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This proposed solution would maintain necessary levels of security while softening the visual impact of these measures.

The proposed architectural vocabulary that has been developed through this design effort will be consistently applied to other Federal facilities within the Capitol complex, such as the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court, as appropriate, as their perimeter security programs are further evaluated and separately funded.

The costs associated with the various components of the perimeter security program total $20 million, and are included in the Architect of the Capitol's Capitol Grounds appropriation request for fiscal year 1999. Although the costs represent a significant funding level for the legislative branch budget to absorb during this time of diminishing resources, it should be noted that it is not out of line with the magnitude of expenditures programmed for other Federal facilities which have in their aggregate been allocated over $1 billion for security improvements in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997 for upgrading security.

If these recommendations are approved by Congress, the funding will be required in fiscal year 1999, with the goal that the complete program would be fully implemented no later than the end of fiscal year 2001. Approximately $1.5 million will be required initially to develop detailed design and constructions documents to begin this process. A preliminary construction schedule and cost estimate of the Capitol square and Senate grounds security improvement program can be provided for the record.

SECURITY PROJECTS IN THE ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL'S BUDGET

There are several additional projects included in the Architect of the Capitol request for fiscal year 1999 that are necessary to support the security efforts of the U.S. Capitol Police. Two of these relate to providing needed life safety improvements to police facilities, the offsite delivery center, $50,000; as well as at the firing range in the basement of the Rayburn Building, $50,000.

Specific needs to address security measures, other than the perimeter security project, include funding for infrastructure support for the electronic security measures being carried out by the Physical Security Division, $1 million; improvements to the police communications center, $1 million; work related to the command center, $350,000; improvements to the chemical and explosives storage facility at D.C. Village, $250,000; modifications to the offsite delivery center that are needed to improve the building and working conditions there, $150,000; design funding for emergency systems in the Capitol, $100,000; and, finally, funding to develop an integrated security program for the Capitol complex, $475,000. This last project is very important as it will provide funding to assist us and the police in determining specific programmatic needs for a wide variety of police activities, and then developing options for providing the necessary facilities to support them.

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL POLICE-RELATED PROJECTS

We have also requested funds in the Senate portion of the bill for several building maintenance projects totaling $1,058,000. These include several projects related to maintaining the Capitol

Police headquarters building: replacement of worn out carpet, $380,000; roofing work and installing fall protection, $350,000; and installation of storm windows, $168,000. We are also requesting that the entrance to the Russell Building at Delaware Avenue be modified for increased security and improved control of ambient air, and that is estimated to cost $160,000.

Last, two additional items requested are an additional increment for the canine facility at D.C. Village, $200,000, and funds to construct a kiosk at Delaware Avenue and C Street, SW, to support the inspection of goods delivered to the House loading docks, $52,000.

All of these requests were coordinated carefully between the police and my agency, and they have been reviewed and approved by the Capitol Police Board.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my testimony, and I would be happy to respond to any questions you and the members of the committee may have.

Senator BENNETT. Thank you, Mr. Hantman.

Mr. Abrecht.

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF GARY ABRECHT

Mr. ABRECHT. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am honored to appear before you today to discuss the 1999 budget request for the U.S. Capitol Police.

Över the past few years, the U.S. Capitol Police has been a department in transition. As the agency with the sole statutory responsibility for providing protective and law enforcement services for the U.S. Congress, we must constantly strive to meet varied and ever-present security threats while providing the highest possible level of service.

During the past year, the U.S. Capitol Police has made significant progress in our critical incident management initiatives. Most notably, we are continuing to enhance our ability to respond to and mitigate the effects of a chemical or biological attack. We have conducted detection and response training for our personnel and have acquired specialized emergency equipment. In addition, we are coordinating our efforts with our agencies who have technical knowledge in this emerging field. While there is still much work to be done, I am confident that the U.S. Capitol Police is taking a proactive role in addressing this form of terrorism.

We have also made great strides in addressing more general life safety issues. We have developed the Capitol Buildings Emergency Preparedness Program and distributed emergency evacuation brochures to every office within the Capitol complex. These brochures, which comply with OSHA requirements, will ensure that every staff member will know how to safely evacuate in case of an emergency within their building.

An important part of our preparedness effort is the formation of the critical incident command group. This group brings together the U.S. Capitol Police, the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms, the Architect of the Capitol, and the Office of the Attending Physician to coordinate the response to an emergency situation. This entire process was tested in December, when we conducted the firstever evacuation drill of the U.S. Capitol Building in conjunction

with the D.C. Fire Department and Emergency Medical Service. Such drills are beneficial to the staff, who can familiarize themselves with evacuation routes and assembly areas, and also serve as a test of our response and command capabilities.

I am pleased to report that the repair and upgrade of the physical security systems within the Capitol complex is proceeding smoothly. This effort is part of a three-phase, 5-year plan to modernize the alarms, cameras, and security equipment we utilize to protect the Capitol Building and congressional community. Once this plan is fully implemented, all of our security systems will be state of the art and they will be fully integrated, thus allowing for improved police operations and alarm response.

Clearly, the mission and responsibilities of the U.S. Capitol Police Department are expanding and evolving. Therefore, this year's general expenses budget request contains several items which reflect the increasing level of U.S. Capitol Police responsibilities. The first such item is the Hazardous Materials Program, which incorporates our chemical and biological response initiative. This initiative requires very specialized equipment which is needed to detect and mitigate the effects of such an attack. As this program develops, the equipment, which will be purchased with the appropriation, will be integral to our risk management efforts.

The second item concerns the information security systems. In order to provide for the protection of national security information possessed up here on the Capitol, the U.S. Capitol Police conducts operations to ensure that Congress operates free from the threat of surreptitious and clandestine listening devices and monitoring systems. The equipment we currently utilize is obsolete and in need of replacement. Therefore, the funds requested for information security systems will allow us to purchase the technological equipment needed to perform this critical function at the highest levels. Finally, we have requested funding for the physical security systems program. As a result of the support and leadership of this committee, funding was provided to implement the three-phase plan I previously discussed. However, as this equipment is installed, it is important that it be maintained and placed on a planned life cycle replacement program. In doing so, we can ensure that our physical security systems are always fully operational and that we can methodically purchase equipment which keeps pace with advancements in security technology.

This has been a problem in the Congress for some time, I think it is fair to say. We have been reactive. After each of the bombings, for instance, in 1971 and 1983, security improvements were made, and then no follow-on was done to that. And the systems started to get older and older and older. And, all of a sudden, they all die at the same time when you buy them all at the same time. What we are looking for here is to put this whole system on a life cycle replacement basis, so that every year we buy a small number of xray machines, rather than waiting for them all to drop off the cliff and replacing them all at one time.

You can get a lot of advantages from doing that. You get the latest technology each time when you buy something. Rather than having all of one technology, you have new technology every year. The same with all of our cameras. The same with all of our alarm

systems. All of this equipment needs to be on a life cycle basis, so that every year some of it is replaced so it is constantly all working.

This year we have also requested an increase in the funding level for our fleet vehicles. In the past few years we have had to divert money from this account to fund protective operations. In doing so, we repeatedly had to extend the useful life of several of our vehicles. In order to ensure that our fleet is safe, modern, and able to meet the demands of police work, these vehicles need to be replaced. This requested increase will allow us to make a number of vehicle purchases that have been repeatedly delayed.

And part of the cause of that is something that you mentioned in your opening remarks that we have not properly funded the protective operations in the past, and I guess I always hoped that the cost of that would go back down and we would not need as much money as we had. And I think it is on our ticket, if you will, that we did not fund those sufficiently. We had to use our vehicle money to fund that. And now we have really got ourselves into a bind. The point was very well taken that we need to base it on historical fact and then fund our protective operations at a level that they are apparently going to cost.

I join the members of the U.S. Capitol Police Board in requesting your favorable consideration of the Architect's request to fund the proposed Capitol Complex Integrated Security Facilities Program. This study will provide a means to prepare a comprehensive plan to address several very serious facilities problems. I think they have been discussed and you have had an opportunity to see a couple of them.

However, I have an immediate concern about the current condition of the K-9 training facility, the Rayburn firing range, and the offsite delivery center. Each of these facilities needs considerable repairs to address several pressing life safety, OSHA, and generaluse concerns. The funds requested by the Architect will ensure that our personnel can perform their duties in safe, functional facilities until these larger issues of where these facilities ultimately ought to be located are resolved.

And, finally, this year's budget request once again includes a proposal to provide our personnel with shift differential, holiday pay, and Sunday premium pay. Since police departments must be adequately staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, this type of compensation is routinely provided to law enforcement officers, including those of comparable executive branch agencies. Interestingly, it is also provided to the legislative branch service organizations which have 24-hour operations, such as the Library of Congress, the General Accounting Office, and the Architect of the Capitol. This funding will rectify this inequity and ensure that our personnel are fairly compensated.

I do not think there is any place in the country that I know of where police officers are asked to work on Christmas Day and not be paid some additional compensation for doing that. But that is the situation here. My officers, when they work on Christmas Day, while we are all at home unwrapping our packages, they are just getting compensatory time. They are not getting paid an additional nickel for working on Christmas Day. And that just is not right,

and I would hope that you would act favorably on our request in that regard.

We have also included in our budget, as Mr. Casey has mentioned, amounts for reimbursing the Senate Sergeant at Arms for computer and telecommunications services. I would like to point out that should these amounts not be approved as a result of the disagreements with the House, they will need to be restored to the Sergeant at Arms fiscal year 1999 budget.

And one of the things that scares me to death, as the Police Chief, is that I am going to end up some day with computers being switched off, with no radio systems. They have to be in some budget. If not in mine, it needs to be in Mr. Casey's. And this is obviously a matter of disagreement between the two bodies and it is way above my pay grade. But I just need the radios and the computers, and I am sure you will understand that.

As you are aware, the achievement of a unified U.S. Capitol Police payroll has been a longstanding goal of this committee and of the department. I am pleased to report that we made a significant step toward achieving that goal when we completed the conversion of all House appropriated positions to the National Finance Center for payroll purposes several months ago. And this Sunday, March 1, we will convert the positions on the Senate roll, thereby giving us a de facto unified payroll. This accomplishment represents one of the most important and beneficial administrative changes to affect the department. I would like to thank the members of the committee and your staff for providing the guidance and assistance required to successfully complete this project. It will be a major improvement in the administration of the department.

I am proud of the level and quality of service the men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police provide on a daily basis. Securing the Capitol complex is a daunting task. With the support of Congress, we have faced and overcome many challenges in the past. Many of the items included in this budget request provide a glimpse of future risk management challenges and concerns and give insight into how we are preparing to address them. As this budget submission shows, we intend to build upon past operational and administrative accomplishments and undertake new initiatives in the most cost-efficient and effective manner possible.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator BENNETT. Thank you very much, Mr. Abrecht.
Senator STEVENS. Mr. Chairman.

Senator BENNETT. Yes.

Senator STEVENS. I have to leave to go to another meeting. Could I just do one thing before I leave? I want to apologize to you, Chief, for having grabbed you right after that joint session, when we were so disturbed about the press blocking our exit from the joint session. Later I had a discussion with other Members and with some of the wives and guests who were in the gallery. And I want to submit to you a potential problem.

This is probably the largest gathering of officials of all three branches of our National Government, executive, judicial, congressional, and many other guests, including the leaders of the military. It probably is, I would say, the most attractive target to any terrorist group in the world. And yet if you look at the possibility

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