The objectives of the pilot have been achieved. The computer aided bill drafting system has demonstrated that the cost of printing legislation can be reduced with the use of electronic technology, that the timeliness of legislative drafts and final printed documents can be increased, and that control over the various stages of the process can remain under the same purviews as current practice dictates, and that compatible systems facilitate the transfer of legislative measures between the Senate, House and GPO. Hearing Transcripts Committees or subcommittees generally hold public hearings on all major legislation before drafting the proposed legislation into final form. Hearings generate the largest volume of congressional printing; an estimated 550,000 pages in 1978. GPO estimates the cost of printing and binding hearing transcripts at $36.00 per page for a total cost to Congress of nearly $20 million of which the Senate's share is over $6 million. On April 12, 1978, the Rules Committee issued a rate schedule for the preparation of hearing transcripts on magnetic tape in a format compatible for photocomposition by the Government Printing Office. The objective was to reduce the cost of printing hearings by eliminating duplicative keyboarding for the composition. Notification was sent to all commercial reporting firms who currently supply or who have supplied transcripts to Senate Committees. Preliminary technical specifications for supplying the magnetic tape accompanied notification. Final technical specifications were issued on September 19, 1978, at which time, most of the reporting firms indicated an active interest in providing Senate Committees with magnetic tape of hearing transcripts. The Chairman of the Rules Committee approved a pilot project on October 2, 1978 to test reproduction of additional copies of transcripts through the Service Department. The objective of the pilot is to provide additional copies of hearing transcripts to committee members at less cost than that charged by commercial reporting firms. The regulations require that the reporting companies supply two (2) printed copies, plus an original at a base price. Each additional copy costs 15 cents per page. It is estimated that the Service Department can provide additional copies at lower rates, and within an acceptable time frame for most committee use. The Rules Committee will evaluate the quality and cost of this service for possible expansion to all committees. Congressional Record The Congressional Record is the single largest document produced by the Congress. Over 40,600 copies of the Record are printed daily and distributed as provided by law (44 U.S.C. 906). At the close of each session, the daily proceedings are consolidated and indexed. About 2,500 copies of the final Record are printed and bound as the official edition of the Record. On April 28, 1977, the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing, established an Advisory Committee on the Automation and Standardization of Congressional Publications, to advise the Joint Committee on matters relating to reducing the cost and improving the timeliness of congressional documents, and to coordinate the development of electronic composition activities in the Senate and House on a continuing basis. În July, 1977, the Advisory Committee established the Congressional Record Task Force to examine the methods and production of the Record, and determine what modifications must be made to automate the production of the Congressional Record. In August, 1977, the first draft of a report on the procedures for production of the Congressional Record was completed. The report was printed as a Joint Committee print in June, 1978. A second report reviewed the capabilities of the Senate, and proposed several alternatives for automation of the Record. A recommendation will be forwarded to the Joint Committee for approval. Committee Reports The Committee on Appropriations uses a generalized program at the Senate Computer Center called the General Purpose Photocomposition System (GPPS) for the automated production of textual and tabular material for electronic composition at GPO. The program is controlled by user defined sets of tailored specifications required to convert an ATMS data base of text and tabbed numbers into fully composed pages for printing. The Appropriations Committee produced five (5) reports with the (GPPS) capabilities in 1978. Administrative Text Management System (ATMS) ATMS is a generalized text processing system widely used in the Senate for the preparation of committee calendars, internal reports, and memoranda. It provides the ability to edit, revise, rearrange text, and print finished documents on various computer printer devices, as well as on electronic composition devices at GPO. Because ATMS places such a heavy demand on computer resources, a task force was formed to consider a more efficient replacement for ATMS. In October 1977, the Senate Computer Center temporarily installed ATMS II for analysis and evaluation. Performance tests compared the two software products. Between November 1977 and February 1978 the Computer Center closely monitored ATMS 1.3 command utilization. The resultant analysis showed that the projected improved performance was justification for installation of ATMS II as a replacement for ATMS 1.3. Several other generalized text processing packages are being considered for Senate use as a replacement for ATMS. Performance tests on these systems are planned for 1979. Committee Legislative Calendars Committee staff use the Administrative Text Management System (ATMS) to prepare their Legislative Calendar for electronic composition at GPO. The Senate Computer Center employs several generalized programs to extract key data from the calendar data base, and create indexes of the calendar data for publication. Five committees are currently using this system to maintain and print their calendar four (4) to six (6) times a year. One committee pilot tested a commercial timesharing service (Word/One) for calendar preparation and committee information system. Two additional committees are actively considering implementation of their calendar data base on ATMS. Computer Output Microfilm (COM) Under the project leadership and funding of Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Rules Committee requested contractor assistance to determine potential COM applications for the Senate. The final report, dated January 1978, identified the automated index system and mailing system for possible COM conversion. Other potential applications suggested were the payroll system, Senate Library indexes, equipment inventory, and computer program development and maintenance. The objectives for considering installing COM in the Senate were to provide offices and committees with ready access to office files, reduce the storage space occupied by the same records on paper, and eliminate valuable man-hours spent in sorting and filing paper records. Over the last two (2) years, the average size of an index listing has risen. The typical user produces about 6,000 pages of listings a month, the equivalent of a 27 inch stack of computer paper. The mailing system permits Senate Offices to maintain name and address files for constituent mailings. The size of individual listings of constituent names and addresses ranges widely. An estimated 60,000 pages of computer printout are produced a month from the mailing system. On June 27, 1978, a task force appointed by the Sergeant at Arms recommended to the Rules Committee that the Senate install a COM system. Their study and recommendation was forwarded to the General Accounting Office (GAO) for evaluation. GAO responded on July 26, 1978, with the assessment that converting many Senate applications to COM would be beneficial to the Senate in terms of cost savings and effectiveness. GAO also suggested that the Sergeant at Arms pilot test a COM service for a period of 4 to 8 months to ensure that the proposed equipment meets Senate needs before consideration is given to aquisition of the equipment. After investigation of several pilot alternatives, it became clear that the most meaningful test could be accomplished through Senate resources and facilities. On October 3, 1978, the Chairman of the Rules Committee authorized the Sergeant at Arms to conduct a pilot test. Upon completion, an assessment will be forwarded to the Rules Committee for further action. Committee Indexing Systems Micrographic information storage and retrieval systems for the Senate require indexing systems to support the rapid and reliable retrieval of information from committee files for their legislative, investigative, and oversight activities. In June 1978, contractor effort, under the funding and project coordination of Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, assessed the indexing requirements of the Senate. The contractor identified general Senate indexing requirements through a series of 30 personal interviews with Senate administrative, committee, and subcommittee staff, and review of present indexing applications. The contractor suggested several approaches to meeting indexing requirements, from manual file organization through computer generated indexes. The report offered recommendations for developing appropriate indexing systems which are now being reviewed for possible implementation. A more comprehensive requirements analyses and system design is required. A comprehensive requirement analysis will be developed during 1979. Document Indexing The Senate Computer Center employs a general purpose program to process documents prepared on ATMS by Committee staffs, and to produce complex indexes to such documents. The program permits committee staff to generate and maintain multiple indexes automatically. The program is used to produce the Index to Senate Record Votes, Index to Vote Tally, Committee Legislative Calendar indexes, and Index to Congressional Hearings. Requests WATERGATE FILES (STELZNER) During the 95th Congress we have responded to 118 formal requests for materials from the files of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. Broken into categories by number of subjects in each request they are: 95 on 1-4 Subjects (2 subject average). 12 on 5-9 Subjects (8 subject average). 11 on 10 or more Subjects (38 subject average). Each request took an average of 7 days to complete and on the average 2 requests a day were referred to a more appropriate source for information. Materials in Custody We now have custody and control of: Approximately 550,000 documents housed at the Library of Approximately 372,000 pages of microfilm. Approximately 60,500 records on 86 computer tapes: Senate records__ Telephone records. Sensitive records_ Classified documents in special storage. Indexing New indexes have been drawn up for the following: 45, 000 12,000 3, 500 The entire 182 page "shelf list" of Watergate materials has been alphabetized into one new listing. All the executive session testimony has been indexed in chronological order and new lists drawn for addition to the "shelf list". The files of Terry Lenzner, assistant chief counsel of the Select Committee, have been indexed page by page. 47,000 pages of previously unindexed microfilm has been indexed. Microfilming and Computing Microfilming of all the Select Committee executive session transcripts has been completed in chronological order onto 8 rolls of microfilm. Because of new technological advances in the computing field all the main data bases of the Select Committee have been transferred to a single computer tape. (24) |