Mr. Chairman, these House employees are unsung heroes in every respect, and I regret that it is not possible to have more public acknowledgment of such dedication to this institution. The media seems often to focus its attention on any problem that would impute some negative role to House employees. I never see anything in the media about the many day-to-day operations that are well planned and conducted. CLERKS FY '94 BUDGET REQUEST Turning to the proposed budget for the Clerk's Office in fiscal year 1994, the estimates developed by the chiefs and directors of their various offices and departments that have been incorporated into the House budget totaled $25,793,000. This estimate is based on the salaries authorized for permanent employees; longevity and merit increases in pay; changes in position levels and steps; the cost of living raises authorized for all government employees, including those in the legislative branch; a summer intern program; and anticipated new positions. Mr. Chairman, I fully realize that increases in budget above the funds authorized for the current fiscal year will be very difficult to provide because of the efforts to reduce expenditures. However, I would emphasize the proposed funds for my office and the new positions are that: proposed. I asked my chiefs and directors to prepare a budget for their respective offices that would allow me, the Members of the subcommittee and the Members of the Committee on House Administration to know what staff and resources they need to accomplish their respective duties and responsibilities in the coming fiscal year. Every new position must not only be justified in the mind of the office director, but approved by my immediate staff, justified to the Committee on House Administration which creates all new positions, and approved by this subcommittee as a part of the budget. I expect that as we approach the markup of the appropriations bill for fiscal year 1994, the restructuring of the House administrative operations will be under way, the need for any and all positions will be discussed with your staff, and very careful judgments will be made as to the need for any new positions. We are now operating with 565 permanent positions approved by the Committee on House Administration. However, I anticipate that eight positions will be transferred and thus eliminated from my office when the General Counsel's new office is established. There are a total of 30 requests pending from the various offices and departments under the Clerk. Some of these have been submitted to the Committee on House Administration. I have directed my staff to evaluate every pending request for a new position and to develop a modified and prioritized list that can be provided to the subcommittee prior to markup. Using today's pending requests and expected changes, assuming operations would continue as now in place, the budget figure under consideration would provide 587 positions for my office. I shall provide for the record a listing of the positions proposed. [The information follows:] status of position authorisations: The Committee on House Administration did not meet in 1992 to consider various personnel proposals submitted by the office of the Clerk in November, 1991 and April, 1992. The positions identified as "pending" reflect only requests contained in those proposals which the Clerk desires to resubmit to the Committee in the 103rd Congress. "Anticipated" positions will be submitted this year for the first time to the Committee. Rationale: This position is required to provide professional level support services to the Clerk and senior management of the Immediate Office. The position would help coordinate overlapping tasks and responsibilities of the Clerk and senior management and would provide substantive assistance with extended projects and planning. Department: Official Reporters to House Committees Title: Level: official Reporter Number of Positions: 1 Rationale: The position is required to provide the department with the capability to respond to reporting requests requiring security clearances. Also, the department cannot rely on vendor reporters for immediate work or work involving special circumstances. Number of Positions: 1 Rationale: The position would provide required back-up support services for the department. Rationale: The positions are required to meet the increased demand for services. Rationale: This department never recovered from its Gramm-Rudman losses and has been borrowing employees from other departments to assist with processing responsibilities. As the only non-partisan clearinghouse for House employment information, the department provides a valuable public service, particularly during the tight job market. If relief is not forthcoming, the department will not be able to effectively manage the already heavy walk-in traffic and process applications in a timely manner. Rationale: The added positions are required to enable the division to remain current with the explosive growth of House equipment acquisitions and maintenance payments. Rationale: The position is required to accommodate the increased volume of service requests. Rationale: The Journeyman positions are new designations related to a proposed pay scale for non-supervisory craftsman positions. The new scale would be more consistent with scale used by unionized concerns with advancement weighted more toward skill than longevity. The additional positions would keep the Cabinetmakers and Finishers current with demand for construction of specialty furniture and with repairs of existing furnishings. For Rationale: The position is required to investigate and evaluate new and complex technology of potential interest to the House and enable the department to competently fulfill its mandates. instance, within the past eighteen months, the list of products and services offered and supported has expanded to include cellular networks and equipment, AUDIX Voice Mail, Video conference, FORUM Audio Conference, and Language Line Services. At the direction of the Committee on House Administration, the department also assists H.I.S. with procurement and administration of wide area data services. Rationale: An additional position would keep this responsibility at current strength and further accommodate in a timely manner the demand for user assistance and training as the result of the introduction of AUDIX and the increased interest in cellular equipment. The large class of new Members for the 103rd Congress has increased the demand for consultative services as was anticipated when this request for authorization was submitted in April. Department: Office of Telecommunications/Telephone Exchange Rationale: The request compliments action by the Senate and will help the Service reduce the incidences of "abandoned calls." New console technology has helped us determine that abandoned calls reach peak frequency during busy-hours of mid-week and occur more frequently when radio and television programs encourage "call-ins." Since all calls come into the consoles on the same lines, calls from congressional exchanges are as likely to experience the same delays as do calls from outside exchanges. Other attempts to reduce the incidence of abandoned calls, such as rescheduling of breaks and lunch, have not proved successful. Rationale: The position would be assigned to the Audit Division to assist with processing of mail reports, now a permanent function assigned to the Office of Finance as the result of the new franked mail regulations effective April 1, 1992. Rationale: The position is required to provide the Clerk with inhouse legal support for the day-to-day operations of the office. Rationale: The position is required to meet the level of support necessary for the PC network arena. Department: Records and Registration Title: Level: Systems Administrator/Programmer Analyst Number of Positions: 1 Rationale: The position is required to design and write computer programs used with the department's imaging applications. Rationale: The position is required to accommodate the increase in client load caused by the expansion of services to the district offices. Rationale: An additional Secretary position will be required to provide full-time data entry services to support the department's resource referral data bank. The department will soon initiate |