APPENDIX B

MEMBERS OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON AUTOMATION AND STANDARDIZATION OF CONGRESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

APPENDIX E

ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON AUTOMATION AND STANDARDIZATION OF CONGRESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

The Advisory Committee on Automation and Standardization of Congressional Publications was established on April 28, 1977, by Senator Howard W. Cannon, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing, to advise the Joint Committee on matters relating to reducing the cost and improving the timeliness and usefulness of Congressional documents, and to coordinate the development of electronic composition activities of the Senate and House on a continuing basis. The Advisory Committee is comprised of staff from the Joint Committee on Printing, Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, House Administration Committee, the Library of Congress-Congressional Research Service and the Government Printing Office.

The initial goals of the Advisory Committee were set forth at the first meeting in April, 1977 as follows:

⚫ to reduce the cost of congressional printing by eliminating duplication of effort;

⚫ to standardize the composition and format of congressional publications;

• to coordinate the development of flexible software in support of computerized printing activities; and

⚫ to promote the sharing of technology within the legislative branch.

The primary focus of these goals was designated for congressional hearings, bills, resolutions, amendments, Senate and House Committee Calendars, Digest of General Public Bills and Resolutions, reports, committee prints, and the Congressional Record.

In May, 1977, the Advisory Committee undertook an inventory of the current electronic composition activities of the Senate, House, and Library of Congress to provide a baseline for comparison with future development of electronically composed documents. The House and Senate prepared an inventory of their respective electronic composition activities. Each report provided the status of the activity, the estimated cost, point of contact, and completion date (if the activity was under development). GPO prepared an inventory of all electronic composition requests received from the legislative branch in 1977.

The Advisory Committee appointed task forces in June 1977 to address automation of the Congressional Record and bill preparation. These application areas were selected for immediate activity by the Advisory Committee because they have the greatest potential for cost savings and may be the most difficult of the congressional documents to automate.

In July 1977, the Advisory Committee established the goals and activities of the two task forces. The principal goal of the Congressional Record Task Force is to examine the methods and production of the Record and determine what modifications must be made to convert to automation. The specific first year goals of the Task Force were set forth as follows:

1. Document current procedures and production processes of the Congressional Record.

2. Review current technological capabilities of the legislative branch and GPO, and propose automation alternatives for the Congressional Record.

3. Consolidate the automation alternatives into a coordinated implementation proposal for Advisory Committee approval.

The principal goal of the Bill Processing Task Force is to define what modifications must be made to ease the conversion to automation in the House and Senate. The specific first year goals of the task force were set forth as follows:

1. Standardize the format of legislative measures;

2. Define procedures for the transfer of bill text between the House, Senate, and GPO; and

3. Establish the impact of automation on the operation and staff of legislative branch offices.

Since many of the members of the Advisory Committee had not seen the new printing technology at GPO, the Committee was invited to tour GPO's electronic printing division.

The Congressional Record Task Force accomplished its first task in August 1977, by presenting reports from the House, Senate, and GPO that document the respective production procedures in preparation of the Congressional Record. (This is an appendix to that report.)

Each of the three concerned parties of the Congressional Record Task Force then prepared proposals of automation alternatives for their respective organizations. Each report included a description of various alternatives, estimation of costs, benefits, problems, evaluations of the alternatives, and proposed implementation schedule. The individual reports will be consolidated into a single implementation plan for the Congressional Record.

The Bill Processing Task Force became active in February 1978. At that time, the House, Senate, and GPO were at a point in the development of their respective systems which required coordination and mutual cooperation. The task force began standardizing the formats of legislative measures, establishing the required procedures, and developing standard software to effectively automate bill processing. Technical experts from GPO, House, and Senate are currently testing a standardized electronic composition interface for bill processing on the ATEX system. Much of this work on bills is directly applicable to automation of hearings.

Goals and objectives for 1978-79 have been proposed for the Congressional Record and Bill Processing Task Forces. They are as follows: