretary of the Senate, the SAA, 

and the Library of Congress (LOC). The section trained 10 new administrative managers and chief clerks and conducted four informational sessions for Senate staff 

through seminars sponsored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The A/ 

P group also routinely assists the IT department and other groups as necessary in 

the testing and implementation of new hardware, software, and system applications. 

The implementation of Web FMIS 2010–1 and 2010–2 allowed the SAA to use a 

Web-based system more extensively. Additionally, new functionality was made 

available for auditors to view the ESRs that accompany staff vouchers. A new menu 

structure was also created for inquiries. Electronic invoicing for the Senate-wide 

credit card provider, JP Morgan Chase, was also implemented. 

Disbursing Office Information Technology 

FMIS 

The Disbursing Office Information Technology (IT) department provides both 

functional and technical assistance for all Senate financial management activities. 

Activities revolve around support of Web FMIS which is used by staff in 140 Senate 

accounting locations (i.e., 100 Senate personal offices, 20 committees, 20 leadership 

and support offices, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the SAA, the Senate 

Committee on Rules and Administration Audit section, and the Disbursing Office). 

Responsibilities of the department include: 

—supporting current systems; 

—testing infrastructure changes; 

—maintaining contact with system users to ensure their needs are met; 

—managing and testing new system development; 

—preparing for the 112th Congress; 

—planning; 

—managing the FMIS project, including contract management; 

—administering the Disbursing Office’s Local Area Network (LAN); and 

—coordinating the Disbursing Office’s disaster recovery activities. 

The Disbursing Office is the ‘‘Abusiness owner@’’ of FMIS and is responsible for 

making the functional decisions about FMIS. The SAA Technology Services staff is 

responsible for providing the technical infrastructure, including hardware (e.g., 

mainframe and servers), operating system software, database software, and telecommunications; technical assistance for these components, including migration 

management and database administration; and regular batch processing. The office 

utilizes the support of a contractor, along with the SAA who are responsible for 

operational support and application development. The three organizations work cooperatively. 

Highlights of the year include: 

—supporting more than 4,000 FMIS users, of which 83 percent are staff preparing 

ESRs; 

—implementing three releases of FMIS, including two pilots and moving the SAA 

onto Web-based interfaces: 

—a pilot of electronic invoicing, by which a user can easily create a voucher 

based on credit card data that the Senate receives electronically; 

—a new version of the ESR that builds the traveler’s itinerary based on the location of reported expenses. This reduces rekeying of information by staffers 

and the number of errors corrected by voucher preparers and the DO A/P 

staff; and 

—WebPICS for SAA requisitioners, approvers, receivers, and voucher preparers; 

and 

—testing infrastructure changes that included upgrades to the mainframe operating system (Z/OS), the database (DB2), and the mainframe user security module; and 

—increasing the number of States to whom Disbursing sends State taxes via direct deposit from 21 to 27; and 
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—preparing for the 112th Congress. 

Supporting Current Systems 

IT supports Web FMIS users in all 140 accounting locations, the departments in 

the Disbursing Office (e.g., A/P, Accounting, Disbursements, Vendor Administration, 

and Front Office sections), and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration 

Audit staff. The activities associated with this responsibility include: 

User Support.—Providing functional and technical support to all Senate FMIS 

users; staffing the FMIS ‘‘Ahelp desk@’’; answering hundreds of questions; and 

meeting with chiefs of staff, administrative managers, chief clerks, and directors 

of various Senate offices as requested; 

Technical Problem Resolution.—Ensuring that technical problems are resolved; 

Monitor System Performance.—Checking system availability and statistics to 

identify system problems and coordinate performance tuning activities such as 

those for database access optimization; 

Security.—Maintaining user rights for all ADPICS, FAMIS, and Web FMIS 

users; 

System Administration.—Designing, testing, and making entries to tables 

that are at the core of the system; 

Support of Accounting Activities.—Performing functional testing and production validation of the cyclic accounting system activities. This includes rollover, 

the process by which tables for the new fiscal year are created, and archive/ 

purge, the process by which data for the just lapsed fiscal year are archived for 

reporting purposes and removed from the current-year tables; 

Support of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration Postpayment 

Voucher Audit Process.—Providing the data from which the Committee on Rules 

and Administration Audit staff selects a statistically valid sample of vouchers 

for $100 or less. In this way, the Committee on Rules and Administration Audit 

staff review vouchers sanctioned under authority delegated to the Financial 

Clerk; and 

Training.—Providing functional training to all Senate FMIS users. 

Testing Infrastructure Changes 

The SAA provides the infrastructure on which FMIS operates, including the mainframe, the database, security hardware and software, and the telecommunications 

network. Activities for changes to the infrastructure include testing of all 

functionality prior to implementation and validating critical functionality 

postimplementation. During 2010, the SAA implemented two major upgrades to the 

FMIS infrastructure. These included upgrading the database, DB2, to version 9 in 

a two-step process, and upgrading the mainframe operating system to version 1, release 11, and at the same time, changing the mainframe security system to a Resource Access Control Facility. 

Maintaining Contact With System Users To Ensure Their Needs are Met 

Communicating with our large user base is critical to provide the excellent service. IT meets on a regularly scheduled basis with representatives from Accounting, 

A/P, and the SAA. In addition, IT meets with user groups as it gathers requirements for new functionality. Meetings are advertised, and users self-select to participate. This year, IT met with the administrative managers, chief clerks, and their 

staff who prepare the ESRs to discuss changes to the data entry for the ESRs. Additionally IT met with SAA users who prepare vouchers to discuss voucher and inquiry functionality developed in the second phase of ‘‘WebPICS’’, a Web-based front 

end to ADPICS with additional functionality developed to address SAA user needs. 

Managing and Testing New System Development 

During 2010, IT supervised development, performed extensive integration system 

testing, and implemented changes to FMIS subsystems. The implementation and 

production verification activities were completed over a weekend in order to minimize system downtime to users. Since 2006, multiple sub-system upgrades have 

been consolidated into two or three releases each year. This reduced the amount of 

regression testing required. In order to accurately reflect the variety of changes in 

each release, the releases are now numbered by fiscal year. During 2010, Disbursing 

implemented the following three major releases: 

—FMIS r2010–1, implemented in January 2010; 

—FMIS r2010–2, implemented in August 2010; and 

—FMIS r2011–1, implemented in November 2010. 

In addition, IT worked on functionality that will be included in future releases, 

of which one, the FMIS Imaging Product Analysis is especially important. 
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FMIS 2010–1 

FMIS 2010–1 was implemented in January 2010. This release included a small 

number of enhancements for WebFMIS users including an automated password 

reset feature, a warning to the ESR user when their document violates the 60-day 

election rule, adding graphs to the Web FMIS summary reports, and implementing 

a pilot of electronic invoice functionality, which allows a user to easily create credit 

card vouchers based on invoices received electronically from the Senate’s credit card 

vendor. A pilot of the electronic invoice (EI) functionality began in January and was 

offered to all offices in June 2010. By the end of 2010, 33 offices were using the 

EI functionality. 

The main focus of this release was implementing WebPICS, which enables SAA 

users to access ADPICS functionality through a Web-based front end, and provides 

additional functionality, such as a robust search function. The SAA follows a structured procurement process that includes creating requisitions, creating purchase orders from requisitions, receiving goods, entering invoices, and creating vouchers 

from purchase orders. For many years, the SAA has used ADPICS, a mainframe 

system, to perform these activities. This was especially difficult for occasional users. 

Using a variety of technologies, the WebPICS project replaces use of ADPICS with 

access to user-friendly Web pages. This release, the first of three planned releases, 

focused on the needs of requisitioners and requisition approvers, who are occasional 

users, and included: 

—a robust requisition search function, through which a user can find a requisition, its related purchase order, any change orders, and the document’s history, 

by entering minimal information, such as the create date, the commodity code 

used, by whom it was created or the department for whom it was created; 

—links to purchase orders via a viewer that formats mainframe data into Web 

pages; 

—a streamlined requisition create function that displays data from multiple 

ADPICS screens on three tabs: 

—basic information on the header tab; 

—what is being requested and who will pay for it (i.e., commodity information, 

commodity specifications, and the accounting information) on the items tab; 

and 

—additional information for the vendor on the terms tab; 

—a streamlined requisition change order function that shows, on the same page, 

the old information and the new information; 

—look-up tables for selecting, rather than typing, information such as commodity 

codes and accounting codes when searching for and creating requisitions; and 

—use of the existing Web FMIS inbox to identify, check out, view, and approve 

or reject requisitions. 

A pilot of SAA requisitioners and requisition approvers began using WebPICS in 

early January 2010, and all requisitioners and approvers were trained and began 

using this functionality by the end of April, 3 months ahead of schedule. 

FMIS 2010–2 

FMIS 2010–2 was implemented in August 2010. This release included a small 

number of enhancements for ESR users, but was focused on implementing new 

functionality for the SAA A/P process (e.g., receipt of goods, invoice processing and 

approval, voucher creation, and approval). Processes were simplified by automated 

retrieval of data from existing purchase orders. WebPICS provides pop-up windows 

where users enter the required data which the system uses to retrieve information 

from the purchase order. The user simply verifies retrieved data and adds information necessary to complete the process to create receiving reports, invoices and 

vouchers for payments against purchase orders. 

Four additional new search windows provide ability to easily find original and related documents, including related images stored by SAA Finance in OnBase: 

—receiving report search; 

—invoice voucher search; 

—expenditure search, which provides the ability to search for expenses processed 

within WebFMIS, WebPICS, and via upload, the combination of which was not 

previously available in one query; and 

—purchase orders search by vendor. 

The third WebPICS release, which will focus on purchase order creation and approval is scheduled for implementation in the spring of 2011. 

FMIS 2011–1 

FMIS 2011–1 was implemented in November 2010 and included: 
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—Adding two fields, invoice date and invoice receipt date, to the WebFMIS document create page and to the document search criteria page for all users; 

—Ability for SAA users to search by project code and job code using the document 

search criteria page; 

—Ability for users using the electronic invoice functionality to search by traveler’s 

name using the document search criteria page; and 

—Introduction to a pilot group a new version of the ESR, ‘‘Line Item Entry’’. 

This version enables users to select 1 of 3 travel ESR types: 

—single trip; 

—multiple trips; or 

—interdepartmental travel, which requires different information depending on the 

type. 

Users then create an ESR in a more simplified format, entering expenses by date, 

location, and expense type on a line-by-line basis. The locations are selected from 

a list of cities provided by the U.S. Postal Service. This format enables the itinerary 

to be built automatically from the locations entered for each expense and is produced in the format that complies with the standards for the Report of the Secretary. This version of the ESR is expected to reduce rekeying by staff and reduce 

the corrections to itineraries made by office managers, chief clerks, and the Disbursing Office’s A/P staff. A pilot of 10 offices and committees began in November 

2010. Additionally, this version has been given to all new Senators of the 112th 

Congress. 

FMIS Imaging 

During 2008, Disbursing implemented a prototype imaging system in which paper 

vouchers and supporting documentation were imaged by Disbursing staff and routed 

electronically. The hands-on experience of this prototype was especially useful in refining system requirements. Under the FMIS Imaging Product Analysis project, 

begun in 2009 and completed in 2010, software for the image database and image 

viewer was selected, and imaging and electronic signature requirements were finalized. This information was coordinated with a separate SAA smart card ID project; 

the smart cards will be used for electronic signatures. 

In October 2010, a task order for the adding document imaging and electronic signatures to WebFMIS was signed. This task order outlines work to be completed between now and the spring 2013 in three phases (six releases), including: 

Phase 1.—Imaging only pilot (spring 2011); 

Phase 2.—Office imaging and signatures pilot (summer 2011), extended pilot 

(winter 2012), and full roll-out (summer 2012); and 

Phase 3.—Staffer imaging and signatures pilot (winter 2012) and rollout 

(spring 2013). 

Preparing for the 112th Congress 

Using statistical information from fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010, IT prepared for each new Senator in the 112th Congress (including those whose terms 

began at the end of the 111th Congress) budget information based on the spending 

patterns for the 111th Congress. Additionally, IT participated in the planning sessions for the new office manager training at which Disbursing presented an outline 

for training and a sample quick reference guide regarding Senate financing. The 

WebFMIS training schedule for the first quarter of 2011 was revamped to include 

Web FMIS classes every 2 weeks instead of once a month. 

Planning 

The Disbursing IT department performs two main planning activities: 

Schedule Coordination.—Planning and coordinating a rolling 18-month schedule; and 

Strategic Planning.—Setting the priorities for further system enhancements. 

Schedule Coordination 

In 2010, this department continued to hold two types of meetings between Disbursing and the SAA to coordinate schedules and activities. These were: 

Project-specific Meetings.—A useful set of project-specific working meetings, 

each of which has a weekly set meeting time and meets for the duration of the 

project (e.g., archive/purge meetings and WebFMIS budget function meetings); 

and 

Technical Meetings.—A weekly meeting to discuss the active projects, including scheduling activities and resolving issues. 
148 

Strategic Planning 

During 2010 Disbursing drafted a 5-year schedule based on earlier meetings to 

‘‘envision the future’’. This is still under discussion and review and will be affected 

by the schedule for implementing a new payroll system, which will require substantial changes to current systems, including the interface from payroll into the General Ledger (FAMIS) of payroll expenditures and projections, the interface from the 

payroll system into the master vendor file (in FAMIS), and the payroll reports provided to the offices via WebFMIS. 

Managing the FMIS Project 

The responsibility for managing the FMIS project was transferred to the Disbursing IT department during the summer of 2003, and includes developing the task 

orders with contractors, overseeing their work, and reviewing invoices. In 2010, the 

following two new task orders were executed: 

Service Year 2011 Extended Operational Support.—Covers activities from September 2010 to August 2011; and 

FMIS Imaging Pilot.—Covers tasks for adding document imaging and electronic signatures to WebFMIS. This task order outlines work to be completed 

between now and the spring of 2013 (six releases in three phases), and provides 

functionality for the Secretary and the SAA, office managers/chief clerks, the 

Disbursing Office A/P and Accounting staff, and Senate staff who prepare ESRs 

(e.g., staff who travel). 

In addition, work continued under two task orders executed in prior years: 

—Service year 2010 Extended Operational Support (covered activities from September 2009 to August 2010); and 

FMIS Imaging Product Analysis.—Analyzed what software will be used for 

paperless voucher processing, including managing images, viewing images, annotating images and reading smart cards, which will have a component of the 

electronic signature. 

Administering the Disbursing Office’s LAN 

The Disbursing Office continued to administer its own LAN, which is separate 

from the network used by the rest of the Secretary’s Office. It is used by more than 

50 staff. Upkeep of the LAN infrastructure, including performing routine daily tasks 

and replacing equipment regularly, is critical to providing services. In addition, 

there are a number of specialized administrative applications that are housed on the 

Disbursing Office LAN. During 2010, LAN administration activities included: 

—maintaining and upgrading the Disbursing Office’s LAN; 

—installing specialized software; and 

—maintaining projects for the payroll and benefits section. 

Maintaining and Upgrading the Disbursing Office LAN 

Disbursing maintained the existing workstations with appropriate upgrades including: 

—installing OnWeb, a Web-based 3270 emulation software; 

—imaging critical PCs for easy recovery from hard disk crash or other PC failure; 

—replacing SNAP servers with Buffalo Terra stations; and 

—installing a video teleconferencing (VTC) unit in the Disbursing Office conference room. 

Installing Specialized Software 

Disbursing is responsible for sending direct deposit payments to the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB). During 2010, IT updated Disbursing’s access to the FRB, due to 

a change in FRB-supplied equipment and ensured that access was functioning from 

the Alternate Computing Facility (ACF). 

Maintaining Projects for Payroll and EBSs 

During 2010, Disbursing supported three specialized applications for the Payroll 

and EBSs: 

—IT continued to support the imaging system developed by SAA staff. This system electronically captures and indexes payroll documents submitted at the 

front counter, and is critical for the Payroll and EBSs. At the end of 2009, a 

new version of this software was installed and only minor updates were needed 

in 2010. 

—In addition, the systems administrator moved the CLER application, a health 

insurance benefits validation service, to a new standalone personal computer 

and worked with the SAA Network Operations staff to establish point-to-point 

security for access to the Department of Agriculture. 
149 

—The Government Retirement Benefits (GRB) software, which enables benefits 

counselors to easily estimate retirement benefits based on different scenarios, 

is now available to Disbursing staff. 

Coordinating the Disbursing Office’s Disaster Recovery Activities 

Disbursing anticipates testing in 2011 to include fail-over of its systems to the 

ACF, activity at the ACF, and a new activity: fail-back of the changed production 

data. 

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES

Chief Counsel for Employment 

The Office of the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment (SCCE) is a nonpartisan 

office established at the direction of the Joint Leadership in 1993 after enactment 

of the Government Employee Rights Act, which allowed Senate employees to file 

claims of employment discrimination against Senate offices. With the enactment of 

the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA), as amended, Senate offices became subject to the requirements, responsibilities and obligations of 12 employment 

laws. The CAA also established the Office of Compliance (OC). Among other things, 

the OC accepts and processes legislative employees’ complaints that their employer 

has violated the CAA. 

The SCCE is charged with the legal defense of Senate offices in all employment 

law cases at both the administrative and court levels. The SCCE attorneys also provide legal advice to Senate offices about their obligations under employment laws. 

Accordingly, each of the 140 offices of the Senate is an individual client of the 

SCCE, and each office maintains an attorney-client relationship with the SCCE. 

The areas of responsibilities of the SCCE can be divided into the following categories: 

—Litigation (defending Senate offices in courts and at administrative hearings); 

—Mediations to resolve lawsuits; 

—Court-ordered alternative dispute resolutions; 

—Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) compliance; 

—Union drives, negotiations, and unfair labor practice charges; 

—Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance; 

—Layoffs and office closings in compliance with the law; 

—Management training regarding legal responsibilities; and 

—Preventive legal advice. 

Litigation, Mediations, Alternative Dispute Resolutions 

SCCE defends each of the Senate employing offices in all court actions, hearings, 

proceedings, investigations, and negotiations relating to labor and employment laws. 

SCCE handles cases filed in the District of Columbia and cases filed in any of the 

50 States. 

Compliance With OSHA and ADA 

The CAA mandates that, at least once each Congress, the OC shall inspect each 

Senate office to determine whether each office is in compliance with the OSHA and 

the public accommodation portion of the ADA. The CAA authorizes the OC to issue 

a public citation to any office that is not in compliance. 

SCCE provides legal assistance and advice to each Senate office to ensure that 

it is complying with the OSHA and the ADA. SCCE also represents each Senate office during the OC inspections and advises and represents each Senate office when 

a complaint of an OSHA or ADA violation is filed against the office or when a citation is issued. 

In 2010, SCCE pre-inspected 1,225 Senate rooms to ensure that Senate offices are 

complying with the OSHA and the ADA. Inspections included all Member offices, 

leadership and committee offices, offices of the SAA, offices of the Secretary of the 

Senate in the Capitol and the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC), as well as the Hart, 

Dirksen, and Russell Senate Office Buildings and offsite buildings used by the Senate. 

During 2010, the enthusiasm and participation of Senate offices in SCCE’s preinspection safety program resulted in perfect safety records for 64 Member offices 

and 13 committees. At the conclusion of the inspections, no Senate office had any 

significant safety problem, and no citations were issued during the 111th Congress. 

Training Regarding Legal Responsibilities and Employee Rights 

An important part of the legal services the SCCE offers is educating Senate managers of their obligations and employees’ rights under the employment laws that 
150 

govern Senate offices. SCCE regularly conducts legal training for Senators, Senators-elect, and their staff, Senate employees, and Senate interns. 

In 2010, the lawyers of SCCE gave 69 legal seminars to Senate offices, including, 

among others: 

—The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995: Management’s Rights and Obligations; 

—Senators-elect Orientation: Managing Your Offices in Compliance with Employment Laws; 

—Staff of Senators-elect: How to Set Up and Manage a Senate Office in Compliance with the Law; 

—Hiring the Right Employee: Advertising, Interviewing and Conducting Background Checks without Violating the Law; 

—How to Conduct I–9 and E-Verify Checks on New Hires; 

—Common Employment Law Mistakes Managers Make; 

—Evaluating, Disciplining, and Terminating Employees without Violating the 

Law; 

—Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: What is Prohibited and What Are Employees’ Rights and Obligations; 

—A Manager’s Guide to Preventing and Addressing Harassment in the Workplace; 

—Diversity in the Workplace: The Americans with Disabilities Act: What Managers Must Know about Complying with the Law; 

—Military Service Academies Interviewing in Compliance with the Law; 

—The Requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act; and 

—The Requirements of the Equal Pay Act. 

In addition to the above 69 seminars, SCCE conducted a series of monthly seminars covering all major employment laws that govern Senate offices. The purpose 

of the seminars was to educate Senate management staff about their responsibility 

to ensure that their respective offices comply with the CAA. The series was open 

to all chiefs of staff, staff directors, administrative directors, chief clerks, and office 

managers. Individuals who completed the series received a certificate of completion 

from the Secretary of the Senate. 

SCCE, working with the Senate Radio and TV Studio, now streams its seminars 

to all Senate State offices so that the managers in State offices can participate electronically in all SCCE live seminars. In addition, SCCE electronically stores SCCE 

seminars to allow Senate managers who were unable to attend a seminar to review 

it electronically from their desk monitors at a later date. Finally, to ensure that all 

Senate managers, whether in Washington, DC or a State office, can easily learn 

about and register for SCCE’s seminars, SCCE added an online seminar registration 

process to its Web site. 

Legal Advice 

SCCE meets daily with Members, chiefs of staff, administrative directors, office 

managers, staff directors, chief clerks, and counsel at their request to provide legal 

advice. For example, on a daily basis, SCCE advises Senate offices on matters such 

as interviewing, hiring, counseling, disciplining, and terminating employees in compliance with the law; handling and investigating sexual harassment complaints; accommodating the disabled; determining wage law requirements; meeting the requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act; management’s rights and obligations under union laws and the OSHA; and management’s obligation to give leave 

to employees for military service. In 2010, the SCCE had more than 1,695 client 

legal advice meetings. 

Also, SCCE provides legal assistance to Senate offices to ensure that their office 

policies, job descriptions, interviewing guidelines, and performance evaluation forms 

comply with the law and are updated as employment laws change. In 2010, SCCE 

prepared 229 policy manuals for Member offices and committees. 

Union Drives, Negotiations, and Unfair Labor Practice Charges 

In 2010, the SCCE provided guidance to managers and supervisors regarding 

their legal and contractual obligations under union contracts. 

Environmental, Cost, and Space Savings 

It has now been 10 years since SCCE became the first Senate office to convert 

to a ‘‘paperless’’ office. By doing this, SCCE has benefited the environment, cut 

costs, cleared office space, reduced storage needs, and become more efficient. Having 

accomplished that project, SCCE turned its attention to eliminating hard copy legal 

books in its office. To this end, in 2009 SCCE eliminated 50 percent of its hard copy 

legal library. In 2010, SCCE further reduced its book inventory by 20 percent. SCCE 

achieved this through a combination of scanning and converting to electronic books. 
151 

In addition to the above-mentioned benefits, this project saves the office more than 

$6,000 annually, has freed approximately 288 square feet of office space, and has 

saved time by eliminating the need for staff members to update legal books on a 

weekly basis with new paper inserts. 

CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION

The Office of Conservation and Preservation develops and coordinates programs 

directly related to the conservation and preservation of Senate records and materials for which the Secretary of the Senate has statutory and other authority. Initiatives include: 

—deacidification of paper and prints; 

—phased conservation for books and documents; 

—collection surveys, exhibits, and matting; and 

—framing for the Senate Leadership. 

Senate Library 

As mandated in the 1990 Senate Library Collection Condition Survey, the office 

continued to conduct an annual treatment of books identified by the survey as needing conservation or repair. In 2010 conservation treatments were completed for 173 

volumes of a 7,000 volume collection of House hearings. Specifically, treatment involved recasing each volume as required, using alkaline end sheets, replacing acidic 

tab sheets with alkaline paper, cleaning the cloth cases, and replacing black spine 

title labels of each volume as necessary. The Office of Conservation and Preservation will continue preservation of the remaining 3,410 volumes. 

Preservation 

The Office of Conservation and Preservation completed 106 volumes of House and 

Senate hearings and Congressional Records for the Senate Library. These books 

were rebound with new end sheets and new covers using the old spines when possible. 

Committees 

Conservation and Preservation assisted the Committee on the Budget, Select 

Committee on Ethics, and the Joint Economic Committee with their books being 

sent to the GPO for binding. 

Exhibition 

Conservation and Preservation assisted the Senate Historical and Curator’s offices 

in the installation of a new exhibition to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil 

War. The exhibition replaced the Inauguration exhibit in the Senate wing’s first 

floor connecting corridor. 

CURATOR

The Office of Senate Curator, on behalf of the Senate Commission on Art, develops and implements the museum and preservation programs for the United States 

Senate. The Curator collects, preserves, and interprets the Senate’s fine and decorative arts, historic objects, and specific architectural features; and the Curator exercises supervisory responsibility for the historic chambers in the Capitol under the 

jurisdiction of the Commission. Through exhibitions, publications, and other programs, the Curator educates the public about the Senate and its collections. 

Collections, Commissions, Acquisitions, and Management 

This year 294 objects were accessioned into the Senate Collection. Many of these 

historic objects were deposited with the Curator’s Office to ensure their safekeeping. 

These included a ticket from the 1945 Presidential Address to Congress; 13 artifacts 

from the 1939 congressional welcome of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth; 10 

items from the 1941 visit of Prime Minister Winston Churchill; 17 artifacts from the 

1943 visit of Madame Chiang Kai-Shek; various tickets, programs, badges, passes, 

and other objects from 10 different Inaugural ceremonies held between 1925 and 

1989; 25 objects from funerals held in the Senate Chamber; items from the 1953 

memorial service for Senator Robert A. Taft held in the Rotunda; and tickets from 

the Senate nomination hearing for Elena Kagan as Associate Justice of the Supreme 

Court of the United States. 

A painting of Senator Bill Frist by artist Michael Shane Neal was completed as 

part of the Senate Leadership Portrait Collection. It will be unveiled in March 2011. 

The most significant addition to the collection was the acquisition of four small 

paintings by 19th century artist Constantino Brumidi, created in preparation for 

frescoes in the Senate Reception Room (S–213) and the Senate Committee on Mili-
152 

tary Affairs and Militia (S–128). The Senate had long been aware of these historic 

oil sketches, which formed the largest known private collection of Brumidi’s Capitol 

works. 

Thirty-nine new foreign gifts were reported in 2010 to the Select Committee on 

Ethics and deposited with the Senate Curator’s office on behalf of the Secretary of 

the Senate. The office currently is responsible for 211 foreign gifts, which are 

catalogued and maintained in accordance with the Foreign Gifts and Decorations 

Act. Appropriate disposition of 80 foreign gifts was completed following established 

procedures. 

The Office of Senate Curator continued to document and care for the historic Russell Senate Office Building furnishings. In addition, the search continued for Russell 

Senate Office Building furniture located in private collections, museums, and libraries, and another 1909 partner desk was returned to the Senate from the University 

of Nevada at Reno. In addition, the office drafted guidelines for the care of these 

century-old furnishings to prevent the physical degradation of the furniture, and, 

when appropriate, allow the pieces to be restored to their original 1909 appearance. 

The Curator’s Office continued to work with the CVC project staff, AOC representatives, and their consultants to resolve problems with the heating, ventilating, 

and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment in the Curator’s two CVC collection storage 

spaces. In June 2009, consultants determined that the HVAC equipment installed 

in the new storage rooms was unable to meet environmental requirements and 

needed to be replaced. New equipment was ordered and installed in the larger of 

the two rooms. Fine tuning of this system is nearing completion. Replacement of the 

HVAC equipment in the smaller room began in January 2011. These HVAC systems 

are essential to the Curator’s mission to preserve the Senate’s significant collections. 

Maintenance of the Senate’s historic clocks continued under a program established in 2009 to provide regularly scheduled care. Since the Curator’s staff assumed 

responsibility last year for winding the Senate’s historic clocks, the opportunity to 

closely observe their function has helped alleviate recurring problems with 

timekeeping. 

The care of collections on display has benefitted from the addition of an automated maintenance record system that is now part of the Senate collection database. Regular cleaning and care of the art and historic furnishings is now tracked 

and recorded. Staff is alerted when an object is due for care based on this new automated maintenance program, thus saving considerable time when scheduling and 

planning work. 

The office enhanced its emergency preparedness for the collection by identifying 

local disaster recovery companies to assist in a disaster, and finalizing an emergency disaster guide. The guide provides contact information on local art handlers, 

shippers, and conservators, as well as information on how to address the care of specific materials in the event of fire, water, infestation, or a chemical emergency. Additionally, all new loan agreements were digitized in a portable document format 

for easy retrieval off-site, and a map noting the current location of loaned objects 

was created to allow quick identification of loans that may be affected in an emergency situation. 

The office continued its program of photographing all objects for the collection 

database. More than 50 objects were photographed, and a total of 859 images out 

of 4,598 were resized for consistency. Staff also worked with the Senate Photographic Studio on several special projects, including documenting new signatures in 

the Senate Chamber desk drawers, recording conservation and installation of artwork, and photographing historic spaces. Such documentation is important for recordkeeping, disaster preparedness, use on Senate.gov, and for publications promoting the Senate’s collections. 

In keeping with scheduled procedures, all Senate collection objects on display 

were inventoried, noting any changes in location. In addition, as directed by S. Res. 

178 (108th Congress, 1st session), the office submitted inventories of the art and 

historic furnishings in the Senate to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. The inventories, which are submitted every 6 months, are compiled by the 

Curator’s Office with assistance from the SAA and AOC’s Superintendent of Senate 

Office Buildings. 

Both recordkeeping and protection of the Senate’s historic mirror collection received considerable attention. The object files and database entries for all 94 mirrors 

were reviewed and updated based on established registration standards. Taking advantage of renovation work, the office installed protective plinths on two mirrors. 

By raising the mirrors from the mantels and creating a larger footprint, the plinths 

shield the mirror frames from spills, damage from objects displayed on the mantels, 

and routine dusting. In addition, implementation of a plan to provide routine, onsite professional care for the Senate’s gilded frames, including mirror and picture 
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frames, began in 2010. A list of treatable damage was developed and several frames 

repaired. Seventeen mirrors were also cleaned. 

The office coordinated the approval by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the Commission on Art of mirror movement guidelines. The guidelines safeguard these important decorative objects from unnecessary damage due to 

excessive handling, and preserve each mirror’s significance by retaining its historic 

association with a room. 

Staff worked with the SAA Cabinet Shop to develop a list of the multiple components of the writing boxes that are part of the Senate Chamber desks. A computerized drawing of one of the boxes was completed to aid in the work. Many of these 

writing boxes have sustained damage over the years, and a comprehensive survey 

is needed to prioritize repairs. Once the survey is completed, the Cabinet Shop will 

begin refurbishing the boxes. 

The official Senate chinaware was used at 16 receptions for distinguished guests, 

both foreign and domestic, including a luncheon for the King of Jordan, a tea for 

the President of Russia, and a tea for the President of Haiti. The Secretary’s china 

was inventoried and used at three receptions sponsored by the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

Conservation and Restoration 

In addition to the regular maintenance required for the Senate’s historic clocks, 

extensive conservation occurred on two clocks: the ‘‘Ohio’’ clock and the architectural 

shelf clock in the Old Senate Chamber. Both clocks have significant histories, and 

are exceptional examples of 19th century American clock making. 

The ‘‘Ohio’’ clock was purchased from Thomas Voigt of Philadelphia in 1816, to 

be used in the Senate Chamber after renovations were completed following the 

burning of the Capitol by the British. After 194 years of continuous use, accumulated grime, layers of varnish, and repairs had taken their toll on the case and the 

eagle. Conservators conducted microscopic studies of the finish layers that had built 

up over time. Their findings provided new and exciting information about the clock, 

and were the basis for re-gilding the historic eagle. The clock’s movement also required extensive repairs, especially to the hands and the timekeeping mechanism. 

As a result of this conservation, the ‘‘Ohio’’ clock now accurately reflects its 19th 

century appearance, and, it is hoped, will continue to run for another 200 years. 

The architectural shelf clock was purchased from the Bailey and Kitchen Company of Philadelphia in 1846 to serve as the timepiece for the Old Senate Chamber 

following removal of the ‘‘Ohio’’ clock. The Bailey clock needed thorough cleaning 

and repair, as well as replacement of material that has worn away over time due 

to continuous use. During the conservation of the two clocks, the Curator’s office obtained new information about their physical histories that could only be discovered 

during the course of treatment. 

A condition assessment was completed in order to develop a comprehensive scope 

of work for the restoration of the Senate Chamber desk inkwells and sanders. These 

artifacts date to about 1930, and are starting to show their age. The evaluation 

helped identify damaged glass in need of replacement, broken or missing hinges, 

and corrosion to the metal and loss of patina. The next phase is to finalize a scope 

of work and select a conservator. Conservation is projected to begin in 2012 when 

other work in the chamber is scheduled. 

Three portraits recently acquired for the Senate Leadership Portrait Collection received preservation treatment. The portraits of Senators Robert C. Byrd, Tom 

Daschle, and Trent Lott were given a final protective coating of varnish, which is 

done only after the paint is completely dry. 

The office began the restoration of the eight Flemish oak benches purchased in 

1899 for the Senate Reception Room. Over time, their carved back panels had been 

removed, their seats and backs upholstered, and they were poorly refinished multiple times. The conservation process included research into the original carved panels and finish, and the difficult repair of the extensive upholstery damage. Once returned to the Senate, the benches will reflect their original appearance, and be 

ready to provide another century of service. 

Historic Preservation 

The Senate’s historic preservation program seeks to formulate a solid preservation 

policy reflective of the Senate’s interests and the need to preserve the Capitol’s historic fabric and historical artistic intent. Through various initiatives, the preservation program has positioned itself as a valuable resource for the Senate, ensuring 

that all projects are carefully considered and weighed in light of sound preservation 

practices. 
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The Curator’s Office continued to work closely with the AOC and the SAA to review, comment, plan, and document Senate-side construction projects (many of 

which are long-term initiatives) that involve or affect historic resources. Such construction and conservation efforts included: 

—energy lighting upgrades; 

—first responder antennae installation; 

—mural restoration; 

—smoke purge system installation; 

—wall and ceiling restoration; 

—scagliola conservation; 

—third floor plaster repair; and 

—the Brumidi Corridors restoration. 

Through this work, the Curator’s Office was able to ensure that the highest preservation standards possible were applied to all Capitol projects. The Curator’s office 

continued its participation in a working group (whose other members were the SAA, 

AOC, and Rules Committee) to engage in several building projects to conserve and 

protect public spaces and historic assets. In areas with conserved scagliola, the office 

worked with the SAA to develop and install various surface protection measures. 

Similarly, the Curator’s Office worked with the SAA to devise a solution to the furniture in the Brumidi Corridors north door entrance. The challenging Senate Reception Room restoration and rehabilitation project, developed by the Senate Curator 

and the AOC Curator, has successfully moved forward. A pilot conservation project 

was initiated by the AOC for part of the decorative wall design. The Reception Room 

has a very complex pattern of surface treatments that involve delicate toned glazes 

and precise application methods. The office arranged to have existing room condition 

drawings completed, surveyed the floor tiles, and placed informational signs in the 

room detailing the conservation. Once the pilot is completed in late 2011, the restoration of the remaining wall surfaces should proceed more quickly. 

Regarding the Brumidi Corridors restoration, the office assisted the AOC in garnering support for a comprehensive, time-bound plan for finishing the corridors. 

With the support of the Committee on Rules and Administration and Senate Commission on Art, it is hoped that this 5-year plan can move forward in 2011. It will 

be a major achievement when these treasured corridors can be returned to their 

original artistry. 

Historic Chambers 

The Curator’s staff continued to maintain the Old Senate and Old Supreme Court 

Chambers, and coordinated periodic use of both rooms for special occasions. The office staff worked with the USCP on the procedures developed to record the afterhours access to the historic chambers by current Members of Congress. Eighty-five 

requests were received from current Members for after-hours access to the Old Senate and Old Supreme Court Chambers. 

Of special significance in the Old Senate Chamber was the re-enactment swearing-in ceremonies for five Senators, and the closed Senate session on the New 

START Treaty. 

Loans to and From the Collection 

A total of 61 historic objects and paintings are currently on loan to the Curator’s 

Office on behalf of Senate leadership and offices in the Senate wing of the Capitol. 

The staff returned five loans, coordinated six new loans, and renewed loan agreements for 34 other objects. More than 37 loans are projected to be renewed next 

year. 

Publications and Exhibitions 

The Senate Commission on Art’s enabling legislation (2 U.S.C. 2104) requires that 

‘‘at least every ten years’’ a Senate document be published which lists all works of 

art, historical objects, and exhibits currently within the Senate wing of the Capitol 

and the Senate Office Buildings. The document was published this year with the 

assistance of GPO. Encompassing more than 4,000 works of art and artifacts, the 

inventory records the growth of the Senate collection over the last 10 years; demonstrates the office’s concerted effort to acquire objects that enhance the collection; 

and provides a publicly accessible list of the entire collection. 

At the request of the Republican Leader’s Office, the Curator worked with the 

Senate Historical Office to produce a booklet to supplement the existing Leader’s 

suite brochure. The supplemental publication includes color images and descriptions 

on the art in the suite and highlights Kentucky connections to the suite’s history. 

In recognition of the Congressional Gold Medal to be awarded to Constantino 

Brumidi, the office developed a publication on the Capitol’s artist. Staff worked with 

GPO on the layout and design for the book, and the first two chapters have been 
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completed. This illustrated publication will highlight new scholarship from historians, curators, and conservators about Brumidi’s artistic endeavors in the Senate 

wing of the Capitol. 

In conjunction with the Senate Library and Senate Historical Office, staff installed two exhibits outside the newly remodeled Dirksen G–50 hearing room as requested by the Rules Committee. The exhibits were placed in the showcases built 

into the walls of the room’s vestibule. One case highlights Senator Everett M. Dirksen, for whom the building was named; the other case features the building—its origins, construction, and architectural details. 

A new exhibition was installed to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, 

replacing the Inauguration exhibit in the Senate wing’s first floor connecting corridor. This project was a joint effort between the Senate Historical Office, Curator’s 

Office, with assistance from the Office of Conservation and Preservation, GPO, and 

the AOC Paintings and Decorating Division. Traditionally, the story of the Civil 

War is told from the perspective of the President or his military commanders, but 

this exhibit illustrates the crucial role played by the Senate and its Members during 

this national crisis. 

Curator’s staff finalized an online Web exhibit on Senate.gov dispelling myths and 

rumors often heard about Senate art. Seven different ‘‘myths’’ are included in the 

initial posting, featuring the most prominent and oft-repeated apocryphal stories. 

The office also increased its presence on the Web this year with a new section highlighting the Senate’s decorative art collection. Seventy-two artifact pages were posted, from gilded mirrors and historic clocks, to Senate Restaurant china, snuff boxes, 

and other important Senate heirlooms. In addition, an online exhibition featuring 

artifacts related to funerals held in the Senate Chamber was posted; and a new Web 

section titled, ‘‘Curator’s Picks,’’ highlighting the Curator’s favorite works in the 

Senate Collection, will be completed shortly. Staff also proceeded with the design 

and outline for an historic spaces section for Senate.gov. When completed, the site 

will guide visitors through such treasures as the Old Senate and Old Supreme 

Court Chambers, the President’s Room, and other significant historic spaces. 

At the request of the Committee on Rules and Administration, and pursuant to 

S. Res. 53, the office installed a bronze plaque honoring the work of African-American slaves in building the U.S. Capitol. The plaque is located in the third floor east 

front connecting corridor of the Senate wing, where a portion of the Capitol’s original 1800 exterior wall can be seen. 

Collaborations, Educational Programs, and Events 

The Curator’s staff assisted the National Archives again this year with two exhibits for display in the vault at the Center for Legislative Archives. Objects related 

to the Senate Chamber’s 150th anniversary continued on display, and were replaced 

with an exhibition of objects related to Constantino Brumidi. 

The Curator and staff assisted with numerous CVC-related projects throughout 

the year. The Curator, Associate Curator, and administrator provided support for 

the Congressional Historical Interpretation Program (CHIP), including developing a 

new e-learning program and guidebook; participated in the morning ‘‘briefings’’ to 

the Capitol Guide Service to better inform them on Senate art and history; conducted exhibition lectures for the public; reviewed exhibition text and images; and 

at the request of the CVC oversight for the Senate, the Senate Committee on Rules 

and Administration, continued to work closely with the House Curator and AOC Curator to review products and publications for the CVC gift shop. 

The Senate Curator assisted the AOC Curator and House Curator on various artrelated research and projects, most notably the Rosa Parks commission, display of 

the House Bierstadt paintings, and conservation-related matters. The Senate Curator and staff also gave lectures on the Senate’s art and historical collections to various historical groups and art museums. The staffs further assisted with the Secretary’s Senate staff lecture and tour series and were regular contributors to Unum, 

the Secretary’s newsletter. 

Office Administration and Automation 

The collections management database was reviewed, assessed, and improved to 

include the reconfiguration of the artist information, updates to loan and inscription 

records, and the creation of an object maintenance table. This work will allow more 

efficient search capabilities, a stable database, and an easier way of transferring information into reports. 

In the area of file management, the Curator’s staff completed a major restructuring of the office’s electronic files, applying a new organizational matrix and file 

naming protocols. Combined with this effort, the office developed and implemented 

project close-out procedures. This standardization and consistent records collation 
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has greatly improved the usability of the office resources, streamlined office recordkeeping, and enhanced research capabilities. 

COOP Planning 

In the area of COOP preparedness, the office conducted its annual table top exercise and trained staff to use remote desktop access through a series of work-fromhome exercises. The exercises proved effective in identifying problems and troubleshooting issues before a true emergency occurs. 

Objectives for 2011 

Conservation and preservation of the Senate’s collections continue to be a priority, 

and several major projects are planned for 2011. Two of the Senate’s most iconic 

works in the Old Senate Chamber will be restored: 

—the Eagle and Shield sculpture; and 

—the portrait of George Washington by Rembrandt Peale. 

In preparation, a detailed review of past treatments and analyses by various conservators was undertaken in 2010. A scope of work will be developed and a panel 

of experts will assist in the review process. The conservation schedule will be coordinated with repairs planned in the Old Senate so that the works of art are out of 

harm’s way when renovations begin. Additionally, conservation of the Senate Reception Room benches will be completed. 

Based on the findings from a condition assessment of the Senate’s collection of 

historic clocks completed in 2008, the Curator’s Office will continue to schedule necessary conservation for the clocks to avoid deterioration of their parts and their 

function as accurate timepieces. The tall case clock in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office is next scheduled for treatment; both the case and movement will require 

conservation. 

Staff will begin the survey of the Senate Chamber desk writing boxes, with the 

assistance of the SAA Cabinet Shop, and develop a plan for their repair and ongoing 

maintenance. The interior and exterior of the writing boxes will be assessed for condition, and the various components will be inspected and documented. Repair work 

will begin in 2012, depending on the Senate’s schedule. 

With regards to the care of the Senate’s historic mirrors, staff will inventory the 

historic Russell House Office Building mirrors and initiate a maintenance program 

for the nine historic oversized mirrors located in committee hearing rooms. In order 

to increase the skill and knowledge of the Curator’s Office, several staff will participate in hands-on training related to basic gilded frame repair. This will reduce the 

need for professional conservators, improve the response time to urgent repairs, and 

save the Senate money over time. 

In the area of collections management, the office will continue reviewing photographs in the collections database to ascertain that each object has a documentation 

photograph and that it meets required size parameters. 

The office will further efforts to locate and recover historic artifacts associated 

with the Senate, specifically tickets and programs to Senate Chamber funerals and 

historic furnishings associated with the Senate and Supreme Court (when it met in 

the Capitol). 

The Curator’s staff will confer with the AOC regarding preservation issues related 

to Senate restoration and remodeling projects, disseminate project information to 

the Senate, develop preservation projects at the request of the Senate, conduct condition inspections, and arrange necessary maintenance. The bulk of the office’s 

project management will involve advancing the restoration and rehabilitation of the 

Brumidi Corridors, the Senate Reception Room, and the Strom Thurmond Room. 

With the assistance of GPO and the AOC Senate Superintendent, the Curator’s 

Office will create a new educational exhibit and brochure for the sculpture Mountains and Clouds, located in the Hart Senate Office Building atrium. The exhibit 

will feature information on the artist, sculpture, conservation, and the maquette, or 

scale model. An exhibit will also be mounted for the four new Brumidi paintings. 

The sketches will be displayed in a public area, so that staff and visitors can appreciate these important works of art. 

Other education efforts will focus on Senate.gov. Staff will continue to add objects 

to the decorative art section, as well as update the Senate Chamber desk site to 

reflect the new seating arrangement for the 112th Congress. A Web supplement will 

be added to the United States Senate Catalogue of Fine Art, highlighting the art 

collected by the Senate since the catalogue was published in 2002. Additionally, the 

office will develop a schematic and assemble resources for posting the historic 

spaces site. The first room targeted will be the Old Senate Chamber. The historic 

spaces site will feature the historical, artistic, and decorative elements of each 

space, as well as restoration details where applicable. 
157 

The collections management database will be reviewed by the office to determine 

if it can continue to serve the Senate’s growing needs. The collections database will 

also be backed up, cloned, and compressed on a regular basis to prevent further corruption or potential loss of data. 

The office maintains a digital documentation database of all legislation, precedents, and procedures related to the Senate Commission on Art and Senate Curator’s Office. These electronic records will be upgraded and implemented with indexes 

and full annotations, allowing easier search capabilities and access during a COOP 

emergency. 

Also in the area of COOP preparedness, the office will conduct its annual table 

top exercise, will refine and improve the navigability of its online COOP plan, and 

will continue with its series of work-from-home exercises to best prepare the office 

for an emergency situation. Finally, the office will plan for any crisis that may affect 

the Senate’s collections by finalizing the disaster recovery guide to include the new 

collection storage areas in the CVC. 

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The Joint Office of Education and Training provides employee training and development opportunities for all Senate staff in Washington, DC and the States. There 

are two branches within the office: Education and Training and Health Promotion. 

The Education and Training branch is responsible for providing management and 

leadership development, training on human resources issues and staff benefits, writing, editing, legislative research and time management, as well as offering technical 

training support for approved software packages and equipment and new staff and 

intern information in either Washington, DC or the State offices. This branch provides training as instructor-led classes; one-on-one coaching sessions; specialized 

vendor provided training; video teleconferencing; webinars; Internet-based training, 

documentation, job-aids, and quickcards. The Health Promotion branch provides 

seminars, classes, and screenings on health and wellness issues. This branch also 

coordinates an annual health fair for all Senate employees and plans blood drives 

every year. 

Capitol Hill Training Events 

The Office of Education and Training offered 1,278 classes and events on Capitol 

Hill in 2010, drawing more than 10,000 participants. The registration desk handled 

more than 25,000 email and phone requests for training and documentation. 

The above total includes 438 customized training sessions for 1,937 staff members. These sessions ranged from in-depth training of Senate office system administrators, conflict resolution, and organizational development. The office provides individual consultation on Web site development and office systems training, as well as 

classes in resume and interviewing skills building for staff whose Members have 

died, announced their retirements, or been defeated. 

The Senate’s Intern Program is also a focus of the office. The office provides training for intern coordinators as well as five orientation and training sessions for approximately 500 interns. 

The annual Senate Services Expo for Senate office staff had 35 presenters from 

the offices of the Secretary of the Senate, SAA, AOC, USCP, and LOC providing an 

overview of their services to 250 staff. This is part of the orientation for new staff 

and the aides to the Senators-elect in addition to the seven orientation sessions held 

shortly after the November elections. 

State Training Events 

The Office of Education and Training provided 85 learning opportunities to State 

offices for which 2,813 State staff registered. 

The office continues to offer the State Training Fair Program and video teleconferencing and webinars as a means to train State staff. In 2010, two sessions of the 

State Training Fairs were attended by 63 State staff. In addition, 62 State administrative managers and directors attended the State Directors Forum; 43 State staff 

participated in a a Constituent Services Forum. Education and Training also provided advanced all-staff meeting facilitation to more than 20 offices that were attended by more than 650 staff. Additionally, the office offered 33 Video Teleconferencing classes, for which 1,707 State staff registered and 28 webinars that were attended by 288. 

To date, 692 State and Hill staff have registered and accessed a total of 1,534 different lessons and publications using Internet-based training covering technical, 

professional, and language skills. This allows staff in both the Hill and State to take 

training at their convenience. Education and Training also provides 54 Senate-specific self-paced lessons that have been accessed more than 3,200 times. 
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Health Promotion 

In the Health Promotion area, 3,070 staff participated in 56 activities throughout 

the year. These activities included: 

—lung function and kidney screenings; 

—eight blood drives; 

—the Health and Fitness Day; 

—seminars on health-related topics; and 

—the Annual Senate Health Fair. 

Health Promotion also coordinates Weight Watchers, yoga, and Pilates sessions 

using its revolving fund. More than 260 staff participated in at least one of these 

programs. 

GIFT SHOP

Since its establishment in 1992 (2 U.S.C. 121d), the Senate Gift Shop has continued to provide outstanding service and products that maintain the integrity of the 

Senate while increasing the public’s awareness of its mission and history. The gift 

shop serves Senators, their spouses, staffs, constituents, and the many visitors to 

the U.S. Capitol complex. The products available include a wide range of fine gift 

items, collectibles, and souvenirs created exclusively for the U.S. Senate. 

Facilities 

In addition to three physical locations, the gift shop has an online presence on 

Webster, the Senate’s Intranet. The Web site currently offers an increasing selection 

of products that can be purchased by phone, email, or by printing and faxing the 

order form provided on the Web site. Along with offering over-the-counter and walkin sales, as well as limited Intranet services, the gift shop administrative office provides mail order service via phone or fax, and special order and catalogue sales via 

in person visit, email, phone, or fax. 

The gift shop maintains two warehouse facilities. The bulk of the gift shop’s stock 

is held in the Senate Storage Facility (SSF), an offsite warehouse. While the SAA 

is in charge of the overall management of the SSF, the director of the gift shop has 

responsibility for the operation and oversight of the interior spaces assigned for gift 

shop use. Storing inventory in this centralized, climate-controlled facility provides 

protection for the gift shop’s valuable inventory in terms of physical security as well 

as improved shelf life for perishable and nonperishable items alike. 

The second gift shop warehouse is maintained within the Capitol complex. This 

facility serves as the point of distribution of merchandise to the gift shop store and 

the Capitol gift shop counter, both of which have limited storage space. This warehouse accommodates the gift shop’s receiving, shipping, and engraving departments, 

as well as supplying the inventory sold through the administrative and special order 

office. 

Sales Activities 

Sales recorded for fiscal year 2010 were $1,566,884.32. Cost of goods sold during this same period was $1,275,359.81, accounting for a gross profit on sales of 

$291,524.51. 

In addition to tracking gross profit from sales, the Senate Gift Shop maintains 

a revolving fund and a record of inventory purchased for resale. As of October 1, 

2009, the balance in the revolving fund was $2,969,766.74. The inventory purchased 

for resale was valued at $2,964,598.93. 

Additional Activity 

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Audit 

At the request of the Secretary of the Senate, in September 2010, GAO conducted 

an inventory observation and audit of the gift shop financial operations. The established departmental procedures and policies implemented on a daily, monthly, and 

annual basis proved to be instrumental in the gift shop’s achieving a positive review 

during the verbal feedback portion of the GAO exit interview. The recommendations 

provided by the GAO at the conclusion of their observation had either already been 

implemented or will be adapted as recommended as part of our future operational 

procedures. 

Environmental Fair 

The gift shop participated in both 2010 U.S. Senate Environmental and Energy 

Fairs sponsored by the AOC. Environmentally friendly products that were displayed 

included wooden flag and desk boxes, wooden pens, custom-designed wrapping 

paper produced from recycled paper, aluminum water bottles, biodegradable travel 

mugs, and a travel mug produced from 100 percent U.S. natural corn products. 
159 

Selected Accomplishments in Fiscal Year 2010 

Official Congressional Holiday Ornaments 

The design and style of this year’s Congressional Holiday Ornament reflected a 

new direction for the gift shop ornament program. No longer part of a 4-year series 

with a unifying theme, this year the ornament was created of cutwork metal assembled to create a three-dimensional scene. Colorful enameling on all sides completed 

the effect. The 2010 holiday ornament is a winter scene of the east front of the Capitol on a snowy evening with a horse-drawn carriage that suggests a time in our 

history near the end of the 18th century. 

Sales of the 2010 holiday ornament exceeded 29,000 ornaments, of which more 

than 5,700 were personalized with engravings designed, proofed, and etched by Senate Gift Shop staff. This highly successful effort was made possible by the combined 

efforts of our administrative, engraving, and store staffs. 

Bookmarks 

New products introduced in 2010 included bookmarks depicting images of flowers 

and ground covers that are often planted by the AOC on the Capitol grounds. In 

all, there are 11 varieties of plants depicted on the canvas palettes. The images on 

these 2′′ × 8′′ canvas bookmarks serve as a unique reminder of the ever-changing 

appearance of the Capitol flower beds, and the anticipated timely changes that regularly occur because of the area’s seasonal weather conditions. 

Webster Intranet Site 

The Web site continues to expand with the addition of new merchandise with assistance from the Senate Photography Studio. Product descriptions are written in 

house. 

The gift shop contributes an article highlighting products and services to each 

issue of the Secretary’s UNUM newsletter. In turn, the Web site links to the electronic version of UNUM, a practice that has increased traffic to the Web site and 

may be responsible for an increase in the use of gift shop services by State offices. 

Projects Recently Produced and New Initiatives for 2010 

CVC 

The Senate Gift Shop continued to supply them with a wide variety of inventory 

product, offering service when needed, and advice on purchase order, invoice, and 

operational processes. 

Congressional Plate Series 

The latest 8-year, four-plate series of the 112th, 113th, 114th, and 115th Congress 

has been produced. The 112th plate is currently being offered for sale. The plates 

for each of the future Congresses will be made available during that respective congressional session. This series has once again been designed and produced by Tiffany & Co. The designs depict art and architecture from four of the most historically 

significant rooms in the Capitol: the Senate Appropriations Room, Old Senate 

Chamber, Old Supreme Court Chamber, and President’s Room. 

HISTORICAL OFFICE

Serving as the Senate’s institutional memory, the Historical Office collects and 

provides information on important events, precedents, dates, statistics, and historical comparisons of current and past Senate activities for use by Members and staff, 

the media, scholars, and the general public. The Office staff advises Senators, officers, and committees on cost-effective disposition of their noncurrent office files and 

assists researchers in identifying Senate-related source materials. The historians 

keep extensive biographical, bibliographical, photographic, and archival information 

on the more than 1,900 former and current Senators. The staff edits for publication 

historically significant transcripts and minutes of selected Senate committees and 

party organizations, and conducts oral history interviews with key Senate staff. The 

photo historian maintains a collection of approximately 40,000 still pictures that includes photographs and illustrations of Senate committees and nearly all former 

Senators. The Office staff develops and maintains all historical material on the Senate Web site, Senate.gov. 

Editorial Projects 

Sesquicentennial of the Civil War 

The Historical Office has engaged in a number of projects to commemorate the 

150th anniversary of the Senate’s role in the Civil War. Historians have teamed 

with the Senate Curator to produce an exhibit in the Capitol on ‘‘The Senate’s Civil 
160 

War’’, and have assisted the staff of the CVC in selecting items for display related 

to the Civil War and Reconstruction. The historians have also prepared a booklet 

for distribution to remind Americans of the legislative and investigatory component 

of a story that is more often presented from a military or Presidential perspective. 

These projects will be complemented by online features on the Senate’s Civil War 

experience. 

Revised Kennedy Caucus Room Brochure 

The Senate’s naming of the Russell House Office Building Caucus Room in memory of John F., Robert F., and Edward Kennedy prompted the revision and redesign 

of the brochure for the room. The brochure is often used by Senators who host meetings in the Caucus Room. In addition to explaining the architectural and legislative 

history of the room, the brochure includes information on the Senators Kennedy and 

their individual connections to the Caucus Room along with updated photographs. 

Documentary Histories of the U.S. Senate 

The Historical Office continued work on its online documentary history series, 

which presents case studies and primary-source documentation for all contested 

Senate elections, censure and expulsion cases, impeachment trials, and major investigations. Intended for use within the Senate and by the general public, these documentary histories are particularly valuable for teachers who seek to include primary-source documents in their lesson plans. This project also allows the Historical 

Office to update case studies of past events, and to add new case studies as needed, 

eliminating the need for new print editions of past publications, reducing costs and 

paper use. Three parts (contested elections, censures, and expulsions) of this fivestage project have been completed, and substantial progress was made in the remaining two categories. Two cases were added this year in the impeachment category, as well as a revised and updated summary page on major investigations and 

case studies on the Pecora banking and Watergate investigations. A third case study 

of the Civil War-era Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is nearing completion as well. 

States in the Senate 

In this collaborative project, staff historians have created timelines and compiled 

selected illustrative images for each of the 50 States. The States in the Senate will 

highlight persons and events in the State’s history that relate to the U.S. Senate 

to be featured on Senate.gov, which informs Senators, staff, and constituents alike. 

A Web design for the project has been created in partnership with the GPO and 

Web Technology that provides an interactive timeline for each State with links to 

relevant documentary and visual material, along with a table of Senators from each 

class with service dates. Staff have begun entering the timeline data and lists of 

Senators, and have begun identifying images for each timeline. 

Administrative History of the Senate 

The associate historian continued to prepare a historical account of the Senate’s 

administrative evolution since 1789. This study traces the development of the offices 

of the Secretary of the Senate and SAA, considers 19th and 20th century reforms 

that resulted in reorganization and professionalization of Senate staff, and looks at 

how the Senate’s administrative structure has grown and diversified. 

Rules of the United States Senate, Since 1789 

In 1980, Senate parliamentarian emeritus Dr. Floyd M. Riddick, at the direction 

of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, prepared a publication containing the eight codes of rules that the Senate adopted between 1789 and 1979. 

In the 1990s, the Senate Historical Office staff, in consultation with Dr. Riddick, 

developed a project to incorporate an important feature not contained in the 1980 

publication. Beyond simply listing the eight codes of rules, the Office’s goal is to 

show how—and why—the Senate’s current rules have evolved from earlier versions. 

The Senate’s historian emeritus has continued work on this project, which will contain eight narrative chapters outlining key debates and reasons for significant 

changes. Appendices will include the original text of all standing rules and, for the 

first time in one publication, all changes adopted between each codification. 

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present 

The Historical Office continues to expand and update the Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress as needed, including adding new Member biographical entries 

and bibliographical citations that incorporate recent scholarship. The Senate historians continue to work closely with the historical staff of the House of Representatives to maintain accuracy and consistency in this joint Senate-House database, and 
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to promote this valuable resource among historians, teachers, students, and the 

public. Senate and House historians and technical staff for the House of Representatives have collaborated to plan an update of the online site in appearance and 

functionality, and have approved a new template and overall appearance for the Directory. The Senate archivist and her deputies have worked to expand and revise 

the ‘‘Research Collections’’ aspect of the database. 

Party Conference Minutes, 1965–1977 

In 1998 and 1999 the Historical Office staff edited, indexed, and published the 

Minutes of the Senate Democratic and Republican Conferences covering the years 

prior to 1964. The Historical Office is currently preparing a similar volume for the 

Democratic Conference including its minutes from 1965 to 1977. After January 

1973, verbatim transcripts were prepared for each Conference meeting, considerably 

enlarging the documentation. This project has involved scanning and editing 2,869 

pages of transcripts for 102 meetings of the Conference and inclusion of an index 

and explanatory annotations. With the approval of the Conference, the minutes will 

be published, and a similar editorial project will be proposed for the Republican 

Conference minutes for this time period. The office has scanned an additional 3,115 

pages of transcripts for the 73 conferences between 1977 and 1982, for future publication. 

Dirksen Senate Office Building Exhibits 

The remodeling of the Dirksen Senate Office Building auditorium into a hearing 

room created two large exhibit cases at its entrance. Working with the staff of the 

Senate Curator and the Senate Library, the Historical Office prepared exhibits that 

have now been installed on the life and career of Senator Everett M. Dirksen, Senate Republican leader from 1959 to 1969, and on the design and functioning of the 

office building named in his memory. 

Oral History Program 

The Historical Office staff conducts a series of oral history interviews to record 

personal recollections of various Senate careers. Interviews were conducted with 

former Senator Roland W. Burris; Richard Ahrenberg, who served on the staffs of 

Senators Paul Tsongas, George Mitchell, and Carl Levin; Richard Baker, the Senate’s Historian Emeritus; Eliza Letchworth, former Republican Secretary; Charles 

Ludlam, a former staff member for Senators James Abourezk and Joseph I. Lieberman; and James Zigler, former Senate SAA. The office also conducted an interview 

with Martin Charboneau and Mikhaila Fogel, the pages who volunteered to stay behind and serve during the last weeks of debate on the healthcare bill in December 

2009. The office has also continued to seek and conduct interviews with current and 

former Senate spouses, and expanded on its collection of interviews highlighting the 

role of women on Capitol Hill. The complete transcripts of 30 interviews conducted 

since the 1970s have been posted on Senate.gov. That site features a different oral 

history interview series each month, including digital audio-clips along with the 

interview transcripts. The Historical Office has worked with the National Archives 

to digitize past oral history interviews, which had been archived on magnetic tape, 

for preservation purposes. Digitization also allows for inclusion of short audio segments on Senate.gov. For Unum, the Secretary of the Senate’s newsletter, the staff 

has created a regular series entitled ‘‘Senate Voices’’, which includes excerpts from 

the oral histories with a contextual introduction. 

Member Services 

Educational Outreach 

The historian and associate historian delivered a series of ‘‘Senate Historical Minutes’’ at the weekly Democratic and Republican Conference luncheons. These ‘‘minutes’’ highlighted significant events and personalities associated with the Senate’s 

institutional development. Many of them are now included on Senate.gov as ‘‘Historical Minute Essays.’’ The assistant historian advised the congressionally mandated 

50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War Commemoration group of notable Senate accomplishments during the Vietnam War era to be included in national commemorative event planning. 

Members’ Records Management and Disposition Assistance 

The Senate archivist held meetings with staff of Members who had announced 

their retirement to discuss schedules for closing and to ascertain specific archiving 

needs. These meetings emphasized planning for the preservation of permanently 

valuable records, particularly electronic records and selecting a home State repository with necessary preservation resources. Information and insights derived from 

these meetings has been incorporated into an ‘‘archives toolkit’’, providing guidance 
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for offices opening in the 112th Congress. Of the 16 Senators who left office, 15 designated an archival repository. The archivist provided extensive assistance to the 

staff of the late Senator Robert C. Byrd to ensure the preservation of 1,500 cubic 

feet of records documenting his entire Senate career. These records have been transferred to the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University. 

The archivist revised the Handbook for Closing a Senator’s Office and created an 

office closing timeline. The archiving ‘‘Quick Cards’’ available on the Secretary’s 

Webster site were updated and augmented by a fourth card on social media communications archiving. The number of Senators who participated in Facebook, You 

Tube, Twitter, and other Web 2.0 sites in the 111th Congress was significant, and 

the Historical Office took the initiative to provide guidance for archiving aspects of 

these online records. 

A series of brown-bag lunch discussions took place for archivists in Senate committees and Senators’ personal staffs, focusing on records management, storage and 

electronic records. A ‘‘Coffee with the Archivist’’ of the United States also highlighted electronic records preservation. Informal meetings of Capitol Hill Archivists 

and Records Managers (CHARM) focused on description standards, electronic 

records, bibliographic reports, and briefings at the Center for Legislative Archives. 

A new initiative resulting from the CHARM meetings was the series of staff exit 

interviews conducted by Senator Byron L. Dorgan’s archivist. These were edited by 

the Historical Office and then shared with the rest of the Senate’s archival community. A committee staff interview form has been developed and is being adopted by 

committee archivists and systems administrators, particularly because of the context it provides to staff electronic files. 

The Archivists’ Listserv continues to be an effective means of updating archival 

staff about records management and historical topics. The Senate archivist worked 

with all of the repositories receiving senatorial collections to ensure the adequacy 

of documentation and the transfer of records with adequate finding aids, helping to 

lower costs for the receiving repositories. The archivist presented an in-depth 

records management seminar for Senate offices at the Modern Archives Institute, 

which is now available for Senate staff on demand. The archivist presented a paper 

on the significance and role of the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress 

at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. 

Committee Records Management and Disposition Assistance 

The Senate archivist provided each Senate committee with staff briefings, guidance on preservation of information in electronic systems, and instructions for the 

transfer of permanently valuable records to the National Archives’ Center for Legislative Archives. A survey of the committees’ electronic archiving revealed that almost all committees have voluminous electronic record backlogs requiring review. 

The backlogs fall into three categories: 

—files of committee staff that have departed the committee; 

—files of share drives; and 

—accumulated email. 

There is a growing gap between the documentary quality of the records being 

archived from committees that have archivists as opposed to those without archivists. The archivist and deputy archivist have been compiling specific reports documenting this discrepancy. They distribute information on best practices for managing electronic records and have encouraged committees to hire professional archivists especially to focus on electronic archiving. There are now eight committee archivists on six committees (two committees have separate Democratic and Republican archivists.) 

The archivist has been working with the Center for Legislative Archives information technology specialists to improve Senate infrastructure to facilitate the regular 

archiving of electronic records. This will establish a system to allow the Senate to 

transfer records in electronic form, eliminating the need for printing such documentation. The infrastructure upgrade will also permit the Center for Legislative 

Archives Holdings Management System to document the loan of records back to the 

Senate more thoroughly through the use of bar codes. 

The archivist and deputy archivist are appointed members of the Next Generation 

Finding Aid Task Force established by the Advisory Committee on the Records of 

Congress to develop criteria to improve the finding aids for the Senate’s archival 

records. They provided information and helped edit the first draft of the Report presented to the Advisory Committee. They anticipate that the Task Force will recommend adoption of the archivists toolkit as a system to manage record transfers, 

and are prepared to mediate, oversee, and support transfer documentation in this 

new application. 
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Over the past year, the Senate archivist oversaw the transfer to the Archives of 

568 accessions of Senate records totaling 1,638.5 cubic feet of textual records and 

627.28 gigabytes of electronic records. The archivist and deputy archivists responded 

to 203 requests for loans of archived records back to committees, totaling 1,028 

boxes. 

To further assist committee clerks, the archivists developed a new archives transfer form that facilitates searches in older archived records and brings Senate descriptive practices in line with archival best practices. Enhanced description has resulted in greatly increased accessibility of the records. Three basic archiving quick 

cards for committees were posted to the Secretary’s site and are periodically updated. The cards supplement the Guidelines for Committee Staff pamphlet and accompany a records-preservation PowerPoint briefing also posted on the site. While 

this material has helped communicate the importance of recordkeeping to committee 

staff, it does not replace the effectiveness of a trained archivist on each committee 

staff. 

A project is underway to scan committee record transfer sheets to the National 

Archives, dating from 1982 through 2004, into the OnBase document management 

system supported by the SAA. To date, records of 12 committees have been processed and updates are underway. The Center for Legislative Archives has received 

this information on CD–ROM both as a security measure and to enhance access to 

the records as they become open for research 

Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress 

This 11-member permanent committee, established in 1990 by Public Law 101– 

509, meets semiannually to advise the Senate, the House of Representatives, and 

the Archivist of the United States on the management and preservation of the 

records of the Congress. Its membership representing the Senate includes the Secretary of the Senate, who chaired the panel during the 110th Congress; the Senate 

historian; and appointees of the secretary and the majority and minority leaders. 

The Historical Office furnishes support services for the advisory committee’s regular 

meetings. Following the Senate historian’s participation in a meeting of the Public 

Interest Declassification Board in July that focused on declassification of the older 

records of the Congress, the Historical Office sent a request to the Center to proceed 

with a systematic review of classified Senate records more than 25 years old. As a 

result, the National Declassification Center will begin a preliminary review and 

analysis of declassification issues of the approximately 650 feet (1,625,000 pages) of 

classified records that are more than 25 years old. Records of highest anticipated 

research use will be given priority. The Historical Office also was given the opportunity to comment on the National Archives Reorganization Plan as it will affect 

Senate records, encouraging the Archives to provide congressional records with administrative support appropriate to the size of its holdings. 

Educational Outreach 

The Historical Office’s correspondence with the general public has increasingly 

taken place through Senate.gov. The historians maintain and frequently update the 

Web site with timely reference and historical information, and each month select related material to be featured on the site. During the past year, the Office responded 

to more than 1,500 inquiries from the public, the news media, students, family genealogists, congressional staffers, and academics, through the public email address 

listed on Senate.gov. The diverse nature of their questions reflected varying levels 

of interest in Senate operations, institutional history, and former Members. 

Working with the Web team, the historians have added to Senate.gov such items 

as featured biographies, documentary histories, photo exhibits, reference material, 

and additional oral history transcripts. 

In preparation for the upcoming Civil War sesquicentennial, the historians and 

staff have and continue to collaborate with the Web team to create new online features exploring the role the U.S. Senate during this national crisis, including an annotated time line of Senate-related events, profiles of key Senators, landmark legislation of the era, discussions of the constitutional crisis of secession, and a documentary history of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. As the national commemoration of the war continues from 2011 to 2015, these and additional features 

will be presented in a timely manner. 

Staff presented seminars on the general history of the Senate, Senate committees, 

female Senators, Senate Floor leadership, relations between the press and the Senate, the U.S. Constitution, and the history of Senate impeachment trials. The historians also participated in Senate staff seminars and Members’ office retreats, and 

conducted dozens of briefings for specially scheduled groups. As part of the orientation program for newly elected Senators, the historian delivered an address on the 
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historical evolution of the Senate, and joined the associate historian in performing 

tours of the Senate Chamber and other historic spaces of the Capitol. The historian 

also spoke at the Senate’s Constitution Day Program on the resources for researching Senate history. The associate and assistant historian met with various groups 

of teachers and students from around the Nation to aid in coordinating classroom 

activities to promote a better understanding of the Congress and its legislative duties, as well as working with research fellows and visiting scholars. 

Photographic Collections 

The Senate photo historian continued to ensure history-focused photographic coverage of the contemporary Senate by photographing Senate committees, collecting 

formal photo portraits of new Senators, and capturing significant Senate events in 

cooperation with the Senate Photographic Studio. She continued to provide timely 

photographic reference service by phone and email, while cataloging, digitizing, relocating, and expanding the Office’s 40,000-item image collection. She assisted several 

Senate offices in creating collages of all the Senators who previously served in that 

seat. 

The photo historian assisted with the development of the Civil War exhibit in the 

Capitol, by providing images from the Historical Office collection and obtaining images from other repositories. She also provided images for the two new exhibit cases 

in Dirksen Senate Office Building outside of the auditorium. She collaborated with 

the historical editor to design and publish the Kennedy Caucus Room brochure. 

The photo historian worked closely with the Senate Photographic Studio during 

the transition to a new image browser, serving as a test office for the new system. 

She facilitated the transfer of historical maps found in the Russell Senate Office 

Building attic to the LOC Geography and Maps Division. 

As the founder of CHARM, an informal group of Senate archivists, the photo historian planned numerous tours and professional development events for committee 

and Member archivists. 

COOP Planning 

As the Historical Office’s COOP Action Officer and Emergency Coordinator, the 

photo historian continued to update the Office’s COOP plan in the Living Disaster 

Recovery Planning System. She made regular back-ups of the office’s vital electronic 

records to store off-site in a secure environment. She trained new staff members and 

interns in the Office’s emergency evacuation procedures. 

CVC 

The historians supplied information and guidance to the staff of the CVC related 

to the educational component of the exhibition gallery. They have participated in 

the training program for staff-led tours, and provided text, images, and general editorial review for a new Web-based training program for staff and tour guides. They 

made regular presentations on the history of the Senate in training seminars for 

Senate staff and interns, and gave morning ‘‘briefings’’ to the Capitol Guide Service. 

They provided ‘‘exhibit talks’’ in the CVC, contributed to the training of visitor assistants who guide visitors through the exhibition gallery, worked with exhibit staff 

to plan rotations of documents and images, and advised the CVC staff on its educational outreach programs. 

HUMAN RESOURCES

The Office of Human Resources was established in June 1995 by the Secretary 

as a result of the CAA. The office focuses on developing and implementing human 

resources policies, procedures, and programs for the Office of the Secretary of the 

Senate that fulfill the legal requirements of the workplace and complement the organization’s strategic goals and values. 

These responsibilities include recruiting and staffing; providing guidance and advice to managers and staff; training; performance management; job analysis; compensation planning, design, and administration; leave administration; records management; maintaining the employee handbooks and manuals; internal grievance 

procedures; employee relations and services; and organizational planning and development. 

The Human Resources staff administers the following programs for the Secretary’s employees: the Public Transportation Subsidy program, Student Loan Repayment Program, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) program, parking allocations, and the summer intern program that offers college and other postgraduate 

students the opportunity to gain valuable skills and experience in a variety of Senate support offices. Human Resources staff has completed migration of eligible com-
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muters to the Smart Benefits Program, which is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 

Recruitment and Retention of Staff 

Human Resources staff have the ongoing task of advertising new vacancies or positions, screening applicants, interviewing candidates, and assisting with all phases 

of the hiring process. Human Resources staff coordinate with the SAA Human Resources Department to post all SAA and Secretary vacancies on the Senate Intranet, 

Webster, so that the larger Senate community may access the posting from their 

own offices. In an effort to reach a larger and more diverse applicant pool, the department uses multiple posting forums to reach potential applicants for employment. As a result, the Human Resources Department processed more than 3,000 applications for vacancies in the Secretary’s Office, including review of applications, 

coordinating scheduling of candidates for interview, sending out notices to both successful and unsuccessful candidates, and finalizing new hire paperwork. All new 

hires also receive orientation from the Human Resources staff when they come on 

board. 

Training 

In conjunction with the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment, staff continue to 

develop and deliver training for department heads and staff. Training topics include 

sexual harassment, interviewing skills, FMLA administration, and an overview of 

the CAA. Human Resources staff also works with different department employees 

on topics specific to their group in outreach efforts to enhance teamwork in the 

workplace. 

Interns and Fellows 

Human Resources staff manage the Secretary’s internship program. From posting 

vacancies, conducting needs analyses, communicating, screening, placing and following up with all interns, the staff keeps a close connection with these program 

participants in an effort to make the internship most beneficial to them and the organization. 

DOD’s Operation Warfighter (OWF) Program 

In December 2010, Human Resources on behalf of the Secretary received approval 

to host Wounded Warriors from the OWF program. The unpaid internship program 

is open to all wounded and ill servicemembers assigned to a Military Treatment Facility, an Army Warrior Transition Unit, the USMC Wounded Warrior Regiment, 

the Air Force Wounded Warrior Program, or the Navy Safe Harbor Program. The 

program positively impacts the recuperation process, and provides meaningful activity outside of the hospital environment that positively impacts wellness. 

Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) 

The office has again taken an active role in the CFC for the Senate community 

at-large. The office staff serve as co-directors of the program. The staff participates 

in kick-off meetings, identifies key workers in each office, and disseminates and collects necessary information and paperwork. 

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The staff of the department of Information Systems provides technical hardware 

and software support for the office of the Secretary of the Senate (SecSen). Information Systems staff also interface closely with the application and network development groups within the SAA, GPO, and outside vendors on technical issues and 

joint projects. The department provides computer-related support for all local area 

network (LAN) servers within the Office of the Secretary of the Senate. Information 

Systems staff provide direct application support for all software installed 

workstations, initiate and guide new technologies, and implement next-generation 

hardware and software solutions. 

Mission Evaluation 

The primary mission of the Information Systems department is to continue to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction and computer support for the office 

of Secretary of the Senate. Emphasis is placed on creating and transferring legislative records to outside departments and agencies, fulfilling Disbursing Office financial responsibilities to the Member offices, and complying with office mandated and 

statutory obligations. 

Fiscal Year 2010 Technology Initiative Summary 

The department technology initiatives concentrated in four specific areas: 
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—Improvements in work flow process efficiency; 

—Deployment of improved hardware and software technologies; 

—Business continuity planning and disaster recovery improvements; and 

—Network perimeter and end point security awareness. 

Operate More Efficiently 

Replaced all computer workstation hardware in the Capitol; Hart, Dirksen, and 

Russell Senate Office Buildings; and Webster Hall locations. Developed, tested, and 

installed application software for the Senate Library, Curator, Historian, Human 

Resources, Interparliamentary Services, Public Records, Captioning, LIS Project Office, and Page School staff locations. 

Completed second phase of network printer hardware replacement program by replacing all network printers in 21 departments and offsite locations with improved 

high-speed models that reduce energy use up to 50 percent with instant-on technology. 

Replaced all BlackBerry device hardware for Secretary of the Senate staff (73 

units) and applied soft token virtual private network access to the Senate network 

for all device users. 

Purchased and installed the Disbursing Office GRB server hardware. 

Purchased and installed server and application to remotely deploy software updates to all Disbursing workstation hardware. 

Deployment of Improved Hardware and Software Upgrades 

Legislative Offices.—Completed 18 major LIS software upgrades and installed the 

updated LIS application software in all legislative clerk offices, ACFs, and offsite 

home laptop locations. Virtualized the LIS applications for the Senate Library staff 

which streamlined the availability of application for LIS users. 

Added network array storage portable servers at the ACF. This solution provides 

a nightly scheduled backup of Secretary of the Senate workstation software to the 

Secretary of the Senate Emergency Operations Centers (EOC). 

Virtualized the workflow process in the Office of Public Records (OPR) providing 

high availability to their computer desktops for OPR staff when they are not at 

their normal desktop office locations. Retired a dedicated AT&T fiber link between 

the OPR and the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Worked with the SAA Network Engineering staff to implement a replacement VLAN connection to the FEC 

which is more secure and can be expanded to alternate locations if needed. 

Upgraded legislative staff with improved laptop hardware for a more streamlined 

and secure connection to the Senate network. 

Created a virtualized and encrypted software solution for the Senate Enrolling 

Clerk in order to process legislation when located offsite. Virtualization of mission 

critical workstation applications lowers the support time and cost required to keep 

offsite laptops updated with current software revisions. It also provides a more efficient process to migrate existing applications to numerous systems, making it available to a wider range of key personnel who require the application access. 

Upgraded and migrated BlackBerry device users to the BlackBerry Exchange 

Server Version 5.0 Server solution. Information System support staff now has a 

process to monitor the BlackBerry device operation and provide a higher level of remote BlackBerry support. 

Added additional staff with secure access to the Senate network through the Senate Web portal with Passface account access. Presently 119 of 169 personnel assigned to the Secretary of the Senate’s hybrid enterprise (70 percent) have some 

form of secure remote access to Senate network resources. 

Developed a standardized software template and replaced all Disbursing Office 

laptops. 

Worked with the Senate library staff and the SAA Technology Development staff 

to integrate an incident reporting software application for Library staff use. This 

issue tracker application resides on a Secretary of the Senate server and documents 

the support issues for the SIS program. 

Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery Improvements 

Secure remote access to essential applications and information is integral to pandemic preparedness and business continuity initiatives. By scaling existing technologies, and integrating new hardware solutions, the overall level of H1N1 planning preparedness was dramatically elevated in the each office. This level of 

proactive planning significantly impacted the remote access capability and provided 

staff the needed access to the Senate network resources during the February 2010 

blizzard. 

In the event GPO ‘‘fails-over’’ their operation at North Capitol Street, NW., 

changes to the legislative file transfer process to support transactions between the 
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Secretary’s office and GPO have been implemented. A secondary back-up (encrypted) 

file transfer method has also been implemented among GPO, the Senate Office of 

Legislative Counsel, and the office of the Secretary. 

Completed the Parliamentarian office indexing software project and migrated the 

previous process to a new hardware platform. The results allow a virtualized environment to index precedent information without purchasing a specific laptop or personal computer. 

Installed additional laptop hardware for the office of Captioning Services in the 

Capitol. This ensures that if Captioning staff is displaced from their location they 

can continue to provide content to the Senate Recording Studio (SRS). Successfully 

tested final SRS channel link in October 2010. 

Redesigned and enhanced the operation of Member accountability application 

used during COOP exercises by implementing a virtualized desktop process to run 

the application. Integrating this application with a remote desktop feature to ensure 

the application is always available for staff during a COOP event. Extended this virtual solution for the Secretary of the Majority and the Secretary of the Minority offices. 

Virtualized the OPR hardware server, office workstations, and scanning operation. 

In fiscal year 2010, completed the second phase to encompass both the server and 

client application process. 

Implemented and integrated personal computer teleconferencing application into 

the existing video teleconferencing (VTC) network. This provides offsite VTC to internal Senate users without the need for a VPN connection. Upgraded hardware 

products in the Office of the Secretary and Disbursing Office conference room locations. 

Network Perimeter and End Point Security Awareness 

In partnership the SAA Security Operations Center, installed the next generation 

Senate antivirus and firewall protection. 

Information Systems staff continue to monitor email spam filtering applications. 

Present rate of undesirable email messages average 9,000 messages per day. 

Implemented a monthly automatic backup of critical workstation software applications. This process eliminates countless hours of attempting to clean infected systems. Additionally, these monthly backups can be stored at an offsite facility and 

serve as a tool in restoring workstation applications in the event of an emergency. 

Information Systems staff continue to monitor network security ensuring best 

practice information is available to all staff. Developed global security server policies 

to automatically lock computer terminals after 1 hour of application inactivity. 

Staff continues to manage the Alerts notification database for all Secretary staff. 

Database information is verified nightly to ensure email, voice, and BlackBerry PIN 

information is valid and will function during an emergency. 

After implementation of the software deployment server, Information Systems 

staff continue to maintain the inventory of all applications for 280 workstation installations. Information Systems now has the ability to review in real time which 

systems require application updates and can deploy security patches without interruption to the business owner. 

Ongoing and Future Projects From 2010 

As server and laptop hardware nears the end of the maintenance life-cycle, replace older hardware servers with virtual server solutions. All Active Directory server hardware was updated in fiscal year 2010, and wherever possible virtual solutions were implemented in order to provide a higher level of network resource availability, reduce data center hardware costs, and reduce electricity usage. 

Evaluate low-cost computing terminal emulation hardware for offsite and designated COOP locations. 

INTERPARLIAMENTARY SERVICES

The Office of Interparliamentary Services (IPS) is responsible for administrative, 

financial, and protocol functions for all interparliamentary conferences in which the 

Senate participates by statute, for interparliamentary conferences in which the Senate participates on an ad hoc basis, and for special delegations authorized by the 

Majority and/or Minority Leaders. The office also provides appropriate assistance as 

requested by other Senate delegations. 

The statutory interparliamentary conferences are: 

—NATO Parliamentary Assembly; 

—Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Group; 

—Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group; 

—British-American Interparliamentary Group; 
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—United States-Russia Interparliamentary Group; 

—United States-China Interparliamentary Group; and 

—United States-Japan Interparliamentary Group; 

In 2010, IPS staff were responsible for organizing the following interparliamentary conferences: 

—the U.S.-China Interparliamentary Group in China; 

—the U.S.-Russia Interparliamentary Group in the United States; 

—the Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Group in the United States; and 

—the Mexico-U.S. Interparliamentary Group in Mexico. 

As in previous years, all foreign travel authorized by the Majority and Minority 

Leaders is arranged by the IPS staff. In addition to delegation trips, IPS provided 

assistance to individual Senators and staff traveling overseas. Senators and staff 

authorized by committees for foreign travel continue to call upon this office for assistance with passports, visas, travel arrangements, and reporting requirements. 

IPS receives and prepares for printing the quarterly consolidated financial reports 

for foreign travel from all committees in the Senate. In addition to preparing the 

quarterly reports for the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader, IPS staff also 

assist staff members of Senators and committees in filling out the required reports. 

IPS maintains regular contact with DOD, the Department of State and foreign 

Embassy officials. The office staff organizes visits for official foreign visitors and assists them in setting up meetings with leadership offices. The staff continues to 

work closely with other offices of the Secretary of the Senate and the SAA in arranging programs for foreign visitors. In addition, IPS is consulted by individual 

Senate offices on a broad range of protocol questions. Occasional questions come 

from State officials or the general public regarding congressional protocol. 

On behalf of the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders, IPS staff arrange official 

receptions for heads of state, heads of government, heads of parliaments, and parliamentary delegations. Required records of expenditures on behalf of foreign dignitaries under authority of Public Law 100–71 are maintained by IPS. 

Planning is underway for the Mexico-U.S. Interparliamentary Group, the U.S.- 

China Interparliamentary Group, and the British-American Parliamentary Group 

which will be held in the United States in 2011. 

COOP Planning 

IPS regularly reviews its COOP plan with ongoing discussions, updating materials kept offsite, evaluating evacuation procedures, and working from remote sites. 

LIS PROJECT

The LIS is a mandated system (section 8 of the 1997 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2 U.S.C. 123e) that provides desktop access to the content and status 

of legislative information and supporting documents. The 1997 Legislative Branch 

Appropriations Act (2 U.S.C. 181) also established a program for providing the 

widest possible exchange of information among legislative branch agencies. The 

long-range goal of the LIS Project is to provide a ‘‘comprehensive Senate Legislative 

Information System’’ to capture, store, manage, and distribute Senate documents. 

Several components of the LIS have been implemented, and the project is currently 

focused on a Senate-wide implementation and transition to a standard system for 

the authoring and exchange of legislative documents that will greatly enhance the 

availability and re-use of legislative documents within the Senate and with other 

legislative branch agencies. The LIS Project Office manages the project. 

Background: LIS Augmentation Project (LISAP) 

An April 1997 joint Senate and House report recommended establishment of a 

data standards program, and in December 2000, the Senate Committee on Rules 

and Administration and the Committee on House Administration jointly accepted 

the Extensible Markup Language (XML) as the primary data standard to be used 

for the exchange of legislative documents and information. Following the implementation of the LIS in January 2000, the LIS Project Office shifted its focus to the data 

standards program and established LISAP. The overarching goal of the LISAP is 

to provide a Senate-wide implementation and transition to XML for the authoring 

and exchange of legislative documents. 

The current focus for the LISAP is the continued development and implementation of the XML authoring system for legislative documents produced by the Office 

of the Senate Legislative Counsel (SLC), the Office of the Enrolling Clerk, the Committee on Appropriations, and the GPO. The XML authoring application is called 

LEXA, an acronym for Legislative Editing in XML Application. LEXA replaces the 

DOS-based XyWrite software used by drafters to embed locator codes into legislative 

documents for printing. The XML tags inserted by LEXA provide more information 
169 

about the document and can be used for printing, searching, and displaying a document. LEXA features many automated functions that provide a more efficient and 

consistent document authoring process. The LIS Project Office has worked very 

closely with the SLC, the Enrolling Clerk, and the editorial and printing staff of the 

Committee on Appropriations to create an application that meets the needs for legislative drafting. 

LISAP: 2010 

The LIS Project Office continued to provide support to the SLC, the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Enrolling Clerk in their use of LEXA for 

drafting, engrossing, and enrolling. GPO also uses LEXA to complete measures for 

printing. Several new features and fixes were added in LEXA releases to make the 

drafting process faster, more efficient, and more consistent. The LIS staff trained 

new drafters and interns in the use of LEXA. 

Changes to LEXA included upgrading all users to Xmetal 5.5. Xmetal is the underlying software for LEXA, and the 5.5 version is Vista-compatible. In the latter 

half of 2010, the LIS Project Office began a project to update the underlying software, Xmetal, to version 6.0 which is Windows 7-compatible. The upgrade projects 

required extensive testing of LEXA on multiple operating systems including XP, 

Vista, and Windows 7. LEXA improvements included updates to the conversion from 

locator to XML and additional features for the office drafting appropriations bills 

to accommodate the different styles and formats of those bills. A new feature was 

added to create title amendments as separate documents, and new functionality was 

created to combine a list of titles or divisions into one document and to split a single 

document into multiple titles or divisions. 

COOP Planning 

Several procedures have been implemented to provide for COOP. All source code 

and data files are backed up nightly to a drive in the office, and each LIS Project 

Office staff member carries an encrypted flash drive containing the office COOP 

plan, documentation, and the most recent version of LEXA. All the software and 

documentation required to create the development environment and a LEXA end 

user environment are available in duplicate copies of the LIS Project Office fly-away 

kit. The COOP plan and the fly-away kits are updated frequently, and one fly-away 

kit is kept in an off-site location. Regular testing of the ability to work remotely is 

conducted via Senate laptops and personal computers to ensure that application development and user support can continue if access to the office is not possible. 

LISAP: 2011 

The LIS Project Office will continue to work with and support all the offices now 

using LEXA to produce legislative documents. Enhancements to LEXA make the 

process more efficient and consistent so that most of the legislative measures produced by those offices will be created as XML documents. All LEXA users will be 

upgraded to Xmetal 6.0: some users on XP, some on Windows 7, and a few on Vista. 

The LIS Project Office will continue to work with the House, GPO, and the LOC 

on projects and issues that impact the legislative process and data standards for exchange. These groups are currently participating in two projects with the GPO, one 

to define requirements for replacing the Microcomp composition software and another to handle graphics in some legislative documents. The office will work with 

the SLC and their House counterpart office to implement new functionality for 

maintaining and printing the compilations of existing law in XML. 

LIBRARY

The Senate Library provides legislative, legal, business, and general information 

services to the United States Senate. The LOC’s collection encompasses legislative 

documents that date from the Continental Congress in 1774; current and historic 

executive and judicial branch materials; an extensive book collection on American 

politics, history, and biography; a popular collection of audiobooks; and a wide array 

of online resources. The LOC also authors content for three Web sites: 

—LIS.gov; 

—Senate.gov; and 

—Webster, the Senate’s Intranet. 

The transition of the SIS program from the Senate SAA to the Senate Library 

continued with the transfer of contracts for news-related services in October 2010. 

Two town hall style meetings and six focus group sessions provided opportunities 

for Senate staff to provide direct feedback on the Senate’s online research tools. The 

Library hosted an online survey in December to reach State staff and those unable 

to attend the focus group sessions. Results from the survey will be used to review 
170 

1 Comment by a survey respondent in the 2011 SIS Online Survey Report, p. 34. 

program offerings and to target outreach and training efforts related to those resources. 

The LOC’s creation of new Web-based content, judicious selection and investment 

in online resources, expanded outreach and training opportunities, and use of technology to support alternative means for information delivery continues to meet the 

Senate’s increasing demand for information. 

Notable Achievements 

Successful outreach efforts contributed to an increase in Library usage in the following areas over the past year: total patron accounts are up 44 percent, new patron 

accounts are up 26 percent, and online book requests are up 36 percent. Loans of 

audiobooks increased 22 percent and new books by 15 percent. 

A new Webster page, Nomination Hearings for Supreme Court Justices, provides 

links to full-text hearings since Louis Brandeis in 1916. 

The Library catalog now provides Senate staff with desktop access to more than 

34,000 electronic versions of items in its collection, an increase of 15 percent more 

than 2009. 

A new table, Senate Freshmen since Direct Election (1914), was added to Senate.gov. 

Two well-received exhibits, one on the ‘‘Senatorial Life of Everett Dirksen’’ and 

the other on the ‘‘Dirksen Senate Office Building’’, were installed at the request of 

the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration in the cases flanking the entrance to the Dirksen auditorium (SDG–50). The exhibits were collaborative efforts 

with the Senate Curator’s Office and the Senate Historical Office. 

Successful collaboration between the Library, the Office of Web Technology, and 

the Assistant SAA/CIO Office resulted in the creation of a completely new taxonomy 

for the Senate Services Directory (Red Book) on Webster. Online access to the Red 

Book will occur in early January 2011. 

Senate Library Inquiries, Online Book Requests, and Patron Accounts 

The increase in requests for online materials, the availability of new and enhanced database offerings, and the expanded availability of resources on the Web 

have dramatically increased the demand for Library resources. Inquiries in 2010 increased 12 percent more than 2009, reflecting new Web-based service promotional 

initiatives. These numbers show that Senate staff and others are using Senate.gov 

and Webster content authored by the library. Reference librarians continue to assist 

Senate staff with challenging research in areas including legal and public records, 

legislative histories, news and journal articles, and to find answers to questions they 

‘‘can’t figure out how to tackle.’’ 2

SENATE LIBRARY INQUIRIES 

Year Traditional 

Web page visits Total Change from 

prior year 

Webster LIS Senate.gov (percentage) 

2010 ................... 26,696 88,886 19,000 2,926,712 3,061,294 ∂12 

2009 ................... 27,318 70,461 21,092 2,612,897 2,731,768 ∂8 

2008 ................... 27,283 51,048 29,468 2,429,380 2,537,179 ∂67 

2007 ................... 26,309 65,793 32,121 1,392,947 1,517,170 ¥10 

2006 ................... 31,032 80,375 20,156 1,561,138 1,692,701 ∂88 

2005 ................... 33,080 57,608 26,775 782,588 900,051 ( 1 ) 

1 Baseline. 

The Library received 666 online book requests in 2010, an increase of 36 percent 

more than the previous year. The increase can be attributed to the online book request form on the Library catalog, as well as to the online bibliographies that highlight the Library’s collections of audiobooks, travel books, and new books. Audiobook 

loans increased by 22 percent, travel books by 25 percent, and new books by 15 percent more than 2009 levels. 
171 

The Library’s concerted effort in 2010 to reach new patrons resulted in a 44 percent increase in borrowing accounts more than 2009. Seventy-four percent of the Library’s patrons are Senate office and committee staff members while the remaining 

26 percent of users are support office staff. 

Almost half of this patron base consists of new users of the library. A total of 999 

new patrons were registered in 2010, an increase of 26 percent more than the number registered in 2009. 

Other activities for 2010 included setting up 274 new computer accounts for our 

patron workstations, and providing the following document printing and delivery 

services: 

INFORMATION SERVICE SUPPORT ACTIVITIES 

Category Total 

Circulation: 

Document deliveries .................................................................................................................................... 4,499 

Item loans ................................................................................................................................................... 3,251 

Pages printed: 

Microform pages printed ............................................................................................................................. 857 

Photocopies ................................................................................................................................................. 71,983 

Document delivery total .......................................................................................................................... 80,590 

Senate Library Content Creation 

Senate.gov Web Site Content 

A new table, Senate Freshmen Since Direct Election (1914), was added to Senate.gov. This table counts Senate freshmen at the beginning of each Congress and 

includes appointments that occurred just before or after the opening of the Congress. 

Senate Webster Content 

A new page, Nomination Hearings for Supreme Court Justices, was launched in 

June in advance of scheduled confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee 

Elena Kagan. The page provides links to full-text hearings since Louis Brandeis in 

1916. This page is tied to another Library-authored page, How to Find Supreme 

Court Nomination Information. The full-text hearings were also made available 

through the Library catalog, and Library staff created two new finding aids for 

JSTOR, a nonprofit service of more than 1,000 academic journals and other scholarly content, and appellate court briefs. 

SIS Program Content 

The Library’s Digital and Instructional Resources Librarian led two working 

groups to create two new Webster pages that highlight SIS resources. The first 

group worked on a FrontPage (the SIS home page) redesign that includes tabbed 

navigation and links to more Senate-wide databases. The other group researched 

the online availability of newspapers in each State, which make up the State 

NewsWatch page. Both pages were created in response to feedback from Senate 

focus groups and launched at the beginning of the 112th Congress. 
172 

Senate Library Web Site Content 

A library team revised and updated the About the Library, Using the library, and 

Borrowing Books pages on the library’s Web site. These pages now provide staff a 

clearer understanding of the library services, policies, and collections. 

Other Digital Content 

Library staff initiated a retrospective digitization of the Senate Executive Calendars in response to staff requests for older editions of the calendar. This collaborative project between the library and the Senate Executive Clerk will build a complete digital collection from the library’s bound editions and form the basis for a future online digital archive. 

Senate Knowledge Base 

The Senate knowledge base is an institutional repository of data to support the 

Webster site taxonomy project and Webster search enhancement. To date, 1,154 document records and 2,016 term records in the Senate knowledge base are supporting 

the Webster taxonomy and search projects. The 45 percent increase in the number 

of terms and 19 percent increase in the number of documents created this year is 

a result of a restructuring of the database to support the online Senate Services Directory (Red Book) and reporting for ‘‘keymatches’’. 

Webster Online Services Directory (Red Book) Redesign 

The online Services Directory is a joint effort between the SAA’s Assistant Sergeant at Arms/Chief Information Office and the Library. The Red Book was a printed directory (last published in November 2010) created by the Senate telephone operators as a finding aid for commonly requested numbers and services. The online 

Senate Services Directory is driven by a completely new taxonomy that is managed 

through the Senate knowledge base. 

Webster Search Enhancement 

Librarians improve Webster search results by analyzing popular search terms and 

matching them with topically relevant pages or search engine ‘‘keymatches’’ (which 

are managed through the Senate knowledge base). This improves the chances a 

searcher will find what he or she is looking for on Webster. During 2010, 245 

‘‘keymatches’’ were established and 240 edits were made to update Web page links. 

Instruction and Outreach Programs 

Reference librarians conduct a wide variety of classes and tours for Senate staff 

including, Insider’s Guide to Webster, LIS Savvy, Research Tools on Your Desktop, 

Services of the Senate Library, and Got Questions? In 2010, 91 classes and tours 

were offered, with a total of 379 Senate staff participating. Classes and tours are 

held frequently to allow librarians to interact with smaller groups and create a more 

customized learning experience for the attendees. 

LOC, Office of Web Technology, and the Joint Office of Education and Training 

collaborated on redesigning the LOC class registration page. The redesign offers a 

more streamlined registration process, has reduced posting errors, and has increased the opportunities for the reference team to market classes to Senate staff. 

LOC gave numerous tours to Senate groups and outside library professionals, including each semester’s Senate Page School class, librarians from the Supreme 

Court Library and the National Defense University, library school students, and 18 

separate groups of summer interns from Senate offices. The LOC hosted a university library school student on a semester-long practicum. The LOC also participated 

in the Senate Services Fair, reaching out to 91 attendees. 

In an effort reach Senate staff more directly, an email signatures pilot program 

was launched to highlight library services, resources, training opportunities, and the 

SIS online survey. The email signatures link to a featured resource and change 

monthly to coordinate with the Library’s overall promotional program. Other promotional efforts include several Webster announcements and flyers with monthly 

LOC and SIS vendor training course offerings. 

Two new reading lists were created to highlight books in the LOC’s collection: The 

Civil War in Books and Great Reads for New Senate Staff. Both bibliographies are 

available on Webster and are highlighted with display cases and Web promotional 

announcements. The Civil War in Books is the LOC’s contribution to the commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the start of the Civil War, and the Great Reads 

list is designed to reach new Senate staff who want to broaden their knowledge of 

Senate history and their understanding of legislative process and procedure. 
173 

Collection Development 

Audiobooks 

The Library acquired 35 new audio book titles in 2010, bringing the total number 

to 125 titles. Designed to assist users with diverse needs, including those who may 

be visually challenged, the program remains popular with patrons whose 797 loans 

were equivalent to circulating each item in the collection six times over. An online 

bibliography on Webster contains links to the catalog and the online book request 

form. 

New Digital Resources 

The LOC worked with LexisNexis and Westlaw to remove the login prompt and 

provide direct Senate-wide access to title-level database search pages through its Serials Solutions A–Z electronic journals list on Webster. A tangible result of these efforts to improve utility saw overall searches increase 19 percent to 5,524 and a 60 

percent increase in the use of all online resources indexed over the same period last 

year. Content was updated to include 43 new databases that result from changes 

in vendor offerings. 

In 2010, the library began offering Senate-wide access to these e-books, all published by Congressional Quarterly: 

—Guide to Congress; 

—Guide to the Presidency; 

—Guide to U.S. Elections; 

—Landmark Legislation, 1774–2002; and 

—Major Acts of Congress. 

The Library began offering Senate-wide access to a legislative histories database 

on the LexisNexis congressional platform. The legislative histories database provides information on all hearings and reports associated with a law and provides 

direct links to the full text of these congressional documents. 

Library reference services were enhanced through the acquisition of Federal News 

Service transcripts and JSTOR archival journal content. These resources expand the 

range of questions that reference librarians can answer. 

Government Documents 

As a participant in GPO’s Federal Depository Library Program, the Library receives selected categories of legislative, executive, and judicial branch publications. 

The library received 10,078 government publications in 2010. In response to the 

trend of issuing government documents in electronic format, 5,505 links were added 

to the library catalog, bringing the total number to 34,443, an increase of 15 percent 

more than last year. The links provide Senate staff desktop access to the full text 

of each document. 

ACQUISITIONS, 2010 

Category Total 

Congressional documents .................................................................................................................................... 7,790 

Executive and judicial branch publications ........................................................................................................ 2,288 

Books (including audiobooks and e-books) ......................................................................................................... 761 

Electronic links ..................................................................................................................................................... 5,505 

Total acquisitions ................................................................................................................................... 16,344 

Legislative Validation 

The Library’s Legislative Validation Clerk verifies and edits the accuracy and consistency of data and legislative information published by Secretary of the Senate 

staff in the LIS, the DMS, the Congressional Record, Senate.gov, and Webster. The 

clerk’s work also requires the verification of selected Congressional Record Index entries (print and electronic) and includes comparing electronic entries made by legislative staff or data entry clerks from various agencies with the printed Congressional Record Index and notifying the offices of discrepancies. 

Between January and December 2010, the Legislative Validation Clerk submitted 

248 corrections out of hundreds of thousands of verified legislative actions that took 

place during the year. 
174 

LEGISLATIVE VALIDATION CLERK CORRECTIONS, 2010 

Office Submitted 

Bill, Enrolling, Executive, Journal, and Legislative Clerks .................................................................................. 88 

Reporters of Debates, Morning Business Editor, and Daily Digest .................................................................... 109 

GPO and LOC—LIS .............................................................................................................................................. 51 

Total, corrections .................................................................................................................................... 248 

Cataloging 

The Library’s cataloging staff produces and maintains a catalog of more than 

213,000 bibliographic items. During 2010, they added 3,736 new titles to the catalog 

and performed 23,839 record maintenance and enhancement activities. New materials are in large part made up of congressional materials that are cataloged and 

made available to staff and patrons the same day. The 45 percent decrease in new 

titles cataloged from the previous year can be attributed to a decrease in the number of retrospective materials cataloged and an increased attention to catalog maintenance and enhancement activities, such as correcting subjects and names that 

have become obsolete and retrospectively adding full-text content and book jacket 

images to existing records. 

Catalogers’ time and skills at categorizing and describing content are increasingly 

in demand for taxonomy-related projects designed to enhance Webster, including 

creating the records that drive functionality in the new online Red Book Senate 

Services Directory and analyzing logs of unsuccessful searches to create 

‘‘keymatches’’ that target Webster search results. 

Cataloging staff participated in a nationwide project, coordinated by the LOC, to 

create a set of test records for evaluating new cataloging rules, called Resource Description and Access (RDA), that are slated for possible implementation in 2011. 

After receiving in-house training, catalogers contributed 39 RDA test records. 

Catalogers created 553 bibliographic records for Senate hearings not yet printed 

from information in the Congressional Record Daily Digest and the combined hearings schedule on Webster. This includes field hearings that are not listed in the 

Daily Digest. These records provide preliminary access for Senate staff and remain 

in the catalog until the printed hearing is received and cataloged. 

The catalog is updated nightly to ensure that Senate staff will retrieve accurate 

and current information on Library holdings. The addition of 538 book jacket images 

in 2010, an increase of 79 percent, enhanced the catalog’s visual appeal. 

Library Automation 

The Library worked with the Information Systems Office to develop and deploy 

a new updated workstation template for the Library. For the first time, the new 

workstations made use of virtual access to frequently updated applications, eliminating conflicts between applications, reducing required workstation maintenance, 

and minimizing staff disruption. 

A server-level upgrade of the integrated library system software used to maintain 

our online catalog was completed, and a new Web-based interface for generating reports from the system was implemented. The new system takes advantage of enhancements in the catalog database and offers new reporting formats. 

A new virtual server was implemented to house the Senate knowledge base. The 

database software was installed in December in preparation for the migration of the 

database. The virtual server provides enterprise-level data backup and replaces obsolete hardware. The Information Systems Office provides maintenance support for 

the virtual server and remote management tools for use by Library staff. 

The Library and the Information Systems Office worked with SAA staff to configure and test an off-the-shelf application to log, track, and route incoming SIS support requests. New processes and procedures were also established to monitor email 

and telephone requests and establish data entry and statistical requirements. 

Preservation, Binding, and Collection Maintenance 

Technical Services staff continued to participate in book repair training sessions 

led by the Director of the Office of Conservation and Preservation. Trainees repaired 

330 volumes, an increase of 74 percent from 2009, making significant progress in 

the preservation of the library’s bound book collection. 

The library continues to preserve and protect rare and fragile print materials in 

its collections using commercial binding services procured through GPO. In 2010, a 

total of 456 volumes were sent out for binding, and 378 volumes were completed, 

with excellent results. 
175 

Budget 

Budget negotiations with database vendors resulted in flat or reduced pricing for 

online research services and subscriptions. Budget savings from price reductions in 

2010 online research services and subscriptions totaled $38,077 over the next 3 

years. After 13 years of budget monitoring, savings total $149,013. This continual 

review of purchases eliminates materials not meeting the Senate’s current information needs. This oversight is also critical in offsetting cost increases for core materials and for acquiring new materials. 

Special Projects 

Unum, Newsletter of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate 

Unum, the Secretary’s quarterly newsletter, has been produced by Senate Library 

staff since October 1997 and is distributed throughout the Senate and to former 

staff and Senators. It serves as an historical record of accomplishments, events, and 

personnel news in the Office of the Secretary of the Senate. Highlights from the 

2010 Unum issues include articles written by department interns on the history of 

the August recess, the State of the Union dinner hosted by the Secretary of the Senate; a feature on the slave labor plaque installed in the Capitol; a piece on the Curator’s ‘‘Rumors’’ Web site; two articles about archiving Senate records by Senate Archivist Karen Paul; a feature about the 150th anniversary of the Civil War from a 

congressional viewpoint; and the continuation of the ‘‘Senate Voices’’ series prepared 

by the Historical Office that contains excerpts of oral histories of former staffers. 

National Library Week 

David O. Stewart, author of Impeached. The Trial of President Andrew Johnson 

and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy, was the featured speaker at the Library’s 12th 

annual book talk in honor of National Library Week. 

Display Cases 

Two well-received displays, one on the ‘‘Senatorial Life of Everett Dirksen’’ and 

the other on the ‘‘Dirksen Senate Office Building’’, were installed at the request of 

the Senate Rules Committee in the cases flanking the entrance to the Dirksen auditorium (SDG–50) in collaboration with the Senate Curator’s Office and the Senate 

Historical Office. Hallway display cases outside the LOC continue to educate staff 

and visitors alike while highlighting the LOC’s collections. Display cases featured 

this year include: 

—Civil War Capitol; 

—Civil War in Books; 

—Kids Books on Political Pets; 

—Great Reads for New Staff; and 

—History Lives at Your Library, a display highlighting African-American contributions to government, aviation, and medicine. 

The Great Reads for New Staff reading list has proved especially popular with 

staff and circulation of the books on the list skyrocketed. The Civil War in Books 

and the Civil War Capitol display are part of the LOC’s commemoration of the 

150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. 

Cooperative Projects 

Hearing URL data from the Library catalog is exported weekly to provide LIS and 

THOMAS with full-text links to Senate hearings. The library contributed 1,051 new 

Senate hearing links to the LIS database during 2010, a 50 percent increase more 

than 2009. 

The Library’s Cataloging Supervisor completed work with Joint Committee on 

Taxation staff on a project to supply bibliographic records for a set of committee documents submitted for scanning at the Federal Scanning Center at LOC. The Committee provided the LOC with printed versions of any documents in the set not already in our collection. In 2010, a total of 412 new titles were added to the LOC’s 

catalog as a result of this project. 

Major Library Goals for 2011 

Complete procurement of Senate-wide online research services for fiscal year 

2012. 

Create a team to evaluate Library course offerings and explore opportunities to 

contribute to the Office of Education and Training’s task-based curriculum tracks. 

Provide a unified presentation of Library and SIS vendor-sponsored training on 

FrontPage. 
176 

Complete transition of the Red Book Services Directory from pilot project to production service. Continue to develop new entries for the alphabetical organization 

display. 

Create an outreach committee to coordinate content, methods, and dissemination 

of targeted service and promotional offerings to reach new Senate offices and State 

staff. 

Task a working group with review and enhancement of SIS custom user interface 

for LexisNexis. 

Continue to work with SIS program vendors to make additional news-related content available through Senate NewsWatch and the InfoViewer product. 

Provide cataloging staff training in preparation for the possible implementation 

of new cataloging rules, called Resource Description and Access (RDA), by LOC and 

other libraries worldwide. 
177 

SENATE LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2010 

Books Government documents Congressional publications 

Total 

Ordered Received Paper Fiche Hearings Prints Bylaws Reports/ Docs 

January ............................................................................................................................................... 22 61 120 21 307 10 113 157 789 February ............................................................................................................................................. 7 30 109 64 219 9 77 123 631 March ................................................................................................................................................. 33 67 145 126 455 22 165 361 1,341 

1st Quarter ........................................................................................................................... 62 158 374 211 981 41 355 641 2,761 

April .................................................................................................................................................... 25 73 152 70 334 16 94 120 859 May ..................................................................................................................................................... 26 62 35 90 255 17 155 277 891 June .................................................................................................................................................... 20 105 171 129 263 8 105 167 948 

2nd Quarter .......................................................................................................................... 71 240 358 289 852 41 354 564 2,698 

July ..................................................................................................................................................... 23 73 97 32 343 12 113 249 919 August ................................................................................................................................................ 16 42 237 7 304 10 70 403 1,073 September .......................................................................................................................................... 82 52 174 60 184 4 76 205 755 

3rd Quarter ........................................................................................................................... 121 167 508 99 831 26 259 857 2,747 

October ............................................................................................................................................... 22 102 85 42 334 3 54 372 992 November ........................................................................................................................................... 15 63 39 15 357 11 96 100 681 December ........................................................................................................................................... 8 31 225 43 364 13 92 192 960 

4th Quarter ........................................................................................................................... 45 196 349 100 1,055 27 242 664 2,633 

2010 Total .......................................................................................................................................... 299 761 1,589 699 3,719 135 1,210 2,726 10,839 2009 Total .......................................................................................................................................... 314 831 1,653 464 3,660 204 1,162 2,540 10,514 Percentage change ............................................................................................................................ ¥4.78 ¥8.42 ¥3.87 ∂50.65 ∂1.61 ¥33.82 ∂4.13 ∂7.32 ∂3.09 
178 

SENATE LIBRARY CATALOGING STATISTICS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2010 

S. Hearing 

numbers 

added to 

LIS 

Bibliographic records cataloged 

Total 

records 

cataloged 

Books Government documents Congressional publications 

Paper Audio/ E-Books Paper Fiche Electronic Hearings Prints 

Docs./ 

Pubs./ 

Reports 

January .......................................................................................................................... 36 26 4 3 ................ 17 222 26 67 365 February ........................................................................................................................ 25 13 ................ ................ ................ 16 131 17 57 234 March ............................................................................................................................ 28 17 1 3 ................ 9 243 7 131 411 

1st Quarter ...................................................................................................... 89 56 5 6 ................ 42 596 50 255 1,010 

April .............................................................................................................................. 34 29 7 8 ................ 8 75 ................ 62 189 May ............................................................................................................................... 17 24 ................ 10 ................ 10 127 8 206 385 June ............................................................................................................................... 73 22 1 4 ................ 7 116 6 104 260 

2nd Quarter ..................................................................................................... 124 75 8 22 ................ 25 318 14 372 834 

July ................................................................................................................................ 9 20 3 ................ ................ 13 200 4 97 337 August ........................................................................................................................... 17 18 2 2 ................ 8 166 1 90 287 September ..................................................................................................................... 8 29 8 3 ................ 8 73 4 43 168 

3rd Quarter ...................................................................................................... 34 67 13 5 ................ 29 439 9 230 792 

October .......................................................................................................................... 27 42 14 8 2 2 76 27 163 334 November ...................................................................................................................... 21 73 5 10 5 18 104 70 57 342 December ...................................................................................................................... 17 25 1 7 ................ 6 263 64 58 424 

4th Quarter ...................................................................................................... 65 140 20 25 7 26 443 161 278 1,100 

2010 Total .................................................................................................................... 312 338 46 58 7 122 1,796 234 1,135 3,736 2009 Total .................................................................................................................... 331 677 155 107 317 153 3,876 1,185 321 6,791 Percentage change ....................................................................................................... ¥5.74 ¥50.07 ¥70.32 ¥45.79 ¥97.79 ¥20.26 ¥53.66 ¥80.25 ∂253.58 ¥44.99 
179 

SENATE LIBRARY DOCUMENT DELIVERY FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2009 

Volumes 

loaned 

Materials 

delivered Facsimiles 

Micrographics 

center pages 

printed 

Photocopiers pages 

printed 

January ........................................................................... 376 322 17 50 4,361 

February ......................................................................... 202 286 16 83 4,154 

March ............................................................................. 360 390 11 99 4,417 

1st quarter ....................................................... 938 998 44 232 12,932 

April ............................................................................... 282 420 12 100 9,032 

May ................................................................................ 252 318 14 49 5,495 

June ................................................................................ 248 326 11 91 9,294 

2nd quarter ...................................................... 782 1,064 37 240 23,821 

July ................................................................................. 285 382 16 60 11,443 

August ............................................................................ 220 374 13 109 3,867 

September ...................................................................... 255 377 27 20 4,753 

3rd quarter ....................................................... 760 1,133 56 189 20,063 

October ........................................................................... 212 362 34 8 4,942 

November ....................................................................... 306 395 41 108 4,860 

December ....................................................................... 253 397 11 80 5,365 

4th quarter ....................................................... 771 1,154 86 196 15,167 

2010 Total ..................................................................... 3,251 4,349 223 857 71,983 

2009 Total ..................................................................... 3,118 4,159 212 1,378 71,756 

Percentage change ........................................................ ∂4.27 ∂4.57 ∂5.19 ¥37.81 ¥4.77 

PAGE SCHOOL

The United States Senate Page School exists to provide a smooth transition from 

and to the students’ home schools, providing those students with as sound a program, both academically and experientially, as possible during their stay in the Nation’s capital, within the limits of the constraints imposed by the work situation. 

Summary of Accomplishments 

Accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools continues 

through April 2013. 

Two page classes successfully completed their semester curriculum. Closing ceremonies were conducted on June 4, 2010 and January 28, 2011, the last day of school 

for each semester. 

Orientation and course scheduling for the spring 2010 and fall 2010 pages were 

successfully completed. Needs of incoming students determined the semester schedules. 

English usage pre- and post-tests were administered to students each semester 

and the results were reviewed by faculty to determine what usage instruction or remediation was needed. 

A foreign language seminar on basic grammar terminology was offered fall 2010. 

Study skills sessions were provided to identified students in need of training. 

Faculty and staff provided extended educational experiences to pages, including 

20 field trips, two guest speakers, opportunities to play musical instruments and vocalize, and foreign language study with the aid of tutors. Eight field trips to educational sites and two guest speakers were provided for summer pages as an extension of the page experience. 

National tests were administered for qualification in scholarship programs. Fourteen pages took 28 Advanced Placement exams in 11 subjects. 

The community service project embraced by pages and staff in 2002 continues. 

Items for gift packages were collected, assembled, and shipped to military personnel 

serving in various locations. Pages included letters of support to the troops. 
180 

The evacuation plan and COOP plan have been reviewed and updated. Pages and 

staff continue to practice evacuating to primary and secondary sites. 

Staff and pages participated in escape hood training, and staff renewed certification in CPR/AED procedures. 

All students and staff participated in a Constitution Day event. 

Computer Services upgraded the Page School’s library computers to include 

Microsoft 2007. 

Summary of Plans 

Our goals include: 

—Individualized small group instruction and tutoring by teachers on an as-needed 

basis will continue to be offered, as well as optional academic support for students preparing to take AP tests; 

—Foreign language tutors will provide assistance to students, and a foreign language seminar on basic grammar terminology will continue to be offered each 

semester; 

—The focus of field trips will be sites of historic, political, and scientific importance which complement the curriculum; 

—English usage pre- and post-tests will continue to be administered to students 

each semester to assist faculty in determining needs of students for usage instruction; and 

—Staff development options include attendance at seminars conducted by Education and Training and subject matter and/or educational issue conferences 

conducted by national organizations. 

PRINTING AND DOCUMENT SERVICES

The Office of Printing and Document Services (OPDS) serves as liaison to GPO 

for the Senate’s official printing, ensuring that all Senate printing is in compliance 

with title 44, U.S. Code as it relates to Senate documents, hearings, committee 

prints, and other official publications. The office assists the Senate by coordinating, 

scheduling, delivering and preparing Senate legislation, hearings, documents, committee prints and miscellaneous publications for printing, and provides printed copies of all legislation and public laws to the Senate and the public. In addition, the 

office assigns publication numbers to all hearings, committee prints, documents and 

other publications; orders all blank paper, envelopes, and letterhead for the Senate; 

and prepares page counts of all Senate hearings in order to compensate commercial 

reporting companies for the preparation of hearings. 

Printing Services 

During fiscal year 2010, the OPDS prepared 3,698 requisitions authorizing GPO 

to print and bind the Senate’s work, exclusive of legislation and the Congressional 

Record. Since the requisitioning done by the OPDS is central to the Senate’s printing, the office is uniquely suited to perform invoice and bid reviewing responsibilities for Senate printing. As a result of this office’s cost accounting duties, OPDS 

is able to review and assure accurate GPO invoicing as well as play an active role 

in helping to provide the best possible bidding scenario for Senate publications. 

In addition to processing requisitions, the Printing Services Section coordinates 

proof handling, job scheduling and tracking for stationery products, Senate hearings, Senate publications and other miscellaneous printed products, as well as monitoring blank paper and stationery quotas for each Senate office and committee. 

OPDS also coordinates a number of publications for other Senate offices, such as 

the Curator, Historian, Disbursing, Legislative Clerk, Senate Library, as well as the 

U.S. Botanic Garden, USCP, AOC, and the CVC. These tasks include providing 

guidance for design, paper selection, print specifications, monitoring print quality, 

and distribution. Last year’s major printing projects included: 

—semi-annual report of the Secretary of the Senate; 

—tributes to retiring Senators; 

—art and historic objects in the Senate; 

—The Kennedy Caucus Room brochure; 

—2010 Senate Telephone Directory; 

—Senate gallery passes and visitor badges; and 

—CVC tour tickets and informational brochures. 

Hearing Billing Verification 

Senate committees often use outside reporting companies to transcribe their hearings, both in-house and in the field. OPDS processes billing verifications for these 

transcription services ensuring that costs billed to the Senate are accurate. OPDS 

utilizes a program developed in conjunction with the SAA Computer Division that 
181 

provides greater billing accuracy and information gathering capacity; and adheres 

to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration’s transcription services billing guidelines for commercial reporting companies. During 2010, OPDS provided 

commercial reporting companies and corresponding Senate committees a total of 820 

billing verifications of Senate hearings and business meetings; more than 59,000 

transcribed pages were processed at a total billing cost of $554,214. 

During 2010, the office processed all file transfers and billing verifications between committees and reporting companies electronically ensuring efficiency and accuracy. 

Secretary of the Senate Service Center 

The Service Center within OPDS is staffed by experienced GPO detailees who provide Senate committees and the Secretary of the Senate’s office with complete publishing services for hearings, committee prints, and the preparation of the Congressional Record. These services include keyboarding, proofreading, scanning, and composition. This allows committees to decrease, or eliminate, additional overtime costs 

associated with the preparation of hearings. Additionally, the Service Center provides work for GPO detailees assigned to legislative offices during Senate recesses. 

Document Services 

The Document Services Section coordinates requests for printed legislation and 

miscellaneous publications with other departments within the Secretary’s office, 

Senate committees, and GPO. This section ensures that the most current version 

of all material is available, and that sufficient quantities are available to meet projected demands. The Congressional Record, a printed record of Senate and House 

Floor proceedings, Extension of Remarks, Daily Digest and miscellaneous pages, is 

one of the many printed documents provided by the office on a daily basis. In addition to the Congressional Record, the office processed and distributed more than 

10,000 distinct legislative items during the 2nd Session of the 111th Congress, including Senate and House bills, resolutions, committee and conference reports, executive documents, and public laws. 

The demand for online access to legislative information continues to be strong. Before Senate legislation can be posted online, it must be received in the Senate 

through OPDS. Improved database reports allow the office to report receipt of all 

legislative bills and resolutions received in the Senate which can then be made 

available online and accessed by other Web sites, such as LIS and Thomas, used 

by congressional staff and the public. 

Customer Service 

The primary responsibility of OPDS is to provide services to the Senate, but documents are also made available to the general public and other government agencies. 

During 2010, more than 12,000 requests for legislative material were received at the 

walk-in counter, through the mail, by fax, and electronically. Online ordering of legislative documents and the Legislative Hot List Link, where Members and staff can 

confirm arrival of printed copies of the most sought after legislative documents, continued to be popular. The site is updated several times daily each time new documents arrive from GPO to the Document Room. In addition, the office handled thousands of phone calls pertaining to the Senate’s official printing, document requests, 

and legislative questions. Recorded messages, fax, and email operate around the 

clock and are processed as they are received, as are mail requests. The office 

stresses prompt, courteous customer service while providing accurate answers to 

Senate and public requests. 

On-demand Publication 

The office supplements depleted legislation where needed by producing additional 

copies in the DocuTech Service Center, staffed by experienced GPO detailees who 

provide Member offices and Senate committees with on-demand printing and binding of bills and reports. On-demand publication allows the department to cut the 

quantities of documents printed directly from GPO and reduces waste. The 

DocuTech is networked with GPO, allowing print files to be sent back and forth 

electronically. This allows OPDS to print necessary legislation for the Senate Floor, 

and other offices, in the event of a GPO COOP situation. 

Accomplishments and Future Goals 

Over the past year, the OPDS has faced challenges by providing new services for 

customers and improving existing ones. Of particular note is the office’s commitment 

to help ‘‘green’’ the Senate. During 2010, more than 5.5 million sheets of 100 percent 

recycled paper were ordered by Senate offices, representing a 22 percent increase 

more than the previous year. During the last 3 years orders for fully recycled stocks 
182 

have increased 750 percent. The office works diligently to track document requirements, monitoring print quantities, and reducing waste and associated costs. More 

than 400 new and revised print jobs were routed electronically for customer approval improving turnaround time and efficiency. 

The office continues working with the GPO on behalf of its customers, to improve 

efficiency and to meet the evolving needs of the Senate. Focus on COOP and emergency preparedness will continue. 

PUBLIC RECORDS

The Office of Public Records receives, processes, and maintains records, reports, 

and other documents filed with the Secretary of the Senate that involve the Federal 

Election Campaign Act, as amended; the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, as 

amended; the Senate Code of Official Conduct: Rule 34, Public Financial Disclosure; 

Rule 35, Senate Gift Rule filings; Rule 40, Registration of Mass Mailing; Rule 41, 

Political Fund Designees; and Rule 41(6), Supervisor’s Reports on Individuals Performing Senate Services; and Foreign Travel Reports. 

The office provides for the inspection, review, and publication of these documents. 

From October 2009 through September 2010, the Public Records office staff assisted 

more than 2,000 individuals seeking information from reports filed with the office. 

This figure does not include assistance provided by telephone or email, nor help 

given to lobbyists attempting to comply with the provisions of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, as amended (collectively, the ‘‘LDA’’). In addition, the office works 

closely with the Federal Election Commission, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, and the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives concerning the filing requirements of the aforementioned Acts and Senate rules. 

Fiscal Year 2010 Accomplishments 

The office continued to implement S. 1, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA), which amended the LDA and the Senate Code of Conduct. The 

office posted two guidance updates and concentrated on LDA compliance issues, referring 2,473 cases of potential noncompliance to the U.S. Attorney for the District 

of Columbia. The Senate Office of Public Records continued to test COOP plans and 

pandemic response plans. 

Plans for Fiscal Year 2011 

The Public Records office will assess technology infrastructure needs, as well as 

continue to semiannually review and update the LDA Guidance as needed. The office will continue to develop and implement educational information and tools that 

will help all report filers comply fully with the law and assist customers in accessing 

the information they seek. 

Automation Activities 

During fiscal year 2010, the Senate Office of Public Records worked with the SAA 

to enhance database performance for all issue areas and improve public query programs. 

Federal Election Campaign Act, As Amended 

The act requires Senate candidates to file quarterly and pre- and postelection reports. Filings totaled 5,147 documents containing 358,500 pages. 

Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA), As Amended 

The LDA requires semi-annual financial and lobbying activity reports. As of September 30, 2010, there were 4,635 registrants representing 18,776 clients. The total 

number of individual lobbyists disclosed on 2010 registrations and reports was 

12,754. The total number of lobbying registrations and reports processed was 

131,410. 

Public Financial Disclosure 

The filing date for Public Financial Disclosure Reports was May 17, 2010. The reports were made available to the public and press by June 16, 2010 as required by 

statute. Public Records staff provided copies to the Select Committee on Ethics and 

the appropriate State officials. A total of 3,191 reports and amendments were filed 

containing 21,651 pages. There were 463 requests to review or receive copies of the 

documents. 

Senate Rule 35 (Gift Rule) 

The Senate Office of Public Records received 316 Gift Rule/Travel reports during 

fiscal year 2010. 
183 

Registration of Mass Mailing 

Senators are required to file mass mailing reports on a quarterly basis. The number of pages submitted during fiscal year 2010 was 495. 

STATIONERY ROOM

The United States Senate Stationery Room is the provider of office and administrative supplies, personalized stationery, and special order items for official Government business. The Stationery Room serves all Members, support offices, and other 

authorized organizations. 

The Stationery Room fulfills its mission by: 

—Utilizing open market, competitive bid, statutorily required, and/or GSA schedules for supply procurement; 

—Maintaining sufficient in-stock quantities of select merchandise in order to best 

meet the immediate needs of the Senate community; 

—Developing and maintaining productive business relationships with a wide variety of vendors to ensure sufficient breadth and availability of merchandise; 

—Maintaining expense accounts for all authorized customers and preparing 

monthly activity statements; 

—Managing all accounts receivable and accounts payable reimbursement; and 

—Ensuring the integrity of all funds and other government assets under our control. 

Statistics 

Fiscal year 2009 Fiscal year 2008 

Gross sales ...................................................................................................................... $3,343,167.00 $3,594,733.94 

Sales transactions .......................................................................................................... 44,626 47,459 

Purchase orders issued .................................................................................................. 6,354 6,586 

Vouchers processed ......................................................................................................... 7,022 7,073 

Office deliveries .............................................................................................................. 5,986 5,661 

Number of items delivered ............................................................................................. 136,021 134,191 

Number of items sold ..................................................................................................... 390,528 439,042 

Total cartons received offsite ......................................................................................... 22,583 ............................

GAO Audit 

At the request of the Secretary of the Senate, in September 2010, GAO conducted 

an inventory observation and audit of the Stationery Room financial operations. The 

Stationery Room received a positive review during the verbal feedback portion of the 

GAO exit interview. The recommendations provided by GAO at the conclusion of 

their observation had either already been implemented or will be adapted as recommended as part of our future operational procedures. 

Fiscal Year 2011—Looking Ahead 

Subject to funding availability, the Stationery Room anticipates an upgrade to its 

point-of-sales operations, by upgrading/replacing obsolete signature capture devices 

at the counter. This update would permit transaction receipts to be emailed to the 

office at the time of sale, eliminating the generation and loss of paper receipts, and 

a more environmentally friendly process. 

The Stationery Room hopes to launch a pilot project that will allow constituents 

to make online flag purchases from Senate offices utilizing credit cards to orders. 

In addition, the Stationery Room anticipates launching online ordering of stationery 

supplies by Member and committee offices in 2011. 

WEB TECHNOLOGY

The Department of Web Technology is responsible for the Web sites that fall 

under the purview of the Secretary of the Senate: 

—the Senate Web site (Senate.gov)—available to the world; 

—the Secretary’s internal Web site (Webster.senate.gov/secretary)—available to 

the Senate Staff; 

—central portions of the Senate Intranet (Webster.senate.gov)—available to the 

Senate Staff; and 

—the Senate Legislative Branch Web site (Legbranch.senate.gov)—available to 

the Senate, House of Representatives, LOC, AOC, GAO, GPO, Congressional 

Budget Office (CBO), and USCP. 
184 

The Senate Web Site—Senate.gov 

The Senate Web site content is maintained by more than 30 contributors from 

seven departments of the Secretary’s office and three departments of the SAA. Content team leaders regularly share ideas and coordinate the posting of new content. 

All content is controlled through the Secretary’s Web Content Management System 

(CMS) managed by the Department of Web Technology. 

Major Additions to the Web site in 2010 

Rumors! Tall Tales About Senate Art http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/ 

myths/mythlhomepage.htm 

The online exhibit dispels common rumors regarding Senate art. This project was 

a multi-year effort, and the final online version is the product of close collaboration 

with the Curator’s Office. 

Artifact Browse List Collections 

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/common/collectionllist/Interior.jsp. 

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/common/collectionllist/ 

SitternamelList.jsp. 

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/common/collectionllist/BeyondlCaplHill.jsp 

Created new and interesting ways for the Curator’s Office to group artifacts and 

for these artifacts to be displayed, researched, and enjoyed by a large and diverse 

audience. The flexibility of these lists made it possible to reorganize the artifacts 

on Senate.gov into a much more useful manner. 

Decorative Art Added 

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/art/althreelsectionslwithlteasers/ 

DecorativeArts.htm. 

The previously mentioned artifact browse lists were instrumental to getting new 

genres of artifacts online. The addition of furniture, mirrors, timepieces, and ephemera makes even more of the Senate Art collection available for all to enjoy in a fun 

and informative display. 

Daily Senate Floor Report 

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/floorlactivity/floorlactivity.htm. 

The online report highlights morning, legislative, and executive business that occurred in the previous day. This one report combines information previously only 

available in several different documents and provides hyperlinks to relevant information, such as bill summary and status pages, treaties, nominations, and roll call 

votes. Previous days’ data will be made available in the coming year. 
185 

Public Records Feedback Form 

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/PubliclDisclosure/feedbacklform.htm. 

The newly added Web form provides an additional avenue of communication with 

the Office of Public Records. 

Investigation Committees 

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Investigations.htm. 

Produced new page templates and modified existing ones to allow the Historical 

Office to showcase and share their rich historical accounts of Senate and Joint Committees involved in investigations. These highlight Members involved and trace the 

origins through the outcome of these Committees. This is surely an area that will 

continue to expand over the years as we are able to add more information about 

past investigation Committees and as future ones arise. 

Committee FAQ 

http://www.senate.gov/general/common/generic/committeelfaq.htm. 

In response to many emails sent to the public Webmaster account, data gathered 

from Web traffic tools, and analysis of searches entered, this new page was created 

to answer question about committees and clear up common misconceptions. 

Legislative Process Information Enhanced 

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/dlthreelsectionslwithlteasers/ 

process.htm. 

Revamping this section greatly added to the amount of information available on 

the legislative process. A related enactment of law section was also created and 

linked as a companion: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/common/briefing/Enactmentllaw.htm. 

Senate Chronology Page 

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/onelitemlandlteasers/chronology.htm#chrono logy=y1787l1800. 

Implemented a new and interesting way to display historical information in conjunction with the Historical Office. The new display puts all information on a single 

page which allows the user far more interaction. 

Seven Featured Biographies 

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/onelitemlandlteasers/featuredlbiographies.htm. 

Four Oral Histories 

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/glthreelsectionslwithlteasers/ 

oralhistory.htm. 

Visitors Section Expanded 

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/visiting/althreelsectionslwithlteasers/visitorslhome.htm. 

Unique subsections were added in the visitors section for employment and procurement opportunities. The employment page allows for the browsing of positions 

available with the Secretary of the Senate, SAA, Member, and committee offices. 

The information for these positions come from unique systems and are combined 

into a single useful resource location. 

Homepage feature articles were published on the following topics: 

—Yea or Nay voting in the Senate; 

—Celebrate National Library Week: Browse Senate Art Publications; 

—Biographical Directory: Who’s Who in Congress; 

—The Role of Committees in the Legislative Process; 

—Senate Art Exhibits: Learning about the Senate; 

—Focus on the Constitution: The Connecticut Compromise; and 

—Explore the Senate’s Decorative Art Collection. 
186 

Secretary’s Intranet—Webster.senate.gov/secretary 

The Secretary of the Senate Intranet (http://webster.senate.gov/secretary) continued to expand information and services offered. An archive for UNUM, the newsletter of the office of the Secretary of the Senate, was established and linked to from 

the front page. Web-based order forms were maintained, expanded, and enhanced 

for the requesting of specific legislative documents, class registration, blank paper, 

room reservations, and stationery product suggestions. 

A catalog-based ordering system was developed for the Stationery Office, which 

will allow staff to order online. The new system is managed with the content directly from the Stationery Office’s existing Microsoft Retail Management System 

(RMS). The ordering system was designed and implemented with the intent of being 

especially helpful to State offices. This project was a multiple-year effort involving 

several different departments and the diligent work of four interns who were instrumental in associating pictures with products. 

FrontPage, the Web portal for the SIS, was moved to the Secretary’s internal domain and has a completely new look. Web technology worked very closely with the 

Senate Library to help establish and provide surveys, announcements, and information regarding the transition in addition designing, developing, and launching the 

new site, frontpage.senate.gov, in a short period of time. The design utilizes more 

advanced technologies to make the site interesting and useful. All feedback suggests 

the new design is very helpful and well received by users. 
187 

Webster Central Web site—Webster.senate.gov 

In conjunction with the SAA, Chaplain, and Senate Rules Committee, Web Technology continued administering, managing, and enhancing the central section of 

Webster. Web Technology partnered with the SAA and the Senate Library to enact 

major changes to the services tab, the search functions, and the links available on 

the lower left of the home page. 

The services tab is now a categorical listing of services available to the Senate 

that provides relevant Web pages, phone numbers, and addresses in a very easy to 

use interface. The data is produced using a taxonomy system and integrated 

through the CMS. The same source data is used to populate the newly expanded 

Webster search. This very advanced technique allows the same source file used for 

the services to produce the most relevant search results in the new directory in real 

time and without additional work. 

Web Technology continue to further streamline the management of content on the 

central site by repurposing additional files that are already updated through existing systems on Senate.gov. The expansion of repurposed data continues to reduce 

duplicative efforts, increase consistency, relevancy, and timeliness of data displayed 

on Webster. Standardizing on XML across both sites and having them integrated 

into the Secretary’s CMS was essential to making this possible. 

Senate Legislative Branch Web site (Legbranch.senate.gov) 

The Legbranch server is accessible by the Senate, House of Representatives, LOC, 

AOC, GAO, GPO, CBO, and USCP. Web technology maintains a basic Web site for 

a Capitol Hill email messaging working group managed by the SAA. In the future 

the server will be used to share more information with other Capitol Hill entities. 

Accomplishments of the Office of Web Technology in 2010 

Completed the CMS upgrade on time and under budget. New hardware hosts the 

most currently released versions of the software (as of January 2010) that comprises 

the CMS. This upgrade has proven to be the most stable environment yet. Additionally, Web Technology built a complete development repository that mimics the production environment. This allows us a much greater ability to customize the system 

and try out various solutions without compromising the uptime or efficiency of the 

production version. 

Added the Daily Senate Floor Report to Senate.gov. This represents a milestone, 

as this project has been worked on for approximately the past 5 years. The online 
188 

report highlights morning, legislative, and executive business that occurred the previous day. This one report combines information previously only available in various 

printed documents. Having much of the data hyperlinked to relevant information, 

such as bill summary and status pages, treaties, nominations, and roll call votes, 

makes this a tremendously useful resource. 

Audited the Senate.gov Web pages regularly, updating, enhancing, and correcting 

pages; verifying content; and reviewing individual page designs throughout Senate.gov for accessibility and usability. Additionally, attended training on the latest 

advances in coding techniques to ensure accessibility and applied them to our sites. 

Constantly monitored data feeds from the LIS/DMS system ensuring content on 

Senate.gov was current and all processes were functioning properly. This is of vital 

importance regarding information such as committee hearing schedules, vote data, 

and Member contact information. 

Worked with new Senate offices to establish and maintain temporary Web pages 

including a picture, biography, and contact information until they were able to get 

permanent Web sites established. 

Responded to approximately 1,000 emails from the general public regarding Senate.gov sites. Worked with various content providers, Web support groups, the SAA, 

Member, and committee offices to make suggestions and resolve issues. 

Continually reviewed and adjusted search operations and canned matches for both 

Senate.gov and Webster based on user tendencies and requests. A major addition 

was the creation and maintenance of a new Google onebox for the services (Red 

Book) recently released. 

Prepared for the release of an online version of the Secretary of the Senate’s Report. Collaborated with the Disbursing Office, the Committee on Rules and Administration, and GPO to formulate a strategy to provide the report in a useful and secure manner. Produced several new versions of the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment Web 

site. Worked closely with the office to achieve their desired look through several 

iterations of design, development, and review. 

Designed and developed a seminar registration application for the Senate Chief 

Counsel for Employment. The system allows customized links to be sent which autopopulates a registration form along with a complete class list. 

Conducted user testing with Senate staff and interns to increase understanding 

of current Web site interactions, desires, and best practices. 

Participated in Capitol Hill working group determining ideal manner of providing 

public legislative data in a secure, downloadable, and searchable format. Other entities involved in this project are the House of Representative, GPO, and the LOC. 

Helped organize Capitol Hill-wide Webmaster meetings, where best practices were 

shared across entities. Regularly gave presentations and facilitated conversations 

during meetings. 

Continually trained and practiced working from remote locations to be prepared 

should the need arise. All staff members are fully capable of accomplishing their job 

functions from any location with Internet access. This was accomplished largely 

through configuring virtual machines that mimic our workstations on office laptops, 

which we all may access. Regardless of which staff member uses which laptop, the 

experience will be ubiquitous and consistent with being in the office. 

Aided the Senate Library in aspects of SIS transition. The new FrontPage interface exposes many more resources in an easy to use manner. In leveraging advances 

in Web 2.0 technologies, Web Technology is able to take greater advantage of available space and provide robust information concisely. Through designing and developing the system in XML and leveraging the CMS it is easy for nontechnical users 

to update and maintain. 

Worked extensively with the Senate Library in the continued development, implementation, and maintenance of taxonomies utilizing a knowledge base system. Participated in the planning, design, development, and administration for including the 

‘‘Red Book’’ data in the knowledge base and then on Webster. 

Created virtualized development server for the Secretary’s Intranet. Also, maintained virtualized production server for the Secretary’s Intranet and dedicated 

search server. 

Worked with the Historical Office and GPO in the design of a new stand-alone 

site for the Historical Office’s States project that will be available to the public as 

well as Senate staff. All required data templates for the new site have been established in the content management system. 

Continued to enhance subject-based collection lists for the Senate Curator. Initially the lists organized art objects by sitters. It has been expanded to other subject 

areas, all drawn from the Curator’s maintained object database, along with more 

advanced control options for Curator staff. 
189 

Developed a new vote menu display that utilizes legislative handles and has new 

display features as requested from the Legislative Clerks. Working closely with the 

LIS/DMS group to implement requested data changes that will coincide with the 

new display. 

Successfully transitioned more than 700 hyperlinks to GPO’s FDSys as they phase 

out GPOAccess. 

Built an entire new back-up server for the CMS at the ACF with the SAA, ensuring our COOP plan can be implemented. The ACF server is an exact replica of the 

production system and is continually tested to serve as a real time replacement 

should the production server become inoperable. Shortly after the upgrade was completed, Senate.gov experienced a hardware failure that necessitated the use of the 

ACF environment while the Senate was in session and votes were occurring. Due 

to extensive planning, Web Technology was able to stand up the alternative system 

in approximately 1 hour, a major accomplishment. 

Senate.gov Usage Statistics 

In 2010 an average of more than 275,000 visits occurred per day on Senate.gov. 

Again this year, approximately 26 percent of visitors entered through the main Senate homepage. The majority came to the site through the main Senators’ contact 

page; growth in visits is likely due to the addition of XML data to the contact page 

and associated automated requests. 

Title of Web page Visits/month Average duration 

Visits from 

United States 

(percentage) 

Senate.gov site .......................................................................................... 8,521,779 16 minutes 90 

Senate homepage ...................................................................................... 1,856,960 15 seconds ( 1 ) 

1 Not available. 

Reviewing statistics on Web page usage helps the content providers better understand what information the public is seeking and how best to improve the presentation of that data. Visitors are consistently drawn to the following content items, 

listed in order of popularity. 

MOST VISITED PAGES IN 2010 

Top pages Visits/month Visits/month Average duration 

(seconds) 

Senators contact info list .......................................................................... 276,248 624,056 42 

Committees ................................................................................................ 67,194 92,871 37 

Legislation and records ............................................................................. 56,264 75,156 80 

Active legislation ....................................................................................... 49.139 63,931 167 

Votes home ................................................................................................ 48,793 68,966 68 

111th, 2nd Session vote menu ................................................................. 44,242 74,223 146 

Employment positions ................................................................................ 40,471 48,703 416 

Calendars ................................................................................................... 33,594 73,100 182 

By a huge margin, the most popular page on the main Senate Web site is the list 

of Senators with links to their Web sites, comment forms, main office addresses, and 

telephone numbers. Visitors also continue to be interested in legislative matters in 

2010 with Roll Call Vote Tallies, the Active Legislation table, Committee assignments, and schedules being particularly popular. The visits per month did decrease 

across some of the most visited pages on the site. A big increase is noted for the 

visitors to the employment pages now offered on Senate.gov indicating this is a 

much used and valuable resource. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

Senator Hoeven has now joined us. 

Do you have any opening remarks that you might want to make 

before we ask the SAA to make his presentation? 

Senator HOEVEN. Only briefly, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. 

My only opening comment, at this point, is to thank all of you 

for being here, and even more so for the incredible job that you do. 

I’ve just been here a short while, but I can’t help but be impressed 

by what you do and how well you provide for not only the Members 
190 

themselves, but also for all the other things that you do that go 

into a really complex and difficult job. This, of course, is the people’s capitol in the greatest Nation in the world. And so, your responsibility is tremendous. 

And you’re really on a world stage. I can think of all the times 

that I saw, on television, Terry Gainer leading the President in 

during the State of the Union Address. And, of course, all of the 

things that go into securing these premises, Chief, and still making 

it friendly to the public. 

PREPARED STATEMENT

And so, Nancy, to you, and to all of you, for the job that you do, 

again, in providing for the Senators, the Members of Congress, and, 

at the same time, keeping this incredible complex that is so historically significant and so magnificent in every way for the responsibility you have and the way that you conduct your duties every 

day, I just want to commend you for that; and, of course, look forward to working with you on this very important aspect of doing 

that important job; and, of course, that’s the budget. 

So, thank you so much. 

[The statement follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN HOEVEN

Thank you, Chairman Nelson, for calling this hearing to consider the fiscal year 

2012 legislative branch budget requests for the Secretary of the Senate, the Sergeant at Arms (SAA), and the United States Capitol Police (USCP). I would like to 

join you in welcoming our witnesses: Secretary of the Senate, Nancy Erickson; Senate SAA, Terry Gainer; and the Chief of the USCP, Phillip Morse; and their deputies and assistants who will be assisting with testimony. I thank you all for being 

here with us today for this important discussion on how the agencies you represent 

are planning to move forward in the coming fiscal year. 

The Secretary of the Senate’s office is requesting $31.99 million, a slight increase 

of 0.2 percent to restore the across-the-board rescission that was taken of all nondefense, discretionary appropriations in the final fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution. This funding request maintains the transfer of the Senate Information Services 

program from the SAA to the Secretary’s office, so I am pleased to have both of you 

here today to speak about this particular program, its funding needs and the success of its transfer. 

The SAA total request is $219.2 million, an increase of $214,000, or 0.1 percent, 

which includes $77.6 million for salaries and $141.6 million for expenses. The subcommittee worked very closely with the SAA and the Secretary’s office last year to 

ensure that appropriate funding was in place for the Telecom Modernization and 

Payroll System Upgrade projects, so I am very interested in hearing about how 

those projects are progressing. 

Finally, the USCP request totals $387.6 million, an increase of $47.5 million, or 

14 percent, which includes an increase of $22.2 million, or 8 percent, for salaries 

and $25.3 million, or 40 percent, for expenses. I am interested to hear about improvements that have been made in the budget formulation process, after the budget miscalculations from fiscal year 2010, and whether or not any improvements have 

been made in the overtime issue that the USCP continues to face. And of course, 

I look forward to an update on the Radio Modernization Program. 

As you are all painfully aware, the completion of the fiscal year 2011 appropriations process included great debate on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the 

Capitol on how best to reduce overall spending across the Federal Government. 

While we made reductions to many funding levels in the legislative branch, for the 

most part each of the appropriations accounts within your agencies was either held 

relatively harmless or received an increase when compared to fiscal year 2010. I 

would suggest that you should not anticipate receiving such favored treatment in 

the fiscal year 2012 budget—we must seriously begin the process of scaling back 

funding in all appropriations accounts, even if it means giving up some of the services we are accustomed to receiving here in the Capitol complex. 
191 

I look forward to working with you on the funding issues for your agencies as we 

move through the fiscal year 2012 process. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you, Senator Hoeven. 
(192) 

SERGEANT AT ARMS AND DOORKEEPER

STATEMENT OF HON. TERRANCE W. GAINER, SENATE SERGEANT AT 

ARMS 

Mr. GAINER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member 

Hoeven. I appreciate the opportunity to join my colleagues before 

you this afternoon to discuss our budget submission for the upcoming fiscal year. 

I ask that my written testimony be submitted and made part of 

the record. 

Senator NELSON. And it will be. 

Mr. GAINER. Mr. Chairman, we have spoken, over the past few 

years, about the importance of tightening our belts amidst the fiscal turmoil we find ourselves in, and we have heard you with unmistakable clarity. Senator Hoeven and I and my two colleagues 

recently met with him and had a very similar conversation. 

Accordingly, the budget request I have submitted for fiscal year 

2012 is, as you indicated, just a bit more than $219 million. That 

is an increase of less than $250,000 more than the fiscal year 2011 

enacted level, and 9 percent, or $20 million, below the amount I requested in fiscal year 2011. This year, we have chosen to defer requests for upgrades to our IT systems and for increased capacity 

for our data storage networks, requests we would have made in a 

better budget environment. 

To the extent we have some urgent needs that cannot be deferred 

further without affecting operations of the Senate, we will submit 

a request to the subcommittee to use our remaining prior year unobligated funds to cover them. 

I am proud of the efforts my staff has made to reduce costs 

across the agency, and we will continue to look for ways to achieve 

additional savings with uncompromising service to the community. 

The SAA is a member of the legislative branch procurement 

group—this is an example of some savings—which enables legislative branch agencies to recognize savings and economies of scale by 

working together on common contracts and acquisition activity. 

Through these combined efforts, legislative branch agencies have 

saved $6.6 million during 2009 and 2010. 

Mr. Chairman, our budget has remained virtually flat for 3 consecutive years. We have identified and eliminated all of the so 

called low-hanging fruit in our budget. I fear that further reductions will adversely impact our service to you and the Senate community. In order to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money, it 

is my responsibility to make sure that we are providing the infrastructure, security, and support needed for this institution to run 

smoothly. These services take place not only here in Washington, 

but in the 454 State offices. 
193 

My 40-plus-page written testimony covers accomplishments and 

challenges during the past year. Let me give you just a few highlights. 

In the last 2 years, our phone system was overwhelmed by the 

massive volume of calls generated by the healthcare debate. Senators were upset, rightly so, and so were your constituents. There 

were gaps in the phone service between Members and their constituents, and our voicemail system was unable to withstand the 

pressure. It was our job to ensure that this does not happen again. 

To that end, offices were introduced, last year, to the Watson 

Messaging and Watson Online directory updates. These functions 

provide one of the key things officers were asking for: the ability 

to tailor their internal processes to better meet their constituents’ 

needs. The new phone system, which will begin to roll out later 

this year, will be even more robust than the current one, and will 

eliminate the volume-related issues we have seen in the past. 

Our IT successes this year included the continuation of our server virtualization efforts. We will reduce energy, maintenance, and 

support costs by running more than 500 servers in the virtual environment. 

Our Help Desk team achieved a customer satisfaction rating of 

more than 96 percent—an excellent level. We successfully processed 257 million email messages in the past year, while protecting 

our customers from spam and malicious messages. 

And we continue to update the tools the Senators and staff can 

use to stay connected with each other and their constituents: adding smartphones and other mobile wireless devices to our catalog, 

and upgrading the already robust video conferencing capabilities. 

This subcommittee granted us approval last year to relocate our 

printing, graphics, and direct-mail function from Postal Square on 

Capitol Hill to the new offsite facility located in Landover, Maryland. Thank you very much. We are very grateful for your leadership on this endeavor, and proud to report that the project is on 

schedule, actually a little bit ahead of schedule, and under budget, 

and will generate a substantial savings in cost as we move forward. 

Our return-on-investment calculations appear to be right on target. 

We’ll save more than $10 million in the 20 years, for about a 3.6 

percent return on investment. 

During 2010, our post office processed the second-highest volume 

of mail in the last decade. I’m pleased to announce, in February of 

this year the Senate Post Office began accepting credit and debit 

cards, an added convenience for our customers. There’s been very 

good feedback on that. 

The number of floor proceedings has increased, the number of 

committee hearings has substantially increased, the number of 

radio feeds that we’ve sent out has increased. All this has been 

brought about by the allocations that you, Chairman, and your 

budget committee have given us. 

In May 2010, we opened a Hart Senate Office Building appointment desk to assist staff in escorting guests to the Capitol. Our five 

Senate appointment desks collectively welcomed nearly 165,000 

guests during 2010. Our customer and employee satisfaction levels 

have never been higher. The numbers are very good, both within 

the SAA and Senate-wide. But, providing quality service to the 
194 

Senate wouldn’t be possible without our close working relationship 

with the Secretary of the Senate, the USCP, the Architect of the 

Capitol (AOC), and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. 

Recently, just as another example, in working with the Senate 

Rules Committee and the USCP, we implemented a new Senate 

floor closure policy that establishes a clear and concise hours of operations of the doors. This initiative will save 8,970 hours of overtime and $553,000 annually. Chief Morse and the Rules Committee 

worked very hard on that. 

We have a great team, led by Martina Bradford, my deputy; Bret 

Swanson in Operations; Chris Dey, our Chief Financial Officer; Pat 

Murphy, Human Resources Director; Kim Winn, the Chief Information Officer; Christy Prietsch, who serves the entire Senate community and has been very busy in the Employee Assistance Program; 

Cam Stickley, Education and Training Director; Becky Daugherty, 

our protocol officer; Rich Majauskas, in Continuity and Emergency 

Preparedness; Mike Stenger, in Intelligence and Protective Services; and Rick Edwards, in Capitol Operations. 

The only area in which I have not been successful is to change 

Nancy Olkewicz from an oppressor to one who’s oppressed. But, we 

are working on that. And I will be happy to answer any questions. 

PREPARED STATEMENT

But, I would just like to say something to my partner, Chief. 

Many of the drivers of the USCP budget increase lie in the constant challenges imposed by the USCP Board, ongoing threats, and 

the Chief’s proactive desire to enhance safety. So, while that seems 

like, ‘‘Why do we keep raising that?’’ I sometimes wish the board 

could come and testify about all the angst we go through to try to 

make this place safe. 

Thank you, Sir. 

[The statement follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF TERRANCE W. GAINER

INTRODUCTION

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to 

testify before you today. I am pleased to report on the progress the Office of the 

Senate Sergeant at Arms (SAA) has made over the past year and our plans to enhance our contributions to the Senate in the coming year. 

For fiscal year 2012, the SAA respectfully requests a total budget of $219,176,000. 

This is an increase of $214,000 more than the fiscal year 2011 enacted level, and 

$20,000,000 (or 9 percent) below the amount requested in fiscal year 2011. This 

modest budget request will allow us to maintain, for now, the level of service we 

provide to the Senate community. Mr. Chairman, you have spoken over the past few 

years about the importance of tightening our belts amid fiscal turmoil and we have 

heard you with unmistakable clarity. This year, we have chosen to postpone making 

requests for upgrades to our information technology (IT) systems and for increased 

capacity to our data storage networks, requests we would have made in a better 

budget environment. Instead, as the committee previously requested, we are submitting a request to use prior year unobligated balances for the technology items we 

removed from the fiscal year 2012 budget. 

I am proud of the efforts my staff has made to reduce costs across the organization and will continue to look for ways to achieve additional savings without compromising service to the Senate community. Mr. Chairman, we have remained flat 

for 3 years now. We have exhausted our efforts to eliminate the so-called ‘‘low-hanging fruit’’. I fear that additional cuts to this budget will significantly impact our 
195 

service to the Senate community. The appendix accompanying this testimony elaborates on the specific components of our fiscal year 2012 budget request. 

In developing this budget and our operating plans, we are guided by priorities 

framed in our Strategic Plan, including ensuring the United States Senate is as secure and prepared for an emergency as possible, and providing the Senate with outstanding service and support, including the enhanced use of technology. 

Our preparedness efforts during the past year placed a premium on our interaction with Senate offices. During 2010, each office was personally visited or contacted by a member of our emergency preparedness team multiple times in response 

to support requests or to update emergency plans. Each contact was designed to enhance and upgrade our program and ensure that Senate staff has the essential tools 

necessary to respond during an emergency. We leveraged these interactions to ensure we addressed preparedness planning, emergency notification protocols, emergency equipment, and accountability of staff throughout an emergency event. 

Our IT successes this year included the continuation of our server virtualization 

efforts, where we reduce energy, maintenance, and support costs by running more 

than 500 servers in a virtual environment. Our Help Desk team achieved a customer satisfaction rating of more than 96 percent at the satisfactory or excellent 

level. We deployed new voice messaging and directory update capabilities as part 

of our ongoing telecommunications modernization project. We successfully processed 

257 million email messages during calendar year 2010, while protecting our customers from spam and malicious messages. And we continued to update and expand 

the tools that Senators and staff can use to stay connected with each other and their 

constituents—supporting iPhones and iPads, adding mobile wireless devices to our 

technology catalog, and upgrading our already robust video conferencing capabilities. 

In other services, our cabinet shop designed, built, and installed 177 pieces of furniture, a 43 percent increase from the previous year. The demand for framing services increased by 6 percent more than the previous year with a total of 2,764 orders 

completed. During fiscal year 2010, our Printing, Graphics, and Direct Mail (PGDM) 

department continued to improve operations and respond to the demand for producing documents from digital files. By utilizing the latest technology in digital 

printing, the publishing section produced 7.8 million pages, an increase of 81 percent more than fiscal year 2009. Another area of high demand during fiscal year 

2010 was the production of charts. By upgrading software to process files quicker, 

PGDM produced 9,273 large-format charts, an increase of 15 percent more than fiscal year 2009. 

And Mr. Chairman, in fiscal year 2010, this subcommittee approved the use of 

prior year unobligated funding to relocate the Postal Square printing and mailing 

operations to a new facility in Landover, Maryland. This relocation has a projected 

net positive cash flow of $2.8 million and 3.6 percent return on investment over 20 

years. Design plans have been approved for the build-out of the facility, and the 

SAA has contracts in place to support moving equipment and installing data communications and a security system. Construction started in January 2011 and 

PGDM will begin moving equipment in July 2011 and take occupancy in September 

2011. We greatly appreciate your support in this effort. 

My organization continues to be a good steward of taxpayers’ dollars as we continue to elevate our performance. Our productivity increased to unprecedented levels, exemplified by the Senate Post Office processing the second-highest volume of 

mail in the last decade, surpassed only by 2009. I was pleased to announce in February of this year that, as an added convenience for our customers, the Senate Post 

Office now accepts credit and debit cards. Feedback from our customers has been 

extremely positive. 

The year 2010 represented another busy period for the Recording Studio. Last 

year, we provided 1,078 hours of gavel-to-gavel coverage of Senate Floor proceedings. We provided broadcast coverage of 723 Senate committee hearings and 

1,074 radio productions. Additionally, our team of seasoned professionals produced 

1,066 shows for Senators from our television studios. In addition, this past year our 

Recording Studio broke new ground when we provided the land-based production 

and engineering support for an appropriations hearing which included a live videoconference with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. 

To enhance our services to the Senate community, in May, 2010, we opened a 

Hart Senate Appointment Desk to assist staff in escorting guests to the Capitol. Our 

five Senate Appointment Desks collectively processed 163,811 guests during 2010. 

The total number of badges issued was the second highest in a given year since the 

appointment desks were created more than 26 years ago. The past 4 years have 

been extraordinary in that the Senate has been in session an average of 181 days 

from 2007 through 2010. This represents a 21 percent increase to the 150 average 
196 

number of days the Senate was in session from 1996 through 2006. Our customer 

satisfaction and employee morale levels have never been higher. All of this is to say 

that the SAA team is working toward the vision of our Strategic Plan: Exceptional 

Public Service... Exceeding the Expected. 

Assisting with all of the efforts of the SAA is an outstanding senior management 

team including Martina Bradford, who serves as my Deputy; Republican Liaison 

Mason Wiggins; Assistant Sergeant at Arms for Capitol Operations Rick Edwards; 

General Counsel Joseph Haughey; Legislative Liaison Nancy Olkewicz; Assistant 

Sergeant at Arms for Continuity and Emergency Preparedness Operations Rich 

Majauskas; Assistant Sergeant at Arms for Intelligence and Protective Services 

Mike Stenger; Assistant Sergeant at Arms and Chief Information Officer Kimball 

Winn; Chief Financial Officer Chris Dey; and Assistant Sergeant at Arms for Operations Bret Swanson. The many goals and accomplishments set forth in this testimony would not have been possible without this team’s leadership and commitment. 

We are grateful for our relationship with the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP). I am 

honored this year to serve as Chairman of the United States Capitol Police Board 

and, in this regard, I value the input of the other members, House Sergeant at Arms 

Bill Livingood, Architect of the Capitol (AOC) Stephen Ayers, and Chief Phillip D. 

Morse, Sr., who is an ex officio member of the Board. Working with the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the USCP, we recently implemented a new 

Senate door closure policy that establishes clear and concise hours of operation for 

the doors in the Senate office buildings and the Senate side of the Capitol. This initiative will save 8,970 hours of overtime duty and $553,000 annually. 

The SAA also works with other organizations that support the Senate. I would 

like to take this opportunity to mention how important their contributions have 

been in helping us achieve our objectives. In particular, we work regularly with the 

Secretary of the Senate, the AOC, and the Office of the Attending Physician. When 

appropriate, we coordinate our efforts with the United States House of Representatives and the agencies of the executive and judicial branches. I am impressed by 

the people with whom we work and blessed with the quality of the relationships we 

have built together. 

I am very proud of all the men and women of the SAA team who help keep the 

Senate running. While serving as SAA, I have seen their great work and devotion 

to this institution. The employees of the SAA are among the most committed and 

creative in Government. 

As always, my staff and I are grateful for the support and guidance of your subcommittee, the full committee and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. 

CONTINUITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OPERATIONS

Emergency Planning 

Our emergency plans and procedures are designed to ensure the safety of Senators, staff, and visitors within our facilities and equip them with the necessary 

tools to respond to any situation. Each year we strive to improve these procedures 

using industry best practices and lessons learned. We made significant strides to ensure staff preparedness through enhancing Emergency Action Plans (EAP), mobilityimpaired evacuation procedures, internal relocation actions, and the annual Chamber Protective Actions exercise. 

The central document that reflects our preparedness efforts is the EAP and I am 

pleased to inform you that 100 percent of Senate offices now possess a customized 

version based on their unique circumstances and needs. In this past year, 65 percent of all Senate office EAPs were reviewed and validated using guidelines set 

forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Congressional 

Accountability Act (CAA). Significant areas of improvement included the addition of 

office-specific shelter-in-place locations, internal relocation actions, and AIRCON 

threat procedures. We collaborated with the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment 

to develop EAPs for all Senators’ hideaways. This included confirming evacuation 

routes for Senators and deploying additional emergency equipment. We met with 

new office managers and established an EAP for each office assigned to a swing 

space. We subsequently made appropriate adjustments as offices were moved to permanent suites. This effort involved collaborating with each office’s Office Emergency 

Coordinator (OEC), installing and transferring emergency equipment, and training 

office staff. 

Accommodating staff with accessibility needs is outlined in each office’s EAP and 

is an integral portion of our training efforts. A major enhancement to our program 

this year is the increased capability to simultaneously evacuate mobility-impaired 
197 

individuals from both the primary and alternate emergency staging areas within the 

Senate office buildings instead of just one location. 

Last year I reported on the implementation of the internal relocation program. 

This year I am pleased to announce the completion of our program rollout. We collaborated with the AOC to install signage throughout the Senate office buildings indicating internal relocation sites. In response to numerous office comments, comfort 

stations have been deployed to all sites including the Dirksen Senate Office Building 

stairwells. Notification messages were developed and displayed in collaboration with 

the House of Representatives and USCP. We have also conducted six individual office exercises to validate our plans and messages and will execute more in calendar 

year 2011. 

The protection and preparedness of Senators, staff, and visitors within the Senate 

Chamber is one of our main focus areas. Each year we test and validate the Chamber Protective Actions plan by conducting a full-scale exercise within the Chamber. 

The 2010 exercise proved to be the most comprehensive and complex exercise to 

date. The exercise linked together Chamber Protective Actions procedures with the 

deployment of escape hoods and comfort stations along with the subsequent execution of the USCP Senate Leadership AIRCON Rally Point Plan and Briefing Center 

Plan. 

Emergency Communications and Accountability 

We continued to improve notification and communication programs this year to 

ensure devices and systems are ready to support the Senate during local or largescale emergencies. The Accountability and Emergency Roster System (ALERTS) is 

the primary alert and notification system that provides a single interface for delivering emergency email, PIN, and voice messages to the Senate population. We conduct monthly tests for staff and biannual tests for Senators in conjunction with the 

USCP, Secretary of the Senate, party secretaries, and other stakeholders. These 

tests are designed to ensure our emergency messaging system is reaching all intended recipients. This year we introduced the ALERTS Dashboard to provide our 

office and the USCP with real-time accountability data through a user-friendly 

graphic interface. This capability was tested during the summer recess evacuation 

drills in the assembly areas and at the USCP Incident Command Post. We also continue to support USCP assembly area operations through the deployment of tablets 

and laptops with faster connections, greater reliability, and ergonomic features. We 

consistently reinforce the importance of accountability with Senate staff by conducting Remote Check-in drills and training using BlackBerry devices. We trained 

406 OECs and achieved a 60 percent successful reporting rate this year, demonstrating increased participation over the last 2 years. 

The SAA provides ‘‘watch standers’’ in the USCP Command Center after normal 

business hours when the Senate is in session or during emergency incidents and 

special events. Watch standers are trained to use the Senate Dialogic and Chyron 

systems to assist USCP as necessary and provide senior SAA leadership with amplifying information regarding ongoing events. Due to reliance on these two systems, 

the Dialogic Communicator System was upgraded to provide better completion percentages of voice messaging to desk and mobile phones. Additional capabilities were 

added to the Chyron Cable TV Alert System to handle digital and high-definition 

channels. The system is now fully capable of sending alert messages via digital 

channels once they are activated by the AOC. 

We procured and installed WebEOC Mapper Professional, a Geospatial Information System that provides Senate emergency managers with the ability to create a 

dynamic, geographically based common operating picture. Multilayered mapping has 

proven to be a highly effective emergency management technique for government 

and law enforcement agencies throughout the country. We also continue to administer WebFusion to promote collaboration between the Senate, House of Representatives, GAO, and AOC emergency managers through seamless information sharing 

across networks. Additionally, WebFusion has allowed legislative branch users to 

connect to local and State emergency managers throughout the National Capital Region. Information sharing between legislative and executive branch emergency managers is further being improved through the installation of a Homeland Secure Data 

Network (HSDN) terminal. Our mission requires access to classified email, messaging, data analysis, and collaboration tools along with law enforcement, emergency management, and National Capital Region intranet resources. The use of 

HSDN will assist in intelligence gathering, situational awareness, decisionmaking, 

and event reporting. 
198 

Training and Equipment 

Training and outreach programs are designed to provide interactive classroom 

and personalized instruction to the Senate community. These valuable programs 

give staff a variety of preparedness and life-safety awareness information to enhance personnel and office protection. This year, 274 training sessions were conducted in which more than 5,600 staff were trained on a variety of preparedness 

topics. We initiated an OEC certificate program in 2008 for staff that completed requisite emergency preparedness courses and were pleased to issue 25 certificates this 

year. This certificate recognizes an OEC’s willingness and commitment to enhance 

their professional knowledge in emergency preparedness and to be ready to support 

any emergency action that may occur on Capitol Hill. 

The culmination of our emergency preparedness training and outreach programs 

is the Senate’s National Preparedness Day event held each September as part of 

National Preparedness Month. This event invites members of the emergency management community throughout the National Capital Region to set up static equipment displays, provide program capability awareness training, and demonstrate new 

products. I had the pleasure of introducing USCP Chief Phillip D. Morse, Sr. and 

National Weather Service Director Dr. John Hayes as guest speakers to address our 

theme of ‘‘One Minute—One Life: Are You Prepared?’’ to more than 100 staff members at this year’s event. 

Our continued management and support of emergency protective and communication equipment caches in each Senate office has been a key preparedness posture. 

These caches allow offices to receive notifications from the USCP to shelter-in-place, 

deploy to their designated internal relocation site, or use specified equipment to 

evacuate the building. Each cache includes escape hoods, emergency supply kits, 

and wireless emergency annunciators. Our office ensures functionality through an 

annual inventory of assigned equipment and replacement of expired items. All swing 

spaces and permanent suites for freshmen Senators were supplied with equipment 

prior to occupancy at the beginning of the 112th Congress. More than 270 offices 

and more than 27,000 pieces of equipment were inventoried over the past year 

alone. Additions to the equipment program include emergency news radios for office 

supply kits, deployment of Victim Rescue Units to primary and alternate staging elevator caches, installation of portable comfort stations and lockers at internal relocation sites, and implementation and activation of an AIRCON warning and notification system for the fourth floor of the Capitol. 

We released an updated version of the Roadmap to Readiness in 2011 and included an Emergency Response Guide, a condensed, portable version of critical 

emergency information. The Roadmap to Readiness is a comprehensive guide designed to equip offices with the necessary tools to create emergency plans for Washington, DC and State offices. It also suggests how to educate and train staff to respond appropriately in emergencies. Additionally, new Web-based training classes 

have been developed to provide staff with the means to educate themselves from the 

convenience of their desktops. 

We are improving audio and visual capabilities in rooms primarily used for training Senate staff, but are used as EOCs during special events or emergencies. The 

ability to display information on multiple screens is essential for EOC operations 

and will also greatly improve the capabilities needed to provide technical training 

to Senate staff. SAA is simultaneously working to improve similar capabilities at 

the Alternate Computing Facility (ACF) in Manassas in case the primary location 

is unavailable, and a briefing room in the CVC that may be used as a situation 

room or operations center during a shelter-in-place. Upgrading capabilities at these 

locations will ensure senior staff is equipped to manage special events and emergency incidents through better information management and improved situational 

awareness. 

Exercises 

A comprehensive exercise program is structured to ensure Senate plans are practiced and validated regularly. The SAA and Secretary of the Senate conduct several 

joint exercises annually with the USCP, AOC, Office of Attending Physician, party 

secretaries, and other key congressional stakeholders. A total of 15 exercises, tabletops, and guided discussions were completed in 2010, covering all aspects of emergency response including offsite alternate chamber, emergency operations center, 

chamber protective actions, briefing center, transportation, contingency telecommuting, accountability measures, internal relocation, mass casualty, and alternate 

office space. We successfully exercised a Chamber evacuation leading to Briefing 

Center activation to further test our abilities to quickly set up contingency facilities 

resulting in the most comprehensive Chamber exercise to date. A ‘‘no-notice’’ exercise was conducted to test the ability to activate an after-hours contingency site 
199 

without warning. The general exercise format included functional capabilities demonstrations and tabletop scenarios designed to test the Senate’s ability to function 

during an event that requires relocating to alternate facilities or contingency sites. 

After-action reports were generated to document lessons learned for future plan improvement. More than 15 exercises are scheduled for 2012 in addition to numerous 

training events and smaller-scale tests and drills designed to maintain and 

strengthen existing capabilities while addressing emerging needs and solutions. 

Continuity and Recovery 

This year Continuity and Emergency Preparedness Operations (CEPO) focused on 

developing contingency transportation and classified site plans as well as validating 

existing plans and procedures. We continued collaborating with Senate offices and 

committees to develop internal continuity of operations plans (COOP) and train staff 

accordingly. We acquired new transportation assets and developed accompanying activation and operations plans by leveraging our external support organization. We 

worked with our counterparts in the House to develop the Personnel Accountability 

System to enhance accountability during contingency transportation. The program 

is now in the final stages of development. 

As part of its plans to refine accommodations at unclassified continuity sites, 

CEPO updated the wiring in the Thurgood Marshall Building Briefing Center. A 

full-scale exercise at the Postal Square Briefing Center was conducted to validate 

movement of Senators to a safe and secure environment in the aftermath of an incident. We also improved plans to utilize the Government Accountability Office (GAO) 

building as an alternate office in the event the Senate is no longer able to occupy 

its regular work space. COOP materials and vital records were placed at these contingency facilities and on classified networks for convenient access. Finally, we collaborated with the Committee on Rules and Administration to develop new Fly 

Away Kits for committee hearings during continuity events. These materials are 

stored at classified locations and can be rapidly deployed after an incident. 

INTELLIGENCE AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES

State Office Security and Preparedness 

State office programs make security and preparedness training available to Senators and staff in more than 450 State offices throughout the United States. Almost 

two-thirds of these offices are located in commercial buildings with no internal security. The rest are located in Federal buildings that generally have some level of 

building security, but are routinely targeted for disruptive activity. Numerous highprofile and contentious issues arose in 2010 and several violent incidents in and 

around State offices led to increased awareness and participation in this voluntary, 

but critical program. Participating offices are provided with secure reception areas 

in order to screen visitors for signs of hostility, aggression, or impairment. Offices 

are also outfitted with access controls, duress buttons, burglar alarm systems, and 

closed-circuit camera systems. The program covers installation, maintenance, and 

alarm monitoring services and also includes an annual inspection and equipment 

testing. 

During 2010, more than 300 State offices received direct assistance in completing 

or updating their Comprehensive Emergency Plan (CEP). The CEP combines security, emergency preparedness, and continuity of government processes into one document that meets the requirements of the CAA. Continuous outreach regarding the 

importance of establishing plans was conducted through the development of a 

streamlined template to assist small offices with no continuity of operations requirement, and an online method to enter preliminary plan information. State office hazard overviews were completed or updated for 218 offices to identify natural or manmade hazards to be considered during plan development. Additionally, 13 new State 

offices received program briefings and emergency equipment and supplies similar to 

DC offices. Pandemic information was promptly disseminated to all State offices and 

approval from the Committee on Rules and Administration allowed staff to procure 

supplies for combating the H1N1 virus. A monthly OEC bulletin is now regularly 

distributed to all State offices and a certificate path has been established for State 

OECs. The focus of the program this year will turn to Web site updates and providing additional preparedness classes online. 

We provided security enhancements in 57 State offices during 2010. These enhancements included building secure reception areas to screen visitors, and installing burglar alarms, duress buttons, and closed-circuit cameras with digital video recorders. To date, the program has provided security enhancements in 80 percent of 

offices located in commercial spaces and 62 percent of offices located in Federal 

buildings, bringing the total amount of current offices with security enhancements 
200 

to 75 percent. Additionally, more than 300 State office alarm systems were tested 

and inspected this year. This year, the focus will turn to utilizing a new all-hazard 

risk assessment to survey State offices and offer security enhancements to nonparticipating offices. Collaboration with representatives from the USCP, General 

Services Administration (GSA), Federal Protective Service, and the U.S. Marshals 

Service will continue. 

USCP Operations 

The Senate Campus Access program that coordinates Member office and committee requests for vehicle access through the campus security perimeter processed 

586 special requests for vehicle clearances, deliveries, and bus access during fiscal 

year 2010, an increase of more than 130 percent from fiscal year 2009. Additionally, 

we developed an electronic request form via Webster for USCP coverage at subcommittee hearings. 

We collaborated with the USCP and external law enforcement agencies to monitor 

and secure special events such as the State of the Union Address, Democratic Senatorial Retreat, various joint sessions of the Congress, Summer Concert Series, Supreme Court nomination hearing for Associate Justice Elena Kagan, and memorial 

services for Senators Robert C. Byrd and Edward Kennedy. 

The Duty Desk in the USCP Command Center continues to ensure SAA representation and provide communication between the USCP and the Senate community 

during special events, critical incidents, and routine operations. The Duty Desk is 

manned by SAA personnel during business hours and while the Senate is in session. 

SAA staff receives routine training and updated operating procedures to fulfill the 

responsibility. 

Our recently hired Assistant Sergeant at Arms for Intelligence and Protective 

Services Mike Stenger maintains excellent working relationships with a multitude 

of components within the intelligence and law enforcement communities. Such trusted partnerships allow for the timely and accurate sharing of all-source intelligence 

and law enforcement-sensitive threat information when breaking situations occur. 

Furthermore, it provides the opportunity to collect all-source intelligence from appropriate partners and assess, integrate, and brief essential information to senior 

SAA staff that can then make sound, timely decisions for the safety and security 

of the U.S. Senate. 

Finally, recent events in Arizona led our office to greatly expand monitoring law 

enforcement investigations involving threats to Senators and provide updates to the 

SAA and affected Senators, from case opening through adjudication. We receive Senate office requests for local law enforcement assistance at public events and coordinate evaluation and assessment through the USCP. We are collaborating with the 

USCP Uniformed Services Bureau to develop a consistent and seamless community 

outreach program regarding safety and security for Senate offices. 

IT

Enhancing Service, Security, and Stewardship 

We continue to provide a wide range of effective IT solutions to facilitate the Senate’s ability to perform its legislative, constituent service, and administrative duties; 

to safeguard the information and systems the Senate relies upon; and to be ready 

to respond to emergencies and disruptions. As in our other areas, we also emphasize 

stewardship—the careful use of all of our resources, including the funding we are 

provided, our personnel and the external resources that we consume—in all aspects 

of our IT operation. 

As we do each year, we have updated, and are performing under, our 2-year Information Technology Strategic Plan. The current version, under which we will be operating in fiscal year 2012, continues to emphasize our five strategic IT goals and 

their supporting objectives that drive our programmatic and budgetary decisions: 

Secure.—A secure Senate information infrastructure; 

Customer Service Focused.—A customer service culture top-to-bottom; 

Effective.—IT solutions driven by business requirements; 

Accessible, Flexible, and Reliable.—Access to mission-critical information anywhere, anytime, under any circumstances; 

Modern.—A state-of-the-art information infrastructure built on modern, proven technologies. 

Our fourth IT strategic goal—accessible, flexible, and reliable—may be the most 

impactful of the five goals. This goal undergirds everything we do from a technology 

standpoint. We must ensure that almost every system and every service we deploy 

can withstand disruptions to our operating environment, can be reconfigured if necessary to cope with disruptions, and can be used regardless of whether the person 
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trying to use it is located within one of our spaces or elsewhere. We continuously 

re-evaluate existing services and systems to identify areas for improvement and 

make those improvements as soon as we can, in an effort to ensure the Senate can 

continue to do its work under any circumstances. 

From a budgetary standpoint, more than one-half of the Chief Information Officer 

organization’s fiscal year 2012 request will cover the installation and support of the 

equipment acquired by Senate personal offices through the economic allocation, and 

for other programs that benefit offices directly. One-third will be devoted to providing services at the enterprise level, such as information security, the Senate data 

network, electronic mail infrastructure, and telephone systems. The remainder is almost equally divided between supporting the office of the Secretary of the Senate 

with payroll, financial management, legislative information, and disclosure systems; 

and our own administrative and management systems. 

ENHANCING SERVICE TO THE SENATE

Customer Service, Satisfaction, and Communications 

Our Information Technology Strategic Plan stresses customer service as a top priority, and we actively solicit feedback from all levels and for all types of services. 

For instance, we solicit customer feedback for every help desk ticket opened. In 

major contracts that affect our customers, we include strict service levels that are 

tied to the contractors’ compensation—if they do well, they get paid more; if they 

do poorly, they get paid less. For instance, during the past year, the percentage of 

on-time arrivals for the IT installation team never dropped below 99 percent. The 

percentage of help desk calls that were resolved during the initial call averaged 56 

percent, and 96 percent of customer surveys rated the IT help desk and installation 

services as either ‘‘very satisfactory’’ or ‘‘excellent’’. We expect this excellent level of 

performance to continue through fiscal year 2012. 

In fiscal year 2012 we will continue to communicate effectively with our customers 

through a well-developed outreach program that includes IT newsletters, periodic 

project status reviews, IT working groups, weekly technology and business process 

review meetings with customers, and joint project and policy meetings with the 

Committee on Rules and Administration, the Senate Systems Administrators Association, and the administrative managers steering group. 

Robust, Reliable, and Modern Communications 

We provide modern, robust, and reliable data network and network-based services 

that the Senate relies upon to communicate electronically within and among offices 

on Capitol Hill and in the 50 States, to and from other legislative branch agencies, 

and through the Internet to the public, other agencies and organizations. 

We continue to keep our mobile communications offerings up to date with the latest technology. Last year, we added the Apple iPhone, the RIM 9800 Torch BlackBerry, the RIM 9330 Curve BlackBerry, and the RIM 9650 Bold BlackBerry to the 

technology catalog. Currently, we are testing Android devices for support. We will 

continue to offer the Senate community the latest smartphone technology in fiscal 

year 2012. 

Following a migration to a new contract vehicle for our wide area network services in fiscal year 2010, we are better poised to realize the cost savings for this service compared to our previous contract with AT&T. Our cost for this service has gone 

from $5.2 million in fiscal year 2009 to $4.3 million in fiscal year 2010, and is on 

target to cost $3.8 million in fiscal year 2011. Given the election cycle and the additional moves, adds, and changes associated with incoming and outgoing Senators, 

the fiscal year 2011 costs could increase, but should remain less than fiscal year 

2010 levels. We have also increased our service levels to approximately 50 State office locations and installed network optimization equipment in more than 90 locations overall. The cost of wide area network services will increase slightly in fiscal 

year 2012, to $4 million to allow us to continue our investments in enhancing network services to more State office locations. 

We are working with the other legislative branch agencies to improve interagency 

communication technology by implementing and securing an upgraded Capnet network that connects all the legislative branch agencies, with the goal of making this 

network the preferred path for all interagency communication. 

In addition to our robust messaging infrastructure that processed approximately 

257 million Internet email messages during the past calendar year, we also support 

effective communication through the use of videoconferencing. During the last and 

current fiscal years, we have enhanced our videoconferencing infrastructure to allow 

participation in a high-definition video conference from virtually anywhere in the 

world using an inexpensive Web camera on a desktop or portable computer via the 
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Internet. We are adding new capabilities, including a Web interface to allow an outside participant without a standards-based videoconferencing system to participate 

via a Web client, as well as the ability to escalate a point-to-point call to a 

multipoint call regardless of bandwidth or whether the system has multipoint capability installed. 

We also delivered a solution to the problem of transferring large files which allows 

media-based and other large files to be moved within the Senate and between the 

Senate and others in a secure and reliable fashion. We continue to expand the ways 

and tools for staff to be connected. This year we delivered iPhone and iPad email 

and tools integration and support. CIO staff worked extensively with a third-party 

software provider to develop a secure, reliable, and manageable iPhone corporate 

email client which met our requirements. 

We continue to make progress toward modernizing the Senate’s entire telecommunications infrastructure to provide improved reliability and redundancy in 

support of daily and emergency operations, and to take advantage of technological 

advances to provide a more flexible and robust infrastructure. Toward that end, we 

will be replacing systems such as the cloakroom alerts, operational support and directory and billing systems over the coming year, while we continue to move forward with the replacement of the main telephone switch. 

Web-Based and Customer-Focused Business Applications 

As in past years, we continue to add functionality to TranSAAct, which is our 

platform for moving business online. Based on the business requirements of offices 

and the Committee on Rules and Administration, we continue to develop TranSAAct 

to eliminate paper-based manual processes and move them to the Web. Because it 

is built on an extensible modern database framework, TranSAAct allows indefinite 

expansion as new requirements are identified and fulfilled. This year we completed 

enhancements to TranSAAct including online parking services (e.g., request a parking assignment, reassign vehicles, add vehicles, etc.) and a forms depot featuring 

117 forms and links to forms often used by administrative managers and chief 

clerks. We are completing work on adding the ability to make telecommunications 

service requests online. 

We look forward over the coming months and years to moving additional business 

processes to the Web, delivering increasing functionality to administrative staff, and 

reducing the time, paper, and errors associated with the current manual processes. 

We delivered an enterprise class SharePoint data collaboration site to provide a 

common access point for sharing information between offices that do not have direct 

access to one another. For example, subcommittee staff and staff in their Senate offices are using the site to view, comment on, and edit committee documents. 

We enhanced other Web-based applications such as a program that more than 60 

offices use on their Web sites for accepting service academy nomination requests, 

intern requests, and other types of applications and requests. Constituents have 

submitted more than 500,000 individual requests through this system. We also updated the committee hearing scheduling application to make it more robust and useful. 

Showcasing and Promoting Modern IT in the Senate 

We will continue to highlight new technologies in the Information Technology 

Demonstration Center through demo days, which have been well-attended in the 

past. After products are tested and validated in our technology assessment laboratory, they are then available for staff to try in the Demo Center. The demo days 

feature live demonstrations of new and emerging technologies. 

In order to perform technology assessments, feasibility analysis, and proof of concept studies, to ensure we are considering technologies that will directly support the 

Senate’s mission, we continue to improve the capabilities in our technology assessment laboratory. Technologies and solutions are vetted and tested here prior to 

being announced for pilot, prototype, or mass deployment to the Senate. To ensure 

we focus on the most relevant technologies and solutions, the Technology Advisory 

Group, consisting of CIO staff and our customers, performs high-level requirements 

analysis and prioritizes new technologies and solutions for consideration for deployment in the Senate. Among the technologies that we look forward to supporting over 

the next few months is support for additional smartphones based on the Android 

operating system as well as Smart Cards. Smart Cards will enable a range of applications based upon Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates included on the 

Smart Cards, including access to GSA-controlled buildings, encryption and 

decryption of email and BlackBerry messages, digital signatures for email and 

vouchers, and log-on authentication. 
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We will continue or intensify these efforts in fiscal year 2012 to ensure that the 

Senate is always well equipped to perform its functions. To keep our customers informed of our efforts, we publish the results of our studies on the emerging technology page of the CIO’s area on Webster. 

ENHANCING SECURITY FOR THE SENATE

Enhancing Security With Accessible, Flexible, and Reliable Systems 

As I mentioned earlier, we build security, accessibility, flexibility, and reliability 

into every system and service. In addition to those efforts, there are two projects 

that I would specifically like to mention. 

This past year our, CIO organization enhanced copier security by moving beyond 

the traditional safeguards of buying equipment that writes data to random, noncontiguous hard disk drive locations, to completely erasing or removing copier hard 

disk drives prior to disposal. We also reconfigured our copier baseline configurations 

to include hard disk drive overwrite systems that conform to National Security 

Agency security specifications without requiring user intervention. We continued 

our BlackBerry scanning program designed to detect security intrusions on wireless 

devices used during international travel. In fiscal year 2010 we scanned more than 

300 BlackBerrys, some multiple times. Fortunately, we found no major discrepancies. In fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2012 we will continue to seek ways to 

improve and enhance our scanning program. 

We have also installed the second and third components of the secure voice conferencing system to provide Secret-level conferencing to accommodate 40 additional 

participants once we obtain additional phone lines as part of our telephone system 

upgrade. In fiscal year 2012, we plan to upgrade the system with a Web-based interface, making it more user-friendly. 

Enhancing System and Information Resiliency 

We continue to test our technology in scenarios in which our primary infrastructure and primary work locations have become inaccessible. This includes the simulated loss of our primary data and network facilities, as well as simulated loss of 

staff work spaces. All mission-essential Senate enterprise information systems continue to be replicated at our ACF, using our upgraded optical network and storage 

area network technology. We conduct a variety of exercises to ensure we are prepared to cope with events ranging from a burst water pipe, to a pandemic, to an 

evacuation of Capitol Hill. These exercises demonstrate our ability to support mission-essential systems under adverse conditions, and the ability to support substantial numbers of people working from home. We continue to exercise the ability to 

support our Senate customers in the event of an emergency situation which may 

limit our ability to arrive at work. This includes weekly and monthly COOP/pandemic exercises designed to ensure technical support is available from the ACF and 

other remote locations. Our diligence to this initiative proved worthwhile during the 

snow events of last year. With the knowledge that the business of the Senate continued and that State office locations were not affected by the weather in Washington, 

DC, our staff continued to support the Senate community remotely throughout these 

events. This included answering the phones from home-based locations, highlighting 

the capabilities that our migration to IP telephony may bring to the rest of the Senate. 

We also will continue to invest in and modernize storage systems that automatically replicate information from our primary site to our alternate site. These storage 

systems support our mission-critical systems as well as individual offices. 

Securing our Information Infrastructure 

As described in previous testimony, active and aggressive adversaries continue to 

target Senate information and technology assets. These adversaries use increasingly 

sophisticated tools, techniques, and procedures; rapidly shift their attack methods 

in response to new countermeasures; and continually refine their targeting of Senate information. Our key strategy to meet this threat has been to improve our coordination with other Federal agencies to share and adopt current best practices. 

We have greatly improved and expanded our relationships with other agencies, due 

in large part to the outreach efforts of IT Security staff over the past year. As a 

result, we are now better able to quickly adjust our countermeasures as adversaries 

shift their tactics. Our efforts and interactions with our Federal partners are comparable to DOD’s evolving doctrine of ‘‘active computer network defense’’, a framework for defending military networks. We are working to incorporate five key elements of this doctrine into our IT Security operating model: 

—training and equipping SAA staff and contractors with specialized cyber security skills; 
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—employing and continuously monitoring a strong core of layered defenses; 

—communicating current threat information to offices and providing knowledge 

and expert advice to help them secure their information; 

—sharing current best practices with our Federal agency partners; and 

—investing in rapid development, testing, and implementation of additional cyber 

defense capabilities. 

We describe each of these elements and provide implementation examples as follows: As an example of the first element, specialized skills development, our IT security branch undergoes continual, rigorous training on newly discovered threats and 

vulnerabilities. 

They attend industry and government conferences, complete online and classroom 

courses, host industry experts, conduct in-house classes and seminars, and share 

knowledge among their peers on the latest advances in cyberspace threats and defensive measures. This training helps us quickly put into operation and benefit from 

new defensive technologies. For example, we recently acquired new analysis tools 

that enable more precise identification of potential attacks and faster incident response times. These newly acquired skills were quickly deployed and put to practical 

use in our daily operations, producing demonstrable results and saving taxpayer 

dollars. 

The second element, layered defenses, requires us to develop multiple capabilities 

to prevent and detect intrusions at every point in our network and we have worked 

this past year to introduce and encourage widespread adoption of new defensive capabilities. As an example, our voluntary vulnerability assessment service has grown 

to include 43 Member offices and five committees, with more offices enrolling. The 

new Systems Management Service (SMS), an automated means for offices to automatically apply critical security patches to non-Microsoft software, has also grown 

rapidly since we introduced it in December 2010. Fifty-two offices are now using the 

service, which provides a significant (up to 68 percent) reduction in software vulnerability risk as measured by vulnerability assessment results. SMS serves as an excellent complement to our vulnerability assessment program and to Windows Server 

Update Services (WSUS), which automatically patches Microsoft software. The vulnerability assessment program, SMS, and WSUS combine well to serve as a ‘‘success 

enabler’’ for offices by giving them the tools they need to continuously assess and 

improve their IT security posture. 

In addition to our vulnerability assessment and patch management services, we 

continue to monitor and improve our other centrally managed security services. One 

major initiative is our ongoing effort to enhance email security by establishing mutual trust mechanisms with other Federal agencies based on email source validation 

and encryption technologies. These trust mechanisms assure us and our participating Federal partners that messages exchanged are encrypted while traversing 

the Internet and are actually coming from an authorized mail server at each respective agency. As a result, Senate staff can have confidence that the messages they 

exchange with one of our trusted partners have not been read or manipulated by 

a third party while in transit and have come from a legitimate contact instead of 

a malicious actor using a forged sender address. We expect to continue expanding 

the number of agencies involved in this effort. 

The third element is reflected in our initiative to provide improved and varied 

training and awareness programs for offices. Over the past year, we have developed 

and conducted individual threat briefings for system administrators, office leadership, and other staff to educate them on the evolving threat environment and recommended freely available services that we provide to help them reduce their risk. 

We have also incorporated current effective practices into our general awareness 

materials that we provide through Webster and in-office presentations. We share 

our awareness material with other agencies and adopt useful material they share 

with us. Furthermore, we have incorporated an IT security briefing into the new 

system administrator training process to inform them of our services and to help 

them enroll and make the best use of our offerings soon after they are hired. Finally, we help system administrators identify critical systems that our adversaries 

would consider high-value targets and facilitate enhanced protection for these systems to assure continuity of operations. 

The fourth element involves sharing new threat information, trends, and effective 

practices with other Federal agencies. We do not share specific information concerning offices or staffs involved, but coordinate with these agencies to help establish a common information base and defensive posture. The relationships that we 

have built, and continue to build, are mutually beneficial and have paid great dividends in terms of improved security services for our offices. We can now provide offices more timely and detailed threat and vulnerability information, more reliable 
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countermeasures, and more efficient identification and mitigation of many of our 

higher-priority incidents. 

The fifth and final element is rapid development, testing, and implementation of 

additional cyber defense capabilities. We recently tested and implemented a new log 

analysis tool that has reduced the time required to identify and notify offices of attacks from a matter of hours to just a matter of minutes. We are also looking forward to implementing a new monitoring tool in the next few months that will improve our ability to rate the severity of security incidents, reduce false positives, and 

provide offices with better guidance for recovering from incidents. Finally, we are 

currently researching potential solutions that will augment our anti-virus systems 

by blocking malicious or compromised Web sites, which are a primary cause of many 

of our security incidents. 

Adopting the elements of the Department of Defense’s Active Computer Network 

Defense doctrine helps us work toward our strategic goal to provide a secure Senate 

information infrastructure. We will continue to adopt useful elements of the doctrine 

to further our efforts. We are continually changing and improving our tactics and 

operational processes to meet the rapidly changing cyber threat environment while 

supporting the Senate’s mission. 

ENHANCING STEWARDSHIP

Enhancing Stewardship Through Fiscal and Environmental Responsibility 

Stewardship of our resources is intertwined in everything we do, as well as being 

a driving force for some of our activities. We are always looking for ways to improve 

our processes or technologies so that we save time, money, electricity, paper, or 

other resources. Our CIO organization is a good steward of the fiscal resources of 

the Senate, consistently and continuously improving on the services offered to our 

customers while seeking only modest increases in funding. Many initiatives save an 

office hundreds or thousands of dollars in costs that would otherwise be borne out 

of their official accounts. As most of these initiatives save money due to a reduction 

in the purchase of some commodity, they also fit in with our efforts toward environmental stewardship. Some examples of our efforts to enhance fiscal and environmental stewardship are: 

—Continuation of our virtualization efforts, where we now reduce energy, maintenance, and support costs by running more than 379 of our servers in a virtual 

environment. We will continue an aggressive campaign to virtualize servers 

until every server that can be virtualized is virtual. 

—Offices, especially those of the new Senators, have taken great advantage of our 

virtual machine infrastructure that allows us to centrally host their file and application servers on shared hardware at our primary and alternate facilities, 

which greatly increases server hardware efficiency, and, through system duplication and data replication, offers enterprise class data redundancy and recovery in the event of a critical local failure or crisis. The virtual solution also relieves offices of considerable noise, excess heat, and increases usable working 

areas for staff. It removes the single point of failure from existing office servers 

and meets continuity of operations and data replication requirements for approximately half the cost of existing solutions. To date we are hosting 86 Member and committee office file servers on our virtual infrastructure. Virtual servers running in the data center consume only 15 percent of the energy of a comparable number of physical servers. This means a reduction in power consumption and air conditioning requirements, saving Senate funds, while enhancing 

our ability to provide reliable and redundant services. Fewer servers used by 

the Senate also means fewer servers that need to be manufactured and therefore have to be disposed of at their end of life, which is greening on a national 

scale. 

—Work is well under way to offer offices the ability to host their constituent support systems and SharePoint collaboration systems in a virtual environment, 

which will provide offices the opportunity to operate without any physical servers in their offices. 

—We continue to use our catalog to highlight the energy-efficient aspects of our 

supported IT and general office equipment, and we conducted ‘‘green demo 

days’’ where vendors could answer questions about their products’ environmental friendliness. 

—We continue our efforts to dispose of surplus electronic equipment through such 

programs as Computers for Schools. Last year we fulfilled 36 Member office requests and packed and shipped 900 surplus computers to eligible public schools. 

We send other surplus equipment to the GSA for redistribution or resale. 
206 

—We also ensure that the devices we recommend to the Senate meet the applicable ENERGYSTAR guidelines, and where feasible, the guidelines for the responsible manufacture of IT equipment. 

OPERATIONS

PGDM 

The PGDM branch provides high-level, direct customer support to the Senate community through photocopying, graphic design, printing, mailing, archiving, logistics, 

and security. 

During fiscal year 2010, PGDM continued to improve operations and respond to 

demand for producing documents from digital files. By utilizing the latest technology in digital printing, the Publishing Section produced 7.8 million pages, an increase of 81 percent more than fiscal year 2009. PGDM continued to meet the demand for Constituent Services System (CSS) imaging by scanning, digitizing, and 

electronically transferring 1.1 million pages of constituent mail responses during fiscal year 2010. Another area of high demand during fiscal year 2010 was production 

of charts. By upgrading software to process files quicker, PGDM produced 9,273 

large format charts, an increase of 15 percent more than fiscal year 2009. 

PGDM is customer-focused and achieved high levels of customer satisfaction. Reliable, user-friendly copiers in convenient satellite copy centers produced more than 

7.6 million copies in fiscal year 2010. Utilizing traditional offset and digital printing, 

PGDM met customer requests for color printing, producing more than 21.8 million 

color pages. Combined printing volumes in all sections of PGDM during fiscal year 

2010 totaled 52.4 million, a 6 percent increase more than fiscal year 2009. PGDM 

continued to improve services to meet the demand for archiving Senate office documents during fiscal year 2010. 

Through software and hardware upgrades, PGDM produced 511 rolls of microfilm, 

a 156 percent increase more than fiscal year 2009, and scanned and digitized more 

than 3.2 million pages, a 10 percent increase more than fiscal year 2009. 

As a good steward of its own resources and that of others, PGDM saved the Senate more than $1.8 million in postage costs by pre-sorting 9.5 million pieces of outgoing Senate franked mail. New software systems have been integrated in a number 

of processes to validate, correct, or remove bad addresses prior to mailing. In fiscal 

year 2009, a system was put in place to validate addresses on constituent letters. 

The number of offices utilizing this process has grown from 14 in fiscal year 2009 

to 97 in fiscal year 2010. PGDM has also upgraded software in the mail-sorting 

process. By implementing the new United States Postal Service (USPS) mandated 

intelligent barcode and moving updated software ahead of schedule, PGDM has ensured that Senate offices continue to receive maximum postage discounts. PGDM is 

continuing to work with a vendor to modify and test a Web-based application to provide address correction, validation, and delivery tracking for shipping of constituent 

flag requests. 

PGDM’s commitment to teamwork and excellent customer service extends to our 

legislative branch partners as well. Our collaborative work with the AOC fulfilled 

82,828 flag requests during fiscal year 2010, and in tandem with GPO, delivered 

more than 2 million documents (Pocket Constitutions, Our Flag, Our American Government, etc.) to requestors. PGDM has also been working with the AOC to relocate 

the PGDM Logistics operations from SR–B31F to the Hart loading dock area. Construction of the Hart location is planned to be completed this spring which will 

allow for structural renovation on the lower level of the southwest corner of the Russell building. In early fiscal year 2010, PGDM provided a tour of our CSS imaging 

operation to the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence staff, which was 

considering implementation of a similar operation. 

Through effective communication and teamwork, PGDM’s Senate Support Facility 

upheld the SAA mission for operational security in fiscal year 2010 by receiving 

1,045,153 items from the USCP off-site inspection facility and transferring them to 

the Senate Support Facility. This process eliminated 561 truck deliveries to the 

Capitol complex while reducing traffic and allowing the USCP to focus on other aspects of safety. 

In fiscal year 2010, the subcommittee approved the use of prior year unobligated 

funding to relocate the Postal Square printing and mailing operations to a modern, 

efficient, secure, and safe facility. This relocation will ensure PGDM operations continue without interruptions in service from facility failures which have plagued the 

Postal Square building over the years. In collaboration with the AOC, a facility located in the same complex as the Senate Support Facility and the Senate Post Office Inspection Facility was selected and put under contract. The relocation project 

has a projected net positive cash flow of $2.8 million and 3.6 percent return on in-
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vestment over 20 years. Design plans have been approved for the build-out of the 

facility, and the SAA has contracts in place to support moving equipment and installing data communications and security systems. Construction started in January 

2011, and PGDM will begin moving equipment in July 2011 and take occupancy in 

September 2011. 

CENTRAL OPERATIONS

Smart Card Programs—ID Office 

The implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12—Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors 

will significantly impact Senators and their staff whose State offices are located in 

Federal buildings across the country. While legislative branch adoption of HSPD– 

12 is optional, compliance will allow Senators and staff unhindered access to work 

freely within these facilities. Staff from the ID Office and Technology Development 

Services is currently collaborating with executive branch counterparts to implement 

compatible access cards to paid staff within the 112th Congress. 

Although a substantial cost is associated with system architecture, there are continued efforts to explore advantages of Smart Card deployment. Sophisticated Smart 

Card credentials can provide multiple functions beyond current ‘‘flash pass’’ identification badges. While maintaining proximity technology used in the USCP’s current 

physical access control system, digital certificates on Smart Cards may in the future 

be used for encryption of personally identifiable information exchanged with executive branch agencies in the processing of constituent casework. Other future benefits 

within the Senate community for digital certificates include digital signatures on financial documents and secure, single network sign-on. 

PARKING OPERATIONS

The Parking Operations team continues to update policies and procedures to better serve the Senate community. For the first time, all Senate parking spaces were 

defined producing an accurate count of 3,100 spaces (600 spaces greater than previous estimates). Beginning with the 112th Congress, Parking Operations streamlined policy and procedures to allow for greater customer understanding: 

—the number of permit types was reduced by 17 percent; 

—color was used on the parking map to better communicate parking area definitions; and 

—new signage was installed to clearly label parking areas. 

Parking Specialists continued to enjoy amplified visibility to customers as new kiosks were installed on Lots 12 and 16. Increased Segway use and wearing of reflective vests and gloves have also increased recognition of the specialists by customers 

and visitors. Employee retention has been superb; there has been only one vacancy 

in the last 18 months and that was due to a promotion. 

TRANSPORTATION AND FLEET OPERATIONS

Transportation and Fleet Operations safely and securely procures, manages, 

maintains, and disposes of SAA vehicles; provides transportation information to offices; and manages the Senate Parking Shuttle Service. The SAA fleet includes 

trucks, vans, buses, and SUVs used to support the Senate community. Senate leadership vehicles are leased and administered by Fleet Operations under the Executive Lease Plan on a biannual basis. Transportation and Fleet Operations is responsible for completing work orders, equipment installations, tag/registration renewals, 

and vehicle inspections for all fleet vehicles, performing more than 448 of these 

services in fiscal year 2010. Fleet staff scheduled more than 350 transportation requests and transported more than 20,000 passengers through the SAA Parking 

Shuttle Service in fiscal year 2010. 

Transportation and Fleet Operations offers several driver training programs including an online software training course developed by the National Safety Council 

(NSC), an in-house Professional Truck Driver Safety Certification Course also developed by NSC using a fleet staff certified instructor, and Segway Certification Training using fleet certified instructors. 

Transportation and Fleet Operations is a leader in ‘‘Go Green’’ initiatives with 25 

flex E–85 fuel vehicles, 5 hybrids, 2 electric vehicles, and 2 Diesel Exhaust Fluidcertified trucks. Fleet Operations will continue to explore the use of alternative fuel 

vehicles as replacements for older vehicles as they are rotated out of the fleet. 
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PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO

The photography studio provides photography and imaging services for Senate offices, capturing more than 75,000 photo images and producing more than 95,000 

photo prints in fiscal year 2010. The studio’s popular image archiving service was 

used to scan, organize, and transfer more than 80,000 photo images for archiving 

purposes in fiscal year 2010. The photo browser application provides Senate offices 

a secure location to store and organize photos and the ability to download and 

upload photos or place orders for photo prints from their desktop through a Web 

interface. 

SENATE HAIR CARE

Senate hair care serves customers by offering the latest trends in hair styling to 

Senators and thousands of customers, including staff and the general public. In fiscal year 2010, revenue increased by approximately $40,000 (9 percent), the highest 

in 10 years. Continuing to build on the diverse customer base and supplying additional retail products and services, Senate Hair Care will remain a profitable and 

indispensable service offered by the SAA. 

SENATE POST OFFICE

Mail remains a primary medium for constituents to communicate with Senators 

and their staff. During 2010, the total volume of mail addressed to the Senate 

Washington, DC offices was significant. Our Senate Post Office received, tested, and 

delivered 17,710,648 safe items to Senate offices, including 10,935,830 pieces of 

USPS mail; more than 6,234,000 pieces of internal mail routed within the Senate 

or to or from other Government agencies; 75,000 packages; and 465,777 courier 

items. The total number of mail and packages received and processed in 2010 represented the second largest yearly total this decade, surpassed only by 2009. Mail 

received by the Senate has increased substantially over the past 2 years, bucking 

the nationwide trend that shows overall USPS mail volumes declining. 

Processing Mail Safely 

Protecting the Senate and its staff is my highest priority. We have worked collaboratively with this subcommittee, the Committee on Rules and Administration, 

our science advisors, the USCP, USPS, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Department of Homeland Security in developing safe and secure mail protocols and in creating two of the best mail processing facilities of their 

type in the world. 

All mail and packages addressed to the Senate’s Washington, DC offices are tested and delivered by Senate Post Office employees. During 2010, our highly trained 

off-site mail staff intercepted 221 suspicious pieces of mail that were addressed to 

Senators with the intent to terrorize and disrupt Senate business. The USCP immediately responded to these threatening items at our off-site mail processing facility 

thereby preventing their delivery to any Senate office. 

We also worked with this subcommittee and the Committee on Rules and Administration to build and operate one of the best facilities within the Government to 

process time-sensitive documents that are delivered to the Senate. Our Congressional Acceptance Site ensures that all same-day documents are x rayed, opened, 

tested, and safe for delivery to Senate offices. The 465,777 items that we processed 

during 2010 represented the most documents processed at this facility since it 

opened in August 2006, which was a 68 percent increase more than 2009’s courier 

items. We were able to absorb this additional volume through cross-training our existing staff and by instituting process improvements rather than increasing our 

workforce. 

The Senate’s method for processing mail has become the model for others. We 

have been asked to demonstrate our procedures and showcase our facilities for some 

of our Nation’s allies and for other Government agencies, including the Departments 

of Defense and Homeland Security. The organizations that know the most about 

mail safety cite our highly trained staff and the Senate mail facilities as among the 

most efficient and secure in existence. 

State Office Mail 

Additionally, my office has worked collaboratively with our science advisors to introduce the first device designed to provide Senate staff who work in State offices 

with a level of protection when handling mail. Our science advisors believe that the 

Postal Sentry, if used properly, provides the best level of protection to State offices 

and their staff should they receive mail containing a potentially harmful substance. 

I have requested that all Senate State staff utilize the Postal Sentry mail processing 
209 

system whenever mail is opened in their offices. All newly elected Senators’ State 

offices have been equipped with the Postal Sentry and many other Senators have 

opted for the device as well. Currently, 238 State offices have the Postal Sentry, up 

from 66 State offices at the end of 2009. The Senate took the lead in providing State 

offices with a level of protection when handling mail. Recently, the House of Representatives ordered several Postal Sentrys for use in their district offices. 

Improving Services Offered 

My office strives to provide exemplary service to the Senate community. Our Senate Post Office, in conjunction with the USPS, operates contract retail locations in 

the Dirksen and Russell Senate Office Buildings. To the frustration of many, patrons in past years have been unable to purchase postage stamps, Express and Priority mail postage, mail supplies, insurance, and money orders with the convenience 

of a credit or debit card, only with cash. After lengthy negotiations with the USPS, 

I was pleased to announce in February of this year that as an added convenience 

for our customers, the Senate Post Office accepts credit and debit cards. Feedback 

from our customers has been extremely positive with the new and additional service. 

A Cost-effective Operation 

Even with the expansion of our capabilities, outreach efforts and the significant 

increases in mail volume, my office continues to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Technology and process improvements made since 2008 have enabled the Senate Post Office to reduce the number of its employees by 6 percent. Their achievement is even more impressive when you consider that the number of mail items received, tested, and safely delivered has increased by more than 25 percent annually 

during that same time period. We have compared our costs to other agencies and 

are pleased to report that we have one of the most efficient and cost-effective operations of its type. Some agencies with similar processes and mail volume spend millions more than the Senate in processing mail. A comparative analysis of similar 

organizations that contract out mail processing has determined that the Senate 

processes its mail for up to 62 percent less cost than others. 

CAPITOL FACILITIES

SAA Capitol Facilities serves the Senate community by providing a clean and professional work environment through its Environmental Services branch. This branch 

cleans Capitol spaces, moves Capitol furniture, provides special event setups in the 

Capitol—including the 10 event spaces in the CVC Senate expansion space—and 

completes other service requests. To meet cyclical customer demands during peak 

event setups and furniture moves, Capitol Facilities was able to improve labor cost 

efficiency by supplementing the full-time work force with contracted labor in place 

of additional FTEs. This resulted in a second-year cost savings of $150,000. Capitol 

Facilities completed 3,127 special event setups in the CVC Senate expansion space 

and Capitol, a 24 percent increase from the previous year. Service requests from 

Capitol offices for moving furniture and supplies totaled 6,622, an increase of 11 

percent more than the previous year. 

The Furnishings branch provides framing services to all Senators and committees. 

Demand for framing services increased by 6 percent more than the previous year 

with a total of 2,764 orders completed. The branch also provides custom cabinets 

and other high-quality furniture, carpeting, and draperies to Capitol offices. The 

Cabinet Shop designed, built, and installed 177 pieces of furniture, a 43 percent increase from the previous year. The Furnishings branch worked with the Committee 

on Appropriations on design and installation of custom carpet, construction of turrets for a new sound system, and installation of custom-built benches around the 

perimeter of the committee room (S–127). New furniture, draperies, and upholstery 

were provided for the Committee on Foreign Relations room and office (S–116/117), 

the Vice President’s office (S–212), and the Republican Secretary’s office (S–335). 

Additionally, 20 new Senate Chamber chairs were built for incoming Senators. 

CVC

My office has been involved with the CVC since its inception. We have worked 

collaboratively with others, including representatives of this subcommittee, to ensure that many of the operational aspects of the facility achieve desired results. Our 

participation and the challenges presented have been vast and varied, including, but 

not limited to, security, hours of operation, transitioning the Capitol Guide Service, 

emergency preparedness, IT, furnishings for the Senate side of the CVC, Senate 

meeting rooms setup and maintenance, bus routes, Capitol tour routes, coat checks, 

official appointments, accommodating visitors to the Senate Gallery, broadcast 
210 

media infrastructure, ATM service, telephone service, and other communications infrastructure. I am pleased to report that all of the SAA departments involved with 

the CVC completed all of our tasks on time and within budget. 

More than 5 million visitors have experienced the CVC since its opening a little 

more than 2 years ago. Feedback from our guests has been extremely positive. The 

long lines of visitors waiting in the elements that were prevalent prior to the CVC’s 

opening have been eliminated, as are the congested hallways in the Capitol. Visitor 

services professionals from across the country and around the world view the CVC, 

and its operation, as models of excellence in the visitor services arena. 

Each of our departments affected by the CVC adjusted its processes, thereby mitigating additional employees and costs when this magnificent addition to the Capitol 

opened. The impacts to their operations were significant, yet, by maximizing resources, we were able to achieve desired results. 

SENATE APPOINTMENT DESKS

Expanding and Improving our Services 

An objective of the CVC was to improve security and the flow of visitors to the 

Capitol. To facilitate this goal, we expanded the Senate Appointment Desks 100 percent by adding two desks in the CVC, one located near the main entrance and the 

other located outside of the Senate Meeting Rooms on the lower level. These two 

desks required four additional FTEs to staff the desks. Improved technology and 

process improvements achieved by the Senate Post Office enabled the transfer of 

four employees from the Senate Post Office to the Senate Appointment Desks in the 

CVC. This is another example where my office exercised fiscal responsibility by finding resources within our organization rather than increasing costs by adding to the 

complement of employees assigned to the SAA organization. 

To enhance our services to the Senate community, we were tasked with opening 

a Hart Senate Appointment Desk in May 2010. Again SAA staff accomplished this 

task with minimal expense and without adding employees. We restructured the duties of our existing appointment desk team and those of our Doorkeeper team, thereby freeing up the labor needed to support an appointment desk located in the Hart 

Senate Office Building. We worked collaboratively with the Committee on Rules and 

Administration, USCP, and the AOC in designing a secure and welcoming process 

for staff who escort Senate guests to the Capitol from the Hart Senate Office Building. 

Our five Senate Appointment Desks collectively processed 163,811 guests during 

2010. The total number of badges issued was the second highest in a given year 

since the appointment desks were created more than 26 years ago. 

A goal for opening the CVC was to improve security by reducing the number of 

guests who enter through the Capitol’s north door. Last year 47,956 guests entered 

the Capitol through the CVC with its state-of-the-art security features and accommodations. Without the CVC, these guests would have entered through the north 

door of the Capitol, waiting in line and bearing the elements. The Capitol Appointment Desk reduced its number of guests processed through the north door to 37,577 

during 2010. The 2010 total number of visitors processed through the North Door 

represented a 40 percent reduction in the number of guests processed as compared 

to the year before the CVC opened. This reduction of guests in the Capitol improved 

safety, reduced wait time for entrance through the north door of the Capitol, improved visitor flow, and reduced congestion within the Capitol proper. 

Also in 2010, more than 72,000 guests entered the Capitol via the Russell Appointment Desk, including 60,550 who were destined for the CVC. This represented 

the most badges issued by the Russell Appointment Desk in its history. 

DOORKEEPERS

Facilitating the Needs of the Senate 

Our Doorkeepers play an important role in supporting the Senate. This group of 

dedicated professionals remains on call to assist the Senate when needed. A primary 

role of our Doorkeepers is to support the Senate Chamber by providing access to 

those with Senate Floor privileges and enforcing the rules of the Senate. Additionally, our Doorkeeper team facilitates the needs of Senators, Senate Floor staff, and 

pages. 

The past 4 years have been extraordinary in that the Senate has been in session 

an average of 181 days from 2007 through 2010. This represents a 21 percent increase to the 150 average numbers of days the Senate was in session from 1996 

through 2006. 

Our Doorkeepers provided exceptional support for special events during 2010, including the swearing-in of Senators elected during 2010 and the re-enactment that 
211 

followed in the Old Senate Chamber; Senator Byrd’s laying in repose in the Senate 

Chamber; the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Kagan; and the impeachment 

trials of Samuel B. Kent and G. Thomas Porteous. 

Our Doorkeepers facilitate the movement and seating of Senators during joint sessions of the Congress conducted in the House of Representatives. During 2010 there 

were two joint sessions: 

—the President’s State of the Union Address; and 

—the Joint meeting of the Congress with the President of Mexico. 

Congressional tributes and Congressional Gold Medal ceremonies also require the 

services of Doorkeepers. In the past year, Doorkeepers facilitated Senators and 

guests for the 50th Anniversary of the Inaugural Address of President John F. Kennedy; Days of Remembrance; moment of silence in the Senate Galleries and on the 

House of Representatives steps in honor of the victims of the tragedy in Tucson, Arizona; Celebration of the Life of Congressman John Murtha; recognition of contributions of enslaved African Americans to the construction of the United States Capitol; 

September 11 Congressional Remembrance Ceremony; Peace Officers Memorial Day; 

and Women Service Pilots Congressional Gold Medal ceremony. 

Improving the Senate Gallery Visitor Experience 

We improved the visitor experience for those who want to witness Senate proceedings from the Gallery. We now process these guests through the CVC, rather 

than through the Capitol’s north door. This process enhancement improved security, 

as well as the visitor experience, by eliminating the long lines and congestion that 

had been commonplace throughout the Capitol prior to the opening of the CVC. Our 

Senate Doorkeepers manage a staging room in the CVC that facilitates the collection of prohibited items and the movement of people in a secure and efficient manner. The staging room and the surrounding areas offer our guests numerous comforts and educational opportunities. 

Last year, 224,925 visitors viewed the Senate Chamber from the Senate Gallery. 

2010 represented the first full year since 2000 that the Senate Gallery was open 

for visitors during scheduled Senate recesses. We reopened the Senate Gallery during scheduled recesses beginning with the August 2009 recess and, since then, more 

than 90,000 visitors have viewed the Senate Chamber from the Senate Gallery. Reopening the Gallery has provided an opportunity for thousands, who under the previous rule would not have enjoyed the opportunity to see the ‘‘world’s greatest deliberative body.’’ Our Gallery remains open during scheduled recesses for 2011. 

The feedback that we have received from Senate Gallery visitors has been extremely positive. Senate Gallery visitors have complimented our processes, including 

the elimination of long lines, waiting in the elements, the speed of gaining access 

to the Gallery and the educational opportunities afforded by the CVC. 

Leveraging Existing Resources 

The year 2010 proved to be one of the busiest and demanding in the history of 

the Senate Doorkeepers. Our Doorkeepers’ work is yet another example where our 

process improvements and solid management principles have enabled us to do more 

with existing resources. Our Doorkeepers were able to make significant improvements with minimal expense and without additional employees. 

Despite the increases in workload—the 21 percent increase in the average number 

of days the Senate has been in session for the past 4 years, the 70 percent increase 

in the footprint covered by Doorkeeper staff due to the opening of the CVC, and the 

increased number of special events and ceremonies requiring Doorkeeper support— 

we were able to improve our performance by utilizing existing resources, redefining 

our work processes, and refining our Doorkeepers’ job descriptions. 

SENATE RECORDING STUDIO

Expanded Broadcast Capability 

Our Senate Recording Studio was one of the first departments to move into the 

CVC. Our facility has received accolades from guests since its opening, including 

Senate leadership, Senators, and Senate staff. The convenience of the studio’s location and proximity to the Senate Floor and Senate subway system provides convenience to Senators and staff. 

The studio is responsible for providing gavel-to-gavel coverage of Senate floor proceedings, broadcasting Senate committee hearings, and providing radio and television production studios and equipment for Senators’ use. In 2010 represented another busy year for the recording studio. Last year, we provided 1,078 hours of 

gavel-to-gavel coverage of Senate Floor proceedings. We provided broadcast coverage 

of 723 Senate committee hearings and 1,074 radio productions. Additionally, our 
212 

team of seasoned professionals produced 1,066 shows for Senators from our television studios. 

The number of studio productions increased by 5 percent due largely to our Recording Studio producing the Democratic Media Center and Republican Conference 

shows while their respective studios were being renovated. 

Groundbreaking Firsts 

This past year our recording studio broke new ground when we provided the landbased production and engineering support for an Appropriations Commerce, Justice, 

Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing which included a live videoconference with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. 

Another first for our recording studio was the Internet simulcast of a Senate 

Washington, DC event to all Senate staff who wanted to participate, including State 

office personnel. In the aftermath of the Tucson shooting tragedy, my office conducted a security briefing to provide an interactive forum for all participants and 

attendees. This capability facilitated our ability to answer questions and provide updated information to Member offices throughout the United States. 

Committee Hearing Room Upgrade Project 

Demand for additional committee broadcasts has been ever increasing. In 2003, 

we began working with this subcommittee and the Committee on Rules and Administration to upgrade and install multimedia equipment in Senate committee rooms. 

The project includes digital signal processing audio systems and broadcast-quality 

robotic camera systems. The Committee Hearing Room Upgrade Project continued 

during 2010. 

To date, we have completed 30 rooms. Room enhancements include improved 

speech intelligibility and software-based systems that we can configure based on individual committee needs. The system is networked, which gives committee staff the 

ability to easily and automatically route audio from one hearing room to another 

when there are overflow crowds. Additionally, the system’s backup will take over 

quickly if the primary electronics fail. 

Reducing Costs by Leveraging Technology 

As part of the upgrades, we installed technologies in our new Recording Studio 

space in the CVC to enhance our ability to provide broadcast coverage of more hearings simultaneously without adding staff. For example, the Committee Hearing 

Room Upgrade Project allows us to cover a hearing with only one employee. Before 

the upgrades, three employees were required to adequately cover a single hearing. 

These technology enhancements, coupled with the expansion of the number of control rooms for committee broadcasts to 12, have enabled us to increase our simultaneous broadcast coverage of committee hearings from 5 to as many as 12 without 

increasing our staff. 

Our Senate Recording Studio is another shining example of where we have enhanced our services and increased our productivity by utilizing process improvements and technology, rather than increasing our staff. 

MEDIA GALLERIES

The four Senate Media Galleries comprise the Senate Daily Press Gallery: 

—the Senate Periodical Press Gallery; 

—the Press Photographers’ Gallery; and 

—the Senate Radio and Television Gallery. 

The unique structure of the four Media Galleries requires them to work closely 

with their respective Standing and Executive Correspondent’s Committees, the Senate SAA, the USCP, and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration in 

order to facilitate media arrangements and credentials for the more than 7,000 

credentialed media who cover Senators, Senate committees, and related media 

events. 

In recent years the media industry has seen historic shifts in formats and structures of media outlets which appear to have caused a general decline in revenue 

and circulation for traditional media. However, the Media Galleries have seen a burgeoning population of new and emerging media. The staff of the Media Galleries has 

diligently worked to accommodate this new population through the current 

credentialing process. 

The growth of 24-hour news channels and Web sites has increased the demand 

for constant news. As a result, the Congress is being covered in more detail than 

ever before. In response to the changing needs of the reporters covering Capitol Hill, 

all four Media Galleries worked with the office of the SAA Chief Information Officer 
213 

to upgrade their technical infrastructure including incorporating wi-fi in all four 

Media Galleries. 

Senate Daily Press Gallery 

During 2009, a complete remodeling and rewiring of the Daily Press Gallery was 

completed. This was the first such renovation since the early 1980s. Restoring the 

suite of rooms that has been occupied by the press since before the Civil War was 

a mammoth undertaking that involved a number of SAA and AOC offices. Furniture 

was replaced, wires were completely redone, and the walls, ornate ceilings, Mintontiled floors, and historic mirrors were completely restored down to the smallest detail. The renovation improved the gallery’s appearance and working conditions for 

reporters. 

The past 2 years have been extraordinarily busy for the Daily Press Gallery. 

There are more reporters covering the Senate on a daily basis than ever. Organizations are covering the Senate in more detail than ever, with a constant demand for 

new information. As a result, our gallery is one of the busiest places in the Capitol 

complex. This year, the gallery was constantly filled with reporters covering issues. 

Our Daily Press Gallery staff keeps busy providing the swelling ranks of reporters 

with background information; monitoring Senate floor activities and schedule 

changes; preparing for big events and ceremonies; researching and assessing the 

flood of new credential applicants in conjunction with the Standing Committee of 

Correspondents; monitoring and assisting with access on the Capitol’s second floor 

and other places where news is breaking; facilitating coverage of major hearings, 

answering press inquiries on legislation, floor action, parliamentary procedure; and 

generally assisting the press in covering the Congress, and assisting Senators and 

staff in making information available to the public. 

In addition to those basic duties, we implemented a new paperless credentialing 

system, updated continuity of operations and emergency preparedness plans, and 

put the finishing touches on a very successful Gallery renovation. 

Senate Periodical Press Gallery 

While high-profile hearings garner the most attention by staff and media, the 

Senate periodical staff always strives to work with all Senate committees on their 

media arrangements for typical hearings and events. Senate Periodical Press Gallery staff worked with new committee and Senators’ press secretaries in order to 

familiarize them with the Periodical Gallery’s functions at committee hearings. Constant collaboration occurs allowing various Senate committees to set up media arrangements for a number of widely viewed hearings, including confirmation hearings for all Presidential nominations, Senate budget consideration, and Senate Appropriations Committee events. 

Press Photographers’ Gallery 

The primary role of the Press Photographers Gallery is to credential photographers and to assist at news events at the Senate. Our staff also has the unique 

responsibility of assisting at-large news events and hearings in the House of Representatives. 

The demand for news images has increased as Web publications expand and gain 

popularity. Also, deadlines for pictures have shifted from daily to immediate as organizations and publications strive to have the latest pictures available for online 

publications. These radical changes in how events are captured have increased the 

number of photographers covering Capitol Hill on a daily basis. The Press Photographers’ Gallery has responded to these challenges by enhancing the technology infrastructure for gallery members. 

Senate Radio and Television Gallery 

In an effort to address new requirements for electronic media coverage of Senate 

events, improvements were made in upgrading the technical infrastructure of Senate committee hearing rooms and other news event locations throughout the Senate 

campus. For example, in a collaborative effort with the Senate Committee on Rules 

and Administration, gallery staff oversaw the installation of fiber optic cable in 14 

Senate committee rooms. Several meeting rooms in the Capitol and the Senate wing 

of the CVC were also outfitted with fiber optic cable. 

In 2009, the backdrop in the Senate Radio-TV Gallery studio was renovated to 

accommodate high-definition news broadcasts. The improved backdrop enhances 

Senators’ appearance by incorporating several enriching elements such as columns 

and LED lighting. 

We improved this Gallery’s work areas during the past year as well. The RadioTelevision Gallery staff worked collaboratively with the Senate Committee on Rules 

and Administration, AOC, and media representatives to upgrade media connectivity 
214 

in the Russell Rotunda media area. This team also led the efforts to completely renovate the Radio-Television Gallery mezzanine workspace which included modern 

workstations and updated infrastructure. 

SENATE OFFICE OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The Senate Office of Education and Training provides training and development 

opportunities for Senate staff in Washington, DC and the States. There are two 

branches within the office: 

—the Education and Training branch; and 

—the Health Promotion branch. 

The Education and Training branch provides training opportunities for all Senate 

staff in areas including management and leadership development, human resources 

issues and staff benefits, legislative and staff information, new staff and intern information, and training support for approved software packages and equipment used 

in Washington, DC and State offices. This branch also coordinates and provides 

major training events for State and DC staff. 

Training and education is provided through instructor-led classes; one-on-one 

coaching sessions; specialized vendor provided training; Internet and computerbased training; webinars; video teleconferencing; informal training and support services; documentation, job aides and quickcards. 

The Health Promotion branch provides seminars, classes and screenings on health 

and wellness issues. This branch also coordinates an annual Health Fair for all Senate employees and plans blood drives every year. 

Capitol Hill Training 

The Office of Education and Training offered 1,278 classes and events in 2010, 

drawing more than 10,000 participants. This office’s registration desk handled more 

than 25,000 email and phone requests for training and documentation. 

The above total includes 438 customized training sessions for 1,937 staff members. These sessions ranged from in-depth training of Senate office system administrators to conflict resolution and organizational development. We provide individual 

consultation on Web site development and office systems training. We provided resume and interviewing skills building after the deaths and retirements of numerous 

Senators. 

The Senate’s Intern Program is also a focus of the office. We provide training for 

intern coordinators as well as five orientation and training sessions for approximately 500 interns. 

Annually, we provide a Senate Services Expo for Senate office staff. This year we 

had 35 presenters from the offices of the Secretary of the Senate, SAA, AOC, USCP, 

and the Library of Congress providing an overview of their services to 250 staff. 

This is part of the orientation for new staff and the aides to the Senators-elect. This 

past November we held seven orientation sessions which were attended by 30 aides. 

State Office Training 

The Office of Education and Training provided 85 learning opportunities to State 

offices for which 2,813 State staff registered. Our office continues to offer the State 

Training Fair Program and video teleconferencing and webinars as a means to train 

State staff. In 2010, two sessions of the State Training Fairs were attended by 63 

State staff. We also conducted the State Directors Forum, which was attended by 

62 State administrative managers and directors and a Constituent Services Forum 

attended by 43 State staff. We also provided advanced all staff meeting facilitation 

to more than 20 offices that were attended by more than 650 staff. Additionally, the 

office offered 33 video teleconferencing classes, for which 1,707 State staff registered 

and we offered 28 webinars that were attended by 288. 

We provide sources of Internet-based training covering technical, professional and 

language skills. This allows staff in both DC and State offices to take training at 

their convenience. To date, 692 DC and State staff have registered and accessed 

1,534 different lessons and publications using this training option. Education and 

Training also provides 54 Senate-specific self-paced lessons that have been accessed 

more than 3,200 times. 

Health Promotion 

In the Health Promotion area, 3,070 staff participated in 56 health promotion activities throughout the year. These activities included lung function and kidney 

screenings, eight blood drives, the Health and Fitness Day and seminars on healthrelated topics and the Annual Senate Health Fair. We also coordinate Weight 

Watchers, Yoga, and Pilates sessions using the revolving fund for health promotion. 

There were 11 sessions that had 266 attendees. 
215 

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (EAP)

Our EAP offered a variety of services to staff, Pages, interns, and family members. In 2010, 3.8 percent of Senate employees and/or their family members met 

with/spoke to an EAP counselor, 187 employees took a mental health on-line screening, 2,614 employees attended an EAP training activity, and 1,416 employees 

accessed resources for personalized information and referrals for childcare and parenting, adult care and aging, education, legal, and financial concerns. 

The EAP expanded outreach programs through updating materials on a wide variety of mental health topics; providing an interactive and informative Web page that 

includes confidential mental health screenings, an increased number of self-paced 

training modules and access to mental health, management and trauma response 

resources; and offering a variety of time- and community-sensitive training programs, including video teleconferencing training programs for State offices. The EAP 

continued to hone, expand, and utilize the skills of the 29 members of the Senate 

Peer Support Team through a series of presentations, trainings, and informational 

lectures. 

APPENDIX—FISCAL YEAR 2012 BUDGET REQUEST

FINANCIAL PLAN FOR FISCAL YEAR 2012 

OFFICE OF THE SERGEANT AT ARMS—UNITED STATES SENATE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

[Dollars in thousands] 

Fiscal year 2011 

budget 

Fiscal year 2012 

request 

Fiscal year 2012 vs. fiscal year 

2011 

Amount 

Increase/ 

decrease 

(percentage) 

General operations and maintenance: 

Salaries ................................................................ $76,846 $77,588 $742 ∂1.0 

Expenses .............................................................. 86,067 84,429 (1,638) ¥1.9 

Total, general operations and maintenance ... 162,913 162,017 (896) ¥0.5 

Mandated allowances and allotments ......................... 50,174 49,663 (511) ¥1.0 

Capital investment ....................................................... 700 684 (16) ¥2.3 

Nondiscretionary items ................................................. 5,175 6,812 1,637 ∂31.6 

Total ................................................................ 218,962 219,176 214 ∂0.1 

Staffing 956 956 ........................ ........................

To ensure that we provide the highest levels and quality of security, support services, and equipment, we submit a fiscal year 2012 budget request of $219,176,000, 

an increase of $214,000 or 0.1 percent compared to fiscal year 2011. The salary 

budget request is $77,588,000, an increase of $742,000 or 1 percent, and the expense 

budget request is $141,588,000, a decrease of $528,000 or 0.4 percent. The staffing 

request remains flat at 956. 

We present our budget in four categories: 

—general operations and maintenance (salaries and expenses); 

—mandated allowances and allotments; 

—capital investment; and 

—nondiscretionary items. 

The general operations and maintenance salaries budget request is $77,588,000, 

an increase of $742,000 or 1 percent compared to fiscal year 2011. The salary budget 

increase is due to merit funding and other adjustments. 

The general operations and maintenance expenses budget request for existing and 

new services is $84,429,000, a decrease of $1,638,000 or 1.9 percent compared to fiscal year 2011. 

The mandated allowances and allotments budget request is $49,663,000, a decrease of $511,000 or 1 percent compared to fiscal year 2011. This budget supports 

State office rents, $18,815,000; purchase of computer and office equipment, 

$13,894,000; voice and data communications for Washington, DC and State offices, 
216 

$12,301,000; procurement and maintenance of office equipment for Member office 

constituent services systems, $4,500,000; State office security enhancements, 

$1,913,000; and wireless services and equipment, $1,500,000. 

The capital investment budget request is $684,000, a decrease of $16,000 or 2.3 

percent compared to fiscal year 2011. The fiscal year 2012 budget request includes 

funds for the Senate Chamber remote broadcast system replacement, $484,000; and 

data networking initiatives and expansions, $200,000. 

The nondiscretionary items budget request is $6,812,000, an increase of 

$1,637,000 or 31.6 percent compared to fiscal year 2011. The request funds projects 

that support the Secretary of the Senate: contract maintenance for the Financial 

Management Information System, $3,770,000; support for the payroll system, 

$2,182,000; and maintenance and necessary enhancements to the Legislative Information System, $860,000. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

Chief Morse. 
(217) 

UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE 

STATEMENT OF PHILLIP D. MORSE, SR., CHIEF 

Chief MORSE. Thank you, Chairman Nelson, Ranking Member 

Hoeven, and members of the subcommittee. I’m honored to be here 

today, and I appreciate the opportunity to present the USCP budget for fiscal year 2012. 

I would like to request that my written testimony be entered into 

the record. 

Senator NELSON. It will be entered. 

Chief MORSE. I would also like to thank the subcommittee for its 

sustained and unwavering support for the men and women of the 

USCP. Specifically, I would like to express our appreciation to the 

subcommittee, and the Congress, for providing the necessary salaries and general expenses funding for 2011 to support our personnel and operations. 

As I begin my testimony, I would like to emphasize that my 

management team and I are keenly aware of the economic situation our Nation faces today. I understand the responsibility I have 

to submit a budget request that is not only accurate, but is reasonable and based on the critical requirements necessary to mitigate 

and address threats and risks. The department’s fiscal year 2012 

budget request, after adjusting the fiscal year 2011 appropriated 

levels, totals $380 million, and represents an overall increase of 12 

percent. The department’s fiscal year 2012 personnel request reflects our continuous efforts, at all levels of management, to effectively manage our existing resources to achieve the best possible 

balance of staff-to-mission requirements. 

With that in mind, our requested fiscal year 2012 personnel costs 

support the current authorized staffing levels of 2,243 positions, as 

well as a request for three new civilian positions for the Office of 

Inspector General (IG). We’re requesting an overall increase of 8 

percent more than the fiscal year 2011 enacted funding level, with 

rescission. 

We have been very strategic in our hiring of civilian positions to 

best align our resources to our needs. In particular, we identified, 

through a position review, 22 existent vacant civilian positions for 

repurposing to meet our additional mission requirements, such as 

the 9 sworn officers needed for the security of the new Federal Office Building 8 (FOB8) and 13 civilian dispatcher positions needed 

for the radio project and mirror site requirements; at current staffing levels, the department’s fiscal year 2012 overtime projection of 

approximately $36,500,000, to include support for the fiscal year 

2012 political conventions and pre-Inauguration security planning, 

along with support for Library of Congress (LOC) nonreimbursable 

events, and overtime necessary to secure multiyear projects, to include the Capitol Dome skirt and the utility tunnel projects. 
218 

The second area of detail is an overall net increase in our requested general expenses budget, which is an overall increase of 29 

percent more than the fiscal year 2011 funding levels. The majority 

of the increase is attributed to the new initiatives to address identified threats and risks and for support of the 2012 political conventions and Presidential Inauguration planning. The increase in the 

request, just for normal annual needs of the Department, excluding 

the new initiatives and convention pre-Inauguration support, is 

about 5 percent. 

The seven new initiatives included in our request address security and law enforcement services for FOB8; security enhancements 

for the alternate computer facility; security designs for utility tunnel systems; design and installation of security programs for the 

Capitol Dome skirt rehabilitation; design and installation of security management systems within the House and Senate parking garages; software upgrades for the Department’s fixed-asset management; and departmentwide travel management systems. The total 

funding request for these initiatives is $11.8 million. 

With the direct assistance of the USCP Board, we provided advisors to assess financial management risk and to provide recommended improvements, as well as the oversight recommendations of the USCP IG. We have the foundation for sound fiscal 

practices, to include sound budget formulation that we are actively 

implementing and will continuously seek to improve. 

In particular, I’m pleased to report that we recently closed all 

eight audit findings related to the U.S. IG’s audit of the Department’s budget formulation process. Further, we’re working on the 

resolution of a number of other recommendations in order to 

achieve efficiency and effectiveness in our administrative programs. 

The long-term resolution of the recommendations related to internal controls, business processes, and material weaknesses remain 

the highest importance to our management team. 

PREPARED STATEMENT

Finally, I’d like to thank all the men and women of the USCP, 

both sworn and civilian, for their dedicated service and their sacrifice to keep us all safe this past year. 

I appreciate the opportunity, today, that you’ve given me. And I’d 

be happy to answer any questions that you may have. 

[The statement follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF PHILLIP D. MORSE, SR. 

Chairman Nelson, Ranking Member Hoeven and members of the subcommittee, 

I am honored to be here today, and I appreciate the opportunity to present the 

United States Capitol Police (USCP) budget request for fiscal year 2012. 

First, I would like to thank the subcommittee for its sustained and unwavering 

support for the men and women of the USCP. You and your staffs have continued 

to generously support both our mission as well as our personnel—not just in a monetary way, but also in private and public recognition of our role and responsibilities. 

The security and protection of this great institution is not only our job, but we consider it a sacred duty and privilege to serve you, the congressional staff, and the 

millions of visitors from every corner of the world who come to the United States 

Capitol Complex every year. Due in large part to your support and that of the Capitol Police Board, the Department has had many successes in its continued efforts 

to become a premier security and law enforcement agency operating under established controls and efficiencies. 
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Specifically, I would like to express our appreciation to the subcommittee and the 

Congress for providing the necessary salaries and general expenses funding for fiscal year 2011 to support our personnel and operations. 

This fiscal year 2011 appropriation level has allowed the Department to address 

critical salaries requirements, as well as Radio Modernization Project (RMP) needs, 

in fiscal year 2011, which thus results in a reduction of those items from our fiscal 

year 2012 budget request. 

As I begin my testimony, I would like to emphasize that my management team 

and I are keenly aware of the economic situation our Nation faces today. I understand the responsibility I have to submit a budget request that is not only accurate, 

but that is reasonable, based on only critical requirements necessary to mitigate and 

address threats and risks. Our fiscal year adjusted 2012 budget request provides for 

those mission-critical requirements necessary for the Department to address the security of the Congress, so that it may conduct it’s constitutional responsibilities in 

an open and safe manner without disruption from crime or terrorism. 

Our mission-focused request is grounded in the USCP strategic goals that describe our mission and frame our budget planning: 

—assessing the threat to the Capitol community; 

—taking proactive measures to mitigate the threat so as to prevent disruption to 

the legislative process; 

—responding in the event of a disruption so that the Congress can continue to 

operate; and 

—supporting the USCP’s mission through constructive internal business processes 

and controls that foster effective and efficient mission delivery. 

This budget is strong in support of those goals—with modest increases and initiatives to address identified risks and threats—yet it is flexible enough to achieve and 

maintain solid mission-critical results with efficient use of resources. 

The proposed fiscal year 2012 budget will address and mitigate identified security 

challenges that may potentially affect the safety of the Capitol Complex and our 

ability to keep up with the changing security environment and threat level. In addition, it contains requests for a few new initiatives that provide additional security 

for the Capitol Complex and it provides administrative systems to mitigate audit 

risks and findings. 

The Department’s funding levels have grown in recent years, due to requirements 

set forth to support an expanding mission load. In the last several years, we have 

merged with the Library of Congress (LOC) police while absorbing the jurisdiction 

over LOC buildings and grounds, and upon the opening of the Capitol Visitor Center; we assumed additional protection responsibilities for the security operations of 

this critical addition to the Capitol. We will also be gaining an additional protective 

responsibility with the opening of the Federal Office Building 8 (FOB8) scheduled 

to reopen in fiscal year 2012. An additional fiscal dynamic we are managing is our 

implementation of a complex RMP. 

At this time, I would like to offer the subcommittee an overarching summary of 

our fiscal year 2012 request. I will follow this summary with a discussion of specific 

budget items of particular significance to you and the Department. 

The Department’s fiscal year 2012 request totals $380 million and represents an 

overall increase of 12 percent, or $40 million more than the fiscal year 2011 enacted 

level with a rescission funding level of $340 million. 

The first subject area that I would like to provide more detail for is in the area 

of personnel salaries and overtime. 

The Department’s fiscal year 2012 personnel request reflects our continuous efforts at all levels of management to effectively manage our existing resources to 

achieve the best possible balance of staff-to-mission requirements. We are constantly 

analyzing our workforce to align job functions, assignments, workload, risk management, and organizational readiness along with the ever-changing threat assessments and mandatory mission requirements of a dynamic Congressional community. 

To operate within our current budget, we are currently carrying out our mission 

requirements with 1,775 of our 1,800 sworn positions, below our authorized 443 civilian positions, and with only limited training. We have received funding in fiscal 

year 2011 to increase our sworn levels to 1,800 at the end of the fiscal year, and 

to bring on an additional 13 civilians as well, but this partial year funding for these 

positions will need to be annualized in fiscal year 2012 in order to maintain this 

staffing strength. Much of our overall increase allows the Department to operate at 

our current authorized staffing levels. 

With regard to our funding request related to personnel, we are requesting an 

overall increase of 8 percent more than the fiscal year 2011 enacted funding levels 

with rescission, which includes funding for only three new civilian positions for the 

Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The increase in 9 new sworn positions to ad-
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dress the additional operational requirements for FOB8 is offset by a net reduction 

of 9 civilian positions from within the Department current authorized strength of 

443. 

Additionally, we have been very strategic in the hiring of civilian positions to best 

align our resources to our needs. In particular, we identified 22 existing vacant civilian positions based on a position review for repurposing to meet additional mission 

requirements such as, the 9 sworn officers needed for the security of the new FOB8 

and 13 civilian dispatcher positions needed for the RMP mirror site requirements. 

The Department’s current authorized sworn strength does not entirely provide the 

necessary resources to meet all our mission requirements within the established 

sworn officer utility or the number of work-hours in a year that each officer is available to perform work. This ‘‘utility’’ number is used to determine overall staffing requirements, and balances the utility of available staff with annual salary and overtime funding along with known mission requirements such as postcoverage, projected unscheduled events such as demonstrations, late sessions, holiday concerts, 

et cetera, and unfunded requirements that occur after the budget is enacted, such 

as unforeseen critical emergency situations. 

Thus, mission requirements in excess of available personnel must be addressed 

through the use of overtime, identification of efficiencies such as postrealignment 

and/or reductions, technology, and cutbacks within the utility, such as reductions in 

the number of hours provided for training. As a result, our oversight committees are 

reviewing such options to offset mission requirements where possible, such as closing lower-priority doors, which will reduce the total hours at posts and overtime 

costs. 

With that in mind, our requested fiscal year 2012 personnel costs support the current authorized staffing levels of 2,243 positions, as well as a request for 3 new civilian positions for the OIG. This will result in the increase of 3 personnel (from 2,243 

to 2,246), while absorbing the mission requirements associated with FOB8 security 

and the dispatch operations. 

At current staffing levels, the Department’s fiscal year 2012 basic overtime projec- tion of approximately $33.9 million reflects an increase more than the $32 million 

that was provided for in fiscal year 2011 with rescission. Other requested increases to overtime include an additional $215,000 in funding to cover LOC’s nonreimbursable events, and $2.4 million for overtime necessary to 

secure multi-year AOC initiatives, to include the Capitol Dome skirt, and utility 

tunnel projects. These items bring the total fiscal year 2012 overtime request to 

$36.5 million which is an increase of $4.5 million. 

The second area of detail is an overall net increase in our requested general expenses budget, which includes protective travel; hiring, outfitting, and training of 

new sworn personnel; supplies and equipment; management systems; et cetera. 

While we are requesting an overall increase of 29 percent more than the fiscal year 

2011 funding levels, the majority of the increase request is for new initiatives to address identified threats and risks, and for support of the 2012 political conventions 

and Presidential Inauguration planning. The increase in the request, just for the 

normal annual needs of the Department, excluding new initiatives, and convention 

and pre-Inauguration support, is 5 percent. 

These seven new initiatives include: 

—security and law enforcement services for FOB8; 

—security enhancements for the Alternate Computer Facility; 

—security designs for the utility tunnel system; 

—design and installation of a security program for the Capitol Dome Skirt Rehabilitation project; 

—design and installation of security management systems within House and Senate parking garages; 

—software upgrades for the Department’s fixed asset system; and 

—a Department-wide travel management system. 

The total funding requested for these new initiatives is $11.8 million. 

Finally, we are requesting $3 million in general expense funding to support the 

2012 political conventions and pre-Inauguration planning. 

With your support, the Department continues to successfully perform our operational mission and has achieved several key accomplishments over the last year 

that have resulted in greater efficiencies for the Department, which include addressing several administrative challenges and improving corresponding business practices. 

Operationally, so far this fiscal year, the Department has screened more than 3 

million visitors to the Capitol Complex; affected more than 200 arrests; conducted 

more than 75,000 K–9 sweeps; and screened nearly 6,500 vehicles. In fiscal year 

2010, the Department screened more than 10 million visitors, affected more than 
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700 arrests; and conducted more than 160,000 K–9 sweeps. These are just a few examples of the many operational elements that are conducted daily to ensure the success of the Department’s core mission. 

With the direct assistance of the Capitol Police Board, who provided advisors to 

assess financial management risks and to provide recommended improvements, we 

have the foundation for sound fiscal practices that we are actively implementing and 

will continuously seek to improve upon. 

Included in the sound fiscal practices recommended by the OIG through his budget formulation audit and the Board’s financial advisors through their review of our 

financial management operations are the practices and processes we conducted to 

create the fiscal year 2012 budget. 

The Department re-implemented an improved management and budget planning 

methodology which we call the ‘‘Force Development Process’’. It provides for a transparent decisionmaking process, including reviews and approvals by an Investment 

Review Board made up of key agency management, and provides a structure that 

is results-driven and based on meeting operational needs. We also formalized a process for program evaluations for selected existing programs, which we plan to expand 

for the fiscal year 2013 process. In addition, in order to ensure the accuracy of our 

budget request, this fiscal year 2012 budget went through multiple layers of review 

and validation by internal and external parties, and is traceable to supporting documentation for each budget element. 

Additionally, by transitioning our primary vehicle fleet to a General Services Administration (GSA)-based fleet leasing program, we now have a consistent 5-year 

life-cycle replacement plan, which saves taxpayer dollars over purchasing these primary fleet vehicles, reduces repair costs, gives us a predictable annual funding requirement and allows us to maintain a consistent state of operational readiness. In 

an effort to take advantage of cross servicing within the legislative branch, we also 

successfully migrated our financial management system to the LOC, which saves 

the Department not just in annual operational costs, but in future software upgrade 

costs through economies of scale within the legislative branch. Finally, as a result 

of programmatic efficiencies that enabled the reduction of 11 Hazardous Materials 

Response Team positions, we were able to use those vacant civilian positions for security control operators to monitor our alarm system which was previously handled 

by contractors. As a result, the security control positions were filled by utilizing 

USCP employees previously transferred to the Department of Labor (DOL) due to 

worker’s compensation issues. Overall, this transformation allowed the Department 

to better use available resources to more efficiently achieve an operational requirement by returning employees to productive work, which allowed us to eliminate a 

$1.2 million contract for the previously contracted-operators and reduce our workers 

compensation charge backs to the DOL by returning employees to duty. 

Further, we continue our work to close audit recommendations and to address our 

material weaknesses from prior audits by working closely with our OIG and the 

Government Accountability Office to address issues which have arisen and by providing the evidence necessary to close findings. In particular, I am pleased to report 

that we recently closed all eight audit findings related to the USCP OIG’s audit of 

the Department’s budget formulation process. Further, we are working on the resolution of a number of other recommendations in order to achieve efficiency and effectiveness of our administrative programs. The long-term resolution of recommendations related to internal controls, business processes and material weaknesses remain of the highest importance to our management team. 

As I mentioned in the beginning of my testimony, we are well aware of and understand the economic climate that affects our country, the legislative branch and the 

entire Federal Government, and I want to assure you that the USCP will successfully adapt our resources and continue to safeguard the Congressional community. 

I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today and would be glad to answer any questions you may have at this time. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you, Chief Morse. And thank you all. 

If it’s okay, we can try 6-minute rounds of questions. And it looks 

like we’ll—maybe I’ll just finish that about the time the vote is 

called. 

Ms. Erickson, the fiscal year 2011 enacted level of funding for 

your office included the $4.2 million associated with the transfer of 

the SIS program. Your budget request for fiscal year 2012 includes 

the same level of funding for the SIS program. Can you update the 

subcommittee on the progress being made on the transfer of the 
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SIS from the SAA to your office? And have you identified any improvements or efficiencies that you can find in the implementation 

of the system? 

Ms. ERICKSON. Well, the transition has gone very smoothly. And 

I think it’s important to remind the subcommittee that the idea behind the SIS program was to make the services more efficient and 

cost effective for the Senate. Prior to 2000, each office was appropriated a sum of money to purchase online subscriptions. And a decision was made, by this subcommittee and the Rules Committee, 

to have one entity be the negotiator for these subscriptions, which 

can be quite costly, as you know. 

As part of our education and outreach efforts to Senate staff, I 

think it’s fair to say that it was a surprise to some of the office administrators that we provided some of these services, and that offices were purchasing duplicate subscriptions. I think that you’ll 

see some Senate offices will achieve cost savings by canceling these 

subscriptions and relying on SIS services. 

Last year, we had a surplus of 0.05 percent. And, with the 0.2 

percent rescission, it cut that amount roughly by half. We’re currently entering a new procurement stage, and I’m pleased to report 

that we had recommended, based on usage statistics, to the Senate 

Rules Committee, that we eliminate one of the service vendors. 

And they have approved our request. We’ll see some minor cost 

savings on that front. 

So, needless to say, with a flat budget, there’s not a lot of room 

for error as we enter the procurement negotiations. But, I’m hopeful that these services will be maintained, because they’re valued 

and used by Senate staff. 

Senator NELSON. Your testimony touches on the fact that during 

fiscal year 2010, the Disbursing Office, in tandem with SAA technical support, began implementing a new payroll system. What is 

the status of that Senate payroll replacement project? You indicated that phase I should be completed during fiscal year 2012. 

What are the necessary steps? And is everything progressing? The 

status of the replacement projects is what we’re after. 

Ms. ERICKSON. The implementation is going well. I will say, as 

you can imagine, anytime you’re dealing with payroll, it is a highstakes project. We’ve been having implementation sessions with 

the vendor who was selected to help with the implementation. I’ve 

met periodically with the implementation group. They meet every 

2 weeks for what we call ‘‘fit-gap’’ sessions. And I think it’s fair to 

say that, so far, everything looks good. There’s a great deal of work 

ahead of us. 

But, one thing that I was struck by in attending these sessions, 

is the relatively small number of people, not only from the Disbursing Office, but from Terry’s shop, in payroll, who assist us 

every 2 weeks in getting the payroll out—the small group of people 

who are working on this project. And they’re doing this job on top 

of their already very full-time duties of issuing payroll every 2 

weeks. I’m pleased to report that everything is going well to date. 

And we will be sure to keep you and your staffs informed as we 

progress on the project. 

Senator NELSON. Okay. And what is the cost of the Senate Office 

Personnel System (SOPS)? And is that somehow tied to the payroll 
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system? Is it more cost effective to do the personnel system in conjunction with the payroll system? 

Ms. ERICKSON. Sure. 

Senator NELSON [continuing]. In other words, are there additional costs associated with adding the personnel system later, 

rather than doing so now, as you’re in the implementation phase? 

Ms. ERICKSON. The payroll project will be one that will take 

place in three phases. The first phase will be simply the replication 

of the current system, which we hope to have launched by February. The second phase of the project will include self-service options, which will allow Senate staff to, from their desktops, change 

their withholdings, their address. It will also mean the end of 

paper paycheck stubs that will be mailed to your offices. That will 

all be sent electronically. The third phase of the project will include 

the SOPS, or personnel system, for Senate offices. 

The SAA had asked the vendor who’s helping us with the implementation, as well as an outside consultant, to do an analysis of 

the risks associated with doing the personnel system at the same 

time as the current payroll system. And they recommended that it 

was too high risk for us to implement at this time. So, that will 

be the third phase of this project. 

Senator NELSON. You mentioned what the new personnel system 

will offer the offices, among other things, interactive ability to 

change certain information would there be some other services that 

would come to the various Senate offices from that change? 

Ms. ERICKSON. Pardon. 

Senator NELSON. Would there be some other benefits, other than 

services, that will come to the Senate offices from this changeover? 

Ms. ERICKSON. Yes, there will. It’ll be a much more efficient system. And I’d be happy to follow up with the subcommittee in more 

detail on some of the options that would—— 

Senator NELSON. Sure. 

Ms. ERICKSON [continuing]. Will be available. 

Senator NELSON. Okay. Thank you. I think that is my time. 

Senator Hoeven. 

Senator HOEVEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Again, thank you for the hard work that you’ve done on these 

budgets. And, as you know, we’re in challenging times, financially, 

in terms of the Federal budget. So, we’re going to have to continue 

to work to find savings where we can. And in that effort, we’ve got 

our personnel costs, which, in all your cases, is obviously a very big 

part of your budget. It’s very people intensive. And then we have 

other expenses. Anticipating that, we’re going to have to continue 

to find savings, just based on what I expect the overall budget requirements to be, there’s been discussion of even going back to 

2008 funding levels. 

So, what I’d like to engage in a little bit is how we would go 

about finding some savings and how we would balance that between people and projects. Now, for both Secretary of the Senate, 

SAA, you essentially have flat budgets, and have been from, basically, 2010, 2011, now looking at 2012; in the case of the USCP, 

we need to talk a little bit about the 14 percent increase you are 

requesting. I recognize the need for security; and, of course, with 

the tragic event that occurred with Representative Gabrielle Gif-
224 

fords, we know that’s not only a security issue here in Washington, 

DC, but around the country. So, we have to be mindful of those security requirements, too. 

But, let’s start, if we could, with the Secretary of the Senate. In 

terms of people and projects now, if we have to hold these budgets 

flat, or even compress them further, talk a little bit in terms of 

what you’re realistically able to do between people versus some of 

your other general expenses versus any kind of projects that you 

have going now. How would you start to—and I know it may be 

a little hard for you to get into specifics, but that’s not what I’m 

looking for, so much as to how you would approach this budgeting 

process in that balance between people, general expenses, and 

project type costs. 

Ms. ERICKSON. Well, in terms of our operational budget, we’ll be 

in great shape if you hold us to our 2008 level of funding. Our 2012 

budget request is the same level as our 2008 level of funding on 

the operations front. With respect to staffing, the Secretary of the 

Senate, over the years, has been capped at a level of 253 employees. And I’m pleased to say that I think that we’re well—we’re 

below that cap on purpose because I’m mindful that there may be 

statutory requirements that require me to add full-time equivalents 

to our budget. An example of that would be, in the last Congress 

there were two bills that were proposed, dealing with earmarks, 

and one that would have required us to hire staff who had budgetary expertise. I would have had to add staff to my budgets to do 

that. 

Every vacancy that we have, through retirement or attrition, we 

scrutinize carefully to make sure that it’s necessary to fill it. And 

at the top of my head right now, I can think, in the last few 

months, that there are four vacancies that we currently have that 

we plan to, hopefully, do without by using existing staff. 

Senator HOEVEN. Okay. 

Terry. 

Mr. GAINER. We’ve done some analysis of what it would take if 

we had to reduce the budget by 5, 7, or 10 percent, and then tried 

to analyze what we’d do, from a head count and operations perspective. And we do have plans in our mind, if we had to do that. I 

think the head count reduction would come through eventual attrition as you stop some programs. So, it is really the program area 

that we’d have to adjust to. 

And I’ll give you some ‘‘for-instances’’. About 27 percent of our 

operational budget goes for the support of the State offices. So, 

when we’ve looked at reducing funding, generally it’s something on 

the Hill that we change. And if we have to reduce substantially, 

I would really respectfully request, of this subcommittee and others, that we take a look at the 454 offices that we have around the 

United States, and see if there isn’t some cost-cutting we could do 

there. That is a substantial portion of our operational budget. 

But, when we look at expenses we’ve deferred much, as I’ve indicated. And at some point, that bill is going to come due potentially 

slowing things down. The turnover of getting new computers or 

buying new equipment could change dramatically. While we keep 

a high level of response to the Senate community to install a computer, move a computer, change a computer, all that could change, 
225 

similar to what we’ve probably done in our own homes if it breaks 

down; we’re not able to pick the phone up and have someone there 

in 15 minutes. So, if the Members and the staff could adjust to 

slower response times, there would be money to save. But, operating like that would eventually adversely impact your ability to 

interact with your constituents. But, we’ve at least planned out 

how we would do that, if push came to shove. 

Senator HOEVEN. I think that you’re thinking in the right terms, 

both of you. You know, we’ll see what this number boils down to. 

I’m expecting we’re going to end up with some top line number for 

2012, at some point, here, maybe even as we go through these discussions with the administration, in terms of the whole debt ceiling 

issue. We may end up with some top line number. We’ll see. And 

then, out of that top line number, of course, through the Appropriations Committee, then that puts us in a position to actually boil 

down numbers to some of these different budgets. It’s tough, from 

the standpoint that we don’t have a lot of dollars, obviously, and 

we’re going to have to find savings. But, the good part is that we 

may then have a number to come back to you and say, ‘‘Okay, 

we’re going to have to try to, you know, live within certain numbers, but then you’ve got some ability to make those decisions.’’ 

And we would do everything we could within that number, then, 

to try to help you make it work in the best way possible. 

I think some of the things that you talked about and identified— 

whether they’re exactly the right things to do, or not, is something 

we can work through—but, I think you’re thinking exactly in the 

right terms, as far as how we would approach the challenge. And, 

like I said, I think we’ll have a better idea of what that has to be, 

as we go forward. 

Chief, you know, obviously, with the security situation, that’s a 

tough proposition. And I referenced Representative Giffords and 

the challenge that creates, not only for you, here in Washington, 

DC, but then around the country. How do we—with the need for 

security, not just for Members, but for the public—how are you 

going to approach this? Just start at a high level—— 

Chief MORSE. Sure. 

Senator HOEVEN [continuing]. And then get down in some more 

specifics. 

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

Chief MORSE. One thing we do when we formulate our budget is, 

we look at threat and risk. So, we do an environmental assessment, 

and then we do what’s called ‘‘force development.’’ We look at those 

risks and threats, and we look at what we currently do and what 

we may need to do. 

I’m going to give you one example of where—in the 2012 budget, 

when you’re looking at a program or operation, how we were able 

to meet a new mission, with respect to threat and risk, by not increasing the staffing level of our police department. What we did 

for the FOB8, where we needed eight additional officers, we 

scrubbed vacant civilian positions that we had not hired for yet. We 

reallocated those positions to fill those vacancies. That’s an example of where we scrubbed a program, we were able to utilize vacant 
226 

positions to reallocate for a new mission without asking for an increase in authorized strength. 

Another example of where we look at a program or operation is 

with respect to our truck interdiction and monitoring program. 

We’ve taken information technology, camera systems, and new 

technology, with respect to the lights and the intersections, and we 

will be able to reduce that program by reducing officers, reducing 

vehicles, which then becomes less maintenance, less gas, less overtime, and we’re able to reallocate those officers to other missions. 

So, we will continue to do those scrubs of programs and operations to find savings, both in how we do what we do and the number of people that we need to do it with. 

Senator HOEVEN. Okay. I actually was going to try and see if I 

could work this so the Chairman was back before I went to the 

vote. But, I think, given the time, that I’m going to have to excuse 

myself so that I can go vote. And then, I expect both the Chairman 

and myself will be back pretty shortly. 

Thank you. 

Senator NELSON. I think we can reconvene, here. 

And this is still to Ms. Erickson. Aside from the SIS program request, your fiscal year 2012 budget is very conservative. What 

measures are you using, internally within your agency, to control 

the costs? 

Ms. ERICKSON. Well, with a relatively small budget of $2 million, 

I have to say that we’re vigilant, on a daily basis, of watching our 

budget. 

Just a few examples. Our Senate library staff, every year, review 

the subscriptions and the database of subscriptions that we have. 

And this year, they were able to find $38,000 in savings over the 

next 3 years. Another example, our Senate chief employment counsel staff have eliminated the purchase of hardbound legal books, 

and have achieved $6,000 in annual savings. Our Senate Stationery Room tackled a project, at the request of Senate office administrators, to provide online ordering services to offices. Initially, 

we thought we would contract that out, and then, looking at the 

costs, we decided we’d do it internally, using the resources we have 

here, relying heavily on our Senate Webmaster to achieve some 

cost savings. Now, it may not have all the bells and whistles that 

an outside contractor would have provided us, but I’m confident it’ll 

get the job done for Senate offices. 

Other small things we do: Not every staff member has a cell 

phone and BlackBerry. We limit those to individuals who are department directors or those who have emergency operation responsibilities. In the last 2 years, we’ve limited staff travel to attend 

training and conferences. So, those are just small ways that we try 

to achieve cost savings for our operational budget. 

With respect to salaries, as I mentioned to Senator Hoeven earlier, every time we have a vacancy, we scrutinize it to make sure 

that it’s one that we really need to fill. And, in recognizing the 

tight economic times that we’re in, I can think of, off the top of my 

head, four vacancies that we currently have had, in the last few 

months, that we plan to keep open and rely on existing staff to assume those duties. 
227 

Senator NELSON. Well, thank you. And I commend you for the 

steps that you’ve taken to control costs, and submitting such a lean 

budget. And after giving you all those compliments, I guess it 

might come as a shock that I will ask the question: If you had to 

submit a 5-percent reduction from fiscal year 2011, do you have 

any thoughts about where you might make those kinds of reductions? 

Ms. ERICKSON. Well, we have a lean budget, so it would be 

tough. And many of the services that we provide are ones that we 

have statutory mandates to provide. But, we would do our best to 

scrutinize the budget to come up with those savings. We would do 

as directed by the Appropriations Committee. 

With respect to the SIS program, I have to say that, if we took 

a 5-percent cut, it would bring the level of funding for that program 

back to 2008 levels. And it would require us to make drastic cuts 

in the services provided to Senate offices. 

Senator NELSON. And the Senate offices don’t want those drastic 

cuts in their service, do they? 

Ms. ERICKSON. They do not. 

Senator NELSON. I know. 

Ms. ERICKSON. In fact, recently, the leadership directories, which 

is one of the services under the SIS program, went dark for a few 

hours, and the phones in our Senate library were ringing off the 

hook with complaints from Senate staff. We like to keep them 

happy. 

Senator NELSON. Well, thank you. I appreciate it very much. 

As we look at the Senate SAA budget, your request, Mr. Gainer, 

is only slightly above 2011 enacted level. And I note that you would 

have been below, except for the 2.2 percent across-the-board cut 

that was applied to that bill. And once again, I’d like to commend 

you for submitting a budget that basically reflects a freeze in 

spending. And I have a couple of questions about your request and 

the current funding levels. 

Number one, does your increase in salary funding for fiscal year 

2012 include a request for additional staff? 

Mr. GAINER. No, Sir, there are no additional staff requests. 

Senator NELSON. How much do you currently have in remaining 

prior year unobligated balances, which you have said you would 

like to see applied? 

Mr. GAINER. There is approximately $10 million of unobligated 

balances, Senator. And we have a plan for that money. Part of it 

goes to completing the work that we’re doing with the Secretary of 

the Senate on the payroll system. We don’t know if we have allocated enough to complete the project, so we are reserving some 

funds, in case there are additional requirements. We’re reserving 

some funds that are related to the question you had about the personnel system, one large item that benefits the entire Senate community. And then, we’d have to prioritize those projects that we’ve 

deferred over these last couple years, and see how we would best 

use the funds. 

Senator NELSON. Right. And how much of those unobligated balances would expire at the end of fiscal year 2011 if not used? 

Mr. GAINER. Approximately $5 million will expire. 
228 

Senator NELSON. All right. Unfortunately, if we’re going to get 

our fiscal house in order, it’s going to take a bit more than a freeze. 

So, I’d like to ask you the same question that I asked Ms. Erickson, 

just a minute ago. Do you have any areas that you might identify 

if you were looking at a 5-percent reduction from the previous 

number? 

Mr. GAINER. Five percent would be about $11 million for us, and 

we have considered that. Again, I believe we’ve deferred all that we 

should defer. And what we would do, Senator, is look to the State 

offices. Twenty-seven percent our operational costs go to support 

the 454 State offices, including computers, installation, network 

storage, etc. I think we’d have to go back to you and the other respective committees to say, ‘‘Is it time to take another look at the 

number of statewide offices we have—454—and how they’re 

staffed?’’ That would be one way to spread the reductions. 

Then, I did mention to Senator Hoeven, if we can change the expectations of the Senators and their staff, and concomitantly, what 

your constituents want, we could the slow process down. We have 

a rapid response time on service requests. And, like people who 

have computers at home, it may be 3 or 4 years between the time 

I replace computers. We update and replace equipment more quickly here, so our movement toward virtual computers and cloud computing would look different. Every time a vendor comes out with 

a new device, we put it in our catalog. You pay for it out of your 

funds, but we have to have the systems to support it. We’d have 

to rethink all that. 

Senator NELSON. And, as a result of preparing for the threat in 

the Government shutdown last month, were you able to identify 

any efficiencies in services that, if implemented now, could potentially lead to future savings? I know we all had to take a look, internally, at the offices, and ask the basic questions about what was 

essential—not what was unnecessary, but what was essential. Did 

you find anything, in that exercise? 

Mr. GAINER. Well, one thing I found is we lost a lot of productivity preparing for the shutdown: the cost of about $200,000. But, 

I do not think that we had the ah-ha moment to say, ‘‘We can do 

without that’’, because the demand slows down. 

Senator NELSON. Yes. You’re subject to whatever demand there 

is out there. 

And that is the same thing for you, Ms. Erickson. Did you find 

the same thing, the slowdown in demand, because everybody was 

busy doing their own thing internally in their own office? 

Ms. ERICKSON. Well, I’ll chime in with Terry, that a lot of lost 

productivity was—— 

Senator NELSON. Absolutely. 

Ms. ERICKSON [continuing]. Lost, that week, prior to the potential Government shutdown. 

We took the Antideficiency Act requirements very seriously in 

our operation. And we simply planned to keep open the small staff, 

in the Disbursing Office, that would have to issue the payroll during that period. And then, we planned, of course, to have our legislative staff here to maintain floor operations. But, the rest of our 

departments were closed, as required by the Antideficiency Act. 

Mr. GAINER. Senator, can I have make one remark—— 
229 

Senator NELSON. Sure. 

Mr. GAINER [continuing]. On that question? 

Senator NELSON. Sure. 

Mr. GAINER. It did dawn on me that during that whole shut 

down evolution, Christy Prietsch, who runs the Senate-wide Employee Assistance Program, saw the work in her office magnified 10 

times. So, there was no small amount of angst on everyone’s part. 

But, I’d also like, when we have an opportunity, to talk about some 

things that might make us all more efficient as we go through 

some of these exercises. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

Terry, can you update us on the progress of the telecom modernization project? 

Mr. GAINER. Senator, I can. The good news is, we anticipate that 

the pilot project will be out not much later than the end of September. And the pilot project to roll out the new phone system that 

will continue to build on the Watson Program will involve a couple 

of the Senate offices, a portion of my own office, and some of the 

committees. 

It has taken us longer than expected. There have been some 

knockdown drag-out meetings, in my own office, about us being behind schedule on that. It’s not because of a lack of will, but it’s due 

to the evolving and complex nature of the project. 

So, we are now on track to get the pilot up that will have some 

of the other savings that go along with putting in that new system, 

the ease with moving around a phone, changing phones, and people 

being able to get their messages on their BlackBerrys. There are 

all sorts of enhancements that are efficiency-oriented. So, by the 

end of this calendar year, and into the beginning of the next calendar year, we’ll move steadily through the Senate community, replacing all the phones. 

Senator NELSON. Do you anticipate the need for any additional 

funding for the project, or do you think we have it adequately funded, at the moment? 

Mr. GAINER. I do believe the funding is sufficient now, Senator. 

Senator NELSON. Good. Okay. 

Has the Senate community been receptive to the new Watson 

voice messaging system that was necessary that you got put in 

place? 

Mr. GAINER. Very much so. There were the initial hiccups as 

with any new system, but I think we quickly responded to those. 

We’ve worked with the Rules Committee and others. The response 

to that has been very good. It’s helped with call waiting and call 

volume. The other real unique feature is the ability to get voicemail 

messages on your BlackBerry, or from your phone to your BlackBerry and your computer. 

Senator NELSON. I understand you’re going to be issuing smart 

identification cards. What will the benefit be to that? And is there 

any unusual cost associated with it? 

Mr. GAINER. About one-third of those 454 statewide offices are in 

Federal buildings. And the Federal buildings are rapidly moving toward those ID cards. So, to make it more efficient for State staff 

members to get in and out of their offices, it will be very important. 

We’ve been after smart ID cards since my days as the Chief of the 
230 

USCP. If we all had them, it would be a lot easier and more efficient for people to get in and out of the building. So, we have spent 

about $1.4 million on the project, so far. I think the annualized cost 

is somewhere in the range of $110,000-a-year; but, as the executive 

branch moves to these, we need to keep up. 

VALIDATING THE USCP FISCAL YEAR 2012 REQUEST

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

Chief Morse, your agency and the CBO were the only two accounts that received an increased funding from fiscal year 2010 

level in the fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution. And it was done 

to annualize that funding correction due to the salary miscalculation at the Department in fiscal year 2010. Now, based on the work 

done by the outside contractors which were hired by the USCP 

Board last year, what steps have you taken to validate the accuracy of your fiscal year 2012 budget request? And how confident 

are you that we won’t see, or have to adjust for, another shortfall 

at some point in the future? 

Chief MORSE. With working with the Board’s contractors, we’ve 

done a number of things. One is, as reported in my opening remarks, we have closed all eight recommendations associated with 

the audit of the budget formulation process. That enabled us to do 

several things. One is to go back to what had worked very well for 

us in implementing our Force Development Program, our environmental assessment, where we have a very responsible and reasonable approach, with respect to threats and risks. And that’s what 

our budget is designed around. 

We also have implemented a top-down review of our budget to 

include the Investment Review Board, that we have done in the 

past, which includes our managers in the review of the process. We 

have started writing all standard operation procedures (SOP) related to the budget formulation process. 

And as an example, what we did, with respect to the formulation 

process itself, was have the people who actually work in those positions be a part of the formulation of those SOPs so that we would 

not only know the exact steps to take, but we would be a part of 

writing those SOPs for anyone in the future who may come in. 

Another step that we took was to ensure that we reviewed our 

positions there, our position descriptions, and then filled the most 

critical positions within that organization. And, as I said, I’m 

happy to report, we closed all those recommendations. The SOPs 

have been formulated for the process. They continue to be done as 

we move through the execution of our budget. We are very confident that we have produced a very solid and accurate budget, and 

one that we will continue to do into the future. 

Senator NELSON. Did the outside contractors coordinate with the 

GAO on the previous work done by the GAO on your budget? In 

other words, was there cooperation, corroboration back and forth? 

Chief MORSE. We’ve had very good cooperation, not only with the 

GAO, but with the IG, with respect to the audit findings, previous 

recommendations that have been made. One of the things that we 

wanted to do, and they have been very helpful in doing, is ensuring 

that we’re not duplicating any recommendations, that we’re all on 

the same page, and that we’re doing the most important things 
231 

first, and that were ensuring that the things we do are the most 

efficient and effective for the formulation of our budget and the 

execution of it. 

BUDGET REQUEST AND ITS IMPACT ON THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Senator NELSON. In addition to the increased funding that I just mentioned, your department’s asking for an additional $47.5 million, or 14 percent, in fiscal year 2012. To put it in further perspective, this $47.5 million increase is the equivalent to 1 percent of the 

legislative branch bill, as a whole. If this bill were held at a freeze, 

we’d need to cut every other agency by 1 percent, which I’m sure 

makes them very pleased, to make up for the increase in funding 

for the USCP. However, it’s my goal that we reduce the funding by 

an additional 5 percent, if we can. But, if we fully fund the USCP, 

it means a 6-percent cut to everybody else. So, what do you say to 

your colleagues sitting at the table? 

Chief MORSE. Well, you left me in a pretty bad position, didn’t 

you? What I would say is, you’re safe, and we intend to keep it that 

way. 

Senator NELSON. And you’re packing, too. 

Chief MORSE. Yes. There you go. 

Well, I would say that—look, I’m very humble, and I took responsibility for the miscalculations of 2010. And I take responsibility for 

anything that the USCP, unless it’s good; and that’s where I give 

the credit to the people that support me, like the USCP Board, this 

subcommittee, and the people that are sitting behind me today that 

work for me. 

I think it’s important to say that a lot of our budget increases— 

you know, we have an explanation behind it that’s very important 

to get out. One of the things I wanted to say was and with Senator 

Hoeven, I mentioned, too is that, we’re not all about increases. 

We’re also about, really, effectively and efficiently running our police department. We’ve worked with the Senate Sergeant at Arms 

Rules Committee, as the example was given in Mr. Gainer’s opening remarks, where we saved well more than a half a million dollars. We are working with technology, in one of our programs currently, that will reduce the number of vehicles, people, gas, and 

maintenance. We scrubbed our open civilian vacancies and were 

able to reallocate those to other mission requirements that were 

placed on us so that we wouldn’t have to raise the cost of or, raise 

the size of our police department. We’ve done a fleet vehicle leasing 

program that this subcommittee reviewed and approved, and, over 

a course of time, saved several million dollars, over the next 10 

years, with regard to purchasing, which enables us to have a refreshed fleet, it enables us to do our mission more carefully. We’ve 

scrubbed programs within our police department, where we have 

improved the efficiency and effectiveness. We were able to save 11 

positions. We were then able to get rid of a multimillion-dollar contract for alarm monitoring, bring that in-house. We looked at 

USCP employees previously transferred to the Department of 

Labor, and brought them back and gave them positions. 

So, we have worked very, very hard to save money, be creative 

in saving money. But, the mission comes first for us, and sometimes the mission continues to grow. 
232 

And with respect to the question I heard earlier, with respect to 

a 5-percent cut from the 2011 to the 2008 levels, as an example, 

after the 2008 budget, we incurred two very large mission requirements. One was the merger with the LOC, and the other was the 

opening of the Capitol Visitor Center. 

So, all those types of things have to be considered, with respect 

to our budget. And I appreciate all my partners in the room, and 

their contribution and support to our police department. But, I also 

wanted them to know that we work very, very hard not to increase 

our costs, but to find ways to save money. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

Senator Hoeven. 

Senator HOEVEN. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. 

You know, I think you may be covering the same point that I 

want to explore for just a minute. I thought both Nancy and Terry 

did a very good job of expressing how they would approach any further reductions that we may need to make, and I agree with that 

approach. 

In the security area, it’s challenging, to say the least, because, 

on the one hand, we can tell Members of Congress and the Senators, ‘‘Look, if we have to compress some budgets, you’re going to 

have to do without some services. I mean, just understand that’s 

what this means. So, that means you may not have as many constituent offices in your State, and the associated personnel, and so 

forth, that goes with them.’’ But, I think, in a very direct way, we 

can go back to the Members and say—and obviously, on the House 

side, they do it, and, on the Senate side, we do it—but, go back to 

our Members and say, ‘‘Look, these are the kinds of changes we’re 

going to have to make. What do you want? What don’t you want? 

And there’s an associated cost or reduction that goes with it.’’ And 

I think that’s how we would, in all likelihood, have to approach 

most of it, other than to the extent we can defer projects or defer 

maintenance, which, as you rightfully said, catches up with you. 

But, I think that’s how we’ll have to approach these things. 

In the security area, it seems to me that is a particularly challenging proposition, just given the nature of both the additional 

projects you’ve been asked to take on and just the nature of security, in general, both for elected individuals, but also for the public 

that’s here and in these facilities and around the country. 

So, we started to get into it a little bit before I left for the vote, 

but I just want you, Chief, to explore for me for a minute what realistic possibilities does that give us? Now, I notice, right now, it 

appears that you have a number of vacancy positions, relative to 

your full-time authorized, and you are asking for nine more positions for 2012. So, maybe just, if you haven’t already touched on 

both your roughly 25 or so vacant positions now, and the 9 additional. But then, if you would, really touch on—how would I go 

back to the Members, or how would the chairman go back to his 

Members and say, ‘‘If you want some reductions these are the 

things that are going to have to happen?’’ What would that dialogue look like? 
233 

FISCAL YEAR 2012 REDUCTIONS

Chief MORSE. Okay, well, with respect to the authorized 

strength, we did take—we have an authorized strength of 443, with 

our civilians. We scrubbed 22 of those positions that are currently 

vacant and said, ‘‘Let’s reallocate those instead of growing the 

sworn—or, growing the overall strength of the department, let’s 

just reallocate those—nine of those positions to the sworn positions, 

and ask for the funding for those, in order to accomplish that new 

mission of opening a new building.’’ So, that is where we reallocated, from within, to not grow, overall. 

But, with respect to security, it’s ever-evolving. The threat continuously changes. They’re trying to stay one step ahead of us, and 

it’s important for us to stay ahead of them. Therefore, it’s sometimes hard to predict, you know, what the next type of emerging 

threat may be, so we have to, obviously, maintain the highest level 

of technology. So, when you look at cutting general expenses, and 

you look at the agency trying to stay within the budget constraints 

provided, we get into deferring life-cycle replacement. You can do 

that for a time, but then it does start to adversely affect security, 

because now you’re behind in technology, or the technology you 

have starts to break down on you. So, deferring those costs is not 

something that you want to do to—for too many cycles. You have 

to constantly, as I said, think ahead of the adversary. Sometimes 

that means the responsibility of securing things that may be temporary, like some of these projects. These are not permanent increases, they’re temporary increases, but they’re needed in order to 

reduce the risk and threat that those can pose while those projects 

are ongoing. 

So, the only other way, without cutting security, is to cut mission. And cut mission is one thing that we worked on, with respect 

to the door-closure plan. 

Senator HOEVEN. All right. 

Chief MORSE. We simply looked at hours of operation, the number of people that are screened through those locations, and we 

looked at the impact that may have on the institution’s responsibility to be able to work freely. So, we measured that, and we were 

able to find savings. I think we have to continue to do that. 

Senator HOEVEN. Yes. 

Chief MORSE. And I would not recommend that we cut security, 

but that we look at mission, and find other innovative ways to reduce the amount of mission that we have, which then results in a 

reduction in overtime, a reduction in people; and you are not sacrificing security for that. 

Senator HOEVEN. Right. But—and I think that—with your indulgence, Mr. Chairman—that does make sense, both in terms of 

timelines—how long facilities are open, the number of facilities 

that are open—that makes sense. 

Chief MORSE. Yes. Yes, Sir. 

Mr. GAINER. One of the things that the USCP Board—the House 

SAA, myself, and the AOC—is doing under the Chief’s leadership, 

is to reach out to Homeland Security and the Secret Service. For 

instance, we each have an entire operation that does screening of 

vehicles and trucks. So, we said, ‘‘Is there efficiency in trying to do 
234 

something together?’’ And the Chief’s staff have been working very 

hard with Director Sullivan’s staff to see how we can merge the 

systems. We’re nearing completion. The Congress has given the 

USCP Board and the AOC property where we plan to build the 

model offsite delivery facility. We’ve entered into discussions with 

Homeland Security and the Secret Service to make that a joint 

project. So, while it doesn’t help your numbers here, if the Office 

of Management and Budget were giving credit for something being 

done, this is a way we’re trying to minimize stovepipes here in the 

District. 

Senator HOEVEN. I think that’s right on. I mean, I would have 

to see your reaction across the board. I think it is right on. And 

there may be some opportunities here. And, of course, we would 

give some credit for those savings that we help generate with others in any kind of joint endeavor. But, I do have to say that I appreciate, very much, your responses to my questions. And I agree, 

I think you’re looking at things the right way. And so, thank you, 

again, for the good work that you do. 

CONVENTION AND PRE-INAUGURAL SUPPORT COSTS

Senator NELSON. Thank you, Senator Hoeven. Chief, you have $3 million, I think it is, for the coverage of conventions and pre-Inaugural support planning. How did you arrive 

at that $3 million? Is it based on prior experience, within—that in 

mind? Or, how did you do that? 

Chief MORSE. Yes, we use historical data, and also, site location 

drives the cost. But, in those costs, obviously, are, you know, travel, 

transportation, rental, per diem, et cetera. And those costs are derived from previous conventions and, obviously, Inauguration support. 

IG INCREASES

Senator NELSON. I noticed, on the IG increase, that you asked for 

three additional FTEs for the IG’s staff. How many staff does the 

IG currently have, at the present time? 

Chief MORSE. Including the IG, four. 

Senator NELSON. Four? Now, you’re almost doubling the IG staff 

there. What is the basis for determining that you need to add three 

additional to the current staffing? 

Chief MORSE. The request for increase comes from the IG and his 

justifications to the USCP Board. And with their approval, those 

numbers were derived. So, it’s not based on my justification for increase. 

Senator NELSON. And you’d rather not make him mad. 

Mr. GAINER. Senator, from a USCP Board perspective, of which 

I am the chairman this year—Bill Livingood, the House SAA, and 

I rotate that each year—the Inspector General has steadily asked 

for additional staff over the years, and we’ve steadily said no, except we now see that we’re missing some opportunities to conduct 

audits. With the help of those audits and investigations, Phil’s operation could be more efficient. 

Senator NELSON. So, we could realize some savings, ultimately, 

with more efficiency being pointed out through the IG’s audits? Is 

that part of our justification? 
235 

Chief MORSE. Yes. I welcome help—— 

Senator NELSON. Sure. 

Chief MORSE [continuing]. And assistance and recommendations. 

And the ones that I’ve been getting from the USCP Board, obviously, the IGs and the GAO, all have led to productive, efficient 

outcomes. 

RADIO MODERNIZATION PROJECT

Senator NELSON. How’s the radio modernization project working 

out for us? 

Chief MORSE. Well, currently—there are five phases in the radio 

modernization project—currently, we’re in a combined phase 3 and 

4. That phase is the acquisition, procurement, and testing, and 

some installation and construction that’s ongoing. 

We have two mirror sites. The one mirror site is about 97 percent complete and on target for its completion date. The second 

mirror site is about 18 percent complete and on target for its completion date. 

There are requests for proposals associated with this with the 

money that’s been obligated. Those RFPs, a total of five. One was 

released and awarded. The other two have been released and are 

in a phase of either closure or technical inspection. And then, the 

other two are pending release either this month or next month. 

Senator NELSON. Do you think that the $7.2 million being requested in fiscal year 2012 represents the last installment for the 

project? 

Chief MORSE. In the 2011 appropriation that you provided us, we 

were on a diet in our general expenses. By enabling us to not 

change the enacted general expense from the previous year, we’ll 

be able to derive the $7.2 million from that general expense and, 

therefore, will rescind that from our 2012 budget request. 

Senator NELSON. All right. 

I believe that’s all the questions that I have. 

Senator Hoeven. 

Senator HOEVEN. I don’t have any additional questions, unless 

there’s any other comment, as a result of this hearing, that anybody would like to make. 

Mr. GAINER. Would you mind if I just opined two things? 

We would hope you might consider a single salary and expense 

appropriation for us, as the majority of executive branch agencies 

do, and some of the legislative branch. We have about 10 accounts 

that my Chief Financial Officer says, ‘‘If I were dreaming, it would 

be nice to reduce the number of funds, and have the flexibility in 

the movement of funds, with all the appropriate oversight.’’ But, 

maybe take another look at that. 

This one may be more of a stretch. I’ve long thought, as I did in 

State government, that I wish we could do biennial appropriations 

so that we could do a little better planning on the purchase and 

replacement of equipment and securing contracts. In 10 years in 

State government, I never had any success to do that, but, it’s a 

dream, from an agency perspective. I don’t know how much more 

of a headache it gives your staff, but it makes our job a little bit 

easier. 
236 

Senator HOEVEN. Well, we’ll ask the budget analysts to look into 

the salary line. 

And again, Mr. Chairman, as long as it is with your agreement. 

Senator NELSON. Sure. 

Senator HOEVEN. I agree on the 2-year—matter of fact, I’m cosponsoring legislation to go to a 2-year budget cycle. So, I absolutely agree with you. And anything we can do, in the interim, 

without legislation, to look at that, I agree. I think they’re both 

good ideas. We’ll see what we can do. 

Mr. GAINER. Thank you. 

Senator NELSON. I would agree. And I’m looking at perhaps 

sponsoring that legislation, myself. We’re looking at it internally. 

But, having gone through biennial budgeting in the past, it certainly would avoid having us make a pie a piece at a time around 

here, the way we have to. We would have a more comprehensive 

approach. I think you’re absolutely on target. And I hope many of 

my colleagues will feel the same way. 

Mr. GAINER. Thank you, Sir. 

CONCLUSION OF HEARINGS

Senator NELSON. Thank you. 

Well, thanks, all of you. I appreciate it very much. 

And we’re recessed. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 3 p.m., Thursday, May 12, the hearings were 

concluded, and the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of the Chair.]7 
(i) 

LIST OF WITNESSES, COMMUNICATIONS, AND 

PREPARED STATEMENTS 

Page 

Ayers, Stephen T., Architect of the Capitol ........................................................... 1 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 5 

Summary Statement of .................................................................................... 3 

Billington, Hon. James H., Librarian of Congress, Library of Congress ............ 87 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 90 

Questions Submitted to .................................................................................... 115 

Summary Statement of .................................................................................... 88 

Boarman, William J., Public Printer, Government Printing Office ..................... 54 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 56 

Questions Submitted to .................................................................................... 82 

Chrisler, Tamara E., Esq., Executive Director, Office of Compliance ................. 18 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 20 

Questions Submitted to .................................................................................... 40 

Dizard Jr., Robert, Chief of Staff, Library of Congress ........................................ 87 

Doby, Chris, Financial Clerk, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Senate .................... 121 

Dodaro, Gene L., Comptroller General, Government Accountability Office ....... 45 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 48 

Questions Submitted to .................................................................................... 77 

Summary Statement of .................................................................................... 46 

Dwyer, Sheila, Assistant Secretary, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Senate .......... 121 

Elmendorf, Douglas W., Ph.D., Director, Congressional Budget Office .............. 61 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 63 

Questions Submitted to .................................................................................... 84 

Erickson, Hon. Nancy, Secretary of the Senate, Office of the Secretary, U.S. 

Senate ................................................................................................................... 121 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 125 

Summary Statement of .................................................................................... 123 

Gainer, Hon. Terrance W., Senate Sergeant at Arms, Sergeant at Arms and 

Doorkeeper ............................................................................................................ 192 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 194 

Hoeven, Senator John, U.S. Senator From North Dakota: 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 190 

Questions Submitted by............................................................ 40, 77, 82, 84, 115 

Statement of ...................................................................................................... 2 

Morse, Phillip D., Sr., Chief, United States Capitol Police .................................. 217 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 218 

Mulhollan, Daniel P., Director, Congressional Research Service, Library of 

Congress ................................................................................................................ 87 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 92 

Nelson, Senator Ben, U.S. Senator From Nebraska, Opening Statements 

of.............................................................................................................. 1, 45, 87, 121 

O’Keefe, Ambassador John, Executive Director, Open World Leadership Center .......................................................................................................................... 101 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 102 
Page

ii 

Pallante, Maria, Acting Register of Copyrights, Copyright Office, Library 

of Congress ........................................................................................................... 87 

Prepared Statement of ..................................................................................... 95 
(iii) 

SUBJECT INDEX 

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL 

Page 

AOC Accomplishments ............................................................................................ 15 

AOC’s Commitment and Staff ................................................................................ 4 

Additional Committee Questions ............................................................................ 40 

Addressing Deferred Projects Within Budget Constraints ................................... 25 

Annual Operating Budget Request ........................................................................ 14 

Blue Ribbon Panel ................................................................................................... 26 

Budget: 

Challenges ......................................................................................................... 39 

Cuts and Impact ............................................................................................... 22 

Capitol: 

Budget Request and Project Prioritization ..................................................... 8 

Dome Project ..................................................................................................... 29 

Deferred Maintenance vs. New Projects ................................................................ 37 

Energy Reduction Requirements ............................................................................ 36 

Fiscal Year 2012 Capitol Budget Request ............................................................. 7 

Gap Analysis ............................................................................................................ 35 

House Historic Buildings Revitalization Trust Fund ........................................... 38 

Integrating Financial Management Systems ........................................................ 35 

Life-Safety Enhancements and Energy Efficiency Improvements ....................... 12 

Operations Budget Personnel Costs ....................................................................... 38 

Prioritized Projects .................................................................................................. 4 

Project Prioritization Process .................................................................................. 24 

Reducing Costs/Services .......................................................................................... 30 

Utility Tunnel Repairs—Radio Project .................................................................. 29 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE 

Additional Committee Questions ............................................................................ 77 

CBO Budget ............................................................................................................. 61 

Cost Estimates ......................................................................................................... 71 

Current Fiscal Year Funding .................................................................................. 62 

Decrease Funding .................................................................................................... 84 

Entitlement Analyses .............................................................................................. 73 

Impact on Analyses ................................................................................................. 84 

IT Resources ............................................................................................................. 71 

Recent Funding History .......................................................................................... 64 

Request for Studies .................................................................................................. 72 

Some Details of the CBO’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request ............................. 65 

Staffing: 

Level .................................................................................................................. 71 

And Hiring ........................................................................................................ 73 

Supplemental Funds ................................................................................................ 62 

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 

Additional Committee Questions ............................................................................ 77 

Appendix: 

IV—Serving the Congress and the Nation: The GAO’s Strategic Plan 

Framework .................................................................................................... 53 

I—The GAO’s 2011 High-Risk List ................................................................. 50 

III—How the GAO Assisted the Nation, Fiscal Year 2010 ........................... 52 

II—Selected Testimony Topics, Fiscal Year 2010 .......................................... 51 
Page

iv 

Constrained Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request ..................................................... 50 

Duplication Report ................................................................................................... 78 

GAO: 

Assistance Helps the Congress Make Informed Decisions ............................ 76 

Balances Resources with Priorities ................................................................. 74 

Field Offices ...................................................................................................... 80 

Resources Used To Oversee the Troubled Asset Relief Program ................. 68 

General Budget ........................................................................................................ 77 

Methodology Behind GAO’s Report on Program Duplication—GAO–11– 

318SP .................................................................................................................... 69 

The: 

GAO Maintains Effective Workforce Relations .............................................. 50 

GAO’s: 

Efforts Help the Congress Address Domestic and International Challenges ...................................................................................................... 49 

Mission ....................................................................................................... 53 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

Additional Committee Questions ............................................................................ 77 

Congressional Printing and Binding ...................................................................... 82 

Fiscal Year 2012 Appropriations Request ............................................................. 59 

GPO ........................................................................................................................... 56 

Estimates of Work ............................................................................................ 75 

Staffing .............................................................................................................. 74 

GPO’s Support for Congress ................................................................................... 55 

Inaugural Printing ................................................................................................... 67 

Investment Funds .................................................................................................... 68 

150th Anniversary of the Government Printing Office ........................................ 60 

Printing Costs .......................................................................................................... 66 

Revolving Fund ........................................................................................................ 83 

Salaries and Expenses of the Superintendent of Documents .............................. 83 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

Acknowledgement of Dan Mulhollan ..................................................................... 88 

Additional Committee Questions ............................................................................ 114 

Addressing Fiscal Challenges ................................................................................. 89 

Broad: 

Perspective of Multiple Disciplines ................................................................. 112 

Scope of the LOC Mission ................................................................................ 108 

CRS: 

Request .............................................................................................................. 110 

Pooled Staff for the Congress .......................................................................... 92 

Cloud Computing ..................................................................................................... 118 

Considered Programs for the Cloud ....................................................................... 118 

Consolidation of Data Center Assets ..................................................................... 117 

Content Management .............................................................................................. 116 

Copyright Records Digitization Project .................................................................. 97 

Cost of Protecting Electronic Information ............................................................. 118 

Customer Satisfaction ............................................................................................. 94 

Electronic Serials Project ........................................................................................ 98 

Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request .......................................................................... 95 

Fort Meade Module 5 .............................................................................................. 115 

IT Security Funding ................................................................................................ 116 

Impact of: 

Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution ........................................................ 106 

Not Funding IT Security .................................................................................. 116 

Personnel Cuts .................................................................................................. 108 

Reduced Funding .............................................................................................. 115 

Infrastructure for the Information Age .................................................................. 110 

Legal and Policy Activities ...................................................................................... 98 

Licensing Division Re-Engineering ........................................................................ 98 

Limited Flexibility To Absorb Cuts ........................................................................ 109 

Minimal Increase in Fiscal 2012 Request .............................................................. 107 

Opportunities To Defer Requirements ................................................................... 108 

Permanent Damage of Reducing Acquisitions ...................................................... 107 

Program: 

Funding ............................................................................................................. 97 
Page

v 

Program—Continued 

Overview ............................................................................................................ 96 

Registration of Copyright Claims ........................................................................... 97 

Restoring Information ............................................................................................. 116 

Sensitive Data Controls .......................................................................................... 118 

Specifics of CRS Request ......................................................................................... 110 

Support for the Congress ........................................................................................ 93 

OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE 

Additional Committee Questions ............................................................................ 40 

Budget Cuts ............................................................................................................. 40 

And Impact ........................................................................................................ 22 

Changes to the CAA ................................................................................................ 42 

Impact of Budget Cuts ............................................................................................ 19 

Need for Inspectors .................................................................................................. 19 

Project Prioritization Process .................................................................................. 24 

Risk-Based Approach to Investigations ................................................................. 18 

Safety and Health Amendments That Will Result in Cost Savings .................... 42 

What: 

Happens With Cuts Below Current Levels .................................................... 22 

We: 

Can Do With Fiscal Year 2011 and Fiscal Year 2012 Funding ............. 21 

Cannot Do Even With What We Requested ............................................ 21 

Workplace Rights Amendments That Will Result in Cost Savings ..................... 43 

OPEN WORLD LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 

Additional Committee Questions ............................................................................ 114 

Effectiveness of OWLC ............................................................................................ 101 

In-Kind Giving and Support ................................................................................... 113 

Investment for the Congress and Asset for Constituents .................................... 101 

Open World Strategic Plan Objectives and Costs ................................................. 113 

OWLC and the Congress ......................................................................................... 103 

OWLC’s 2011 Activities and Plans for 2012 .......................................................... 105 

Ramifications of Funding at Fiscal Year 2010 Level ............................................ 113 

Recent Program Highlights and Results ............................................................... 104 

UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE 

Budget Request and its Impact on the Legislative Branch .................................. 231 

Convention and Pre-Inaugural Support Costs ...................................................... 234 

Environmental Assessment .................................................................................... 225 

Fiscal Year 2012 Reductions ................................................................................... 233 

IG Increases ............................................................................................................. 234 

Radio Modernization Project ................................................................................... 235 

Validating the USCP Fiscal Year 2012 Request ................................................... 230 

U.S. SENATE 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

Administrative Offices ............................................................................................. 149 

Bill Clerk .................................................................................................................. 128 

Captioning Services ................................................................................................. 129 

Conservation and Preservation .............................................................................. 151 

Curator ..................................................................................................................... 151 

Daily Digest .............................................................................................................. 129 

Education and Training .......................................................................................... 157 

Enrolling Clerk ........................................................................................................ 133 

Executive Clerk ........................................................................................................ 133 

Financial Operations ............................................................................................... 136 

Gift Shop .................................................................................................................. 158

Historical Office ....................................................................................................... 159 

Human Resources .................................................................................................... 164 

Implementing Mandated Systems .......................................................................... 125 

Information Systems ............................................................................................... 165 

Interparliamentary Services ................................................................................... 167 

Journal Clerk ........................................................................................................... 134 
Page

vi 

Legislative Offices .................................................................................................... 127 

Library ...................................................................................................................... 169 

LIS Project ................................................................................................................ 168

Official Reporters of Debates .................................................................................. 135 

Page School .............................................................................................................. 179 

Parliamentarian ....................................................................................................... 135 

Presenting the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request ................................................. 125 

Printing and Document Services ............................................................................ 180 

Public Records .......................................................................................................... 182 

Stationery Room ...................................................................................................... 183 

Web Technology ....................................................................................................... 183 

SERGEANT AT ARMS AND DOORKEEPER

Capitol Facilities ...................................................................................................... 209 

Central Operations .................................................................................................. 207 

Continuity and Emergency Preparedness Operations .......................................... 196 

CVC ........................................................................................................................... 209 

Doorkeepers .............................................................................................................. 210 

Employee Assistance Program ................................................................................ 215 

Enhancing: 

Security for the Senate .................................................................................... 203 

Service to the Senate ........................................................................................ 201 

Stewardship ...................................................................................................... 205 

Financial Plan for Fiscal Year 2012 ....................................................................... 215 

Intelligence and Protective Services ...................................................................... 199 

IT ............................................................................................................................... 200 

Media Galleries ........................................................................................................ 212 

Operations ................................................................................................................ 206 

Parking Operations ................................................................................................. 207 

Photography Studio ................................................................................................. 208 

Senate: 

Appointment Desks .......................................................................................... 210 

Hair Care .......................................................................................................... 208 

Office of Education and Training .................................................................... 214 

Post Office ......................................................................................................... 208 

Recording Studio ............................................................................................... 211 

Transportation and Fleet Operations .................................................................... 207 

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