14 As a result of these improvements and two bookstore relocations to better commercial space, twenty of the twenty three stores reported a 9% increase in sales for a total of $15.5 million over the previous year's revenue of $14.2 million. As provided by section 1719, Title 44 USC, the Library of Congress conducts official exchanges of Government publications with a number of foreign governments as determined by the Brussels Conventions of 1886, executive agreements, or treaties. Under the resulting International Exchange Service (IES) Program, the Superintendent of Documents assembles and distributes the official exchange sets for the United States while the Library of Congress receives and houses the official publications of the other nations. According to a recent letter from the Library, problems have weakened the effectiveness of the IES program. "Resolution of GPO's fiche contracting problems has ameliorated the situation to some degree, but there are indications that our receipt of foreign official publications have declined because of dissatisfaction with the full set. The basic problems are: 1) delays in producing the IES only microfiche, 2) gaps in the IES only microfiche; and 3) lack of a list of the classes constituting a full set." The Joint Committee believes that the recommendations made by a JCP-sponsored working group that the foreign exchange libraries be added to the domestic depository computerized selection and distribution system is the solution to the problem. If implemented, this proposal should allow the program to operate far more efficiently and allow foreign libraries to pre-select publications, thereby reducing the number of publications printed, microfiched and later discarded by the libraries. D. By-Law Publications and Distribution The Joint Committee on Printing was able to effect a $24,000 annual cost savings in by-law distribution by two actions. The Department of Agriculture was persuaded to assume the cost of distributing soil surveys and agriculture decisions to the recipients on their list. In addition, GPO reduced the number of free copies of its Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications from 82 to 32. It is the Committee's intent to further pursue this area with the hope that additional publishing agencies will assume the cost of their own by-law distribution. 15. Overall Management of GPO FY 1993 GPO EXPENDITURES The Joint Committee on Printing concurred in November 1992, with GPO's FY 1993 estimates for expenditures relating to their FY 1993 annual contracts, which decreased by $3,350,994 from FY 1992. Following is a summary of these annual expenditures totalling $75,443,856. A listing of other projects with amounts requested separately for major facility improvements, capital expenditures and additional projects submitted to the JCP for approval In an effort to assist the Government Printing Office to improve its overall operational capabilities, the Joint Committee reviewed and subsequently approved in November 1992, $7,351,730 in funds to allow the Public Printer to make major facility improvements during FY 1993. An additional $2,138,940 was requested and approved by the JCP for FY 1993 major capital expenditures. Funds in this category were requested for industrial truck replacements, computer equipment and software, production and telecommunications equipment and office furniture. Approximately $6.7 million of the facility improvement request was required for the physical reconfiguration of the main GPO building to accommodate the relocation of personnel from Union Center Plaza. All employees of GPO's Documents Sales Service and the Office of Information Resources Management, currently working in leased space at Union Center Plaza, will be relocated to the main GPO building by August, 1994. The original facility improvement submission did not contain proposals for required new furniture and furnishings, telecommunications equipment and digital voice terminals nor updated computer hardware and software which is required to effectively serve the public through the Documents Sales Program. The Joint Committee asked GPO to review the amount projected for the balance of this project. As a result of this review, $1,789,000 was deleted from the original estimate as expenditures which could either be delayed or eliminated as a result of closer scrutiny of the project. The Joint Committee approved the revised sum of $2,378,992 to complete this relocation project. III. Compilation, Publication and Distribution of Certain Congressional Cost Savings The Joint Committee on Printing, through various actions was able to achieve 16 savings were achieved primarily through the use of computerized technology for Congressional publications. In an effort to reduce Congressional printing costs, the Joint Committee sent a communication to all Congressional Committee Chairmen notifying them of new guidelines for those Committees who wish to print additional copies of committee publications beyond the statutory limit. This action has resulted in the reduction of those requests by 50% over 1992. The Joint Committee was also successful in securing agreements from the Commerce Department and the Office of the Federal Register to use their own funds in supplying publications which had been purchased with Congressional money in past years. The Joint Committee is in the process of arriving at the same agreement with the Department of State for other titles supplied to Members of Congress under current statute. 1. Congressional Publications The Joint Committee establishes policies, standards, and procedures for the printing of Congressional publications. These include bills, committee reports, hearings, committee prints, the Congressional Record, the Congressional Record Index, calendars, documents, and other publications printed by resolution. The Joint Committee also oversees the distribution of the following Congressional publications to Members of Congress and Committees: Congressional Record; Congressional Record Index; U.S..Congressional Serial Set; U.S. Code; Statutes-at-Large; Treaties and International Agreements; Foreign Relations of the United States; Jefferson's Manual and Rules of the House; Deschler's Precedents; The Capitol: A Pictorial History of the Capitol and the Congress; Our Flag; the U.S. Constitution Annotated; How Our Laws Are Made; The Constitution; the Department of Agriculture Yearbooks; and the high school and college debate topics. Pursuant to provision of law, the Joint Committee compiled and published the Congressional Directory and Congressional Pictorial Directory for the 103d Congress, as well as flashcard sets of newly elected Members of Congress for use by police, doorkeepers, and pages. a. Congressional Directory The Congressional Directory, S. Pub. 103-8, was printed and delivered to Congressional offices in June 1993. An updated electronic data base of the publication is being provided to the Government Printing Office for sales to the public and agencies in electronic format as well as print format. The Congressional Directory for the 103d Congress reflects the changes in Congressional apportionment since the 1990 census, and included updates in Zip Codes and 17 The Joint Committee was able to reduce the cost for the 1993-1994 edition by $145,590 which was achieved by using electronic technology. b. Congressional Pictorial Directory The Congressional Pictorial Directory, S. Prt. 103-5, was delivered in February 1993. The text and photographs for the 103d Congress edition are being stored digitally by GPO with these images available in electronic format for sale to the public by the Superintendent of Documents. These images have been used previously for other products as required by Congress, the White House and other Federal agencies without the necessity of incurring the costs of resizing and recapturing images. A cost reduction of $22,597 was realized by using this automation. c. Year of the American Indian The Joint Committee is compiling a publication as a House Document to honor the contributions and culture of Native Americans. d. Thurgood Marshall Eulogy The Joint Committee is compiling as a House Document, tributes offered by Members of Congress in honor of Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall. e. Patricia Ryan Nixon Tribute Book The Joint Committee will soon release for printing as a Senate Document, tributes offered by Members of Congress in honor of former First Lady, Patricia Ryan Nixon. f. Other Printing Activity by the Joint Committee The Joint Committee in 1993, published pursuant to statute, eulogies for Senator Quentin Burdick of North Dakota and Representative Silvio O. Conte of Massachusetts. Eulogies of the following Members of Congress will be issued in the near future: Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania, Senator John Tower of Texas, Representative Walter Jones of North Carolina, Representative Ted Weiss of New York, and Representative Paul B. Henry of Michigan. In 1993, the Joint Committee published Our American Government, and Addresses and Special Orders in Honor of Hon. Morris K. Udall. In addition, the annual reports of five veterans organizations were printed as House Documents, as provided by statute. The national debate topic for high schools and the topic for colleges were prepared by the Congressional Research Service for printing by the GPO under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing. Also, the staff of the Joint Committee worked with the Architect of the Capitol for the production of two annual reports by the Architect, as well as a report on 18 g. Hearings The Joint Committee on Printing held two hearings in 1993: an oversight hearing on GPO in May, and in July, a hearing on the activities of the Defense Printing Service. IV. Establishment of Standards and Specifications for Printing Papers Procured for and Used by Federal Departments The law requires the Joint Committee to set standards for printing and writing papers for the Federal Government. These standards must be used by all Federal Government publishers unless an exception is granted by the Joint Committee. The JCP publishes the Government Paper Specification Standards, which define the Government's minimum needs for the various types of printing papers used by the Federal Government. The standards also explain testing and acceptance criteria and indicate the availability of standard paper samples from the Government Printing Office. During this year, the Joint Committee staff has worked closely with the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency in developing the details of the President's recent Executive Order on Recycling. The Executive Order requires a minimum of 20 percent Post Consumer Recovered Materials in uncoated printing and writing papers purchased after December 31, 1992. To formally incorporate the recycling requirements in the recent Executive Order and to implement a higher level of recycled content in all printing and writing papers, the Joint Committee has revised the Government Paper Specification Standards and will publish the new edition in early 1994. In FY 1993, the Joint Committee on Printing continued to oversee the successful implementation of the Government Printing Office's comprehensive recycled paper purchase program. This program was initiated in June 1989, at the JCP's direction, based on the guidelines issued by the EPA as required by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Since the program began, more than 95 percent of the paper and envelopes included in the EPA guidelines and bought by GPO for in-house production of Congressional materials and for sales to Federal agencies has contained a minimum of 50 percent recovered material content. In many cases, JCP has directed GPO to acquire papers with a higher percentage of recycled fibers, particularly post consumer fibers, than suggested by these EPA guidelines. After President Clinton issued his Executive Order on recycling in early October, the JCP immediately reviewed the requirements of on-going quarterly paper procurements and incorporated the 20 percent Post Consumer recycled fiber content provision wherever practical. As a result, most of the paper that will be shipped to GPO beginning in January |