The new JCP/DoD Technical Information Committee has succeeded in consolidating the research and development needs of the Army and the Air Force directed toward automating engineering drawing repositories. Through Committee efforts the Army and the Air Force have recently shared the specifications for the automation of their engineering drawing repositories, which will save approximately $21.5 million annually for the Army alone once all of the systems are in place. སྙ Additionally, the JCP/DoD Technical Information Committee continues to review the cost of technical manual pages submitted by the contractor. Continued automation of information systems within the Department will steadily reduce the cost of contractor-supplied technical information and will greatly enhance its accessibility and usability. This JCP/DOD working agreement takes into consideration both long= range and immediate program and policy initiatives, specifically those related to the introduction of new technology and total systems offering the potential to produce better products and improve mission readiness. In addition, this JCP/DoD initiative is being taken to reduce duplication within and among the various service branches, to permit better communication between affected parties, and to develop a more coordinated program for the individual department as well as the overall Federal Government. The scope of these Joint Committee initiatives is best exemplified by the dollar volume involved. Based on a projection of defense contracting approaching $100 billion a year, it is estimated that technical information acquisition would cost about $6.3 billion per year. Relating this technical information value to the Department of the Navy's long-range target savings of between 10 to 30 per cent, we can project potential program savings of between $0.64 to $1.92 billion per year once the total system evolves. II. Oversight of the Government Printing Office's policies and operations. This includes, under Title 44, U.S.c. 305 (Kiess Act), the JCP serving as a final board of appeal in GPO labor/management negotiations pertaining to wage related matters. The Joint Committee on Printing is directly responsible for overseeing the Government Printing Office to ensure that the printing needs of Congress and the Executive Branch are met expeditiously and cost-effectively and that the public has the widest possible access to government-published information at reasonable cost. By setting policy for GPO managers to execute, by providing continuity of GPO programs through all Administrations, and by diligently encouraging and applying new technologies to GPO's functions, the JCP has successfully met the challenge for more than 120 years. In the past three years, rapid and remarkable advances in the merger of printing hardware and computer software, have made it easier for the creator and the end-user of information to control their own destinies. Agreement exists amongst all who are responsible for any aspect of information, that a consistent, yet flexible, management system is crucial to the effective utilization of that information. Within the Government, vast in size and all-embracing in scope, such a system is critical to the task of governing. The Joint Committee on Printing believes that its time-honored experience in the flow of information places it in a unique position to develop and nurture the new attitudes and systems necessitated by our changing As printing and publishing become more and more decentralized as a result of the exploding computer and printing technology, the Joint Committee on Printing believes there is an even stronger need to maintain the GPO as the focal point for technological leadership and coordination within the Federal Government. Therefore, only with the sound management of resources, with a thorough understanding of technological trends and implications, with a knowledge of what can be provided more economically or efficiently by the private sector, and with a dedicated and imaginative commitment to service and economy, can the taxpayers be spared the expense of wasteful and redundant systems and can the Government meet its mission requirements efficiently and accurately. The JCP recognizes that its role in the coming years is more comprehensive and more demanding than ever before. Through a professional and realistic analysis of Federal printing and information needs, the JCP will continue to formulate policy for the GPO that will ensure its utility and vitality. 1. Building Management of GPO Facilities. The Committee has approved a variety of actions to improve the utilization of space, coordination of staff and more efficient operation at the main Government Printing Office, at the Regional Printing Procurement Offices and at Government bookstores. These actions have included: Construction of permanent space for the Customer Service Construction of a permanent work space on the 7th floor Relocation of the St. Louis Office to provide more space (5) Acquisition of space for the Dallas Office, which is one of (6) Lease of additional space for the Atlanta Office; (7) (8) (9) (10) Relocation of the San Francisco Office to the U.S. Naval Relocation of one of the Washington D.C. bookstores to a Relocation of the Equal Employment Opportunity office on 2. Financial Management of the GPO. The GAO was requested on July 1, 1982, to review the reliability and accuracy of the GPO's Monthly Financial Statements. The purpose of the request was to ensure that GPO management has reliable financial data upon which to base management decisions and that the Joint Committee on Printing has accurate financial information on GPO operations upon which to base policy decisions. The GPO Comptroller agreed to three of the five recommendations made by the GAO. In addition, I have requested that the GPO Comptroller (1) revise the monthly financial statements issued outside the agency to include the total GPO revolving fund, and the assets, liabilities, appropriations, expenditures, and other accounts for the appropriated funds; and (2) ensure that the interim financial statements are comparable to the year-end statements by making sure that all significant reclassifications made to the year-end statements are made to the interim financial statements. I have also requested that the GPO provide the Committee with procured printing statistics, in-house printing statistics, general sales statistics by distribution outlet, appropriated-program statistics, general sales statistics and depository library statistics. 3. Equal Employment Opportunity Office at the GPO. The Com-) mittee undertook a study of the GPO's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Program and some of its personnel practices and procedures to determine whether or not the EEO program was operating effectively and whether certain management practices contributed to any morale problems at the GPO. The findings of this study should be available in the next few months. However, the Committee has taken a number of actions as a result of initial findings of the study. The actions include: (1) Recommending the realignment of the EEO office under the Office of the Deputy Public Printer in order to enhance its status and to increase its potential ability to enlist line management's cooperation in promoting a more effective EEO program. (2) Recommending that the Public Printer publicly state his support and personal commitment to a vigorous policy of equal employment opportunity for GPO employees. This policy statement was issued on February 9, 1983, to all employees. The result has been to improve EEO employee morale and encourage managers to adopt a more positive attitude toward the principles and objectives of equal opportunity. (3) Recommending that the EEO office be given authority to review all personnel programs, actions, policies, practices and procedures that have either a direct or indirect bearing on equal opportunity. (4) Recommending that the GPO make a greater effort to reassign employees who become partially disabled to other jobs that they can fully perform. This will reduce the possibility of employees being removed from the GPO's employment rolls for reasons of disability. This action conforms to executive branch policy on employment of the handicapped. III. Compilation, publication and distribution of certain congressional publications, including the Congressional Directory and Congressional Pictorial Directory. The staff also carries out JCP policies for the printing of Congressional publications by committees and officers of the House and Senate. Material printed for the Congress authorized by law (e.g., bills, committee reports, hearings, Congressional Record, calendars, documents, and publications printed by resolution) are produced by the GPO according to the standards and procedures set by the JCP. In addition to printing the Congressional Pictorial Directory for the 98th Congress, the JCP printed the 105th edition of the Congressional Directory in 1983. Acknowledged as the official publication of its kind for the Congress, the Congressional Directory contains statistical and biographical information not found in other reference sources. Biographies and information on presidential administrations are kept by the staff of the Congressional Publications Office for use in the Congressional Directory. This information would also be used for publishing the Biographical Directory of the American Congress, if a printing resolution is offered to print the 9th edition of this book. The JCP printed four eulogy books for Members who died in office in the 97th Congress, and four books for Members who died in the first session of the 98th Congress. Two eulogy books of former Members were printed according to printing resolutions in the first session of the 98th Congress. Annual reports of veterans organizations printed as House documents were prepared for publication by the JCP, according to the provisions of Section 1332, Title 44, U.S.c. Also, JCP staff coordinated the printing as House documents of two portrait presentation books, authorized by printing resolutions, in the first session of the 98th Congress. Beginning with the 98th Congress, the JCP standardized the formats of the House and Senate stationery for use by Members and committees. The wide variety of formats and type fonts allowed administrative and printing costs to escalate over the years, requiring the JCP to institute a policy of offering selected standardized options and choices for the Congress. The JCP also monitored the new binding regulations that were promulgated for the Congress in 1982, in the process revising the forms and coordinating committee procedures for transferring materials to be bound. A GPO binding specialist was sent to committees to instruct committees in the procedures for facilitating binding orders. Fewer delays and backlogs resulted at GPO following the contact by the binding specialist. sur The printing and distribution of the high school and college debate books is the responsibility of the JCP, according to Section 1333, Title 44, U.S.C. In the 98th Congress, as a result of a vey, the JCP originated a new procedure for the distribution of the books. Instead of delivering 100 high school debate books to each Member, half as many were sent to the House and Senate warehouses for each Members' use until a deadline had passed. After the deadline, the books were available to all Members in any quantity on a first-come, first-served basis. The college debates were distributed on the same basis, except in even fewer numbers. Half as many high school debates were printed and distributed in 1983, at a cost savings of $37,400, and one-fourth as many college debates, at a savings of $19,500. Members who declined interest in receiving the publications were not bothered with the books, and Members interested in using the books could receive as many as they wished after the deadline had passed. The JCP authorized a new edition of the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual during the 98th Congress. In response to the need for streamlined and standardized procedures for the preparation of manuscript copy and the composition of publications printed by the GPO, a revision of the Style Manual has been stressed by the JCP. The new JCP regulations identify the Style Manual as the official style book for Federal printing. This edition contains additional features, such as guidelines for editors and book compositors for preparing title pages and indices, so that titles will be more efficiently cataloged and distributed. Many Federal publications have been insufficiently identified or indexed to be used by other agencies or taxpayers, which causes the information to be unavailable in many circumstances. standards of the American National Standard Institute are to be applied to Federal documents and serial publications in accordance with the new JCP regulations. The Proposed for the second session of the 98th Congress is the revision of the Bill Style Manual, which was last updated in 1954. Since that time, the electronic typesetting capabilities at the GPO have influenced the production of the bills, as well as the gradual introduction of new styles and methods, and the older book has fallen out of use. To re-establish a standard format for bills, the JCP will sponsor a revision of this publication for use in future Congresses. Another JCP project to commence in the second session of the 98th Congress is the compiling of the Capitol magazine, which will be |