[Senate Hearing 115-185]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018
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THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met at 10:20 a.m., in room SD-124, Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Hon. James Lankford (chairman)
presiding.
Present: Senators Lankford, Kennedy, Murphy, and Van
Hollen.
UNITED STATES SENATE SERGEANT AT ARMS AND DOORKEEPER
STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK J. LARKIN, SERGEANT AT ARMS
ACCOMPANIED BY:
JIM MORHARD, DEPUTY SERGEANT AT ARMS AND DOORKEEPER
MIKE STENGER, CHIEF OF STAFF
KATRINA SIMS, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
DICK ATTRIDGE, ASSISTANT SERGEANT AT ARMS FOR PROTECTIVE
OPERATIONS AND CONTINUITY PROGRAMS
VICKI SINNETT, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
BRET SWANSON, OPERATIONS
DAVE BASS, CAPITOL OPERATIONS
TERENCE LILEY, GENERAL COUNSEL
CHRIS DEY, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JAMES LANKFORD
Senator Lankford. Good morning, everyone. The subcommittee
will come to order.
This is our third fiscal year 2018 budget hearing for the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee.
We have with us today the Honorable Frank Larkin, Senate
Sergeant at Arms, and Chief Matthew Verderosa, Chief of the
U.S. Capitol Police. Thank you both for being here today.
Welcome, Chief. This is your first hearing I believe before
this subcommittee. We will try to make it as painful as we
possibly can. [Laughter.]
Senator Lankford. This hearing was originally planned for
the morning of June 14. That same morning a man decided to open
fire on Members of Congress while they held a practice for the
congressional baseball game in Alexandria, Virginia.
It was because of the quick action by Capitol Police
Officers, Special Agents Crystal Griner and David Bailey, who
were on protective detail for House Majority Whip Steve
Scalise, that the event was not even more tragic. Because of
their heroism, there were no fatalities, and there could have
been many lives lost. We are incredibly grateful for their
courage. We wish them full recovery in their injuries, and we
are grateful to all those that were involved in their training
and in their support. It made quite a difference that day.
We are also thankful that Representative Scalise has been
upgraded to fair condition and continues to improve. I
understand that just this past weekend, Matt Mika was
discharged from the hospital as well and has returned home. Our
thoughts and prayers are with them both and with all of those
that were on that field that morning and what they continue to
process through.
The entire congressional community was deeply affected by
the shooting. We realize there could have been any of us
practicing there that day and any of us targeted in any spot.
Senate Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police both have unique
missions. Now more than ever, they carry significant
importance. Threats, both internal and external, are ever
present and emergent in the environment in which we operate.
Both of your agencies work diligently to protect Members of
Congress, our staff, and the over 4 million visitors to the
Capitol campus each year. It is a delicate balance that you
manage. This is an office space. This is a museum. This is a
tourist spot all at once. To be able to manage all those
realities requires its own delicate task.
We truly appreciate the dedication of the men and women of
your agencies that enable Congress to do its work, and we do
thank you for that.
As I have mentioned at our first two hearings this year, we
are again faced with a budget environment that will require
difficult and important discussion on how we move forward in
the upcoming fiscal year.
The value gained from your requested increases must be
weighed against our duty to be fiscally responsible and to be
able to balance out. We will need to make wise choices with our
priorities, and so we are looking forward to any input that you
can give us to help us make those decisions.
The Senate Sergeant at Arms request for fiscal year 2018 is
$204.6 million, an increase of approximately $7.2 million above
the fiscal year 2017 enacted level. The request includes $73.1
million for salaries and benefits and a request of $131.6
million for expenses.
The majority of the requested increase supports
cybersecurity initiatives to prevent and protect against
internal and external threats alike. The nature of these
evolving intrusions have recently received increased attention
and scrutiny, rightfully so, and it is important that we take
the necessary steps to prevent the compromise of our Senate
networks.
The Capitol Police requests a total of $426.6 million, an
increase of $33.3 million above the fiscal year 2017 enacted
level. Of the funding requested, $351 million is for salaries
and benefits to cover fixed cost increases for pay and benefits
of the existing staff, an additional 72 sworn officers and 48
civilians, for a total force of 1,943 sworn officers and 420
civilians. You can check me on those numbers to make sure I get
it correctly.
The request for the expenses account is for $75.2 million,
an increase of $7 million above the fiscal year 2017 enacted
level. This increase supports the lifecycle replacement of
detection and screening equipment, as well as training and
uniforms for officers.
Much of your requested increase comes from expanding
mission requirements, and I look forward to hearing more about
those needs today, as well as any additional needs that you
have identified given the recent incident.
I would like to now turn to Ranking Member Senator Murphy
for any opening remarks he would like to make.
STATEMENT OF SENATOR CHRISTOPHER MURPHY
Senator Murphy. Thank you very much, Chairman Lankford.
I would like to welcome our witnesses today. I want to join
Senator Lankford in expressing my gratitude to the Capitol
Police force for their heroism on the ball field in Alexandria.
As a member of the Democratic baseball team, this is one of
these events that represents what is right with Washington
despite a lot of things that are wrong with this place, which
makes the attack even more tragic. So let me again send my best
to Special Agents Crystal Griner and David Bailey and Henry
Cabrera. We are so thankful for their skilled response to the
training that you provided them. It is great news to hear that
Special Agent Griner is now out of the hospital as well. We
provide our thoughts to Congressman Scalise, to Zack Barth, and
to Matt Mika.
On this subcommittee, we are in this really special and
unique position to make sure that both the Capitol Police and
the Sergeant at Arms have the resources that they need to help
keep us safe and to deal with ever-changing threats.
Chief Verderosa, your budget would continue to ensure that
we have top notch security on our campus and our grounds, and I
am ready to work with you to support your efforts. I also look
forward to discussing how we might provide some targeted
increases to make adjustments to the array of growing threats.
Mr. Larkin, from cyber attacks on Federal agencies to
Russian hacking, cyberspace right now is the modern
battlefield, and that makes it even more critical that the
Senate's IT security systems and, frankly, all of the ways in
which Members interact with technology that our protections are
robust and resilient given these threats.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, I just want to note that the
legislative branch is not exempt from the larger budget debate.
Our bill funds not only your two security-focused
organizations, but also other critical agencies to our work,
including our watchdog, GAO. Just like we need parity and
common sense to balance the needs of the legislative branch
appropriations bill, we also need parity and common sense in
the budget deal for fiscal year 2018. So that includes fully
supporting your agencies but also making sure that other
priorities that are vital to our work are protected in our
bill.
This is a really important hearing to have. We look forward
to talking to you in open session and then being able to have a
private conversation as well. We look forward to your
testimony.
Senator Lankford. I do want to remind any Members that come
in, as well as our guests that are here, that we will move to a
closed session immediately following the open portion of this
hearing. All relevant security issues will be dealt with in
that closed session. And I would also like to request of those
giving testimony today that we will reserve some of the more
sensitive security items for that closed session, and we can
have a frank discussion at that time.
Mr. Larkin, we will be honored to be able to receive your
testimony at this time.
SUMMARY STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK J. LARKIN
Mr. Larkin. Mr. Chairman, Senator Murphy, thank you. It is
always a pleasure to appear before this subcommittee and offer
some thoughts.
I would request that the subcommittee accept my formal
testimony for the record that captures the breadth and depth of
the challenges and the tasks accomplished by the Sergeant at
Arms in the past year with measures of performance and
operational impact that we have been able to achieve.
Senator Lankford. Without objection. We are glad to be able
to receive both of your written statements as well for the
record.
Mr. Larkin. Mr. Chairman, as you mentioned, the budget
request is for a modest increase of 3.7 percent. A portion of
that is due to the cost of living adjustment for salaries, and
we increased funding for cyber defense. We can address that in
more detail shortly.
The SAA, or the Sergeant at Arms, is a very large, diverse
organization, multifaceted, backstops all parts of the Senate
institution and with a larger regard to the legislative branch
as a whole. Our goal is to ensure a safe and secure
environment, free of distractions, for Members and staff to do
the Nation's business.
I am able to accomplish that by the talented leadership
that I have behind me right now: Jim Morhard, my deputy; Mike
Stenger, my Chief of Staff; Katrina Sims, my Executive
Assistant; and fortified by my Assistant Sergeant at Arms, Dick
Attridge for protective operations and continuity programs;
Vicki Sinnett, our CIO; Bret Swanson, who does all our central
ops here; Dave Bass, Capitol Ops; Terence Liley, my General
Counsel who keeps me out of the drink more times than not; and
Chris Dey, the chief financial officer.
The Sergeant at Arms is responsible for the safety and
security of the Senate, as you pointed out. Emergency
preparedness and continuity operations, information technology,
and telecommunications support, access control, transportation
and parking, printing and graphics, mail security, postal
handling and delivery, facilities maintenance, chamber
operations, State office support and readiness, furniture
construction, repair and furnishing of offices, human
resources, employee assistance, contracting and finance
support, training and education, TV recording studio, media
galleries, Senate pages and intern programs, photo studio, and
finally hair care. Again, it is a diverse organization, with
much responsibility, and many working components.
The silent team of highly competent professionals behind
me, and beyond this hearing, work behind the scenes every day
for this institution. I have folks on the job from 1 week to
over 40 years, quite a legacy of service within our
organization for the Senate. They are innovative. They are
constantly learning, forward leaning. They are responsive and
very much customer focused. We are the problem solvers for the
Senate.
We work in close partnership with the Secretary of the
Senate, Julie Adams, and her deputy, Mary Jones. Our two
organizations have committed themselves to a non-partisan
support of the Senate, and our organizations are seamless in
the way we support the institution to minimize the distractions
on Members and staff so legislative business of the Nation can
be done.
We also work closely with our legislative branch partners,
the House Sergeant at Arms, Paul Irving; the Chief
Administrative Officer, Phil Kiko, specifically as we join
forces with our IT initiatives and cyber defense; the Architect
of the Capitol, Stephen Ayers, a very important partner; and to
my left Chief Verderosa, supported by his assistant, Steve
Sund.
The Chief leads an exemplary force of men and women
dedicated to protecting the legislative branch as evident on a
daily basis as we move about this campus and certainly
highlighted 2 weeks ago by the heroic acts of bravery by two
USCP officers on the Alexandria ball field.
The two priority areas for me are physical security and
safety of the Senate and legislative branch followed by
cybersecurity. The threat of a cybersecurity intrusion is
persistent and it requires our constant attention. I will
address that in more depth in the closed session.
We are in a dynamic threat environment. The shooting 2
weeks ago perpetrated by a lone assailant highlights the
potential for threats off campus and in Member home districts.
Active shooter threats to the campus are the main concern for
Chief Verderosa and me. Persistent cyber attacks and our
persistent efforts to protect data and privacy are very high on
our radar. Asymmetric threats that, as we have seen, have
converted common use items into weapons of destruction using
vehicles and other things to create mass harm and confusion, as
well as, complex attacks on vulnerable public gatherings and
areas of commerce. We are constantly being challenged now by
technical evolution as we see with unmanned or remote
controlled type apparatus. We have the overarching chemical and
biological threats, of which this institution has in the past
been subjected to and has caused significant disruption. And
finally, we cannot take our eye off the insider threat. It is a
reality of today's environment, we have to pay attention to it.
We have a proactive, forward-leaning posture to detect,
deter, and disrupt threats, and that is where we are
concentrating our efforts. Rapid response and assessment to
critical incidents, early containment and mitigation are key.
We achieve that through our active engagements with our law
enforcement and intelligence community partners. It is key that
we have strong relationships and that we engage in joint
training. We validate interoperable communications for crisis
management; we plan and coordinate participation at events; and
we use our resources efficiently.
We always need to question our facts and assumptions when
we are looking at the complex nature of this campus and our
ability to protect it and secure it. We are always looking for
efficiencies, innovative ways to become more effective with our
resources. And I think the Chief would agree with me, goal line
defense does not work in this dynamically challenging and
changing environment. We have to lean forward. We have to be
proactive.
Ultimately, it is about guaranteeing legislative branch
operations and uninterrupted legislative processes.
That concludes my opening remarks subject to your
questions.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Frank J. Larkin
introduction
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Murphy, and Members of the
subcommittee, thank you for allowing me to testify today. I am pleased
to report on the progress of the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms
(SAA) and our plans to enhance our service to the Senate.
For fiscal year 2018, the Sergeant at Arms respectfully requests a
total budget of $204,663,000. This request represents a modest 3.7
percent increase from the current enacted budget, but is nearly
identical to our budget level from fiscal year 2012. Since that time,
we have realized significant cost savings from the staff buyouts
completed in fiscal years 2013 and 2016 and from rigorous contract
management and restructuring, while continuing to provide the critical,
high-quality services that the Senate community has come to expect from
us. Our customer satisfaction levels remain high and we remain good
stewards of the funds entrusted to us.
Leading the efforts of the office of the Sergeant at Arms is an
outstanding senior management team, including Jim Morhard, who serves
as my Deputy; Chief of Staff Mike Stenger; Assistant Sergeants at Arms
Dick Attridge (Protective Services and Continuity), Vicki Sinnett
(Chief Information Officer), Bret Swanson (Operations), and David Bass
(Capitol Operations); General Counsel Terence Liley; and Chief
Financial Officer Chris Dey. The many goals and accomplishments set
forth in this testimony would not have been possible without this
team's leadership and commitment, as well as the dedication of the
women and men who work for the Senate Sergeant at Arms office.
protective services and continuity
Emergency Preparedness
Our plans and procedures are designed to ensure the life safety of
Senators, staff, and visitors by equipping them with the necessary
tools to respond to emergency situations. Our plans are developed to
ensure the Senate can continue its essential functions following
emergency events.
We worked with Senate offices to update 72 Emergency Action Plans
and developed Emergency Action Plans for each newly-elected Member
office. We ensured their suites displayed evacuation maps with detailed
primary and secondary routes and elevator locations for mobility-
impaired individuals, as well as, distributing supply kits,
annunciators, and escape hoods. New Members and their staff received
personalized training on emergency preparedness procedures, continuity,
alert notification, personnel accountability, and equipment use. We
distributed a new version of the Emergency Preparedness Quick Reference
Guides to Members to familiarize them with critical information needed
to respond to threatening situations, protestors, and other emergency
events. We also assisted 35 Member offices and committees with drafting
Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans, strengthening the Senate's
ability to perform its essential functions.
We conducted a robust training program to ensure the Senate
community is prepared to respond to a variety of emergency events at
work and home. More than 3,200 staff members were trained during 201
classes covering a variety of emergency preparedness topics including
responding to active shooters, the four protective actions, emergency
action planning, and ALERTs/Remote Check-in procedures. The
``Responding to an Active Shooter'' class continues to be one of our
most popular trainings. The course is taught with the U.S. Capitol
Police and is vital to understanding what to expect from law
enforcement throughout such an event.
The preparedness and protection of Senators, staff, and visitors
within the Senate Chamber continues to be a primary focus. We worked
with USCP to conduct a full-scale exercise to validate the Chamber
Emergency Action Guide. The exercise included over 200 participants,
many from Member offices. Participants responded to several scenarios,
including an active shooter event requiring players to shelter in place
and an air intrusion situation forcing staff to evacuate the building
rapidly.
We collaborated with the USCP to conduct annual evacuation, shelter
in place, and Internal Relocation drills to familiarize staff with
appropriate life-safety responses to potential emergency events. We
supported over 25 drills that included the Capitol, Capitol Visitor
Center (CVC), Senate office buildings, the Senate Page School, Employee
Child Care Center, and Postal Square. Many of these exercises were ``no
notice,'' which creates a more realistic response to emergency events.
This past year, we conducted two new exercises. The first simulated an
active shooter event in the Capitol and CVC. The second simulated a
mass casualty event and examined procedures for gathering Member
accountability information and ways to share it with senior leadership.
We also conducted a full-scale exercise of the alternate Briefing
Center at the Thurgood Marshall building.
To improve our alert messaging capability, we partnered with the
USCP, House, and the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) to acquire a joint
emergency mass notification system (JEMNS) at a significant cost
savings to the Senate. JEMNS will improve and reduce the number of
alert notification systems needed to transmit critical life safety
messages throughout the Capitol complex. JEMNS has been installed and
is undergoing operational testing for rollout later in fiscal year
2017. Once complete, the system will rapidly send alert notification
messages to Senators and staff by e-mail, phone call, text message,
desktop computer pop-up, and smartphone applications.
Communication between staff responsible for executing plans
throughout emergencies is critical to ensuring successful outcomes,
especially when deployed to continuity sites. We are upgrading our
radio system to a modern version that will allow for multiagency
interactions on encrypted equipment during exercises and real world
events. We are also working with executive branch stakeholders to
acquire new, interoperable secure mobile devices to provide classified
communication capabilities for officers and emergency response staff.
Contingency Programs
SAA staff continued to develop and refine contingency plans in
collaboration with Joint Congressional Continuity Board partners.
Additionally, to better support the SAA's Continuity of Government
mission, efforts have been made with partners and within the Senate to
establish collaborative forums for information sharing. Of note, the
ASAA Continuity Council was formed to meet and collaborate on
collective SAA organizational support and services. The group meets on
a quarterly basis to discuss program improvements and the Senate's
requirements during continuity events. The Senate Continuity
Coordination Group was also formed to provide a forum for information
sharing between the SAA, Secretary of the Senate, USCP, AOC, and Office
of Attending Physician. Finally, major progress was made toward
establishing a joint concept of operations focused on continuity goals
and requirements, and formalizing joint Congressional continuity
efforts.
We continued managing a comprehensive Senate exercise program to
regularly practice and validate plans. We conducted 26 exercises,
tests, and guided discussions covering all aspects of emergency
response including mobile assets, Alternate Chamber, Chamber Protective
Actions, Emergency Operations Center, Briefing Center, communications,
transportation, continuity staffing, evacuations, Internal Relocation,
shelter in place, alert notifications, and Continuity of Government. Of
particular note, the Test, Training, and Exercise Program led the first
ever no-notice exercise of contingency communications capabilities.
This functional exercise successfully tested the CIO's ability to
deploy, set up, and test information technology infrastructure
associated with mobile vehicle assets.
Security Planning and Police Operations
SAA staff coordinates security and law enforcement support for the
Senate community, including Member offices, State offices, committees,
and other support offices on Capitol Hill.
We work closely with the USCP to include staffing for the USCP
Command Center support program during all hours the Senate is in
session and normal business hours during periods of recess to allow for
real-time communication between the SAA, USCP, and the Senate community
during special events, emergency incidents, and routine operations.
More than 330 incidents and events were monitored through this program
this year. SAA staff provided coverage during several Joint Sessions of
Congress, and the Papal visit.
Our staff also handles the State Office Readiness Program, which
delivers security and preparedness equipment and services free of
charge to State offices. We provided security enhancements to 32 Senate
State offices this year alone.
Intelligence and Protective Services
The SAA recognizes the value of maintaining collaborative
partnerships. We work with various Federal, State, and local law
enforcement, intelligence, and force protection entities to synchronize
information, identify security risks, monitor threat streams, and
maintain situational awareness. This ensures appropriate mitigation and
prevention strategies are deployed to protect the safety and security
of the Senate domestically and abroad.
Evolving and rapidly expanding social media use and the
availability of open source material allows malicious individuals to
publically relay intentions within minutes. We proactively research and
analyze such material and engage with community partners and subject
matter experts to maintain security-related situational awareness and
identify threat data against Members, their families, staff, and
associated offices/buildings domestically and abroad.
We collaborate with the USCP and other law enforcement entities to
ensure appropriate outreach and coordination on behalf of specifically-
targeted Members and staff. We continuously monitor, evaluate, and
conduct vulnerability, risk, and threat assessments to determine and
implement appropriate security measures and protective operations
coverage. Additionally, our office maintains a regular situational
awareness outreach campaign for the Senate community regarding
significant upcoming events or planned activities, on and in close
proximity to the Capitol complex and State offices, which may adversely
impact Senate business.
Furthermore, our office coordinates with the USCP to implement
several security initiatives, law enforcement outreach efforts, and
protective services objectives to ensure Members and their staff
receive the necessary guidance, tools, and support when planning and
attending public events throughout the country.
Finally, we partner with the USCP and other agencies to support
contingency planning; and oversee security operations planning and the
creation of incident management and response action plans for major
events. Events included the Presidential Inauguration, annual State of
the Union address, Senatorial retreats, Republican/Democratic National
Conventions, various Joint Sessions of Congress, and other high profile
National Special Security Events.
information technology
Cybersecurity and Response
The Senate is considered a prime target for cybersecurity breaches.
Over the past 2 years, the Cybersecurity Department has focused on a
multi-dimensional transformative approach to identify gaps in our
security posture and implement strategies to be more proactive to the
advanced cyber threat. This approach has not only focused on the
technology, but also on educating the user and training of security
staff, and has done so respecting the taxpayer's dollar.
From a people perspective, we developed partnerships with the
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the commercial
sector to develop a mobile application and conference series to educate
the Senate community on where and how they are vulnerable and provided
various security tips for the average user. These ongoing education
efforts help continuously educate the user regarding the cyber threat.
Upon completion of a holistic cybersecurity technology review, our
new strategy was developed and implemented. The installation of several
new technologies is 95 percent complete and the Cybersecurity
Department continues to develop and improve the associated standard
operating procedures to leverage the investment. The past 2 years have
seen completion of a large-scale effort to transform how network
vulnerabilities are identified. This improvement reduced the network
scan time from 25 hours to 5 hours and allowed for quicker
identification of vulnerabilities and ability to determine the cyber
risk. In 2016 alone, 12,868,866 malicious messages were blocked. With
recent technology improvements, an additional 68,531 messages were
analyzed for threat activity, blocked, and the affected users were
notified to prevent a network breach. Similar results have been seen as
well regarding the Senate Secure Web Gateway. In 2016, 273,576,800
connections to 54,540 websites were blocked to prevent threats from
attacking the internal network. These statistics demonstrate the
agility and dynamic capability of the advanced cyber threat.
We continue to develop processes to effectively and efficiently
leverage the newly implemented technologies. One is the detecting and
alerting of users establishing remote connections to the network from
foreign countries. While not necessarily an attack, it allows System
Administrators to confirm the travel and, if not legitimate, implement
blocking actions to prevent remote network access to the enterprise.
Another process notifies users when credentials to their various
accounts have been compromised and potentially sold on the cyber
underground. While this is not a compromise of the network, it is
possible that users are using the same password for Senate systems and
this notification advises the user to change their password to protect
their information and the network. Process development is continuing in
parallel with the various technologies to promote an agile cyber
defense strategy. Additionally, independent assessors confirmed the
Senate has a higher than average level of security when compared to
other Federal agencies, and there was no sign of the Senate network
being breached.
While the improvements have significantly increased the security
and reduced the overall risk to the Senate network, this will not
prevent a breach. As the department improves its capability, the
security will continue to increase. The Senate will also continue to
improve its ability to be more proactive and resilient to the advanced
cyber threat.
Network Operations
In 2016, the Network Operations Center received and serviced 2,189
Service Center ``incident'' tickets and processed 2,873 change
requests, including more than 1,200 LAN drop requests. Of the 451
survey responses from users, 95 percent received a rating of
``exceptional'' or ``very satisfied.''
The multi-year project migrating to broadband Internet service in
Senate State office locations continues to show benefits. It
significantly increases the bandwidth at each of the 460-plus
locations, improving the performance at each site for both intranet and
Internet services. The increased bandwidth also supports emerging
technologies such as improved video conferencing capabilities between
DC and a State office. We have completed the migration of more than 430
offices, saving the Senate more than $185,000 a month since the
beginning of the project. Migration for the remainder of the offices
will be completed by the end of the year.
Network Infrastructure
A major upgrade was completed to the entire campus-based switch
network. This upgrade was comprised of more than 51,000 feet of laser-
optimized fiber and 130 new modular switches. The fiber installation
will support the Senate campus for the next decade. This upgrade took
more than a year to complete and required staff to work early morning
hours to limit any disruptions to the Senate user community. As a
result of the fiber upgrade and the increased connection speeds to
these switches, we can now support 1 Gigabit connectivity to user
systems and are working with other groups to coordinate the final step
of enabling the faster speeds on end user systems within offices. Once
complete, this upgrade will result in a better user experience across
the entire Senate campus.
Wireless Networking
The Senate wireless network is now comprised of more than 1,100
wireless access points supporting 12 campus buildings and multiple
State offices. The implementation of a ``guest'' wired network now
allows constituents to connect to the Internet while visiting the
campus. Peak usage of the guest network alone supports more than 3,000
concurrent users on a daily basis. Integration of our wireless network
and authentication services with the AirWatch application ensures only
Senate assets can connect to the internal network via the Discovery
wireless network. The wireless group has worked closely with the
Cybersecurity Department by installing more than 100 wireless intrusion
sensors in the Senate office buildings with nearly 300 more to be
installed over the next year.
Network Engineering
The migration to a new application load balancing solution was
completed by replacing the existing hardware and software platforms,
which provided load balancing and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) offloading
services for many Senate applications. The load balancers service more
than 180 of the Senate's most critical applications, including e-mail
and Senate.gov web services. These services were migrated with minimal
disruption through close collaboration and coordination among groups
from different departments. The new application load balancing solution
empowers system and application owners with direct access to
efficiently monitor and manage application data and delivery, serving
the Senate's business and constituent services.
Senate E-mail Systems
Senate e-mail systems processed an average of more than 1.4 million
inbound and outbound e-mails daily. During the past year, we completed
a technology refresh and upgrade to enhance outbound e-mail processing
capacity and efficiency.
Data Center Management
We continue to follow a best practices approach to modernize,
improve and manage our data centers. Energy efficiency improvements
include upgrading airflow, reorganization of space, and server rack
consolidation in the data center in Postal Square. Enhanced monitoring
of the facility environment, along with alerting, allows us to react to
environmental issues more quickly and ensure systems availability. A 5-
year data center plan has been initiated to include moving our primary
data center off Capitol Hill.
TranSAAct
Our Platform for Doing Business Online
We continue to add functionality to TranSAAct, our platform for
doing business online, eliminating paper-based manual processes and
addressing the requirements of offices and the Committee on Rules and
Administration. Built on an extensible modern database framework,
TranSAAct allows indefinite expansion as our customers identify new
requirements.
Over the past year, we rebuilt the Floor privileges pages,
including automating the Floor pass desk processes; automated the
previously manual process of renewing software subscriptions; added
constituent services systems financial reports; and rebuilt the ID
request forms to address customer suggestions and conform to new
requirements.
We are improving the functionality of the communications services
requests and upgrading some of the technologies in TranSAAct. We are
also pursuing customer requests to add managing SecurID cards into
TranSAAct and include service recipient profile information to
facilitate easier submission of future requests. Finally, we are
working with stakeholders in the development of a new Technology
Catalog so we can make appropriate changes to TranSAAct based on
anticipated changes in business processes.
Otis
A Senate Personnel Management System
Otis is an encrypted, secure, and replicated web-based personnel
management system for Member and committee offices to manage
administrative information about their staff. The system includes
support for office administrators and staff, including leave,
timesheet, and payroll paperwork. In the last year, we added additional
features to expand leave and payroll capabilities, and to track FMLA
and Student Loan Repayment Program participants. More than 70 offices
and committees are actively using Otis, and we continue to work with
the community on enhancements.
Privileged Access Management
Protecting our most sensitive systems and data
Responding to an industry-acknowledged need for increased security
of highly privileged accounts, we designed and implemented a privileged
access management solution for use by SAA staff with administrative
access to highly valuable data. Solution design required us to conduct
extensive interviews of teams and individuals and conduct in-depth
evaluations of several potential products. Once we selected a product,
we designed the solution and integrated it with two of our network
authentication systems (Active Directory and RADIUS) in order to
provide the enhanced security of two-factor authentication. This
solution significantly increases the security posture of Senate
information systems, protecting the most sensitive data by limiting
exposure of privileged credentials.
Local Administrator Password Solution
Securing the desktop
We deployed the Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) to
address the pervasive problem of a common password used for the local
administrator account across multiple computers. This provides a
simple, quick and secure way to create a unique and complex local
administrator password on all computers in an office. System
Administrators can grant staff temporary local administrative access to
systems and change local administrator account passwords on demand.
Passwords are stored securely in the network authentication system
(Active Directory). By default, the system will change passwords
automatically every 30 days. This interval is configurable by the
System Administrator. The implementation of LAPS empowers offices to
significantly enhance the security of their computers at no additional
cost to the Senate.
VMI--Upgrade and Storage Refresh
More powerful and capable virtual servers
We significantly upgraded the Senate's Virtual Machine
Infrastructure (VMI), which hosts more than 1,000 virtual servers
supporting nearly every application in the Senate. The upgraded
software added new capabilities, additional redundancy, and enhanced
disaster recovery capabilities. The cross-organizational team within
the CIO worked diligently to ensure there was no disruption to services
during the upgrade process. Additionally, we refreshed the storage
environment supporting the VMI, moving to a more powerful solution
provided by a different vendor. This new solution provides a dramatic
increase in performance, enabling the CIO to virtualize solutions that
previously could not be supported. Due to meticulous planning and
execution, we completed the migration of hundreds of terabytes of data
from the old storage system to the new system without any disruption to
the applications and services supported by the VMI.
Operating System Imaging
Faster deployment of new computers
We moved to a new method for creating and deploying images to
desktops, laptops, and tablet computers. It enables us to more quickly
resolve problems and speed the delivery of new machines to our
customers. In addition, we are now able to perform updates to the
images, installing the latest security and functionality upgrades from
Microsoft. As a result, updates are done once and do not need to be
installed on each new machine that is deployed, a time savings of
approximately 45 minutes per computer. More than 3,000 computers have
been deployed using this new capability, resulting in over 1,000
person-hours saved, and faster time to delivery for customers receiving
new computers.
Upgrading Existing Mobility Technologies and Support
In 2016, the Samsung Galaxy Android series and the iPhone 7 and 7
Plus were added to the mobile communications offerings, providing
additional options to the existing iOS and BlackBerry smartphone
models. The transition from BlackBerry devices to iOS and Android
platforms was hastened by the inability to obtain BlackBerry 10 stock
from our wireless vendors. The increased demand for higher priced iOS
and Android devices necessitated a better support infrastructure. In
2017, we developed a new support program to have warranty stock onsite
so that users no longer have to visit a retail store to troubleshoot or
exchange faulty devices. This program achieves cost savings to the
Senate overall by eliminating the mandatory requirement for AppleCare+
on all smartphones, but does require an increase to the Mobile
Communications Services (MCS) budget to stock full retail value devices
to be used as warranty stock.
In 2017, we will evaluate the BlackBerry Mercury as a possible
addition to mobile communications offerings. Testing of new smartphones
is an ongoing process.
Telecommunications
The much anticipated, multi-year effort to upgrade and modernize
the State office telephony infrastructure for all 460-plus State
offices is underway. It will provide each State office with new
hardware, increased flexibility, a feature-rich voicemail platform,
more features, and additional security at a lower cost.
This project includes limited travel to some State offices during
migration to ensure a seamless transition of services. Anticipated
benefits will begin in fiscal year 2017 and increase throughout the
life of the migration process.
The final stages of the Telephone Modernization Project are well
underway with the implementation of Session Initiation Protocol trunk
lines. This change will remove our dependency on Verizon for trunking
and generate cost savings over the next several years. The upgrade of
several servers integral to the DC telephone switch will allow us to
remain up to date and prepared for future technologies.
While our DC voicemail platform was previously upgraded to allow
for additional features and redundancy, we are now working on expanding
capacity due to the increase in voicemail traffic. Splitting our
voicemail platform into two separate clusters will allow for maximum
capacity on each cluster and still maintain the features,
functionality, and flexibility that offices expect.
IT Help Desk and Installations
Our central IT Help Desk answers approximately 10,000 questions
from Senate users annually, taking trouble reports and coordinating the
activities of the technicians who respond to and resolve the problems
by phone, online, and in person. In addition, the installation team
completed more than 5,000 installation projects over the past 12 months
with the percentage of on-time arrivals averaging 99.5 percent. In
addition, 48 percent of Help Desk calls were resolved during the
initial call. Each time a Help Desk or installation ticket is closed,
the customer is offered an online survey, and 98 percent of those
surveys rated the IT Help Desk and installation services as either very
satisfactory or excellent.
Constituent Services Systems
New Constituent Services Systems (CSS) contracts were issued in
2016. The new contracts include numerous updates identified by Senate
and CIO staff over the course of the previous contract and include
several new security-related requirements. CSS contracts were issued to
four vendors and extend through the end of 2021, thereby providing
Member offices with several CSS service provider options.
operations
Central Operations
ID Office
The ID Office has successfully simplified the badge issuing process
by consolidating two card management systems prior to the beginning of
the 115th Congress and issuing approximately 9,000 Congressional IDs
during a 2-month initial renewal period.
Focus continues on the increased use of secure Smart Cards, which
several hundred customers currently utilize. The Senate Smart Card
program hopes to support various capabilities outlined in Homeland
Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12, such as e-mail encryption,
two-factor authentication, and secure remote network access.
Parking Operations
Parking Operations continues to mitigate impacts of special events
and construction projects on space availability. Long-term construction
projects, such as the Russell building's exterior envelope
rehabilitation, will inconvenience different groups of permit holders
over the course of 4 years. Shorter targeted projects--such as
repaving, refreshing paint, and replacing curbs and gutters--continue
to have smaller impacts on outdoor permit holders. The planned
renovations of the Russell Legislative Garage and the Thurgood Marshall
Judiciary Office Building Garage will be of significant impact in the
coming years.
Work on the Judiciary Office Building Garage is underway, and work
continues with the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts to ensure
proper focus on our customers' parking needs. The AOC has designed the
work in phases to limit the disruption to permit holders. It is
anticipated that all current permit holders will be accommodated in the
garage throughout the project.
The Russell Legislative Garage renovation will displace the parking
permit issuance booth and over 100 spaces that are under the control of
the Committee on Rules and Administration. Parking Operations will work
closely with the committee's staff and AOC personnel to ensure customer
service can be maintained and displaced garage permit holders are
accommodated in other Senate areas. The permit issuance booth issues
more than 9,000 permanent permits each Congress, and maintaining a
location to provide this service is extremely important. Ensuring all
stakeholders are aware of the plans for the renovation will be a
primary focus of Parking Operations.
Transportation and Fleet Operations
Transportation and Fleet Operations procures, manages, and
maintains Senate vehicles; operates the Senate Daily Shuttle services;
and provides the Senate with emergency transportation and logistics
support. The fleet includes trucks, vans, buses, SUVs, electric
vehicles, handicapped-accessible vehicles, and Segways. Focus continues
on reducing older vehicle inventory with newer, more efficient
vehicles, when necessary, to better meet the needs of our customers. In
fiscal year 2016, staff transported more than 23,000 passengers through
the SAA Shuttle service.
Photography Studio
The Photo Studio provides photography and photo imaging services
for Senate offices and committees. The studio manages and maintains the
Photo Browser application, which provides Senate offices a secure
location to upload, organize, download, and place orders for their
photos through a Web interface. The Photo Browser provides a secure,
accessible archive to all photos accumulated during a Senator's term in
office.
The Photo Browser system currently contains more than 1.4 million
photo image files. The new Photo Browser system launched in March 2017.
Improvements include a more intuitive user interface, user tools that
allow cropping and selection of templates, and opportunities for
developing new features in the future.
In fiscal year 2016, staff photographed more than 68,000 images,
produced more than 61,000 photo prints, and coordinated scanning for
end of term archiving of more than 56,000 photo images for Senators
leaving office.
Printing, Graphics and Direct Mail
The Printing, Graphics and Direct Mail (PGDM) department provides
support to the Senate community through graphic design, printing,
photocopying, mailing, document preservation, logistics, and security--
producing more than 60.3 million items during fiscal year 2016.
As a good steward of fiscal resources, PGDM garnered notable
savings for the Senate, including:
--In fiscal year 2016, PGDM reduced more than $100,000 in equipment
maintenance costs by re-negotiating vendor support contracts.
--More than $1 million was saved by locally producing charts for
Senate floor proceedings and committee hearings.
--More than $960,000 saved in postage by pre-sorting and discounting
4.3 million pieces of outgoing Senate franked mail, even as
costs continue to fluctuate within the postal industry.
PGDM produced 5.3 million digital images using high-speed digital
scanners and software technology for imaging Members' mail, as well as
using a document file management system. This provided Member offices
the ability to conduct comprehensive electronic searches for specific
dates, legislative issues, or individual constituent correspondence
within their document collection.
PGDM has continued work with the Senate community to convert 6,148
obsolete media (VHS/Beta/cassette) to usable digital files, which
amounts to over 4 terabytes of data. This service allows offices the
ability to convert legacy tapes to current media formats, in compliance
with National Archives standards.
Digital publications and multimedia are becoming an increasingly
important complement to printing. The future of publishing is a world
in which both print and digital live together. In fiscal year 2016,
PGDM added new offerings called'' Digital Media.'' Some examples of
these jobs include fillable PDF forms, Web graphics, E-Pubs, video
creation, animation, interactive PDFs, and animated slide shows.
Through effective communication and teamwork, PGDM's Senate Support
Facility upheld the SAA mission for operational security in fiscal year
2016 by receiving 5,047,809 items from the USCP off-site inspection
facility and transferring them to the Senate Support Facility. This
process eliminated 436 truck deliveries to the Capitol complex, helping
to reduce traffic and allow the USCP to focus on other aspects of
safety.
Focus continues on identifying means of cost savings while not
compromising service and customer satisfaction. PGDM combines job
responsibilities throughout its department and engages in formal cross-
training initiatives among employees to ensure a high level of service
quality. In addition, PGDM plans to upgrade the current online work
order system to provide Senate offices the ability to request
additional products.
Senate Post Office
The Senate Post Office's workforce tests and delivers mail and
packages to more than 180 locations within the Capitol complex while
providing a messenger service to multiple locations within the
Washington metropolitan area.
In fiscal year 2016, the Senate Post Office safely processed and
delivered 7.9 million internal and incoming mail items. The Government
Accountability Office reimbursed the Sergeant at Arms $14,000 for
screening their incoming U.S. Postal Service mail.
Following a successful bipartisan pilot program of the Sentry Air
System, a new mail-screening unit for Senate State offices, the Senate
Post Office purchased 30 additional units. Deployment of the new units
will commence as older units are identified for replacement.
Capitol Facilities
Capitol Facilities supports the work of the Senate by providing a
clean and professional environment in the Capitol Building for
Senators, staff, and visitors. Our Environmental Services Division
cleans Capitol offices, hallways, and restrooms; moves furniture for
offices; and provides special event setups for 15 meeting rooms in the
Capitol and the Senate Expansion space in the Capitol Visitor Center.
The Furnishings Division provides furnishings--including stock and
custom furniture--carpeting, and window treatments to Capitol offices.
It also provides framing services for Senate offices and committees.
Focus continues on realizing cost savings and improved efficiency
while not sacrificing service. Capitol Facilities has combined job
specialties and engaged in cross-training employees to ensure services
are maintained at the highest level. Current initiatives include an
upgrade to the Capitol Facilities Online Request System (CapFOR), our
online tool that offices can use to request furniture, services, and
framing. It also includes an online work order system to track the
workload and software that enables us to provide furnishing floorplans
to Senators for use in their Capitol offices.
Office Support Services
The State Office Liaison staff serve as the conduit between Senate
offices and commercial landlords, or the General Services
Administration for Senate offices in Federal facilities, overseeing 450
State offices. Managing this important program helps assure every
Senator's ability to meet the growing needs of their local
constituencies.
capitol operations
Ensuring that our customers--both internal and external--have
access to the Senate and understand its work remains the focus of the
SAA's Capitol Operations team. Over the past year, team members
provided a range of services to Senators and their staffs, visitors to
the Capitol, members of the news media who cover Congress, and the
public. Capitol Operations continues to focus on providing timely,
accurate, and useful information that promotes safety, increases
transparency, and enhances the experience of those who work in and
visit the Senate.
Senate Recording Studio
In a time of instant communication and demands for transparency,
the Senate Recording Studio helps ensure that the work of the Senate
remains accessible to the public. During 2016, the Recording Studio
provided 781 hours of gavel-to-gavel coverage of Senate Floor
proceedings and continues to provide technical support for live-
streaming and archiving of the proceedings on the Senate's website,
www.senate.gov. Last year, the streamed proceedings were viewed 2.15
million times by more than 172,900 unique visitors. To keep the quality
of this production in line with current standards, the studio is
upgrading the Senate Floor audio system in 2017. The Recording Studio
also broadcast 544 Senate committee hearings in 2016. The studio
coordinates with Voice of America, the Department of State, and other
agencies to provide these hearings to a larger audience. Another
priority of the Recording Studio is to enable Senators working in DC to
communicate with their constituents back home. During 2016, the studio
produced 805 television productions and 899 radio productions, and
edited more than 2,000 audio and video clips for Senators. In January
2017, the studio was responsible for the broadcast of the Presidential
Inauguration to a record eleven jumbotrons along the Capitol grounds,
six live streams, and the descriptive audio of the event.
Senate Media Galleries
For members of the news media, the Senate remains one of the most
open and accessible institutions of government. On any given day,
hundreds of reporters, producers, photographers, videographers, and
technical support personnel can be found in hearing rooms, hallways,
and in the Chamber, bringing the news of the Senate to people across
the country and around the world.
Ensuring that the news media can conduct their business
efficiently, safely, and in a manner consistent with Senate rules is
the responsibility of the staff of the four Senate Media Galleries. The
unique structure of the Media Galleries, dating back to the earliest
days of the Senate, requires them to work closely and cooperatively
with their respective Standing and Executive Correspondents'
Committees, the USCP, and press secretaries and communications staff of
Senators' offices and Senate committees. Media Gallery staff facilitate
media credentials and arrangements for the approximately 6,000 members
of the news media who can cover the Senate in a given year.
Daily Press Gallery
The Daily Press Gallery supports reporters working for publications
that publish on a daily or more frequent basis. Last year, the Daily
Press Gallery issued credentials to approximately 1,800 journalists. As
custodians of the largest press complex on Capitol Hill, the gallery
staff serve more than 100 reporters who physically work in the Press
Gallery on a regular basis. Gallery staff also help control access to
the Press Gallery inside the Senate Chamber and ensure gallery rules
are followed. Daily Press Gallery staff coordinate with Senate
committees on press coverage for hearings and other events around
Capitol Hill. The Gallery staff remain focused on modernizing services
by creating an electronic archival and filing system, streamlining the
online credentialing process, and maintaining real time website updates
on Senate Floor proceedings and notifications to Senate staff and
reporters via e-mail and Twitter (@SenatePress). After successful work
at the 2016 conventions and 2017 Presidential Inauguration, the gallery
staff focused on preparations for the Supreme Court nomination
hearings.
Periodical Press Gallery
The Periodical Press Gallery supports the news media working for
non-daily periodicals and their online publications. Media interest in
Capitol Hill has increased dramatically over the past year, and the
Periodical Gallery has seen a 200 percent increase in applications for
press credentials since October 2016. Gallery staff continue to process
these new press applications in consultation with the Executive
Committee of Periodical Correspondents, and will renew press
credentials for the more than 1,200 correspondents currently
credentialed. The staff remains focused on streamlining communication
with gallery members and Senate staff. For example, the number of
followers on the gallery's Twitter account (@Senate PPG) grew over 33
percent to 6,350 in 2016. These efforts help drive traffic to the
gallery's website, where information on Senate Floor proceedings, the
credentialing process, and other areas of interest is consolidated.
Gallery staff also continue to assist Senate staff with media logistics
for many high profile hearings in 2017, including the nomination
hearings for the next Supreme Court Justice.
Press Photographers Gallery
The Press Photographers Gallery supports photographers representing
news organizations from across the United States and around the world.
Last year, the gallery credentialed approximately 300 news
photographers. Unlike the other three Media Galleries, which have
counterparts in the House of Representatives, Press Photographers
Gallery staff support the media at news events and hearings in both
Houses of Congress. During the past year, gallery staff supported press
logistics at the national political conventions and the Presidential
Inauguration, ensuring hundreds of press photographers could document
for the world the process of the peaceful transfer of power in the
United States. The Senate is a major focus of the press during the
beginning of a new administration; accordingly, large numbers of
photographers are covering Congress on a daily basis. The gallery staff
works constantly with other SAA offices, the U.S. Capitol Police, and
Senate offices to ensure press photographers' access without
interfering with the duties of the Members. This year, the gallery
looks to finalize press logistics for Continuity of Government plans.
Radio and Television Gallery
The Radio and Television Gallery serves as the Senate's primary
contact to the broadcast news industry and ensures that the Senate's
broadcast coverage rules are followed. Gallery staff function as
liaisons between Senate offices and the broadcast media and, in 2016,
assisted in organizing coverage of more than 200 news conferences,
1,200 committee hearings, 100 photo opportunities, and 25 special
events. The gallery issued credentials to approximately 3,900
television and radio reporters, producers, and technical personnel. The
gallery also maintains the studio and technical infrastructure that
Senators use for news conferences. Recently, the gallery renovated the
studio's audio system and added soundproofing. The renovated audio
system incorporates a separate audio feed for ambient microphones. As a
result, reporters' questions are clearly heard during news conferences
by the viewing public.
Senate Doorkeepers
Senate Doorkeepers play a critical role in supporting the
legislative process of the Senate. Doorkeepers provide access to those
with Senate Floor privileges; enforce the rules of the Senate Floor;
and facilitate the needs of Senators, Senate Floor staff, and Senate
Pages. Doorkeepers also provide support for a number of special events
attended by Senators, their families, and special guests. In addition
to directly supporting Senators, Doorkeepers also ensure that people
from around the world can visit the Senate Gallery safely. During 2016,
the Senate Chamber averaged 1,000 visitors per day--both when the
Senate was in session and during recess--with the help of Senate
Doorkeepers. Doorkeepers are also tasked with emergency preparedness
roles and balance the dual priorities of maintaining access and being
prepared for emergency situations.
Senate Appointment Desks
The Senate Appointment Desks are responsible for processing
thousands of guests, who enter the Capitol each year for business
meetings or other purposes, in a safe and efficient manner. During
2016, approximately 220,000 visitors were processed through our network
of Appointment Desks located on the first floor of the Capitol, in the
basements of the Russell and Hart Senate office buildings, and in the
Capitol Visitor Center. Of these, 124,000 visitors were in the Capitol
complex for official business or a direct meeting with a Member, a
Member's office, or a committee. In addition, more than 25,000
international visitors relied on the CVC Appointment Desk for Senate
Gallery Passes and information.
Office of Internal Communications
The Office of Internal Communications (OIC) streamlines
communication within the SAA organization and to the rest of the Senate
community through a combination of online, digital, and traditional
print publications. Last year, the office sent 498 Notices and 61 Dear
Colleague messages electronically, saving resources and speeding
delivery of important information. In addition, the OIC manages two
websites--one internal to the SAA and the other accessible to the
Senate community. During the past year, OIC staff edited and helped
produce 135 publications, including safety bulletins, newsletters for
both Senate and SAA staff, procedural manuals, and dozens of documents
sent to various SAA offices and the Senate.
saa human resources
The primary function of the SAA Office of Human Resources is to
provide personnel services and advice to SAA managers and employees.
SAA Human Resources also provides workers' compensation, ergonomic
assessments, Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation requests,
and recruitment services to the broader Senate community.
Senate Placement Office
During fiscal year 2016, Senate offices submitted 404 requests for
recruitment assistance to the Senate Placement Office; 21,052 resumes
were processed by the Placement Office in response to these requests.
Overall, in fiscal year 2016, the Senate Placement Office processed
23,657 resumes from applicants for vacancies in Senate offices and
committees.
senate office of education and training
The Office of Education and Training 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 our classroom
classes and nearly 1,200 staff attended online classes. In addition,
the Office of Education and Training provided customized training,
facilitation services, and coaching to more than 150 Senate Member,
committee, and support offices, in which more than 2,000 staff members
participated. The office also provided three conferences for 137 State
staff.
This year, we will expand our leadership development offerings,
provide training for the Academy Nomination Coordinators, and
coordinate orientation and training for the Chiefs of Staff and
Administrative Directors in the new Member offices.
Health Promotion
Our Health Promotion office has been legislatively mandated to
provide Health Promotion activities and events for all Senate staff.
Each year, the office coordinates and hosts the 2-day Health and
Wellness Fair. In 2015, more than 2000 staff participated in health
promotion activities, which included screening for glucose, cholesterol
and blood pressure; exercise demonstration; and seminars on topics
including healthy eating and cancer prevention. Through a revolving
fund, we offer the opportunity to participate in Weight Watchers, yoga,
and Pilates.
employee assistance program
Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers a variety of
emotional, behavioral, and work-related support resources and services
to staff, their family members, Senate Pages, and interns. In 2016,
nearly 1 in 20 Senate employees utilized the services of an EAP
counselor; 221 employees took an online mental health screening; 47
managers requested a supervisory consultation; 2,268 employees attended
an EAP training activity; and 2,206 employees accessed resources for
personalized information and referrals addressing childcare, parenting,
adult care, aging, education, legal concerns, and/or financial issues.
conclusion
The Sergeant at Arms is composed of a diverse array of
organizations. All of them exist to serve the Senate so that it can
function as part of the Legislative Branch of our government. To
provide the checks and balances on any administration, the Legislative
Branch must be able to function efficiently in an effort to create and
pass legislation. To do so, the Senate Sergeant at Arms must and will
provide the needed services that allow it to function.
APPENDIX A
Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Request
Office of the Sergeant at Arms--United States Senate
FINANCIAL PLAN FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018
[Dollars in Thousands]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Year Fiscal Year
2017 Enacted 2018 Request
------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Operations & Maintenance:
Salaries............................ $70,900 $73,090
Expenses............................ 65,058 71,613
-------------------------------
Total General Operations & $135,958 $144,703
Maintenance....................
Mandated Allowances & Allotments........ 43,657 42,188
Capital Investment...................... 9,710 10,590
Nondiscretionary Items.................. 8,110 7,182
-------------------------------
Total........................... $197,435 $204,663
Staffing................................ 847 854
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To ensure that we provide the highest levels and quality of
security, support services, and equipment, we submit a fiscal year 2018
budget request of $204,663,000, an increase of $7,228,000, or 3.7
percent, compared with fiscal year 2017. The salary budget request is
$73,090,000, an increase of $2,190,000, or 3.1 percent, and the expense
budget request is $131,573,000, an increase of $5,038,000, or 4.0
percent. Staffing is expected to be 854 FTEs.
We present our budget in four categories: General Operations and
Maintenance (Salaries and Expenses), Mandated Allowances and
Allotments, Capital Investment, and Nondiscretionary Items.
The General Operations and Maintenance Salaries budget request is
$73,090,000, an increase of $2,190,000, or 3.1 percent, compared with
fiscal year 2017.
The General Operations and Maintenance Expenses budget request is
$71,613,000, an increase of $6,555,000, or 10.1 percent, compared with
fiscal year 2017. The increase is due to funding for cybersecurity
initiatives.
The Mandated Allowances and Allotments expense budget request for
fiscal year 2018 is $42,188,000. This budget supports State office
rents at $18,059,000; purchase of computer and office equipment at
$8,725,000; maintenance and procurement of Member office constituent
mail services system at $7,150,000; voice and data communications for
Washington, DC and State offices at $3,302,000; recording studios,
$2,100,000; State office security enhancements at $1,607,000; wireless
services and equipment, $1,050,000.
The Capital Investments expense request for fiscal year 2018 is
$10,590,000. This budget includes funding for Recording Studio
equipment upgrades at $2,325,000; Data Network Campus Infrastructure at
$2,150,000; Storage Area Network at $1,915,000; Enterprise Systems
Infrastructure $1,290,000; Network Operations Infrastructure,
$1,210,000; Cybersecurity Infrastructure, $1,000,000 and Network Mgmt
Equip & Technology Upgrade, $700,000.
The Nondiscretionary Items expense request for fiscal year 2018 is
$7,182,000. This budget includes support for the Payroll System at
$3,689,000, funding to support the Secretary of the Senate for contract
maintenance of the Financial Management Information System (FMIS) at
$2,729,000, and maintenance and necessary enhancements to the
Legislative Information System at $764,000.
Senator Lankford. Chief Verderosa.
----------
UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE
STATEMENT OF HON. CHIEF MATTHEW R. VERDEROSA
ACCOMPANIED BY:
STEVE SUND, ASSISTANT CHIEF
RICHARD BRADDOCK, CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
JAY MILLER, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
GRETCHEN DEMAR, GENERAL COUNSEL
FAY ROPELLA, INSPECTOR GENERAL
Chief Verderosa. Chairman Lankford, Ranking Member Murphy,
and Members of the subcommittee, I am honored to be here today
and I appreciate the opportunity to present the United States
Capitol Police budget request for fiscal year 2018.
I am joined here today by some members of my executive team
and executive management team, including Chief of Operations,
Assistant Chief Steve Sund; Chief Administrative Officer
Richard Braddock; Chief Financial Officer Jay Miller; General
Counsel Gretchen DeMar; and Inspector General Fay Ropella. Also
in attendance today is Officer Gus Papathanasiou, the USCP
Fraternal Order of Police Labor Chairman, who heads our sworn
union.
I would like to thank the subcommittee for its generous and
unwavering support of the United States Capitol Police and for
providing the necessary funding and support for our personnel
and operations.
As we have seen over the past several months, our officers
are well prepared and highly trained to deal with any
circumstances that they may encounter. What at first may appear
to be routine may, in fact, be a threat to the safety and
wellbeing of the Capitol complex or Members of Congress. This
point is exemplified with the incident on June 14 in
Alexandria, Virginia. The extensive training and quick response
by Special Agents Crystal Griner and David Bailey saved lives.
I would like to commend them publicly for their heroic and
professional response in protecting the Members of Congress and
Senators and others that day during the practice session for
the congressional charity baseball game.
We have often discussed the department's needs to remain
agile while also continuing to enhance our capabilities, and I
believe that in the environment in which we operate, it will be
necessary to provide increased coverage for Member events going
forward. In doing so, we appreciate the Congress' continued
support of our mission and its recognition of the need to
provide additional resources as we identify new and increasing
threats.
Accordingly, we have developed our fiscal year 2018 budget
request of $426.6 million with a focus on continuing to equip,
train, and prepare our workforce to protect the United States
Capitol and the Congress to ensure they remain safe and secure.
Due to the global threat environment and the tactics of
terrorist organizations targeting attacks at public venues, we
have worked in close coordination with the Capitol Police Board
and Chairman Larkin of the board to determine that additional
screening and various means must be employed to continue to
keep the Capitol complex safe.
As a result, our fiscal year 2018 request includes funding
for an additional 72 sworn officers and 48 civilians for the
purpose of adding prescreening capabilities and civilianizing
certain sworn positions as part of a multiyear plan to bolster
the overall security of the Capitol complex, as well as
enhancing and completing the House garage security effort.
Lastly, our request also addresses investments in training,
recruiting, and outfitting new employees, replacing key
equipment and systems that have become obsolete and restoring
annual levels reduced in previous fiscal years to meet the
vital department needs.
Our commitment to the mission and our steadfast dedication
to ensuring the safety and security of Members, staff, and the
millions of visitors who come to the United States Capitol is
our top priority. This would not be possible without the
dedicated women and men of the department. I continue to be
impressed with their overall performance and professionalism
every day. I am very proud of the troops, and they are here and
they really understand the mission. We will continue to work
closely with you to ensure that we meet the needs and
expectations of the Congress, as well as our mission, in a
reasonable and responsible manner.
Once again, thank you for the opportunity to appear here
today before you and I would be pleased to answer any questions
you may have.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Chief Matthew R. Verderosa
Chairman Lankford, Ranking Member Murphy, and Members of the
Committee, I am honored to be here today, and I appreciate the
opportunity to present the United States Capitol Police budget request
for fiscal year 2018. I am joined here by some members of my Executive
Team and Executive Management Team, including Chief of Operations,
Assistant Chief Steven Sund; Chief Administrative Officer Richard
Braddock; Chief Financial Officer Jay Miller; General Counsel Gretchen
DeMar; and Inspector General Fay Ropella. Also in attendance today is
Officer Gus Papathanasiou, the USCP FOP Labor Committee Chairman.
First, I would like to thank the Committee for its unwavering
support of the United States Capitol Police. On behalf of the entire
Department, I would like to express our appreciation to the Members of
this Committee and the entire Congress for providing the necessary
funding to support our personnel and operations. The women and men of
the U.S. Capitol Police work tirelessly to ensure that the Congress is
able to securely conduct its legislative responsibilities without
disruption, all the while exhibiting the utmost respect for the
institution, the Constitution and protecting First Amendment rights of
all individuals.
I am thoroughly impressed with their performance, which is both
seen and unseen by the community. And, I am thankful for their
commitment to our mission and their steadfast dedication every day to
ensuring the safety and security of Members, staff, and the millions of
visitors who come to the United States Capitol.
As we have seen over the past several months, our officers are well
prepared and highly trained to deal with any circumstances that they
may encounter. What at first may appear to be routine or even mundane,
may in fact be a threat to the safety and wellbeing of the Capitol
Complex or Members of Congress. We also are always aware that the
dynamic nature of any threat can change very quickly as the
circumstances unfold.
This point is exemplified with the incident on June 14, 2017, in
Alexandria, Virginia. The extensive training and quick response by
Special Agents Crystal Griner and David Bailey saved lives. I would
like to commend them for their heroic and professional response in
protecting the Members of Congress and others that day during the
practice session for the Congressional charity baseball game. We have
often discussed the Department's need to remain agile while also
continuing to enhance our capabilities, and I believe that in the
environment in which we operate, it will be necessary to provide
increased coverage for Member events going forward. In doing so, we
appreciate the Congress' continued support of our mission and its
recognition of the need to provide additional resources as we identify
new and increasing threats.
Mr. Chairman, the tremendous support of the Committee and the
Capitol Police Board has contributed to our success in achieving our
mission, as well as our ability to recognize and address the immediacy
and dynamic nature of current threats. You and your staff have taken
great time and made significant efforts to work closely with the
Department's leadership team, and we are truly grateful for your keen
understanding of the complexity of our mission and the challenges we
face.
We have developed our fiscal year 2018 budget with a focus on
continuing to equip and prepare our workforce to be agile and
responsive to the operations of Congress and keeping the U.S. Capitol
safe and secure. Our overall fiscal year 2018 request is $426.6
million, and represents an increase of approximately 8 percent over
fiscal year 2017.
As with all other law enforcement agencies, personnel salaries and
overtime make up the majority of our annual budget. However, we could
not do what we do without our dedicated law enforcement officers and
professional staff. We have continuously worked throughout the
Department to effectively and prudently allocate our existing resources
to achieve the best possible balance of staffing to meet mission
requirements. We are routinely analyzing our workforce distribution to
align job functions, assignments, workload, risk management, and
organizational readiness, along with the threat assessments and
mandatory mission requirements, within a dynamic environment.
Further, our 2018 budget request continues to address the
Department's new responsibility of protecting and securing the O'Neill
House Office Building, which took effect on June 8, 2017. The Committee
has been very understanding and cognizant of what this requirement adds
to the Department's mission and its demands on our resources.
Therefore, I am grateful to you and your staff for working with my team
over the past several months to address our resource needs with this
new responsibility.
As I noted earlier, around the world and even in the shadow of the
Capitol Dome, we are seeing the nature of threats changing. Today,
there are no routine traffic stops. There are no routine activities, as
we have seen a rise in terrorist organizations attacking public venues.
There have also been increased occurrences of homegrown, violent
extremist ``lone wolf'' episodes, as we saw on June 14, 2017. As a
result, we have seen an escalation in the number of mass causality
events around the world and in the continental United States. As such,
every event on Capitol Grounds, from demonstrations to concerts to
Members crossing the street for votes, must be considered as presenting
a risk.
Based on this rise in terrorist events and the tactics displayed by
the assailants, the U.S. Capitol Police are continuing to review our
operational and tactical postures to ensure that the Department is
taking every measure possible to maintain the security of the Capitol
Complex, while allowing the legislative process to continue to function
in an open environment. Working in close coordination with the Capitol
Police Board, the Department has determined that additional screening
of various means must be employed. This involves implementing
additional screening and pre-screening at various building access
points, deploying security measures to better secure and screen in the
House garages, and utilizing enhanced screening portals.
Instead of immediately requesting an increase in additional sworn
personnel, the Department looked at its current mission load and worked
closely with the Capitol Police Board to identify areas to modify or
eliminate mission requirements to offset these new mission requisites.
Additionally, the Department reviewed duties currently performed by
officers that could be civilianized, and we began our initial efforts
to reassign officers currently filling these roles to utilize their
training and skills to better meet operational requirements.
For the 7 years preceding fiscal year 2016, our number of Full Time
Equivalents (FTEs) remained flat. However, faced with the new mission
requirements detailed above, we continue to need additional sworn
personnel to successfully implement all of these security enhancements
throughout the Capitol Complex.
Therefore, our fiscal year 2018 request includes base funding for
1,871 sworn and 372 civilian positions, which is consistent with the
staffing levels funded in fiscal year 2017. In addition, the request
includes half-year funding for an additional 72 sworn officers and 48
civilians for the purpose of enhancing garage security, adding pre-
screening capabilities, and civilianizing certain positions as part of
a multi-year plan to bolster Capitol Complex security. To support these
efforts, the fiscal year 2018 funding request reflects an 8 percent
percent increase over the fiscal year 2017 enacted level for personnel
costs. This increase is necessary to address the annual cost of living
and benefit cost increases incurred by the Department, additional
staffing requirements, and overtime costs to meet mission requirements.
Currently, the Department's sworn staffing levels do not provide
the complete and necessary resources to meet all of our mission
requirements within the established sworn officer utility or the number
of work-hours in a year that each officer is available to perform work.
This utility number is used to determine overall staffing requirements.
It balances the utility of available staff with annual salary and
overtime funding along with known mission requirements. These known
requirements include post coverage, holiday concerts, and projected
unscheduled events such as demonstrations and late-night sessions. The
utility number also estimates unfunded requirements that occur after
the budget is enacted, such as unforeseen critical emergency
situations, and providing adequate police coverage of Congressional
hearings.
Because of the need to fill the mission requirement gap through
overtime, the Department has struggled to take our sworn personnel from
their posts to conduct training. In order to provide mandatory
training, we must utilize overtime to ensure that the officers may be
offline for training, while meeting our daily mission requirements.
There are flexibilities that other law enforcement agencies have to
offset or defer daily requirements to allow for officer training that
our unique mission does not afford us.
Therefore, mission requirements in excess of available personnel
must be addressed through the identification of efficiencies such as
post realignment and/or reductions, technology, and cutbacks within the
utility. Where necessary, we meet this requirement through the use of
overtime. If the requested staffing levels for fiscal year 2018 are
funded, the Department's overtime projection is approximately $40.7
million. This amount will cover base mission requirements, our support
of non-reimbursable events at the Library of Congress, and the ability
for sworn employees to be backfilled while they attend mandatory and
necessary training. This also includes overtime funds to provide
coverage for the O'Neill House Office Building until the officers hired
in fiscal year 2017 can be deployed. That specific overtime requirement
will dissipate once the officers are deployed.
For the Department's General Expenses budget, our request includes
items such as protective travel; hiring, outfitting, and training new
sworn personnel; supplies and equipment; management systems and
technology upgrades; and other non-personnel needs. In planning for
increases in both the number of facilities we will be protecting and
staffing requirements, we are requesting $75.2 million for general
expenses, which is an increase of $7.2 million over the fiscal year
2017 enacted level. This funding will address increases in operating
costs including investments in training, recruiting and outfitting new
employees, replacing key equipment and systems that are becoming
obsolete, and restoring annual levels reduced in previous fiscal years
to meet vital Department needs.
An important new requirement included in this request is a
necessary $2.1 million investment in equipping a fully functioning
Alternate Command Center. If the current Command Center at USCP
Headquarters cannot be utilized due to power or access issues, at this
time, the alternative is a room at another building that is sparsely
populated with a limited amount of aging equipment. The proposed
Alternate Command Center would include back-up power, emergency
notifications systems, connectivity to the Senate, House and USCP
messaging systems, secure communications, campus and airspace
monitoring abilities, and stations for the commanders to conduct
command and control oversight functions to ensure stakeholders are
continuously provided situational awareness. As the level and type of
threats have changed, we need to have all of the tools necessary to
respond quickly and appropriately at our disposal. I believe having a
fully functional, state-of-the-art Alternate Command Center at the
ready is essential for the Department to be able to maintain the
security of the Legislative Branch of government.
As the Chief of Police, it is my fiduciary responsibility to look
at every possibility within the Department to accomplish our mission
before asking for additional resources. The Committee and the Congress
have been very supportive of the Department, and I would not ask for
additional resources unless we have identified a great need. We put in
much time and planning while formulating our budget request each year.
For the past 7 years, we have implemented uniform procedures to
effectively measure and justify USCP planning, program, and resource
requirements through a comprehensive, standardized, and repeatable
management process that we call the ``Force Development Business
Process.'' It provides a transparent decisionmaking process that
includes reviews and approvals by an Investment Review Board made up of
key agency management, and it provides a structure that is results-
driven and based on meeting operational needs. In addition, to ensure
the accuracy of our budget request, our fiscal year 2018 budget went
through multiple layers of review and validation, and is tied to
supporting documentation for each budget element.
Further, I am pleased to report that the Department received its
sixth consecutive unmodified ``clean'' opinion on our financial
statements from the USCP Office of Inspector General (OIG). The
Department truly values the OIG's assistance in our efforts to further
improve operations and performance, and the long-term resolution of
recommendations related to internal controls, business processes and
material weaknesses remains of the highest importance to me and our
management team.
I am also proud to note that the Department was awarded the Gold
Standard from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement
Agencies during our fifth accreditation in 2014. This is the highest
rating that a law enforcement agency can receive, and is reserved for
organizations that exhibit strong organizational health. In 2017, the
Department once again is seeking the Gold Standard accreditation, and
will be going through an onsite assessment in August. This regular
accreditation process ensures that we are continuously reviewing our
programs and functions, sharing and receiving lessons learned with peer
law enforcement agencies, and most importantly, constantly implementing
best law enforcement practices into our operations.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, I want to assure the Committee that the
U.S. Capitol Police is committed to always being at the ready to ensure
that the Capitol Complex is safe and secure.
Our fiscal year 2018 budget request was developed with great
thought and discipline to ensure that the necessary mission
requirements were at the forefront of our planning and prioritization.
We will continue to work closely with you and the Committee staff to
ensure that we meet the needs and expectations of the Congress, as well
as our mission, in a reasonable and responsible manner.
Again, I thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have at this time.
NEW SWORN POSITIONS
Senator Lankford. Thank you both for your testimony.
Chief Verderosa, let me start with you and we will have a
brief time of questioning before we move to a closed session.
You have made a request for 72 additional sworn officers. That
would bring up the force up to 1,943 total officers. Can you
talk briefly about why that request is needed and the
additional tasks or additional locations that you need to
provide coverage for?
Chief Verderosa. Certainly. The request for the additional
personnel is very specific to a tasking that will close the
loop on some vulnerabilities that have been existing for a
number of years on the House side. I look at policing and
security of the campus in totality. It is not an initiative
where we are just deploying officers to the House side. This
effort completes our perimeter and provides a level of security
that we believe is necessary to finish something that has been
started over the past fiscal years.
CIVILIANIZED POSITIONS
Senator Lankford. You also request an increase in civilian
positions. Tell me the balancing that you are trying to
accomplish there.
Chief Verderosa. Absolutely, sir. The 48 civilian positions
would be for the purpose of taking our command center
communications, firearms instructors, and there are one or two
other positions that are currently occupied by sworn personnel
and traditionally have focused on a sworn presence. Civilians
can perform those tasks. By requesting civilian positions, we
can quickly place those sworn officers that are being displaced
back into the field where we get a quicker turnaround as
opposed to hiring new officers. New officers take time to
select, train, and then deploy, which takes basically about a
year to do. Civilianization returns the operational officers
that are in these positions, back to the field. We can get more
utility from those officers faster as opposed to hiring 48 new
officers.
Senator Lankford. Fair enough.
Mr. Larkin, we have talked a lot about cybersecurity. We
will talk a lot more about it in the closed session as well.
The British Parliament just experienced a hacking where there
were many email accounts that ended up being compromised.
As you look at this, tell me where you think our level of
preparedness is and what needs to be done generally. And then
we can talk more specifics in a closed session.
Mr. Larkin. Mr. Chairman, the fact of the matter is that we
are in a constant blocking and tackling drill. This is an
ongoing battle. There are incidents around the world and
certainly here within the United States that are highlighted
every day. This institution is not immune to that.
We are constantly looking at our capabilities and our line
of defense as far as dealing with this threat and also our
ability to respond to an incident once we detect it, and that
is key. Our ability to quickly identify an abnormality and then
to contain it and effectively repair it is key to minimizing
the damage that potentially could come from an attack that
successfully penetrates our network.
I will say that our efforts require the support of this
subcommittee because much of our technology and capability
comes with a price. As Senator Murphy alluded to, it is ``what
is that balance point.'' How are we applying a common sense
rule against a real world threat and are we in the right place?
And that is a discussion that needs to be iterative between not
only my organization but this subcommittee and that a level of
comfort is achieved that we are protecting data, privacy, and
other factors associated with our digital domain.
Senator Lankford. There is a request of $1.6 million for
process management and innovation. Tell me a little bit more
about the responsibilities of this office.
Mr. Larkin. We are partnering with industry in addition to
other government agencies that are challenged by this threat.
It is so that we can see the latest technologies and
capabilities that are being designed, developed, and put into
motion to deal with this threat. This particular unit is
looking out ahead to the next ridge line, anticipating the
technologies that potentially could help us in the future. We
look to these technologies for planning and situational
awareness of what we could leverage in order to ensure that we
are defending our networks the best way we can.
Senator Lankford. Thank you.
Senator Murphy.
Senator Murphy. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Larkin, can you talk a little bit about developing
capacities to protect from internal threats with respect to
cyber protection? This is, obviously, an increasing concern.
There is a history of some of these problems occurring within
the Senate itself. We can talk more about this in closed
session, but talk a little bit about your focus on internal
threats and making sure that offices are protected from
individuals who may have found a way inside to take information
from servers that are shared.
Mr. Larkin. In this institution, 99.9 percent of the
employees are absolutely committed to its success. However, I
think that we would be remiss if we did not posture ourselves
to look for insider threat especially with the history of
insider threat and the damage that it has done to other
organizations within our government, as well as the private
sector.
We are incorporating capabilities that are not only policy-
based but also software-based. Policy-based in the sense of who
has access to the sensitive information, and whether that
access is appropriate. That can be achieved not only through
authorities but also sophisticated levels of credentialing. The
ability to monitor who is operating within a particular data
area and scrutinize their activity. Are they harvesting data
inappropriately? Are they moving data to a place where that
data should not be making a transit? There are a number of ways
that we can be alerted to inappropriate behavior.
The other piece of this is the focused training and
education effort that we have been undertaking and continue to
push with Member offices and their staffs. We need to be alert
to individuals who may have a temporary presence in their
office, who are working there for the summer or for a short
period of time and may get access to that office's system and
subsequently to the Senate system. Are we vetting these folks
appropriately without interfering with the privacy rights of a
particular individual. Are we alerting, for instance, my agency
and others, when we sense that something is not right? This is
a part of the conversation we are having with individual
offices. Very often the systems administrators, the
administrative officer, the chief of staff and so forth will
notice an issue and seek assistance and that starts us down a
path of confirming, if that is the case, that they have a
problem.
Senator Murphy. Thank you for that answer and for your
focus on the issue.
CRISIS INTERVENTION TRAINING
Chief Verderosa, I wanted to ask you a question that is
maybe a little bit out of the box. In the 21st century CURES
Act, which is a piece of legislation we passed at the end of
last year, we included support for something called crisis
intervention teams, which are a community-based policing model
designed to really understand the challenges that individuals
with mental illness pose to law enforcement and the unique ways
in which to respond to that threat, which often is not the
immediate deployment of physical force.
You are asking for a lot of new money on training, very
appropriate. But can you talk a little bit about how you
approach this new model that a lot of different police
departments are deploying to handle individuals with mental
illness who may present a threat?
Chief Verderosa. Absolutely, sir. We actually do subscribe
to a crisis intervention team--the concept. We attend the
Metropolitan Police crisis intervention officer program. It is
a 40-hour program. We have actually been involved since 2014.
They were very proactive in this area, and we feel there is
great value. The Metropolitan Police is partnering with the DC
Department of Behavioral Health to develop this, and it is
based on the Memphis model where you have community engagement
and we look at resources that are available with a goal of
trying to divert, whenever possible, and get the appropriate
services that are available for people suffering from mental
health.
Obviously, there is great risk when there is a
confrontation or an interface with law enforcement. The goal is
to, one, be able to identify the needs of the individuals and
to be able to provide them with the most appropriate services,
and if charges are appropriate, there are also things that we
can do that enable us to even within the criminal justice
system ensure that the needs are met, the safety is ensured of
individuals we face out on the street.
This training does safeguard the officers. It provides them
with knowledge to be able to better understand any of the types
of threats and understand the people we are dealing with. It
provides them with essential skills. It also helps protect the
community. And it leverages the core social services that are
available in the community.
By the end of this calendar year, we should have about 75
officers that will be trained. In the future, we would like to
be able to institute that program in-house as opposed to
partnering. However, we partner quite often with other law
enforcement agencies to leverage the training ability to
various aspects of the different kinds of training.
Obviously, we are not counselors, but we can verbally de-
escalate situations. Where the person is in need, we can
determine emergency hospitalization. We work very closely with
CPEP, the Comprehensive Emergency Psychiatric Program, here in
DC, which is for both involuntary and voluntary commitments. It
is all in the interest of protecting not only the officers, but
protecting the individuals. We are very well-versed.
Senator Murphy. Well, thank you for your commitment to
that.
One last question. You have a unique array of challenges
presented to you. Right now, there are a lot of people on this
campus. Just yesterday there were, it seemed, a dozen different
protests that were happening in different places throughout.
People are very engaged in the democratic process, and so you
have got a lot of people who want to be in our space.
But as you know, many of us were alarmed when a few weeks
ago there was a directive sent out to press inside these
buildings that they were no longer able to film interactions
with Members of the Senate.
So maybe I will pose this maybe to you, Mr. Larkin, but
either one of you can answer. Can you just walk us through what
led to that directive being handed down and what the current
disposition is today? My understanding is that there is no
change in policy, that credentialed press are allowed to film
interactions with Members of Congress as they traditionally
have been allowed to do. But can you just walk us through how
we got to that policy and where we are today?
Mr. Larkin. Senator, as you know, some of the political
issues that are front stage here on this campus and certainly
in the eyes of the Nation have generated an increased level of
attention from the media. However, that has resulted in a level
of congestion at times in our hallways and stairways that
primarily poses a safety risk. The Rules Committee sets those
standards and they actually develop the right and left
boundaries for media behavior and what is allowed and not
allowed in this institution. We assist with maintaining a
degree of order.
As we saw the hallways being congested, as we saw Members
being overwhelmed by media, we sought to control that primarily
from a safety perspective, not to interfere with media access.
I think that effort was mischaracterized. In the end, we have
approached the various media galleries and asked for their
assistance. We would really like them to take care of this
problem and understand the challenges that we have here.
We are not trying to restrict media access. However, we
need to ensure there is some organization and some respect for
not only the pathways that we have, whether it is in the
Capitol Building or here in the office buildings, but also in
regard for how they approach Members. At times, we have had
Members that have been impeded from getting to their
destinations because of the level of congestion and certainly
the degree of pursuit that they have experienced.
We are just trying to find that balance point. This was
something I think that got out of hand temporarily but was
quickly resolved when we were able to have a dialogue with the
right people. I think the media can help us out with this.
Senator Murphy. But just to confirm, so the policy has
not----
Mr. Larkin. It has not changed.
Senator Murphy. It has not changed.
Mr. Larkin. No. They went back to the existing policies.
Senator Murphy. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Lankford. Senator Kennedy.
Senator Kennedy. Gentlemen, I think I have maybe one or two
questions.
I wanted to thank you both for your service.
Mr. Larkin, I wanted to ask you about the media directive.
What did the original directive say? You indicated there was
some confusion about it.
Mr. Larkin. I believe that the initial incident was
regarding camera locations, that there was a camera team that
was in an inappropriate location. I think that over the years
and with the change of personnel not only on the media side but
other parts of this institution, common practice began to
deviate from what the rule was. And so when this particular
incident involving a camera crew in the wrong place was
observed, it set some other things in motion.
Senator Kennedy. What I am asking you is did the original
directive prohibit cameras?
Mr. Larkin. Cameras were prohibited in certain areas, and
this particular camera team was not supposed to be in the area
that they were in.
Senator Kennedy. What areas were camera teams prohibited
from? Do you recall?
Mr. Larkin. There are pages and pages of rule guidance that
diagram this out and, at this point, I would just be guessing.
Senator Kennedy. Well, if the issue arises again--I
understand you have to go through the Rules Committee--I would
certainly like to know. And as you expressed, I think we have
to be very careful here because I think the message that the
public received was that the media with cameras could no longer
access the peoples' representatives. And I do not think that is
what any of us want. And I think there was a lot of confusion
about it. But I would certainly like to know within the rules
if another directive like that is being considered--I am not on
the Rules Committee, but I would sure like to have some advance
warning and offer some input. I just did not think it was very
cool is what I am trying to suggest to you. I know it is not
your call. I am well aware of that, Frank. But we just need to
be real careful here.
Mr. Larkin. I think it goes to communications and getting
everybody in the same place saying the same thing and
understanding what the rules are. I think we can come to that
balance point. There is no intent to impede them from access to
Members or anything else. We will work hard on making sure this
does not happen again.
Senator Kennedy. I know you will. I want to thank you and
the Chief for your good work and especially your colleagues
too.
Mr. Larkin. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Lankford. Senator Van Hollen.
Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking
Member Murphy.
I thank both of you, first of all, for your service. I
thank you for what you do to protect our Capitol and make it as
safe as it can be consistent with the need to have a place that
is open for the capital of democracy.
And I also want to join my colleagues in extending our
gratitude to Special Agents Griner and Bailey for saving lives
and to your entire teams.
And I had a question on cybersecurity as well, but I am
going to defer that. I understand we may be able to take that
up in a more confidential setting.
USCP COORDINATION WITH AGENCIES
But I have a question for you, Chief Verderosa. Last year,
the GAO published a report on the Department of Homeland
Security's Office of National Capital Region Coordination, and
they recommended that they strengthen their coordination
capabilities through the restructuring of the joint Federal
committee and specified the roles and responsibilities of all
the participating agencies, how they can best work together.
The Department of Homeland Security accepted the GAO
recommendations.
And my question to you and to you as well, Mr. Larkin, if
relevant, is given the fact that the Capitol Police and the
Sergeant at Arms are part of that security system, do you feel
that those provisions, those GAO recommendations, are being
implemented? Do you feel like you are being properly included
as part of the team? How are the lines of communication? What
is your assessment of where we are today?
Chief Verderosa. We have very robust communication with all
of our partners in the National Capital Region, specifically
some members of Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DHS
central. We are on their communication links. We work very
closely particularly with large-scale events, national security
events, and National Special Security Events. Frankly--and I
say this to my partners all the time--in the 32-plus years that
I have been in law enforcement, I have never seen better
coordination between all entities particularly our really
closest partners, Secret Service, FBI, the service being part
of DHS. We get tremendous support. Information sharing is as
good as I have ever seen. Intelligence sharing, both classified
and unclassified information. I applaud the efforts of our
partners in reaching out to us with information. We have a very
active threat assessment investigations division, and I would
say that we are equal partners with all of them. I am very
pleased with our ability to work closely, communicate with, and
share information with our DHS partners.
And I will certainly defer to Mr. Larkin.
Mr. Larkin. And I agree with that. I will highlight two
recent incidents.
One is the shooting a couple weeks ago where Chief
Verderosa and I got on the scene very quickly, interacted with
the leadership from the other Departments involved, the FBI,
ATF, the other responding resources. We all knew each other. We
already had that connective tissue in place. So it was about
focusing on what was important, and we were quickly able to
prioritize how we move forward in handling that incident
because we have no time in this National Capital Region with
everything that we are challenged with to deal with egos, to
deal with people wanting to hold onto information and so forth.
We have a very good relationship based on trust and confidence.
The other is DHS and the way we partner with them on cyber.
We are talking about the physical side of it, but we cannot
ignore talking about the cyber side. And we have situations
here that develop where we have instantaneous communications
with DHS, and we have to because they are a platform that has
tentacles out to other agencies, probably one of the best
alerting capabilities that we have that once we detect
something is amiss to be able to let others instantly know
about that. It goes to that mitigation of the damage effect
because if they are hitting us, they are probably hitting other
people, as we have seen with this incident this week around the
world.
Senator Van Hollen. Thank you.
Senator Lankford. This concludes the open session of the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee hearing
regarding fiscal year 2018 funding for the Sergeant at Arms and
U.S. Capitol Police.
The hearing record will remain open for 7 days allowing
Members to submit statements and questions for the record,
which should be sent to the subcommittee by the close of
business on Thursday, July 6, 2017.
CONCLUSION OF HEARINGS
The subcommittee will now adjourn and immediately reconvene
in closed session to review security needs within the Sergeant
at Arms and Capitol Police budgets. This portion of the hearing
will be restricted to Members and staff with TS level clearance
only.
I appreciate all of you being here and being part of this
conversation. We look forward to reconvening in the other
location for the closed session. Thank you.
This hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, June 29, the
subcommittee was adjourned and immediately reconvened in closed
session. After the closed session, the hearings were concluded
and will reconvene subject to the call of the Chair.]