    [Senate Hearing 115-185]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

             LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018

                                  ----------

                                           U.S. Senate,
               Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
                                                        Washington, DC.

        [Clerk's note.--The subcommittee was unable to hold
    hearings on departmental and nondepartmental witnesses. The
    statements and letters of those submitting written testimony
    are as follows:]

                             DEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES

             Prepared Statement of the Government Publishing Office
        Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
    Appropriations, I am pleased to present the appropriations request of
    the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) for fiscal year 2018.

                     THE U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

        GPO is the OFFICIAL, DIGITAL, SECURE resource for producing,
    procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and
    preserving the official information products of the Federal Government.
        Under Title 44 of the U.S. Code, GPO is responsible for the
    production and distribution of information products for all three
    branches of the Government, including the official publications of
    Congress and the White House, U.S. passports for the Department of
    State, and the official publications of other Federal agencies and the
    courts. Once primarily a printing operation, we are now an integrated
    publishing operation and carry out our mission using an expanding range
    of digital as well as conventional formats. In 2014, Congress and the
    President recognized this change in Public Law 113-235, which contains
    a provision re-designating GPO's official name as the Government
    Publishing Office. We currently employ about 1,700 staff.
        Along with sales of publications in digital and tangible formats to
    the public, we support openness and transparency in Government by
    providing permanent public access to Federal Government information at
    no charge through our Federal Digital System (FDsys, at www.fdsys.gov)
    and its newly introduced successor system govinfo (www.govinfo.gov).
    Today these systems make more than 1.6 million Federal titles available
    online from both GPO and links to servers in other agencies. In 2016
    FDsys averaged nearly 40 million retrievals per month. We also provide
    public access to Government information through partnerships with 1,148
    Federal, academic, public, law, and other libraries nationwide
    participating in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).
        In addition to GPO's Web site, gpo.gov, we communicate with the
    public routinely via Facebook facebook.com/USGPO, Twitter twitter.com/
    USGPO, YouTube youtube.
    com/user/gpoprinter, Instagram instagram.com/usgpo, LinkedIn
    linkedin.com/company/u.s.-government-printing-office, and Pinterest
    pinterest.com/usgpo/.
    History
        From the Mayflower Compact to the Declaration of Independence and
    the papers leading to the creation and ratification of the
    Constitution, America is a nation based on documents, and our
    governmental tradition since then has reflected that fact. Article I,
    section 5 of the Constitution requires that ``each House shall keep a
    journal of its proceedings and from time to time publish the same.''
    After years of struggling with various systems of contracting for
    printed documents that were beset with scandal and corruption, in 1860
    Congress created the Government Printing Office as its official
    printer. GPO first opened its doors for business on March 4, 1861, the
    same day Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th President.
        Since that time, GPO has produced and distributed the official
    version of every great American state paper and an uncounted number of
    other Government publications, documents, and forms. These documents
    include the Emancipation Proclamation, the legislative publications and
    acts of Congress, Social Security cards, Medicare and Medicaid
    information, census forms, tax forms, citizenship forms, passports,
    military histories ranging from the Official Records of the War of the
    Rebellion to the latest accounts of our forces in Afghanistan, the 9/11
    Commission Report, Presidential inaugural addresses, and Supreme Court
    opinions. GPO's work to keep America informed goes on today, in both
    digital as well as print forms.
    Strategic Vision
        GPO is transforming from a print-centric to a content-centric
    publishing operation. Our implementation of a digital transformation is
    consistent with the recommendations submitted by the National Academy
    of Public Administration (Rebooting the Government Printing Office:
    Keeping America Informed in the Digital Age, January 2013) regarding
    our transition to a digital future.
        GPO is developing an integrated, diversified product and services
    portfolio that focuses primarily on digital. At the same time, we
    recognize that some tangible print will continue to be required because
    of official use, archival purposes, authenticity, specific industry
    requirements, and segments of the population that either have limited
    or no access to digital formats, though its use will continue to
    decline.
    Strategic Plan
        Our strategic plan, which is available for public review at
    gpo.gov/about, is built around four goals: satisfying our stakeholders,
    offering products and services, strengthening our organizational
    foundation, and engaging our workforce. The plan provides the blueprint
    for how GPO will continue to achieve its mission of Keeping America
    Informed with an emphasis on being OFFICIAL, DIGITAL, SECURE. GPO's
    senior managers convene at the beginning of each fiscal year to review
    the plan and approve the Annual Performance Plan, also available at
    gpo.gov.
        Our customers are involved in the digital world and understand
    technological change. Accordingly, it is important that we foster an
    environment that embraces change and innovation, which leads to new
    ways of thinking, new work processes, and the development of new
    products and services for our customers. Tangible printing at GPO is
    being supplanted by an exponential growth in digital requirements by
    Congress and Federal agencies. Moreover, the public--including the
    library and Government information user communities--has signaled its
    strong desire for increased access to Government information digitally.
        In transforming the way we do business, we are focusing on managing
    content for customer and public use both today and tomorrow. GPO uses
    its extensive experience and expertise with digital systems to provide
    both permanent public access to Government information in a variety of
    formats and the most efficient and effective means for printing when
    required, all within a secure setting that is responsive to the
    customer's needs.

                                GPO AND CONGRESS

        For the Clerk of the House, the Secretary of the Senate, and the
    committees of the House and the Senate, GPO publishes the documents and
    publications required by the legislative and oversight processes of
    Congress in digital and tangible formats. This includes the daily
    Congressional Record, bills, reports, legislative calendars, hearings,
    committee prints, and documents, as well as stationery, franked
    envelopes, memorials and condolence books, programs and invitations,
    phone books, and the other products needed to conduct the business of
    Congress. We also detail expert staff to support the publishing
    requirements of House and Senate committees and congressional offices
    such as the House and Senate Offices of Legislative Counsel. We work
    with Congress to ensure the provision of these services under any
    circumstances.
        Today the activities associated with creating congressional
    information databases comprise the majority of the work funded by our
    annual Congressional Publishing Appropriation. Our advanced digital
    authentication system, supported by public key infrastructure (PKI), is
    an essential component for assuring the digital security of
    congressional publications. The databases we build are made available
    for providing access to congressional publications in digital formats
    as well as their production in tangible formats.
        GPO's congressional information databases also form the building
    blocks of other information systems supporting Congress. For example,
    they are provided directly to the Library of Congress to support its
    Congress.gov system as well as the legislative information systems the
    Library makes available to House and Senate offices. We work with the
    Library to prepare summaries and status information for House and
    Senate bills in XML bulk data format. We are also collaborating with
    the Library on the digitization of historic printed documents, such as
    the Congressional Record, to make them more broadly available to
    Congress and the public.

                            GPO AND FEDERAL AGENCIES

        Federal agencies are major generators of information in the United
    States, and GPO produces their information products for official use
    and public access. Federal agencies and the public also rely on a
    growing variety of secure credentials that we produce, including
    travelers holding U.S. passports, members of the public who cross our
    borders frequently, and other users. Our digital systems support key
    Federal agency publications, including the annual Budget of the U.S.
    Government and, most importantly, the Federal Register and associated
    products. As it does for congressional documents, our digital
    authentication system, supported by public key infrastructure (PKI),
    assures the digital security of agency documents.
    Partnership with Industry
        Other than congressional and inherently governmental work such as
    the Federal Register, the Budget, and security and intelligent
    documents, we produce virtually all other Federal agency information
    products via contracts with the private sector printing and information
    product industry issued by our central office and regional GPO offices
    around the country. In 2016, this work was valued at approximately $360
    million, an increase of 6.5 percent over the previous year. More than
    9,000 individual firms are registered to do business with us, the vast
    majority of whom are small businesses averaging 20 employees per firm.
    Contracts are awarded on a purely competitive basis; there are no set-
    asides or preferences in contracting other than what is specified in
    law and regulation, including a requirement for Buy American.
        This partnership provides significant economic opportunity for the
    private sector. We have long advocated that where Federal agency
    printing is required, this partnership is the most cost-effective way
    of producing it. In 2013, the Government Accountability Office
    conducted a study at the request of the Joint Committee on Printing
    that identified approximately 80 Federal printing plants still in
    operation government-wide (http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/655936.pdf).
    Additional savings for taxpayers could occur if the work these plants
    are producing is transferred instead to GPO's shared services
    partnership with the private sector printing and information product
    industry.
    Security and Intelligent Documents
        For nearly a century GPO has been responsible for producing the
    U.S. passport for the Department of State (DOS). At one time no more
    than a conventionally printed document, the U.S. passport since 2005
    has incorporated a digital chip and antenna array capable of carrying
    biometric identification data. With other security printing features,
    this document--which we produce in Washington, DC, as well as a secure
    remote facility in Mississippi--is now the most secure identification
    credential obtainable. In 2016, GPO produced 20,199,550 passports, an
    increase of 32.9 percent from the year before. Over the past decade GPO
    has produced more than 140 million passports for DOS. Throughout 2016,
    we continued with facility changes and equipment installation and
    testing in support of the planned next generation passport.
        Since 2008, we have also served as an integrator of secure
    identification smart cards to support the credentialing requirements of
    Federal agencies and other Government entities. We have been certified
    by the General Services Administration (GSA) to graphically personalize
    Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) cards for Federal
    agencies. GSA certified that we comply with Federal Information
    Processing Standard 201, which sets requirements to ensure that
    identification cards are secure and resistant to fraud.
        To date, we have produced more than 12.9 million secure credential
    cards across 10 different product lines. Among them are the Trusted
    Traveler Program's (TTP) family of border crossing cards--NEXUS,
    SENTRI, FAST, and Global Entry--for the Department of Homeland Security
    (DHS), which are used by frequent travelers across U.S. borders.
    Another card produced for DHS is the Transportation Worker Identity
    Card (TWIC). We produce a Border Crossing Card (BCC) that is issued by
    the DOS for authorized travel across the Mexican border. We also
    produce secure law enforcement credentials for the U.S. Capitol Police
    that are used in Presidential inaugurations. The work GPO does in this
    field is well-known among the Federal agencies that need these
    products, and has been thoroughly validated by the Government
    Accountability Office in a 2015 report to Congress http://www.gao.gov/
    products/GAO-15-326R and the National Academy of Public
    Administration's 2013 report on GPO.

                      GPO AND OPEN, TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT

        Producing and distributing the official publications and
    information products of the Government fulfills an informing role
    originally envisioned by the Founders, as James Madison once said:

            ``A popular Government without popular information, or the
            means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a
            Tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern
            ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors,
            must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.''

        GPO operates a variety of programs and activities that provide the
    public with ``the means of acquiring'' Government information that
    Madison spoke of. These programs include the Federal Depository Library
    program (FDLP), FDsys and govinfo, Publications Information Sales,
    Reimbursable Distribution, and social media.
    Federal Depository Library Program
        The FDLP has legislative antecedents that date to 1813 (3 Stat.
    140), when Congress first authorized congressional documents to be
    deposited at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester,
    Massachusetts, for the use of the public. Since then, Federal
    depository libraries have served as critical links between ``We the
    People'' and the information made available by the Federal Government.
    GPO provides the libraries with information products in digital and, in
    some cases, tangible formats, and the libraries in turn make them
    available to the public at no charge while providing additional
    assistance to depository library users.
        The FDLP today serves millions of Americans through a network of
    1,148 public, academic, law, and other libraries located across the
    Nation, averaging nearly three per congressional district. Once limited
    to the distribution of printed and microfiche products, the FDLP today
    is primarily digital, supported by FDsys and govinfo along with other
    digital resources. This overwhelming reliance on digital content
    allowed for the first digital-only Federal depository library
    designation in 2014. In fiscal year 2016, one new Federal depository
    library was designated as digital-only, while three existing depository
    libraries converted to all-digital status.
    Federal Digital System (FDsys)
        We have been providing access to digital congressional and Federal
    agency documents since 1994 under the provisions of Public Law 103-40,
    beginning with a site known as GPO Access. Fifteen years later, GPO
    Access was retired and a significantly re-engineered site debuted as
    GPO's Federal Digital System. FDsys provides the majority of
    congressional and Federal agency content to the FDLP as well as other
    online users.
        Online access to Federal documents made available by GPO has
    reduced the cost of providing public access to Government information
    significantly when compared with print, while expanding public access
    dramatically through the Internet. In 2016, FDsys grew to make more
    than 1.6 million titles from the legislative, executive, and judicial
    branches available online from our servers and through links to other
    agencies and institutions. The system averaged nearly 40 million
    retrievals per month.
                Govinfo
        In early 2016, we unveiled the next generation of our public access
    system with the introduction of govinfo. Though in beta, govinfo
    improves upon FDsys with a modern, easy-to-use look and feel that syncs
    with the need of today's Government information users for quick and
    effective digital access across a variety of digital platforms.
    Following a period of testing and iteratively developing the system's
    features, govinfo will become GPO's primary public access system--the
    third such system since we inaugurated online access in 1994--and FDsys
    will be retired from service.
    Publication and Information Sales Program
        Along with the FDLP and our online dissemination system, which are
    no-fee public access programs, GPO provides access to official Federal
    information through public sales featuring secure ordering through an
    online bookstore (bookstore.gpo.gov), a bookstore at GPO headquarters
    in Washington, DC, and partnerships with the private sector that offer
    Federal publications as eBooks. As a one-stop shop for eBook design,
    conversion, and dissemination, our presence in the eBook market
    continues to grow. We now have agreements with Apple iTunes, Google
    Play, Barnes & Noble, OverDrive, Zinio, EBSCO, ProQuest and other
    online vendors to make popular Government titles such as the Public
    Papers of the President-Barack Obama, Unsettled: A Story of U.S.
    Immigration, and Workout to Go available as eBooks. We also offer a
    print-on-demand service for sales titles through Amazon and others,
    which enables us to offer more titles and avoid the expense of
    additional warehousing.
    Reimbursable Distribution Program
        We operate distribution programs for the information products of
    other Federal agencies on a reimbursable basis, including the General
    Services Administration (GSA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
    from our facilities in Pueblo, Colorado, and Laurel, Maryland. This
    program saves money for participating agencies by permitting them to
    take advantage of GPO's centralized capabilities and economies of
    scale.
    GPO and Social Media
        We use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest,
    and a blog to share information about GPO news and events and to
    promote specific publications and products. By the end of 2016, we had
    7,530 likes on Facebook, 7,053 followers on Twitter, and 189,253 views
    across 75 videos on YouTube. On Pinterest, we had 749 followers pinning
    on 17 boards of Federal Government information. We also had 569
    followers with 930 posts on Instagram and 3,069 followers on LinkedIn.
    Our blog, Government Book Talk, focuses on increasing the awareness of
    new and classic Federal publications through reviews and discussions.

                                 GPO'S FINANCES

    Business Operations Revolving Fund
        All GPO activities are financed through our Business Operations
    Revolving Fund, established by section 309 of Title 44, U.S.C. This
    business-like fund is used to pay all of our costs in performing
    congressional and agency publishing, information product procurement,
    and publication dissemination activities. It is reimbursed from
    payments from customer agencies, sales to the public, and transfers
    from our two annual appropriations: the Congressional Publishing
    Appropriation and the Public Information Programs of the Superintendent
    of Documents Appropriation.
    Retained Earnings
        Under GPO's system of accrual accounting, annual earnings generated
    since the inception of the Business Operations Revolving Fund have been
    accumulated as retained earnings. Retained earnings make it possible
    for us to fund a significant amount of technology modernization.
    However, appropriations for essential investments in technology and
    plant upgrades are requested when necessary.
    Annual Audit
        GPO is accountable for its finances. Each year, GPO's finances and
    financial controls are audited by an independent outside audit firm
    working under contract with GPO's Office of Inspector General. For
    fiscal year 2016, the audit concluded with GPO earning an
    ``unmodified,'' or clean, opinion on its finances, the 20th consecutive
    year GPO has earned such an audit result.
    Appropriated Funds
        GPO's Congressional Publishing Appropriation is used to reimburse
    the Business Operations Revolving Fund for the costs of publishing the
    documents required for the use of Congress in digital and tangible
    formats, as authorized by the provisions of chapters 7 and 9 of Title
    44, U.S.C. The Public Information Programs of the Superintendent of
    Documents Appropriation is used to pay for the costs associated with
    providing online access to, and the distribution of, publications to
    Federal depository libraries, cataloging and indexing, statutory
    distribution, and international exchange distribution. The
    reimbursements from these appropriations are included in the Business
    Operations Revolving Fund as revenue for work performed.
    Fiscal Year 2016 Financial Results
        Revenue totaled $875.3 million while expenses charged against GPO's
    budget were $804.1 million, for an overall net income of $71.2 million
    from operations. Included in both GPO's revenue and net income is
    approximately $24.7 million in funds set aside for passport-related
    capital investments, as agreed to by GPO and the Department of State,
    and $0.4 million in funds resulting from a downward adjustment to GPO's
    long-term workers' compensation liability under the Federal Employees
    Compensation Act (FECA). Apart from these funds, GPO's net operating
    income from fiscal year 2016 was $46.1 million.
        Funds appropriated directly by Congress provided nearly $118.8
    million (including funds from the Congressional Publishing and Public
    Information Programs appropriations, along with appropriations to the
    Business Operations Revolving Fund), or about 14 percent of total
    revenue. All other GPO activities, including in-plant publishing (which
    includes the production of passports), procured work, sales of
    publications, agency distribution services, and all administrative
    support functions, were financed through the Business Operations
    Revolving Fund by revenues generated by payments from agencies and
    sales to the public.

                    FISCAL YEAR 2018 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

        GPO is requesting a total of $117,068,000 for fiscal year 2018, the
    same as the fiscal year 2017 level. Total GPO appropriations have
    declined by nearly 21 percent since fiscal year 2010. Our continued
    transition to digital technologies and products has increased our
    productivity and reduced costs. Additionally, maintaining financial
    controls on our overhead costs, coupled with a buyout in fiscal year
    2015 that reduced GPO's workforce by 103 positions, has helped make
    this funding request possible. Finally, the utilization of the
    unexpended balances of prior year appropriations, which we are able to
    transfer to GPO's Business Operations Revolving Fund with the approval
    of the Appropriations Committees, has made it possible in recent years
    to hold the line on the level of new funding we request.

                           TOTAL APPROPRIATIONS TO GPO
                              Fiscal Year 2010-2017
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Fiscal Year                         Appropriation
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2010...............................  $ 147,461,000
    2011...............................  135,067,324
    2012...............................  126,200,000
    2013...............................  117,533,423
    2014...............................  119,300,000
    2015...............................  119,993,000
    2016...............................  117,068,000
    2017...............................  117,068,000
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Our fiscal year 2018 request will enable us to:

      --meet projected requirements for congressional publishing;
      --fund the operation of the public information programs of the
            Superintendent of Documents; and
      --develop information technology, including IT security, and perform
            facilities maintenance and repairs that support our
            congressional publishing and public information programs
            operations.
    Congressional Publishing Appropriation
        We are requesting $79,528,000 for this account, which is less than
    the amount approved for fiscal year 2017. This appropriation has
    declined by 15 percent since fiscal year 2010, as the result of our
    continuing transition to digital technology and products as well as
    actions taken in cooperation with the House of Representatives and the
    Senate to control congressional publishing costs. Unspent prior year
    balances from this account that have been transferred to GPO's Business
    Operations Revolving Fund for the purposes of this account have also
    been used to maintain our requirements for new funding at a flat level
    since 2014.

                     CONGRESSIONAL PUBLISHING APPROPRIATION
                              Fiscal Year 2010-2017
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Fiscal Year                         Appropriation
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2010...............................  $ 93,768,000
    2011...............................  93,580,464
    2012...............................  90,700,000
    2013...............................  82,129,576
    2014...............................  79,736,000
    2015...............................  79,736,000
    2016...............................  79,736,000
    2017...............................  79,736,000
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Our request for this appropriation is an estimate of the amount of
    work Congress is likely to requisition from GPO for fiscal year 2018,
    based on historical data. GPO has no control over the workload
    requirements of the Congressional Publishing Appropriation. These are
    determined by the legislative activities and requirements of the House
    of Representatives and the Senate as authorized by the applicable
    provisions of Title 44, U.S.C. GPO utilizes historical data
    incorporating other relevant factors to develop estimates of likely
    congressional publishing requirements. These requirements are used as
    the basis of the budget presentation for this account.
        The estimated requirements for fiscal year 2018 include no price
    level changes. We anticipate an overall reduction of $208,000 from
    current year requirements based on projected volume decreases in
    virtually every congressional product category except for business and
    committee calendars, the Congressional Record, and hearings.
        Commensurate with the beginning of the 115th Congress we began
    implementing, in cooperation of offices of the Clerk of the House and
    the Secretary of the Senate, a new composition system that will enable
    GPO to compose congressional bills in XML. The estimated savings from
    this new system have not yet been fully determined but it is expected
    to reduce costs as a result of expediting the production process for
    these documents. The new composition system will be expanded to
    additional congressional products in the future. Additionally, we are
    developing a new composition capability for House hearings following a
    plan designed by the Committee on House Administration, which is also
    expected to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
        The unexpended balances of prior year appropriations that have been
    transferred to GPO's Business Operations Revolving Fund will be used to
    offset anticipated congressional product requirements. The balance of
    these funds is earmarked for the development of our new composition
    system and other projects that may be required of us, including those
    supporting the objectives of the Legislative Branch Bulk Data Working
    Group.
    Public Information Programs of the Superintendent of Documents
        We are requesting $29,000,000 for this account, representing a
    decrease of $500,000 or 1.7 percent from the fiscal year 2017
    appropriation. This appropriation has declined by more than 27 percent
    since fiscal year 2010, as the result of our continuing transition to
    digital technology and products which has made the increased
    dissemination of official Government information to the public less
    costly and more efficient.

         PUBLIC INFORMATION PROGRAMS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS
                                  APPROPRIATION
                              Fiscal Year 2010-2017
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Fiscal Year                         Appropriation
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2010...............................  $ 40,911,000
    2011...............................  39,831,178
    2012...............................  35,000,000
    2013...............................  31,437,000
    2014...............................  31,500,000
    2015...............................  31,500,000
    2016...............................  30,500,000
    2017...............................  29,500,000
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The funding we are requesting for fiscal year 2018 will cover
    mandatory pay and related cost increases for 89 FTE's, the same as for
    fiscal year 2017. Requirements for new funding have also been reduced
    by a decrease in printing costs due to digitization and the use of
    prior year funds as approved by the Appropriations Committees. These
    funds will be used to pay for projects including strengthening public
    access to online information by continuing to build gov.info, and to
    investigate, develop, and replace legacy methods for the selection and
    distribution of digital and tangible materials to Federal depository
    libraries.
    Business Operations Revolving Fund
        We are requesting $8,540,000 for this account, to remain available
    until expended, for information technology projects, including
    essential cybersecurity measures, and necessary facilities projects.
    This is an increase over the $7,832,000 appropriated in fiscal year
    2017. Funding provided to this account represents an increase to
    working capital for specified projects. Since fiscal year 2013, these
    projects have consistently included improvements to GPO's FDsys (and
    its successor system, gov.info), which has expanded public access to
    congressional and other Government information products in digital
    formats while decreasing the costs of distributing traditional print
    formats, as well as other essential IT projects. Our request this year
    includes necessary expenses associated with enhancing the cybersecurity
    of GPO's IT systems, as we have communicated to the Legislative Branch
    Cybersecurity Working Group. We also fund necessary physical
    infrastructure projects through appropriations to this account.

            APPROPRIATIONS TO THE BUSINESS OPERATIONS REVOLVING FUND
                              Fiscal year 2010-2017
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Fiscal Year                         Appropriation
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2010...............................  $ 12,782,000
    2011...............................  1,655,682
    2012...............................  500,000
    2013...............................  3,966,847
    2014...............................  8,064,000
    2015...............................  8,757,000
    2016...............................  6,832,000
    2017...............................  7,832,000
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

        INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018--$7,000,000

    Gov.info Projects--$5,000,000
      --General System and Collection Development ($3,800,000).--
            Development of new FDsys/govinfo features to support identified
            needs of key stakeholders, including developing new content
            collections, increasing content in existing collections,
            enhancing the accessibility of content, and increasing the
            discoverability of information.
      --FDsys/gov.info Infrastructure ($1,200,000).--Infrastructure for the
            hardware, storage, and environments to manage system
            performance as FDsys/govinfo content and usage continues to
            grow.
    Cybersecurity Projects--$2,000,000
      --Security Enhancements for Advanced Persistent Threat ($2,00,000).--
            Required for enhanced technologies and services to combat,
            detect, and prevent advanced persistent threats (including
            sophisticated nation-state actors) from compromising GPO IT
            systems.

      FACILITIES INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018--$1,540,000

      --Elevator Repairs ($900,000).--Elevators 3 and 4 at GPO's G Street
            entrance are aging and need frequent repairs. We intend to
            replace and upgrade these elevators with modern controls and
            security features. These elevators also support employee life/
            safety by providing a means for evacuation of medical
            emergencies.
      --Emergency Power Generator ($500,000).--This will replace GPO's
            existing diesel emergency generator with one using clean-
            burning natural gas. It will also increase the electrical load
            that can be supported in the event of an emergency, such as we
            experienced in 2015 with a power outage by PEPCO.
      --LED Lighting ($140,000).--Infrastructure for the hardware, storage,
            and environments to manage system performance as govinfo
            content and usage continue to grow.

        Mr. Chairman and Members of the subcommittee, this concludes my
    prepared statement, and I would be pleased to answer any questions you
    may have.

        [This statement was submitted by Davita Vance-Cooks, Director.]
                                     ______

                 Prepared Statement of the Office of Compliance
        Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Schatz and Members of the
    Legislative Branch Subcommittee, thank you for allowing me the
    opportunity to submit for the record this statement regarding the
    budget request for fiscal year 2018 for the Congressional Office of
    Compliance (OOC).
        Congress created the OOC to administer the Congressional
    Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA) and the 13 Federal workplace laws
    incorporated in the law. We ensure the integrity of a dispute
    resolution system, carry out an education and training program that
    assists employing offices and covered employees in understanding their
    rights and responsibilities under the CAA, advise Congress on needed
    changes and amendments to the CAA, and investigate and enforce the
    CAA's occupational safety and health protections, public access rights
    for persons with disabilities, and unfair labor practice provisions.
        The OOC is requesting $4,055,902 for fiscal year 2018 operations,
    which represents a 2.4 percent increase from the fiscal year 2017
    enacted level. Of the additional $96,902 that is being requested, 87
    percent reflects a projected increase in personnel, benefits, and other
    personnel compensation. The remaining fiscal year 2018 budget request
    focuses on supporting the most important aspects of the statutory
    functions of the OOC and improving the delivery of services to the
    covered community.
                   administrative dispute resolution program
        The cornerstone of the CAA is the confidential administrative
    dispute resolution (ADR) process, which consists of counseling,
    mediation, and adjudicative hearings and appeals. The OOC staff remains
    committed to administering an effective ADR program by providing a
    neutral, efficient, and confidential process for resolving workplace
    disputes. We strive to ensure that stakeholders have full access to
    these ADR procedures.
        We continue to improve our newly-launched electronic case
    management system to bring the OOC's procedures in line with current
    best practices. This electronic functionality dramatically increases
    our efficiency by enabling us to streamline delivery of our services to
    the congressional community, as well as to trend data and generate
    detailed reports.
                         education and outreach program
        Along with providing an effective ADR program, the OOC administers
    an Education and Outreach program for the covered community. The most
    effective investment an organization can make in preventing
    discrimination continues to be a comprehensive training program. Our
    education programs also emphasize the benefits of fair and inclusive
    work environments on workforce productivity.
        Our education and outreach efforts have recently migrated to a
    digital based platform. This shift in focus is essential in carrying
    out our statutory training mandate. To continue to fulfill the
    education mandate in the CAA, our budget request reflects the need to
    further expand our efforts and include technical enhancements to allow
    additional and more interactive modules in our online and interactive
    Learning Management System.
        We also remain dedicated to in-person training on important topics
    of workplace safety and health and fairness. The OOC requests an
    additional FTE, and the funding to support an increase in staffing, to
    hire an educator and respond to employing offices' needs for in-person
    training on workplace rights. Currently, OOC staff members provide in-
    person training along with a myriad of other duties including internal
    communications, government affairs, litigation, and public relations.
    However, there is no FTE solely responsible for instructing the entire
    legislative branch. The OOC needs at least one additional staff member
    to exclusively develop and deliver training to the covered community.
    This will significantly advance our education program and allow us to
    work more closely with the human resources staff of the employing
    offices, thus ensuring that covered employees are informed of their
    rights and responsibilities under the CAA as mandated by Congress in
    1995.
          safety and health, public access, and unfair labor practices
        Our budget request also reflects the OOC's continuing efforts to
    ensure safe and accessible congressional workplaces through its OSH and
    ADA biennial inspections, as well as its case work investigating and
    abating safety issues, finding and removing barriers to access in
    congressional facilities and programs, and investigating and resolving
    allegations of unfair labor practices. By working directly with the
    AOC, the USCP, and other offices on the Hill, the OOC has been
    instrumental in the development and implementation of cost-effective
    solutions to safety and access problems and in the resolution of unfair
    labor practice charges. We recently completed our biennial inspections
    for the 114th Congress and, in partnership with the National Safety
    Council, issued Safety Recognition Awards to the Member offices that
    were found to be hazard-free during the OSH inspection. During the
    115th Congress, the OOC will continue to stress safety and health for
    all Member offices.
        The balance of the 2.4 percent increase covers increases in
    contract services, including cross servicing providers, equipment,
    supplies and other services needed to operate the OOC. The services
    include professional development of the staff and technical support to
    boost our presence in the ever-growing social media environment on the
    Hill, which presents an opportunity to highlight best practices and
    provide important information to employees who have little time for
    training updates.
        The OOC staff and I are available to answer any questions or
    address any concerns the Chair of the subcommittee or its Members may
    have.

        [This statement was submitted by Susan Tsui Grundmann, Executive
    Director.]
                                     ______

             Prepared Statement of the Open World Leadership Center
        Chairman Lankford, Ranking Member Murphy, and Members of the
    subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present written
    testimony on the Open World Leadership Center.
        Overview: I appreciate the opportunity to offer testimony on behalf
    of the Open World Leadership Center. The Open World Leadership Center
    (Open World or the Center) has served Congress through its
    international professional exchange program since our inception in
    1999.
        The Center administers the Open World program, one of the most
    effective American exchange programs for emerging democracies. The
    program has enabled more than 26,000 global leaders to engage and
    interact with Members of Congress, Congressional staff, and thousands
    of other Americans, many of whom are the delegates' direct professional
    counterparts.
        The Open World program focuses on assisting Congress in its
    oversight responsibilities and on conducting exchanges that establish
    lasting professional relationships between the up-and-coming leaders of
    Open World countries and Americans dedicated to showcasing U.S. values
    and democratic institutions. The Center's nonpartisan nature as a
    legislative branch agency, independent from the priorities of any
    presidential administration, is an important asset of the program and
    of the Congress. The Open World program brings emerging Federal and
    regional political leaders to the United States to meet their American
    counterparts and gain firsthand knowledge of how American civil society
    works. This hands-on and close up look at our processes--and the people
    who run them--has a unique impact on our delegates. The Open World
    experience provides the impetus for improvement; delegates return home
    and set to work creating change based on the models they have seen.
        The ``Soft'' Power of Exchange: The elected officials and young
    professionals from across the former Soviet states and other countries
    who, thanks to Congress, come on the Open World program each year have
    seen the best of America up close and personal. They go back to their
    homes with an improved impression of our country and they share their
    positive impressions with their friends, family, community, and
    professional counterparts. These are the people that go into elected
    office, run cities, teach the next generation, and craft the foreign
    policy that directly affects the United States.
        Open World's Legislative Branch Identity: A question that I hear
    every so often is, ``Why is the Open World Leadership Center in the
    Legislative Branch?'' The answer to this is simply that the placement
    in the legislative branch allows our program to engage influential,
    democracy-minded Russians and others from more closed countries--
    products of the Putin Generation looking for positive change--that
    would otherwise choose not to travel on an executive branch exchange.
    It can be a risky and reputation-damaging proposition for a Russian to
    come to the United States as a participant in an executive branch
    program. In April of 2017 Open World hosted five in-demand Middle East
    specialists from Russia. They were blunt in telling us that they felt
    secure on our program, in large part due to its legislative branch
    identity.

            ``Open World appealed to the members of our delegation by being
            nonpartisan, politically neutral, and outside of executive
            branch politics. The programming fosters a free, open, deep and
            meaningful exchange of ideas between peers.''--Group Statement
            by Middle East Specialists from Russia, April 2017

        Furthermore, the Open World program is a proven asset to the
    Congress because it directly benefits their constituents. In 2016, Open
    World placed delegations of young professionals in all 50 States and
    brought the most members of parliament groups than ever before, 16.
        Front Line against Fake News and Anti-American Propaganda: The Open
    World program is a proven effective method of directly combatting anti-
    American disinformation and propaganda being disseminated out of Moscow
    into its neighboring states as well as into other countries via
    sophisticated and well-funded communications methods such as the RT
    television channel. In the 3 years since Ukraine's Maidan Revolution
    and the subsequent illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian
    Federation, the world has seen undisputed evidence that Russian troll
    farms are blanketing airwaves and the Internet with stories designed to
    disrupt the news cycle. Through our Embassy in Kyiv and other sources
    we find European-minded, anti-corruption activists and young Members of
    Parliament that see a great opportunity in participating in the Open
    World program.
        Similar Russian tendencies are at play in Georgia and Moldova, both
    European Union-oriented governments and with regions mired in frozen
    conflicts with Russia. Open World directly engages members of
    parliament from both countries as well as their leading NGO and social
    services influencers.
        Keeping Russia Close: U.S.-Russia relations continue to be
    strained. In fact, it is reminiscent of a time 18 years ago when our
    founder Librarian of Congress Emeritus Dr. James H. Billington grew
    increasingly concerned about our two country's relations during the
    NATO action in Yugoslavia. He envisioned a mini-Marshall Plan to keep
    goodwill strong at the grassroots level, when our diplomatic efforts
    were at a stalemate. Dr. Billington took his concerns not to the State
    Department, not to private international funders, but to Congress, to
    the Appropriations Committee, in fact, because it was his vision that a
    new model of exchange program would support the international oversight
    activities of U.S. legislators. They agreed with Dr. Billington, in
    effect creating a new support agency for the Congress. In 1999, the
    nascent Open World program brought over 2,000 Russians to the United
    States for professional programming hosted by their American
    counterparts, including Members of Congress, all across the country.
        Today, the Open World Leadership Center continues to conduct a
    highly-regarded international exchange program in the United States
    legislative branch and plays an increasingly vital role in the
    political landscapes of many countries throughout Eurasia, and in
    particular, Russia and Ukraine. Open World has supported leaders who,
    early in their careers, have become influential within their
    communities and in the national arena. For example, Alexei Navalny,
    Russia's most well-known Kremlin critic was an unknown 29-year-old
    lawyer when he came on the Open World program in 2005. Navalny was
    hosted in Dallas, Texas on the Local Governance theme and went on to
    rise in the ranks of a strong and active movement against Vladimir
    Putin. Navalny is only one example demonstrating Open World's expertise
    in selecting the most promising individuals to come on the program
    usually right at the moment that they are about to ascend in their
    profession. We communicate with these alumni, track their results, and
    present them to Congress to show how effective our exchange model is.
        One profound insight our delegates derive from their experience in
    the U.S. is that elected officials truly are accessible and accountable
    to the citizens of their jurisdictions. Another powerful element, again
    consistently praised by our delegates, is the impact of home stays--
    delegates living with American families while in the United States. One
    delegate succinctly described ``seeing an America I didn't know
    existed.''
        Congressional leadership is instrumental in advancing democracy and
    strengthening civil society worldwide. With its support by Congress
    Open World is a strategic long-term investment in our security, a
    matter of principle, and a crucial source of our international
    influence and strength. Open World is committed to these efforts while
    recognizing the possibility of uncertainty and setbacks, understanding
    that progress requires our unwavering dedication to enduring principles
    and goals.
        Open World's Powerful Alumni Network: Open World maintains a vast
    alumni network across Russia, Ukraine, and the other countries of the
    former Soviet Union. Many members of the alumni 26,000-strong community
    are active in their communities, regions, and at the Federal level.
    They are a valuable resource to our diplomatic missions abroad. The
    communications multiplier effect is a major result of the Open World
    program. Our alumni dispel myths and untruths about the United States
    and help promote a positive message about the American reality.
        For Open World's Russia program, the objective is to have
    participants return to Russia with a more positive view of America; to
    add to their professional skills through direct contact with U.S.
    citizens engaged in similar work; and to counter the Russian
    information war by providing an objective view of the American people
    and our society. These programs are intense 10-day thematic visits to
    the U.S. that expose young and emerging Russian leaders to democratic
    practices, civil rights, good governance, transparency in media, sound
    health and education policy and practices, the provision of social
    services, and economic development strategies.
        Open World has had enormous success in Russia due to a continuous
    low-key presence there since 1999 providing our colleagues from Russia
    with broad exposure to American democratic and free-market
    institutions.
        Open World's Ukraine program helps Ukraine mature in the aftermath
    of revolution and enhance its leaders' skills and capabilities to
    advance the country's agenda. These programs come at a time when part
    of Ukraine has been annexed and it faces continuing Russian aggression
    in the East and South, and through Russian-controlled media.
        The Open World program also focuses on the institutional
    development of civil society organizations and the promotion of
    democratic and economic reform. The subthemes of the program are aimed
    primarily at fighting corruption, promoting transparency and
    accountability in governance, furthering decentralization of power, and
    improving the business climate to enhance trade capacity, particularly
    as it relates to the agricultural and energy sectors.
        Open World has had growing success in Ukraine as it has worked
    steadfastly there since 2003 to be responsive to its developmental and
    societal needs. More than 3,200 outstanding alumni now serve in
    leadership positions throughout the country. In 2016, Open World's 46
    Ukraine programs were hosted in 44 U.S. communities in 32 States,
    providing our colleagues from Ukraine with broad exposure to American
    democratic and free-market institutions. To exemplify some programmatic
    results:
        Open World is supporting its alumni in the Parliament and
    throughout the country's legal institutions to assist actual judicial
    reform. Open World works with its U.S. judicial partner, the
    International Judicial Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference
    of the United States (whose Head is chosen by the Chief Justice of the
    Supreme Court), on creating intense programs that outline a practical
    path toward judicial reform.
        Two members of the new Cabinet of Ministers are Open World alumni.
    Open World alumni are in top leadership positions in the Ministry of
    Health, the Ministry of Education and Science, and the Ministry of
    Youth and Sports. The Prime Minister is a strong supporter of the
    project and has been a very active supporter of the Birmingham
    (Alabama)--Vinnitsa partnership program that Open World implements.
        Open World alumni are among the leadership in Ukraine's Parliament
    and many others serve as key staff members. These dedicated alumni are
    eager to work with Open World to expand this element of programming.
        Open World Strategic Goals: The Open World Leadership Center
    Strategic Plan for 2016-2020 builds on the excellent work done under
    the previous plan. We have adopted goals that will strengthen our work
    with Members of Congress and continue to cement our legislative
    identity. The plan sets the Center's direction for the next 5 years.
    This iteration is an update that includes activities through 2020. The
    strategic plan review process includes an effort to ensure that our
    goals are measurable and attainable, despite limited staff resources.
    Our performance measures, which are based on the Government Performance
    and Results Act, are challenging, though obtainable. The Center's three
    goals are to: ensure that the Center is a resource, an asset, and a
    sound investment for Congress; expand the reach of the Center to
    countries strategically important to the United States; operate as a
    model cost-effective, responsive agency.
        Plans for 2017 and Beyond: In the ever-shifting landscape of U.S-
    Russian relations and our relations with other strategic countries in
    the region, the Open World Leadership Center is poised to address
    emerging issues such as: Anti-American sentiment; Countering Russia's
    influence; Global health concerns; and Democracy programs. Open World
    was designed to be and has remained agile and can create programming
    quickly to support Congress in their response to pressing international
    oversight issues.

        [This statement was submitted by Ambassador John M. O'Keefe,
    Executive Director.]
                                     ______

                                 BUDGET REQUEST

        I would first like to thank the Committee for their ongoing support
    of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate's budget and mandated
    systems. For fiscal year 2018, I am requesting a budget of $36,307,000.
    The request includes $25,771,000 in salary costs, $1,900,000 for the
    operating budget of the Office of the Secretary, $3,500,000 for the
    Financial Management Information System (FMIS) modernization project
    and $5,136,000 for the Senate Information Services (SIS) program.
        The salary budget represents an increase of $999,000 over the
    fiscal year 2017 budget which includes $629,000 for a cost of living
    adjustment and $370,000 for highly skilled and specially trained staff
    to support the Financial System Program Office (FSPO) within the Senate
    Disbursing Office. The cost of living adjustment is essential to retain
    experienced professional staff who have dedicated their careers to
    supporting the institution of the Senate. The operating budget of the
    Office of the Secretary remains flat at $1,900,000.

                    OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OPERATING BUDGET

        In order to have more flexibility and be able to work within
    stringent budget guidelines, I request that the $1,900,000 be
    designated in multi-year (2018/2022) monies and that the apportionment
    breakdown for the Secretary's accounts be eliminated.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Amount available   Budget estimate
                               Item                             Fiscal Year 2017  Fiscal Year 2018     Difference
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Departmental operating budget: Executive office...........          $500,000  ................  ................
    Administrative services...................................        $1,251,600        $1,900,000  ................
    Legislative services......................................          $148,400  ................  ................
                                                               -----------------------------------------------------
          Total operating budget..............................        $1,900,000        $1,900,000  ................
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                PROJECT REQUESTS

                           fmis modernization project
        The budget includes a request for $3,500,000 (a planned decrease of
    $500,000 from last year's program amount) in no-year funds to continue
    the modernization of FMIS. This funding is requested to complete the
    Budget and Accounting projects, continue the work on Data Sharing and
    Reporting, and facilitate the retirement of the Senate's mainframe
    computer and associated hardware and software. The flexibility of no-
    year funding remains important to the success of the modernization
    project due to its complexity, the unique Senate technical environment
    and business requirements, and the continuing need for open
    competition.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Item                             Fiscal Year 2017  Fiscal Year 2018     Difference
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    FMIS Modernization Project................................        $4,000,000        $3,500,000        ($500,000)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The FMIS modernization project is an update of the Senate's
    collection of financial applications. This project will: improve
    financial system supportability and flexibility; address business
    requirements not met by the existing system; and continue to bring the
    Senate closer to an integrated, auditable, paperless financial system.
    Throughout the modernization the approximately 140 Senate offices using
    FMIS will not be substantially impacted as they continue to use the
    current program.
        The FSPO was established in May 2016 to oversee the modernization
    effort. FSPO is staffed with Disbursing IT personnel and augmented with
    four additional full-time staff. Over the remainder of the year, FSPO
    collaborated with the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms (SAA) to:
      --Issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for implementation services for
            the first phase of several phases of financial system
            modernization activities;
      --Award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts for
            financial systems modernization services to five qualified
            vendors;
      --Initiate procurement of the software required to support the first
            phase of financial system modernization activities; and
      --Facilitate multiple training activities for stakeholders who will
            be participating in the first phase of the financial system
            modernization.
        The fiscal year 2018 request is the third year of a planned six-
    year phased project. In addition to the funding received to date and
    requested for fiscal year 2017, the table below outlines the additional
    funding required for software and support services for this project.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 2016       2017
               Fiscal Year Funding             (funded)  (pending)    2018      2019      2020      2021      Total
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Implementation/Acquisition...............      2.5M     \1\ 4M      3.5M        3M      2.5M      2.5M       18M
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Due to the Continuing Resolution (CR), only $2.5M of the $4 million requested for fiscal year 2017 was
      received. The additional $1.5M is critical to activities required to allow the retirement of the mainframe by
      the end of calendar year (CY) 2018. If it must be maintained beyond CY 2018, it and several of its components
      will require replacement at a cost to the Senate that significantly exceeds $1.5M.

        The FMIS Business Case outlines the full scope of the financial
    system modernization project. The following table reflects the Business
    Case, including major phases and timelines for the proposed
    modernization effort as well as the status through fiscal year 2016 and
    activities planned through fiscal year 2018.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Modernization
                  Date                  Business Area        Approach and       Status through      Planned through
                                                              Rationale        fiscal year 2016    fiscal year 2018
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fiscal Year 2016-Fiscal Year...  Budget............  Replace multiple     --Acquired          --Implement Oracle
      2018 \2\.                                           existing budget      software to         Hyperion Planning
                                                          applications and     support             and Public Sector
                                                          manual processes     development.        Planning and
                                                          with a commercial   --Worked with SAA    Budgeting for:
                                                          software package     to establish         --Phase I--
                                                          widely used by       hardware and        Disbursing; and
                                                          Federal agencies     configure an         --Phase II--
                                                          to:                  initial sandbox     Offices/
                                                         --Allow for more      environment to      Committees and
                                                          efficient and        support             SAA.
                                                          effective budget     development.       --Provide direct
                                                          planning and        --Provided           integration with
                                                          budget execution     training            payroll,
                                                          tracking;            activities for      replacing
                                                         --Enable ``what-      staff               existing
                                                          if'' budget          participating in    PeopleSoft EPM
                                                          analyses at the      the modernization   module, which is
                                                          Senate and           of budget.          used to perform
                                                          individual office   --Held planning      payroll
                                                          levels; and          discussions with    projections and
                                                         --Facilitate direct   payroll system      will reach end of
                                                          integration          stakeholders        support in April
                                                          between the          related to budget/  2018 (Phase II).
                                                          payroll and          payroll
                                                          financial system.    integration and
                                                                               PeopleSoft
                                                                               Enterprise
                                                                               Program
                                                                               Management (EPM)
                                                                               replacement.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fiscal Year 2016-Fiscal Year...  Reporting.........  Streamline and       --Gathered          --Complete review
      2021.                                               modernize the        reporting           of reporting
                                                          reporting            requirements from   requirements with
                                                          infrastructure to    financial system    stakeholders.
                                                          prepare for and      stakeholders.      --Establish
                                                          minimize impacts    --Developed          historical
                                                          of the financial     initial data        reporting
                                                          system               management and      repository on
                                                          modernization,       reporting           distributed
                                                          and:                 strategy.           environment.
                                                         --Reduce the volume                      --Augment
                                                          of reporting data;                       reporting
                                                         --Eliminate unused                        repository with
                                                          and redundant                            budget, payroll
                                                          reports;                                 and procurement
                                                         --Consolidate                             data to support
                                                          numerous,                                retirement of
                                                          disparate report                         legacy systems
                                                          processes;                               currently on
                                                         --Ensure the                              mainframe.
                                                          consistency and
                                                          accuracy of
                                                          historic data; and
                                                         --Provide greater
                                                          flexibility for
                                                          users to customize
                                                          the data they view
                                                          and receive.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fiscal Year 2017-Fiscal Year...  Accounting........  Replace the          --Developed Chart   --Review GL
      2018.                                               mainframe-based      of Accounts for     requirements with
                                                          general ledger       modern GL.          stakeholders.
                                                          (GL) system with a  --Reviewed Chart    --Implement
                                                          commercial           of Accounts with    PeopleSoft
                                                          software package,    Oracle subject      General Ledger,
                                                          which will:          matter experts      Accounts Payable
                                                         --Allow the Senate    and system          and Accounts
                                                          to retire the        stakeholders.       Receivable.
                                                          expensive and       --Documented        --Retire legacy
                                                          increasingly         initial             mainframe and
                                                          difficult to         requirements for    related hardware.
                                                          support mainframe    GL.
                                                          hardware and
                                                          software;
                                                         --Implement a
                                                          modern GL which is
                                                          consistent with
                                                          all current
                                                          Federal financial
                                                          standards and
                                                          reporting
                                                          requirements; and
                                                         --Enhance the
                                                          Senate's ability
                                                          to maintain the
                                                          core component of
                                                          the financial
                                                          system and the
                                                          source of the
                                                          statutory semi-
                                                          annual ``Report of
                                                          the Secretary of
                                                          the Senate''.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ The Budget modernization project timeline was extended due to several factors including unanticipated
      activities required to maintain the legacy system and the delay in full funding for the budget work planned
      for fiscal year 2017.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Modernization
                  Date                  Business Area        Approach and       Status through      Planned through
                                                              Rationale        fiscal year 2016    fiscal year 2018
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fiscal Year 2017 \3\-Fiscal      Data Sharing......  Automate interfaces  --Acquired          --Implement Oracle
      Year 2019.                                          with Senate          software to         Hyperion Data
                                                          systems and          support sharing     Relationship
                                                          outside agencies,    of master data      Management (DRM)
                                                          such as the          between financial   software in
                                                          Department of the    applications.       production
                                                          Treasury, to:                            environment.
                                                         --Reduce errors in                       --Transition
                                                          Senate reporting;                        existing batch
                                                          and                                      master data
                                                         --Eliminate the                           interfaces to
                                                          manual effort                            DRM.
                                                          required to
                                                          support daily and
                                                          monthly external
                                                          reporting.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fiscal Year 2018-Fiscal Year...  Procurement to      Replace the highly
      2019.                           Payment.            customized
                                                          procurement to
                                                          payment
                                                          applications with
                                                          commercial
                                                          software, where
                                                          possible, subject
                                                          to a thorough
                                                          alternatives
                                                          analysis. This
                                                          will allow the
                                                          Senate to:
                                                         --Continue to meet
                                                          unique Senate
                                                          business needs
                                                          while also
                                                          addressing a
                                                          number of business
                                                          requirements not
                                                          currently met by
                                                          the existing
                                                          applications;
                                                         --Enhance the
                                                          Senate's ability
                                                          to administer and
                                                          support financial
                                                          system
                                                          applications;
                                                         --Enable more rapid
                                                          deployment of user-
                                                           requested
                                                          changes; and
                                                         --Facilitate
                                                          tighter
                                                          integration of all
                                                          procurement to
                                                          payment
                                                          applications to
                                                          enhance Senate
                                                          financial
                                                          statement
                                                          production.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fiscal Year 2019-Fiscal Year...  Asset Management..  Replace the
      2021.                                               existing Asset
                                                          Management
                                                          application with a
                                                          commercial
                                                          software module
                                                          that will:
                                                         --Enable direct
                                                          integration with
                                                          financial system;
                                                          and
                                                         --Eliminate
                                                          redundant
                                                          processes and
                                                          data, increasing
                                                          the efficiency and
                                                          accuracy of the
                                                          Senate's asset
                                                          tracking.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fiscal Year 2019-Fiscal Year...  Archival Tools....  Implement data
      2021.                                               archival tools to:
                                                         --Reduce the costs
                                                          and potential
                                                          application
                                                          performance issues
                                                          associated with
                                                          maintaining large
                                                          volumes of
                                                          financial data;
                                                          and
                                                         --Ensure that all
                                                          relevant data is
                                                          archived together
                                                          and may be
                                                          restored together
                                                          as needed to
                                                          support Senate
                                                          financial
                                                          operations.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ The Data Sharing project was initiated early to accelerate preparation for the Accounting/GL replacement and
      retirement of the mainframe as well as to minimize impacts to the existing payroll system.

                                  sis program
        The budget includes a request for $5,136,000 (an increase of
    $786,000) in multi-year funds (2018/2022) for the SIS program. This is
    the first time since 2011 that this Office has requested additional
    funds to support the continuation of current services offered as part
    of this program ($500,000) and to acquire three new subscription
    services ($286,000) at the request of the Senate community.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Item                             Fiscal Year 2017  Fiscal Year 2018     Difference
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    SIS Current Services......................................        $4,350,000        $4,850,000          $500,000
    Additional Subscriptions..................................                 0          $286,000          $286,000
                                                               -----------------------------------------------------
          Total SIS...........................................        $4,350,000        $5,136,000          $786,000
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        SIS is a collection of information resources and services, managed
    by the Senate Library, that support the research needs of the Senate
    community, providing cost-effective access to legislative and legal
    databases, academic journals, policy research, historical and current
    newspapers, real-time news tracking, and media alert services. Funding
    enterprise-wide access to research and news services continues to
    provide the greatest return on investment for all Senate users because
    it allows shared access to a comprehensive set of high quality
    resources and tools in support of core business functions at rates
    unattainable by individual offices and committees.
        Usage statistics and feedback from a May 2016 staff survey support
    the procurement of current services as the core set of required
    services for the next 5 years and identify three new content sources
    for inclusion in fiscal year 2018 offerings. Based on this data, during
    2016, the SIS program managers negotiated new service contracts for
    fiscal year 2017, with options through fiscal year 2021, with existing
    program vendors to maintain or enhance services. The agreements provide
    for modest increases in the firm-fixed-price cost of services as
    vendors also continue to add value by updating product platforms,
    enhancing search interfaces, and expanding content and features
    available to the Senate.

                         IMPLEMENTING MANDATED SYSTEMS

        Two systems critical to the Senate community and administered by
    this Office are mandated by law, FMIS and the Legislative Information
    System (LIS).
                            update on status of fmis
        In addition to the six-year modernization project, Disbursing
    continued to oversee the current FMIS program, create a bridge from the
    current program to the modernized financial system, and prepare for the
    roll-out of the first modernized business areas. Several key
    accomplishments over the past year are described below.
        Focusing on the current version of FMIS, the Disbursing Office
    continued to improve the FMIS user experience by publishing a quarterly
    Financial Tips & Tricks newsletter, developing and implementing a
    customer feedback survey, conducting more than 20 group meetings for
    various user communities, and providing direct communications related
    to system updates and issues. Disbursing also engaged in significant
    planning, testing and exercising of FMIS functions supporting the
    Senate's continuity of operations (COOP) planning.
        The Office encouraged adoption of financial system functions that
    lay important groundwork for the modernized program. An example of this
    was increasing the number of offices configured for paperless voucher
    processing by 20 percent. The roll out of imaging and digital signature
    capabilities for paperless voucher processing will continue throughout
    2017.
        In order to prepare for a seamless introduction of the first phases
    of the modernization project, Disbursing completed requirements, a
    design, and the early stages of development for a Web FMIS release to
    facilitate modernization of voucher entry and review. In 2017,
    Disbursing will follow up on this preparation with the following
    releases:
      --FMIS 14.1 (planned for Spring through Summer 2017)--Modernization
            of voucher creation and review functions used by Member
            Offices, Committees, Leadership, the Committee on Rules and
            Administration, SAA, the Office of the Secretary, and
            Disbursing to address user requested changes, enhance
            supportability and ensure compatibility with modern browsers;
            and
      --FMIS 14.2 (planned for Fall 2017)--Modernization of additional
            document types, such as requisitions, purchase orders, invoices
            and receiving reports used by SAA and the Office of the
            Secretary to address user requested changes, enhance
            supportability and ensure compatibility with modern browsers.
                      update on status of the lis project
        LIS is a mandated system (2 U.S.C. 6577) that provides desktop
    access to the content and status of legislative information and
    supporting documents. In addition, pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 181, a program
    was established to provide for the widest possible exchange of
    information among legislative branch agencies. The long-range goal of
    the LIS Project Office is to provide a ``comprehensive Senate
    Legislative Information System'' to capture, store, manage, and
    distribute Senate documents. The Office is currently focused on a
    Senate-wide implementation and transition to a standard system for the
    authoring and exchange of legislative documents such as bills,
    resolutions, amendments and reports, that will greatly enhance the
    availability and re-use of legislative documents within the Senate and
    with other legislative branch agencies.
        Extensible Markup Language (XML) has been accepted as the primary
    data standard to be used for the exchange of legislative documents and
    information. Following the implementation of LIS, the Office shifted
    its focus to the data standards program and established the LIS
    Augmentation Project (LISAP). The overarching goal of LISAP is to
    provide a Senate- wide implementation and transition to XML for the
    authoring and exchange of legislative documents.
        The Office provides support to Senate Legislative Counsel (SLC);
    the Committee on Appropriations; the Committee on Commerce, Science,
    and Transportation; and the Senate Enrolling Clerk in their use of
    Legislative Editing in XML Application (LEXA) for drafting, engrossing,
    and enrolling. With the addition of the Commerce Committee drafters,
    all Senate measures (bills, resolutions, and amendments) are produced
    in XML. In addition, the Government Publishing Office (GPO) uses LEXA
    to complete measures for printing. Several new features and fixes were
    added in LEXA releases in 2016 to improve the drafting process. Office
    staff trained new drafters in the use of LEXA.
        The Office has been working with staff from GPO and the Legislative
    Computer Systems (LCS) in the Office of the Clerk of the House of
    Representatives to create and print committee reports in XML. The
    initial LEXA committee report application was released to the Commerce
    Committee in 2013, and the Office provided several features which
    improved accuracy, efficiency and reduced processing time. New features
    included importing footnotes, exporting a committee report to MS Word
    for review, and enhanced table handling needed for Appropriations
    Committee reports. Committee report processing for the Appropriations
    Committee was added to LEXA in 2016.
        Other enhancements to LEXA in the past year included improved
    performance when processing large documents and the ability to create
    conference report signature sheets. With the addition of signature
    sheets, all Senate documents printed by GPO for SLC are created in
    LEXA. The ability to test the first release of GPO's system to replace
    Microcomp was also added to LEXA in 2016.
        Two other group projects with GPO and LCS include participants from
    the Law Revision Counsel and the Senate and House Legislative Counsels.
    The multi-phase project for the Law Revision Counsel will result in
    applications to convert, edit, and maintain the U.S. Code in an XML
    format. The Legislative Counsel offices collaborate on maintaining and
    using the compilations of existing law in an XML format. The Office and
    LCS also monitor and participate in GPO's project to replace Microcomp
    with a new composition system that can directly ingest XML data without
    having to convert it to another format before printing.
        The Office will continue to support all Senate offices using LEXA
    and will work with the House, GPO, and the Library of Congress (LOC) on
    projects and issues that impact the legislative process and data
    standards for exchange. With the implementation of committee report
    processing for the Appropriations Committee, the Office will begin a
    project to increase process efficiency in LEXA for Appropriations
    drafters. The Office will also explore options to modernize the LEXA
    application.

                              LEGISLATIVE SERVICES

        The Legislative operations of the Office of the Secretary provide
    support essential to Senators in carrying out their daily chamber
    activities as well as the constitutional responsibilities of the
    Senate. Legislative Services consists of the following departments:
    Bill Clerk, Captioning Services, Daily Digest, Enrolling Clerk,
    Executive Clerk, Journal Clerk, Legislative Clerk, Official Reporters
    of Debates and Parliamentarian.
        The Office of the Secretary maintains a positive working
    relationship with GPO and they continue to respond in a timely manner
    to the Secretary's requests, through the Legislative staff, for the
    printing of bills and reports, including the expedited printing of
    priority matters for the Senate Chamber.
                                   bill clerk
        The Office of the Bill Clerk collects and records data on the
    legislative activity of the Senate, which becomes the historical record
    of official Senate business. The Office keeps this information in its
    handwritten files and ledgers and also enters it into the Senate's
    automated retrieval system so that it is available to all House and
    Senate offices via the Legislative Information System (LIS),
    Congress.gov, and Senate.gov. Current amendment information is entered
    and updated by the Office and is available to Senate offices on the
    Amendment Tracking System. The Bill Clerk records actions of the Senate
    with regard to bills, resolutions, reports, amendments, cosponsors,
    public law numbers, and recorded votes.
        The Bill Clerk is responsible for preparing for print all measures
    introduced, received, submitted, and reported in the Senate. The Bill
    Clerk also assigns numbers to all Senate bills and resolutions. All the
    information received in this Office comes directly from the Senate
    floor in written form within moments of the action involved, so the
    Office is generally regarded as the most timely and most accurate
    source of legislative information.
        The Bill Clerk coordinated with the Office of the Executive Clerk
    and the Office of Web Technology, and the Senate Library to provide
    input regarding Senate data on Congress.gov through meetings with LOC.
    The Office maintained communication with the Secretary's legislative
    offices, floor staff, and the Senate Library in support of facilitating
    input on Congress.gov, predominantly in the areas of legislation,
    committee reports, and the Congressional Record.
                              captioning services
        The Office of Captioning Services provides real-time closed
    captioning of Senate floor proceedings for individuals who are deaf or
    hard-of-hearing and unofficial electronic transcripts of Senate floor
    proceedings to Senate offices on Webster.
        Captioning Services strives to provide the highest quality closed
    captions and is comprised of some of the most seasoned and respected
    captioners in the industry. The overall average accuracy rate for the
    Office has continuously been above 99 percent, a level of achievement
    that has spanned more than two decades. Overall caption quality is
    monitored through daily translation data reports, monitoring of
    captions in real-time, and review of caption files on Webster. In an
    effort to decrease paper consumption and printing costs, accuracy
    reviews and reports were mostly completed in electronic form.
        The real-time searchable Closed Caption Log database and VideoVault
    browser, available to Senate offices on Webster, continues to be an
    invaluable tool for the entire Senate community. Legislative floor
    staff, Cloakroom staff, Senate Recording Studio, and Member offices in
    particular continue to depend upon its availability, reliability, and
    contents to help in the performance of their everyday duties.
                                  daily digest
        The Office of the Daily Digest is responsible for publication of a
    brief, concise and easy-to-read accounting of all official actions
    taken by the Senate in the Congressional Record section known as the
    Daily Digest. The Office compiles an accounting of all meetings of
    Senate committees, subcommittees, joint committees and committees of
    conference.
        The Office enters all Senate and joint committee scheduling data
    into the Senate's web-based scheduling application system. Committee
    scheduling information is also prepared for publication in the Daily
    Digest in three formats: Day-Ahead Schedule; Congressional Program for
    the Week Ahead; and the extended schedule which appears in the
    Extensions of Remarks section of the Record. The Office also enters all
    official actions taken by Senate committees on legislation,
    nominations, and treaties into LIS.
        The Office publishes a listing of all legislation which has become
    public law, as well as a ``Resume of Congressional Activity'' which
    includes all Congressional statistical information, including days and
    time in session; measures introduced, reported and passed; and roll
    call votes. The ``Resume'' is published on the first legislative day of
    each month in the Daily Digest. The Office also assists the House Daily
    Digest Editor in the preparation at the end of each session of Congress
    a history of public bills enacted into law and a final resume of
    congressional statistical activity.
        All hearings and business meetings (including joint meetings and
    conferences) are scheduled through the Office and are published in the
    Record, on the Digest's page on Senate.gov, and in LIS. Meeting
    outcomes are also published by the Daily Digest in the Record each day
    and continuously updated on the website.
        The Office publishes a ``20-Year Comparison of Senate Legislative
    Activity'' which can be found at: http://www.senate.gov/reference/
    resources/pdf/yearlycomparison.pdf
                                enrolling clerk
        The Office of the Enrolling Clerk prepares, proofreads, corrects,
    inputs amendments and prints all legislation passed by the Senate prior
    to its transmittal to the House of Representatives, the National
    Archives, the White House, the United States Court of Federal Claims,
    and the Secretary of State. Electronic files of all measures engrossed
    and enrolled in the Senate are transmitted daily by the Enrolling Clerk
    to GPO for overnight distribution and public web access.
        The Office also keeps the original official copies of bills,
    resolutions, and appointments from the Senate floor through the end of
    each Congress.
                                executive clerk
        The Office of the Executive Clerk is responsible for the Journal of
    the Executive Proceedings of the Senate, a record of the Senate's
    actions during executive sessions.
        The Executive Clerk, receives, assigns numbers to, and processes
    the nominations, treaties, executive communications, petitions or
    memorials, and presidential messages sent to the Senate. As part of
    this processing, the Executive Clerk enters each of these into LIS
    along with the Senate's actions on each.
        The Office prepares the Executive Calendar daily when there are
    nominations, treaties, or resolutions related to treaties before the
    Senate. The Executive Clerk also prepares all nomination and treaty
    resolutions for transmittal to the President of the United States.
        The Office worked in collaboration with the Office of the Bill
    Clerk, the Office of Web Technology, and the Senate Library to provide
    extensive knowledge and feedback to LOC related to the Senate materials
    available on Congress.gov, primarily in the areas of nominations,
    treaties, executive communications, presidential messages, and
    petitions or memorials.
                                 journal clerk
        The Office of the Journal Clerk takes notes of the daily
    legislative proceedings of the Senate in a minute book and prepares a
    history of bills and resolutions for the printed Journal of the
    Proceedings of the Senate, or Senate Journal, as required by Article I,
    Section V of the Constitution. The content of the Senate Journal is
    governed by Senate Rule IV, and is approved by the Senate on a daily
    basis.
        The Journal staff take 90-minute turns at the rostrum in the Senate
    Chamber whenever the Senate is in session, noting the following by hand
    for inclusion in the minute book: (i) all orders (entered into by the
    Senate through unanimous consent agreements), (ii) legislative messages
    received from the President of the United States, (iii) messages from
    the House of Representatives, (iv) legislative actions as taken by the
    Senate (including motions made by Senators, points of order raised,
    division votes taken and roll call votes taken), (v) amendments
    submitted and proposed for consideration, (vi) bills and joint
    resolutions introduced, and (vii) concurrent and Senate resolutions as
    submitted. These notes of the proceedings are then compiled in
    electronic form for eventual publication of the Senate Journal at the
    end of each calendar year. Compilation is efficiently accomplished
    through utilization of the LIS Senate Journal Authoring System. The
    Senate Journal is published each calendar year, and in 2016, the Office
    completed the production of the 1,000-page 2015 volume. It is
    anticipated that work on the 2016 volume will conclude by August 2017.
                               legislative clerk
        The Legislative Clerk sits at the rostrum in the Senate Chamber and
    reads aloud bills, amendments, the Senate Journal, presidential
    messages, and other such materials when so directed by the Presiding
    Officer of the Senate. The Legislative Clerk calls the roll of Members
    to establish the presence of a quorum and to record and tally all
    ``yea'' and ``nay'' votes. The Office prepares the Senate Calendar of
    Business, published each day that the Senate is in session, and
    prepares additional publications relating to Senate class membership
    and committee and subcommittee assignments. The Legislative Clerk
    maintains the official copy of all measures pending before the Senate
    and must incorporate into those measures any amendments that are agreed
    to. The Office retains custody of official messages received from the
    House of Representatives and conference reports awaiting action by the
    Senate. The Office is responsible for verifying the accuracy of
    information entered into LIS by the various offices of the Secretary.
        A small sample of the work completed during the 114th Congress, 2nd
    Session includes the processing of 2,243 submitted amendments, 329
    reports of committees, 163 roll call votes, and the incorporation of
    267 floor amendments into measures considered by the Senate.
        The Office works closely with GPO, particularly the night
    production crew. For this past session of congress there were 166
    separate issues of the Calendar of Business published. Publications are
    also available online, which has lowered the need for printed copy and
    makes the materials more accessible.
                         official reporters of debates
        The Office of the Official Reporters of Debates is responsible for
    the stenographic reporting, transcribing, and editing of the Senate
    Floor proceedings for publication in the Congressional Record. The
    Chief Reporter acts as the editor-in-chief and oversees the production
    of the Record to ensure its accuracy and consistency with Senate
    parliamentary rules and procedures.
        When the Senate is in session, the electronic and paper transcripts
    of the floor proceedings of the Senate begin to go to GPO in the early
    evening, and the last delivery occurs approximately three hours after
    the Senate adjourns or recesses for the day. The Record is published in
    paperback form and online and is available to the public on the next
    business day.
        The Morning Business Coordinator is responsible for coordinating
    the printing of legislative and executive material in a portion of the
    Morning Business section of the Record and sits in the Senate Chamber,
    recording daily floor activity of the Senate for the Official Reporters
    of Debates.
                                parliamentarian
        The Office of the Parliamentarian continues to perform its
    essential institutional responsibilities to act as a neutral arbiter
    among all parties with an interest in the legislative process. These
    responsibilities include advising the Presiding Officer and Senators
    and their staff, as well as committee staff, House Members and their
    staff, administration officials, the media, and members of the general
    public, on all matters requiring an interpretation of the Standing
    Rules of the Senate, the precedents of the Senate, and unanimous
    consent agreements, as well as provisions of public law and the
    Constitution that affect the proceedings of the Senate.
        The Parliamentarians work in close cooperation with Senate
    leadership and their floor staffs in coordinating all of the business
    on the Senate Floor. A parliamentarian is always present on the Senate
    Floor when the Senate is in session, ready to assist the Presiding
    Officer in their official duties, as well as to assist any other
    Senator on procedural matters. The Parliamentarians work closely with
    the President pro tempore and the Vice President of the United States
    and their staff when either performs duties as President of the Senate.
        The Parliamentarians monitor all proceedings on the floor of the
    Senate, advise the Presiding Officer on the competing rights of the
    Senators on the floor, and advise all Senators as to what is
    appropriate in debate. The Parliamentarians keep time on the Senate
    Floor when time is limited or controlled under the provisions of time
    agreements, statutes, or standing orders. They keep track of amendments
    offered to the legislation pending on the Senate Floor, assess them for
    germaneness and other possible points of order, and review countless
    other amendments that are never offered in the same regard.
        The Office of the Parliamentarian is responsible for the referral
    to the appropriate committees of all legislation introduced in the
    Senate and all legislation received from the House, as well as all
    communications received from the Executive Branch, memorials from State
    and local governments, and petitions from private citizens. In order to
    perform this responsibility, the Parliamentarians do extensive legal
    and legislative research. The Office works extensively with Senators
    and their staff to advise them of the jurisdictional consequences of
    drafts of legislation, and evaluate the jurisdictional effect of
    proposed modifications in drafting.
        In 2016, in addition to day-to-day duties, the Parliamentarians
    continued work on the Electronic Senate Precedents (ESP) system;
    rewrote the Guide to Senate Floor Procedure; participated in or
    conducted several seminars on Senate procedure; reviewed certificates
    of election for Senators in the Class of 2017, ensuring that all
    necessary documents were received and in order for the opening of the
    new Congress; participated in orientation for new Senators and staff;
    and were heavily involved in the review, handling and preparation of
    materials and advising the Vice President of the Constitutional and
    statutory requirements for conducting the counting of electoral ballots
    for President and Vice President of the United States.

                              FINANCIAL OPERATIONS

                               disbursing office
        The mission of the Senate Disbursing Office is to provide efficient
    and effective financial, payroll and employee benefits information, and
    advice to the offices, Members, and employees of the Senate. The
    Disbursing Office manages the collection of information from all the
    accounting locations within the Senate to formulate and consolidate the
    agency level budget, disburse the payroll, pay the Senate's bills, and
    provide appropriate counseling and advice. The Disbursing Office
    collects information from Members and employees that is necessary to
    maintain and administer the retirement, health insurance, life
    insurance, and other central human resource programs, and provides
    responsive, individual attention to Members and employees on an
    unbiased and confidential basis.
        In addition to the current FMIS program and the project to
    modernize the financial system, the Disbursing Office continued work on
    several activities that required a significant level of staff
    resources. Among them were (i) the initial distribution of new
    Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage forms (Forms
    1094-C and 1095-C) required by the Affordable Care Act, (ii) roll-out
    of online access to payroll and benefits information for Members and
    employees (including paystubs and W-2 Forms), (iii) the assistance to
    outgoing offices with financial and employee benefit information as
    well as retirement counseling, and (iv) the validation, review and
    publication of the Report of the Secretary of the Senate for the 6
    month periods ending in March and September 2016.
        The Disbursing Office also continued working with Member offices
    and the Senate Stationery Room to establish office accounts for the
    online flag ordering system using the Department of the Treasury's
    Pay.gov system. Sixty-four offices were using Pay.gov at the end of
    2016. The usage is expected to expand even further during 2017.
        In addition, the Disbursing Office compiled the 2017 operating
    budget of the United States Senate for presentation to the Committee on
    Appropriations and prepared and distributed budget justification
    worksheets to the various offices to gather the information needed for
    the fiscal year 2018 budget request and submission to the Office of
    Management and Budget.

                    ADMINISTRATIVE AND EXECUTIVE OPERATIONS

                      senate chief counsel for employment
        The Office of the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment (SCCE) is a
    non-partisan office established at the direction of the Joint
    Leadership in 1993 after enactment of the Government Employee Rights
    Act, which allowed Senate employees to file claims of employment
    discrimination against Senate offices. With the enactment of the
    Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA), Senate offices became
    subject to the requirements, responsibilities and obligations of twelve
    employment laws, and subject to suit in Federal district court for
    alleged violations of such laws. In accordance with the CAA, Congress
    has applied subsequently enacted employment laws to Senate offices,
    such as the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act. Senate offices
    are also subject to certain non-CAA Federal laws that create compliance
    obligations regarding Senate employment.
        The SCCE is charged with the legal defense of Senate offices in all
    employment law cases at both the administrative and court levels, from
    case inception through final appeal. In addition to litigating cases,
    the SCCE's attorneys provide legal advice to Senate offices about their
    obligations under employment laws. Each Senate office client is an
    individual client of the SCCE; accordingly, each such office maintains
    an attorney-client relationship with the SCCE. The SCCE also conducts a
    robust training program on a wide variety of employment law topics,
    including seminars to educate Senate managers, staff and interns about
    how to identify, prevent, and address unlawful harassment in the
    workplace.
        The areas of responsibilities of the SCCE can be divided into the
    following categories: litigation (defending Senate offices in courts
    and at administrative hearings); mediations to resolve potential
    lawsuits; court-ordered alternative dispute resolutions; Occupational
    Safety and Health Act compliance; Americans with Disabilities Act
    compliance; layoffs and office closings in compliance with the law;
    management training regarding legal responsibilities and employee
    rights; employee and intern training regarding prohibited harassment,
    including sexual harassment; union drives, negotiations, and unfair
    labor practice charges; and preventive legal advice.
                         conservation and preservation
        The Office of Conservation and Preservation supports the official
    record preservation and bookbinding needs of Senate leadership,
    committees, and offices.
        In 2016, the work of the Office included bookbinding, framing, and
    the fabrication of materials for presentation, storage, and display.
    Bookbinding included re-casing of older books, congressional hearings,
    and Congressional Record volumes with new covers and end sheets;
    repairing bound volumes of Senate Library collection materials; and
    preparing new volumes for binding from materials printed in-house at
    the request of Senate offices. The Office designed and fabricated
    custom boxes, enclosures, and slipcases for preservation and storage of
    materials and prepared objects and signage for display in Senate
    exhibits.
                                    curator
        The Office of Senate Curator, on behalf of the Senate Commission on
    Art (COA), develops and implements the museum and preservation programs
    for the Senate. The Curator collects, preserves, and interprets the
    Senate's fine and decorative arts, historic objects, and specific
    architectural features; and exercises supervisory responsibility for
    the historic chambers in the Senate wing of the Capitol under the
    jurisdiction of COA. Through exhibitions, publications, and other
    programs, the Curator educates the public about the Senate and its
    collections.
        In keeping with scheduled procedures, all Senate Collection objects
    were inventoried in 2016, and any changes in location were recorded in
    the Curator's database. As directed by S. Res. 178 (108th Congress, 1st
    session), the Office submitted a list of the art and historic
    furnishings in the Senate to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
    The list, known as the Historic Furnishings Inventory, documents the
    history of acquisition, use, and manufacturer for each object. Items on
    the inventory are prohibited from removal or purchase. The inventory,
    which is submitted every 6 months, is compiled by the Office with
    assistance from the SAA and the Architect of the Capitol's (AOC)
    Superintendent of Senate Office Buildings.
        The Office continued to advance the preservation and documentation
    of the historic Russell Senate Office Building furnishings by
    conducting a yearly inspection of the use and location of the 64 flat-
    top partner desks that remain in the Senate, and through educational
    initiatives aimed at informing Senate staff about the history of the
    furnishings. This year, the Office acquired an original 1909 flat-top
    desk donated by the descendants of a former Senator. Following
    precedent, the desk was added to the Historic Furnishings Inventory and
    transferred to the AOC so that it could be refinished and made
    available for use.
        The Curator continued to conduct extensive primary source research
    into the original construction, configuration, and decoration of the
    Old Supreme Court Chamber in anticipation of the planned restoration of
    the space. The Curator also completed the restoration and
    electrification of an 1859 Cornelius & Baker six-arm chandelier. Over
    145 similar chandeliers illuminated the Senate extension in the 1860s.
        Twenty-eight objects were accessioned into the Senate Collection
    this year. The most significant addition was the donation of History
    and Physics, two oil sketches by Constantino Brumidi. These small
    preparatory studies were executed in the mid-1860s as proposed
    decorations for two lunette frescoes in room S-211 in the Capitol (the
    Lyndon Baines Johnson Room).
        A new exhibit was installed by the Curator into showcases in the
    vestibule outside SD- G50, titled: Who Was Everett McKinley Dirksen?
    The exhibit highlights the career and accomplishments of the Dirksen
    Building's namesake and was created in conjunction with the Senate
    Library and Senate Historical Office. The Curator also installed an
    interpretative exhibit in the Trophy Corridor of the Senate wing of the
    Capitol to highlight the recently installed historic Cornelius & Baker
    chandelier.
                             education and training
        The Joint Office of Education and Training, co-sponsored by the
    Secretary of the Senate and the SAA, provides training to ensure that
    all Senate staff have the resources and skills they need to perform
    their jobs. In 2016, nearly 3,000 staff attended in-person classes and
    nearly 1,200 staff attended online classes. The Office also facilitated
    three conferences for 137 State staff, and provided customized
    training, facilitation services, and coaching to more than 150 Member,
    committee, and support offices, in which more than 2,000 staff members
    participated.
        This year the Office plans to expand leadership development
    offerings, provide training for the Academy Nomination Coordinators,
    and coordinate continued training for the Chiefs of Staff and
    Administrative Directors in the New Member offices.
        The Health Promotion Office within Education and Training is
    mandated to provide health promotion activities and events for the
    Senate community. Each year the Office coordinates and hosts the 2-day
    Health and Wellness Fair. In 2016, over 2,000 staff participated in
    health promotion activities, which included screenings for glucose,
    cholesterol and blood pressure; exercise demonstrations, and seminars
    on topics including healthy eating and cancer prevention.
                                   gift shop
        The Gift Shop serves Senators and their spouses, staff,
    constituents, and the many visitors to the Capitol complex. The
    products available include a wide range of fine gift items,
    collectables, and souvenirs, many created exclusively for the Senate.
        In addition to over-the-counter and walk-in sales, the Gift Shop
    offers an order form through Webster and the administrative office
    provides mail order service, special order and catalogue sales. While
    the Gift Shop has two physical locations, the Capitol kiosk remains
    temporarily closed due to the continued restoration of the Brumidi
    corridors.
        Consistent with statute and past practice, a transfer of $40,000 to
    the Senate Employees Child Care Center was made based on the annual
    sales of the Congressional Holiday Ornament (see 2 U.S.C. 6576(c)(3)).
    The Official 2016 Congressional Holiday Ornament is a brass ornament
    with 24 karat gold finish that showcases the exterior of the Capitol.
    The ornament has two hinged doors which open to reveal the Rotunda.
    Sales of the 2016 holiday ornament were just over 25,000, of which more
    than 8,000 were personalized with engravings designed, proofed, and
    etched by the Gift Shop staff.
                               historical office
        In 2016 historians and archivists of the Senate Historical Office
    continued to serve the Senate and the broader community through a
    variety of activities, including archival assistance and guidance,
    tours and presentations, publications, reference assistance, and
    educational outreach programs. In addition, while the Secretary served
    as Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress the
    Senate Archivist facilitated the semiannual meetings and related
    discussions of the Advisory Committee.
        The Historical Office has provided more than 50 specially-requested
    talks and tours to Senate offices, answered more than 1,000 history-
    related questions via email from staff, public, and press, and drawn
    standing-room-only audiences to a series of ``brownbag lunch'' history
    talks. In September the Office observed Constitution Day with ``A More
    Important Duty: Standing Committees and the Senate's Constitutional
    Powers and Responsibilities.'' This program filled the Kennedy Caucus
    Room with Senate staff, high school students, and visitors who explored
    four archival exhibits while learning more about the important role of
    committees in Senate history.
        The Senate Archivist and deputy archivists assisted the offices of
    retiring Members in selecting an archival repository, in preserving the
    Senator's digital and paper content, and in identifying committee
    records needing preservation. For the first time, retiring Members were
    able to select the Senate Data Information Exchange Format for the
    download of their Constituent Services System (CSS) data, something
    which archival repositories had been hoping to receive and which the
    archivists accomplished through collaboration with SAA CSS staff.
        Senate Rule XI (2) directs that ``The Secretary of the Senate shall
    obtain at the close of each Congress all the noncurrent records of the
    Senate and of each Senate committee and transfer them to the National
    Archives for preservation.'' During 2016 the Senate transferred 720
    cubic feet of paper records and 4.56 TB of electronic records to the
    Center for Legislative Archives (CLA). Archivists have prioritized
    creation of electronic records preservation guidance for committees and
    have incorporated the new guidance into a draft of the 4th edition of
    the Records Management Handbook for United States Senate Committees. To
    further assist Senate Committees, the archivists provide electronic
    records processing support to committees without their own archivists
    and have instituted the use of processing tools to further enhance the
    authenticity of electronic records being transferred to the CLA.
        In fulfilling its mission to preserve and promote the history of
    the Senate, the Office pursues many long-term research and writing
    projects, conducts oral history interviews, and is a primary content
    provider for Senate.gov. For example, in anticipation of the centennial
    commemoration of the nineteenth amendment in 2020, the historians have
    launched a special oral history project, conducting interviews with
    former and current female Senators and select female staff. These
    interviews document the evolving role of women in the Senate and their
    impact on the institution and its legislative business.
                                human resources
        The Office of Human Resources was established in June 1995 by the
    Secretary of the Senate as a result of the CAA. The Office focuses on
    developing and implementing human resources policies, procedures, and
    programs for the Office of the Secretary. These responsibilities
    include recruiting and staffing; providing guidance and advice to
    managers and staff; training; performance management and evaluation;
    job analysis and classification; compensation planning, design, and
    administration; leave administration; records management; maintaining
    the employee handbook and manuals; employee relations and services; and
    organizational planning and development.
        The Office administers the following programs for the Secretary's
    employees: the public transportation subsidy program, student loan
    program, Family Medical Leave Act program, parking allocations, and the
    Secretary's intern program.
                              information systems
        The Office of Information Systems provides technical hardware and
    software support for the Office of the Secretary. Information Systems
    staff also interface closely with the application and network
    development groups within SAA, GPO, and outside vendors on technical
    issues and joint projects. The Office provides computer-related support
    for all local area network (LAN) servers within the Office of the
    Secretary, as well as direct application support for all software
    installed on workstations, initiates and guides new technologies, and
    implements next generation hardware and software solutions.
        The primary mission of the Office is to continue to provide the
    highest level of customer satisfaction and computer support for the
    Office of the Secretary. Emphasis is placed on creating and
    transferring legislative records to outside departments and agencies,
    fulfilling Disbursing Office financial responsibilities to Member
    offices, and complying with office-mandated and statutory obligations.
                          interparliamentary services
        The Office of Interparliamentary Services (IPS) is responsible for
    administrative, financial, and protocol functions for special
    delegations authorized by the Majority and/or Minority Leaders, for all
    interparliamentary conferences in which the Senate participates by
    statute, and for interparliamentary conferences in which the Senate
    participates on an ad hoc basis. The Office also provides appropriate
    assistance as requested by other Senate delegations.
        The statutory interparliamentary conferences are: the Mexico-United
    States Interparliamentary Group; the Canada-United States
    Interparliamentary Group; the British-American Interparliamentary
    Group; and the United States-China Interparliamentary Group.
        On behalf of the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders, the staff
    arranges official receptions for heads of state, heads of government,
    heads of parliaments, and parliamentary delegations. Required records
    of expenditures on behalf of foreign dignitaries under authority of
    Public Law 100-71 are maintained by IPS.
        IPS receives and prepares for printing the quarterly consolidated
    financial reports for foreign travel from all committees in the Senate.
    In addition to preparing the quarterly reports for the Majority Leader
    and the Minority Leader, IPS staff also assists staff members of
    Senators and committees in filling out the required reports.
              legislative information system (lis) project office
        See the section on the LIS Project on page 8.
                                    library
        The Senate Library, which celebrated its 145th year of service in
    2016, provides legislative, legal, business, and general information
    services to Senators and staff. The Library's collection encompasses
    legislative documents that date from the Continental Congress in 1774;
    current and historic Executive and Judicial Branch materials; an
    extensive book collection on American politics, history, and biography;
    a popular collection of audiobooks; and a wide array of online
    resources. The Library also authors content for three websites:
    LIS.gov, Senate.gov, and Webster.
        The reference librarians work with Senate staff on a wide range of
    research topics, including legislative histories, legal citations,
    public records, and news article searches. They are experienced
    information professionals who draw on in-depth knowledge of Senate
    institutional procedures and practices when answering reference
    questions, and in 2016, they handled requests from all 100 Senate
    offices and every standing committee. There were over 10,700 walk-in,
    telephone, and email inquiries, many of which were handled on tight
    deadlines.
        The Library is meeting the Senate's increasing demand for
    information through the creation of new web-based content, judicious
    selection and investment in online resources, expanded outreach and
    training opportunities, and use of technology to support alternative
    means for information delivery. Senate librarians also teach a variety
    of classes for Senate staff.
        The Library catalog now provides Senate staff with desktop access
    to over 48,000 full- text electronic documents and online resources. A
    3-year collaborative effort to update nearly 8,500 obsolete series
    statements in existing catalog records was completed in January,
    resulting in improved access to Senate prints, publications, treaty
    documents and Federal Government documents.
        The inaugural edition of the Library's biweekly email newsletter
    was launched in December 2016. The newsletter highlights upcoming
    Library training classes, featured resources, and services. It is
    distributed to Senate staff who use one or more Library service and to
    administrative managers and committee clerks. The newsletter has been
    well received, with requests from staff to be added to the distribution
    list for future editions.
        The Library presented exhibits and events relevant to the Senate
    community. These included two new hallway displays: A Tour of African
    American Landmarks & Historical Sites in Washington, D.C., to
    commemorate African American History Month, outside SR-B15, and Who Was
    Everett McKinley Dirksen?, outside SD-G50. The Dirksen exhibit is the
    result of the joint efforts of the Library, the Office of the Senate
    Curator, the Senate Historical Office, and the Office of Conservation
    and Preservation.
                                  page school
        The Senate Page School serves all appointed Senate pages with a
    sound program, both academically and experientially, during their stay
    in the Nation's capital. Senate pages are all juniors or rising juniors
    in high school and the School ensures the appropriate continuation of
    their studies integrated into the schedule of the page program in the
    Senate. The School focuses on providing a smooth transition from and to
    the pages' home schools.
        In 2013, the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools awarded
    accreditation renewal that continues until May 1, 2018. The Page School
    is among schools throughout the world that meet the internationally
    recognized standards of quality.
        Faculty and staff provided extended educational experiences to
    pages, including 21 field trips, 5 guest speakers, and opportunities to
    study world languages. A panel of former pages also provided
    information and answered current pages' questions. Summer pages made
    four field trips to educational sites and heard from one guest speaker.
    The community service project embraced by pages and staff continues.
    Pages collected, assembled, and shipped items for gift packages to
    military personnel serving in various locations and included letters of
    support to the troops.
                         printing and document services
        The Office of Printing and Document Services (OPDS) serves as
    liaison to GPO for the Senate's official printing, ensuring that all
    Senate printing is in compliance with Title 44 of the U.S. Code as it
    relates to Senate documents, hearings, committee prints and other
    official publications. The Office coordinates, schedules, delivers and
    prepares Senate legislation, hearing documents, committee prints and
    miscellaneous publications for printing, and provides printed copies of
    all legislation and public laws to the Senate and the public. In
    addition, the Office assigns publication numbers to all hearings, and
    committee prints, as well as legislative documents and other
    publications; orders all blank paper, envelopes and letterhead for the
    Senate; and prepares page counts of all Senate hearing transcripts in
    order to compensate commercial reporting companies for the preparation
    of the transcripts.
        During fiscal year 2016, OPDS prepared 2,217 requisitions
    authorizing GPO to print and bind the Senate's work, exclusive of
    legislation and the Congressional Record. In addition to processing
    requisitions, the printing services section coordinates proof handling,
    job scheduling and tracking for stationery products, Senate hearings,
    Senate publications and other miscellaneous printed products, as well
    as monitoring blank paper and stationery quotas for each Senate office
    and committee. Examples of major printing projects are: the Report of
    the Secretary of the Senate; the Congressional Directory, 115th
    Congress; the Authority and Rules of Senate Committees; the Journal of
    the Proceedings of the Senate, 114th Congress, 1st Session; and 58th
    Presidential Inaugural materials.
        During 2016, OPDS processed and distributed over 6,600 distinct
    legislative items as well as fulfilled over 10,000 requests for
    legislative material at the walk-in counter, by mail, fax, and
    electronically. The Office produced 853 on-demand print jobs during
    2016, and continues to monitor and adjust the number of documents
    received from GPO to meet demand while eliminating waste. Online
    ordering of legislative documents and the Legislative Hot List Link,
    where Members and staff can confirm arrival of printed copies of the
    most sought after legislative documents, continue to be popular. The
    site is updated each time new documents arrive from GPO to the Document
    Room.
                                 public records
        The Office of Public Records receives, processes, and maintains
    records, reports, and other documents filed with the Secretary of the
    Senate that involve the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), as
    amended; the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) of 1995, as amended; the
    Senate Code of Official Conduct; Rule 34, Public Financial Disclosure;
    Rule 35, Senate Gift Rule filings; Rule 40, Registration of Mass
    Mailing; Rule 41, Political Fund Designees; and Rule 41(6),
    Supervisor's Reports on Individuals Performing Senate Services; and
    Foreign Travel Reports. The Office works closely with the Federal
    Election Commission (FEC), the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, and
    the Clerk of the House concerning the filing requirements of the
    aforementioned acts and Senate Rules.
        From October 2015 through September 2016, Public Records staff
    assisted over 10,000 individuals seeking information from or about
    reports filed with the Office, responding to walk-in inquiries and
    inquiries by telephone or e-mail. Further, the Office provided
    assistance to individuals attempting to comply with the provisions of
    the LDA.
        The LDA requires semiannual contribution reports, and quarterly
    financial and lobbying activity reports. The Office conducted an LDA
    Guidance review in coordination with the Clerk of the House. As of
    September 30, 2016, there were 4,439 registrants representing 16,455
    clients. The total number of individual lobbyists disclosed on fiscal
    year 2016 registrations and reports was 11,406. The total number of
    lobbying registrations and reports processed was 105,499. The Office
    referred 140 cases of potential noncompliance to the U.S. Attorney for
    the District of Columbia.
        FECA requires Senate candidates to file quarterly and pre- and
    post-election reports with the Secretary of the Senate. Filings for
    fiscal year 2016 totaled 4,816 documents containing 468,246 pages,
    which were scanned, processed, and transmitted to the FEC, as required
    by law.
        The filing date for Public Financial Disclosure Reports was May 15,
    2016. A total of 4,501 paper and e-filed reports and amendments were
    filed. The reports were made available to the public and press as soon
    as they were filed and processed, and in most cases, the same day.
    Public Records staff provided copies to the Ethics Committee and the
    appropriate State officials.
        Senators are required to file mass mailing reports on a quarterly
    basis. The number of pages submitted during fiscal year 2016 was 350.
    In addition, the Office received 752 Gift Rule/Travel reports during
    fiscal year 2016.
                                stationery room
        Since it was formally established in 1854, the Senate Stationery
    Room has evolved into a diversified retail outlet serving the needs of
    the Senate community by providing a wide range of office and
    administrative supplies, communication and computer accessories, and
    special order items for official government business.
        The Stationery Room fulfills its mission by utilizing open market,
    competitive bid, or General Services Administration schedules for
    supply procurement; maintaining sufficient in-stock quantities of
    select merchandise to best meet the immediate needs of the Senate
    community; developing and maintaining productive business relationships
    with a wide variety of vendors; maintaining expense accounts for all
    authorized customers and preparing monthly activity statements; and
    managing all accounts receivable and accounts payable reimbursement.
        Utilizing the Pay.gov service offered by the Department of the
    Treasury, the Stationery Room has been accepting online flag requests
    and payments from constituents through Member websites. Currently, 64
    Member offices are offering this payment option and 22 offices are in
    the beginning stages of the program. The benefits include a reduced
    wait time for constituents, elimination of payment inaccuracies, and
    greatly reduced workload for office representatives. The Stationery
    Room will continue to expand this service to interested Member offices.
        The Stationery Room, with the assistance of the Office of Web
    Technology, upgraded its online web ordering portal through Webster.
    The upgrades included an enhanced search engine, modernized layout,
    improved images of items and easier checkout. Customers can place a
    stock order online and the order will be delivered within 24 hours. Use
    of the website helps reduce order time, increases customer convenience
    and order accuracy, and reduces the use of paper through reduced
    reliance on hard copy orders. Since the upgrade in September 2016, 387
    orders have been placed using the website compared to 190 total orders
    for the entire fiscal year 2016 prior to the upgrade.
        The Stationery Room contracts annually with various vendors to
    provide U.S. flags. The flags are purchased by constituents through
    individual Member offices, and are flown over the U.S. Capitol Building
    for commemoration of special occasions. While many flags are flown for
    specific reasons, the Stationery Room sells pre-flown flags for offices
    to meet those generic requests. The Stationery Room coordinates its
    flag procurement program with the Capitol Visitor Center, offering both
    entities the benefits of greater volume discounts where available.
                                 web technology
        The Office of Web Technology is responsible for Senate.gov, the
    Secretary's intranet on Webster, portions of the central site of
    Webster, and legbranch.senate.gov (an extranet site available to all
    Capitol Hill entities), along with the web-based systems, servers, and
    technologies supporting these websites that fall under the purview of
    the Secretary of the Senate.
        Senate.gov content is maintained by over 30 contributors from seven
    departments of the Office of the Secretary and three departments of
    SAA. All content is controlled through the Secretary's web content
    management system, managed by the Office of Web Technology.
        A refreshed version of www.senate.gov launched in March 2017
    completing a 2 year project to offer a new and better opportunity for
    audiences to interact with the wealth of information provided on the
    central site. The updated site is clean, modern, and has a responsive
    design which optimizes the site's presentation on any accessing device,
    such as mobile phones or tablets. Greater ability to contact Senators,
    view live and archived Senate Floor proceeding streams, and conduct
    searches on the central site are a few of the enhancements.
        Senate.gov has been transitioned to secure sockets (https). This is
    the new best practice for websites and the transition of the central
    site serves as an example for other Senate sites. Although no personal
    information is collected on the central site (when https is most
    strongly recommended) the change will help ensure the central site
    remains at or near the top of search results.
        The Office also worked extensively with the Office of the Bill
    Clerk, the Office of the Executive Clerk, the Senate Library and LOC in
    the refinement of Congress.gov and the dissemination of legislative
    bulk data, allowing for increased accuracy and transparency of
    Congressional information. Part of these processes involved expanding
    legbranch.senate.gov to host newly generated data feeds for the
    Congressional community and will likely be further expanded in the
    incoming year.
        In 2016 an average of 27,425 visits occurred per day to the central
    site of Senate.gov. The Office responded to nearly 700 emails from the
    general public regarding Senate.gov sites.

                 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND CONTINUITY PLANNING

        Throughout 2016, the Office of the Secretary continued to exercise,
    maintain and develop a broad range of emergency preparedness and
    continuity programs under the direction of Senate leadership and in
    coordination with SAA, House Officers, U.S. Capitol Police, and
    partners in the Executive and Judicial Branches. The primary objectives
    in this area are to ensure the continuity of the legislative process,
    and that the Senate can meet its constitutional obligations under any
    circumstances.
        The Secretary's Legislative staff and supporting offices maintain
    and regularly exercise plans to ensure that the Senate can convene and
    conduct legislative business under any conditions in various locations.
    All other departments maintain plans to carry out their essential
    functions, either locally or elsewhere, depending upon conditions.
        All departments within the Office of the Secretary maintain
    individual COOP plans to ensure that each department can carry out its
    essential functions during an emergency. Last year, several departments
    within the Office developed a new program to create and maintain
    departmental COOP plans. The project was undertaken and completed
    entirely with in-house resources, and replaces a previously-used
    commercial product, resulting in an annual savings of more than
    $20,000.
        Across the Office of the Secretary, monthly drills and annual
    exercises are conducted in order to ensure that plans are current, and
    that staff understand their continuity responsibilities. All
    departmental plans are supported by emergency supply kits stored in
    multiple locations within and outside the District of Columbia.
    Finally, the Secretary's Legislative departments, as well as several
    others, continue to employ robust cross-training programs initiated in
    prior years, to ensure that staff with critical skills will be
    available in an emergency.
                                  ----------

                           NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES

        Prepared Statement of the American Association of Law Libraries
        Dear Chairman Lankford, Ranking Member Murphy, and Members of the
    subcommittee:

        Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony in
    support of two key Federal institutions funded by the Legislative
    Branch Appropriations Subcommittee: the Government Publishing Office
    (GPO) and the Library of Congress (LC). The American Association of Law
    Libraries (AALL) works closely with these agencies to support their
    missions, and our members rely on their leadership in providing access
    to and preservation of legal information and other materials.
        AALL is the only national association dedicated to the legal
    information profession and its professionals. Founded in 1906 on the
    belief that people--lawyers, judges, students, and the public--need
    timely access to relevant legal information to make sound legal
    arguments and wise legal decisions, its nearly 4,500 members are
    problem solvers of the highest order. AALL fosters the profession by
    offering its members knowledge, leadership, and community that make the
    whole legal system stronger.
        Under the leadership of GPO Director Davita E. Vance-Cooks and
    Librarian of Congress Carla D. Hayden, GPO and LC are transforming
    themselves into modern agencies for the digital world. We urge members
    of the subcommittee to support the agencies' fiscal year 2018 budget
    requests in full.
                          government publishing office
        The Government Publishing Office produces, authenticates,
    disseminates, and preserves government information in multiple formats
    from all three branches of government. We urge the subcommittee to
    fully fund each account within GPO's request.
        The Congressional Publishing request will ensure support for the
    publication of Congressional materials, which law libraries use to
    provide access to trustworthy legal information in print and online.
    Some users, such as law professors, students, self-represented
    litigants, and members of the public prefer the print for its ease of
    use and the ability to skim the index and flip to specific pages. Thus,
    the nearly 200 law libraries in the Federal Depository Library Program
    (FDLP) must continue to have the option of receiving these materials in
    print.
        The Public Information Programs account supports the centuries' old
    FDLP. FDLP libraries, including the 18 in Oklahoma and 18 in
    Connecticut, provide geographically convenient access to government
    information from all three branches of government in print and online.
    We are pleased with GPO's efforts to introduce greater flexibility into
    the depository program to allow more libraries to participate or
    continue their participation. As we note above, many law libraries
    continue to rely on GPO for distribution of specific tangible
    materials, especially core legal titles in print.
        We appreciate GPO's recent digitization initiatives and
    partnerships with the Library of Congress and National Archives and
    Records Administration. The digitization projects provide access to the
    historical Federal Register and Congressional Record, opening up a
    treasure for researchers and the general public. We urge the Committee
    to support additional digitization projects and the preservation of
    documents in the FDLP collection. We also commend GPO for actively
    participating in the House's Bulk Data Task Force and the Committee on
    House Administration's annual Legislative Data Transparency Conference.
        AALL supports GPO's request for funding for the continued
    development of govinfo.gov, currently in beta. Every day, AALL members
    rely on access to the official, authentic government information in the
    new govinfo and in the Federal Digital System (FDsys), which govinfo
    will eventually replace. We appreciate the inclusive process GPO took
    in involving law librarians in the development of govinfo, and our
    members are pleased with the new site. We also support GPO's efforts to
    seek certification of FDsys/govinfo as a Trusted Digital Repository.
    Once certification is complete, GPO will be first Federal agency with
    this designation.
                              library of congress
        The Library of Congress has enjoyed increased public attention this
    year under the leadership of new Librarian of Congress Carla D. Hayden.
    Thanks to Dr. Hayden's leadership, LC is investing in its technology,
    digitizing historically significant collections, and updating the
    Library's technology infrastructure. We strongly urge the Committee to
    fully fund the Library's fiscal year 2018 request.
        Our association was pleased to welcome new Law Librarian of
    Congress Jane Sanchez earlier this year. Members of AALL know Ms.
    Sanchez from her many years in the library community, including as
    director of Library Services and Content Management at GPO. We believe
    Ms. Sanchez is well-suited for the Law Librarian position and look
    forward to working with her in her new role.
        The Law Library of Congress is responsible for providing access to
    trustworthy legal materials in print and electronic formats. Its
    collections are exceptional, and must be preserved. In fact, 70 percent
    of the Law Library's collection is unique. We thank the subcommittee
    for its support of funding for Law Library compact shelving as part of
    the fiscal year 2017 omnibus bill. The replacement of the outdated and
    hazardous shelving units has been a priority for both the Law Library
    and AALL. If the Library's compact shelving is not working properly,
    then materials cannot be accessed and there is a greater chance of
    loss.
        We commend LC for its development of Congress.gov. The Law Library
    has recently expanded the number of legal resources available via
    Congress.gov, and has seen a tremendous jump in traffic. AALL believes
    this demonstrates the public's interest in accessing official,
    authoritative sources of government information. We also support the
    Law Library's digitization efforts and its work to provide greater
    access to legal materials online.
        Finally, we support the excellent work of the Congressional
    Research Service (CRS), and urge Congress to provide public access to
    its unclassified, non-confidential reports. The public has a strong
    interest in CRS reports. Many organizations and websites already make
    thousands of reports freely available online, and commercial third-
    party services offer the reports for a fee. The popularity of these
    sites demonstrates the public's desire for access to these essential
    reports. Members of the public need access to up-to-date, reliable
    information in order to understand the important policy issues before
    Congress and to participate in the democratic process.
                                   conclusion
        AALL thanks the subcommittee for the opportunity to provide written
    testimony. If we can provide additional information or assistance,
    please contact AALL's Director of Government Relations Emily Feltren at
    efeltren@aall.org.

        [This statement was submitted by Ronald E. Wheeler Jr., President.]
                                     ______

                    Prepared Statement of Civic Impulse, LLC
        Dear Members of the subcommittee:

        Each year ten million individuals use our free website
    www.GovTrack.us to research and track legislation in the U.S. Congress.
    Our users include journalists, legislative affairs professionals at
    small businesses and Federal and State agencies, legislative staff on
    the Hill, advocates, teachers, students, and of course member of the
    general public. This testimony is submitted on their behalf.
        Public access to legislative information ensures that accurate
    information about legislation, votes, and other activities of the
    Congress reaches the American public?. It's not about playing gotcha.
    Our users are professionals who have a job to do, including your staff,
    and our users are also regular Americans who also feel they have a job
    to do, that is, to vote in elections, to stay informed, and for some,
    to learn what it takes to become a future senator. At Civic Impulse
    LLC, our job is to take the official record, from you, and bring that
    to the widest audience we can, and to teach them how the Congress
    really works so their relationship with you is a meaningful one.
        I would like to begin by commending the subcommittee for its
    support of important programs in the last several years:
      --The Bulk Data Taskforce's legislative bulk data program, which went
            live in 2016 and was a joint effort of the Senate, the
            Government Publishing Office, the Library of Congress, and the
            Clerk of the House has allowed us to disseminate the most
            accurate information yet about the status of pending
            legislation.
      --Improvements to the Senate's website, which has made it easier for
            the public to learn about the Senate, including the use of
            HTTPS to protect Senate web pages and data from eavesdropping
            and alteration.
      --The launch of Congress.gov by the Library of Congress, and its
            agile-lead improvements since its launch, which is an example
            for the whole legislative branch in how best to develop modern
            technology.
      --Digitization and publication of core historical documents by the
            Government Publishing Office and Library of Congress, including
            the Congressional Record, Statutes at Large, and Constitution
            Annotated (though more work is needed here).
        I also commend the staff at the offices and legislative branch
    agencies named above who have done remarkable work in producing
    accurate, durable, and timely information within the constraints that
    an institution like the Senate requires.
        To continue the subcommittee's commitment to public access to
    legislative information, I respectfully recommend the following:
      --Create a public advisory committee on legislative transparency for
            stakeholders to engage systematically on this issue, including
            but not limited to access to data.
      --Continue participating in the bicameral Bulk Data Taskforce effort
            and fund the participation of the offices and agencies that are
            members of the taskforce.
      --Support congressional publication of other important information in
            a structured data format, including Senate floor amendments,
            committee votes, and disbursements.
      --Cultivate the legislative branch's in-house technology talent as
            other parts of the government are doing and use technology to
            better connect senators with their constituents.
      --Increase Senate staff levels above Congress's current historic lows
            so the Senate has sufficient capacity for policy analysis,
            oversight, and constituent services and direct the
            Congressional Research Service to report on on how staffing
            levels impact the legislative branch's capacity to function,
            and make that report public.
      --Systematically release non-confidential Congressional Research
            Service reports to the general public. Years of experience has
            demonstrated that public access to these reports enhances the
            public debate without creating a commensurate burden.
        I would be glad to discuss these topics further and tell you more
    about how the work of the Senate on public access to legislative
    information translates into a stronger democracy.

        [This statement was submitted by Joshua Tauberer, Ph.D., President,
    Civic Impulse, LLC.]
                                     ______

     Prepared Statement of the Congressional Research Employees Association
        I write as President of the union representing nearly 500 non-
    supervisory employees of the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The
    Congressional Research Employees Association (CREA) is one of three
    unions covering Library of Congress employees. My other role at the
    Library is as Specialist in Drug Safety and Effectiveness in the
    Domestic Social Policy Division, one of six research divisions, which,
    along with five administrative offices, make up the Congressional
    Research Service.
        In my 15-month tenure in office, I have worked to build trust
    between CREA and three key groups: bargaining unit employees, CRS
    management, and Library management. My work at building those
    relationships with congressional committees and their staff is in its
    early stage. I look forward to sharing CREA's concerns with you--and
    learning yours. My hope is that we can explore approaches to resolving
    or avoiding obstacles that impede the functioning of CRS and the
    Library. Thank you for accepting this testimony for the record.
        In the context of this subcommittee's focus on fiscal year 2018
    appropriations, I offer comments on four topics:
      --IT centralization across the Library,
      --involvement of staff in CRS and Library policy consideration,
      --workplace concerns, and
      --CRS mission.
                               it centralization
        A time-sensitive topic is how the Library is going about its move
    into information technology (IT) centralization. We do not necessarily
    oppose centralization; we have concerns about how it might be
    structured.
        What prompts our concern is that while CREA has proposed including
    non-management perspectives and interests in the Library's initiative
    to centralize IT resources, authority, and operations, the Library's
    Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Human Resources Services
    management, which includes labor relations, have denied our requests.
        The Library has contracted with a consultant to recommend several
    centralized organizational structures. Because that report may strongly
    influence management's decisions, we believe employee union access to
    the consultant is essential. The Library has denied the unions access
    to the consultant and to internal planning discussions.
        My hope in bringing our concerns to the subcommittee is that you
    encourage the Librarian and the Chief Information Officer to
      --engage with non-supervisory employees as they assess how best to
            centralize responsibility for the effective and efficient
            functioning of IT services for the Library and CRS in
            particular,
      --inform employees (via their unions) which tasks the Library
            assigned to the contractor,
      --modify the consultant's task assignment to include interviews with
            the three unions, and
      --make sure that the contractor interviews managers (and non-
            managers) in a way that makes interviewees feel safe in
            expressing opinions that may not coincide with those of their
            supervisors.
        The CRS Office of Information Management and Technology provides
    seemingly instant help for CRS employees whose work directly supports
    Congress--a level of timeliness not available to other Library units.
    Although leadership says mission-critical activities would be
    maintained, would a centralized management lead to an averaging of
    resources and attention across Library units? Even if Library
    management didn't take resources away from CRS, would it allow CRS's
    technological abilities growth to stagnate while Library management
    concentrated on improving IT in other units?
        I've been told that CRS uses different platforms and programs than
    the rest of the Library. Although there may be instances where
    consolidating work or functions makes sense, there are many others
    where CRS has developed approaches that serve the mission-specific
    needs that Congress expects and requires of us, including
    confidentiality, security, and timeliness. Who would be responsible for
    protecting that?
          involvement of staff in crs and library policy consideration
        In addition to IT centralization, the Library and CRS are missing
    other opportunities to take advantage of the expertise and policy
    experience that Members and committee of Congress rely on every day:
    CRS's own staff.
        If a congressional committee wanted to figure out the best way to
    reorganize a cabinet department, it could call the CRS experts in the
    Government & Finance Division; if planning a program to coordinate
    emergency services and financing after a natural disaster, a Member
    could call the CRS experts in my Domestic Social Policy Division. Yet
    the Library and CRS have been slow to engage their own experts and the
    union that represents them in policy considerations.
        A CRS example: When CRS revised its policy on confidentiality in
    2015, it issued the final version without first discussing the
    objectives and procedures with the staff who respond to congressional
    requests and protect the confidentiality of requesters and the matters
    that we discuss with them. The objectives of the policy--which I
    believe we share--may be endangered by procedures and restrictions that
    do not serve the interests of Congress. After over a year of discussing
    this disconnect between CRS management and the practical knowledge of
    the employees who do the work the policies address, CRS management and
    CREA are now moving into a better approach. While bargaining unit
    employees are still not included in policy working groups, CRS now
    posts its final drafts and invites comments from all staff. I hope this
    approach yields final policy documents that put forth not only
    appropriate goals but also feasible procedures that support them.
        A Library example: This week nine ``tiger teams'' began work as
    part of the Library's strategic planning activities. The Library did
    not invite the unions to participate. Neither did it inform us of this
    activity. Did the Librarian's Office choose to not include the unions?
    Or did it not even think to consider our participation?
        We like that the Librarian routinely gives kudos to the Library's
    staff. Now, we are ready to share our ideas and energy with her and her
    leadership team.
                               workplace concerns
        Although CRS came out well on many measures in the most recent
    Federal Employees Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), the survey also revealed
    several areas where CRS staff saw problems and wanted change. The CRS
    Director has taken some steps--such as setting up advisory groups--to
    address widespread concerns about communication and diversity and
    inclusion.
        However, she has not engaged in areas that, based on reports from
    staff and our own observations, CREA knows there are pockets extreme
    discontent within CRS. We were hoping that FEVS data could corroborate
    those problems so that management and CREA could work to improve
    employee morale and repair the group's functioning. We see how those
    problems impede CRS's ability to provide Congress with objective,
    authoritative, and timely analysis. Despite our concerns, CRS
    management has refused to share division-specific results with staff or
    CREA.
        Would the subcommittee please consider urging CRS to provide
    division-specific FEVS results to CREA? That tool, while maintaining
    individual employees' confidentiality, could help us--and CRS--focus on
    these problems.
                                  crs mission
        In the Library's fiscal year 2018 budget request, CRS proposes
    hiring GS-11 ``junior analysts'' in time-limited positions, saying,
    ``The junior analyst model is more flexible and cost-effective in
    providing expertise in areas that may only be in demand for a short
    period of time. The junior analysts would gain experience that may
    result in opportunities for permanent positions should they arise from
    attrition and succession planning.''
        The CRS tradition--backed by many Congresses--has been to provide
    comprehensive information and analytic support to Members and
    committees. Our GS-15 specialist positions assert one is ``a national
    expert.'' We may ``apply new hypotheses and concepts to intractable
    problems; define or clarify issues; synthesize complex variables from
    several disciplines; assess political and institutional constraints;
    organize and present policy options and analyze their consequences; and
    anticipate the direction of policy questions.'' That's quite a skill
    set.
        Two recent trends--the retirement of our specialists and budget
    constraints--are, bit by bit, limiting the scope and depth of CRS
    expertise. The CRS proposal for the new position of temporary junior
    analyst is an attempt to find new ways to respond to congressional
    needs. That may help in the short term. But it moves the full coverage
    that Congress has enjoyed and expected farther out of reach each year.
        The CRS proposal would change the promotion potential of new hires
    and change the mix of staff. We do not want to defensively oppose a
    management proposal because it might adversely affect some of our
    bargaining unit members. We note, however, that Congress has
    appreciated and depended upon the wide-ranging and in-depth expertise
    CRS staff make available. How do we find ways to maintain that cadre of
    expertise and experience in just about every area Congress considers?
        We in CREA want to analyze the problem, consider the solution
    management has put forth, and, using the skills for which you value us,
    look for options that best serve the needs of all involved. Just as a
    congressional committee LA talks to industry, academic, and consumer
    groups in forming a position, so too does CREA suggest CRS do as it
    considers staffing patterns. Our mid-level managers may contribute
    useful observations, but may not know the extent or rhythm of how we
    assist Congress. Ask us.
        If you are working with the Library and CRS leadership to tackle
    questions of scope, quality, and cost in the future of CRS, I ask that
    you include CREA in those discussions. If you are not currently working
    on those topics, I urge you to begin and to include CREA.
        Thank you for this opportunity to offer my thoughts. I, along with
    my CREA officer team, look forward to constructive conversations with
    CRS, the Library, and you.

        [This statement was submitted by Susan Thaul, Ph.D., President.]
                                     ______

                    Prepared Statement of the Data Coalition
        Chairman Lankford, Ranking Member Murphy, and Members of the
    Committee: Thank you for this opportunity to provide written testimony
    on behalf of the Data Coalition regarding the modernization of the
    legislative branch of our government.
        The Data Coalition was founded in 2012. We represent 36 technology
    and consulting companies, employing over 200,000 Americans. Fourteen of
    our members are startups founded within the last decade and ten are
    public companies. All of our member companies support the publication
    of government information as machine-readable and open data.
        By expressing laws and bills as open data, instead of unstructured
    documents, we believe Congress can ensure accountability to
    constituents, make lawmaking easier, and lay a foundation for automated
    compliance in the future. The Coalition advocates for the passage of
    open legislative data mandates including the Searchable Legislation
    Act, the Statutes at Large Modernization Act, and the Establishing
    Digital Interactive Transparency (EDIT) Act. These mandates,
    collectively, will move Congress to create and use a comprehensive open
    data structure for bills, amendments, and enacted laws.
        Legislative branch drafting and publishing systems have reached a
    crucial point. Current systems are based on 30-year-old formats and
    software. Incremental investments in the existing technologies have
    become unsustainable and will lead to failures throughout the system.
    Meanwhile, legislative data standards and software technologies have
    advanced to define a clear path forward to modernize these systems. The
    excellent work of the members of the United States Legislative Branch
    XML Working Group and others have laid the groundwork for this
    modernization.
        Concerted investment is now needed to build on this groundwork and
    establish an integrated, modern system for legislative information.
    This system should be based on accepted data standards and technologies
    and guided by a few fundamental principles, which we outline below. We
    also provide recommendations for how to best achieve these principles
    based on existing statutory authorities and institutional expertise.
                          open standards for documents
        A common document format should be used throughout the legislative
    branch. Use of a common format improves system efficiency and supports
    the goals of 2 U.S.C. 181 for legislative branch information exchange.
    United States Legislative Markup (USLM) is a legislative drafting
    standard based on the international LegalDocML standard and provides a
    common structure for documents produced throughout the legislative
    branch. USLM's structure assures a consistent preparation of
    legislative materials to facilitate an efficient flow of information
    throughout a complex and nuanced legislative process.
        The Coalition has been supportive of the Statutes at Large
    Modernization Act (H.R. 1729) which would require the Government
    Publishing Office (GPO) to put all historical Federal laws online in a
    machine-readable format. Currently, historical statutes are only
    available as unsearchable PDFs. And while the Law Revision Counsel has
    published the U.S. Code online in USLM, the U.S. Code does not
    represent a complete history of U.S. laws since it only organizes
    (``codifies'') public laws (``Pub.L.'') by subject matter. Conversely,
    the U.S. Statutes at Large lists laws sequentially, as passed by each
    Congress, and includes repealed laws, private laws (``Pvt. L.''), and
    cyclical appropriations bills. By transforming the U.S. Statutes into a
    machine-readable and open format, the GPO would enable powerful
    legislative and legal research through efficient access to fully
    searchable historical laws.
                        open standards for url citations
        In the modern age, data standards also extend to the location of
    documents on the web. In particular, any legislative branch legal
    citation should have a common and standardized path on the web to
    retrieve the cited document. These paths should be extensible to reach
    particular provisions, as is defined in the references within USLM.
    Doing so will create a unified digital reference standard for the
    legislative branch, to support existing legal citation standards. This
    will aid transparency and efficiency within the legislative branch, and
    create tremendous public interest benefits. Developing and implementing
    such standards across agencies of the legislative branch will take an
    initial investment and a clear mandate.
                        funded interagency coordination
        The legislative process, from bill drafting to publication and
    codification, requires the exchange of information and coordination
    between many agencies of the legislative branch. Currently, much of
    this coordination has been informal and has not been specifically
    funded. Thus, data may be lost, delayed, or distorted as it passes from
    one part of the legislative branch to another. Great efforts have been
    made at each agency to minimize such losses, but they are inevitable
    without a specific, funded effort to manage the interchange of data
    and, ideally, create a common software platform for tasks that the
    agencies share.
                        modernize legislative practices
        The United States legislative process is steeped in tradition, much
    of which was based on the most modern technology of the time--paper.
    With a shift to digital information, and a public that will never see a
    printed copy of a statute, certain practices need to change in order to
    provide true transparency today. Practices such as drafting changes in
    redlined text, have been adopted by jurisdictions such as California.
    Changes to the form of submission of amendment (e.g. the Rules
    Committee already supports electronic submission), could also create
    broad benefits. We recommend the creating and funding of a Committee to
    propose technical changes to current practice that could best support
    modern informational infrastructure.
                          transparency for the public
        The various legislative agencies have made great strides toward
    making information about the legislative process available in a timely
    manner and in standard digital formats. This work should continue and
    be supported where necessary. Additionally, the Coalition supports the
    publication of Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports online, in
    a machine-readable and open data format, for full public access. As we
    have publicly stated, CRS reports play a critical role in our
    legislative process by informing lawmakers and staff about the
    important issues of the day. Making CRS reports available as open data
    will modernize a long-outdated and disjointed aspect of the legislative
    process and the public's access to expertise supported by their tax
    dollars. Longstanding congressional policy allows Members and
    committees to use their websites to disseminate CRS products to the
    public, although CRS itself may not engage in direct public
    dissemination. The result is that people with Capitol Hill connections
    can easily obtain CRS reports from any congressional staffer and well-
    resourced groups can pay for access from subscription services. We
    believe the public should have timely and consistent access to CRS
    produced public reports.
        In support of these principles we present five recommendations for
    the Committee to consider.
                         standardize documents in uslm
        The Law Revision Counsel has published the U.S. Code online in
    USLM, and there are projects underway at the Government Publishing
    Office (GPO) to convert bills, public laws, statutes, and other
    documents into USLM. As we describe above, the Coalition encourages the
    Committee to fund work at the GPO's Congressional Publishing office to
    begin making the historical United States Statutes at Large available
    to the public at no cost on a website in a searchable, non-proprietary
    format. In doing so the Committee should ensure that this online
    edition of the Statutes at Large is prepared in consultation with those
    entities developing USLM formatting conventions used for enrolled bills
    and other legislative materials. In addition, the Committee should
    allocate funds to the GPO to extend USLM to legislative amendments and
    bill Compilations.
                         fund interagency coordination
        As previously mentioned, interagency coordination and data exchange
    is an essential function. Modernization efforts will be inefficient and
    ineffective if agencies do not have the funds and mandate to
    coordinate. This coordination should include all agencies that produce
    and publish documents in the legislative branch, including the House
    and Senate, GPO, the Library of Congress and the Law Revision Counsel.
    The work of this coordination group should extend the achievements of
    the Legislative Branch XML Working Group, with dedicated resources to
    the integration tasks ahead. This coordination should focus on data and
    document exchange between the agencies, development of common software
    resources, and development and implementation of url citation standards
    for legislative branch documents.
                   modernize document drafting and publishing
        The current drafting and amending platforms in the Senate and House
    do not support the more modern, schema based USLM standard. The
    platforms themselves depend on outdated technologies and, in some
    cases, hardware. An investment needs to be made into modernizing these
    drafting platforms, providing a common software platform for agencies
    to draft, exchange, update and publish documents. This effort would
    augment the goal of increased interagency coordination within the
    legislative branch described above.
           establish a house-senate practice modernization taskforce
        As previously mentioned, some legislative drafting practices need
    to be updated in order to support greater transparency and efficiency.
    A task force including Members of interested Committees should be
    established to work with the Legislative Counsel in both the Senate and
    House to review drafting practices and make recommendations for areas
    of improvement. Many of these will not require formal changes in laws
    or rules, but education about preferred practices for maximizing the
    benefits of modern information systems is needed for members and staff.
             support opening congressional research service reports
        We encourage the Committee to consider proposals to comprehensively
    publish and catalogue non-confidential CRS reports on a centralized
    online portal in machine-readable and searchable formats. We do not
    make a specific recommendation on which entity should handle this
    publishing; we leave that decision to the discretion of the Committee.
    We would note that the Secretary of the Senate, Clerk of the House, the
    GPO, the Library of Congress, and libraries in the Federal Depository
    Library Program (FDLP) are all practical entities for hosting. We urge
    the Committee to give great weight to the significant public benefit
    that would result from comprehensive, timely access to this valuable
    public resource.
        We appreciate this opportunity to testify in support of these
    important initiatives and welcome any follow-up with the Committee.

        [This statement was submitted by Christian Hoehner, Director of
    Policy.]
                                     ______

                     Prepared Statement of Demand Progress
        Dear Chairman Lankford, Ranking Member Murphy, and Members of the
    Committee:

        On behalf of a coalition of organizations and individuals, thank
    you for the opportunity to submit testimony in support of expanded
    public access to Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports.
    Longstanding congressional policy allows Members and committees to use
    their websites to disseminate CRS products to the public, although CRS
    itself may not engage in direct public dissemination. This results in a
    disheartening inequity: insiders with Capitol Hill connections can
    easily obtain CRS reports from any of the 20,000 congressional staffers
    and well-resourced groups can pay for access from subscription
    services. However, members of the public can access only a small subset
    of CRS reports that are intermittently posted on an assortment of not-
    for-profit websites. Now is the time for a systematic solution that
    provides timely, comprehensive free public access to and preservation
    of non-confidential reports while protecting confidential
    communications between CRS and Members and committees of Congress.
        CRS reports--not to be confused with confidential CRS memoranda and
    other products--play a critical role in our legislative process by
    informing lawmakers and staff about the important issues of the day.
    The public should have the same access to information. In 2015 CRS
    completed over 1,200 new reports (including other general-distribution
    products) and updated over 2,400 existing products. (CRS also produced
    more than 3,100 confidential memoranda.)
        Our interest in free public access to non-confidential CRS reports
    illustrates the esteem in which the agency is held. CRS reports are
    regularly requested by members of the public and are frequently cited
    by the courts and the media. For example, over the last decade CRS
    reports were cited in 190 Federal court opinions, including 64 at the
    appellate level. Over the same time period, CRS reports were cited 67
    times in The Washington Post and 45 times The New York Times. CRS
    reports often are published in the record of legislative proceedings.
        Taxpayers provide more than $100 million annually in support of
    CRS, and yet members of the public often must look to private companies
    for consistent access to CRS reports. Some citizens are priced out of
    these services, resulting in inequitable access to information about
    government activity that is produced at public expense.
        In fact, while CRS generates a list of all the reports it has
    issued over the previous year, it silently redacts that information
    from the public-facing version of its annual report. This makes it
    difficult for the public to even know the scope of CRS products they
    could obtain from Congress. A Google search returned over 27,000
    reports including 4,260 hosted on .gov domains, but there is no way to
    know if those documents are up to date, what might be missing, or when
    they might disappear from view. We think it critical that in
    circumstances when the public has access to a CRS report, it knows
    whether it is the most recent, up-to-date version.
        Comprehensive free public access to non-confidential CRS reports
    would place the reports in line with publications by other legislative
    support agencies in the United States and around the globe. The
    Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Budget Office, the
    Law Library of Congress, and the 85 percent of G-20 countries whose
    parliaments have subject matter experts routinely publish reports to
    the public. In addition, former CRS analysts with more than 500 years
    of experience have signed a letter calling for public access to the
    reports.
        We hasten to emphasize that we are not calling for public access to
    CRS products that should be kept confidential or are distributed only
    to a small network on Capitol Hill. Memoranda produced at the request
    of a Member or committee and provided to an office in direct response
    to a request should remain confidential unless the office itself
    chooses to release the report. By comparison, we believe no such
    protection should attach to reports typically published on CRS's
    internal website or otherwise generally disseminated.
        We value the work of CRS and in no way wish to impede its ability
    to serve Congress. CRS reports already undergo multiple levels of
    administrative review to ensure they are accurate, non-partisan,
    balanced, and well-written. Authors of every CRS product are aware of
    the likelihood that reports will become publicly available.
        We do not make a specific recommendation on who should
    comprehensively publish non-confidential CRS reports online, although
    the approach outlined in the bipartisan, bicameral legislation known as
    the Equal Access to Congressional Research Service Reports Act of 2016,
    H.R. 4702 (114th) and S. 2639 (114th) is a reasonable. The Clerk of the
    House, the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office
    (GPO), the Library of Congress and libraries in the Federal Depository
    Library Program (FDLP) are all reasonable places for the public to gain
    access to these documents. Space constraints prevent us from responding
    in this document to concerns occasionally raised about public access to
    CRS reports, so for more information please go to the document
    identified in the footnote for our evaluation of those concerns.\1\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ See Nov. 12, 2015 letter in support of expanded public access
    to CRS reports, available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/demandprogress/
    letters/2015-11-12_Letter_Calling_for_Public_
    Access_to_CRS_Reports.pdf and https://goo.gl/sLa37S.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        We ask only that all non-confidential reports be published as they
    are released, updated, or withdrawn; that they be published in their
    full, final form; that they are freely downloadable individually and in
    bulk; and that they be accompanied by an index or metadata that
    includes the report ID, the date issued/updated, the report name, a
    hyperlink to the report, and the division that produced the report.
        Thank you again for the opportunity to testimony. If you have
    further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at
    daniel@demandprogress.org.

                Sincerely yours,

    American Association of Law Libraries
    American Civil Liberties Union
    American Commitment
    American Society of News Editors
    Americans For Tax Reform
    Association of Alternative Newsmedia
    Association of Research Libraries
    Campaign Finance Institute
    Cause of Action
    Center for Data Innovation
    Center for Democracy & Technology
    Center for Responsive Politics
    Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists
    Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
    Common Cause
    Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
    Data Coalition
    Defending Rights & Dissent
    Demand Progress
    Free Government Information
    FreedomWorks
    Government Accountability Project
    GovTrack.us
    LegiStorm
    Minnesota Coalition On Government Information
    National Coalition for History
    National Security Archive
    National Security Counselors
    National Taxpayers Union
    New America's Open Technology Institute
    OpenTheGovernment
    Project On Government Oversight
    Public Citizen
    Quorum
    R Street Institute
    Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
    Southern Oregon University Hannon Library
    Sunlight Foundation
    Taxpayers Protection Alliance
    TechFreedom
    The FOIA Project (foiaproject.org)
    Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse
    University

    Amy Frazier (Middlebury College Libraries) *
    Andrew Lopez (Shain Library, Connecticut College ) *
    Bert Chapman (Purdue University Libraries) *
    Brenda Ellis (Middlebury College) *
    Bryan Carson (Middlebury College Library) *
    Carrie Macfarlane (Middlebury College Libraries) *
    Claire King (Kansas Supreme Court Law Library) *
    Dr. William D. Jackson (CRS, retired.) *
    Francis Buckley (Former Superintendent of Documents, US Government
        Printing Office) *
    Helen Burke (Minnesota Coalition on Government Information) *
    Jada A. Aitchison (UALR Law Library, Little Rock, AR) *
    Lois Aleta Fundis (Reference and Government Documents Librarian, Mary
        H. Weir Public Library, Weirton, WV) *
    Melissa Serfass (University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen
        School of Law Library) *
    Michael Malbin (University at Albany, SUNY) *
    Patrick Wallace (Middlebury College) *
    Richard Rowberg (National Academies of Science, Engineering, and
        Medicine) *
    Robert Sippel (Evans Library, Florida Institute of Technology) *
    Ryan Clement (Middlebury College) *
    Shari Laster (University of California, Santa Barbara) *
    Stephen Hayes (University of Notre Dame--Hesburgh Libraries' Mahaffey
        Business library) *
    Susan Bucks (Monmouth University) *
    Terry Simpkins (Middlebury College) *
    Wendy Swanberg (University of Wisconsin-Madison; Bickford Organics) *

    * for affiliation purposes only
    Kathleen L. Amen
    Henry Cohen
    Kayla Cook
    Louis Fisher
    Jeffrey Griffith
    Kay Halstead
    Patricia Hassan
    Michele Hayslett
    Bernadine Abbott Hoduski
    Juli Hughes
    Kelly McGlynn
    Jonathan Medalia
    Judy Myers
    James Nichol
    Norman Ornstein
    Jennifer Pesetsky
    Margo Pierson
    Ronald Russ
    Karen Russ
    Christine Scott
    Karin Shank
    Ellen Simmons
    Maryellen Trautman
    Barbara Wagner

        [This statement was submitted by Daniel Schuman, Policy Director.]
                                     ______

              Prepared Statement of the Library Copyright Alliance
        The Library Copyright Alliance (``LCA'') consists of three major
    library associations: the American Library Association, Association of
    College and Research Libraries and Association of Research Libraries.
    Collectively, we represent over 100,000 libraries in the United States
    employing more than 350,000 librarians and other personnel. An
    estimated 200 million Americans use these libraries over two billion
    times each year.
        The Library of Congress (``Library'') is one of the world's leading
    research and cultural institutions.\1\ We appreciate the opportunity to
    provide these comments as the subcommittee prepares to make fiscal year
    2018 appropriations for it. We look forward to working with the
    subcommittee and full Appropriations Committee throughout the
    appropriations process to ensure that the Library has the resources it
    needs both to remain preeminent and realize its enormous full potential
    under the new Librarian of Congress (``Librarian''), Dr. Carla Hayden.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ The Library of Congress is a member of the Association of
    Research Libraries but it played no role in the preparation of this
    submission.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        We have three principal observations and requests:

        (1) It is imperative that Congress appropriate sufficient funding
    to allow the Library to continue to perform its broad and fundamental
    mission of preserving and providing the public with access to critical
    information resources. At her confirmation hearing last year before the
    Senate Rules Committee, the Librarian articulated a vision under which
    the Library's ``resources are readily available to more people
    online,'' noting that ``[t]his would provide all Americans with ``a
    sense of ownership and pride in this national treasure.'' She also
    spoke eloquently to the power of the Library's deep and significant
    collections to shape educations, lives and the careers of millions of
    people.
        Specifically, the Librarian described how--through the modern
    Library of Congress she hopes to helm--``a child on a reservation in
    New Mexico will have the same access as a high school student in St.
    Louis, Missouri.'' She further envisioned that ``a fifth grader in
    Bowling Green, Kentucky, would be able to view Abraham Lincoln's papers
    from his home computer, and a shy tenth grader from Meridian,
    Mississippi, with dreams of performing, would be able to view the
    Library's Leonard Bernstein collection.''

        (2) It is particularly important that the Library be fully enabled
    financially to truly modernize. The Librarian's objective of
    ``continuing movement to open the treasure chest that is the Library of
    Congress'' requires upgrading the Library's information technology (IT)
    infrastructure, which in turn requires more funding. We are well aware
    of the IT management issues at the Library identified in the past by
    the Government Accountability Office, but the Librarian was
    overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate expressly because (as Members
    observed) she has the IT management and broader library system
    modernization experience necessary to put the Library's IT house in
    order. Indeed, she has already taken several important steps to achieve
    this result.
        Further, and more specifically in this regard, the Librarian also
    testified regarding the importance of the Library balancing its various
    roles, including ``ensur[ing] a fully functional Copyright Office that
    supports the community it serves.'' The Copyright Office has had its
    own IT challenges, as well documented by the GAO and a recent report by
    the Library Inspector General. Addressing these challenges will require
    better IT management within both the Copyright Office and the Library.
    But achieving the IT objectives identified in the Copyright Office's
    2016-2020 strategic plan also requires additional funding.
        We support that plan's IT objectives, including creating a modern
    system for recording commercial and noncommercial copyright documents
    and making copyright records easily searchable and widely available to
    all who need them. In particular, we agree that:

      --Registrations, licenses, and other copyright records should become
            more accessible and useable to the global public;
      --The public should be able to view records that form the life-cycle
            of a copyright interest in a more cohesive and comprehensive
            fashion; and
      --Pre-1978 copyright records should be available online.

        We note that while there is disagreement among stakeholders
    concerning the location of the Copyright Office, there is unanimous
    support that modernization of the Copyright Office cannot and should
    not wait. Thus, it is prudent to focus resources on that area of strong
    consensus, while discussion regarding Copyright Office autonomy
    continues more broadly among all stakeholders.

        (3) Consistent with the goal of increasing public access to
    information, we strongly support expanded access to non-confidential
    Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports. These reports play an
    important role in the legislative process by providing lawmakers and
    staff with non-partisan analyses of the significant issues of public
    concern. Statute should ensure that members of the public also have
    access to this trove of information they paid to create.
        Thank you for the opportunity to submit these request and
    observations. We hope that the subcommittee and full Appropriations
    Committee will consider our organizations as resources and deeply
    interested stakeholders in all of the matters addressed above as the
    appropriations process for fiscal year 2018 evolves. We look forward to
    facilitating your work.
        Please contact LCA's counsel, Jonathan Band,
    jband@policybandwidth.com, with any questions you may have.

                                     ______

                     R Street Institute, Kosar, Kevin deg.
                  Prepared Statement of the R Street Institute
        Chairman Lankford, Ranking Member Murphy, and Members of the
    Committee:

        Thank you for considering my written testimony. My name is Kevin
    Kosar, and I am vice president of policy for the R Street Institute, a
    free-market think tank here in Washington. I also co-direct the
    Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, a bipartisan gathering of
    experts and congressional staff who meet monthly to discuss ways to
    reform Congress to meet the demands of the 21st century. Our aim, as we
    say, is to ``Make Congress Great Again.''
        I am here today to encourage the committee to make public access to
    Congressional Research Service reports more equitable. In short,
    lobbyists and other interested persons within the Beltway can get
    copies of CRS reports much more easily than the average member of the
    public. This is not fair, as it is the public whose tax dollars support
    CRS to the tune of $106 million per year.

        Here I will make two brief points:

        First, no harm can come of making the reports more equitably
    available to the public. I spent more than a decade working at CRS, as
    an analyst and a research manager. I love the agency, as do the 24
    other former and retired CRS experts who signed an April 28, 2017
    letter to you in support of broader public access to CRS reports. We
    have 570 years of collective experience working at CRS and we are
    convinced that this is the right thing to do. Forty groups on the left,
    right, and center also support more equitable public access--which
    makes CRS leadership's lonely lobbying against reform look peculiar
    (attached).

        Second, Congress always has made CRS reports available to the
    public, albeit in an ad hoc way. For example, CRS' 1979 annual report
    (pp. 63-85) lists dozens of CRS documents publicly released as
    committee prints, as part of hearings, and in the Congressional Record
    (attached). When the Internet arrived 20 years ago, Congress released
    even more CRS reports to the public. Committees, individual members,
    and various offices within the two chambers posted CRS reports online
    and emailed them to lobbyists, interest groups, and constituents. This
    explains why there are thousands of copies of CRS reports floating
    about the Internet, scattered here and there.
        To conclude, what I and other former CRS employees advocate is that
    Congress continue to publish the reports, but to do so more
    consistently. I think it makes most sense to have Government Publishing
    Office do it, since its job is to make authenticated government
    documents accessible to the public. GPO previously has published CRS
    reports, like the Evolving Congress, which came out late in 2014. As
    previously mentioned, GPO also has published CRS reports as parts of
    committee prints and hearings.

                Thank you.

                                  ATTACHMENTS

    posted on may 10, 2017 by kevin kosar

               CRS SHOULD STOP FIGHTING ACCESS TO ITS OWN REPORTS

    http://www.rstreet.org/2017/05/10/crs-should-stop-fighting-access-to-
    its-own-reports/

        The Congressional Research Service plays an essential role in
    policymaking and oversight. It makes Congress smarter about issues and
    teaches new legislators how to legislate. I would not have spent 11
    years working at CRS if I did not think very highly of the institution.
        But there is one topic on which the widely esteemed and nonpartisan
    agency has been embarrassingly biased: the proposals to make its
    reports more equitably available to the public. As a practical matter,
    CRS reports are available--27,000 copies can be found on government and
    private-sector websites. EveryCRSReport.com, for example, has more than
    8,000 reports. But official congressional policy does not provide for
    consistent public release of the reports, which explain the workings of
    Congress, agencies and myriad public policies.
        Legislation has been introduced in this Congress and last Congress
    to fix this situation, and a number of times previously. Reps. Mike
    Quigley, D-Illinois, and Leonard Lance, R-New Jersey, would have the
    Government Publishing Office post the reports on GovInfo.gov. This
    solution would give citizens a central repository to go to read
    authenticated copies of the reports, and would relieve CRS and
    congressional staff of the hassles of responding to reporters,
    lobbyists and constituents who ask for copies.
        Inevitably, CRS proclaims aloud that it takes no position on the
    issue and will do whatever Congress directs. But how are we to square
    that claim with this 2015 memorandum that CRS' leadership shopped to
    legislators? The memorandum is modestly titled: ``Considerations
    arising from the dissemination of CRS products.'' The content, however,
    is nothing but scare-mongering speculation about bad things that might
    happen if more Americans had access to CRS reports. Proponents of
    expanded access to CRS reports quickly demolished the claims made in
    CRS' ``considerations'' memo.
        As someone who once reviewed CRS reports before they were
    published, I can tell you that, had a CRS analyst written this memo, it
    never would have seen the light of day. And said analyst would have
    been rebuked by his or her supervisor. The memorandum not only
    misconstrues what is being proposed?--?nobody is advocating that CRS
    itself distribute the reports--but it also makes no mention of the many
    possible benefits of a change in policy (like increased public
    understanding of how Congress and government operates).
        That means the memo violates CRS' own very clear policies that its
    work for Congress must be accurate and unbiased, and must consider the
    possible benefits and costs of any proposed policy. (This internal CRS
    rule not only is intellectually honest, it also, ahem, protects the
    agency from having its work give the appearance of bias.)
        One hopes that someone in Congress would call CRS leadership to the
    carpet on this tartuffery, and demand the agency to disavow the
    memorandum. In a time when Federal budget cuts are being seriously
    discussed, the agency does itself, its employees and Congress no favors
    by being the lone voice advocating against common-sense reform.

                 R Street Institute, Moss, Sasha deg.
                  Prepared Statement of the R Street Institute
    To:  Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on the
        Legislative Branch

    Re: Public Access to Legislative Information (Congressional Research
        Service)

    May 12, 2017

    Dear members of the subcommittee:

        The following is a letter addressed to the chairmen and ranking
    members of the Joint Committee on the Library; the House and Senate
    legislative branch appropriations subcommittees; the Committee on House
    Administration; and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.
    It was signed by 25 former Congressional Research Service (``CRS'')
    employees, with a combined 570 years of service with the agency. They
    formally request that Congress provide a central online source for
    timely public access to CRS reports, which would allow all members of
    the public to enjoy access on equal footing and to verify that the
    reports are authentic. The nonconfidential reports of other
    legislative-branch support agencies--such as the Congressional Budget
    Office, the Government Accountability Office, and the Library of
    Congress' law library--already are made available publicly. These
    former and retired CRS employees respectfully request the same of CRS
    reports.

    25 former CRS employees: Give free public access to CRS reports

    Dear Chairman Harper, Chairman Shelby, Chairman Yoder, Chairman
    Lankford, Ranking Member Brady, Ranking Member Klobuchar, Ranking
    Member Ryan, and Ranking Member Murphy:

        We are 25 former employees of the Congressional Research Service
    (CRS) with a collective 570 years of service with the agency. We write
    in strong support of timely, comprehensive free public access to CRS
    reports. In doing so, we distinguish between CRS reports, which are
    non-confidential, and other CRS products, such as memoranda, which are
    confidential.
        CRS plays a vital role in our legislative process by informing
    lawmakers and staff about important policy issues. To that end, nothing
    should impair CRS's ability to provide confidential support to members
    of Congress, such as through briefings and confidential memoranda. Nor
    should Congress take any steps to weaken the Constitutionally-protected
    status of CRS's work product. In contrast, CRS reports are widely
    available on Capitol Hill to staff and lobbyists alike, are released
    with no expectation of confidentiality, and could be of immense value
    to the general public.
        Longstanding congressional policy allows Members and committees to
    distribute CRS products to the public, which they do in a variety of
    ways. In addition, CRS provides reports upon request to the judicial
    branch, to journalists, and to the executive branch, which often
    publishes them on agency websites. Insiders with relationships to
    congressional staff can easily obtain the reports, and well-resourced
    groups pay for access from third-party subscription services. Members
    of the public, however, can freely access only a subset of CRS reports,
    usually via third parties.
        It is difficult for the public to know the scope of CRS products
    they could obtain from Congress. A Google search returned over 27,000
    products including 4,260 hosted on .gov domains, but there is no way to
    know if those documents are up to date, whether the search is
    comprehensive, or when the documents might disappear from view.
        We believe Congress should provide a central online source for
    timely public access to CRS reports. That would place all members of
    the public on an equal footing to one another with respect to access.
    It would resolve concerns around public and congressional use of the
    most up-to-date version. Additionally, it would ensure the public can
    verify it is using an authentic version. And it would diminish requests
    to analysts to provide a copy of the most recent report. Other
    legislative support agencies, i.e., the Congressional Budget Office and
    the Government Accountability Office, publish non-confidential reports
    on their websites as a matter of course. Doing so does not appear to
    harm their ability to perform their mission for Congress.
        We thank you for the opportunity to share our thoughts on
    implementing full public access to non-confidential CRS reports. If you
    wish to discuss this further, please contact Daniel Schuman, Demand
    Progress policy director, at daniel@demandprogress.org, or Kevin Kosar,
    R Street Institute senior fellow and governance director, at
    kkosar@rstreet.org. Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

                With best regards,

                        Henry Cohen, George Costello, Heather Durkin, Gregg
                                Esenwein, Louis Fisher, Peggy Garvin, Jeff
                                Griffith, Pamela Hairston, Glennon J.
                                Harrison, John Haskell, Kevin Holland,
                                Thomas Hungerford, W. Jackson, Nancy Jones,
                                Kevin Kosar, Jon Medalia, Jim Nichol,
                                Elizabeth Palmer, Harold Relyea, Mort
                                Rosenberg, Dick Rowberg, Daniel Schuman,
                                Christine Scott, Sherry Shapiro, and Nye
                                Stevens.

    cc: Joint Committee on the Library
     House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee
     Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee
     Committee on House Administration
     Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
     Leadership of the House of Representatives
     Leadership of the United States Senate

        [This statement was submitted by Sasha Moss, Tech Policy Manager.]