As I HAVE INDICATED TO YOU IN THE PAST, THE PRINTING OF THE U.S. CODE IS BEING DONE ELECTRONICALLY AND COPIES OF THE MAGNETIC TAPES OF THE CODE HAVE BEEN REPROGRAMMED BY THE HOUSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR USE IN A PILOT U.S. CODE FULL-TEXT COMPUTER RESEARCH AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM. THIS PILOT SYSTEM IS NOW FULLY OPERATIONAL AND COMPUTER TERMINALS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED IN THE OFFICE OF THE LAW REVISION COUNSEL, THE OFFICES OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE LEGISLATIVE COUNSELS, AND THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. THE SYSTEM DATA FILE CONTAINS THE 1976 EDITION OF THE CODE AND SUPPLEMENT I (1977). SUPPLEMENT II (1978) WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE DATA FILE WITHIN SEVERAL WEEKS. LAST YEAR, AT MY REQUEST, STAFF OF H.I.S. AND G.P.0. CONDUCTED A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF FURTHER THE TIME BETWEEN THE END OF A SESSION OF CONGRESS AND THE STAFF OF H.I.S. AND G.P.C. ISSUED A COMPREHENSIVE WORKING ANNUAL INCREASE IN PERSONNEL COSTS OF NOT MORE THAT $100,000. THE G.P.0. HAS ESTIMATED THAT DURING THE 6-YEAR CYCLE OF THE NEXT EDITION OF THE U.S. CODE AND THE FIVE SUPPLEMENTS, IF PRESENT TECHNIQUES ARE USED, TYPESETTING COSTS WILL TOTAL $2,116,000. IF THE NEW SYSTEM IS USED, THE TOTAL COST OVER THE 6 YEARS WOULD BE $780,000. THUS, OVER THE 6-YEAR CYCLE, THE NEW SYSTEM WOULD SAVE $1,336,000 IN TYPESETTING COSTS, OR AN AVERAGE ANNUAL SAVING OF $222,666. IN ADDITION TO THIS COST SAVING, THE BENEFITS OF THE SYSTEM HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO MAINTAIN THE TEXT DATA BASE IN A TIMELY AND OTHER COMPILATIONS. FOR AUTOMATED LEGAL RESEARCH PURPOSES, THE PLAN IS TO PROVIDE FOR THE GENERATION OF A CURRENT AND ACCURATE FULL U.S. CODE INFORMATION RETRIEVAL DATA BASE, ALONG WITH UPDATE CAPABILITIES. THIS WILL ENABLE US TO SEARCH THE FULL U.S. CODE FOR CLASSIFICATION AND OTHER CODIFICATIONS PURPOSES. THE CONGRESSIONAL LEGISLATIVE DRAFTERS SUCH AS THE LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, COMMITTEES, AND MEMBERS WILL BENEFIT FROM HAVING ACCESS TO CURRENT AND ACCURATE LEGAL INFORMATION RETRIEVAL DATA BASES FOR LEGAL RESEARCH. THIS CAPABILITY WILL RESULT IN A REDUCTION IN RESEARCH TIME AND EFFORT, AND MORE THOROUGH AND COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH PRODUCTS AND DRAFTED BILLS. THE AVAILABILITY OF TEXT FROM THE LAW TEXT DATA BASES OF THE U.S. CODE AND THE ORIGINAL ACTS WILL PROVIDE SOURCE MATERIAL FOR DRAFTING BILLS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS SUCH AS COMMITTEE REPORTS AND RAMSEYERS. THIS FEATURE WILL RESULT IN A REDUCTION OF TEXT ENTRY, EDITING, CODING, ETC., AND WILL ALLOW FOR FASTER AND MORE ACCURATE DOCUMENT PRODUCTION, CONGRESS WILL BENEFIT FROM THE INCREASED TIMELINESS, ACCURACY, AND COMPREHENSIVENESS OF THE PRODUCTS OF SUPPORT UNITS SUCH AS THE LAW REVISION COUNSEL, THE LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, AND COMMITTEES, INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS WILL BENEFIT BY BEING IN A POSITION TO MAKE BETTER INFORMED LEGISLATIVE DECISIONS BY HAVING CONSTITUENT REQUESTS SHOULD IMPROVE AND THE LEGAL COMMUNITY WITH REFERENCE TO THE PREPARATION OF BILLS TO REVISE, THIS COMPLETES MY PREPARED STATEMENT. I WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. |