JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING
MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT
AUGUST, 1997

CHAIRMAN'S ACTIONS

Department of Agriculture

Aug. 19:

Denied the request for an after-the-fact exception to authorize the use of appropriated funds in conjunction with the printing of the U.S. Forest Service's Northwest Forest Plan - 1996 PNW Research Accomplishments Report. The request was denied because the purchase of printing this publication was not in concert with provisions of section 501, Title 44. In addition, the publication was not made available to the Depository Libraries and the Department was asked to provide GPO with a requisition for printing a minimum of 395 copies of this document for distribution to the Libraries.

Department of Defense

Aug. 19:

Aug. 19:

Approved the inclusion of advertising in recreation brochures issued by the Army
Corps of Engineers. The Joint Committee expressed confidence that the
Department would provide sufficient copies of each brochure produced under this
program to the Superintendent of Documents for distribution to Depository
Libraries.

Acknowledged the submission by the Combined Intelligence Publishing Service
(CIPS), of their comprehensive printing program plan for fiscal years 1997-1998.
The Joint Committee approved their request to approve all FY 1997 equipment
acquisitions submitted with each facility's annual plan, but asked that official
notification be provided to the JCP upon completion of these transactions. One
area of concern to the Committee was the continued lack of compliance exhibited
by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), formerly known as the
Defense Mapping Agency, with policy that in-house production is strictly limited
to those maps and charts that must be produced within a government-owned
facility. Procurable maps and charts as well as all other products, including
books, supporting documents and publications, are to be obtaining through GPO.
In April, 1994, JCP staff met with representatives of the Defense Mapping
Agency regarding their proposed consolidation of operations, and were assured
that all publication work would be and is procured through GPO. The latest
commercial printing reports submitted by NIMA seem to contradict those earlier
assurances. The Joint Committee believes that NIMA's participation in GPO's
Federal Printing Program would yield substantial savings to the Agency as well as
to the American taxpayer. The Department was further advised that GPO is
capable of competitively obtaining printing and printing-related services from
private sector companies already cleared for security work. Staff of the Joint

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Department of Defense (cont).

Committee and GPO would be pleased to work with the CIPS organization to arrange more efficient and less costly ways of producing certain products that may negate the need for some planned capital expenditures.

Government Printing Office

Aug. 15:

Aug. 15:

Aug. 15:

Aug. 29:

Approved the open market purchase of paper and envelopes for the month of
June, 1997. (Total cost of the contracts was $559,764).

Approved the open market purchase of paper and envelopes for the month of July, 1997. (Total cost of the contracts was $215,455).

Approved seven paper contracts to supply GPO and other Federal agencies for the
calendar quarter beginning July 1, 1997. (The total cost of the contracts was
$3,762,509).

Requested attention to the matter of the on-line versions of the Congressional Record and Congressional Directory not being available in a browsable format. GPO was advised that it is very important that these documents appear on-line as they appear in their printed form. Limiting access to these documents by requiring the user to enter various search terms to view specific portions of each document is not adequate for general electronic usage. The addition of browsable editions of these publications would best serve the Congress and the public.

CHAIRMAN'S ACTIONS

JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING
MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT
SEPTEMBER 1997

Congress

Sept. 26:

Sept. 3:

Notified all Senate and House Committee Chairmen that the Congressional Information Service (CIS) has been contacting committee staff about publishing hearings that committee chairmen have chosen not to print or have made no decision about printing. CIS seeks these unpublished records to support a publication called Unpublished U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings. Historically, the release of unpublished committee records, just as the publication of committee records, are the prerogative of committee chairmen. Further, Conference deliberations are not published. In order to avoid inadvertent release of committee records, all Chairmen were asked to review their committee's procedures with staff.

Requested comments from several Congressional offices regarding a joint
GPO/JCP proposal to add an appropriate notice on the Congressional Record
covers during the addressing process when the Record must be produced in more
than one volume. Although the text of the Record does make it clear when it is
continued in a subsequent volume, the quick production cycle has precluded
printing such a notice on the cover of the first volume. The proposed boxed
notice would appear in the lower left corner stating "Senate Proceedings
Continued in Next Issue" (or House and Senate...or House...; as appropriate).
This approach can be displayed without delaying delivery of the Record, by using
existing equipment, and at no additional expense to the Congress.

Department of Agriculture

Sept. 29:

Approved the request to purchase an electronic printing and roll feeding system for Rural Development, St. Louis, Missouri. (The estimated cost of the proposed replacement equipment is $320,000).

Department of Commerce

Sept. 8:

Acknowledged the Department's submission of their comprehensive printing

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Government Printing Office

Sept. 5:

Sept. 25:

Sept. 29:

Wrote to the Public Printer regarding Federal agencies use of GPO services and stressed that it is important that GPO aggressively reach out to its customers, demonstrating to them the value, quality and timeliness of GPO's services, in an effort to increase the likelihood that agencies will continue or improve their use of GPO. Given the conflicting legal climate in which GPO is operating, the Public Printer was advised that it is not sufficient to tell agencies they must use GPO facilities. They must have incentives and they must have confidence in their choice.

Approved the open market purchase of paper and envelopes for the month of
August, 1997. (Total cost of the contracts was $1,472,964).

Acknowledged GPO's proposal of a plan to reduce production and distribution of the Bound Congressional Serial Set as well as creating a companion CD-ROM product that would include those Congressional documents available in electronic format. GPO was advised that the proposal to produce and distribute 104 printed copies of the Serial Set seems sound. However, rather than creating any CDROM product that is abbreviated or incomplete, GPO should work with the Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate, as well as the ongoing SGML working group, to facilitate the Congress' maximum utilization of electronic creation and transfer of information. Such efforts will make possible a complete electronic version of the Serial Set in the near future. In addition, GPO was advised to accept the suggestion of the Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) to make available copies of the Serial Set title pages (including the contents listing for each volume) to Depository Libraries which request them.

Social Security Administration

Sept. 29:

Sept. 29:

Provided clarification at the Agency's request, of the Joint Committee's policy relating to the use of color for Agency publications. The determination for additional use of color rests solely with the Agency and is only limited by their own level of reasonableness and budget availability. The only exception to this open policy, has been the printing of annual reports submitted to the Congress. The Joint Committee issued a directive in 1989 regarding these annual reports because of a marked trend among Federal agencies to publish increasingly more elaborate and decorative reports when the primary goal is to provide effective communication of information to Congress, which does not require expensive materials, printing processes nor the use of color.

Approved the request to purchase a digital color printing system for the
Administration's Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. (The estimated cost of

I am writing regarding the fiscal year 1999 appropriation request for the Joint Committee on Taxation (the "Joint Committee").

Key points relating to the appropriation request are as follows:

I am requesting a fiscal year 1999 appropriation for the Joint Committee of $6,018,000.
This amount is a net increase of $202,500 over the fiscal year 1998 appropriation and
$1,000 less than the fiscal year 1995 appropriation for the Joint Committee. This
increase is attributable solely to cost-of-living adjustments and a 1-percent merit increase
for personnel expenses for the Joint Committee staff.

In the last Congress, we asked the Joint Committee staff to assume additional
responsibilities. In addition to the traditional role of the Joint Committee staff in the
development, drafting, and estimating of proposed revenue legislation and the review of
large income tax refund cases, the Joint Committee staff is now responsible for
determining the possible unfunded mandates contained in revenue legislation and
identifying, beginning in 1997, the limited tax benefits subject to the Line Item Veto Act.
As you know, the Joint Committee staff identified approximately 70 provisions in the
Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 that were limited tax benefits and the President exercised
his authority under the Line Item Veto Act to cancel two of these provisions.

The Joint Committee staff provides unique and essential services to both the House of
Representatives and the Senate at every stage of the tax legislative process. The Joint
Committee staff, comprised of highly qualified lawyers, accountants, and economists, is
involved in the development, marking up, and drafting of tax bills and in writing all tax
Committee Reports and Conference Reports. In addition, the Joint Committee staff
devotes substantial resources to the preparation of revenue estimates, distributional
analyses, and other economic analyses relating to proposed legislation. The refund office