committee assignments. The Legislative Clerk maintains the official copy of all measures pending before the Senate and must incorporate into those measures any amendments that are agreed to. This office retains custody of official messages received from the House of Representatives and conference reports awaiting action by the Senate. This office is also responsible for verifying the accuracy of that information entered into the LEGIS system by the various offices of the Secretary. In addition, this office is very involved in the Secretary's multi-year, comprehensive program to redesign and rebuild the Senate's system for the collection and management of its Legislative Information Services (LIS).

Summary of Activity

The Second Session of the 105th Congress completed its legislative business and adjourned on October 21, 1998. During 1998, the Senate was in session for 1,095 hours over 143 days and conducted 314 roll call votes. There were 363 measures reported from committees, 506 total measures passed, and there were 246 items remaining on the Calendar at the time of adjournment. In addition, there were 2,180 amendments submitted.

Legislative Information System (LIS)

When LIS replaces the current LEGIS system, extensive training and retraining will be required to convert from the current mainframe to a document management system (DMS). As staff become more familiar with the new capabilities LIS will provide, there may be added benefits such as a history of legislation in the Calendar of Business, which could then be included in the Journal at the end of each session. Amendment Scanning

In 1997, the Secretary's office began scanning certain pending amendments to Senate offices. The main concern was, and continues to be, that there be little or no disruption in the way an amendment is processed and distributed on the Senate floor. In 1998, the office implemented improvements to the amendment scanning system which resulted in faster scanning to a wider audience and reduced keyboarding by the Bill Clerks. Undoubtedly, this project will need to undergo further enhancements as the LIS project progresses.

Staff Changes

The Senate tragically lost R. Scott Bates (1948-1999) on February 5, 1999. David Tinsley was promoted to the position of Legislative Clerk.

OFFICE OF OFFICIAL REPORTERS OF DEBATES

The Official Reporters of Debates prepare and edit for publication in the Congressional Record a substantially verbatim report of the proceedings of the Senate, and serve as liaison for all Senate personnel on matters relating to the content of the Record. The transcript of proceedings, submitted statements and legislation are transmitted, in hard copy and electronically, throughout the day to the Government Printing Office. The Chief Reporter functions as editor in chief and the Coordinator functions as technical production editor of the Senate portion of the Record. Accomplishments

The Official Reporters continue to use the computer-aided transcription system, and have experimented with new software throughout the year. As noted in previous reports, the workload of this office has not decreased but, by providing GPO electronic as well as paper copy, the overall workload at GPO (i.e., not having to rekey every word this office transmits to them) is reduced and, as a result, the overall production cost of the Record.

Morning Business

The Morning Business Unit has dealt effectively with a marked increase of items being processed through their office. The number of communications has continued to increase since the passage of Public Law 104-121 (the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996).

Goals

The goals for the coming year include: increasing the volume of electronic submissions to GPO by continually informing and educating staff of the e-mail process and the proper format and deadlines for submitting statements; adapting the new LIS system to daily operation; continuing to cross-train transcribers in the tasks performed by the Coordinator; and and experimenting with new software for the Reporters.

Cost Savings

The office continues to save substantial sums by eliminating duplication in printing, and Senators are consistently informed about the two-page rule.

PARLIAMENTARIAN

The Parliamentarian advises the Chair, Senators and their staff as well as committee staff, House members and their staffs, administration officials, the media and members of the general public on all matters requiring an interpretation of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the precedents of the Senate, unanimous consent agreements, as well as provisions of public law affecting the proceedings of the Senate. The Office of the Parliamentarian is responsible for the referral of all legislation introduced in the Senate, all legislation received from the House, as well as all communications received from the executive branch. The office worked extensively with Senators and their staffs to advise them of the jurisdictional consequences of particular drafts of legislation, and evaluated the jurisdictional effect of proposed modifications in drafting.

The office continues to analyze and advise Senators on a great number of issues arising under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. The Byrd Rule on extraneous matter in reconciliation bills can cause a great deal of parliamentary maneuvering. The atmosphere that surrounded the parliamentary process in 1998 resulted in an unprecedented number of questions that this office was asked to resolve. These questions often required hours of very difficult and contentious meetings with competing groups of staff. At every stage of the budget cycle, this office was called upon to arbitrate large numbers of budget and appropriation related questions. The Parliamentarian's Office was constantly asked to answer questions during consideration on the Senate floor, of the budget resolution and the appropriations bill that followed.

Concerns about the use of the budget surplus promises to keep the congressional budget process (with all of its parliamentary complexity) in the forefront of the legislative agenda.

PRINTING AND DOCUMENT SERVICES

Printing and Document Services documents Senate printing expenses and functions as GPO liaison to schedule and/or distribute Senate bills and reports to the Chamber, Senate staff, and the public; provides page counts of Senate hearings to commercial reporting companies, orders and tracks all paper and envelopes provided the Senate, provides general printing services for Senate offices, and assures that Senate printing is in compliance with Title 44, U.S. Code, as it relates to Senate documents, hearings, committee prints, and other official publications.

Total Publications

During the second session of the 105th Congress, 647 publications (hearings, committee prints, Senate documents, Senate Publications) were printed. This compares with 504 publications printed during the second session of the 104th Congress, or an increase of about 28 percent.

Hearings Transcripts and Billing Verifications

Billing Verifications are the vehicle by which reporting companies request payment from a committee for their transcription services. During 1998, commercial reporting companies and the corresponding Senate committees were provided a total of 919 billing verifications of Senate hearings and business meetings (including hearings which were canceled or postponed, but still requiring payment to the reporting company). This averages 38 hearings/meetings per committee. Compared with 1,105 billing verifications in 1997, there was a decrease of about 17 percent in the number of hearings processed.

Commercial reporting companies charged the Senate approximately $447,268 to prepare 69,855 transcript pages of the spoken portions of Senate hearings (compared to 1997 figures of $585,956 to prepare 89,020 transcribed pages) for an average annual cost of about $18,636 per committee, and an average of 2,910 spoken transcript pages per committee during 1998. In 1997, the average annual cost per committee was $29,903, and an average of 4,239 spoken transcript pages.

Printing and Document Services prepared 5,564 printing requisitions during fiscal year 1998, authorizing GPO to print Senate work, exclusive of legislation and the Record. This is a decrease of about 6 percent over fiscal year 1997.

Paper, Letterhead, and Envelopes

Printing and Document Services provides and maintains an accounting of blank paper, letterheads, and envelopes for all Senate offices. The total blank sheets and letterheads ordered in 1998 were about 99.2 million sheets, a decrease of 3.3 million sheets compared to 1997. In 1998, the Senate used about 8.4 million envelopes, compared to 7.9 million in 1997.

Mini Document Room

Printing and Document Services serves the combined leadership by coordinating the distribution of all Senate-introduced and Calendar bills, reports, resolutions, and conference reports, including all legislation which has passed the House. Distribution is made to the Chamber, the Office of the Secretary, and leadership offices. Data entry to the legislation and DocuTech databases is the responsibility of this section.

Cost Accounting Projects and Duties

In addition to the ability to advise offices about turnaround and the method of reproduction, while assuring compliance with Title 44 U.S.C., Printing and Document Services also provides accounting information needed by offices. Ultimately, this data enables the Secretary to provide oversight information to the Rules Committee and the Joint Committee on Printing.

The Service Center

The Service Center (located in SH-B-07) is staffed by experienced GPO printing specialists who provide Senate committees and the Office of the Secretary with complete publishing services for hearings, committee prints, and preparation of the Congressional Record. Services include keyboarding, proofreading, scanning, and composition.

As a result of these services, committees have been able to decrease and/or eliminate overtime costs associated with the preparation of hearings, and can now publish in a more timely manner. Committees may also realize additional savings because the work done in the Service Center is chargeable to the committee as performed (as opposed to having a full-time staff member or detailee assigned to printing functions). Finally, by providing the ability to process what would otherwise be backlogged work, utilization of the Service Center may preclude the need to assign additional staff or GPO detailees to publishing duties.

During 1998, the Service Center assisted 14 committees with the preparation of 138 hearings, committee prints, and Senate Documents including the tributes to Senators Ford, Bumpers, Kempthorne, Glenn, and Coats. This represents over half of all Senate committees which have printing responsibilities. Looked at from another perspective, the Service Center has assisted with about 21 percent of the publications printed in 1998.

Congressional Record

In 1998, 12,730 pages were printed for the Senate, 14,622 pages were printed for the House (includes Digest, Extension of Remarks, Proceedings, and Miscellaneous pages), for a total of 27,975 pages. This is a total of 683 more pages than in 1997. There were a total of 1.4 million copies printed and distributed in 1998. That includes 295,323 to the Senate, 241,945 to the House, and 827,732 to Executive Branch agencies and the public at large.

Total approximate cost to produce the Record was $14 million. Based upon the per cent of content and distribution quantities, the proportional Senate cost was $6.3 million, the House was $6.9 million, and all other recipients $800,000. Per copy cost was about $8.86 (Record costs are based upon GPO estimated appropriation costs, not including costs to produce the Record Index or microfiche copies).

Legislation

Data is captured regarding all printed versions of all measures considered in the Senate. Beginning this Congress, all versions and distribution of House measures are included. For brevity, the following information is summarized by major category of legislation, such as Senate bills. Each category includes the successive versions in which all measures were printed during their legislative cycle (such as a Senate bill which is introduced, reported, and printed as passed), including star prints. Information relating to specific versions of all legislation is available, as is the additional number of copies ordered printed for the Document Room (see Docutech Project) and committees.

The following table is for the second session of the 105th Congress. The Number of Pages column refers to the number of original pages, including blanks, within the categories listed. The total number of printed pages is not shown, but is available. Costs are rounded to the nearest hundred, and are based upon estimated GPO appropriation rates.

The Document Services section coordinates requests for printed legislation and miscellaneous publications with other departments within the Office of the Secretary, Senate committees, and the Government Printing Office, to ensure the most current version of all material is available, and that sufficient quantities are in storage to meet projected demand.

The primary responsibility of this section is to provide services to the Senate. However, the responsibility to the general public, the press, and other government agencies is virtually indistinguishable from services provided to the Senate. Requests for material are received at the walk-in counter, through the mail, by FAX, and recorded messages. Recorded messages and FAX messages operate twenty-four hours a day, and are filled the same day they are received, as are mail requests. Summary of Annual Statistics

The following chart is a summary of activities and trends in Document Services from 1988 through 1998.

The following tables summarize quantities and costs associated with on-demand (supplemental) printing of bills and reports during the first and second sessions of the 105th Congress. The first table compares on-site printing requests. The second table indicates work printed for other government agencies by GPO in order to more fully employ the machine. Costs are based upon a charge of two cents per page.

The Office of Printing and Document Services announces the retirement of Barry J. Wolk as Director and the appointment of Linda Daniels to that position.

OFFICE OF CAPTIONING SERVICES

The Office of Captioning Services provides real-time captioning of Senate Floor proceedings for the deaf and hard-of-hearing and unofficial electronic transcripts of Senate Floor proceedings to Senate offices via the Senate Intranet.

General Overview

Caption quality continues to be the number one priority. Peer reviews are conducted on a weekly basis. The office average for accuracy was down slightly for 1998 because of changes to the error scoring methodology.

The Senate Library and the Internet provide reference information. The office library was updated with current-year volumes of select reference materials. House and Senate Internet and House and Senate public web sites are a great assistance.

Technology Update

Year 2000 Compliance (Y2K) concerns of the Secretary of the Senate were addressed beginning early in 1998. In July of 1998 the office was able to demonstrate Y2K Compliance by operating all systems on-air during broadcast as if it were July of 2001. This one-day demonstration was preceded by months of testing, upgrading hardware, evaluating software, monitoring file creation and manipulation, and getting a written "Y2K Compliant" confirmation from the system vendors.

The Senate Recording Studio continues to refine a system to capture the caption data stream, time stamps the captions and stores them in a searchable database. The text files in the database are linked to audio and video files which can be subsequently played on personal computers. Additional improvements to this service are anticipated during 1999.

1999 Objective

The technology currently used for real-time captioning is not Microsoft Windows compatible. The office is evaluating a Windows-based Computer-Aided Transcription and Captioning system which is Y2K compliant.

The testing, evaluation and integration of this new technology into the office is incorporated in individual goals and objectives for 1999. It is hoped this updated technology will be online in late 1999, in time for the Second Session of the 106th Congress.