LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR 1960 HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE EIGHTY-SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE APPROPRIATIONS W. F. NORRELL, Arkansas, Chairman MICHAEL J. KIRWAN, Ohio TOM STEED, Oklahoma WALT HORAN, Washington PAUL M. WILSON, Staff Assistant to the Subcommittee Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations 40866 UNITED STATES WASHINGTON: 1959 COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS CLARENCE CANNON, Missouri, Chairman GEORGE H. MAHON, Texas ALFRED E. SANTANGELO, New York JOHN TABER, New York H. CARL ANDERSEN, Minnesota CHARLES RAPER JONAS, North Carolina MELVIN R. LAIRD, Wisconsin ELFORD A. CEDERBERG, Michigan GLENARD P. LIPSCOMB, California KENNETH SPRANKLE, Clerk and Staff Director (II) J61 Ab DOCUMENTS LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR 1960 WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 1959. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WITNESSES RALPH R. ROBERTS, CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H. NEWLIN MEGILL, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ROBERT H. HARPER, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT FOR FINANCE AND BUDGET Mr. NORRELL. Gentlemen, the committee will please come to order. We start our legislative appropriation hearings for 1960 this morning. In looking over the items that are being requested in the budget, we find that the total of the request, $105,460,005, not counting the Senate, is below 1959 appropriations by $567,710. That is fine. I hope that fact will be well noted. We have a new member of the subcommittee, Congressman Steed. Congressman Steed was elected to the 81st Congress and has been reelected since that time. We are glad to have Mr. Steed as a member of the committee. I know he will make a great contribution. We have this morning our Clerk, Mr. Roberts, as our first witness. Mr. Roberts, at this time we are glad to have you, and you may proceed with your general statement. GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I have been happy to appear before this subcommittee on many occasions. In fact, I believe that this is the ninth time that it has been my privilege to present to you the budget for the House of Representatives. Most of you have served for many years on the legislative subcommittee and are already thoroughly familiar with the basic requirements for this appropriation. Today, I am actually appearing in two capacities. One as Budget Officer for the House of Representatives and the other as Clerk of the House. First, I wish to present to you as fully as I can the overall budget for the House of Representatives; and, Secondly, I am prepared to justify in detail that portion of the budget which relates to the activities of the Office of the Clerk. I shall address myself at this time to the overall budget, reserving for a later time a detailed statement of the functions and operations of the Clerk's Office. While I am generally familiar with the activities of the other offices of the House, I respectfully request that any specific informa (1) tion desired relative to the operation of any office not under the Clerk be obtained from the appropriate officer of the House. There is nothing unusual or complicated about this year's requests. Every single item is authorized by law or by resolution of the House. We are here asking for virtually the same things we received last year. It is true that just a few of the items are in larger amounts, but there are justifications in each instance. There are only two new items in the bill, and one of them is a normal requirement that comes up about every 6 years. 1. A clerk is provided for the House member of the NATO Parliamentarian's Conference. 2. Money is requested for the compilation of a new U.S. Code. All other requests relate to the normal and routine functions of the House of Representatives. With few exceptions, the increases result from: 1. The 10 percent overall increase in salaries of employees, or 2. New positions or salary increases as the result of the passage of House resolutions. Increases which do not fall into the above categories relate to requests from the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation; the attending physician's office; cost of handling mail; and the "Contingent and miscellaneous" items. As regards the "Contingent and miscellaneous" items, the $150,000 for the compilation of the code represents by far the largest single increase. We try as best we can to estimate what expenditures will be required in this category, but by their very nature, accurate estimates are impossible. The general rise in cost of services and materials, coupled with the 10 percent increase in pay, justify fully, in my opinion, all of the increases requested. Further safeguards are thrown around the contingent expenditures by the requirement that each such expenditure must have my personal approval as well as that of the Committee on House Administration. DETAILED ANALYSIS OF ESTIMATES FOR 1960 A very complete and detailed analysis of the entire budget has been prepared, as has been the custom in previous years, and I request that it be inserted in the record at this point. Mr. NORRELL. We would prefer that you follow the custom of taking up each item, and we can ask questions as we go along. Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, as I said, a copy of the item-by-item breakdown has previously been furnished to each member of the committee. Insert the sum Mr. NORRELL. That is what I am getting to now. mary list here and then take up the first item. (The summary follows:) |