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SPSS COVERED BY CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995

Surent or former employees' and applicants' rights protected (plus access to
services for individuals with disabilities)

ouse of Representatives

Capo Guide Service

Capitol Police

gressional Budget Office

Anitect of the Capitol (incl Botanic Gardens and Senate Restaurants)
Anding Physician

ce of Compliance

Office of Technology Assessment

of us are waiting very anxiously to meet and talk with the new five-member Board of Directors, which we assume will be Chown pretty soon. And obviously, all that I am saying today is dependent upon their sense of their mission, their motivation, the way they would like to organize. But possibly, the budget request wch I put before you might be reduced if there is a concept of and of unitary Office of Compliance for the Congress.

Now, that does not mean that they might not have subsidiary offees in some of the entities. There is some talent sitting in those offices who are very knowledgeable about civil rights and would bring great skills to this process. I will brag a little bit about my own staff which is outstanding. You have met two of the members. I know the new Board will not be able to find people who are better than some of the people on my staff, and I certainly think that is true in other offices as well. To the degree that the new Board and the Office of Compliance management see there are ways that they can utilize those talented individuals and make the transition to the new Congressional Accountability Act, some funds will be saved. And I think that would be very good.

It is conceivable that the Board could ask itself, given the widespread locations of people, is there value for the counseling phase in the administrative process to be on-site where most of the emploves would be. On the other hand, they may feel that it is so important to send this unitary message, that there is one place where an employee can go, one-stop shop we might call it, and get the answers to any and all of their questions about any of the laws and also understand the procedure for themselves, that there might be great value in one central office. So we will not know until that Board of Directors arrives. But I would probably tend to recommend the unitary approach.

SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

Senator MACK. Very good. Well, again, I appreciate your thoughts and your input and the budget information that you have provided us. Thank you for the service that you provide to the Congress and to the Senate. The hearing is recessed.

Whereupon, at 12:20 p.m., Friday, May 12, the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 2 p.m., Monday, May 15.]

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR

FISCAL YEAR 1996

MONDAY, MAY 15, 1995

U.S. SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS,

Washington, DC. The subcommittee met at 2:01 p.m., in room SD-116, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Connie Mack (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Mack and Bennett.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

STATEMENT OF JAMES H. BILLINGTON, LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS
ACCOMPANIED BY:

HIRAM DAVIS, DEPUTY LIBRARIAN
SUZANNE THORIN, CHIEF OF STAFF

MARYBETH PETERS, REGISTRAR OF COPYRIGHTS

DANIEL MULHOLLAN, DIRECTOR, CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

WINSTON TABB, ASSOCIATE LIBRARIAN FOR COLLECTION SERVICES

DONALD CURRAN, ASSOCIATE LIBRARIAN FOR CONSTITUENT SERVICES

KURT CYLKE, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICE FOR THE BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED

HERB BECKER, DIRECTOR, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERV-
ICES

JOHN WEBSTER, DIRECTOR, FINANCIAL SERVICES
JOHN HEMPERLEY, BUDGET OFFICER

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CONNIE MACK

Senator MACK. I think we will go ahead and get started. We have a vote that has been scheduled at 2:30 p.m. We will see whether in fact it takes place. I suggest that it will.

This is the second hearing of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, which is considering the fiscal year 1996 appropriations bill which funds the operations of the Congress of the United States.

As I stated in my opening statement, in the first hearing of this committee last week, this committee is about the business of reducing the size and scope of the legislative branch of Government, without compromising the legislative and oversight responsibilities of Congress.

Additionally, I stated that while this committee understands that the legislative branch of Government is but a small portion of the

(261) '

$1.5 trillion budget, we equally understand that it is imperative that Congress demonstrate leadership in reducing the cost of Government by making serious reductions here in our own House and in the Senate.

Last week, the committee heard testimony from the various support offices of the Senate. I must say that I was very impressed with the efforts of those offices in reducing their budget request. They were able to do so as a result of a serious review of their structure and functions. We hope to hear of equal success as we proceed with these hearings.

Today we will hear from the Congressional Budget Office, the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service, and the Capitol Police Board.

I am aware that the CBO's budget request is an increase over fiscal year 1995, but it is due to an increase in the workload as a result of the passage of the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act. Nevertheless, I hope to hear of efforts of reducing the costs in the operations of the CBO.

The Library of Congress is a unique component of the legislative branch appropriations bill. Eighty percent of its budget is dedicated to serving the public and the Nation, as opposed to directly supporting the operations of the Congress. But, again, this committee expects each agency to make their fair contribution in reducing the cost of the legislative branch.

Finally, the Capitol Police budget includes a 4-percent increase from the previous fiscal year. This committee understands the critical mission of the Capitol Police, providing for the physical safety of the Capitol complex, Members and staff, and the millions of citigons who visit the Capitol each year.

The committee will certainly be supportive of the police board, the chief, and the rank and file members of the force; however, we remain interested in the Capitol Police's efforts in reducing costs in their operations.

DR. BILLINGTON WELCOMED

At this point, we will turn to Dr. Billington, of the Library of Congress. I look forward to your opening comments.

Dr. BILLINGTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I should perhaps introduce other witnesses here, Hiram Davis, the Deputy Librarian; Suzanne Thorin, our Chief of Staff; Marybeth Peters, the Registrar of Copyrights; Daniel Mulhollan, Director of CRS; Winston Tabb, the Associate Librarian for Collection Services; Don Curran, the Associate Librarian for Constituent Services; Kurt Cylke, Director of the NLS, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped; Herb Becker, Director of Information Technology Services; John Webster, Director, Financial Services; and John Hemperley, Budget Officer.

I have submitted a full statement, so I just have a few brief introductory words, perhaps, Mr. Chairman, just to say that the Library of Congress is like no other agency in the legislative branch.

OVERVIEW OF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SERVICES

It is the largest and most diverse repository of human knowledge that has ever been assembled on this planet. It is openly accessible,

and delivering considerably more services now than in 1980, 15 years ago, with 11.6 percent fewer full-time equivalent positions.

We are now handling a collection that has grown 25 percent since then, and we are now annually cataloging 45 percent more books than then, answering 76 percent more congressional requests, 135 percent more copyright inquiries, and 42 percent more registrations, as well as circulating 34 percent more books and magazines free to the blind and physically handicapped, and giving preservation treatment to 23 percent more original documents than 15 years ago.

Between 1992 and 1994, we reduced our overall staff by 9 percent, and our supervisory and managerial staff by 18 percent.

We are firmly on track with the strategic plan first presented in 1992, that will, by the end of this decade, both modernize the Library's core operations, and equip us to play a leadership role in the new electronic information age.

Here, the increase in our service to the Nation, I think, is particularly astonishing, up from less than 2 million computer transactions a month 15 years ago, to 8 million a month 3 years ago, to more than 20 million a month this year.

If the Library did not exist today, Mr. Chairman, I think the Congress would want to create it for a number of reasons, four, in particular.

The first would be, in order to make laws, the Congress needs access to organized and objective information, and through the Congressional Research Service, the law library, and other components, we are providing the information essential for making laws. Almost all the new post-Communist democracies, it is interesting to note, in Eastern Europe, are trying to build research facilities, consulting with us, to help make their new democratic legislatures work after the cold war, just as Japan and Korea built legislative libraries after World War II.

Second, our society needs a universal record of civilization, so that we in the present can learn from the past, and help shape the future, help shape it more productively and more rationally.

The Library grew, as you know, out of Jefferson's own library, and it is a living testimonial to the Founding Fathers' basic belief that ever greater access to an ever expanding body of knowledge by an ever larger number of people is essential to a democracy remaining dynamic and forward looking.

Third, the Library efficiently organizes information for the Nation. The proliferation of knowledge in our time makes organizing information more important than ever.

The Library of Congress provides cataloging that would cost the libraries of the Nation some $336 million if the libraries themselves had to do the cataloging.

It costs much more to catalog a book than it does to buy it, and our cataloging is the backbone for the entire public library system in the country.

Last, since 1870, when the copyright system was placed in the Library, the Library of Congress has been linked to the creative community, advising Congress on protecting intellectual property, which is the fastest growing and most internationally competitive part of the U.S. economy.

The copyright deposit also provides the basis for our unparalleled collections of Americana, which often include unique, unpublished, and otherwise unavailable material.

The millions of items deposited under the copyright law have enabled us to begin building a national digital library, which will deliver the core of our Americana collections out to schools and libraries in every congressional district through the new electronic technology, providing the American people, in their own localities, with many of the most interesting historical and cultural documents of what we believe to be the most creative people in the world.

BUDGET REQUEST

Most of the Library's requested budget increase is simply to cover mandatory pay and price level increases. It will be $22.6 million under current law, and $15.6 million, if the President's pay recommendations are accepted.

Most of the rest, about $7.2 million, is to fund electronic outreach, which we expect to finance largely by private donations, if the basic Federal support can be secured.

PREPARED STATEMENTS

I could talk to you in more detail about our request, Mr. Chairman, but it would be more efficient, I think, if I stopped now and directly answered your questions.

[The statements follow:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JAMES H. BILLINGTON

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: I appreciate the opportunity to appear here to discuss the Library of Congress budget request for fiscal year 1996.

The Library of Congress, the world's largest and most comprehensive library, has a special mission: to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations.

The Library is a unique part of the Legislative Branch of the government. It was founded in 1800 at the time of the Congress' initial location in Washington. It protects intellectual property and preserves for the nation both America's creativity and human knowledge generally-enabling the U.S. government to fulfill its obligation under the Constitution to "promote the progress of sciences and useful arts."

The Library of Congress is delivering far more service now than in 1980 with 11.6 percent fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) positions (see accompanying chart). It is firmly on track with a strategic plan that will, by the end of this decade, both modernize the Library's core operations and enable it to play a leadership role in the rapidly emerging electronic information age.

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