INTERNET ACCESS. There is increased interest in providing public access to committee information via the Internet. Several pilot programs will be initiated in FY 94 to allow committees to post information to the Internet on a variety of servers. Manuals were drafted of "Getting Started with the Internet " for the PC and Macintosh platforms. Technicians continued to test and evaluate client software packages used to access the Internet, as well as assisted with drafting the House Internet Security policy.

CLIENT SERVER/WINDOWS. MicroMIN technical staff continued to investigate future presentation options for MicroMIN, including Windows, Graphical User Interfaces, and Client/Server. Development of ISIS applications using Client/Server technology continued.

CENTRAL COMPUTING FACILITIES.

H.I.S. continued to maintain in

excess of 99.9% online system availability for over 12,000 registered users. Future reliability was ensured through the installation of a diesel-powered electric generator that supports the battery-assisted Uninterruptable Power Supply. To streamline operations and reduce costs, considerable tuning of application and system software resulted in delaying an upgrade to the ES9000/620 processor, thereby saving approximately $500,000 in additional licensing fees. By realigning and renegotiating contracts with vendors, a cost avoidance in operating expenditures in excess of $400,000 was realized. Further downsizing included installation of the Robotic Tape Library Subsystem, which completely automated the functions of the tape library. In collaboration with the Library of Congress, efforts are underway regarding installation of a tape silo that will be used for H.I.S. nightly backups, thus eliminating the requirement for transporting tapes on a daily basis to and from the Rayburn offsite vault.

Automation of mainframe operations resulted in the reduction of computer operations staff by two staff positions. A Distributed System Support Project was established to enhance distributed platform support for ISIS, Soft-Switch E-Mail, and the Internet. Project staff were responsible for collecting statistics from simulated E-Mail traffic at peak periods, and successful implementation of X.400 communications and E-Mail with the Executive Branch. Report Distribution software was procured to enhance remote distributed report services to House offices. Technical Support Services staff printed 4,230,759 constituent labels. Achieving 93.03% accuracy with Zip+4 processing, H.I.S. processed 284 National Change of Address Lists containing 37,391,311 names and addresses. H.I.S was the driving force in organizing the Capitol Hill SAS Users Group attended by computer center staff from the Library of Congress, the U.S. Senate, the Congressional Budget Office, and others. Central software support

staff also applied updates by installing MVS/ESA V4.2.2 operating system software, and Natural V2.2.4, used extensively by system and application programmers.

SECURITY. A House-wide data communication security plan was implemented. An overview statement on the security design of the House's access to the Internet, and security policy and procedures for House offices to obtain routed access to the Internet were completed. To enhance internal data security, a two-day consultation on network security by the Internet's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) was given.

The establishment of a secure firewall between the Internet and House networks, critiqued by outside experts, will protect House resources from potential problems from outside sources. The establishment of the policy for a single-routed connection for each House office enables individual Members to make their own decisions as to whether access to the Internet is appropriate. An Internet security plan was drafted that included safeguards for in-office systems and a recommended procedure for requesting Internet access. Once an availability announcement is made, it is expected that House offices will be quick to request access to the Internet's wide array of services.

A successful disaster recovery test was executed at the Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, Disaster Recovery Hotsite. The second disaster recovery test will be conducted in November in conjunction with the House Finance Office. The test will consist of processing the major components of the FMS online system and a payroll cycle at the Sterling Forest disaster recovery site.

SUPPORT TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. H.I.S. provided technical support and training, timesharing, computer, and communication services to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the General Accounting Office (GAO), the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) and the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, on a reimbursement basis. These reimbursements defrayed H.I.S. baseline expenses. Specific assistance provided to these and other organizations follows.

CBO. In addition to mainframe database and processing services, H.I.S. technicians assisted CBO with testing its Internet E-Mail installation and its application for an Autonomous System assignment to enable Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing between CBO and the House over CAPNET. The House SNA Network is used by CBO for access to their application files located on the H.I.S. mainframe. A data circuit was connected from the H.I.S. mainframe to OMB and two Xerox 3700 printers which are attached via two 19.2 kbps leased lines were installed in support of CBO. H.I.S. also provided assistance to CBO with protocol routing analysis to enable the removal of ten Novell networks from the House Ethernet. H.I.S. completed CBO's requested changes to the

title pages of the weekly Budget Tracking Reports compiled from LIMS systems data. CBO staff distributed these reports government-wide.

GAO. GAO uses the House SNA Network to access application files on the H.I.S. mainframe. Software was installed that allows job output from the mainframe to be routed directly to a PC hard drive. Telco Systems channel banks were installed at GAO for the transport of mainframe traffic. Two remote circuits were established to the National Finance Center backup site in Philadelphia for disaster recovery, and seven circuits were relocated. The cut over of six GAO lines to fiber was completed. GAO also was assisted with the design of its Internet address structure. GAO was connected to CAPNET.

OTA. H.I.S. assisted OTA staff with analysis of Open Systems Interface protocol options for X.400 gateways for E-Mail communications. H.I.S. provides support for OTA's publications which are delivered electronically via the Member Information Network to the Members and staff of the House.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE (LOC/CRS). LOC/CRS were assisted with establishing a network address structure to support Novell routing along with Internet Protocol routing.

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL (AOC). New equipment was procured by the Architect and installed in the Garage office. This installation should be a major help to the personnel in that office, as their equipment was obsolete and unreliable. H.I.S. assisted AOC staff and its (DEC) contractor with Open Systems Interface routing between the AOC network and the House Ethernet.

SENATE. H.I.S. established E-Mail connectivity (cc: Mail) to 34 Senate offices via House E-Mail and added two routers to CAPNET at the Senate.

OFFICE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS (OTS). A pilot was undertaken to study use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) in order to reduce the cost of processing vendor invoices. EDI is the electronic exchange of common business documents such as invoices, purchase orders, price quotations, payments, etc. The first official EDI transactions will be transmitted between OTS and South West Bell, beginning in January 1994. If the pilot is successful, additional trading partners would be brought online next year. Use of EDI could significantly automate OTS's processing of vendor invoices and purchase orders not just for OTS, but for OSM, OSS, and especially the Finance Office.

A major enhancement was made to OTS telephone statements so that monthly and year-to-date usage is now summarized on the last page in an easy-to-read format that depicts the percentage of change in telephone usage from month to month. Several new calling plans for OTS were implemented during the year. MCI charges and AT&T local carrier charges, such as operator assisted and directory assistance charges for long distance cellular calls, were added to the monthly statements.

OTS began marking all telephone lines used for Facsimile (FAX), and this information now is being transferred each week from the MONIES system to the ADABAS directory system, along with the other telephone lines for each office. Through the Directory file, it is possible to see the FAX number for an office. In addition, a new, more flexible, "user-friendly" method was developed for allowing selection and requesting of reports and jobs. Technical requirements and assistance were provided for issuance of a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for dedicated line service and with data wiring requirements for the Cannon building renovation.

GPO. Software was written to permit transfer of files between GPO and H.I.S. H.I.S. assisted with verification that file transfers using the GPO translation table result in a usable file for creating the Congressional Calendar. Batch requirements were completed for the electronic transfer of the Calendar file. GPO will be connected to CAPNET during FY 94. Work continued with GPO on establishing Standard Generalized Markup Language as the text publishing standard.

EASTERN EUROPE. As part of the House Special Task Force on the Development of Parliamentary Institutions in Eastern Europe, H.I.S. provided technical consulting services to the legislatures of Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia. H.I.S. has been instrumental in helping these legislatures procure and implement communication and office automation technology. On behalf of these new democracies, H.I.S. staff have completed three system designs, published 12 RFPs, and awarded 32 contracts.

FOREIGN DIGNITARIES/VISITORS. During FY 93, H.I.S. hosted presentations and provided Computer Center tours for over 30 foreign dignitaries and Congressional visitors.

APPENDIX D

HOUSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Advanced Revelation (AREV): A PC-based database management system used as the basis for the H.I.S. MicroMIN system.

Asynchronous Services Network (ASN): A House-wide Ethernet network built to provide access from terminals in offices to other services, principally the H.I.S. mainframe. Connections are typically made using H.I.S.-supplied terminal servers. Backbone Network: The House-wide networks that interconnect office Local Area Networks and systems.

Bus Interface Unit (BIU): Communications device installed by H.I.S. that provides direct access to H.I.S. mainframe services via the House broadband cable system. (This technology is being replaced by the ASN.)

CBR-Express:

A commercial artificial intelligence application

used in automating help-desk functions.

Citrix Box: A communications device being used to improve performance in networking Washington and district MicroMIN systems.

Compact Disk/Read Only Memory (CD-ROM): A high capacity medium for storing and retrieving information.

Data Administration: The task of planning, coordinating and managing the data resources of an organization.

DataBase Administration: Administration of a database(s) including: media recovery, performance, maintenance, data dictionary, security definitions, vendor contact, and problem resolution.

DataBase Management: A software tool that facilitates the storage and manipulation of data collected into interrelated

files.

Desktop Publishing (DTP): The use of personal computers and page layout software to integrate word processing text and graphics on pages to produce camera ready copy.

Direct Access Storage Device (DASD): Magnetic disk storage which can be accessed randomly at a speed much faster than tape and requires no operator intervention.