which will begin in 1998 and will highlight the early years of the republic. The ornaments will display images of historical structures that have served the Senate and House of Representatives and will include Federal Hall (1789-1790) in New York, Congress Hall (1790-1800) in Philadelphia, and the Capitol Building as it appeared in 1800. The fourth and final ornament of the series will be of the present day Capitol. All of the various ornaments will be packaged with educational and historical information.

The Gift Shop in the Capitol has become a distribution point for many educational and historical brochures. These documents created by the offices of the Senate Curator and the Senate Historian have proved to be a most popular item with visitors. The Gift Shop plans to continue expanding this service as more brochures become available and in the near future expects to have publications in foreign languages.

OFFICE OF PUBLIC RECORDS

The Office of Public Records receives, processes, and maintains records, reports, and other documents filed with the Secretary of the Senate involving the Federal Election Campaign Act, as amended, the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, the Senate Code of Official Conduct including 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 reproduction of documents in accordance with the above statutes and Rules. From October, 1996, through September, 1997, the Public Records office staff assisted more than 3,000 individuals seeking information from reports filed with the office. This figure does not include assistance provided by telephone, nor help given to lobbyists attempting to comply with the provisions of the new Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. A total of 140,590 photocopies were sold during fiscal year 1997. The office works closely with the Federal Election Commission, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, and the Clerk of the House concerning the filing requirements of the aforementioned Acts and Senate rules.

Automation Activities

During fiscal year 1997, public financial disclosure reports were scanned using optical imaging technology. With respect to both lobbying and campaign financing filing areas, the office has worked to develop an automated database that is able to accept non-paper transmissions (electronic filing) as well as imaged paper filings. Federal Election Campaign Act, as Amended

The Act requires Senate candidates to file semi-annual reports in a non-election year. Filings totaled 6,791 documents containing 95,584 pages for fiscal year 1997. Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995

The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 replaced the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act, substituting organizational registrations instead of individual ones, semi-annual reports for quarterly ones, and inclusion of executive branch lobbying activity. As of September 30, 1996, 4,051 registrants represented 8,897 clients and employed 14,946 individuals who met the statutory definition of lobbyist. The lobbying registrations and reports were microfilmed and indexed into a temporary database pending completion of an automated database system to include imaging (for paper copies received) and electronic components (discussed above).

Public Financial Disclosure

The filing date for Public Financial Disclosure Reports was May 15, 1997. The reports were available to the public and press by Friday, June 13th. Copies were provided to the Select Committee on Ethics and the appropriate state officials. A total of 2,402 reports and amendments were filed containing 12,427 pages. There were 421 requests to review or receive copies of the documents.

Senate Rule 35 (Gift Rule)

On January 1, 1996, the revised Senate Rule 35 took effect as a result of passage of S. Res. 158 on July 28, 1995. The Senate Office of Public Records received over 2,900 reports totaling 3,100 pages during fiscal year 1997.

Registration of Mass Mailing

Senators are required to file mass mailings on a quarterly basis, and the number of pages for fiscal year 1997 was 605.

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 advises Senators, officers, and committees on cost-effective disposition of their non-current office files and assists researchers in identifying Senate-related source materials. The Office keeps extensive biographical, bibliographical, photographic, and archival information on the more than 1,700 former Senators. It edits for publication historically significant transcripts and minutes of selected Senate committees and party organizations, and conducts oral history interviews with retired senior Senate staff. The Office maintains a collection of approximately 30,000 still pictures, slides, and negatives that includes photographs and illustrations of most former Senators, as well as news photographs, editorial cartoons, photographs of committees in session, and other images documenting Senate history.

Editorial Projects

Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789-1993.—Working with former Senator Mark Hatfield, the Historical Office prepared a series of forty-four chapter-length essays tracing the role of each of the nation's former vice presidents operating within the institutional context of the United States Senate. Each chapter includes biographical information on the individual, how he came to run for vice president, and his impact on that office. The Office completed publication arrangements with the Government Printing Office early in 1997 and the book appeared in April as Senate Document 104-26.

A History of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, 1947-1997.-To commemorate the fiftieth anniversaries of the Senate Republican and Democratic Policy Committees, the Historical Office has prepared narrative histories of the committees, their members, their staffs, and their impact on legislation in the U.S. Senate. In June the Government Printing Office published the first of these two volumes. Work is nearing completion on the companion volume on the Democratic Policy Commit

tee.

Minutes of the Republican and Democratic Party Conferences, 1903-1964.-In 1992 the Senate's party leaders agreed to a recommendation of the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress that the Historical Office preserve, edit, and publish the official minutes of each party conference, dating from the start of the twentieth century to a period thirty years before the present. The Office completed work during 1994 on the minutes of the Senate Democratic Conference covering the years 1903-1964. In 1997, the Office concluded work on a companion volume for the minutes of the Republican Conference for the years 1911-1964. Both volumes are now ready for publication, subject to final approval by the respective conferences.

Oral History Program

The Historical Office opened for scholarly research the transcripts of oral history interviews with Kelly D. Johnston, former Secretary of the Senate and staff director of the Senate Republican Policy Committee. A series of interviews with Charles Ferris, former staff director of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, were also completed and are being processed. Interviews were also conducted with C. Abbott Saffold, former Senate Democratic Secretary. The Office continues to work with other oral history projects, at universities and state historical societies, that are focused on individual Senators' careers.

Member Services

"Senate Historical Minutes".-At the request of the Senate Democratic Leader, the historian prepared and delivered a "Senate Historical Minute" at each of thirty Senate Democratic Conference weekly meetings. These 300-word "minutes" are designed to enlighten members about significant events and personalities associated with the Senate's institutional development. Each "Minute" was subsequently published the day after its delivery in The Hill newspaper and then collected in a booklet, "Thirty Minutes of Senate History," that will be distributed to all Senate offices early in 1998.

"Records Management Handbook for United States Senators and Their Archival Repositories" was updated and extensively revised, particularly those sections dealing with electronic records. The Senate Archivist worked with the National Archives and the Senate Computer Center to revise this work's electronic records sections. This publication will be reissued in 1998.

Educational Outreach

Since September 1996, the Office has produced a Senate home page feature entitled "This Month in Senate History." The entries for each month highlight approximately twenty institutionally significant events that occurred during that month in Senate history. Starting in May 1997, the Office also produced a brochure containing the same information, which are provided to Senate offices for distribution to constituents and other visitors.

Work continued on a series of eight-page brochures (one per state) presenting brief accounts of how each state has been represented in the Senate and Capitol since its admission to the Union. Each brochure includes names and service dates of the state's former members, significant events and personalities in the joint histories of the state and the Senate, references to state-related works of art in the Capitol, and suggestions for further reading. Text for thirty-three of these brochures has been completed and edited, and preliminary text has been drafted for the rest. Several members' offices have adapted their states' text for presentation on their World Wide Web home pages. During 1998 the Office will complete the remaining brochures and will work with other Senate offices interested in providing the information on the Internet.

As part of the staff seminars conducted under the auspices of the Secretary of the Senate, Historical Office staff have continued to deliver periodic addresses on various aspects of the Senate's history. The Historian discussed "Housing of the Senate, 1789-1983," and the history of the current Senate chamber. The Associate Historian spoke on "The Senate and the Press," and "Senate Investigations," and offered a tour of historic Congressional Cemetery. The Assistant Historian addressed "The Senate and Treatymaking." The Senate Archivist continued regular seminars for committee and personal staffs on records management and disposition. Inaugural Proceedings

The Historical Office once again assisted the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, providing and reviewing historical information for the Inauguration Ceremonies Program. Office staff also participated in a "chat room" conducted by C-SPAN on the Internet, answering questions from the public on the history of inaugural procedures at the Capitol, and explained the historical role of Congress in the inauguration in a C-SPAN broadcast.

Declassified Records

Presidential Executive Order 12958, "Classified National Security Information," provides for the automatic declassification, in April 2000, of executive branch-created classified national security information that is over twenty-five years old, unless it has been reviewed and exempted under one of the several categories provided for in the order. In 1995, the Senate Archivist located all affected materials among committee records housed at the Center for Legislative Archives. The project continued in 1996 as each committee was contacted to obtain approval for declassification review by specialists who will be working in the National Archives. All committees with such holdings granted approval during 1997, and work has begun at the Center with an initial survey by declassification staff of the records of the Joint Atomic Energy Committee.

Photographic Collections

In 1997, the Office sought to expand its collection by actively seeking photographs of former Senators, and by creating a photographic record of historically significant contemporary Senate events. The photo historian worked closely with the Senate Curator's Office to develop a photographic exhibit of the work of Arthur Scott, a former news photographer, Senate official photographer, and the Senate's first photo historian. The exhibit, located in the Capitol building, is seen daily by hundreds of visitors. An on-line exhibit of select Scott photographs was made available on the Senate's World Wide Web home page.

OFFICE OF SENATE CURATOR

The Office of Senate Curator, under the direction of the Senate Commission on Art, administers the museum programs of the Senate for the Capitol and Senate office buildings. The Curator and staff suggest acquisitions, provide appropriate exhibits, engage in research, and write and edit publications. In addition, the office studies, identifies, arranges, protects, preserves, and records the historical collections of the Senate, including paintings, sculpture, and furnishings, and exercises supervisory responsibility for those chambers in the Capitol that fall under the jurisdiction of the Senate Commission on Art.

Exhibitions and Publications

The office continued to maintain a series of popular exhibitions on Senate art and history, as well as assisting the Senate Historical Office with a new exhibit. An explanatory panel was installed for the painting The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation as part of a continuing effort to provide educational information to visitors.

The office coordinated efforts to redesign and standardize the many educational publications issued by the Secretary of the Senate to the public. Brochures prepared included The Vice President's Room, The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senate Art in Stamps, and The Vice Presidential Bust Collection. The staff worked on a new publication, The United States Congress and Capitol: A Handbook For Conducting Walking Tours, specifically developed and designed to aid Senate staff in interpreting the Capitol to their visitors.

Historic Chambers

The Curator's staff continued to maintain the Old Senate and Old Supreme Court Chambers, coordinating periodic use of both rooms for special occasions. Collections: Acquisitions and Management

Several significant works were donated to the Senate collection, including an 1897 sterling silver desk set, a bronze bust of Senator Strom Thurmond by artist Frederick Hart, and 12 boxes of historic Inaugural material. Eighteen sketches detailing the filming of the movie “Advise and Consent” were acquired, as well as 17 historical engravings and photographs.

The staff processed 29 loans for the Senate leadership, and continued to loan and monitor the 455 reproduction prints in the Senate collection. The reorganization of the vice presidential bust collection in chronological order was completed.

Conservation and Restoration

Several significant paintings and frames received conservation treatment, including The Electoral Commission of 1877, Leiv Eiriksson Discovers America, Daniel Webster, and four historical paintings of Revolutionary War scenes by American artist John Blake White. Five marble busts in the Old Supreme Court Chamber received conservation, and an historic sideboard in the collection was restored. New exhibit cases were installed to protect the two Native American sculptures on the third floor of the Capitol from further damage.

A "Furniture Conservation Survey Report" was completed by an independent consultant for the Senate's collection of historic furnishings and decorative arts; it documents the current_condition of these works and provides long-term recommendations for the care of the objects.

Collaborations, Educational Programs, Events

The staff supported the Senate's seminar program by presenting four new lectures and assisting with others. At the direction of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration the office worked on refurbishing three Senate courtyard rooms. The staff assisted the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies in a variety of capacities.

Automation

The Curator's home page on the Internet was substantially expanded and as a result, the site saw an eightfold increase in hits. The office assisted in designing and posting a virtual tour of the Senate using Quick Time Virtual Reality (QTVR) technology, and work began on a new interactive exhibition.

Objectives For 1998

Conservation concerns continue to be a priority, with plans to conserve various marble sculptures. Two new exhibitions are scheduled, along with identification labels for all works of art, and small explanatory pylons for several historic rooms. Progress will continue on the long-planned Guide to Senate Fine Arts. Work will proceed on a comprehensive disaster preparedness, management, and response plan for the Senate collection. A collections management and care policy will be established, and a training manual produced. Plans and projects will be developed for the year 2000 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first meeting of Congress in the Capitol.

SENATE PAGE SCHOOL

The Senate Page School serves all appointed Senate pages. It exists to provide a smooth transition from and to the students' home school, providing students with

a sound program, both academically and experientially during their stay in the nation's capital, within the limits of the constraints imposed by their work situation. Schedule

The Senate recess provided the Page School with the opportunity to offer additional instructional time during the months of October through January. Normally, school is conducted between the hours of 6:15-9:45 A.M. unless the Senate convenes early. When the Senate convenes early, the school day is then shortened. For the three months of recess, school was conducted from 7:15-11:30 A.M. Additionally, school was in session on two Saturdays for educational field trips to extend the learning experience.

Field Trips/Speakers

Field trips were taken to Mount Vernon, the White House, the National Aquarium and the Museum of Art in Baltimore, the Museum of Art, the National Zoo, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Longwood Gardens and the Hagley Museum, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Manassas Battlefield, Williamsburg, and the National Archives. Students attended performances of "The Crucible" at the Theatre on the Hill in Christ Church, "Paper Moon" at Ford's Theatre, and "The Nutcracker" at the Warner Theater.

Speakers included ROTC recruiters who provided for interested students information about educational opportunities available through the military, and an admissions officer at the College of William and Mary discussed the college admissions process.

Multi-media/Textbooks

CD's of "The Crucible" and "The Scarlet Letter," which are studied as a part of the American Literature curriculum, were purchased. The color printer was also installed. A larger CD tower which will allow for greater networking has been ordered. Additionally, all school computers were upgraded to Windows 95.

Copies of "Robert's Rules of Order" were ordered to prepare students to more effectively utilize the Student Council. All other texts were reviewed and deemed appropriate for continued use.

Testing/Courses/Instructors

A PSAT preparation course was presented to all students this fall by staff and the PSAT was administered on the national testing date. Foreign language tutors worked with students in the areas of French, Spanish, German, Russian, and Japanese. The Page School staff remained the same as in the previous year. The four teachers, Lynne Sacks (English), Michael Bowers (social studies), Stephen Perencevich (mathematics), and Duncan Forbes (science) taught a combination of eleven courses this year, and all continue to be effective teachers. Janice Yocco, the secretary, provides excellent support and service to the principal, the staff, and students. Ms. Sacks and Mr. Forbes are pursuing advanced degrees and are enrolled in graduate courses. Also, Ms. Sacks was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant last summer and did an independent study as a result. All staff participated in extensive computer training offered by the Senate Computer Center.

Facility

The facility continues to be in fine shape. Built-in office furniture and cabinets for the school office were installed in November. These new furnishings provide storage, are more professional in appearance, and create a safer work environment because there are no exposed cords.

Summary of Plans

Schedule

Students completed their semester curriculum and the closing ceremony was conducted on January 23, 1998, the last day of school for the semester. Orientation and course scheduling for the second semester pages was conducted on Monday, January 26, 1998.

Needs of the incoming students will determine the second semester schedule. Supervised study exists for pages attending Page School less than a semester. Extended day schedules, tutoring by teachers on an as-needed basis, and individualized small group instruction will continue. These various strategies will provide for the delivery of the curriculum.