JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK THOMPSON, JR., U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW JERSEY ACCOMPANIED BY: DENVER DICKERSON, STAFF DIRECTOR FAYE M. PADGETT, DEPUTY STAFF DIRECTOR 1979 APPROPRIATIONS AND 1980 BUDGET REQUEST Senator SASSER. The next item on the agenda is the fiscal year 1980 budget for the Joint Committee on Printing. The amount requested is $864,000, an increase of $113,000 over the comparable 1979 level. The Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing is Representative Frank Thompson, Jr., Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island is vice chairman, and Senator Mark Hatfield is the ranking minority member. I want to say welcome to you, Congressman Thompson. We are delighted to have you here today and look forward to your remarks. Since this subcommittee and the Joint Committee have been working closely together over the past few months to cut down on unwanted distribution of Government documents and to save money in other ways, I would appreciate your bringing us up to date for the record on your specific efforts to eliminate duplication, overlap or waste in the printing and distribution of Government documents. I know, for example, that following this subcommittee's recommendation the Joint Committee recently raised the subscription price of the Congressional Record and took other steps to reduce the unwanted distribution of the bound volumes of the Congressional Record. We are indeed pleased to have been instrumental in calling these potential savings to your attention and for you to have acted upon them. We have every expectation that this level of cooperation will continue to result in substantial savings to the Legislative Branch Appropriations. SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT Representative THOMPSON. Thank you very much, Senator. We are indeed gratified with the interest and the support your subcommittee has given the Joint Committee and hope that this relationship will continue. Anticipating your concerns in this area, Mr. Chairman, the Joint Committee's budget justification submitted to you on December 21, 1978, already made a part of your record, addressed in great detail the cost savings which have resulted from your encouragement and our cooperative efforts in the past Congress. I submit to you today for the record a supplementary statement, prepared February 16, 1979, which details four important JCP decisions since the 96th Congress convened resulting in reduc 41-096 O- 79 23 (pt.2) tions to legislative branch appropriations of at least $1,500,000. In addition, this presentation describes several ongoing JCP efforts which have the potential for producing additional savings to the Federal Government and at the same time improve delivery of Government information to the public. I would appreciate having this report inserted at this point in the record. Senator SASSER. That will be incorporated in the record. [The letter follows:] Since our December 21, 1978 request for a Fiscal Year 1980 appropriation of $864,000 and for a Fiscal Year 1979 supplemental appropriation of $95,000, I am pleased to report several additional accomplishments of the Joint Committee on Printing. Our primary objectives, as you know, are to 1) provide improved printing services to the entire Federal government, 2) reduce waste in the government's printing programs, and 3) improve the public's access to government information. Together with the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House, and the Government Printing Office, the Joint Committes recently completed a study of the printing of newly introduced legislation. As a result of eliminating unnecessary duplication of certain information on the back title page of a bill, an annual savings of $250,000 (or $500,000 per Congress) will be realized in the Congressional Printing and Binding Fund. At the Joint Committee's meeting of January 30, 1979, the members unanimously approved a resolution directing that departments, agencies, and offices of the Executive and Judicial Branches must pay from their own appropriations for the U.S. Code (basic edition and supplements). This will result in an estimated savings to Legislative Branch Appropriations of over $830,000 per edition. Further, billing these offices for their own copies might persuade them to reduce the number of copies ordered, hence reduce Executive and Judicial Branch appropriation accordingly. Effective with the 96th Congress, the Joint Committee increased the subscription price of the Congressional Record to an annual rate of $75.00. This increase is generating an additional recovery of $175,000 of the costs incurred in the printing and distribution of the Record. The Joint Committee will be forced to consider an additional increase in the subscription price not later than the beginning of the 97th Congress due to the disparity between the subscription price and the accelerating cost of producing and distributing the Record. The Joint Committee has recently directed the Government Printing Office to utilize face and back printing on multi-page Congressional form letters instead of printing on one-side only, as currently practiced. The estimated savings of $32,000 per year may seem inconsequential compared to the savings previously mentioned; however, the cost of paper has increased 15% in the last year. We feel every effort should be made to take advantage of any possible savings! The Joint Committee has several other efforts underway which have the potential for producing additional savings to the Federal Government and at the same time improving delivery of government information to the public. The JCP is coordinating a cooperative cataloging program between GPO, the Library of Congress and the Federal Library Committee. Many federal lib raries already accept GPO's cataloging, and the Library of Congress has agreed to do so in 1980 which will eliminate the duplicate cataloging of some 4,000 titles per year. The GPO and JCP also are studying the possible conversion of more of the material in the Depository Library program from paper copy to microfiche. This would reduce not only our printing · costs but would substantially reduce distribution costs. For example, instead of paying $1.03 (special fourth class book rate) to mail a 588 page document, we could mail 6 microfiche containing the same material for $.15 (first-class). This would be an almost unbelievable savings of $.88 for one government publication. Because of potential savings through the use of microfiche, the Joint Committee is also exploring the possible use of this cost-saving technology in by-law, Congressional, and sales distribution programs. The Appropriations Committee and the Joint Committee on Printing cooperated last year through PL 95-94 to eliminate excess distribution of the Congressional Record to Members' offices. This year we have asked Members whether they want to receive the green (semi-monthly) and the red bound editions of the Congressional Record. Their responses are due February 28. If even one Member chooses not to receive the semi-monthly edition, $250 will be saved per Congress. If even one Member chooses not to take the bound version of the Congressional Record, $520 will be saved per Congress. The JCP is also surveying Members in advance of publishing other documents to determine pre-print demand in order to avoid producing unwanted copies (e.g., Foreign Relations of the U.S., United States Treaties, U.S. Statutes at Large). Further, we plan to survey Members prior to printing the Biographical Directory of the American Congress, which we expect to be updated during the 96th Congress. Indeed, we have already suggested a 50% reduction in the number of Biographical Directories to be produced in this 1980 edition as opposed to the 1970 edition. The JCP is in the unique position of being able to effectuate through its direct actions substantial savings in the Legislative Branch appropriations and, indeed, throughout the entire Federal Government. Under my chairmanship, the Joint Committee will seek to improve its fine record of greatly reducing printing, binding, and distribution expenditures throughout the Federal government while at the same time striving for improved access by the public to government information. With kind regards. |