Mr. Chairman, the progress made on the CVC in just the past 12 months has been remarkable. At the same time, the Capitol building has been open, fully functional, and accommodating of Members and staff, as well as the visiting public throughout construction and during these times of heightened security. When the CVC opens, it will compliment and support the U.S. Capitol as the "People's House," offering free and open access for all people so they may learn about and experience our legislative process. HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS In FY 2004, we completed more than 64,000 work orders in the House Office Buildings. To date, we have completed nearly 31,000 work orders in FY 2005. In addition, we have been working on a number of important projects including: · Modernizing elevators. The Cannon Elevator Modernization Project is complete. The Members' elevators in the Rayburn Building also have been completed, as well as four public elevators on the west side of the building. Eighteen remaining elevators are scheduled to be renovated between now and September 2007. Six elevators have been renovated in the Ford Building. Two others are scheduled to be completed in July. In the Longworth Building, the final four elevators yet to be modernized will be completed by September 2006. • Upgrading public restrooms. One restroom in the Rayburn Building and one in the Longworth Building were recently completed in March. We will work on one restroom at a time in each building to minimize disruptions and inconvenience. Last month we began renovating a restroom in the Cannon Building. Three restrooms have already been completed. • Providing a staff fitness center. The design for the fitness center was completed last month and construction has begun. It is scheduled to be completed in late fall. • In response to issues raised by our annual customer survey, we have been addressing Members' requests to provide additional public meeting space in the Rayburn and Cannon Office Buildings. The renovated dining areas of the Rayburn Cafeteria are now open 24-hours for use as meeting space. In addition, tables and chairs have been added to the Rayburn courtyard for meetings when the weather is pleasant. We also added additional seating in the Longworth Cafeteria and Cannon Carry-out for use for meetings. Our long-term solution is to add meeting space in all the buildings as part of the House Office Building Master Plan. CAPITOL BUILDING The U.S. Capitol has been the stage for several high-profile events this past year. In June 2004, the world's eyes turned to us as we bid farewell to President Ronald W. Reagan. Our employees, working together with Congressional leadership and other Legislative branch organizations, did a tremendous job to ready the building and grounds for the respectful and historic lying in state ceremonies. In January, the West Front of the Capitol was readied for the 55th Presidential Inaugural ceremony. Our team worked diligently to design, plan, and construct the platform; contract for the sound system, Jumbotron screens, and ramps and crossovers; install security fencing and crowd control features; set up 28,000 chairs; build the media platform; hang flags, draperies, and bunting; prepare Statuary Hall for the inaugural luncheon, and draft a contingency plan to move the ceremony to the Rotunda in case of inclement weather. Importantly, on the day before, we worked throughout the night removing all the snow from the grounds, leaving a pristine setting for the inaugural for the East and West Fronts of the Capitol. In FY 2004, we completed more than 20,000 work orders in the Capitol Building. To date this fiscal year, we have completed more than 10,000. CAPITOL POWER PLANT An on-going project designed to meet the current and future needs of the Capitol complex is the expansion of the West Refrigeration Plant at the Capitol Power Plant. This project addresses the advancing age of the East Refrigeration Plant, and the need to reliably meet future cooling requirements of the expanding Capitol complex. The chilled water capacity will be online by November 2005, with the total project scheduled for completion in April 2006. When finished, the expanded facility will enable the Capitol Power Plant to reliably meet cooling requirements through 2025 and will significantly increase overall plant efficiency. In addition to addressing future energy needs, the Power Plant staff is also working to beautify the facility and the grounds surrounding it. This month, we began efforts to install 20-foot-wide brick-paved sidewalks, which will be shaded by two rows of trees alongside the Plant's newlycreated park area. In addition, a decorative wrought iron fence will be erected to replace the security fence now surrounding the Power Plant. The AOC has been working closely with the Ward 6B Advisory Neighborhood Committee, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), and other agencies to improve and transform the South Capitol Street corridor into a grand urban boulevard. PERIMETER SECURITY With the increased need for permanent security measures throughout the Capitol complex, we have worked to install effective, but aesthetically pleasing, perimeter security features on Capitol Hill. We have made significant progress on this project. In fact, construction is nearing completion on the House perimeter security efforts as well as those for Capitol Square. Perimeter security elements will be installed as part of the Capitol Power Plant beautification project over the next year. Following that project, work will begin around the Ford Office Building. PROJECT DELIVERY Several steps have been taken to improve project delivery. Last September, we established a pilot Project Management organization comprised of project managers, construction managers, and construction inspectors. The proposed alignment establishes clear performance expectations for delivering projects on time and within budget now that the project and construction management functions reside, for the first time, within the same organization. A good design equals good construction. Construction management is intrinsically linked to project management. Through this new project management organization and process, we will ensure that the design and construction teams interact daily. This alignment is endorsed by the Government Accountability Office to "align project management staff and resources with AOC's mission-critical goals.” In accordance with our Strategic Plan, an annual "lessons learned" exercise is conducted for projects identified by our clients. During this time a comprehensive assessment of each project is undertaken to apply lessons learned to future projects and facilitate continuous improvement. HUMAN CAPITAL/ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE The AOC Strategic Plan contains Human Capital and Organizational Excellence goals which focus on our employees and providing the highest quality services to both our internal and external clients through improved business programs, processes, and systems. One of our objectives under the Human Capital Strategic Plan goal was to develop a comprehensive employee feedback program that will utilize focus groups, surveys, and other related mechanisms. In fall 2004, I invited more than 300 employees from across the AOC all divisions, levels, and shifts -- to participate in 25 focus group sessions during the month of September. We asked them to identify problems, help us to find ways to solve them, and make improvements within the organization. In October, the Human Resources Management Division (HRMD) asked all employees to share their opinions in a customer satisfaction survey. The questions focused on the services HRMD provides and how well they deliver those services. By coupling the feedback and the survey results, we were able to pinpoint specific areas where we needed to take action. In other words, our employees spoke and we listened. They told us that we needed to do a better job communicating, that we needed to provide clearer, easier-to-understand information, and that we needed to better explain work processes, policies, and procedures. They also indicated that we needed to provide clearer direction with regard to expectations and job performance, and in recognizing employee accomplishments. These issues also applied to setting internal standards so our employees received satisfactory customer support from our Human Resources, EEO, and other service organizations. Over the next several months, we will be rolling out these action plans and meeting with employees to continue to foster an environment where we can share our concerns and ideas with one another to continue to improve the organization. EMPLOYEE SAFETY One of the areas that we continue to make great strides in is our efforts to reduce the injury and illness rate. I am pleased to report that for the fourth consecutive year, the AOC injury and illness rate has decreased dramatically. During FY 2004, we have seen a 26 percent reduction in the injury and illness rate. Since FY 2000, this rate has been reduced by 67 percent and is now below the Federal average. We attribute this reduction to a number of initiatives, including inspections of project worksites, daily safety discussions in our shops at the beginning of each shift, the posting of the Architect's monthly safety messages throughout our shops and offices, employees active participation in our Jurisdictional employee safety committees, and most importantly to the constant diligence of each AOC employee and supervisor who is committed to doing their job safely and correctly. To assure that our employees have the requisite skills and equipment needed to do their jobs safely, I will continue to maintain robust training and safety budgets. While I am very proud of my workforce and our past accomplishments, I will not be satisfied until we achieve our ultimate goal of a workplace free of injury and illness. Toward this end, I have challenged my workers to further reduce the injury rate by an additional 10 percent, and strive for our ultimate goal. I look forward to reporting to this Committee on our progress |