Mr. PACKARD. Any further comments from you, Dr. Billington? Dr. BILLINGTON. Just two brief, final thoughts. One is there is a tremendous amount of-I realize, burden, being put on the budget with all of this electronic conversion. But it really does offer some promise of long-term economies. The automation thing, for instance, for our remote storage, by having that robotically-as we put more and more things out there that are more often used, the economies are going to be greater and greater because we will be able to retrieve it automatically. Electronic copyright is going to save us a great deal down the way. A lot of this, about $2.5 million of the $7.5 or $3 million of the $7.5 million will be temporary. That is, this doesn't add to the permanent base. A lot of these are one-time or a couple of time expenses to get us over this hill. The automatic shelf listing is coming, with 12 million items. That will save us some money. We have done a lot of cooperative and copy/cataloging, as we are networking more, working with bibliographic utilities and others, 45,000 items were copy/cataloged last year, saving us $2 to $3 million. So there are many networking possibilities as well as a lot of long-term economies. This isn't just an indefinite growth thing. It is going to be a continuing expense, but there is that too-there is some light, so to speak, at the end of the tunnel, if I may use that awful metaphor. And the last thing I would like to say, I have monopolized the testimony, but I would like everyone to know that with the reduced work force we have had over the years, the staff in the Library is an extraordinary bunch of public servants. I have been doing all the talking, but the people back here and the people behind them do most of the work. Seventy percent of our expenses is for the people that sustain this thing. So when we talk about the treasures, I want you to know there are many modest, anonymous people in this Library who really keep it all going. Just because I am here as the salesman, there is some rather impressive and extraordinary human talent that keeps all this going. I know I speak on behalf of all of them in thanking this committee for all the support you have given us over the years. Mr. PACKARD. Well said. This morning, Steny Hoyer, Congressman Hoyer, really did eloquently come to the defense of the Federal employees, and I think he reflected the sentiments of many of us, and that is that they do a superb job. We are proud of them and grateful for their service and their work. It doesn't change the fact that we have to find ways to do more with less. And that means we have got some very tough choices to make. That is why we appreciate your testimony. Thank you very much. We have only got a minute and a half to get up to our vote. So we will conclude this hearing. Thank you again. Incidentally, we will reconvene at 9:30 tomorrow morning. I have a few more questions concerning CRS that I would like answered for the record. [The questions and responses follow:] Question. Describe the CRS workload. Do Members and Committees have equal status in making requests? Response. Members and committees have equal access to CRS services. The Service works exclusively and directly for all Members and committees of Congress in support of their legislative, oversight, and representational functions. CRS serves all Members without regard to party, seniority or committee assignment, and assists all committees regardless of jurisdiction. CRS is skilled at matching limited resources to the tasks outlined in its statutory mandate: The Director is authorized (1) to classify, organize, arrange, group, and divide, from time to time, as he considers advisable, the requests for advice, assistance, and other services submitted to the Congressional Research Service by committees and Members of the Senate and House of Representatives and joint committees of Congress, into such classes and categories as he considers necessary to (A) expedite and facilitate the handling of the individual requests submitted by Members of the Senate and House of Representatives. (B) promote efficiency in the performance of services for committees of the Senate and House of Representatives and joint committees of Congress, and (C) provide a basis for the efficient performance by the Congressional Research Service of its legislative research and related functions generally ** (2 U.S.C. 166(f)) Accordingly, CRS negotiates with each Member and committee client to find the best and most efficient way to respond within the time and resources available. Such negotiations occur throughout each work day on virtually every request of substance. Negotiations aim at determining a number of important characteristics about each request: (1) relationship to legislative activities; (2) effective time constraints; (3) scope of the work requested; (4) appropriate form of response (e.g. written work, consultation, etc.); (5) necessity for interdisciplinary coordination; and (6) any special circumstances which define the appropriate response. These negotiations are conducted by subject specialists who can take into account the wide range of circumstances and options that surround each request, as well as the competing demands on their time. Through this process, CRS balances competing priorities to serve all Members and committees. Question. Submit your workload data for the record. Response. A detailed summary of the CRS workload follows: • During Fiscal Year 1994 CRS provided services to all Members and all Committees; Committee data include caucuses and party groups. 11/1/94 OPS-ISIS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1995. OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT WITNESSES HON. AMO HOUGHTON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK HON. MICHAEL G. OXLEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO HON. GEORGE E. BROWN, JR., A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA HON. JOHN D. DINGELL, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN HON. JIM MCDERMOTT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON ROGER C. HERDMAN, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT PETER BLAIR, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR INDUSTRY, COMMERCE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CLYDE BEHNEY, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR HEALTH, LIFE SCIENCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT JAMES JENSEN, DIRECTOR OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS JACK BOERTLEIN, BUDGET AND FINANCE OFFICER OPENING REMARKS Mr. PACKARD. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we will call this hearing to order. We want to welcome each of you here. This morning we will be dealing with the Office of Technology Assessment, and if time will allow, we may get into some of GAO's testimony. That may carry over into this afternoon, depending on how things move. They are scheduled for today. We are extremely pleased to have with us this morning Vic Fazio, the Ranking Minority Member, which is an unusual statement for me to make, since I have been serving with you as Chairman for a long time. Mr. FAZIO. I am so ranking, Mr. Chairman, I am having a hard time standing myself. Mr. PACKARD. I will always consider you a Chairman, so I will be like Jim Traficant; I call everybody Chairman now. Mr. FAZIO. That is the safest way to proceed in this building. Mr. PACKARD. According to him, I was a Chairman 10 years ago. This is an important hearing, ladies and gentlemen. We are very pleased to have with us Amo Houghton, who serves on the Technology Assessment Board, and there will be hopefully other Members of Congress that will come to testify before we are finished. I have received written testimony from Mike Oxley, Congressman George Brown, and there are others that may submit testi mony. Mr. McDermott, I am not aware whether I have not seen him. But at any rate, all testimony will be entered into the record. I appreciate your written statement, Congressman Houghton, and before we get to also we welcome at the table Roger Herdman, who is the Director, is that the title? Mr. HERDMAN. Yes. Mr. PACKARD. The Director of OTA, and we will certainly hear from him, but first we would like to hear from our Members who were here to testify, and first on the list is Mr. Houghton. I have your testimony. We would prefer that you not read the statement, but maybe give some oral comments. REMARKS OF MR. HOUGHTON Mr. HOUGHTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will not read the statement. That can be read if needed later on. I have organized this thing really into four parts, sort of a general conclusion where I think I come down. Secondly, some recommendations; thirdly, a little bit of background material; and fourthly, just to finish up. Basically, OTA should be kept because it is one of a kind and it is needed. There are arguments on the other side that said you ought to cut it or zero it out because really the function is peripheral or unnecessary, can be done better by another group, and also, as I hear all the time, we are in a scorch-and-burn mode and we no longer can afford anything like OTA. My personal conclusion, despite the cash crunch, is that this is a wrong approach, that we are going to be a country that is going to continue. In order to continue, we have to have science. In order to have science, we have got to have proper legislation. In order to have proper legislation, we have to have knowledgeable Members, most of whom are nonscientific, in Congress understanding what is going on. So my recommendation-I guess they are pretty clear, don't scratch OTA. If you want to cut them, which I would find very difficult to do if I were in the business at this moment, but if you want to cut them and they should take a haircut the way everybody else or whatever the relationship is, that is fine, but keep it in relationship to other similar organizations. I do think that there are opportunities for OTA to be more effective. Mr. PACKARD. George, why don't you come right to the table. Excuse me, Amo. Mr. HOUGHTON. Not a bit. Not a bit. I do call him Mr. Chairman. Mr. PACKARD. Yes, indeed. Mr. HOUGHTON. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Mr. BROWN. Have you forgotten, Amo? Mr. HOUGHTON. I never forget. Not with you around, sir. Mr. PACKARD. Welcome to the table, George. Please proceed with your testimony. Mr. HOUGHTON. Mr. Chairman, I think the board can report subjects that reach out into the scientific area. More periodically, the people who are allotted to have money to exist, I think that is an important thing. I have always felt that Congress didn't do enough of that or relegated things like that to the oversight committee. |