    [Senate Hearing 117-818]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 117-818

               LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARINGS

                                    BEFORE A

                              SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

                COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                       ON

                               H.R. 8237/S. 4720

    AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH FOR THE FISCAL
             YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2023, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
                                   __________

                            Architect of the Capitol
                          Congressional Budget Office
                        Government Accountability Office
                              Library of Congress
                     United States Senate Sergeant at Arms
                                   __________

             Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations

                      [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

           Available via the World Wide Web: https://www.govinfo.gov
                                   __________

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

    46-668  PDF               WASHINGTON : 2024

                          COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

                        PATRICK LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman

    PATTY MURRAY, Washington             RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama, Vice
    DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California             Chairman
    RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois          MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
    JACK REED, Rhode Island              SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
    JON TESTER, Montana                  LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
    JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire        LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina
    JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon                 ROY BLUNT, Missouri
    CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       JERRY MORAN, Kansas
    BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii                 JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
    TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
    CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut      SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
    JOE MANCHIN, III, West Virginia          Virginia
    CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland           JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
    MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico          CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi
                                         MIKE BRAUN, Indiana
                                         BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee
                                         MARCO RUBIO, Florida

                       Charles E. Kieffer, Staff Director
               Shannon Hutcherson Hines, Minority Staff Director

                                     ------

                     Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch

                       JACK REED, Rhode Island, Chairman

    CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut      MIKE BRAUN, Indiana, Ranking
    MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico              Member
    PATRICK LEAHY, Vermont, (ex-         RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama
        officio)                         MARCO RUBIO, Florida

                               Professional Staff

                                 Jessica Berry
                                 Hannah Chauvin

                         Margaret Pritchard (Minority)
                            Lucy Gardner (Minority)

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                                    hearings

                            Wednesday, May 11, 2022

                                                                       Page

    Architect of the Capitol.........................................     1
        J. Brett Blanton, Architect of the Capitol:
            Prepared Statement of....................................    24
            Statement of.............................................    23

    Congressional Budget Office......................................     1
        Dr. Phillip Swagel, Director, Congressional Budget Office:
            Prepared Statement of....................................     1

    United States Senate Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper.............     1
        Karen Gibson, Sergeant At Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate:
            Prepared Statement of....................................    12
            Statement of.............................................    10
    Questions for the Record.........................................    41

                            Wednesday, June 22, 2022

    Government Accountability Office.................................    43
        Gene Dodaro, U.S. Comptroller General, Government
          Accountability Office:
            Prepared Statement of....................................    54
            Statement of.............................................    51

    Librarian of Congress............................................    43
        Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian Of Congress:
            Prepared Statement of....................................    47
            Statement of.............................................    46
                                  ----------

                                  back matter

    List of Witnesses, Communications, and Prepared Statements.......    99

    Nondepartmental Witnesses........................................    77

    Subject Index:
        Architect of the Capitol.....................................   101
        Congressional Budget Office..................................   101
        Government Accountability Office.............................   101
        Library of Congress..........................................   101
        United States Senate Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper.........   101

                        LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023

                                  ----------

                            WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2022

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

        The subcommittee met at 10:02 a.m., in room SD-192, Dirksen
    Senate Office Building, Hon. Jack Reed (Chairman) presiding.
        Present: Senators Reed and Braun.

     ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, AND THE SENATE
                                SERGEANT AT ARMS

                     opening statement of senator jack reed

        Senator Reed. Good morning. I will call the hearing to
    order.
        The subcommittee comes this morning to discuss the 2023
    budget for the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee.
        I look forward to continuing to work with Ranking Member
    Senator Braun and the Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee
    in crafting responsible funding legislation that supports the
    Legislative Branch.
        Today we have with us the Architect of the Capitol, Brett
    Blanton, and the Senate Sergeant at Arms, General Karen Gibson.
    I thank you for joining us here today to testify.
        The Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Phillip
    Swagel, was also scheduled to join us but cannot because he is
    in medical quarantine due to COVID-19. We wish him well and I
    ask unanimous consent that his written testimony be placed in
    the hearing record.
        [The statement follows:]
     Prepared Statement of Phillips Swagel, Director of the Congressional
                                 Budget Office

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Senator Reed. Let me begin by thanking the women and men of
    your agencies that serve and protect the Capitol and Senate.
    Your agencies play key roles in ensuring that our physical
    space here on the Capitol Campus is safe - not just for Members
    of Congress and staff, but also the millions of visitors who
    are eagerly returning after 2 years as we reopen - and that our
    ``virtual'' security--our cyber space and IT infrastructure -
    are also secure.
        During the COVID-19 pandemic, both the Senate and the House
    have continued to meet, which means many of your employees have
    had to show up in person for work. They have provided the
    Capitol Campus with enhanced cleaning, PPE, food services, and
    critical IT enhancements for remote work. And then the January
    6 attack on the Capitol happened, adding a whole new way in
    which we must think about and approach security while
    maintaining an ``open campus'' environment so that all people
    can visit and share this special place.
        We want to make sure the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the
    Architect of the Capitol have the tools needed to continue
    keeping us safe and to keep up with both known and emerging
    threats. But balancing openness with security needs is not
    cheap, and both of your 2023 budget requests clearly reflect
    that.
        The AOC's budget increase for security account alone is an
    eye-popping $637 million. I know this mainly reflects the need
    for adequate facilities and infrastructure support for the
    Capitol Police as they add more sworn officers, analysts,
    contracted security guards, and safety equipment; and the
    recommendations from the Physical Infrastructure Security
    Assessment of the Capitol Campus completed earlier this year.
        However, this subcommittee will want a full accounting of
    those projects and why we need them if we are to provide the
    funding.
        The Senate Sergeant at Arms seeks an increase of $4
    million, including 10 new staff, to support the physical
    security of Senators and staff in and around the Capitol as
    well as in their home States. This is understandable given that
    threats against members increased by a 107 percent last year.
        General Gibson, I want to know how the SAA is making sure
    Senators and their staff know how better to use the Protective
    Services you provide.
        This subcommittee has to make difficult decisions on
    funding, reforms, mission, and operational structure, and
    physical security messages that directly affect our agencies
    and the Capitol Campus.
        We want to make sure we find the right solutions. It will
    be up to us to provide you with the tools you need to implement
    those changes and hold you accountable for implementing them
    successfully.
        I'd also note that the U.S. Capitol was designed to a safe
    accessible place for Americans to come together to witness and
    participate in our democracy, but if officials continue to
    inflame the public with irresponsible rhetoric and outrageous
    and false conspiracy theories, then our country and taxpayers
    pay a steep price and some of that price tag is reflected in
    this elevated budget request.
        Clearly security enhancements are needed, but all the
    security personnel and equipment in the world won't be enough
    to defend our institutions--and our democracy - if this
    corrosive rhetoric continues and incorrect rhetoric continues.
        While we do not have a broader budget agreement yet for
    fiscal year 2023, we do know the legislative branch is not
    insulated from that debate. Hopefully we'll have a top line
    number soon from Chairman Leahy and Vice Chairman Shelby so we
    can consider and move bipartisan appropriations bill.
        And with that, I'd like to turn to my Ranking Member
    Senator Braun. Senator Braun, please.

                        STATEMENT OF SENATOR MIKE BRAUN

        Senator Braun. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr.
    Blanton and General Gibson, for being here. I look forward to
    crafting something that's going to make sense.
        Your responsibility, Architect of the Capitol, is for the
    maintenance of the grounds and office buildings. The Sergeant
    at Arms is responsible for a full range of functions, from
    emergency preparedness to telecommunications.
        As members of the Capitol Police Board, you both play a
    significant role in the security decisions made around the
    campus.
        Congress provided $300 million last summer in the Security
    Supplemental for upgrades and we funded a number, a number, of
    priority security-related projects in the Omnibus bill.
        The supplemental funding was on top of substantial
    increases to the Legislative Branch agencies in fiscal year
    2022, a 12 percent boost over 2021.
        Of course, we know there were extra-normal circumstances,
    but this has to be taken in the context that our economy
    generally just grows one and a half to two and a half percent a
    year, and if you're not kind of in line with that, you're going
    to run into problems in the long run.
        Mr. Blanton, you're requesting a significant funding
    increase in fiscal 2023. As we consider these requests, it's
    important that we make wise investments tailored to the most
    likely threats.
        In addition to security, you're both responsible for daily
    maintenance and operations. For hundreds of years, the American
    people have had the ability to freely visit these buildings.
    I've been here a little over 3 years, and part of the beauty of
    being here not only as a Senator or Representative or
    especially the public is that ability to migrate freely and, of
    course, we won't go over the reasons why, but I think that
    everyone here that works here and especially the public that
    wants to visit it would appreciate that we get this thing back
    to normal.
        I sent a letter to Senator Schumer at the beginning of
    April urging him to do so. I was a strong supporter of Senator
    Haggerty's resolution to reopen the buildings, which the Senate
    passed unanimously in March.
        It's past time to fully reopen the Capitol to the way it
    was before COVID. COVID obviously was a hopefully once-in-a-
    century challenge. We learned a lot about it. Most of America
    is moving in a way that we know we're going to have to live
    with it. We've learned a lot about it, and we should have never
    thrown caution to the wind in navigating through it, but we are
    where we are. So I think we need to move on.
        Majority Leader Schumer's insistence on keeping COVID
    restrictions in place has real consequences for staff in this
    building, and the Americans who would like to freely flow
    through it I think are wondering about it as well.
        Both of you are involved in reopening the Capitol, and I
    look forward to discussing in a way that has common sense to do
    so beyond where we are currently.
        Fiscal year 2023 requests for all Leg Branch agencies is
    over a billion dollars more than 2022. 20 percent increase,
    seven to eight times the increase in what our net economic
    growth is going to be. You look at the first quarter, we
    actually fell a little bit.
        I don't want to use statistics based on aberrations of the
    last 2 years, but in the long run, it needs to be more in line
    with what we can afford.
        As we look to fiscal year 2023, we must evaluate how these
    resources are going to be spent, and ideally it should be done
    in the process of a real budget consideration. I'm on the
    Budget Committee. It's kind of a useless appendage out here
    since we haven't used it in over 10 years. That is a head
    scratcher to most Americans because you couldn't get by without
    it.
        We ended up bumping spending through an Omnibus bill that
    took it up nearly six percent, and again that's about three
    times the growth of our economy.
        We don't do budgets anymore. We need to get back into that,
    especially for something as important as this. We've got to
    address these structural issues for the future of the country,
    for our kids and our grandkids. The system has got to work
    differently. This is just one small part of it.
        I look forward to working with Chairman Reed here to where
    we at least on what we do maybe set the example for the other
    areas of Appropriations and come up with something that makes
    sense for the American public. Thank you.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much, Senator Braun.
        Now I will ask our witnesses to both offer their opening
    statements, approximately 5 minutes. Your written statements
    will be made part of the record.
        Let me begin with General Gibson.
    STATEMENT OF GENERAL KAREN H. GIBSON, SERGEANT AT ARMS,
                SENATE SERGEANT AT ARMS AND DOORKEEPER OF
                THE SENATE
        General Gibson. Thank you.
        Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun, Members of the
    Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify in
    support of the Sergeant at Arms fiscal year 2023 budget
    request.
        I want to begin by thanking you for supporting our fiscal
    year 2022 request, to include the Business Continuity and
    Disaster Recovery Fund, whose resources will enable the
    Sergeant at Arms to respond to unanticipated business needs,
    whether supporting State Offices in the aftermath of a natural
    disaster or providing support in a communications degraded
    environment.
        I understand my fiduciary responsibilities to our taxpayers
    and remain committed to transparency in all expenditures.
        My team has made steady progress in strengthening our
    physical and cybersecurity posture, pressing forward to
    modernize systems, and enhancing our operational effectiveness
    and service support to the U.S. Senate.
        I am grateful for a strong working relationship with the
    U.S. Capitol Police, the Architect of the Capitol and his team,
    and with my counterparts in the House of Representatives.
        Allow me a moment to highlight just a few examples of the
    SAA's recent work:

      --Together with the Secretary of the Senate, we developed a
            consolidated Senate Operations Center or SOC. In
            coordination with the Capitol Police Command Center,
            the SOC provides a single point of entry for
            information, situational awareness, events tracking and
            queries, and communicating with the Senate community.
      --We are working to further enhance the SOC, but their
            situation tracking, community messaging and support to
            Senate leadership and other decision-makers already
            represents a vast improvement over past practices.

        In terms of network communications and cybersecurity, next
    month we will complete migration from a legacy data center to
    two modern data centers, providing two resilient and
    geographically separated centers to ensure the availability of
    Senate networks during the most disruptive potential events for
    years to come.
        We are also expanding and modernizing the services we
    provide the Senate community. We will open a Passport Office
    for Senators and staff in the Hart building in June and are
    already offering notary services at the Post Office in the
    Dirksen building.
        Printing, Graphics and Direct Mail, PGDM, is pioneering an
    online storefront that will enhance customers' ability to
    create, proofread and submit graphic print orders remotely.
    This new software will better enable order tracking, will give
    offices the ability to save frequently ordered items, and
    provide a modern look, feel, and functionality to printing,
    graphics, and direct mail consumers.
        These are but a few of the advances made possible by the
    resources you provided during fiscal year 2022. Thank you.
        For fiscal year 2023, we request $285 million, that's
    approximately 3.5 percent more than our request for fiscal year
    2022, and 992 positions to directly support Senators, their
    staff, and constituents.
        This request reflects an increase of $9.7 million and 35
    additional positions. We seek $5 million in no-year funding to
    upgrade audiovisual equipment in committee hearing rooms and
    $6.3 million to support recently authorized fellowship
    programs.
        Within the fiscal year 2023 budget, we request $4.8 million
    in new funding to strengthen IT continuity programs. These
    funds will enhance the Senate's contingency readiness through
    capabilities such as CMS, Crisis Management Suite kits that
    provide secure deployable communications in an emergency. The
    funds will enable us to purchase satellite phones for State
    offices, providing a reliable contingency communication
    platform in the event cellular communications are unavailable,
    as was the case last year for 11 State offices during the wake
    of Hurricane Ida.
        This budget will also enable our CIO, Chief Information
    Officer, and cybersecurity teams to modernize aging IT systems
    and remain steadfast in defending communication networks both
    at the Capitol Complex and in State offices against
    increasingly sophisticated and aggressive cyber adversaries.
        Of the 35 additional positions requested, 10 will support
    the Senate's Chief Information Officer, reinforcing the
    resiliency of IT systems, improving the quality of online
    applications and services that are developed for Senate users,
    completing the Unified Communications and Collaboration
    initiative, and expanding our capacity to respond to Help Desk
    requests and equipment needs.
        Ten positions directly respond to the growing number of
    threats that are communicated against the Capitol and against
    Senators themselves. These new hires will coordinate with the
    Capitol Police as well as local, State, and Federal law
    enforcement partners to improve our threat intelligence and
    information-sharing and to coordinate additional law
    enforcement support when needed for Senators in transit or in
    their home districts.
        The last 15 positions will provide operational support to
    the Senate community and the Sergeant at Arms' greatest
    resource, its people. These positions support the continued
    demand for the Employee Assistance Program which, thanks to
    your support, remains a free and confidential resource,
    promoting personal resiliency among Senate employees across the
    nation's time zones. Within our Office of Human Resources,
    requested funding will better position us to recruit and retain
    a talented, productive, and inclusive workforce. One position
    provides an additional proctor for the Page Program and another
    ensures our acquisition workforce and contracting officers
    achieve necessary training certifications.
        In sum, the additional FTEs will further strengthen our
    security, support much-needed modernization, and provide better
    support to the thousands of employees who sustain the Senate's
    functions.
        I will close by saying that the Sergeant at Arms has
    accomplished much in the past year but we are just getting
    started, particularly with multiyear modernization and security
    initiatives. I remain deeply impressed by the professionalism
    and commitment of the women and men I am honored to lead and am
    tremendously proud of their contributions. With your support, I
    look forward to sharing many more accomplishments in the year
    to come and stand ready to answer your questions.

        [The statement follows:]
                   Prepared Statement of Hon. Karen H. Gibson
        The Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms (SAA) respectfully
    requests $285,052,000 and 992 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) in
    appropriations for fiscal year 2023. This is a 3.5 percent increase
    over the fiscal year 2022 proposed budget and an increase of 35 FTEs.
        In my second year as SAA, I am pleased to share with you how we
    have made steady progress in strengthening our operational readiness
    and our plans to further improve the safety and security of the Senate,
    as well as our work on new initiatives to increase support to Senate
    offices.
                               capitol operations
    Senate Recording Studio (SRS)
        The fiscal year 2023 budget includes a request for $5,000,000 in
    no-year funding to enable the SAA to replace audiovisual equipment and
    systems in Senate Hearing Rooms at, or near, the end of its serviceable
    life. The Senate Recording Studio has a role in monitoring, maintaining
    and repairing the audio-visual systems in all hearing rooms across the
    Senate campus. The SRS plans to make targeted replacements of three to
    four systems per year as they age. The SAA is working towards several
    targeted replacements in fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2023,
    including systems in SH-216. At the same time, the SAA is working with
    the AOC on an ongoing program for the complete renovation of hearing
    rooms, starting with SD-342. This ongoing effort to renovate hearing
    rooms will continue in fiscal year 2023 and require a permanent budget
    base increase of $5,000,000 per year. To date, the SAA has completed a
    targeted replacement of broadcast cameras in SD-106 and the full
    renovation of the Commerce hearing room (SR-253), the Intel Hearing
    Room (SH-219), and the Senate SCIF (SVC 217).
        Our request also includes funding for ongoing support of Recording
    Studio services to Senators, and committees. During calendar year 2021,
    the Senate Recording Studio broadcast 1,167 hours of gavel-to- gavel
    coverage of Senate floor proceedings and recorded the proceedings for
    subsequent archiving. Since the first fully remote hearing on April 27,
    2020, the Senate Recording Studio has broadcast 919 remote or hybrid
    hearings enabling Senate committees to review bills, conduct oversight,
    issue reports, and hold hearings despite pandemic constraints. They
    also produced 700 television and 1200 radio productions enabling
    Senators working in DC to communicate with the constituents and news
    outlets at home. Further, the SRS provided broadcast and recording for
    the 2021 Presidential Inaugural Ceremony, three Lying in State/Lying in
    Honor ceremonies and, of course, January 6, 2021.
        Priorities for the SRS consist of the replacement of critical
    infrastructure within studio spaces including video switching, routing,
    and audio mixing systems installed in CY08 which is now near or in some
    cases past the end of its serviceable life. These replacements ensure
    the SRS provides exceptional support in each of its functional areas.
    Appointment Desk
        Level funding is requested to support the network of Appointment
    Desks located on the first floor of the Capitol, in the basements of
    the Russell and Hart buildings, and in the Capitol VisitorCenter (CVC).
    During fiscal year 2019, the most recent non-pandemic year, the
    Appointment Desk processed approximately 205,000 visitors. Of these,
    more than 120,000 visitors were in the Capitol complex for official
    business or a meeting with a Senator or staff. The remaining 85,000
    visitors consisted of staff-led tours that were processed through the
    Russell Appointment Desk. In addition, nearly 30,000 international
    visitors relied on the CVC Appointment Desk for Senate Gallery Passes
    and information. Although the pandemic required a significant
    curtailment in operations beginning March 2020, required support will
    steadily increase in fiscal year 2022 and into fiscal year 2023 as the
    Senate returns to normal operations.
        During calendar year 2021 and into calendar year 2022, the
    Appointment Desk staff provided auxiliary staff support to the New
    Member Suites post-election and the Impeachment trial; reopened desks
    to Official Business Visitors; created templates for daily schedules of
    Official Business Visitors to share with USCP; created and implemented
    new policies to allow for limited staff-led tours including
    registration and scheduling; and developed a plan for the possibility
    of three additional appointment desks in the Senate Office Buildings.
        During fiscal year 2022 through fiscal year 2023, the Appointment
    Desk will train staff on use of the new software and efficiently assist
    Senate offices in registering and welcoming official business visitors.
                        chief information officer (cio)
    Cybersecurity
        The CIO is requesting an additional two FTEs for the Cybersecurity
    department. The SAA proactively defends the Senate network daily
    against advanced cyber threats. The Cybersecurity Department has
    successfully mitigated critical events and ensured the security of the
    Senate due to the dedicated staff and sophisticated technologies
    deployed on the Senate network. To build on these successes, the CIO is
    requesting two FTEs to support the analysis process by analyzing open-
    source, commercial and government threat intelligence data to assist
    with determining the extent of threats, identifying indicators of
    compromise, and drafting threat intelligence reports to make risk-based
    decisions.
        For fiscal year 2023, we will be focused on our five main lines of
    effort: Cybersecurity Resilience Assessment Methodology, Office
    Cybersecurity Resilience Assessment Methodology, Insider Threat,
    Awareness, and Cloud. The development of the Cybersecurity Resilience
    Assessment Methodology was completed, and we are now finalizing the
    testing of the standardized methodology to ensure it is effective and
    efficient. Next, advanced cybersecurity resiliency assessments for
    Senate offices and committees will be conducted, which includes
    coordinated penetration tests, vulnerability assessments, and advanced
    phishing assessments, among other actions. The CIO will concentrate on
    mitigating risk associated with the potential insider threat, through
    education and technical means. The CIO will mature the Cybersecurity
    awareness campaign in collaboration with other agencies. Finally, gaps
    in cyber and privacy security will be evaluated as it relates to cloud-
    based services and other technologies.
    Process Management & Innovation
        The CIO is requesting an additional $731,000 and three FTEs to
    execute our hybrid cloud strategy framework to provide access to modern
    and secure line-of-business applications and services In fiscal year
    2023, the CIO will build on and adopt software-as-a-service (SaaS)
    solutions to enhance office productivity, communications, and
    collaboration capabilities. The CIO will also expand investments in
    other cloud infrastructure, platform services, and associated
    automation, management, and monitoring tools to increase responsiveness
    to emerging business requirements, and to opportunistically move or
    build applications, websites, and services in the cloud.
        The SAA supports a lot of custom software development to meet the
    unique needs of the Senate. To support this effort, and to ensure a
    pipeline of talented staff, the CIO is requesting the three apprentice
    FTEs for the custom software development team. This team is responsible
    for creating some of the most impactful software applications such as
    Quill, Otis, eFinancial Disclosure, Calendar+ and Office Application
    Manager to name a few.
        In January 2022, the department released the latest enhancements to
    Quill, a web-based application for House and Senate member and
    committee offices to manage letter workflow, with over 90 percent of
    offices enrolled in Quill. Staff use Quill to create letters for their
    Senators to sign and invite other offices to co-sign. Since its
    release, over 1,700 letters have been authored with over 20,000 co-
    signers' signatures applied in Quill. This application has modernized
    the process to so that letters can be finalized and sent to industry,
    legislators, leadership, and others in a fraction of the time and staff
    resources previously required to complete this process.
        This team is currently engaged in development of a Security Portal,
    where security-related alerts and information from dozens of sources
    are consolidated and made available to allow the SAA to inform Senators
    of security-related matters. Additionally, the team is developing
    applications for offices to request security-related assistance from
    the SAA. The applications replace paper and email-based processes to
    address security concerns regarding events, hearings, and incidents
    occurring across the Senate and state offices.
    Technology and Communications Resiliency
        The CIO is requesting $4,783,000 for this department. The
    Technology and Communications Resiliency Directorate oversees the
    engineering, implementation, and operations for the Senate's IT
    Continuity and Disaster Recovery Programs. This includes management of
    the Senate's radio infrastructure, communications security (COMSEC),
    emergency communications, mobile command vehicles (MCVs), satellite
    communications, datacenter continuity, and support for National
    Security Special Events (NSSE). Over the past year, the BCDR team
    implemented functional testing for DoD Mobile Classified Capabilities
    (DMCCs), satellite phones, radios, and Wireless Priority Service/
    Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (WPS/GETS) to improve
    the ability for users to communicate during a disruptive event. Future
    efforts will seek to enhance testing for new capabilities such as
    FirstNet which is a resilient cellular communication's capability.
        Within the fiscal year 2023 budget, the funding will allow for the
    enhancement of the Senate's IT and communication's enterprise, which
    includes the geographic disbursement of technical assets across the
    country to further develop our Continuity of Operations (COOP) and
    Continuity of Government (COG) posture. This also includes building
    more robust communication's capabilities, to include Cellular on Wheels
    (COW) and Crisis Management Suite (CMS) kits for secure communications.
    This funding request also includes the acquisition of satellite phones
    for Member offices, extending the Unified Communications and
    Collaboration (UCC) implementation to COOP sites, and implementing a
    wireless infrastructure to expand network connectivity at COOP
    locations.
    Communication & Technology Innovation
        The CIO is requesting an additional $150,000 and one FTE in this
    department. This increase in funding is for expansion the digital
    signage within the Hart, Dirksen, and Russell office buildings.
    Currently the signage is available in seven locations, and we are
    planning to add this signage to 56 new locations over the next 5 years.
    The expanded digital signage system will display wayfinding information
    and emergency notifications, in addition to existing directory
    information and hearing schedules. Additionally, the new digital
    signage will connect to the Joint Emergency Mass Notification System
    (JEMNS), to enable another mechanism to ensure staff are informed
    during a disruptive event.
        The additional FTE is requested to lead technical editing and
    marketing efforts for the CIO. This will improve how the CIO
    communicates technical information to non-technical staff, as well as
    the CIO's overall marketing and communication to the Senate. These
    types of communications include policies, notices, the ``CIO Weekly
    Bulletin,'' and communications on all CIO projects and services.
    Enterprise Applications
        The CIO is requesting $4,704,000 and two FTEs to provide enhanced
    support for existing systems and to expand technology modernization
    efforts. In fiscal year 2022, several new initiatives were started to
    modernize applications using modern cloud-based applications, such as
    ServiceNow for Help Desk services requests, Kronos for time and
    attendance, and Cornerstone for Human Resource recruiting, learning,
    and staff career management. These new applications require equipping
    current staff with new skills. The requested FTEs will provide the
    resources to rearchitect our approach, and train SAA CIO staff to
    support these modern cloud technologies. This technology will also
    increase features and functionality available to our users and reduce
    contractor support. The funding request includes additional funds to
    expand cloud-based applications used to provide essential services to
    internal SAA offices and other customers as well as enhancements to
    TranSAAct, Asset Manager, and the Technology Catalog.
    Enterprise Operations
        The CIO is requesting $5,375,000 in this department. The SAA had
    traditionally operated two legacy data centers, which provide network
    connectivity and centralized IT support of the virtual environment for
    Senate data and applications. In 2020, we refined the data center
    modernization strategy to include a transition to two geographically
    separated and modern colocation facilities to enhance the resiliency of
    critical IT services delivered to the Senate.
        This funding request is to provide and operate the physical and
    virtual infrastructure that supports most applications and systems that
    run in the data centers. This includes funds for software licensing for
    on-premises virtual infrastructure and container platforms to
    accommodate planned growth, and also includes funds for consolidation
    of existing office applications, such as Constituent Services Systems
    into the enterprise. As such, there will be enterprise capacity
    expansion required to support these systems that were previously
    distributed among resources in the offices. These funds will also be
    used for the new enterprise storage and backup systems and reflects the
    transition from traditional capital investment to annual costs for
    deployed capacity. Finally, this funding provides for the operational
    costs for cloud Infrastructure contracts in support of the hybrid cloud
    strategy. All these efforts directly contribute to ensuring that all
    Senate IT services will be resilient and available when needed.
        Lastly, in fiscal year 2023, the migration to the new Unified
    Communications and Collaboration (UCC) system, which will replace the
    existing telephone system will be completed. This will create a mobile,
    collaborative, secure, and unified environment that is easy to use and
    intuitive for the end-user. The SAA, along with a leading UCC
    integrator, designed a system that supports communication and
    collaboration anytime, anywhere, and on any connected device. This
    includes voice messaging, voice-to-text transcription, video
    integration, conferencing, common directory, Contact Center, mass
    notification, and enhanced 9-1-1 connectivity. The UCC implementation
    focuses on five key priorities: security and privacy, systems
    integration, collaboration, mobility, and user interface and self-
    service. Because the legacy telephony system must remain operational
    throughout the migration process, fiscal year 2023 costs include
    licensing, support, and maintenance for both the new UCC components and
    the legacy components.
    Technology Governance & Budget
        The CIO is requesting $550,000 and two FTEs. The funding increase
    supports year four of a five-year plan to ensure adequate funds are
    available to support the Senate IT needs through the Economic
    Allocation Fund (EAF). EAF supports the acquisition of hardware and
    software for the DC and state offices. The additional two FTEs will
    include project management support for the newly developed Project
    Management Office, to enhance project management services for the CIO,
    and to better support large scale projects for the Senate. The other
    FTE will be used to develop policy, procedures, and technical
    documentation for the Senate.
                    executive office acquisitions department
        An increase of one FTE is requested for a Senior Procurement and
    Contracting Specialist in Acquisitions. This additional position will
    manage procurement activities for the Senate and will prepare long-
    range acquisition plans, develop solicitations, manage source
    selections and evaluate proposals for award and develop Independent
    Government Cost Estimates, competitive range determinations, source
    selection decision memoranda, limited competition justifications, and
    other supporting documentation. This new position is critical to the
    development of quality and timely procurements planned by the
    Acquisition Division to support the Senate.
        During calendar year 2022, the SAA restarted an online training
    program to ensure that SAA employees who function as Contracting
    Officer Representatives are trained and supported in their work.
    Dedicated training has also been extended, and will be added to annual
    performance objectives for SAA staff who do technical evaluations of
    contracts.
                       employee assistance program (eap)
        An increase of $103,000 and four FTEs is requested in fiscal year
    2023 for EAP, which offers a variety of emotional, behavioral, and
    work-related support as well as wellness resources and services to
    Senate staff, their family members, Senate Pages, and interns. The
    Senate EAP's mission bolsters resiliency, helps ensure psychological
    readiness, and attends to the overall employee and organizational
    wellness.
        In calendar year 2021, the EAP met the increased demand for
    services as a result of both the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the need
    for overarching trauma response by hiring two EAP full-time (FT)
    counselors, providing telehealth and onsite support services,
    delivering customized trainings to requesting Senate offices, extending
    the contract of a contract counselor, and creating an innovative,
    interactive website through which Senate staff can access information
    and contact the EAP more effectively. During this time, more than 68
    percent of Senate staff accessed EAP services across 94 percent of
    Senate offices. This is nearly a 30 percent increase in programmatic
    utilization from 2020. Additionally, 324 employees took an online
    mental health screening; 3,875 employees attended an EAP training
    activity; and 1,711 employees accessed resources for personalized
    information and referrals addressing childcare, parenting, adult care,
    aging, education, legal concerns, and/or financial issues.
        For fiscal year 2023, we are requesting additional resources to
    meet the continued increase in demand for EAP services. We are looking
    to hire two additional counselors whose schedules are able to
    accommodate increased demands for services across the country. These
    counselors would provide confidential emotional and behavioral support
    services for Senate employees and their immediate family members
    through a HIPAA compliant virtual platform. We have also identified a
    need for a full-time administrative specialist to assist with
    scheduling, program coordination, contract management, and referrals.
    The primary mission for this position is to alleviate the
    administrative duties from counseling staff. Finally, EAP has seen an
    increased demand for wellness services such as the popular Weight
    Watchers program, meditation programs, and the maintenance of the EAP
    website which contains on demand wellness and mind care resources.
        The intent of these EAP requests is to minimize barriers to care
    and meet the needs of the Senate community by enabling employees to
    access services in a multitude of ways.
                                executive office
        An increase of two FTEs is requested to support the Executive
    Office's focus on messaging to the Senate community. We need to hire a
    technical writer to assist with internal and external communications.
    In 2021, the SAA began weekly bulletins to all offices and committees
    highlighting information for the coming week: demonstrations,
    announcements, door schedules, food service, training classes. A
    quarterly newsletter called The Chamber also debuted in 2021, and
    allows the SAA to highlight innovations, new offerings, and provide
    information to the community regularly. We also created a weekly CIO
    round up of technical announcements. We are gratified at the positive
    response to these publications. For fiscal year 2023, our goal is to
    work to ensure that SAA policies and procedures speak in one voice, and
    are updated regularly. We also publish a monthly newsletter called The
    Source for SAA employees and this, along with quarterly town hall
    meetings, is our mechanism to announce new policies, highlight the
    excellent work done by SAA teams, and inform our large workforce. We
    also need to hire an Executive Assistant for the Executive Office to
    help coordinate our work, our deliverables, and to assist with
    scheduling and with the many projects in progress within the Executive
    Office.
                        human resources (hr) department
        The increase of seven FTEs is needed to support the additional
    staff we have added to the SAA's roster in recent years. Among the
    requests are a Deputy Director, Diversity Officer, two Human Resource
    Administrators who will work to train and support SAA managers, and to
    train and support newly hired SAA staff. We need to hire a Wounded
    Warrior Fellowship Administrator, and we need two HR Technicians to
    support HR's focus on modernization.
        During fiscal year 2021, the Senate Placement Office received 1,038
    requests for recruitment assistance from Senate offices and processed
    43,441 resumes from applicants seeking Senate employment. This
    represents a three-fold increase in resume traffic from the preceding
    fiscal year. A similar increase in hiring needs across the SAA led to
    the purchase of a Talent Acquisition System which should be implemented
    this summer. This will change the way offices post job openings, and
    will allow application packets to be viewed online instead of in
    printed packets. Interviews can be scheduled through the Talent
    Acquisition System and onboarding of new staff is also handled through
    the same system. Human Resources hired a new Placement Office Manager
    and transitioned SAA recruitment under the Placement Office umbrella.
    The Human Resources team implemented the SAA's new hiring policy which
    gives hiring managers 100 days from a staff member's departure to the
    onboarding of the replacement. This has decreased the length of time it
    takes to fill vacant positions.
        As soon as the Talent Acquisition Program is operational, Human
    Resources will begin implementing a new Performance Management system
    across the SAA, and will be implementing a complementary compensation
    management and succession planning system as well. This effort will
    require dedicated and sustained support from our Human Resources team.
        The SAA also requests $6,277,000 for the McCain-Mansfield
    Fellowship Program and the SFC Sean Cooley and SPC Christopher Horton
    Congressional Gold Star Family Fellowship Program for the Senate,
    established by S.Res. 442 and 443, respectively. Conversations continue
    with the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of
    Representatives for the joint operation of the programs.
        The additional FTEs requested for fiscal year 2023 will support the
    SAA's endeavors to ensure a productive, fair, and equitable workforce
    throughout the SAA, and will allow us to meet our responsibilities in
    the administration of the new Fellowship Programs.
                                  page program
        We request one additional FTE to provide additional supervision of
    Senate Pages. The Senate Page Program provides an opportunity for high
    school juniors from across the nation to witness the legislative
    process firsthand while learning the value of public service. In
    September 2021, the program welcomed pages back to the Senate after an
    18-month suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Page Program
    developed a robust pandemic management plan requiring routine testing,
    masking, and other precautions, which resulted in few pages testing
    positive for COVID-19. Page Program staff provided comfort care and
    meals for those pages who became positive. The Page Program provides
    supervision of Pages 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Proctors have
    expanded responsibilities and hours of work due to COVID-19 management
    and increased support of Pages. This FTE will allow us to provide an
    additional proctor for increased supervision.
        In addition, Webster Hall is preparing to undergo extensive
    renovations that will cause the Page Program to need to relocate both
    the residence and the classrooms for about a year. The Architect of the
    Capitol is working on a facilities plan, to include the costs of this
    relocation of the program.
        office of security, emergency preparedness & continuity (osepc)
    Senate Operations Center (SOC)
        We request $716,000 and one additional FTE to support the SOC which
    serves as the information and situational awareness hub for the entire
    Senate community. The focus of the SOC serves to relay information on
    mission-critical Senate and Capitol complex activities, daily security-
    related events, drills and exercises, messaging, information sharing,
    and coordination. The SOC works with other Congressional and NCR
    operations centers to gather and share information, develop a common
    operating picture, and provide decision support to the Sergeant at Arms
    and Senate leadership. The SOC acts as the clearinghouse for
    information during emergencies, ensuring critical information is
    coordinated and shared with stakeholders and staff.
        Additionally, the SOC develops situation reports and briefing
    materials related to ongoing emergency events. The daily, non-emergency
    mission of the SOC is to maintain visibility on daily events, provide
    facilities operating status, and share routine information on
    activities affecting the Senate and Capitol complex as well as the NCR
    and Senate state offices.
    Emergency Preparedness (EP)
        Emergency Preparedness requests one additional FTE to support the
    creation of emergency action plans, to support and train Office
    Emergency Coordinators, plan emergency exercises, and develop new and
    updated training classes. The mission of the SAA's Emergency
    Preparedness team is to educate, train, and exercise emergency plans
    and procedures to ensure Senators and staff are equipped with the
    necessary knowledge, skills, and tools to prepare for, respond to, and
    recover from a variety of emergencies.
        We updated over 200 Emergency Action Plans in calendar year 2021.
    These plans provide information such as detailed evacuation routes,
    elevator locations for the mobility-impaired, and office-specific
    procedures for evacuation, shelter in place, relocation/internal
    relocation, and escape hood use. Emergency quick cards are available
    for staff to attach to their badges. For the remainder of fiscal year
    2022 and fiscal year 2023, we will streamline the Emergency Action Plan
    process by moving it to an online application. We will also digitize
    the emergency quick cards so staff can access them via their Senate
    devices.
        We assisted 26 Senate offices and committees complete their
    Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans, strengthening the Senate's
    ability to continue performing its essential functions during and after
    disruptive events. We also remained focused on working with offices on
    their pandemic response, answering questions and tracking office
    staffing levels throughout the pandemic.
        In the past year, approximately 1,700 Senate staff attended virtual
    or self-paced EP training. New to our virtual training portfolio is the
    self-paced Escape Hood and EP training. For fiscal year 2022 and fiscal
    year 2023, we plan to create virtual self-paced trainings on Active
    Shooter, Office Emergency Coordinator responsibilities, Personal
    Preparedness, and mini life-safety protective actions videos. This
    Congress, we have conducted large scale life-safety training exercises
    evacuation due to an internal threat (fire), and evacuation due to an
    external threat (airspace intrusion).
        Staff in the Senate Child Care Center, Webster Hall, and the Postal
    Square building participated in a Shelter in Place exercise simulating
    an active shooter by following their procedures listed within the
    Emergency Action Plan for this event. We also conducted training in the
    Senate Chamber to review and reinforce the execution of our Chamber
    Protective Actions. The exercise covered Chamber procedures during an
    external threat, an internal threat (shelter in place), evacuation, and
    relocation to the CVC Briefing Center.
        For fiscal year 2022, we will offer Chamber Protective Actions
    training to Senators and key Senate staff such as Staff Directors and
    Legislative Directors who spend a great deal of time on the Senate
    Floor. This 15-minute training will educate key personnel within the
    Chamber of the life-safety procedures, emergency equipment locations,
    and when and how to use the emergency equipment.
        In 2022, a new individual accountability tool will be implemented,
    replacing the current Remote Check-In application. This will allow
    every Senate staff member to account for their whereabouts during an
    emergency. The tool we will be using sends emails and text messages
    that staff can simply reply to in order to let their office know that
    they are either away from campus, or safe on campus, or enroute to the
    office gathering places.
    Security, Planning & Police Coordination (SPPC)
        We request one additional FTE to coordinate law enforcement support
    for the Senate community. Our efforts during calendar year 2021
    included coordinating 1,076 Senate campus access requests including
    security coverage for 634 committee hearings and 83 Senate-specific
    security support requests, such as security sweeps and security
    modifications of office space. Further, SPPC partnered with USCP to
    support 24 residential security assessments for Senators. This team
    also conducts Security Awareness Briefings for Senate offices.
        Real-time situational awareness is maintained through the Command
    Center Duty Representative stationed in the USCP Command Center. We
    maintain a presence in the Command Center whenever the Senate is in
    session, and during normal business hours during recess periods. The
    SPPC monitored approximately 791 security events through this program
    in 2021.
    Risk & Threat Management
        We request three additional FTE to support an expected increase in
    Senator-specific requests throughout fiscal year 2023 similar to the
    significant increase in personal security requests observed in fiscal
    year 2021 following the events of January 6. These additional personnel
    are needed to increase engagement with law enforcement and the
    intelligence community and obtain information needed to make
    operational decisions, as well as support additional core functions
    such as Law Enforcement Coordination for Senate events held throughout
    the country, as well as an open-source threat monitoring. These FTEs
    will participate in offsite taskforce meetings and assignments focusing
    on trends regarding domestic and international incidents, as well as
    threat information related to Senators, their families and the US
    Capitol complex.
        SAA collaborates with USCP and other law enforcement agencies to
    ensure appropriate notification and communication with specifically
    targeted Senators and staff while continuously monitoring, evaluating,
    and conducting vulnerability, risk, and threat assessments to determine
    and apply suitable security measures and protective operations
    coverage. In 2020 and 2021, we tracked, monitored, and updated Senators
    and staff on almost 600 active criminal threat cases compared to only
    154 in 2019, a 400 percent increase. In 2021, we discovered over 505
    comments of concern, which were referred to USCP, resulting in more
    than 134 criminal threat violations.
    Member Outreach & Security Coordination (MOSC)
        Of the three FTEs requested for Risk & Threat Management, one FTE
    will provide increased security support to Senators and staff in the
    District of Columbia (DC) and state offices. Support includes security
    assessments and law enforcement coordination for public and private
    events; law enforcement notifications for identified rest overnight
    locations; escort coordination at airports, train stations, and other
    mass transit locations; enhanced residence patrols; overseas travel
    assessments and coordination; tools for off-campus safety and reporting
    procedures; SAA security training initiatives; and overall security
    posture enhancements.
        MOSC engaged in active outreach and discussions regarding active
    threats and criminal cases directed at Senators and staff, as well as
    weekly reinforcement messages to Chiefs of Staff, Administrative
    Managers, State Directors, Chief Clerks, and Schedulers regarding
    campus safety initiatives. Additionally, MOSC participates in security
    awareness briefings for Senate office staff alongside USCP
    counterparts.
        Each effort is undertaken by MOSC to ensure Senators and their
    staff receive the necessary guidance, tools, and support when planning
    and attending national public events. We provide offices with a final
    product highlighting the overall threat level, specific areas of
    concern, and local law enforcement contact information. Through this
    extensive outreach initiative, MOSC has completed approximately 300 law
    enforcement coordination and assessment requests, 813 law enforcement
    escort and travel notification requests, and 25 rest overnight
    notifications and enhanced patrols during the first half of fiscal year
    2022. The total number of travel escort support jumped from 200
    requests in 2020, to over 1,600 in 2021. This represents an 800 percent
    increase, and we are on track to exceed those total requests in fiscal
    year 2023. The SAA will benefit from an additional specialist by
    ensuring Senators' fluid schedules and security requests are handled in
    a timely manner, beyond core business hours.
    State Office Operations
        We request $470,000 and three FTEs to support a proposed expansion
    of the Federal Protective Service Protective Security Officer (FPS PSO)
    program. This expansion will extend federally contracted security
    guards to select commercial state offices. The proposed FPS PSO
    expansion will provide on-demand, event, or threat-based security to
    select commercial state offices. This support would be available with a
    48 to 72-hour response time for offices that are pre-enrolled in the
    program (enrollment requires landlord approval, staff training, and
    confirmation of FPS PSO availability to support in the requested
    market). Our request supports a minimum of one-third of commercial
    offices for a 2-week period every year.
        In addition, we request funds to reimburse FPS for conducting
    facility security assessments (FSAs) at commercial facilities housing
    state offices across the country. This proposed assessment program will
    identify potential security risks in commercial facilities, allowing
    the SAA to mitigate them through the installation of customized
    countermeasures or the removal of unsuitable offices from the SAA
    portfolio. This request covers one-third of existing commercial spaces
    and facilities, with the plan to repeat the request annually and
    complete all initial reviews by calendar year 2026. After the initial
    reviews, security assessments will occur for each new commercial space
    and facility or if the Senator maintains the space over a period of one
    term (6 years).
        We appreciate the Committee's support in fiscal year 2021 to
    adequately fund the state office rent program, reimbursement to the
    General Services Administration (GSA) for Federal occupancy agreements,
    and standard increases in FPS security costs for Senate offices housed
    in Federal buildings. The SAA works closely with commercial landlords,
    the GSA, and the FPS to ensure Senator's operational and security
    preparedness needs are met in their state offices. As of February
    2022,we supported 458 state offices for rental payments; renovations;
    installation, maintenance, and monitoring of physical security
    measures; and emergency supplies and security preparedness planning and
    training.
        In calendar year 2021, the SAA completed 99 unique state office
    projects coordinating construction, security, furniture, equipment, and
    delivery of IT services. This higher-than-average workload was the
    result of considerable backlog related to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions
    throughout the country. We are again anticipating a high number of
    projects, as we move into an election year and support numerous
    transitions. Our success in managing the State Office Operations
    portfolio hinges on our close and collaborative working relationship
    with Senate staff, commercial landlords, and our Federal partners.
        We remain committed to ensuring the safety of Senators and staff,
    and leaning forward to provide customized security systems, monitoring
    services, and enhanced office security construction designs to state
    offices without affecting Senate office budgets. Currently, over 98
    percent of state offices have adopted some level of SAA-recommended and
    funded security enhancements.
        In calendar year 2021, we provided initial physical security
    enhancements for 11 state offices and enhanced existing security for 18
    others. Maintaining state office security systems in good working order
    is a priority, and to support this effort our team conducted over 593
    service calls to address issues, conduct inspections, and recommend
    improvements in state offices.
        We believe that EP training and familiarity with security equipment
    equates to higher levels of compliance and readiness. In calendar year
    2021, the State Office Operations team offered twice-monthly emergency
    preparedness webinars and worked closely with USCP on state office
    SABs, offering both onsite and virtual options due to ongoing COVID-19
    related travel restrictions. Our team also introduced two new training
    classes: Security and Emergency Preparedness Review and Unwanted
    Activity in State Offices. Since the deployment of these new courses,
    431 Senate state staff have participated in training and detailed
    security reviews. This represents a greater than 300 percent increase
    in attendance over the last calendar year. Our focus on state office
    readiness remains a high priority as we move into fiscal year 2023.
        In addition, we remain focused on assisting state offices
    contending with the operational impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In
    calendar year 2021, State Office Operations worked closely with state
    offices around the country, ensuring they had the resources needed to
    continue operations and serve their constituents. Since the pandemic
    began, our team has coordinated 189 enhanced cleanings of state offices
    (many as a result of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 exposures). We
    focused on efforts to make facilities safer by helping offices assess
    floor plans to better plan for staggered staffing. We funded and
    coordinated furniture relocation and the procurement and placement of
    133 plexiglass partitions to support social distancing. State Office
    Operations reorganized its existing supply program to include an
    expanded inventory of COVID-19 supplies in partnership with the AOC. To
    date, we have provided nearly 162,000 face coverings and distributed
    thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer, as well as sanitizing wipes,
    disinfectant spray, and nitrile gloves to state offices. Most recently,
    our team led efforts to distribute over 4,000 COVID-19 rapid home test
    kits to state office staff. Our State Office Supply Program will
    continue in calendar year 2022.
    Access Control and Transportation--ID Access
        We request one additional FTE to allow us to hire an identification
    specialist. The Senate ID Office issued 17,600 new and updated
    Congressional and Press identification badges to 14,700 customers in
    fiscal year 2021, including Senate staff, support personnel, and
    credentialed media. We anticipate our fiscal year 2022 volume to
    increase in support of greater security measures at the Capitol complex
    and state offices. The ID office is working to support various
    capabilities, as outlined in the Homeland Security Presidential
    Directive (HSPD) 12, including digital signatures in fiscal year 2022.
        The SAA has started the evaluation process for upgrading badge
    production software to replace end of life system. Smartcards used for
    digital signatures in the Senate financial management system have been
    offered to all Senate offices, committees, and support offices. We are
    actively researching additional uses for Smartcards, such as point of
    entry, email encryption and two-factor secure remote network access in
    fiscal year 2022.
    Access Control and Transportation--Parking Operations
        The SAA purchased new permit printers and tablets to enhance onsite
    customer service in fiscal year 2021. In fiscal year 2022 and fiscal
    year 2023, we will purchase additional handheld devices and the
    necessary software for these devices to instantly identify vehicles by
    scanning permit barcodes or license plates, capturing photos,
    documenting, and printing parking violations and any other associated
    issues.
    Access Control and Transportation--Fleet Operations
        The SAA operates the Senate Daily Shuttle service, and provides the
    Senate with emergency transportation and logistics support. The SAA
    fleet includes trucks, vans, buses, SUVs, electric vehicles,
    handicapped-accessible vehicles, and Segways. Due to COVID-related
    reductions, the SAA Shuttle Service resumed in September of 2021,
    transporting more than 1,800 passengers through December 2021. Levels
    are expected to increase as Senators and staff are vaccinated and
    return onsite. In addition to staff regularly sanitizing vehicles, the
    SAA has procured anti-bacterial air filters for passenger buses. Fleet
    Operations plans to exchange several obsolete vehicles for leased
    vehicles saving funds for the Senate.
                               support operations
    Printing, Graphics & Direct Mail
        While we are not requesting additional funds this year for
    Printing, Graphics and Direct Mail (PGDM), this department plays a role
    in constituent mail and newsletters, printing Floor Charts, document
    digitization and preservation, logistics, and secure offsite transfer
    of Senate material.
        PGDM is focused on providing services to Senate offices that
    enhance the customer experience and respond to customer needs. They
    will roll out an innovative Storefront in the summer of 2022 that
    enhances the customer experience of ordering services from PGDM, and
    streamlines back in processing, saving time, money, and supplies.
        One of our most successful pandemic innovations is digitization of
    incoming constituent mail and 81 Senate offices are using this service.
    For the next iteration, PGDM has begun to research indexing technology
    that will allow staff to use keywords to search for digital mail
    quickly. The other successful pandemic innovation remote flag
    processing. PGDM continues to innovate this process and is working with
    stakeholders in the Secretary of the Senate, the House of
    Representatives, and the Architect of the Capitol to streamline the
    process of ordering, flying and shipping flags. As of March 2022, 87
    offices have participated in remote flag processing.
        In fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022, PGDM implemented a
    digital inkjet press, allowing for personalized designs, while lowering
    the cost of materials and reducing setup time. This new technology has
    drastically improved productivity while accommodating the demand for
    smaller, more frequent print requests.
        PGDM recently implemented a heat press that will generate
    professional quality products such as table coverings to provide Senate
    offices with better visibility at Town Hall meetings and other events.
    Since February 2022, six Senate offices have requested custom printed
    table coverings. PGDM anticipates requests for this service to increase
    in fiscal year 2023, as the heat press portfolio of services is
    gradually built out in response to the needs of the Senate community.
    Senate Post Office
        Level funding is requested to support the Senate Post Office. The
    Senate Post Office staff screens and delivers mail and packages to more
    than 180 locations within the Capitol complex, while providing a
    messenger service to multiple locations throughout the Washington
    metropolitan area. In fiscal year 2021,the Post Office safely processed
    and delivered more than 7.1 million incoming mail items, while
    intercepting 19 suspicious mailings that required an immediate response
    by the USCP. We prevented delivery of an additional 1,569 mailings
    bearing characteristics with the intent to disrupt Senate business and
    requiring further scrutiny by USCP.
        During the pandemic, we established a free forwarding service for
    state offices. Working in conjunction with the United States Postal
    Service, this free forwarding service has assisted with the safety of
    staff during the pandemic and enabled Senate staff to quickly obtain
    constituent mail and promptly respond. The Senate Post Office sorts
    mail for 81 Senate and Committee offices and delivers this to PGDM to
    be digitally imaged and returned to the office electronically.
        With support of the Secretary of the Senate, and approval from the
    Senate Rules Committee, the Senate Post Office will begin accepting
    passport applications in the summer of 2022. The Senate Post Office has
    been approved, by the State Department, to be an official Passport
    Issuance Office through their Special Issuance Passport Program (SIPP).
    We will soon be able to offer official travel and tourism passport
    services for Senate members, staff, and their immediate families.
    Beginning this month, the Senate Post Office offers notary services to
    the Senate community, augmenting services provided by the Disbursing
    Office.
    Facilities Management
        Level funding is requested for the Facilities Management services
    to provide oversight of facility projects throughout the Capitol
    Complex and offsite facilities. During fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year
    2022, the Facilities Management team conducted a workplace study for
    SAA staff and contractors. The goal remains to more efficiently use the
    amount of space provided within the Senate office buildings and
    accurately gather requirements for additional space, as the lease of
    the Postal Square building nears its end. The study collected data of
    all SAA employees and onsite contractors, as well as Secretary of the
    Senate (SECSEN) staff located at Postal Square. This encompassed
    surveying 14 buildings and collecting work statuses for over 900
    individuals. Recommendations were provided to classify some spaces as
    shared, either in a hot or hoteling configuration, and reassign other
    spaces, to best utilize all allocated space. Facilities Management
    looks to finalize a space reservation system, to provide staff with the
    ability to reserve space within areas that best suit their requirements
    when onsite. The requirements for leased space are being reviewed and
    the group looks to work with the AOC and GSA to identify locations that
    would accommodate onsite staffing levels.
    Photographic Services
        Level funding is requested in fiscal year 2023 to provide photo-
    imaging services for Senate offices and committees. The SAA
    Photographic Services team manages and maintains a unified digital
    photo browser application that provides Senate offices a secure,
    accessible archive of all photos accumulated during a Senator's term in
    office. Currently, the photo browser contains more than 1.4 million
    photo image files. Having surveyed Senate offices, Photographic
    Services has begun the procurement of a new photo browser, which will
    be more modern and customer friendly. This will give the Senate
    community access to a unified repository of photographs with the
    ability to order a preexisting or uploaded image. In fiscal year 2021,
    our staff covered 1,864 assignments, photographing nearly 54,000
    images, producing more than 18,000 photo prints, and coordinated
    scanning for end of term archiving of more than 84,000 photo images for
    Senators leaving office. We are providing the same level of service in
    fiscal year 2021 with consistent funding.
    Joint Office of Training & Development
        Level funding is requested for The Joint Office of Training &
    Development. The Joint Office of Training & Development provides
    training, coaching, and professional development to Senate staff.
    During fiscal year 2021, Training & Development was able to provide
    remote training classes while continuing to offer development
    instructions to individual Senate offices. The office provided 270
    online classes and facilitated 173 conversations, one-on-one coaching,
    and consultations. The office interacted with 4,332 Senate staff
    through these services. In fiscal year 2023, the office will design and
    implement additional online resources for training through the new
    Cornerstone software suite of tools, which will allow Senate staff to
    optimize efficiencies across departments working on performance,
    learning, compensation, and succession. Once the initial training is
    complete, the office will focus on providing multimodal learning tools
    that enhance staff productivity within the learning-portal of the new
    Cornerstone software suite.
        The mandated Health Promotion section provides activities and
    events for the Senate community that promote healthy living. Each year,
    this section coordinates and hosts the two-day Wellness Fair, which
    supports on average 3,000 participants. The fair offers health
    promotion activities, such as screening for glucose, cholesterol, and
    blood pressure; exercise demonstrations; and seminars on topics
    including healthy eating and cancer prevention.
        Although the pandemic restrictions forced the Senate Wellness Fair
    to be cancelled in fiscal year 2021, we are investigating options to
    expand online wellness to Senate staff in fiscal year 2022, while also
    providing access to onsite wellness resources and activities.
        Health Promotion coordination with the American College of Surgeons
    (ACS) and the Stop the Bleed Coalition provides vital bleeding control
    training for DC Senate staff. ACS cancelled the in-person training in
    2021 and will look to offer a virtual training for Senate staff in
    fiscal year 2022, and a planned return to in-person training in fiscal
    year 2023.
                                   conclusion
        Thank you for your support of the SAA and for the opportunity to
    discuss the SAA's fiscal year 2023 budget request. This budget remains
    focused on my three primary lines of effort--hardening the Senate's
    physical and cyber security, developing innovative solutions to
    modernize the Senate, and strengthening our support to the operational
    needs of the Senate community. With this strategy driven budget, we are
    prepared to proactively plan for future events.

    STATEMENT OF J. BRETT BLANTON, ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL
        Mr. Blanton. Thank you, Chairman Reed, Ranking Member
    Braun, and Members of the Subcommittee.
        I do thank you for your support for our fiscal year 2022
    budget, as well, and the opportunity to testify today.
        In particular, I appreciate the leadership and long hours
    by the two lead staffers for the subcommittee, Majority Clerk
    Jessica Berry and her counterpart Margaret Wiles.
        During these last 2 years, we have faced unprecedented
    challenges. Every day I'm struck by the commitment and talent
    of our hard-working employees. Day and night, rain or shine,
    AOC employees are serving Congress and maintaining the
    treasured buildings and grounds around the Capitol Complex.
        AOC's budget request seeks support for critical measures to
    ensure the safety of Members of Congress, staff, and visitors
    across campus. United in our shared mission and goal, we are
    constantly coordinating with Chief Thomas Major and the Capitol
    Police to keep the campus safe.
        As a member of the Capitol Police Board, I am grateful for
    the strong collaboration with my partner here General Karen
    Gibson as well as General William Walker on the House.
    Together, we are aligning resources to reflect our shared
    priorities.
        While some security challenges are more visible than
    others, we are working continuously on physical security
    improvements. At the same time, the AOC also seeks resources to
    continue rapidly responding to unplanned critical security
    events.
        In the area of cybersecurity, the AOC needs continued
    support to safeguard our networks and utility systems from
    malicious threats. The AOC's budget also reflects essential
    life safety projects to protect everyone who works and visits
    here.
        There are areas of our aging infrastructure that are
    hundreds of years old. One critical area is the very serious
    and pressing need to address utility tunnel repairs.
    Deteriorating concrete and high-pressure steam piping
    components need immediate repair to reduce the risk of tunnel
    failure. These repairs are urgent for life safety, to avoid
    interruptions of electrical, water, steam, and communications
    services across the Capitol for an extended period of time.
        As this Committee knows, delayed funding has consequences.
    We must take immediate steps to address deferred maintenance
    and infrastructure repairs across the Capitol Campus.
        In addition, we are requesting resources to train and
    prepare AOC staff to respond to emergency situations, including
    natural disasters, and other life safety emergency events.
        While security and infrastructure improvements are a top
    priority, I also remain focused on transformative change within
    AOC. We need to cultivate and maintain a safe and positive and
    productive work environment where people have the necessary
    skills, training, equipment, and support to succeed.
        AOC employees are constantly working across the campus to
    maintain these treasured buildings and grounds. This strong
    work ethic reflects the cultural transformation happening
    across our agency during these tough times.
        We are working constantly to reconcile the cost of historic
    preservation with the pressing modern demands. Across the
    agency, our team of exceptional professionals is working
    tirelessly to upgrade our capabilities and facilities.
        To achieve our mission, we need adequate resources to meet
    the technological, space, sustainability, and accessibility
    needs of a 21st Century workforce.
        With the Committee's support, we can ensure the success of
    Congress, the Supreme Court, and the library of Congress.
        Looking ahead, I remain optimistic and determined that we
    will carry out the legacy of perseverance and patriotism that
    these historic buildings and grounds inspire of all who visit
    here.
        On behalf of the Architect of the Capitol staff, I thank
    you for your support and look forward to answering your
    questions.
        [The statement follows:]
                     Prepared Statement of J. Brett Blanton
        Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and members of the
    Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to present the Architect of
    the Capitol's (AOC) fiscal year 2023 budget request of $1.67 billion.
        Crowned by the magnificent Dome, the U.S. Capitol is the center of
    the Capitol campus, as well as a widely recognized icon of the American
    people and their government. The building's origins go back to our
    nation's early years. Pierre Charles L'Enfant designed the city of
    Washington with the U.S. Capitol Building at the center, and President
    George Washington approved the building's original design in 1793.
        As the nation has grown so has the U.S. Capitol: today it covers
    more than 1.5 million square feet, with over 600 rooms and miles of
    corridors. It has been burnt, rebuilt, extended and restored. Today,
    the AOC is committed to preserving L'Enfant's legacy and to ensuring
    that the U.S. Capitol endures as one of the most architecturally
    impressive and symbolically important buildings in the world.
        As this Subcommittee knows, the AOC is working constantly behind
    the scenes to support the day-to-day operations of Congress, the
    Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. Carrying on traditions of
    unique craftsmanship and ingenuity, the AOC is responsible for the
    operations and care of more than 18.4 million square feet of
    facilities, 570 acres of grounds and thousands of works of art. There
    are 30,000 people working across campus every day, and more than 2,200
    AOC employees work around the clock, serving in diverse roles to
    maintain and preserve the buildings and grounds.
        Working together, the AOC team is committed to providing a safe and
    inspiring experience for visitors as well as those who work here. The
    AOC's daily success relies upon the exceptional professionalism and
    hard work of our staff.
        I would like to extend my appreciation for the Subcommittee's work
    to achieve the bicameral, bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act of
    2022. The Subcommittee's support for the AOC's work is truly
    appreciated, and I commend the efforts of the Legislative Branch
    Subcommittee Members and staff for their ongoing support of the AOC's
    work and goals.
        As we move forward from the incredible challenges over the last 2
    years, I would like to work with the Subcommittee to identify areas
    where multi-year funding will enable us to be more efficient and
    effective in the planning, design and execution of ongoing
    improvements. Otherwise, we may face vulnerabilities associated with
    the deterioration and deferred maintenance of these historic buildings
    and treasured grounds. As I have testified previously, delayed funding
    has consequences.
        This budget proposal reflects changing programs and resource needs.
    The AOC's funding request seeks resources for campuswide architectural
    and engineering design; project, property and construction management;
    planning and development for buildings and major projects across the
    Capitol campus; procurement, including major construction contracts;
    congressional move designs; information technology; financial
    management; legal services; and management of historic preservation and
    sustainability programs.
        AOC employees need to have and maintain the necessary skills and
    equipment to achieve our mission on behalf of the American people.
    Moreover, we are seeking support for efforts focused on our employees'
    well-being and professional development. In addition, we are requesting
    resources for new strategic initiatives like AOC University, an effort
    to expand training and professional development opportunities for
    staff.
        To achieve our shared goals, we need this Subcommittee's support to
    maintain a positive, productive and safe environment for AOC employees
    as well as all who work and visit here. Across the board, the AOC is
    focused on recruiting and retaining critical staff to accomplish this
    important work and, accordingly, our fiscal year 2023 budget request
    includes necessary funding to maintain a sufficient workforce.
        We need to work together to adopt a long-term and comprehensive
    approach for planning, design and completion of major projects.
    Finally, this request reflects agencywide efforts to transform the
    Capitol campus by implementing a more predictive and effective approach
    to facilities maintenance.
                   i. prioritizing physical security projects
        As this Subcommittee knows, physical security across the Capitol
    campus is a top priority. In close and continuous coordination with my
    counterparts at the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) and the House and Senate
    Sergeants at Arms, I am working tirelessly to make the Capitol campus
    as safe and open as possible.
        The AOC's fiscal year 2023 budget request demonstrates an emphasis
    on security needs throughout the Capitol campus and, accordingly, these
    prioritized projects constitute a significant portion of our budget
    request, reflecting the urgent and significant recommendations of the
    comprehensive physical security assessment completed by the AOC on
    behalf of the Capitol Police Board. Working with this Subcommittee, as
    well as my partners on the Capitol Police Board, we must address the
    top priorities arising from this assessment.
        While some projects can be executed swiftly, the complexity of
    others demand greater planning, consultation and design.
        To that end, the AOC is requesting proportionate funds to support
    and complement the USCP's increased operations and allow for full
    implementation of programs to address pressing security needs. This
    budget demonstrates the interdependence of the AOC and USCP security
    improvement projects.
        For example, the AOC seeks funding to improve direct communication
    lines with USCP related to incident management, security responses and
    coordination. In addition, the AOC is seeking funding to support
    emergency response, security and resilience requirements of the AOC's
    life, health and safety responsibilities to the Capitol Police Board.
    In addition, the requested funds provide necessary support for exigent
    requirements and special events that arise unexpectedly. At the same
    time, the AOC is requesting resources to provide rapid response support
    to unplanned critical security events as well as rapidly deployable
    security elements.
        In addition, the AOC is requesting resources to address a finding
    by the AOC's Inspector General regarding Emergency Management Training.
    With this requested funding, the AOC will be able to train and prepare
    AOC staff to respond to emergency situations, including natural
    disasters or other life safety emergency events. The budget request
    also reflects the AOC's ongoing efforts to improve cybersecurity and to
    protect our networks from any intrusion by malicious threats. The AOC
    maintains continuous 24/7 monitoring to detect and respond to any cyber
    incidents.
        Finally, this request reflects the AOC's increased responsibility
    to acquire and maintain pandemic response materials.
        We know our work is essential for the safety of Members and the
    staff working on the Capitol campus, and we are dedicated to ensuring
    continuity of operations. With the Subcommittee's full support, the AOC
    can fulfill its responsibilities to support our partners. With adequate
    resources, we can keep the campus safe and secure.
        ii. tackling aging infrastructure with technological approaches
        I am continuing efforts to bring transformative change across
    campus by deploying modern tools to tackle the challenges of aging
    facilities and infrastructure. Over the past 2 years, the pandemic has
    affected costs of all major projects in the form of supply chain
    shortages, raw material cost increases and increases in competition for
    skilled labor.
        The AOC's capital budget request is focused on projects with
    immediate urgency. Project funding will support the lifespan of the
    facilities as well as address critical needs ranging from preserving
    priceless artwork to replacing roofs, installing emergency generators
    and improving campus security. The AOC's priority projects reflect
    identified needs. These are well-documented areas where the period of
    useful life has already been exhausted or is approaching its end.
        Looking ahead, we are working on solutions that will improve
    predictability of maintenance needs and create efficiencies to save
    taxpayer dollars. With this approach, the AOC can mitigate future costs
    associated with deferred maintenance requirements.
        With the Subcommittee's support, the AOC is already launching a new
    Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system that will provide a thorough
    asset management strategy to inform work priorities and provide for
    data-driven fiscal decisions and prioritization. Specifically, EAM will
    serve as a new tool to aid decisionmaking about operating, maintaining,
    and renewing building and infrastructure assets such as machinery,
    vehicles and construction equipment. With sufficient resources for
    ongoing implementation, EAM will allow the AOC to manage maintenance-
    based strategies proactively, mitigate obsolescence, restore
    reliability, reduce long-term costs and forecast resource requirements.
        EAM will also maximize return on investment while enhancing
    decisionmaking priorities. I am committed to implementing a
    disciplined, consistent approach to annual inspections and anticipating
    key infrastructure lifecycles.
        Every day we work to preserve our historic and aging infrastructure
    for the benefit of future generations. At the same time, we are working
    tirelessly to upgrade our capabilities and facilities to meet the
    technological, space, sustainability and accessibility needs of a 21st-
    century workforce, some of whom are working in 19th-century buildings.
                 iii. supporting safety standards and solutions
        The safety of everyone on the Capitol campus is a top priority. The
    budget request reflects prioritization of projects based on imminent
    needs. Life and safety issues, as well as components that are beyond
    their service life, are high on the list. The AOC manages safety, fire,
    environmental, code compliance and facility safety programs across the
    Capitol campus. We serve as the main point of contact for external
    regulatory agencies for occupational safety and health, fire
    protection, accessibility, and environmental matters. The AOC budget
    also includes the Office of Attending Physician as a service offering
    medical surveillance and support of health units on campus.
        The AOC's fiscal year 2023 budget request includes funding for
    several life and safety related projects. Fire alarm and sprinkler
    system upgrades in the U.S. Capitol and other critical areas around the
    Capitol campus will address code deficiencies, reduce the risk of
    system failure, and improve facility safety for building occupants.
        For example, we have requested funds to replace key fire alarm
    components in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Similarly, we have
    requested funds to upgrade the fire alarm system in the Library of
    Congress' James Madison Memorial Building and the sprinkler systems in
    the John Adams Building.
        Another critical area is the very serious and pressing need to
    address utility tunnel repairs. Within the utility tunnels,
    deteriorating concrete and piping components need immediate repair to
    reduce the risk of tunnel failure. These repairs are urgent to avoid
    interruptions of electrical, water, steam and communications services
    to the Capitol campus for an extended period.
        In this area and others, we continue to dedicate time and attention
    to training, safety procedure review and communications, and
    supervision of our workforce to ensure they are operating in the safest
    manner possible across the entire campus. A critical component of this
    effort is ensuring that all staff have access to the proper personal
    protective equipment (PPE). PPE used by AOC employees is as diverse as
    the jobs they perform. From hard hats to insulated tools, PPE helps
    keep employees safe. Most commonly, AOC employees rely on safety
    glasses, safety shoes and hard hats. But there are many not-so-common
    items that our employees depend on to keep them safe. Our arborists
    need specialized gear compliant for safe arboricultural operations,
    including fall-resistant harnesses and safety helmets. AOC painters
    wear full face respirators, gloves, head socks and lab coats to protect
    lungs, eyes and skin as well as bump caps to protect their heads when
    working in tight spaces or near ceilings. At times, these expert
    professionals must also wear light-adjusting, ballistic-proof safety
    glasses to protect against paint and UV light that provides support for
    employees like stone masons, sheet metal mechanics and painters who
    switch between indoor and outdoor work.
        In addition, AOC electricians must wear 100 percent cotton uniforms
    to prevent melting of fibers in the event of an arc flash. Metal
    buttons, grommets or zippers must be avoided to circumvent shock
    hazards, and employees must work with insulated tools such as
    screwdrivers, ratchets, pliers and electrical hazard rated safety boots
    and leather gloves to avoid workplace injuries due to shock,
    electrocution or other hazards. When working around high voltage, AOC
    employees must wear ear plugs, safety glasses and special suits.
        All of these efforts, as well as extensive monitoring and reporting
    on medical surveillance, demonstrate the AOC's deep commitment to safe
    standards and environments for all employees and visitors.
                       iv. senate priorities and programs
        Working with the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules & Administration,
    the AOC is beginning a multi-year program to renovate hearing and
    committee meeting rooms in the Senate office buildings. As part of this
    collaborative process, the AOC will develop a comprehensive schedule
    for the hearing and committee room renovation program. Each hearing
    room renovation will require approximately 1 year to complete, with a
    plan to renovate two hearing rooms under construction at one time. With
    this endeavor, the AOC will strive for the greatest efficiencies
    beneficial to the entire Senate community.
        After substantial time is allowed for consultation, planning and
    design, this renovation program will achieve important infrastructure
    upgrades; install advanced lighting, audiovisual and HVAC systems;
    enlarge the daises to support current committee sizes; and address
    accessibility as well as current fire and life safety codes.
        The program will also prioritize historic preservation, updating
    the rooms' carpeting, furniture and finishes while ensuring that the
    rooms remain true to their original architectural intent. This
    important and long-term effort will benefit from the AOC's new Building
    Official program, a group of dedicated experts ensuring stakeholders
    follow the same set of established building codes and consistent
    processes for permitting.
        I am also well-aware of stakeholders' concerns to address the
    limited capacity of the existing Senate Employees' Child Care Center
    (SECCC), especially at the infant and toddler levels.
        A congressionally directed study, completed in April 2021,
    presented alternatives that would increase the capacity of the SECCC at
    alternate locations. Working with this Subcommittee and the U.S. Senate
    Committee on Rules & Administration, the AOC is exploring cost
    estimates for the potential scope of work. Throughout this planning
    process, the AOC will continue to work closely with this Subcommittee
    on planning, pre-design activities, timelines and cost estimates.
        Concurrently, at the Subcommittee's request, the AOC will provide
    support and technical expertise for a report on an additional Senate
    office building. To achieve the goals of this effort, the AOC is
    already seeking input from this Subcommittee as well as the U.S. Senate
    Committee on Rules & Administration on the space requirements. A
    critical element of the planning process will be an updated space needs
    assessment to develop program requirements for the new facility. While
    there seems to be a strong consensus about the need for space, the
    planning process will provide clarification about the specific types of
    spaces required as well as inform the necessary design process.
        Since substantial time has passed since a new building was
    completed on campus, the design and construction of any new facility on
    the Capitol campus would be a major project spanning a multi-year
    period. At the same time, necessary and planned improvements to
    existing Senate office buildings would still need to take place.
        Accessibility also remains a significant priority, with
    accessibility considerations incorporated into every project. This
    Subcommittee's support enabled the installation of an accessible lift
    on the Senate floor last year. As another example, part of the U.S.
    Botanic Garden Conservatory Security Upgrade Project will include the
    installation of automatic door openers to improve accessibility.
        The Senate Office Buildings jurisdiction recently completed the
    second sequence of the Russell Exterior Envelope Repair and Restoration
    Project. This multi-phase project is designed to preserve the exterior
    envelope of the historic Russell Senate Office Building, including its
    exterior stone, wood windows and glazed doors. The second sequence of
    the project focused on the south and east sides of the building, with
    the area directly facing the U.S. Capitol finishing shortly before the
    2021 Presidential Inauguration. The AOC's work will restore the
    stonework and window restoration on the final sequence of the project,
    which includes the west side of the building and the Rotunda area.
        In addition, the ongoing Russell Courtyard renovation will address
    several accessibility issues so that everyone in the Senate community
    can enjoy this renewed green space. The full renovation of the Russell
    Courtyard will be completed and fully opened this year. While providing
    a refreshing and accessible outdoor area for senators, staff and
    visitors, this project is also integral to the AOC's commitment to
    preserving historic stonework across the Capitol campus.
        The AOC is working hard to provide modern and functional office
    space to offices across campus. For example, the Hart Senate Office
    Building provides offices for 50 Senate offices, three committees and
    several subcommittees. All Member suites received modular walls and
    furniture between 2003 and 2008, and Senate committees received modular
    walls and furniture between 2007 and 2011. As part of our effort to
    renovate aging furniture and improve workspaces, the AOC plans to
    replace modular furniture in 50 Member offices and 15 committee spaces
    over a 16-year period.
        The AOC is continuing efforts related to the Mountain and Clouds
    sculpture by Alexander Calder in the Hart Building. Mountains and
    Clouds was the last work of Calder (and his only work with a separate
    mobile and stabile). It was originally designed as a mountain-shaped
    floor installation and four oscillating clouds suspended from a single
    shaft from the Hart Building roof.
        The AOC has completed the parameters study to establish safety
    standards for possible fabrication and installation of a new Clouds
    portion of the sculpture. Presently, the Calder Foundation is
    developing an official proposal for the re-creation of the Clouds
    mobile that will be sent to the Senate Commission on Art for
    acceptance. If approved, the AOC will help facilitate the installation
    of the Clouds mobile, provide engineering information and act as a
    building consultant.
        While private funds will be used for the fabrication and
    installation of any new mobile, the AOC will require adequate resources
    to support the design, fabrication, establishment of engineering
    parameters and oversight of installation.
        In the fiscal year 2023 budget request, the AOC requested
    substantial funding to address the 26 air handling units (AHUs) in the
    Hart Building. In December 2012, a design was completed for replacement
    of the AHUs. Unfortunately, funds provided in fiscal year 2020 for the
    project's first year had to be allocated to emergency contingency
    expenses. Presently, the AOC is conducting a redesign to update
    previous drawings, provide further refurbishment details and phasing,
    mitigate risks, and provide an updated Independent Government Cost
    Estimate for the project.
        In doing so, the AOC is seeking a cost-effective solution for this
    identified need. Refurbished AHUs will have the same expected life span
    of 20-30 years at approximately a third of the cost of replacement.
    Refurbishment will also have less impact on the Senate community, along
    with a shorter construction duration.
        As a further initiative to improve services to the Senate
    community, the Senate restaurant master plan study will set forth a
    plan for a food service program which will transform current eating
    spaces into a dining experience representative of the history, heritage
    and prestige of the Senate. The study will also recommend facility
    modernization concepts that will increase operating efficiencies,
    improve the business model, and provide more convenient service for
    customers through the implementation of technological advancements,
    including online ordering and remote pick-up.
        There are nine food service operations in the Senate office
    buildings and on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol Building. The
    Senate kitchen and dining areas cover approximately 36,500 square feet
    of space. The AOC is requesting $8.1 million in the fiscal year 2023
    budget for the first phase of restaurant modernization, which includes
    the design of all food service outlets in the Senate office buildings.
        In a companion request, the Capitol Building jurisdiction is also
    requesting $40.2 million in the fiscal year 2023 budget for
    modernization of Senate food service outlets in the U.S. Capitol
    Building. Funding will cover the redesign and construction of all food
    service outlets in the U.S. Capitol Building.
        Throughout the U.S. Capitol, the AOC seeks to maintain compliance
    with fire and life safety codes, to avoid potential hazards to building
    occupants as well as the building's historic art and architecture.
    Kitchen equipment, fixtures and interior finishes have reached the end
    of their lifespan, requiring constant maintenance. This project will
    combine the food service venues on both levels into a consolidated,
    efficient food service venue on the basement level, with the ground-
    floor kitchen exclusively supporting the Senate Dining Room. New
    equipment, fixtures and finishes will support popular menu offerings,
    allow for new offerings and increase service efficiency.
        Increased labor is necessary to effectively address the needs of
    outdated kitchen infrastructure. For instance, the existing exhaust
    system jeopardizes the safety of building occupants, the U.S. Capitol's
    priceless art and architecture, and the efficiency and quality of food
    service on the Capitol campus.
        The AOC is also working with partners at the Senate Recording
    Studio to upgrade the rooms' audiovisual equipment since the current
    equipment is not designed for multimedia presentations or video
    conferencing.
               v. sustaining our commitment to future generations
        We are doing all that we can to adopt best practices to reduce the
    environmental impact of Senate operations. Across campus, the AOC is
    focused on sustainability and energy conservation efforts that
    prioritize resource conservation. In fact, over the last 15 years, the
    AOC has reduced its energy intensity levels by 50 percent, reducing
    energy requirements and ultimately saving taxpayer dollars. Through its
    practices, the AOC sequestered 700,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, saved
    nearly 8 million gallons of water, and saved over 250,000 kilowatt-
    hours of energy on an annual basis.
        The AOC's Senate team is pursuing certification with the Green
    Restaurants Association. This process will demonstrate our ongoing
    efforts to ``green'' our operations by using transparent, science-based
    standards. Working with the food-service contractors, the Senate
    restaurants will be even more environmentally sustainable in energy,
    water, waste, food, chemicals and disposables.
        The agency has also coordinated with its food service providers to
    reduce plastic waste with a wide range of approaches. We have reviewed
    every aspect of the service to find ways to improve our practices. In
    the Senate, the use of Styrofoam has been eliminated completely. In
    addition, we have adopted compostable straws and eliminated the use of
    single-use plastic straws. There is also greater use of wax paper
    instead of plastic, and we have transitioned certain beverages from the
    product line to large cans instead of plastic bottles. A similar effort
    was made to ensure that milk could be available in bulk containers.
        As another way to encourage individual practices around consumption
    and waste, the Senate has continued its modest discount program for
    anyone that brings their own container for coffee. In addition, we have
    eliminated use of portion-controlled products (i.e., ketchup packets)
    and replaced offerings with condiment wells wherever possible.
        At the same time, the AOC continues to improve recycling programs,
    not only for personal use inside facilities but also on construction
    sites. For example, the AOC diverted 10,000 tons of construction and
    demolition debris from the landfill, recycling 98 percent of all
    construction debris generated. We also continue to implement
    sustainable groundskeeping practices such as reducing water demand by
    capturing runoff and using native plants and perennials.
        In the Senate office buildings, the AOC has proposed a formal study
    of waste and recycling operations by conducting a multi-phase pilot
    with interested senators and committees. The pilot will collect waste,
    recycling data and client feedback. With this information, we can make
    informed decisions about effective recycling bin configurations, waste
    collection tools and options for post-consumer compost collection.
        Throughout the Senate office buildings, the AOC seeks to improve
    the waste and recycling program by increasing recycling rates; creating
    consistent waste and recycling bin standards; promoting awareness on
    waste separation; improving AOC collection efficiency; and decreasing
    clutter and tripping hazards of excess bins in workspaces.
        This project also aligns AOC operations with industry best
    practices by instituting centralized collection bin placement of all
    waste and recycling material. In doing so, the AOC will evaluate and
    analyze the impact of centralized collection bins on recycling. We will
    also examine behaviors by measuring recycling rates before and after
    implementation. To implement the most effective solutions, the AOC will
    gather participant feedback specific to recycling collection to
    understand occupants' experiences of different collection
    configurations and to assess feasibility of centralized collection in
    office and committee spaces. In addition, the AOC will engage with
    recycling champions to identify gaps in recycling program
    communications as well as the most effective methods to disseminate
    information.
        Beyond this initiative, the AOC will evaluate resource requirements
    for post-consumer composting collection in offices and dining spaces.
    As directed by this Subcommittee in 2021, the AOC is developing a
    formal study to assess the feasibility of restarting post-consumer
    composting in the Senate buildings, which was terminated previously.
    The study includes a multi-phase pilot program and third-party
    analysis, culminating in a report of recommendations, anticipated
    resource requirements and prospective benefits to the Senate. The AOC
    will evaluate the resources and authorities required to add post-
    consumer composting to the current waste management program in both
    public spaces and private offices in the Senate buildings. We will also
    analyze the benefits of key aspects of the larger waste management
    program, including collection methods, labor allocation and resource
    use.
        For example, the pilot program will contrast baseline waste
    management processes with several small-scale pilot phases to assess
    real-world impacts of four specific variables: bin location
    configurations, waste collection procedures, post-consumer composting
    collection in designated pilot offices and post-consumer composting
    collection in dining spaces. Baseline and piloted processes will be
    evaluated through several qualitative and quantitative methods,
    including waste sampling, surveys, and measurement of resource
    allocations for waste collection and transport.
        Subsequently, third-party analysis will validate baseline and pilot
    data; observe and analyze procedural changes; and recommend options to
    improve waste management efficiency and restart a post-consumer
    composting program in the Senate buildings. The AOC expects to begin
    the pilot program soon.
        The AOC is also pioneering new practices at the U.S. Botanic Garden
    (USBG), a treasured public institution. With the Subcommittee's
    support, we seek to continue the USBG's Urban Agriculture Program,
    which provides educational resources, training for veterans, capacity
    building programs with other public gardens, and educator professional
    development programming. In a short period, this program achieved
    demonstrated success to support communities facing food access
    challenges.
        In addition, the USBG is requesting funding to complete the design
    phase of the Production Facility Renewal Project. With resources for
    substantial renovation and renewal of this critical support facility,
    the USBG can continue to achieve key goals related to horticulture,
    operations and maintenance, education and outreach, and sustainability.
        Looking to the future, the AOC will begin work on an updated
    Capitol Complex Master Plan, which will serve as a foundational
    document for master planning over the next 20 years. With the
    Subcommittee's support, the AOC will be able to engage in necessary
    planning for the future. This report will set forth a robust vision for
    tomorrow's generations.
                   vi. pandemic procurement and preparedness
        While all of us look forward to better and healthier days ahead,
    the COVID-19 pandemic is still impacting our operations and projects.
    As the Congress labors day and night, AOC employees are working nonstop
    to keep the entire campus clean, sanitized and well maintained. From
    day one of this pandemic, the AOC team has worked very closely with the
    Office of Attending Physician. The AOC was designated as the
    legislative branch purchasing agent for PPE and provides weekly
    inventory updates as part of ongoing work to ensure that there are
    adequate and authentic supplies. In addition, the AOC has ensured the
    specialized cleaning of spaces throughout the Senate office buildings
    whenever it has been needed. In response to a request from the Senate
    community earlier this year, the AOC worked diligently to procure at-
    home COVID testing kits that were distributed widely to Senate staff
    working in D.C. offices. Taken together, these efforts reflect the
    AOC's comprehensive effort to promote a healthier work environment for
    all.
        As the Subcommittee is aware, school group tours have returned to
    the U.S. Capitol. As we plan to welcome even more visitors back, we are
    excited to launch the CVC's Exhibition Hall Redesign Project later this
    year. This project aims to provide visitors with an engaging
    environment to learn about the legislative process and democracy. We
    look forward to welcoming students of all ages to this wonderful new
    space.
                                vii. conclusion
        While I remain committed to ongoing improvements in our daily
    operations, the AOC has already made significant progress on
    transformational efforts.
        Across the board, I am committed to leading the agency in long-
    term, strategic planning that will prepare the campus for the next
    century. With your ongoing support, we can protect and preserve this
    cherished institution as well as all of those who serve here.
        Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of our fiscal year 2023
    budget request, and I look forward to the opportunity to address any
    questions.

        Senator Reed. I want to thank you very much, Mr. Blanton,
    and let me now ask a few questions and then recognize Senator
    Braun.
        Both of you play critical roles in the security of the
    Capitol from different perspectives. Both of you sit on the
    Capitol Police Board. So we are now 17 months past January 6.
        How have you changed your posture and mission on security
    and protection? How have you had to adjust your own roles, and
    how are the agencies working together? Let me start with
    General Gibson and then Mr. Blanton.
        General Gibson. Thank you, Senator Reed. I would begin with
    some of the work that we've done together as part of the
    Capitol Police Board.
        Our first priority last year, in alignment with the
    hearing, study, and recommendations from the Rules Committee,
    was to select a new Chief of Police, and I think Chief Major
    has done a superb job in beginning to transform the department.
        Some of the other work we did was associated with revising
    our Manual of Procedures for the Capitol Police Board, work
    that had not been addressed since a GAO study of 2017. As a
    result, we have begun to conduct our business in a manner that
    is far more transparent, inclusive, and we are responsive, and
    we are formalizing and memorializing deliberation and decision
    in a way that was not previously done.
        We have supported the department's efforts to increase
    recruiting and retention, which is very critical to our ability
    to reopen the Capitol in the way that it was opened prior to
    the pandemic of 2020. We have worked closely with the Capitol
    Police and Physical Security Working Groups and also with the
    Office of the IG to get at some of those shortcomings.
        I'll leave it to the Architect to talk about some of the
    prioritized physical security enhancements that we've
    identified. I will mention that we've built and sustained some
    strong collaborative relationships with other entities, like
    the Secret Service, the FBI, Metropolitan Police, Department of
    Homeland Security, and others to ensure that we have a common
    understanding of the threats that we face here in the National
    Capital Region.
        Internal to the U.S. Senate and the Sergeant at Arms, I
    previously mentioned standing up the Senate Operations Center
    together with the Secretary, not as a separate and competing
    operations center from the Capitol Police Command Center, but
    as one that is complementary. I think this concept has
    demonstrated an ability to much better track events as they are
    occurring and to more efficiently communicate with the Senate
    community.
        We are also looking to revamp the training we provide, such
    as emergency preparedness, life safety, and continuity
    training. We want to get beyond the in-person training that
    periodically occurs, and to make sure that it's also available
    on-demand, and online for those who want to refresh their
    knowledge at any time.
        I've mentioned in my opening statement some of the things
    that we would like to do in terms of enhancing our ability to
    track the threats to Senators and their families, particularly
    in light of the dramatic increase in threats that you
    mentioned. Our goal is to deliver a clearer understanding to
    Senators, provide recommendations, and conduct outreach so
    there's a full understanding of the security suite available to
    them to enhance their personal security or the security of
    their families.
        Senator Reed. Thank you. Mr. Blanton, please.
        Mr. Blanton. Thank you, and I want to echo the comments
    about the Capitol Police Board. It has truly been a
    transformative year for the Board and it was needed and I want
    you to understand that we have a great team now and are working
    on some great initiatives.
        I also wanted to say that with the funding we received last
    year in the Security Supplemental, it's going to go a long way
    to protecting the Capitol Campus. We spent the last year
    utilizing in-house designing and planning resources in order
    for us to be able to maximize the amount of actual product that
    we were going to put into the security measures as opposed to
    using those funds by having a contractor have to design it.
        In addition, we had our Comprehensive Physical Security
    Assessment and the biggest outcome of that Physical Security
    Assessment, besides the projects and the dollars, and I realize
    they're expensive, is the fact that we now have agreement of
    Security Standards on the Capitol Campus. That's something that
    we had not had previously, and it's very important for everyone
    to know that we have standards now to maintain the safety for
    members, staff, and visitors.
        Internal to the organization, we also took a really strong
    look at our Emergency Management Program in conjunction with
    the work done by the Capitol Police and the Capitol Police
    Board for the drills with the Sergeant at Arms.
        We had to really realize that in an emergency situation,
    many times AOC's work begins after the drill actually is over
    and so then we had to really focus on how are we responding
    when everybody can evacuate a building and now we need to make
    sure we get people to come back in and so we're focusing our
    training on that aspect of the emergency response.
        Senator Reed. Well, thank you very much.
        General, you mentioned the coordination with local
    authorities. Can you--and again I think I'll commend you, and
    the Sergeant, the Architect of the Capitol and local
    authorities for the recent incident involving the truck
    demonstrations--but are there other steps that you must take to
    improve coordination?
        General Gibson. Thank you for that question, Senator. I
    think that while the strong relationships we have built, both
    with domestic agencies and local law enforcement require
    continued sustainment to keep those relationships strong, there
    is an understanding within the law enforcement community at the
    Capitol that imminent threats, like the trucker convoy, remains
    very strong.
        One area specifically where we do need increased support,
    and I thank you for the language that was in the National
    Defense Authorization Act, is in the area of cybersecurity.
        What we've found is that policies for sharing intelligence
    between the Executive and Legislative Branch are written
    entirely with legislative oversight in mind without having
    previously considered that there might be people in the
    Legislative Branch, such as our cyber-security teams, that need
    to make operational decisions in real-time.
        And so, thanks to that language, our collective counsel
    teams have begun work with the Office of the Director of
    National Intelligence to re-craft some of the policies that
    would allow intelligence-sharing for operational requirements,
    separate from oversight, and my greatest priority would be for
    cybersecurity so we can have immediate communications with our
    Cybersecurity Operations Center instead of having to run those
    types of threat reports through legislative liaison channels.
    Thank you.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much.
        Senator Braun, please.
        Senator Braun. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        So, of course, the Capitol has been basically shut down
    since the pandemic. We currently are in Phase 1 where school
    groups can come in through office buildings. Phase 2 is
    supposed to begin on May 30 and that means that school groups
    and maybe pre-identified groups can enter through the Capitol
    Visitor Center.
        Is that still definitely going to happen on May 30? That's
    just around the corner. General Gibson.
        General Gibson. Thank you for that question, Senator, and I
    appreciate the opportunity to address the phased reopening.
        I, too, am eager to reopen the Capitol in the way that it
    was before the pandemic and share the beauty and history of
    this building with the American public and foreign visitors.
        The limiting factor right now is not COVID-related but,
    rather, an insufficient number of Uniformed Police Officers to
    man the many positions associated with the Capitol Visitor
    Center. To answer directly your question, yes, we do anticipate
    entering Phase 2 as planned.
        Senator Braun. On May 30.
        General Gibson. On May 30, yes.
        Senator Braun. Okay.
        General Gibson. The shortcoming of officers is due to three
    principal factors. One, increased attrition in 2020 and 2021,
    largely due to the pandemic, January 6 and the aftermath of
    January 6, and the bubble due to the large number of officers
    who joined after 9/11, becoming retirement eligible.
        Second, a lack of recruitment due to the Federal Law
    Enforcement Training Center being closed during the pandemic.
    So, we had a larger than normal attrition and no recruitment
    offset.
        And the third is an increased number of policing posts,
    some of which are associated with ongoing repair to damage that
    was done in 2021. So increased attrition, no recruitment, and
    increased policing requirements, all contribute to the
    shortfall of trained officers.
        The Capitol Police Board has been working with the Chief on
    a get-well plan that includes offering retention incentives and
    updating pay schedules and increasing recruiting efforts.
        We've also begun to bring on contracted Capitol Security
    Officers to augment the Uniformed Force at some of the
    secondary positions, places like the Library of Congress, the
    Botanical Gardens, and parking garages. This allows us to put
    more USCP officers in the Capitol Visitor Center and eventually
    the Senate galleries. Also, with the Federal Law Enforcement
    Training Center reopening, we've had a new class of
    approximately 115 recruits who recently joined and seven
    additional classes are scheduled for fiscal year 2022.
        So that's the get-well plan, but it does not allow us to
    immediately reopen to the extent that we would like because
    there are significant posts that are associated with the
    Capitol Visitor Center and in and around the Senate floor.
        We do anticipate entering Phase 2 as planned and I would
    offer that, in addition to the school groups, we remain open to
    staff-led tours in the Capitol. We look forward to expanding
    further to the extent that we can as additional police staffing
    allows.
        Senator Braun. So Phase 2 is scheduled on time. It's just a
    little under three weeks.
        General Gibson. Right.
        Senator Braun. So Phase 3, let's just call that back to
    normal, which to me that should be the real aspiration.
        General Gibson. Yes.
        Senator Braun. I think it would beg the question has there
    been any imminent threat? January 6 obviously being the focal
    point. You mentioned truckers earlier. Many wonder how
    palpable, how real that threat is, and would you care to
    discuss--you mentioned--have the truckers done anything during
    that issue to where it impacted the Capitol or was that just on
    the roadways in the city?
        General Gibson. Certainly. I'll address that in two parts,
    first the trucker convoy and then, more generally, threats as
    we see them to the Capitol.
        As for the trucker convoys, I think we were able to learn a
    great deal from the example in Ottawa where the Parliament was
    essentially besieged. As soon as we began to see that situation
    evolving in Canada, the Capitol Police and others started to
    talk to their counterparts in Ontario to gain an understanding
    of what was occurring and to develop a plan with the rest of
    the local government and law enforcement entities in the D.C.
    region to counter any similar activities should it occur.
        It was largely traffic-related, but it did impose a
    significant manpower cost initially for the Capitol Police as
    they were required to man additional posts.
        Senator Braun. Did you erect fence during that stage?
    Because that's a really costly and timely process. I'm just
    curious.
        General Gibson. We did not erect fencing.
        Senator Braun. Okay.
        General Gibson.
        Senator Braun. You did enough to where you learned from
    what happened in Canada----
        General Gibson. Absolutely.
        Senator Braun [continuing]. And so was there any other
    incident that you'd call an imminent threat, other than that?
        General Gibson. Yes, I would actually. When I think of
    threats, and I'll set aside cyber threats, which are daily, but
    in terms of physical threats to the Capitol, State offices, and
    Senators, I would say the most likely threat is always lone
    actors, individuals, whether those with mental health issues,
    like we----
        Senator Braun. But I know that, but were there any?
        General Gibson [continuing]. Yes, April 2, August 19, and
    October 5 of last year.--In fact, we had a fatality on April 2,
    August 19 was the gentleman who parked his truck outside the
    Library of Congress and threatened to blow up the Library of
    Congress, and October 5, when another gentleman in a truck who
    refused to move it from in front of the Supreme Court.
        Senator Braun. And that would have been out of character
    with what happens routinely in prior years?
        General Gibson. No. I think that that is something
        Senator Braun. Well, and you don't need to--what I'm saying
    is generally it looks like, just from my observation, we've
    gotten back into a rhythm where we've learned a lot from the
    incident, even with averting the truckers from maybe impacting
    the Capitol, and I just think there's a strong kind of err on
    the side of caution, especially since our heads are up.
        I mean, we're attentive to it, to get back into where we're
    erring on the side of Phase 3 or what was happening before all
    of this.
        So, what is the timeline in your mind of where we get it
    back to where it was before?
        General Gibson. Sure. I would defer to the Chief, but I
    think he anticipates that it will not be until 2023, until we
    have enough of the new recruits on the force to open and man
    the positions in and around the Capitol that were manned in
    2019.
        Senator Braun. And is the workforce--this will be my last
    question before I hand it back over. Is the workforce--how
    close is it with the new recruits to where it was pre-January 6
    number-wise?
        General Gibson. I didn't come prepared, Senator, with those
    numbers. We can easily get them.
        Senator Braun. I'd say with the additional over hundred
    that you've brought on that it's got to be close to where it
    was, and then it's a question of how you manage that risk of
    getting back to where we were before and that you know you're
    going to add more individuals over time. I would personally
    like to hear when in 2023, if you could say January versus
    December, that would be good for the country and for the people
    that work around here. Thank you.
        Senator Reed. Thank you, Senator Braun.
        Let me begin Round 2. Mr. Blanton, your request includes
    $500 million in construction projects recommended by the
    Physical Security Assessment of the Capitol Campus. It also
    includes a $100 million for the design and construction of
    screening vestibules for the Capitol and Senate and House
    Office Buildings. These are significant amounts of money.
        General Gibson, in your role on the Capitol Police Board,
    feel free to comment as well. But to the extent you can share
    with us what security construction projects are considered to
    be the most important and urgent to the campus so we can have a
    sense of priorities?
        Mr. Blanton. Thank you, Senator, for that question, and I
    will----
        Senator Reed. Would you bring your microphone a little bit
    closer?
        Mr. Blanton [continuing]. I will say that we are going to
    provide you within the next couple of weeks a fidelity, a very
    high fidelity list of projects that are prioritized from one to
    N.
        In general, I would say that the completing of the exterior
    doors and windows to meet the standard that we have developed
    as part of the assessment would be the highest absolute
    priority.
        Senator Reed. In looking at these projects, there's always
    a tension and a balance between security and aesthetics, for
    want of a better term. So this doesn't look like a fortified
    zone. It looks like the Capitol of the United States.
        So in fact things like the anti-scale fencing up around the
    court today obviously detract from the historic vision of the
    Capitol.
        Have you been able to balance those successfully and I
    would assume we would obviously increase the costs of the
    project to do so?
        Mr. Blanton. Yes, I'll say that's actually one of the
    specialties of my Chief Security Officer that does the security
    projects. I always say that a good security project is
    something that you don't recognize. You don't realize it's
    there.
        We have artisans that can take the historic nature and
    preserve that while still having the doors or equipment look as
    if it did when it was originally installed and I would
    reference--I know it's not on the set-aside, but I would
    reference the work we did at the Speaker's Lobby on the House
    Chamber where there's brand-new doors look exactly like the
    original doors but they're now rated.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much.
        The issue of the personnel and, General, you spoke about it
    in terms of the major factor, it's also related to the type of
    security infrastructure you have to have. If you've got more
    personnel, then presumably you need more infrastructure and
    that's another question of balance.
        Has that been taken into consideration by both of you in
    terms of your overall plan, the number of personnel you and the
    Chief need, and the facilities you're building? I'll start with
    you, General.
        General Gibson. Yes, Senator, I would say it is, which is
    why we are requesting 35 additional FTEs. A high number of
    those will go to our Chief Information Officer and to our
    Physical Security/Operational Security Teams.
        Senator Reed. And with respect to the Visitor Center, you
    pointed out that that's a major issue in terms of the personnel
    drains. My assumption is that you're not expanding the number
    of personnel in the Center, you just don't have----
        General Gibson. And actually it's----
        Senator Reed [continuing]. The numbers.
        General Gibson. Senator, it's not me, it's the Capitol
    Police.
        Senator Reed. Capitol Police.
        General Gibson. When the Capitol Visitor Center is open, it
    requires some number of officers, and I don't want to speak for
    the Chief, but I believe it's in the range of 50 to 70 officers
    to man the Capitol Visitor Center----
        Senator Reed. Thank you.
        General Gibson [continuing]. As it was in 2019.
        Senator Reed. So we're not----
        General Gibson. It is not an increase.
        Senator Reed [continuing]. We're not enhancing the number,
    we're just----
        General Gibson. No.
        Senator Reed [continuing]. Simply trying to get back----
        General Gibson. We're trying to get back to 2019.
        Senator Reed [continuing]. To 2019 which was the norm that
    we thought at that point.
        This is an area you've touched upon and I don't know if you
    can add further details, but part of your request, General, is
    for additional resources for the protection of Senators, staff,
    both here and at home.
        Can you further elaborate on, you know, the monies you
    need, how you're going to spend them, and the threat?
        General Gibson. Thank you, Senator. That is an area where
    we seek to increase the number of personnel and it would be 10
    personnel, 3 of them specifically for State operations, and 3
    of them for threat tracking together with the Department of
    Homeland Security, Capitol Police, and other agencies, in order
    to do liaison and information-sharing with the Senators and
    their officers, increase understanding of the security kit
    available to them, and to ensure we have adequate security at
    State offices, not just here at the Capitol itself.
        Senator Reed. And with respect to State offices and State
    locales, it'll be a coordinated position. You'll be using local
    law enforcement presumably as the actual physical security
    personnel.
        General Gibson. Absolutely, Senator. It is very rare when
    that's been the reason for a plus-up of Capitol Police. It is
    typically law enforcement liaison per the Senator's request. It
    is always at their request that they may want augmented
    security at an event or if we've had a heightened spike of
    threats against a Senator.
        Sometimes we coordinate with law enforcement support, again
    at the Senator's request to have additional drive-bys of
    residences. We also provide physical security. The Capitol
    Police do physical security assessments of the residence and
    make recommendations for ways in which a Senator and his or her
    family might be better protected.
        Senator Reed. Thank you.
        Senator Braun. Thank you. Mr. Blanton, so I think our
    restaurant operations within the Capitol have been hurt
    significantly because we haven't had any people here. That
    again was one of the highlights, I think, of some visits,
    especially when Senators would be able to take folks into the
    dining room and so forth, but general traffic is just way down.
        I think that they are getting some type of help through the
    end of the year, and that's why I think it's important if
    2023's the target for normal that we need to really aspire to
    get there then, otherwise that will rise again as an issue.
        What is the health and status of the restaurant services
    currently? And rather than have to put a stipend, enhanced help
    in there, I think that fixes itself, saves the taxpayers money,
    and we have services that I think the public appreciate back to
    normal--what's the status currently?
        Mr. Blanton. So due to COVID and the restrictions in the
    building, the revenue from the restaurants at one point was
    down 90 percent. It has since rebounded 37 percent above that,
    but there's----
        Senator Braun. That means it's still off around 60 percent
    or so.
        Mr. Blanton [continuing]. Yes, and they are still
    hemorrhaging money. There is a delta between what the Senate
    expects the restaurants to be able to deliver and the cost for
    the services that they are providing.
        Senator Braun. Have you calculated what Phase 2 reopening
    will do for the restaurants?
        Mr. Blanton. So right now, it will do more for the CVC
    restaurant than it would be for the restaurants in the Senate
    buildings because it's just pure amount of traffic coming in
    and sitting down and eating.
        We spent the past year working with the Senate community on
    a restaurants master plan and in this actual budget, we have
    $8.1 million for the Senate side to redesign their restaurants
    and $41 million on the Capitol Building to re-envision the
    kitchens for the Senate Dining Room so they'd be more
    efficient.
        Senator Braun. And that's all good. So you've eliminated
    the COVID as a reason for whatever the current status is. It'd
    just be general security concerns, correct?
        Mr. Blanton. As the Sergeants at Arms said, it's the
    concern with the number of police personnel to open up the CVC.
    I can say from a business continuity perspective, I would love
    to have the two million plus visitors a year back because that
    will make a----
        Senator Braun. So COVID is endemic. We're all going to be
    dealing with it from government to business with everything
    we've learned from it. There's no imminent threat, other than
    the others that you cited that may happen now and then during a
    normal year.
        I just think that everything I'm hearing, we're kind of
    erring on the side of maybe this thing occurring deep into
    2023, and I believe that's not an aggressive enough goal, and
    it begs the question will those basic services that we were
    using before be able to hang on without more government help.
        So let me move to another concern, fencing. I see that
    there's $6.4 million there, and is that a fee that we're paying
    to the fencing company regardless of whether we use fencing or
    not? Is that kind of like just a contingency fee, and would it
    cost us any more than that, say, if you had to put fencing up
    seven or eight times in a year versus once or twice? Explain
    the $6.4 million.
        Mr. Blanton. So the fencing budget is a combination of a
    readiness fee so that we can have the fencing available to be
    installed within 24 hours and an expectation of the number of
    installations that we would do the fence for large events.
        Senator Braun. And is there another cost in addition to it
    once you'd actually have the need for fencing to put up on some
    occasion?
        Mr. Blanton. Yes, you pay for the labor now for the
    contractor who's installing the fencing.
        Senator Braun. You're kind of reserving the ability for
    $6.4 million to have them on call, you said within 72 hours?
        Mr. Blanton. 24 hours.
        Senator Braun. 24 hours. Okay. Again, that may in the big
    scheme of things here not sound like a lot of money. In most
    places that is a lot, and I'm not saying that we shouldn't have
    some type of holding fee for it, but again this is above and
    beyond what we would have ever done before, and I think you're
    going to need to find that proper balance and not maybe
    generalize based upon what did occur. I'm assuming this would
    be an annual fee that we'd need to renew each year?
        Mr. Blanton. Yes.
        Senator Braun. Okay. Keep me informed, keep us informed
    here on this Committee, and again I think that that is
    something that we've got to be careful with because we're
    building in another cost that I wonder, especially as we can
    taper away from it over time, whether it's necessary.
        This may not mean much, but I'm going to mention it because
    it's maybe symptomatic, emblematic of how the place runs in
    general. Inspector General review found that the Architect of
    the Capitol had reimbursed $38,529 in unallowable costs to a
    contractor over in the Cannon Building, including items such as
    baby gifts, florist costs, and business cards. While this is, I
    guess, chump change in the big scheme of things here anymore,
    it's concerning that there were so many unallowable costs that
    were reimbursed and the renewal project, by the way, is a $182
    million in total over budget to begin with.
        You care to comment on either the being over budget that
    much or the fact that somehow 38 grand slipped through in what
    should have been caught fairly quickly before it got
    reimbursed?
        Mr. Blanton. Yes, Senator. So I'll address the 38,000.
    Remember, this is a program that is $900 million. So it is
    small and our goal is zero obviously, but the bulk of that
    money was reimbursed in previous phases of the contract and we
    have since received a credit back from the contractor for the
    unallowable costs.
        In the current phase, it was only $1,550 worth of
    unallowable costs that we did receive a credit for.
        Senator Braun. Would that normally be caught by an
    Inspector General review or would that normally--do you have
    protocols in place where your own auditors or accountants would
    try to find that before it had to be caught at the last resort?
        Mr. Blanton. So ideally it's during the invoicing process,
    but as you may guess, in a $900 million program, the invoices
    are large and sometimes things slip through.
        We have set much more rigor involved in our invoice
    processing which is why the number in this phase is so low
    comparatively.
        Senator Braun. I would agree with your proportionality. I
    think the $182 million over budget would be a much more
    concerning figure.
        Thank you for the answer.
        Senator Reed. Do you have any additional questions,
    Senator?
        Senator Braun. I'm good.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much then.
        There could be and likely additional written questions that
    we'll submit to you and ask you to respond, but this concludes
    the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee hearing
    regarding fiscal year 2023 Funding for the Architect of the
    Capitol, the Senate Sergeant at Arms, and the Congressional
    Budget Office.
        I want to thank Mr. Blanton and General Gibson for their
    testifying today.

                         ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

        The hearing record will remain open for 7 days, allowing
    Members to submit statements and/or questions for the record
    which should be sent to the subcommittee by close of business
    on Wednesday, May 18, 2022.
        The next hearing of the subcommittee will be held on
    Wednesday, May 25, at 3:30 p.m., in S-128 of the Capitol when
    we will hear testimony from the Chief of the U.S. Capitol
    Police, the Librarian of Congress, the Comptroller of the
    Government Accountability Office regarding the fiscal year 2023
    budget request.
        [The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but
    were submitted to the agencies for response subsequent to the
    hearing:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                              SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

        Senator Reed. Until then, the Committee will stand
    adjourned. Thank you much.
        [Whereupon, at 10:54 a.m., Wednesday, May 11, the
    subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of
    the Chair.]

             LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023

                                  ----------

                            WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2022

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

        The subcommittee met at 4:15 p.m., in room SD-138, Dirksen
    Senate Office Building, Hon. Jack Reed, (Chairman) presiding.
        Present: Senators Reed and Braun.

                      GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE AND
                              LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

                     OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JACK REED

        Senator Reed. I call the hearing to order. Good afternoon.
    The subcommittee will continue its efforts for the fiscal year
    2023 budget for the Legislative Branch Appropriations. I am
    joined by our Ranking Member, Senator Braun. I look forward to
    working with him and the distinguished Members of the
    Subcommittee in crafting a responsible fiscal year 2023 funding
    legislation that supports the Legislative Branch.
        Today we have with us the Library of Congress, Dr. Carla
    Hayden, and the Comptroller General of the United States, Gene
    Dodaro. Welcome, and I thank you for joining us today. The
    Library and GAO are critical to making sure that Congress
    serves the American people well. They help Congress, supporting
    us in our basic responsibilities to be informed and educated on
    behalf of our constituents.
        So I want to begin by thanking the women and men of your
    agencies who work very hard every day to make sure that
    Congress can perform its Constitutional duties and that we use
    taxpayer dollars responsibly. The past few years have been
    difficult. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress has
    continued to meet. This means we have asked your employees to
    show up for work, either in personal or remotely, to help us do
    our jobs.
        Then the January 6 attack on the Capitol happened, changing
    how we must think about and approach security while maintaining
    an open campus environment so that all people can visit and
    share this special place. But these challenges didn't stop the
    Library and its agencies, and the GAO from delivering for
    Congress and for the American people. CRS ramped up its science
    and technology analysis capacity to prepare and update
    thousands of new products to inform Congress on COVID-19
    related Details.
        GAO has been hard at work auditing the trillions of dollars
    provided by Congress, the Government wide response to the
    pandemic, including the American Rescue Plan Act, and the
    Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. And GAO has churned out
    numerous flash reports in response to the January 6 attack on
    the Capitol. The agency worked tirelessly to respond to
    Congressional inquiries, conduct oversight, and provide
    valuable recommendations to the United States Capitol Police,
    the Architect of the Capitol, and the Capitol Police Board on
    much needed reforms and security upgrades.
        The Library intensified its public outreach to include a
    variety of virtual events, webinars, and workshops so that
    researchers, teachers, parents, and especially our children
    could still access and learn from its rich and diverse
    collections. The Library also sacrificed a major collection
    storage construction project so that we could cover
    unanticipated and unmet costs from the pandemic and the January
    6 attack on the Capitol campus.
        We need to make good on our promises and make it a priority
    to refund that project in our fiscal year 2023 bill. We want to
    make sure that your agencies have the tools needed to gradually
    reopen and responsibly resume normal operations. Congress owes
    it to your employees not only to provide the resources needed
    to do their jobs, but also to meet any new demands or
    innovations identified in the pandemic.
        That means continuing to make critical investments in IT
    modernization, cybersecurity, and collections, and staffing up
    your science and technology analysis and auditing teams. As
    Congress's independent and nonpartisan watchdog, our demands on
    GAO for audits and evaluations of Federal agencies to root out
    waste, fraud, and abuse while improving governance efficiently
    only grow greater and more complex.
        Your request reflects a return to optimal pre-sequester
    staffing levels and is the result of multiple years of careful
    investment and prioritizing by both your agency and Congress. I
    look forward to hearing from Comptroller Dodaro on how we can
    continue to build on the progress in fiscal year 2023, and how
    GAO aims to recruit and retain a talented and diverse
    workforce.
        And as we welcome back visitors and look to a brighter
    future, I want to hear from Dr. Hayden on the progress of the
    Library's visitor experience initiative. This is an exciting
    public, private partnership that will make the Library's
    treasures more accessible to students, researchers, and
    visitors to the nation's capital for generations to come.
        We do not yet have a broader budget agreement of fiscal
    year 2203, but I hope in the coming months this committee can
    unveil a strong appropriations bill that will support the needs
    of your agencies and the rest of the Legislative Branch. And
    now let me turn it over to my Ranking Member, Senator Braun.
    Senator Braun, please.

                    OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MIKE BRAUN

        Senator Braun. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Dr.
    Hayden and Mr. Dodaro, for being here. It is our second
    Legislative Branch hearing. Look forward to working with the
    Chairman to get things fleshed out. Dr. Hayden, I participated
    in the Veterans History Project Workshop with you in April,
    where we discussed how veterans and their families can engage
    with the Library of Congress.
        The Library is doing important work to preserve the
    personal stories of American veterans. I think that is
    important. As we discussed a few weeks ago, I am pleased with
    the progress you have made in opening the Library of Congress
    back up to the public. Frankly, you have made a lot more
    progress and we have had here in the Senate, and for that you
    should be commended. Reopening the buildings on and around
    Capitol Hill to the public must be a top priority to the
    Committee.
        The Senate has lagged behind virtually all of America in
    reopening and getting back to normal. When we shut our economy
    down a couple of years ago, we are now dealing with the ripple
    effects from that in terms of high inflation and other things.
    We ought to at least get the buildings of the people back open
    to the people.
        Dr. Hayden, you are asking for $871 million in change, a
    3.9 percent increase over the fiscal year 2022 enacted level.
    That is definitely more sober than most of the requests I have
    seen come in from other parts of the Government. Remember, an
    economy, when it is robust, grows maybe 2 to 3 percent. We
    should never be growing this place with the results that we
    produce for more than what the economy is growing. That ends up
    with unsustainable debt and it is not a good long term business
    plan.
        We will look at your request very carefully. Mr. Dodaro, we
    have had the chance to talk many times about how the Federal
    Government works in terms of spending more than we take in.
    Mentioned just a little bit ago we were around $18 trillion in
    debt when I got here a little over 3 years ago and now we are
    $30 trillion in debt. We have got a blueprint for our country,
    for our kids, let's look at it that way, to live by that puts
    us $45 trillion in debt. We have become a country of consumers
    and spenders.
        And many of our geopolitical opponents out there or
    otherwise--you know, they believe in things, were investing and
    saving. And as a result, they probably don't run chronic
    deficits like we do. We have got to be careful. You can get
    beyond the point of no return. And when the budget that we have
    got as a blueprint in 10 years shows that we are spending as
    much on interest, and we are underestimating inflation and
    interest in that budget, as we will either on domestic
    discretionary spending or defense spending, look out,
    Americans, that is going to be a rough ride.
        This is a small part of what we do, the smallest
    appropriations category. But I think it needs to be consistent
    with what it is going to take, I think, to turn this juggernaut
    around, from running into the ditch very hard and it has got to
    start somewhere. You can at least show where we are getting
    some type of return on our investment. I think in 2021 alone,
    GAO's work yielded $66.2 billion in financial benefits.
        Hardly any other part of the Government where what you do,
    you can say, is actually saving money. Not a lot when you look
    at the big scheme of things, but it is at least doing the right
    thing. It is the right dynamic. You are asking, I think, for a
    12 to 13 percent increase. If there is one place where we ought
    to be spending more, it ought to be in a place where we get a
    decent return on investment.
        I trust that whatever we do give to you, it will be spent
    well. I would like just even symbolically to see that be reined
    in a little bit because we need to practice what we preach. I,
    again, look forward to working with the Chairman to get through
    this and hopefully to get it done on a timely basis. The
    American public deserves it.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much, Senator Braun. Now I
    will ask the witnesses, beginning with Dr. Hayden, to give a
    brief opening statement of approximately 5 minutes to allow
    adequate time for questions. The written testimony of each
    witness will be printed in full in the hearing record. Dr.
    Hayden, you are recognized, please.
    STATEMENT OF DR. CARLA HAYDEN, LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS
        Dr. Hayden. Thank you. Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun,
    for this opportunity to provide testimony in support of the
    Library's fiscal year 2023 budget. Yes, 2 years ago, the
    Library had to close its doors as the pandemic began. However,
    we moved quickly and successfully to adopt new and innovative
    approaches to serving Congress and the American people
    virtually under unprecedented conditions.
        And in fact, the pandemic accelerated our ongoing efforts
    to engage the public virtually and share our collections and
    services in new and exciting ways and allowing us to reach more
    people across the nation. And thanks to the dedication and
    innovation of our workforce during the past year, mission
    critical services, including the Congressional Research Service
    and the United States Copyright Office, were able to operate
    largely as normal.
        The Library did produce a full year of exciting virtual and
    hybrid programing, including the 21st National Book Festival.
    And with the Congressional support and private philanthropy, we
    continued to work toward unveiling the Library's enhanced
    visitor experience in phases, beginning with the opening of a
    treasures gallery in late 2023. I would like to express my
    gratitude for the ongoing support that this Committee and the
    entire Congress provides to the Library.
        In particular, our high priority needs in fiscal year 2022,
    such as the new Library collections access platform, L-CAP.
    That is the heart of our Library operations. Replacements for
    the Library's outmoded electronic security system and the 3G
    cellular system. And a cloud based office productivity suite
    for all Library employees. I come before you today to discuss
    the Library's fiscal year 2023 request of $871.8 million, an
    increase of 3.9 percent over the enacted fiscal year 2022
    appropriation.
        This request includes $30.8 million in mandatory pay and
    price level increases, and the balance of the increase
    represents critical program investments necessary to meet our
    mission. With new and modern IT infrastructure in place, thanks
    to your support, we are now using continuous innovation and
    delivery to ensure that we are constantly optimizing and
    modernizing the technology used to meet the Library's mission.
        The cloud has become an important part of IT planning at
    the Library and the fiscal year 2023 request seeks to establish
    a dedicated cloud management program that will enable us to
    integrate our cloud solutions with our traditional IT
    infrastructure. The Congressional Research Service needs to
    adapt and optimize its integrated research and information
    system, IRIS, using commercially available cloud based tools.
        And this request is critical to enable CRS to track
    Congressional requests, manage data and analysis, and
    facilitate the development and distribution of CRS products to
    Congress. We are also seeking funding to continue stabilizing
    and optimizing our financial infrastructure, which is essential
    to all of our Library operations.
        And this includes funds for increased Legislative Branch
    financial management system hosting and application management
    costs. This is a request made by the Library on behalf of eight
    Legislative Branch agencies that all benefit from this valuable
    and cost effective shared service.
        The 2023 request also includes funding for phase two of the
    Enterprise Planning and Management Program and for the
    Library's Cost Management Center of Excellence. To modernize
    and optimize payroll operations, we are requesting funds to
    implement a new integrated personnel and payroll processing
    system managed by the Department of the Interior's Integrated
    Business Center.
        The Copyright Office seeks to expand its data analysis
    capacities in economic research, fee, and cost analysis, and
    statistics in order to make better informed decisions about its
    fees. This request is fully funded with Copyright Office's
    offsetting collections. And as we prepare to unveil the
    Library's enhanced visitor experience, we are requesting funds
    to add additional visitor engagement staff, which will support
    the expanded public spaces in the Jefferson Building.
        We expect to see a significant increase in visitors in the
    next 3 to 5 years, and this additional staff will ensure that
    everyone has the best possible experience. So in closing, the
    Library's 2023 Congressional budget justification continues a
    sequence of strategically planned modernization efforts
    throughout the institution.
        And with the support of Congress, we will continue to
    strengthen our capacity to carry out our mission. Thank you,
    and we look forward to your questions.

        [The statement follows:]
     Prepared Statement of Hon. Dr. Carla Hayden, The Librarian of Congress
    Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and Members of the Subcommittee,

        Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony in support of
    the Library's fiscal year 2023 budget.
        The Library of Congress has built one of the largest collections of
    human knowledge ever assembled in support of our mission to engage,
    inspire, and inform the Congress and the American people with a
    universal and enduring source of information and creativity. My top
    priority as Librarian of Congress remains expanded user access to the
    Library's resources and services. We are an authoritative source of
    knowledge that enriches the American people in countless ways. We
    constantly strive to find new ways to share our extraordinary riches
    with the nation.
        Two years ago, the Library had to close its doors as the pandemic
    began. We moved quickly and successfully to adopt new and innovative
    approaches to serving the Congress and the American people. I am
    pleased to report that we continued to make progress in sharing more of
    the Library's collections, programming, and staff expertise beyond the
    four walls of the Library. In fact, the pandemic accelerated our
    efforts to engage the public virtually and share our collections and
    services in new and exciting ways, allowing us to reach even more
    people across the nation. In fiscal year 2021, with the support of the
    Congress, the Library continued to build the collections and engage
    users. The Library reduced the cataloging arrearage by 1.2 million
    items, created online resources, reopened reading rooms, welcomed
    visitors and researchers, and resumed the Surplus Books Program, among
    many other activities. The Library's Center for Learning and Engagement
    produced a year full of exciting virtual and hybrid programming,
    including the 21st National Book Festival. Essential services,
    including the Congressional Research Service and the United States
    Copyright Office, were able to operate largely as normal. The National
    Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled implemented a long-
    awaited change that made it easier for people with reading disabilities
    to enroll for services. With congressional support and private
    philanthropy, we continued to work toward unveiling the Library's
    enhanced Visitor Experience in phases, beginning with the Treasures
    Gallery in late 2023. The Library also reached an important milestone
    during the pandemic, with over 7.5 million items under inventory
    control in its preservation facility at Fort Meade and a new collection
    storage module completed. In another significant marker, for the first
    time, the Library's production information technology foundation exists
    fully outside of the Capitol Hill campus. With the completion of the
    Library's Data Center Transformation effort, the Office of the Chief
    Information Officer (OCIO) is now hosting the Library's more than 100
    production IT systems and nearly 90 petabytes of data across a modern
    hybrid hosting environment.
        Today, the Library holds nearly 174 million physical items,
    including special collections consisting of audio materials, maps,
    moving images, sheet music and much more. A single copy of our digital
    collections requires 26 petabytes of storage--that is roughly the
    equivalent of 13 trillion pages of printed text. If you piled up that
    many pages, you could reach the moon more than three times with these
    stacks of stored knowledge. The material on the Library's websites
    alone totals five petabytes.
        Over the last year, approximately 2.2 million Preservation actions
    were performed on items in the Library's physical collections, with a
    further 3.4 million pages of materials prepared and shipped to vendors
    for preservation reformatting services. The Library responded to
    730,562 reference requests from Congress, the public, and other Federal
    agencies, including direct use of CRS reports. The Copyright Office
    issued over 403,771 copyright registrations and recorded 8,252
    documents containing 961,291 titles. Library web sites recorded more
    than 178 million visits and nearly 618 million page views. We
    circulated more than 21.5 million copies of braille, audio and large
    print items to patrons, via the National Library Service for the Blind
    and Print Disabled and its network of State and local libraries.
    Moreover, even with pandemic restrictions, the Library welcomed nearly
    30,000 in-person visitors.
        The Library also continued direct services to the public with
    programs like the Veterans History Project which collects the stories
    of our Nation's veterans and Teaching with Primary Sources, which
    allows teachers in local school districts to create curricula and
    develop apps using the Library's digitized primary sources.
        I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the ongoing and
    remarkable support that this committee and all of Congress give to the
    Library. In particular, I appreciate the funding you have provided in
    fiscal year 2022 to meet high-priority needs such as the new L-CAP--
    Library Collections Access Platform--that is the heart of Library
    operations; replacements for the Library's outmoded Integrated
    Electronic Security System and the 3G Cellular Distributed Antenna
    System; and installation of a cloud-based office productivity suite for
    all Library employees.
        I come before you today to discuss the Library's fiscal year 2023
    appropriations request. This budget request reflects the resources
    needed for us to sustain the Library's mission of service to Congress,
    access to the creative record of the United States, and stewardship of
    the cultural heritage of the American people. The budget request is
    aligned with the goals and objectives of the Library's Strategic Plan:
    Expand access, enhance services, optimize resources, and measure
    impact. To advance these strategic goals, the budget requests
    additional resources for several new or expanded programs. All of the
    requests are in support of the Library's mission and vision that all
    Americans are connected to the Library of Congress and invest in a
    vibrant future for this institution.
        The Library of Congress fiscal year 2023 budget request is for
    $871.8 million, which represents a 3.9 percent increase over the
    Library's fiscal year 2022 enacted appropriation. This request includes
    $30.8 million in mandatory pay and price level increases. The balance
    of the increase represents critical program investments necessary to
    fulfill the Library's role and to sustain continuous technology
    innovation and delivery; continue stabilization and optimization of the
    financial infrastructure; expand active engagement with visitors to the
    Library; and strengthen data analysis expertise in life cycle costing
    and cost estimating as well as data analysis for evaluating and setting
    Copyright fees.
        The fiscal year 2023 budget continues many of the strategic
    modernization and optimization efforts the Congress has supported in
    recent years for the Library. As I am sure other government agencies
    are experiencing, rapidly evolving technology and public expectations
    have required us to adjust, and in some cases expand, multiyear efforts
    that are underway to enhance the IT and operations of many of the
    Library's service units. The budget request also addresses staffing
    gaps that have arisen as a result of absorption of mandatory pay and
    price level increases. It builds staff capacity we must have to respond
    to technological advancement and addresses skills in areas such as data
    analysis and cost estimation that are required to meet the Library's
    fiduciary responsibilities.
            sustaining continuous technology innovation and delivery
        As I have reported before, at the Library, we have fundamentally
    rebuilt our technology foundation. The large investment in Library IT
    over the last few years is already paying dividends. As the Nation
    continued to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Library's more
    robust IT infrastructure allowed us to sustain remote operations for
    the majority of the Library's workforce for the entire fiscal year. It
    also paves the way for ongoing efforts to expand and enhance the major
    IT systems that support the Library's business operations and its
    digital offerings to Congress and the public.
        Most importantly, we are not merely updating existing applications
    and systems. We have completely re-envisioned how we manage and use
    technology at the Library. With new, modern IT infrastructure in place,
    we have stabilized our operations and we are moving to a model of
    carefully constructed continuous innovation and continuous delivery to
    ensure that we are constantly optimizing and modernizing the technology
    needed to meet the needs of Congress and the American people.
        As in the private sector and other government agencies, the cloud
    has become an important part of our IT planning at the Library. Its
    ability to quickly scale services to meet changing needs and its
    capacity to support accessibility and collaborations across a wide
    range of users are powerful tools that are essential as we continue our
    digital transformation. As we mature our use of the cloud at the
    Library, we are following the Federal ``Cloud Smart'' strategy, which
    calls for cloud solutions to be integrated with our traditional IT
    infrastructure to seamlessly support our business needs.
        Of course, greater use of the cloud comes with some challenges too.
    The Library requires specialized resources to properly implement and
    administer cloud services and ensure that we can make the most of our
    cloud operations. The Library's request for a dedicated Cloud
    Management Program will provide OCIO with the expertise necessary to
    ensure essential cloud management practices, monitor cloud-based
    applications for compliance and security, coordinate development of
    advanced IT solutions, and ensure maximum value from existing IT
    infrastructure.
        The Library must also continue to mature its IT planning, project
    management, and governance to sustain the pace of digital
    transformation and the growing demand for new and enhanced technology
    to support services to Congress and the Nation. Audit findings from the
    Government Accountability Office and the Office of the Inspector
    General have reinforced the need for the Library to mature its IT cost
    estimating, schedule management and quality review practices, and
    improve OCIO's ability to meet Federal standards and industry best
    practices for IT project management. The Library's fiscal year 2023
    request includes in-house expertise and contract support to respond to
    the significant volume of pre-planning project-related activities,
    project challenges, and evolving audit recommendations.
        The Congressional Research Service also seeks, in partnership with
    OCIO, to adapt and optimize its Integrated Research and Information
    System (IRIS) in a technology landscape that changed dramatically since
    its initial planning and procurement in 2018. This request is critical
    for the completion of the initial IRIS configuration using commercially
    available cloud-based tools to meet specific CRS requirements for
    authoring and publishing, content management, and congressional
    relations management, while insuring integration with CRS legacy IT
    systems and research tools. It will also establish and staff a
    sustainment and development program, using the continuous innovation
    and continuous delivery (CI/CD) model employed for major Library IT
    systems, including Congress.gov. IRIS will significantly improve the
    manner in which CRS analytical staff author and publish reports and
    memoranda, manage data and tacit knowledge, and maintain timely and
    functional analytics on products and services. CRS IT systems must be
    up-to-date to meet congressional needs.
     continuing stabilization and optimization of financial infrastructure
        A stable and optimized financial infrastructure is essential to
    everything the Library does. A necessary shift to the cloud for the
    Legislative Branch Financial Management System (LBFMS) added workload
    in financial reporting, and an unintegrated personnel and payroll
    system also need prompt attention.
        The Library's Financial Systems continues to manage hosting of the
    LBFMS as a shared service for the legislative branch. The LBFMS funding
    model, and support provided by the Congress, are essential to the
    success of the initiative. Sharing a financial system and consolidating
    some financial management tasks save the Legislative Branch more than
    $3.3 million annually, across the eight participating agencies.
        However, with the migration of the LBFMS to the cloud, funding
    challenges exist because system hosting and application management
    costs exceed the $1.06 million annually received from the Congress. The
    increased cost has been pro-rated among LBFMS agencies and covered by
    the Library's funds. At the request of the LBFMS Steering Committee,
    comprised of representatives of the partner agencies, the Library
    requests funding to cover the $700,000 increase in the cost of hosting
    and operating the system in the cloud. The Library's intention is to
    maintain consistent year-to-year funding requirements for both the
    Library and our partner LBFMS agencies cost share, so that all can
    better plan for LBFMS costs for future years. The eight Legislative
    Branch agencies cross-serviced through the LBFMS believe the most
    efficient method to address the additional costs is for Congress to
    provide the funding directly to the Library for LBFMS operations,
    rather than increase each agency's budget by a prorated amount and then
    have the Library charge each agency separately. The Library cannot
    unilaterally cover the increased costs from its budget.
        Stabilization and optimization efforts continue to meet challenges
    in financial reporting. Important improvements have been made,
    including hiring the Library's first comptroller. The Library also
    recently received its 25th consecutive unmodified audit opinion.
    However, Financial Reports (FR) now has an increased workload to
    support the Library's cross-servicing partners and to meet expanded
    Department of the Treasury reporting requirements. Continued
    stabilization and optimization of the financial reporting functions are
    important not only to fulfill the Library's external reporting
    requirements, but also to meet FR's responsibility for setting
    accounting standards and preparing Library of Congress regulations and
    process directives, which ensure that the Library has good internal
    controls that are tested and validated throughout the year. The request
    includes FTE to address additional accounting workload and reporting
    responsibilities, as well as contractor services to update and create
    essential financial reporting and financial system documentation,
    procedure guides, and training materials.
        The Library also requests funding to implement an integrated and
    optimized personnel and payroll processing system. Currently, staff
    must enter data in different legacy systems, causing leave balance
    discrepancies and issues resulting from manual payroll and personnel
    action request reconciliation, and the use of manual forms causes
    errors. It also presents challenges with retirement package tracking,
    making it difficult for retirees to get the information they need. This
    request would shift the Library's personnel and payroll processing
    service provider from the National Finance Center system to the
    Department of the Interior's Integrated Business Center (IBC). A full-
    scale migration to the IBC personnel and payroll system will result in
    significant cost avoidance and mitigate the lost time currently devoted
    to correcting problems in a non- integrated and non-automated system.
            expanding active engagement with visitors to the library
        The Library is reimagining the visitor engagement model to meet the
    changing needs of audiences in a post-pandemic world. Visitor
    operations will increase dramatically with the opening of the Treasures
    Gallery, the first phase of the Visitor Experience, when it opens in
    fall 2023. The Library expects to welcome more than 2 million visitors
    annually in the next 3 to 5 years, compared to 1.6 million in 2019. The
    Visitor Experience will add 12,000 square feet of public space to the
    Library. Funding is requested to add staffing for the Library's Visitor
    Engagement Program, which will support the expanded public space and
    will enhance the active engagement and safety of visitors, including
    your constituents, and the use of the Jefferson Building and the
    collections.
     strengthening data analysis expertise in life cycle costing and cost
         estimating as well as in evaluating and setting copyright fees
        In concert with efforts to stabilize and optimize its financial
    infrastructure, the Library requests funding for the second phase of
    the Enterprise Planning & Management (EPM) initiative, which will
    enable the strategic use of the Library's planning and operational data
    as a catalyst to drive more effective decisionmaking and improved
    performance of Library projects, programs, and investments. Phase two
    is the next step in implementing an integrated planning process and
    maturing a Cost Management Center of Excellence, which will pilot new
    cost estimating and data analytics capabilities by establishing the
    staff expertise and processes necessary to optimize cost management.
    Subsequent requests will include a new technology platform to replace
    legacy systems nearing the end of their useful lives.
        Finally, the Copyright Office seeks to expand its capabilities in
    economic research, fee and cost analysis, and statistics funded fully
    with Copyright Office offsetting collections. There is a mission-
    critical need to establish expertise in economic research and analysis
    specific to issues of copyright and the impact of fee changes on
    participation in the copyright system. The Office must also improve its
    capacity to perform cost and fee analysis and to manage, validate, and
    report on the statistics and metrics that affect its costs, revenue,
    and fee analysis. These capabilities are crucial for the Office to
    manage its operations effectively and to better demonstrate to the
    Congress, its users, and other stakeholders that it is using an
    evidence-based process for evaluating and setting fees, which currently
    make up approximately 50 percent of the Office's annual budget.
        In closing, the Library's 2023 Congressional Budget Justification
    continues a sequence of strategically planned modernization efforts
    across the enterprise. With the strong support of Congress, the Library
    continues to optimize and modernize operations and technology to
    strengthen institutional capacity to carry out the mission undeterred
    by changing realities. Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and Members
    of the Subcommittee, thank you again for supporting the Library of
    Congress and for your consideration of our fiscal year 2023 request.

        Senator Reed. Thank you, doctor. Comptroller General,
    please.
    STATEMENT OF HON. GENE DODARO, U.S. COMPTROLLER
                GENERAL, GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
        Mr. Dodaro. Good afternoon Mr. Chairman, Senator Braun. It
    is a pleasure to be here to discuss GAO's budget proposal for
    fiscal year 2023. I want to first thank the Committee for its
    past support for our work. I believe we have provided a good
    return on investment of the money you have given GAO over the
    last 5 years. We have averaged a return on investment of $158
    back to the Government for every $1 invested in GAO.
        In addition, we have averaged over 1,300 other benefits to
    the Government, such as improvements in public safety and
    better efficiency and effectiveness of Government operations
    and programs. In addition to our normal array of work that we
    do on a regular basis to support 90 percent of the committees
    of the Congress, we have undertaken some special assignments
    on, as the Chairman mentioned, the extra spending on the COVID-
    19 pandemic. We have issued 10 Government-wide reports that
    examine the full breadth of the COVID experience and track the
    Federal spending. We have also issued over 100 individual GAO
    reports on specific pandemic-related areas.
        We have made about 280 recommendations, including 15
    matters for Congressional consideration. I testified before the
    Senate in March about 10 of these recommendations for improving
    transparency and accountability of not only COVID spending, but
    all Federal spending, reining in improper payments and dealing
    with a growing problem of fraud, particularly in the pandemic
    programs.
        In the high risk series, we have added two new additions.
        The last time I was here, I talked about adding drug misuse
    across Government, and a need for greater Federal leadership.
    Since then we added HHS leadership and coordination of public
    health emergencies to the high risk list. There are still not
    clear definitions of roles and responsibilities. There is
    miscommunication, challenges that haven't been fully met, and
    data collection issues, among others. I am concerned about the
    preparations to deal with future public health emergencies.
        We also recently added the unemployment insurance program.
    It has been subject to a lot of fraud, and it is also badly in
    need of transformation for the 21st century. The program needs
    to adapt to a different type of economy and workforce. The
    State systems are antiquated and are not up to the challenge.
        In addition, we do an annual report on overlap,
    duplication, and fragmentation in the Federal Government. The
    Administration and the Congress have acted on 74 percent of our
    approximate 1,300 recommendations. So far that has produced
    $552 billion of financial benefits to the Government. I expect
    that amount to continue to grow into the future.
        Now we are asking, as Senator Braun mentioned, for an
    increase in our funding and that will go to five important
    areas. One is science and technology. Science and technology is
    becoming ubiquitous to all aspects of the Federal Government's
    operations. We have been asked to take on the responsibilities
    of the former Office of Technology Assessment.
        We have done technology assessments of artificial
    intelligence in health care, one for drug development, and
    another on diagnostics, such as one on forensic algorithms. We
    also did technology assessments of Operation Warp Speed's
    development of the vaccines and defense navigation
    capabilities. We have many other assessments in the works on
    topics such as, regenerative medicine, and carbon management.
        Our second priority area for funding is cybersecurity. We
    have an expert cybersecurity team.
        We are getting inundated with requests for cybersecurity
    work, not just for evaluations of information systems, but also
    for weapon systems and critical infrastructure systems that
    span the full breadth and scope of our economy, both inside and
    outside the Federal Government.
        Our third priority area is defense or the national security
    enterprise, which include work related to threats and
    competition from China and Russia as well as the war in
    Ukraine.
        I expect many more requests in the defense arena.
        Our fourth priority area is health care. It is the fastest
    growing part of the Federal Government's budget. There is $148
    billion in improper payments in Medicare and Medicaid alone for
    2021. We have and will continue to do work on prescription drug
    pricing as well.
        The fifth priority area is infrastructure. There are 35
    mandates in the Infrastructure and Jobs Act for GAO, and 7 more
    in the fiscal year 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act. We
    need some additional funding to help us carry out those
    responsibilities.
        Mr. Chairman, you mentioned recruiting and retaining
    people. We have hired over a 1,000 people since the pandemic
    started. We are very effective in attracting and retaining
    talent.
        We are on track to meet 99 percent of our FTE goals for
    this fiscal year. Moreover, GAO was ranked number one in best
    places to work in midsize agencies last year. I am very proud
    of our record. We have no problem recruiting and retaining
    people. We just need your continued support. I know you will
    take careful consideration of our request and I appreciate the
    opportunity to be here today.

        [The statement follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

           LIBRARY OF CONGRESS--SECURITY COORDINATION POST JANUARY 6

        Senator Reed. Thank you very much, Comptroller General.
        Dr. Hayden, after January 6, the security situation changed
    dramatically. That is probably an understatement. How have you
    changed your--how are you collaborating with the Capitol Police
    and other agencies, and any adjustments in addition to those
    that you have made?
        Dr. Hayden. The Library has worked closely with the U.S.
    Capitol Police. And in fact, we hosted the National Guard
    personnel right after January 6. And we have been continuing
    with helping with limited entrances to our facilities so that
    they have additional personnel to take care of the things that
    they need to.
        And we also were very appreciative of the funding that we
    received in fiscal year 2022 for two major things that were in
    the work, but the need was reinforced on January the 6. One,
    cellular communications. We needed to upgrade to 5G from 3G,
    and the Capitol Police and the Architect of the Capitol staff
    had difficulty, significant trouble, maintaining communications
    in the Library buildings during the events.
        And immediately after that, funding has been appropriated,
    and we are implementing that. And the other was our physical
    security and video surveillance. The events on January 6
    reinforced the importance of that request that was funded last
    year. And Library cameras, for instance, if they had been
    sufficient and updated, they would have been able to provide
    more visibility around the perimeter, the Library's Jefferson
    Building is directly behind the Capitol, and more high
    resolution video data would have been available.
        And so with this new security system, we are replacing the
    monitors, all of the things that go with it, plus life cycle
    improvements so that we can keep up with the technology that is
    also being implemented. You did mention funding that was
    deferred for our high priority preservation in module seven was
    used for security purposes and we sincerely hope that it will
    be reinstated.
        Senator Reed. Thank you. Comptroller General, after the
    January 6 attack, you issued five reports on aspects of the
    attack from additional actions needed to better prepare a
    Capitol Police coordination with the Federal agencies. What do
    you consider to be the most important recommendation, and are
    they being implemented to your satisfaction?
        Mr. Dodaro. Not yet. All 11 recommendations we made were
    still outstanding. We received some resistance from DHS about
    updating their requirements and explanation of how to designate
    something a special event ahead of time.
        I will continue to follow up with them on this issue. The
    other recommendations draw on two areas that I think are
    equally important. One is the physical protection of the
    Capitol building and having comprehensive risk assessments
    done.
        We have heard from the US Capitol Police. We really haven't
    heard from the Capitol Police Board yet in terms of what they
    are doing. The other area of recommendations were related to
    training for the police. More realistic training and training
    on the use of force is needed. All the recommendations, I
    believe, are important, Mr. Chairman, and I would like to see
    fuller and quicker implementation.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much. And let me direct your
    question to both you. Senator Braun touched upon it.

                     LIBRARY OF CONGRESS--LIBRARY REOPENING

        Senator Reed. What are your plans, Dr. Hayden, about
    reopening, fully reopening? Where are we, or where are you, I
    should say?
        Dr. Hayden. Well, the Library began reopening actually in
    September of 2020 just for electronic research. People had to
    make appointments. The reading rooms opened in June and July of
    2021 and the general public in July of 2021. And we worked
    closely with the Capitol Police. And we also are very fortunate
    in terms of our health services staff.
        So we have 98 percent of our staff members vaccinated,
    there are regular health screening, and then we establish timed
    entry passes for the public, and that has been very successful
    because we can monitor the number of people in the buildings,
    and we can also issue passes the same day.
        These are free passes, and it helps us in case of an
    emergency, for instance, if we have to contact people and say
    that for--or anything, that we are able to do that. So we have
    expanded our information kiosks. We had virtual docents and
    volunteers that could stay at home but also give guidance and
    talk to visitors, and that we are going to continue because
    that was very successful.
        So with the staff members that were able to roam around and
    help people, but also those timed entry passes have been very,
    very helpful.
        Senator Reed. Thank you. And Comptroller General, your sort
    of quick assessment of your reopening process?
        Mr. Dodaro. For the last decade, we have had a very robust
    telework arrangement. Staff could work up to 66 hours of the 80
    hours, 2 week pay period remotely. Most information is now
    digitized in an electronic format, allowing the work to be done
    remotely, and teleworking helps us recruit and retain the
    caliber of people that we need. But we have people back now
    full time in the offices working with classified information.
        We are coming up with a future of work plan in GAO, in
    which we will continue to have a robust, telework arrangement.
    We are going to have some remote options. We found during the
    pandemic, for example, that by offering remote options we could
    recruit interns--and we recruit about 200 interns every year--
    from areas across this great country of ours that weren't close
    to a GAO facility.
        And it really helped us to diversify and get a better pool
    of applicants for our positions. So we are going to have a
    remote option for our employees in the future, along with a
    telework option, and an in-person presence. But everybody will
    be here when Congress needs us to be here for meetings and
    things of that nature, and they will be on site at the agencies
    when they need to be to do the work. I think we have a proven
    track record over the last decade and also during the pandemic
    that we can operate in this way.
        To have the caliber of workforce that we need it is
    essential that we retain people. Our attrition rate is only 6
    percent. During the pandemic it was only 5 percent. We put a
    big investment in our people to train them, and we need to have
    institutional knowledge. You need to retain the people in order
    to do that.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much. Senator Braun is
    recognized, and then we will have a second round.
        Senator Braun. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We talked earlier
    about the current debt that we are in as a country, around $30
    trillion. And might point out that the last time we were this
    far in debt would have been coming out of World War II. That
    was a generation that would be appalled at where we are at now.
    They were savers. They were investors. Paid all that debt off
    from World War II. And it was probably the equivalent of
    around, in today's dollars who knows? It might be more than
    what we have got.
        Nevertheless, they paid it off and built the interstate
    highway system, a very capital intensive project. That is
    reflective of how we built our status as a country across the
    world. Generous in helping rebuild our enemies into trading
    partners, and now end up doing things that just don't make
    sense in terms of a solid financial posture into the future.
    You know, they call it the modern monetary theory, where annual
    deficits and cumulative debt don't make any difference anymore.
        You seem to be the one bright spot within our Federal
    Government that, to the extent you can, reins things in. Would
    you like to comment about where you think we will be if we stay
    on that course? Even doing all of this seems to be a moot point
    if we don't get it done on a timely basis. And it still
    incorporates now with President Biden's blueprint for our
    country over the next 10 years, another $15 trillion in debt,
    averaging $1.5 trillion a year. Where does that take us?
        Mr. Dodaro. We are basically on an unsustainable long term
    fiscal path. At the end of 2021 debt held by the public was
    already about 100 percent of the GDP. Absent any fiscal change
    in policy, our simulations show that this ration could rise to
    over 200 of GDP within the next 40 years, and it will continue
    to go up absent that change. By 2035, we could be paying $1
    trillion a year just to service our debt and interest. And I
    think that is a problem.
        There are also short term issues, such as Social Security
    funding and, Medicare Part A funding, where we are going to hit
    a wall within the next decade for both of those programs. That
    is going to force us to come to grips with the size of the
    benefit levels and to deal with those programs. I am also very
    concerned about our interest rate exposure into the future.
        I have issued an annual report on the nation's fiscal year
    for the last 6 years. Even before the reports, I was talking
    about the nation's unsustainable fiscal path for a long time,
    because you could see this coming due to demographic shifts and
    the rising costs of health care, which are the main drivers of
    this issue. I have also called for a change in how we set the
    debt limit. The debt limit, right now, does nothing to control
    the debt.
        Rather it makes markets nervous about whether we are going
    to raise the limit in time to make timely payments. People
    avoid Treasury securities that might mature around that period
    of time. It disrupts the liquidity in the secondary market. It
    doesn't do anything for us, except create an opportunity to
    talk about this issue, but it rarely produces enough change to
    alter the long term trajectory. I am very concerned about how
    we set and use the debt limit.
        Senator Braun. I am going to put a budget out here in a
    couple of weeks that will do what Americans should expect of
    us, and that would balance the budget over 10 years. And it
    takes political will. It takes discipline if we are going to do
    it. And you mentioned the two programs that most would look to
    the Federal Government to be healthy, to be there would be
    Medicare and Social Security.
        And I hope the American public knows and in 4 years, we
    will have depleted every penny. We have paid into the Medicare
    trust fund. And will we do something ahead of time? We will
    probably let it run into the ditch and then borrow money to
    backfill the shortage because it be close to 15 to 18 percent
    benefit cuts.
        Social Security, we have known actuarially for decades, and
    that will be a bigger issue, and we have been paying into that
    since the Depression. All of that will be gone. It does take
    some serious consideration. We seem not to do it. I am just
    hoping that we wise up here quickly.

               LIBRARY OF CONGRESS--WELCOMING VISITORS POST COVID

        Senator Braun. Dr. Hayden, when you were talking earlier
    about the Library of Congress getting back open, what
    percentage of your normal activities would you say you are back
    to in terms of what--you mentioned, a few of them that are back
    up and running again. Where are you at pre-COVID compared to
    pre-COVID now?
        Dr. Hayden. I would have to say that we are at least 80
    percent back, and that is basically with the number of visitors
    who are coming in. Before COVID, we had approximately 2 million
    visitors per year coming physically into Library facilities.
    And so now with the timed entry, we have capacity for about
    6,000 people daily. If anyone comes up and they don't have the
    pass, we give them same day passes.
        We just left the building, the Thomas Jefferson building
    today and there were school groups and tour groups. We really
    are seeing the increase in visitors. When the Capital Visitor
    Center opens, in fact staff from the Capital Visitor Center
    have been on detail to the Library helping us with our plans
    for increased visitor attendance, and when that opens we
    anticipate that we will be very much in demand.
        Senator Braun. Well, I wish the capital and the folks in
    charge of it, you know, would be as kind of good at getting
    back to normal as what you have done in the Library of
    Congress. I get complaints often from folks not only from
    Indiana but across the country that why aren't we back closer
    to normal?
        I know that the Capitol Police, they have got some concerns
    as well as leadership currently in the House and Senate. And I
    think that that needs to be at least where we are at. You say
    you are back to 80 percent of normal. We need to be much closer
    to that than where we are. And I do have a few more questions.
    I yield back.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much, Senator Braun. Both Dr.
    Hayden and the Comptroller General, how are you coping with
    inflation in this budget and going forward for your agencies?

                   LIBRARY OF CONGRESS--MITIGATING INFLATION

        Dr. Hayden. Well, in terms of the Library, in every cycle,
    we plan for it, and we use the CBO inflation rate that is used
    by all of the Legislative Branch agencies. And that current
    inflation rate is about 8.3 percent and the Library used 4.6
    percent for pay and a CBO rate of 2.8. Our budget is 65 percent
    pay. And some units, for instance, are CRS is 90 percent pay.
    We see the costs escalating in contractual labor, with some of
    the hard to fill categories that OPM has even identified,
    contract specialists and IT.
        What we do to mitigate inflation is a combination of
    things. We slow down hiring and backfills - though sometimes
    that hinders us from ever backfilling because the costs have
    been shifted to other areas. We de-scope and delay some
    contracts when we can. And if necessary, we would consider more
    severe methods, furloughs and RIFs and we haven't had to do
    that and slowing down certain programs.
        One aspect that we are concerned about is we talk about the
    visitor experience, for instance, and the Fort Meade module. We
    have already been told by the Architect of the Capitol that we
    will probably see significant increases in costs. Supply chain,
    all of these types of things. So that is what we are watching
    very closely, working with them on value engineering, on these
    projects.
        Fort Meade, there is not much more we can value engineer
    there, but the visitor experience has more opportunities there.
    But that is our one concern that it is hard for us to control.
        Senator Reed. Thank you. Comptroller General, please.
        Mr. Dodaro. 85 percent of our costs are personnel costs. So
    we are always concerned about whether we are getting enough
    funds to cover the cost of living increases that Congress
    ultimately authorizes.
        We also have performance based pay as well, and then
    benefits go up each year as well. These increase always factor
    into what size of workforce you can have and how many people
    you can hire. Now, the other two main costs outside of pay are
    IT and building costs. For our IT, we are on pace with our
    modernization effort in which we are moving to the cloud to
    save costs over the long run.
        And we have to make sure we invest what we need to for
    computer security purposes to protect our information and all
    the information we gather from other agencies across the
    Federal Government. That is always a top priority. We also need
    to modernize our content management systems for our audit
    documentation. Our systems is over 30 years old.
        We are trying to modernize it, but the pace of that
    modernization will be dictated by how much money we receive and
    what the pace of inflation will be going forward.
        The other main cost outside of pay is our building. We own
    our headquarters building. And in the past what we have done
    due to constrained budgets is defer maintenance on the
    building.
        We have over $80 million in deferred maintenance costs
    right now. We are trying to have a plan to fix that problem
    over time. And so, what we will do is pace it with the amount
    of money that we have over the period of time. It is all we can
    do--we will prioritize the investments; for example the blast
    protections on our windows, particularly around the first
    floor, is a high priority.
        We have a daycare center on the first floor and I want to
    make sure those children are protected. So I want to make sure
    we upgrade the blast protection on the windows on that floor.
    Our building is one complete block so it is very exposed to the
    streets.
        Senator Reed. Let me follow up Comptroller. A somewhat
    related question. You have a high retention in your workforce,
    you have an extremely capable workforce. You prove it every
    day. You are talking about the challenges to our IT systems.
        Other Federal agencies have, I am--my observation is that
    workforce shortages and problems with very old IT. Have you
    been asked, or have you done an assessment of different
    agencies throughout the Federal Government? And can you give us
    sort of the worst, the best?
        Mr. Dodaro. Yes. First of all, on our high risk list, we
    have human capital management across the Federal Government. We
    have had it on that list since 2001. I am very concerned about
    the State of the Federal Government's workforce. There is a lot
    of critical skill gaps.
        Of the 36 areas we have on our high risk list, plus the two
    new areas we added this year, about 24 are on there in part
    because of critical skill gaps in those areas. So we have
    problems. I think the Defense Department does probably one of
    the better jobs of recruiting and retaining people. But even at
    DOD there are cybersecurity skill gaps and acquisition
    workforce skill gaps. NASA and Department of Interior also have
    skill gap problems; for example, Interior has problems
    retaining sufficient staff to oversee and manage oil and gas
    operations.
        Another Government wide high risk area is IT acquisition
    and management. I don't think the Federal Government gets a
    fair return on it's almost now $100 billion a year invested in
    IT. A lot of improvements need to be made in that area as well.
        And so we work every day to try to get better practices in
    place, to get a better return on our investment from the IT
    funding that is provided to agencies. I think, everybody is in
    need of improvement in that area.
        Senator Reed. And those improvements would presumably
    increase productivity significantly.
        Mr. Dodaro. Oh, absolutely. And also increase computer
    security, Senator. I mean, one of the biggest problems we have
    now is we are still carrying legacy systems that are decades
    old, that were never designed to build security into those
    systems. It is like a millstone around our neck from a computer
    security standpoint.
        Senator Reed. Well, I can recall learning basic as a plebe
    at West Point, and computer security was making sure you didn't
    drop the box of cards, and that is a program. So with that, let
    me recognize Senator Braun.
        Senator Braun. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You mentioned
    earlier, Comptroller, that there was fraud in our extended
    unemployment insurance benefits. I would like to point out that
    I think we spent nearly $800 to $900 billion in total in that
    neighborhood, about the same amount that we did back in 2008
    and 2009.
        So it is just to have a comparison of how much money we
    spent navigating through COVID, $4 trillion, I think, due to
    the uncertainty of the CARES Act and so forth. And then another
    $3 trillion, and I think mostly we didn't need, that generated
    a lot of what we are wrestling with now.
        On the fraud associated with the extended unemployment
    benefits, I have heard estimates anywhere from $70 billion to
    $250 billion. I mean, these are unbelievable numbers. And then
    the PPP loan program. I hear a lot about that as well. How much
    is your agency weighing in on it and what can you tell us about
    it?
        Mr. Dodaro. Yes, well, first we placed the SBA emergency
    loan programs on the High Risk List in 2021. Both the Paycheck
    Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan
    program were fraught with problems. SBA wasn't able to get an
    opinion on their financial statements because they couldn't
    support the balances on their financial statements. I had
    trouble getting the attention of the SBA early in the pandemic.
    I was very concerned about those two programs from the outset.
        On the unemployment area, there are a lot of problems. We
    have been asked the question of how much fraud has occurred?
    And of course, that won't be known for years because you got to
    go through a legal process before it is determined to be fraud
    at the end. But it is a significant amount of money. There
    are----
        Senator Braun. Over $100 billion, would you say?
        Mr. Dodaro. I hesitate to give a guess.
        Senator Braun. I think the Labor Department estimated $70
    or $80 and said it could be up to 2 to 3 times that much, so.
        Mr. Dodaro. Well, sometimes these estimates get conflated
    with improper payment estimates.
        Senator Braun. We will get to that in a moment.
        Mr. Dodaro. Yes so it is really not clear. We will be
    issuing a report that will clarify these differences between
    fraud and improper payments and give the Labor Department
    estimates of fraud and improper payments, to include estimates
    developed by the Department itself and by the Inspector
    General. We are working on this report now.
        Senator Braun. Good. And I would love to hear that amount
    when you get it fleshed out, even in the long run, when we get
    to the real figures. And I think that whenever we do something
    like this, I think the American public was appalled by that
    much. But when you spend that much and you do it that quickly,
    there is going to be some of it. But these figures are an
    abomination if they are even close to true.
        Mr. Dodaro. Yes. I was very disappointed with SBA and
    Labor. We worked with Congress on a 2016 law called the Fraud
    Reduction and Data Analytics Act. The act reflected best
    practices and a framework to prevent fraud from occurring in
    the first place. SBA and Labor were slow off the dime in
    implementing this law and weren't prepared as well as they
    should have been before the pandemic.
        So part of the legislative recommendations that I have made
    to the Congress is to put a better spotlight on how agencies
    are preparing to prevent fraud. Because if with these numbers
    being what they could be, the rule of thumb is you are only
    going to get about 10 percent back of----
        Senator Braun. It is not a good collection rate.
        Mr. Dodaro. No, it is not. And the longer it goes----
        Senator Braun. Before we run out of time because I have a
    question for Dr. Hayden as well. But while we are on the
    subject of improper payments, I about fell out of my seat when
    you told me back, I think in 2021 that there were $281 billion
    of improper payments. That, again, is a figure so large.
        How can any entity make that many improper payments and not
    be able to mitigate it somewhere along the way? And would you
    explain to me and the American public how you come up with $281
    billion worth of improper payments?
        Mr. Dodaro. Yes. Well, first of all, I want to make it
    clear, that is not a complete estimate. There are a number of
    programs that didn't even make an estimate. And I believe----
        Senator Braun. So it could be more?
        Mr. Dodaro. Oh, it definitely is more. The question is how
    much more. There are 86 programs that made estimates at 16
    different agencies. 26 of those programs had rates in excess of
    10 percent. This is----
        Senator Braun. Like wrong amounts that----
        Mr. Dodaro. Overpayments----
        Senator Braun. Wrong payee, all that kind of stuff?
        Mr. Dodaro. Yes. Some of it is underpayments, but that is
    less than about 10 percent of the total estimate.
        Senator Braun. This is netting out in terms of overpayments
    or improper pay----
        Mr. Dodaro. It counts both. These count both.
        Senator Braun. Okay.
        Mr. Dodaro. But the amount of underpayments--which is a
    problem, too, means somebody who should have been getting the
    money, wasn't getting the money. We certainly found that in the
    unemployment area. Payments weren't made in a timely manner in
    addition to the issues of fraud.
        So there are problems on both sides of the equation-that is
    over- and underpayments.
        The Medicaid program had over $98 billion in improper
    payments in 2021. Unemployment insurance had over $78 billion
    in 2021. These two programs drove the big increase between 2020
    and 2021. Regarding Medicaid, I have been concerned about the
    accuracy of the estimates, particularly for Medicaid's managed
    care portion, which is accounts for about 50 percent of
    programs spending. The estimate for managed care does not
    capture all program risks. So this problem is bigger than it
    even appears.
        Senator Braun. I need to get to Dr. Hayden. And just so the
    American public knows, we spent, back in 2021, somewhere
    between $4 and $4.5 trillion. Big numbers. $281 billion was an
    improper payment. That is a big percentage of our total
    expenditures.

                 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS--VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT

        Senator Braun. Dr. Hayden, when it comes to the Veterans
    History Project, we've been supportive of it over the past
    several years. Can you share some of the activities you have
    been working on over this past fiscal year and what you have
    planned for 2023 when it comes to the Veterans History Project?
        Dr. Hayden. Thank you for that, Senator, because we have
    been able in the last year to work with 63 Members of Congress
    directly with opportunities for workshops. In fact, you were
    part of that in your State. And training volunteers. We have
    also had promotional videos that Members of Congress have
    participated in, and we have also been able to expand our
    virtual and live programs.
        The role of veterans in farming, for instance, was very
    popular. And also how veterans cope with PTSD and using the
    power of music. So these are some of the customized programs
    and the live events. And we just signed a memorandum of
    agreement with the VA Center for Women's Veterans, and we are
    going to expand programing with that, and also capturing the
    voices of veterans who helped with disaster relief first
    responder stories, including pandemic, for instance, the USS
    Mercury and the Comfort.
        We are getting their stories from those veterans, and also
    Haitian relief and disease outbreaks like Ebola. So that is
    another area that we are really expanding and making sure that
    we work with the gold star families as well. That legislation
    was passed and that has been a real opportunity for us to use
    with our virtual programing as well.
        Senator Braun. Very good. Keep up the good work. And Mr.
    Chairman, I have one short question----
        Senator Reed. Please go ahead.
        Senator Braun. And then it will be the end of my questions
    for the day. Back in 2019, we did get across the finish line
    the Payment Information Integrity Act. And I think it was based
    upon the first conversation we had. Has that been a tool that
    has been helpful, and do we need to do more?
        Mr. Dodaro. That tool has been helpful. It has caused
    people to make better estimates. Part of this problem is that
    there are not good estimates made in a lot of cases. Some
    programs don't estimate at all. There should be estimates for
    all high risk programs.
        So it has helped quite a bit. What we need to do more is
    get the CFOs more engaged in the process. Right now it is the
    program people who make the estimates and monitor the
    corrective action plans. And to some extent that is kind of
    like monitoring your own work. There are not enough financial
    people involved.
        Secondly we need to keep the IGs involved in those areas. I
    have legislative suggestions. I will be happy to provide----
        Senator Braun. Please bring those to our office and we
    would be happy to flesh those in the legislation. We certainly
    need the effort to be made. Thank you.
        Mr. Dodaro. Yes, sure.
        Senator Reed. Thank you, Senator. Thank you very much. This
    concludes the Legislative Branch Appropriations subcommittee
    hearing regarding the fiscal year 2023 funding for the Library
    of Congress and the GAO. And I want to particularly thank Dr.
    Hayden and Comptroller General Dodaro for your, not only your
    testimony today, but your efforts every day and those of your
    colleagues at the Library of Congress and GAO.
        Thank you very, very much.

                         ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

        The record will remain open for 7 days, allowing Members to
    submit statements and, or questions for the record, which
    should be sent to the subcommittee by close of business on
    Wednesday, June 29, 2022.
        [The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but
    were submitted to the agencies for response subsequent to the
    hearing:]
        No questions were submitted.

                              SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

        Senator Reed. At this point, the Committee stands
    adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 5:10 p.m., Wednesday, June 22, the
    subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of
    the Chair.]

             LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023

                                  ----------

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

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

                           NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES

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

        Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the
    American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) in support of the Fiscal
    Year (FY) 2023 budget requests of the U.S. Government Publishing Office
    (GPO) and the Library of Congress.
        AALL is a national organization representing more than 3,500 law
    librarians and legal information professionals. AALL members work in
    many library settings, including law schools and law firms; federal,
    state, and county governments; and Federal and State courts. Law
    librarians and legal information professionals rely on resources and
    publications provided for free by the GPO, the Library of Congress, and
    the Law Library of Congress to support the legal research needs of
    students, attorneys, self-represented litigants, and members of the
    public.
        AALL thanks the subcommittee for its support of the prior year's
    funding requests of the GPO and the Library of Congress. Past funding
    has allowed the GPO and the Library of Congress to develop innovative
    partnerships with Federal agencies and law libraries to digitize,
    preserve, and provide public access to primary legal materials,
    including the United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations.
    Partnerships between law libraries, the GPO, and the Law Library of
    Congress promote access to justice by making legal materials easier for
    legal researchers and the public to find, understand, and use. Recent
    funding has also enabled the GPO and the Law Library of Congress to
    create new public resources including legal research guides and online
    trainings on a variety of government information topics that are
    helpful to legal researchers, such as how to find Federal legislation
    on Congress.gov and how to track Federal regulations.
        AALL supports the FY 2023 funding requests of the GPO and the
    Library of Congress because this funding will allow these agencies to
    continue to build valuable partnerships with law libraries and other
    stakeholders, pursue digitization initiatives, and expand projects that
    provide greater access to current and historical legal information in
    print and online. We urge the subcommittee to approve the FY 2023
    funding requests of the GPO and the Library of Congress.
               funding for the u.s. government publishing office
        The GPO produces, organizes, authenticates, disseminates, and
    preserves official Federal legal information and government documents
    for the public. Approximately 200 law libraries partner with the GPO
    through the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) to provide public
    access to legal materials in print and online. Law librarians and legal
    information professionals also frequently use the govinfo website to
    support the legal research needs of law library patrons.
        With the subcommittee's support of the GPO's past funding requests,
    the GPO has increased access to electronic Federal information through
    the FDLP; partnered with libraries to digitize, preserve, and provide
    public access to core legal materials and government publications; and
    added new public collections of primary legal materials to govinfo,
    including digitized historical volumes of the United States
    Congressional Serial Set which are now available to the public at no
    cost for the first time.
        AALL urges the subcommittee to approve the GPO's FY 2023 funding
    request of $130.9 million. The request will provide the funds the GPO
    needs to make Federal Government publications available to Federal
    depository libraries in digital and print formats. AALL is supportive
    of the goals of the GPO's new task force to study the feasibility of an
    all-digital FDLP, which comes at a time when some law libraries are
    updating their collection development policies to select more
    electronic resources because of changing patron preferences due to the
    COVID-19 pandemic or for other reasons.
        The GPO's funding will also be used to develop the govinfo website,
    which provides free public access to official publications such as
    bills and statutes, Federal regulations, and Federal court opinions. We
    are excited about the GPO's plans to collaborate with Federal partners
    and libraries to add more information to the govinfo website. Adding
    information such as historical agency documents and Congressional
    reports and hearings to govinfo will promote the principles of open,
    equitable, and reliable public access to legal information that are
    described in the AALL Guiding Principles for Public Access to Legal
    Information on Government Websites (AALL Guiding Principles). AALL is
    proud that GPO endorsed the AALL Guiding Principles in May 2021, and we
    appreciate the GPO's plans to further develop govinfo.
                      funding for the library of congress
        The Law Library of Congress provides legal research services and
    public access to an extensive collection of foreign, comparative,
    international, and United States law. Law librarians and legal
    information professionals at academic law libraries and public law
    libraries often refer patrons to the Law Library of Congress for its
    unique collections of legal materials in print and online, including
    the digitized United States Statutes at Large dating back to 1781,
    official foreign legal gazettes, and Spanish legal documents from the
    15th to 19th centuries.
        The subcommittee's approval of past funding for the Library of
    Congress and the Law Library of Congress has enabled the Law Library to
    digitize, preserve, and provide the public with access to many
    collections of legal materials from the United States and other
    countries. The Law Library of Congress' current project to digitize and
    ingest its legal reports on foreign, comparative, and international law
    topics including cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and data
    protection is especially helpful to law librarians and legal
    information professionals because these reports analyze laws in many
    countries and link to primary sources. The Law Library of Congress'
    extensive collections of print and online foreign official gazettes
    dating back to the mid-19th century are also very useful to law
    librarians and legal information professionals because many of these
    materials are not available at other law libraries.
        AALL urges the subcommittee to support the Library of Congress' FY
    2023 funding request of $871.8 million, including $17.6 million for the
    Law Library of Congress. This request will lead to increased access to
    the Law Library of Congress' collections of legal materials.
        The Law Library of Congress' FY 2023 funding request will
    accelerate progress on the digitization of additional volumes of the
    United States Congressional Serial Set in partnership with the GPO and
    the digitization of the United States Supreme Court Records and Briefs.
    These publications are important to legal researchers and will become
    even more useful once they are digitized and available for free. The
    funding request will also allow the Law Library to continue to
    reclassify legal materials in its collection to make these materials
    more accessible to the public and to protect important print materials
    contained in storage.
                                   conclusion
        AALL appreciates the opportunity to provide written testimony in
    support of the FY 2023 funding requests of the U.S. Government
    Publishing Office and the Library of Congress. Please let us know if we
    can provide additional information as you develop the FY 2023
    Legislative Branch funding bill.

        [This statement was submitted by Diane M. Rodriguez, President]
                                     ______

                 Prepared Statement of American Bar Association
    Chairman Reed and Ranking Member Braun:

        I am Reginald Turner, President of the American Bar Association
    (ABA), which is the largest voluntary association of lawyers and legal
    professionals in the world. I am pleased to submit this testimony on
    behalf of the ABA to urge your strong support for the FY 2023 budget
    request of the Library of Congress. As consumers of the resources of
    the Library and Law Library of Congress, we cannot overstate the value
    of these unrivaled world-class institutions to Congress, the legal
    profession, American business, academia, and the public. We appreciate
    your support for the much-needed funding increase that the Library of
    Congress received in FY 2022, and we respectfully request that you fund
    the Library's FY 2023 budget request in its entirety.
        As you know, the Library of Congress is requesting a modest
    increase for FY 2023 over its FY 2022 enacted appropriation. That
    increase would, among other things, fund the completion of key
    projects, increase the Library's resilience against cybersecurity
    threats, and improve public access to the Library's physical and
    virtual collections, an increasingly important function as the country
    emerges from the COVID-19-related quarantine. The proposed increase
    would also help provide necessary support for the Law Library of
    Congress, and it would help the Copyright Office to improve its ability
    to manage, validate, and report on the metrics that affect its user
    fees that comprise half of its budget.
        Founded by Congress in 1800 as its research arm, the Library of
    Congress is the oldest Federal cultural institution in the Nation. Over
    its history, the Library has grown into an unparalleled public resource
    of staggering proportion, housing more than 168 million items in 90
    collections, including books, periodicals, film, and audio recordings.
    Similarly, the Law Library of Congress, authorized by Congress in 1832,
    has grown from its modest beginnings to become the world's largest
    repository of legal materials, including more than 2.9 million legal
    volumes and periodicals.
        The magnitude of these priceless collections in both size and
    significance to our Nation and to the world cannot be overstated. Their
    immense scope creates unique challenges, including managing their daily
    growth and administration. These are our National treasures, and the
    funding required to keep the Library of Congress and Law Library of
    Congress running at full capacity is a wise investment of taxpayer
    dollars.
        We know through our 90-year collaboration with the Law Library that
    it supports all three branches of government with complex foreign,
    comparative, and international research and guidance. In addition, the
    executive branch's reliance on the Law Library's foreign law expertise
    is steadily increasing, as is the number of requests for legal opinions
    from Federal executive branch agencies.
        The Law Library's contributions to Congress during the current
    pandemic have included over 550 reports on many different subjects,
    including many involving national security and issues of comparative
    law relating to government operations in emergency situations. The Law
    Library conducted research, prepared reports, and collaborated with
    Federal officials at numerous agencies including the Department of
    Homeland Security, Department of State, and Central Intelligence Agency
    (CIA). Responding quickly to the war in Ukraine, Law Library foreign
    law specialists provided important country-specific information to
    congressional and CIA staff. In addition to supporting Congress and the
    executive branch, the Law Library also has continued to leverage
    technology to increase its contributions to the judiciary, the public,
    and the legal profession through webinars offered through its Legal
    Research Institute; expanded access to digitized materials; and
    continued operation of services such as ``Ask a Librarian,'' its In
    Custodia Legis blog, and Congress.gov.
        The Law Library remains committed to fulfilling its mission of
    serving Congress and the Nation through the priorities outlined last
    year, including preserving hard copies of legal materials, further
    developing access to these materials online through digitization, and
    strengthening staff expertise in foreign law and collection
    stewardship. Another important priority is modernizing the Law
    Library's facilities by replacing its third quadrant of compact
    shelving, which has become dangerously unusable and houses a
    significant portion of the world's largest and most comprehensive
    collection of international, foreign, national, and comparative legal
    resources. The Law Library of Congress must also address the critical
    area of cybersecurity to protect congressional and other high-value
    digital assets within the Law Library. We strongly support these
    priorities. Because the Law Library does not have an independent line
    item in the Federal budget, one of the best ways to ensure adequate
    funding for these priorities is by fully funding the Library of
    Congress' overall request.
        In closing, we respectfully urge you to grant the Library of
    Congress' funding request for FY 2023 in its entirety. We appreciate
    the support you have shown for the Library of Congress and Law Library
    of Congress and hope you will continue to find the means to protect and
    enhance the value of these treasures built over the past 220 years for
    all Americans, now and for generations to come.
        Thank you for your consideration.
                                     ______

               Prepared Statement of American Library Association
    Chair Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and Members of the subcommittee:

        On behalf of the American Library Association, thank you for the
    opportunity to submit this testimony regarding Legislative Branch
    Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2023. We respectfully request the
    Committee's support for the Library of Congress and the Government
    Publishing Office, which provide important services to libraries and
    residents nationwide.
                              library of congress
        The Library of Congress not only serves Congress, but also delivers
    important benefits for libraries across the country and the American
    public.
        After several years of investment in the Library's Visitor
    Experience Initiative, the first phase is expected to open in fall
    2023. Carrying through on these investments will highlight the
    Library's unique collections and inspire millions of visitors to learn,
    create, and innovate.
        The Library's services also reach far beyond its walls through
    programs such as the National Library Service for the Blind and Print
    Disabled, which serves readers nationwide who cannot see print or
    handle print materials. The service supports a network of regional
    libraries, such as the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information
    Services' Talking Books Library and the Indiana Talking Book & Braille
    Library, and is expanding delivery of specialized eReaders to more
    efficiently and effectively serve braille and talking book users.
                          government publishing office
        The Government Publishing Office provides essential information to
    America's businesses, legal system, and researchers.
        Through the Public Information Programs of the Superintendent of
    Documents, the Office provides Federal publications in digital and
    tangible formats to 1,113 libraries nationwide through the Federal
    Depository Library Program, as well as cataloging and indexing of
    Federal publications to improve public access. The program supports
    Americans' access to these publications--including Federal laws,
    regulations, and reports--through participating libraries, such as the
    Indiana State Library and the Westerly Library in Rhode Island.
        In addition, the Office annually collects and provides access to
    thousands of new Federal publications to its free online repository,
    govinfo.gov. To preserve these important documents of our republic, GPO
    manages a cooperative preservation program with libraries across the
    country.
                                   conclusion
        Thank you for the opportunity to testify before the subcommittee in
    support of the Fiscal Year 2023 requests of the Library of Congress and
    the Government Publishing Office. We ask for the subcommittee's support
    in meeting the requests for these important national programs that
    serve Congress, libraries, and the American public.

        Sincerely,

        Gavin Baker
        Deputy Director, Public Policy and Government Relations
        American Library Association

    The American Library Association (``ALA'') is the foremost national
    organization providing resources to inspire library and information
    professionals to transform their communities through essential programs
    and services. For more than 140 years, the ALA has been the trusted
    voice for academic, public, school, government and special libraries,
    advocating for the profession and the library's role in enhancing
    learning and ensuring access to information for all.
                                     ______

       Prepared Statement of Bipartisan Policy Center Action (BPC Action)
    Dear Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and members of the
    subcommittee:

        The Bipartisan Policy Center Action (BPC Action) and our affiliate
    organization Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) have actively engaged in
    strengthening the capacity of our country's governing institutions and
    building a Congress that is responsive to a diverse nation. BPC Action
    and BPC believe that if Congress is to effectively govern, it must have
    the ability to operate effectively and efficiently. Given this
    challenge, we understand the critical importance of ensuring that the
    legislative branch has adequate resources and direction to support this
    mission.
        BPC Action's testimony builds on our ongoing work with the Senate
    including our work to support the Senate subcommittee on Legislative
    Branch Appropriations' mission. Their work and diverse recommendations,
    aimed at improving the workings of the legislative branch, including
    administrative responsibilities, civility and collaboration, staff
    retention, and science and technology capabilities, are critical to
    improve the daily functioning of the House. Regarding Fiscal Year 2023
    (FY23), we would ask that the subcommittee on Legislative Branch
    Appropriations consider the following recommendations to further
    increase congressional capacity.
        Promoting civility and collaboration.--BPC Action's core mission is
    to foster bipartisanship and uphold the best policy proposals from both
    parties with a pragmatic approach. This means we must push for more
    ways members and staff can collaborate on legislation and policy
    priorities. This can be achieved in a multitude of ways, including
    promoting civility, collaboration, and leadership in party by directing
    the Architect of the Capitol to explore bipartisan co-working spaces
    for staff.
        Expanding connectivity and technology availability.--For years,
    civil society organizations have worked with committees and members on
    Capitol Hill to foster bipartisan conversations and relationships. From
    presenting research to best practices, these groups have been a vital
    source of information and have created a forum to promote policy
    recommendations to help the American people. To continue these efforts,
    resources should be used to provide information on organizations and
    resources members can utilize to participate in facilitated
    conversations with the goal of fostering common ground.
        1.  Establish a web portal with staff contact information for the
    House, Senate, and congressional support agencies to enhance the
    exchange of information. The portal should contain a directory with
    standardized indicators of issue areas and committees connected with
    each staff member.
        2.  Develop and deploy new technology tools to better enable
    Members and staff to identify policy areas of common interest on which
    to collaborate.

        Focusing on engagement regarding near- and long-term advice by GAO
    (Government Accountability Office).--Over its history, the GAO has
    provided critical support through its audits, legal options, program
    evaluation, technology assessments, and other activities. Despite the
    tremendous governmental benefits, the agency's capabilities have been
    limited in keeping pace with the expanse of the Federal Government's
    programs and expenditures. The GAO's work to provide essential
    'oversight, insight, and foresight' requires ongoing vigilance to
    support Congress' core functions.
        1.  GAO and other support agencies must take steps to ensure that
    their products, services, and outreach are designed to adapt to and
    meet the customer needs of an evolving Congress. This is especially
    true in terms of timely responses to members' and committees' enquiries
    to the Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics (STAA) Team. In
    the near term, we urge the GAO to direct additional staff to address
    responses to congressional requests.
        2.  In the longer term, the GAO should provide additional attention
    to the ``foresight element'' when considering issues that are
    fundamental to impacting longer-term trends and how Congress should be
    prepared to respond. This horizon-scanning focus within the STAA on
    health, defense, information technology, climate, and other vital
    issues is crucial and requires more attention by the agency.

        Continuing the GAO audits of congressionally directed spending from
    members.--The subcommittee should provide report language direction to
    the GAO to allow them to review and audit members' community project
    funding requests for FY23. If such requests are included in the
    appropriate, final subcommittee bills, then the GAO will likely need
    such approval to continue to examine these additional requests beyond
    FY22.
        Ensuring accessibility.--Changes to the Capitol complex can be a
    challenging undertaking, but it is important to modernize the space
    just as much as the governing body. BPC Action supports removing
    accessibility barriers in the Capitol Complex and believes a directed
    study is necessary to explore what would help staff, members, and the
    public with accessibility needs.
        Our organization looks forward to continuing to engage with the
    subcommittee as the FY23 process continues. BPC Action recognizes the
    challenges you face to ensure that funds and statutory direction is
    provided for the legislative branch are targeted to address a
    multiplicity of critical needs.

        [This statement was submitted by Michele Stockwell, Executive
    Director]
                                     ______

                     Prepared Statement of Demand Progress
    Dear Chair Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and Members of the Committee:

        Thank you for your continuing stewardship of Senate operations
    during these challenging times. This testimony encourages you to
    further improve access to bills and amendments considered on the Senate
    floor. Specifically, I urge you to bolster timely access within the
    Senate to the full text of legislation and amendments being considered
    on the floor and to improve the tools through which the text can be
    analyzed. Furthermore, I encourage the contemporaneous publication of
    bills and amendments considered on the Senate floor to the public.
    These recommendations implicate the operations of the Secretary of the
    Senate, the Government Publishing Office, and others.
        In making these recommendations, I am aware of the geometrically
    increasing responsibilities placed on the support offices and agencies
    that manage the legislative workflow, notably the Secretary of the
    Senate, Senate Office of the Legislative Counsel, the Parliamentarian
    of the Senate, Government Publishing Office, and the House analogues.
    Efforts to improve the transparency of legislative activity should be
    coupled with improved workflow and efficiency that lessen the burdens
    placed on these offices. Accordingly, it is appropriate to consider the
    full processes by which legislative information is managed in the
    Senate and elsewhere.
        The Congressional Record provides the most complete public source
    for information for bill text and amendments. However, it is published
    after the conclusion of legislative proceedings and thereby provides a
    retrospective look at what happened. In circumstances where bills or
    amendments were offered on the same day they were considered, there is
    no systematic concurrent public availability of the text with the
    deliberations.
        The legislative information website Congress.gov provides a user-
    friendly resource for bill text for congressional staff and the public
    alike. For various reasons, at times it can take days or weeks for the
    text of legislation to be available on Congress.gov, and publication
    may occur after a measure has been considered by the Senate. The
    Government Publishing Office noted in recent testimony that, on
    average, it takes a week for introduced legislation to show up online,
    and at the height of the pandemic there was an 1,800 bill publication
    backlog that took several months to resolve.\1\ Furthermore,
    Congress.gov does not include the text of Senate floor amendments, but
    instead provides a hyperlink to the Congressional Record, which is not
    as user-friendly.
        The Senate maintains an internal website available only to
    individuals with a Senate IP address that provides significant
    contemporaneous information about pending bills and amendments.\2\ This
    internal system publishes only the first hundred or so pages of a
    measure and the text is internally published as image PDFs. These
    practices add a level of difficulty to reviewing the entire text of a
    measure and searching and analyzing its contents.
        By comparison, the House of Representatives, which operates under
    significantly different rules, publishes the full text of legislation
    to be considered on the floor and all proposed amendments thereto on
    public websites prior to consideration.\3\ Generally speaking, the
    legislation is published both as a PDF and as an XML file, the latter
    of which contains important bill metadata. The House-run websites
    provide the best official resource for timely access to this
    information, although in time it becomes available in the Congressional
    Record and on Congress.gov. In addition, the House's comparative print
    project uses this data to make it possible for some--and soon all--
    staff to see in real time how a proposed amendment would modify a bill
    and how a proposed bill would change the law. One limitation to the
    House's approach is that most users start their search for legislative
    information at Congress.gov, which publishes only a subset of this
    information.
        It would be superfluous to address in this testimony the strengths
    and limitations for internal stakeholders of the current Senate
    amendment tracking system. With respect to external stakeholders, the
    current system creates unequal access to information, whereby those
    with connections to Senate offices can at times gain access to
    information more readily than those who do not. While some information
    asymmetries are inevitable, privileged access to public business that
    currently is the subject of floor debate should be minimized to the
    extent practically possible.
        Congressional offices, the public, and the press need greater
    assistance with tracking and accessing bills and amendments being
    debated on the Senate floor. In our modern era, this suggests
    contemporaneous online availability of the text of legislation and
    amendments and improved archival access. I encourage the Senate to
    consider a multi-pronged approach.
        First, I suggest a review of the current mechanisms the Senate uses
    to publish legislative information internally, the fitness and
    adaptability of technologies used in the House, and an exploration of
    technologies and tools currently employed inside the Legislative branch
    (such as Congress.gov) as well as those in other legislatures (such as
    the UK Parliament).
        Second, I suggest an examination of the extent to which the text of
    legislation and amendments printed in the Congressional Record also are
    contemporaneously published on Congress.gov, and an exploration of the
    various points in the legislative process where bill text and
    amendments exist in final form.
        Third, I urge a review of the Senate legislative workflow to
    facilitate an improved understanding of whether greater efficiencies
    can be brought to bear on that process. In doing so, it would be
    productive to sound out a wide variety of perspectives from internal
    and external stakeholders. Establishing a working group to surface and
    evaluate these perspectives may yield outsized benefits to the Senate,
    just as the work of the Legislative Branch Bulk Data Task Force is an
    ongoing boon for the Legislative branch.
        Taken together, this should result in a deeper, shared
    understanding of the current processes, ongoing efforts to address
    these issues, and the identification of potential improvements that are
    implementable in the short-term as well as possible enhancements to the
    system over the long-term. The perfect should not be the enemy of the
    good, and steady progress would be most welcome with respect to
    improving public availability of legislative information with an eye to
    its publication in interoperable, structured-data formats.\4\ We expect
    the Legislative Branch Bulk Data Task Force would be an invaluable
    sounding board concerning building a robust system that can endure and
    be extended over time.
    I encourage you to consider inclusion of the following report language:
      --Improving Accessibility of Senate Legislation: The Secretary of the
            Senate will create a working group to investigate and provide a
            report within 180 days of enactment to the Appropriations
            Committee and the Senate Rules Committee, which shall be
            published online by the Secretary within two weeks of
            submission, concerning potential issues and possible approaches
            to develop and implement a timely, centralized, publicly-
            available repository for Senate bills and amendments set for
            consideration on the Senate floor. In doing so, consideration
            should be given to providing that bills, amendments, and other
            related documents are publicly available prior to or
            contemporaneously with their consideration by the Senate as
            well as publication of that information in a structured data
            format such as United States Legislative Markup (USLM).
      --The Senate Accessible Legislation Task Force should be led by the
            Secretary of the Senate and include the stakeholders she seems
            appropriate. In formering her recommendations, the Secretary
            should consult with relevant Senate leadership, committee, and
            member offices; relevant Senate support offices and agencies;
            equivalent House leadership, committee, personal, and support
            offices; members of the Bulk Data Task Force; members of the
            Legislative Branch XML Working Group; the Government Publishing
            Office; the National Archives and Records Administration;
            public stakeholders, including publishers, users, and experts
            on legislative data as well as repositories of legislative
            information; select national legislatures from around the
            world; and others as appropriate. The Secretary should also
            examine the House document repository docs.house.gov, the House
            Rules committee website rules.house.gov, and third party free
            and paid services that publish information about Senate
            legislation.
      --The report should address the feasibility and costs of upgrading
            the current system used by the Senate, developing a new system
            inside the Senate or in collaboration with Legislative branch
            partners, using or extending the House's system as is or with
            modifications, and doing so with the focus of ensuring that
            Senate bills and amendments are publicly accessible online for
            years to come. Furthermore, the Secretary should factor in the
            extensibility of such a system to incorporate technology
            similar in purpose to the House's comparative print project as
            well as to potentially extend to hosting documents and media
            that relate to the various stages of deliberations, including
            in committees. The Secretary should also make recommendations
            concerning facilitating internal and external stakeholder
            engagement regarding the planning, implementation, and
            operation of this and successor systems, including drafting a
            continuing mission statement for the Senate Accessible
            Legislation Task Force after the delivery of the report.
            Finally, the Secretary should address how her recommendations
            improve the workflow and efficient management of legislative
            information.

        Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Testimony of Government Publishing Office Director Hugh
    Nathanial Halpern before the Select Committee on the Modernization of
    Congress Hearing entitled ``Modernizing the Legislative Process''
    (April 2022), https://modernizecongress.house.gov/imo/media/doc/
    GPO_TESTIMONY_
    Modernizing%20the%20Legislative%20Process.pdf.
        \2\ The website is the Amendment Tracking System, available at
    ats.senate.gov. According to the Congressional Research Service, ``ATS
    is a web application that displays images of submitted and proposed
    amendments to legislation pending before the U.S. Senate. Amendments
    are available on ATS approximately 15 minutes after the Bill Clerk
    receives them.'' See Policy and Legislative Research for Congressional
    Staff: Finding Documents, Analysis, News, and Training (2019),
    Congressional Research Service (R43434), https://
    www.everycrsreport.com/
    reports/R43434.html.
        \3\ The text of legislation scheduled to be considered on the House
    floor is published at https://docs.house.gov/floor/and prior notice of
    legislation expected to be considered is published by the House
    Majority Leader. The text of amendments to legislation scheduled to be
    considered on the floor is published by the House Rules Committee at
    https://rules.house.gov/legislation.
        \4\ The United States Legislative Markup Schema already in use by
    the Congress would easily satisfy this request. See https://github.com/
    usgpo/uslm.

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

                     Prepared Statement of Lincoln Network
    Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and Members of the subcommittee:

        My name is Dan Lips. I am head of policy at Lincoln Network. I
    respectfully urge the subcommittee to fully fund the Comptroller
    General's budget request of $810 million for the U.S. Government
    Accountability Office (GAO) for FY2023 (an increase of $91 million or
    12.7 percent).\1\ Fully funding this request would allow the
    Comptroller General to increase GAO's staffing by 100 FTEs. In addition
    to providing funding, I respectfully urge the subcommittee to consider
    ways to increase GAO's return-on-investment through several reporting
    requirements aimed to leverage its nonpartisan oversight to achieve
    taxpayer savings and other government improvements.
        The Comptroller General estimates that GAO's annual return-on-
    investment has been $158 to $1 over the past 5 years. During that
    period, GAO's work resulted in more than 1,300 program and operational
    improvements. Overall, GAO's work has resulted in more than $1.2
    trillion in financial benefits since 2002.\2\
        But these positive financial contributions for the Federal
    Government are only the tip of the iceberg of what GAO could accomplish
    if the nonpartisan watchdog agency had additional resources and its
    recommendations were implemented in a timelier manner. For example, GAO
    States that there are 4,681 open recommendations as of May 27, 2022,
    including 416 priority recommendations. The latter recommendations
    could ``save large amounts of money'' according to GAO.\3\
        How much could be saved if GAO had more resources and agencies
    acted upon its recommendations in a timely manner? The answer is likely
    tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars. For example, my review of
    nonpublic data showing GAO's financial accomplishments from 2002 to
    2019 found that more than 200 of GAO's recommendations have resulted in
    more than $1 billion in financial benefits during that period.\4\
        Fully funding the Comptroller General's FY2023 budget request will
    increase GAO's capacity to conduct nonpartisan oversight and improve
    government operations for Congress and American taxpayers. In addition,
    Congress should explore other ways to increase GAO's return on
    investment. In the report accompanying the FY2023 funding bill, the
    subcommittee should include reporting requirements to identify how
    Congress could achieve taxpayer savings and other government
    improvements by leveraging GAO's nonpartisan oversight.
        First, the Committee should direct the Comptroller General to
    report to Congress about the feasibility of setting deadlines for
    Federal agencies to implement open recommendations. According to GAO's
    2021 performance and accountability report, GAO's 4-year implementation
    rate for recommendations made in FY2017 was 76 percent.\5\ That is
    below GAO's target of 80 percent. Moreover, only 45 percent of GAO's
    recommendations made in FY2019 were implemented within 2 years.\6\
    Improving the timeliness of this implementation rate and helping GAO to
    achieve its goal of 80 percent implementation within 4 years would
    drive significant taxpayer savings and government improvements.
        In 2015, Deloitte published an analysis of past GAO reports and
    examined the issue of the timeliness of implementation. Authors Daniel
    Byler, Steve Berman, and William D. Eggers explained that,

            ``GAO could address this issue by setting target completion
            dates for implementing each recommendation and then making
            real-time data available to the public showing how long it is
            taking each agency to implement GAO recommendations.'' \7\

        Congress should require the Comptroller General to study and report
    on the feasibility of establishing target completion dates for open
    recommendations and publicly tracking the status of agencies'
    implementation to improve transparency and government accountability.
        Second, the Committee should instruct the Comptroller General to
    report to Congress recommendations for curbing improper payments by
    establishing a ``permanent analytics center of excellence'' within the
    oversight community. In March 2022 testimony, Comptroller General Gene
    Dodaro explained that Federal agencies reported making $281 billion in
    improper payments in FY2021.\8\ This was an increase of $75 billion in
    improper payments made compared to the prior fiscal year.
        GAO has issued several recommendations for how Congress and Federal
    agencies could curb improper payments. In addition, GAO's Science,
    Technology Assessment, and Analytics team has been developing
    technology solutions to improve payment integrity. The Comptroller
    General recently described ``10 ways to improve oversight of emergency
    relief funds and future Federal spending.'' \9\ He recommended that
    Congress establish ``a permanent analytics center of excellence to help
    the oversight community better identify improper payments and fraud.''
    To help address the annual $271 billion and growing problem of improper
    payments, the Committee should require the Comptroller General to
    provide a report to Congress with specific recommendations to curb
    improper payments including by establishing a permanent analytic center
    of excellence within the oversight community.
        Third, the Committee should ask the Comptroller General to provide
    a report to Congress with a blueprint for how the Government
    Accountability Office could use a more substantial funding increase to
    expand its oversight, enhance GAO's technical capabilities and create
    additional taxpayer savings and other government benefits. While the
    Committee and Congress have provided GAO with funding increases in
    recent years, the Government Accountability Office continues to operate
    below its historic funding and staffing levels. Specifically, budget
    reductions in the 1990s resulted in significant staffing and budget
    cuts to GAO's operations. If GAO was funded at the same percentage of
    discretionary spending as it was in the early 1990s, its budget would
    be more than $1 billion today.
        In 2022 and beyond, additional funding for GAO could be used to
    enhance the agency's information technology systems and capabilities.
    Such investments could serve as a force multiplier for the entire
    organization's work by improving productivity, expanding the work of
    GAO's Innovation Lab, and protecting sensitive information.
        Since GAO routinely returns more than $150 in financial benefits to
    taxpayers for each dollar that it is provided, Congress should
    recognize the substantial taxpayer savings and other government
    improvements that could be made if GAO fully recovered from the 1990s
    era budget and staffing reductions. In its FY2023 report, the
    subcommittee should require the Comptroller General to describe how GAO
    would expand its staffing and operations if its budget was increased to
    more than $1 billion, or more. Specifically, it should explain what it
    could accomplish and its estimated return on investment should its
    funding be increased by $100 million, $200 million, $300 million, or
    more, and the annual rate at which it could absorb such an increase.
    This report should include a description of how a larger GAO could
    improve oversight and governance, achieve taxpayer savings, and deepen
    its responsiveness to members of Congress. GAO should also explore
    whether there are alternative funding models that might be appropriate
    to support its work.
                                   conclusion
        The funds that Congress appropriates to the Government
    Accountability Office are among the best tax dollars that the
    government spends on behalf of the American people. GAO regularly
    reports a return-on-investment of more than $150 to $1. In FY2023, the
    Committee should fully fund the Comptroller General's budget request
    and require the Comptroller General to report to Congress on new ways
    that the Legislative Branch can leverage GAO's nonpartisan oversight to
    make the Federal Government work more efficiently for taxpayers.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-22-900396, Fiscal
    Year 2023 Budget Request (2021), https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-
    900396.pdf.
        \2\ U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-22-4SP, Performance
    and Accountability Report Fiscal Year 2021 (2021), https://www.gao.gov/
    assets/720/717654.pdf.
        \3\ U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-21-591PR, Priority
    Open Recommendations: Department of Transportation (2021), https://
    www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-591pr.
        \4\ Dan Lips, ``Reviewing the Data: How GAO Saves Taxpayer
    Dollars,'' Lincoln Network, September 2021, https://lincolnpolicy.org/
    2021/how-gao-saves-taxpayer-dollars/.
        \5\ GAO, Performance and Accountability Report Fiscal Year 2021,
    op. cit.
        \6\ Ibid.
        \7\ Daniel Byler, Steve Berman, and William D. Eggers,
    ``"Accountability quantified: What 26 years of GAO reports can teach us
    about government management,'' Deloitte Insights, February 2015,
    https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/analytics/text-
    analytics-and-gao-reports.
    html.
        \8\ U.S. Government Accountability Office, Emergency Relief Funds
    Significant Improvements Are Needed to Ensure Transparency and
    Accountability for COVID-19 and Beyond (2022), https://www.gao.gov/
    assets/gao-22-105715.pdf.
        \9\ U.S. Government Accountability Office, ``GAO Urges Action: 10
    Ways to Improve Oversight of Emergency Relief Funds and Future Federal
    Spending,'' March 2022, ``https://www.gao.gov/press-release/gao-urges-
    action-10-ways-improve-oversight-emergency-relief-funds-and-future-
    federal-spending.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     ______

       Prepared Statement of National Association of Latino Elected and
                          Appointed Officials (NALEO)
    Dear Chair Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and Members of the Legislative
    Branch Appropriations subcommittee:

        Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony concerning our
    request for the creation of a Senate Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
    We are a cross-partisan coalition of organizations concerned about
    strengthening the diversity of staff that support the work of the
    United States Senate.
        When the 117th Congress was sworn in, it made history as the most
    diverse congressional class our Nation has ever seen. Despite this
    historic moment in our country's history, top Senate staffers do not
    often reflect the makeup of the constituencies they serve, including
    staffers of racial and ethnic minority groups, veterans, and people
    with disabilities. An August 2020 report from the Joint Center for
    Political and Economic Studies revealed that people of color account
    for nearly 40 percent of the population of the United States, but only
    11 percent of top Senate personal office staff.\1\
        This shortfall reflects a fundamental problem our government has
    with ensuring that the full spectrum of America's backgrounds and
    experiences is represented by congressional staff. These discrepancies
    are particularly troublesome in the wake of an increasing number of
    elections that continue to produce diverse congressional makeup. In
    addition, research has found that inclusive staffing is associated with
    many positive benefits, including creativity, innovation, objectivity,
    productivity and positive working environments.\2\
        Congressional staff provide indispensable assistance and
    irreplaceable institutional knowledge to senators as they conduct their
    legislative, oversight, and constituent services duties. Nevertheless,
    low staff pay is a barrier to entry into the senatorial hiring
    pipeline, inadvertently biasing the hiring pool towards those
    individuals with sufficient financial resources to supplement their
    salaries. In addition, low pay creates incentives for experienced staff
    to depart the Senate to the Executive branch and private sector, which
    have significantly higher average salaries. These two factors, working
    in tandem, impact staff diversity.
        In 2019, the House of Representatives took a major step toward
    addressing diversity and created its Office of Diversity and Inclusion
    (OD&I) in its Rules package at the start of the 116th Congress,\3\
    which may serve as a useful model for the Senate. House Rules required
    the OD&I to develop a diversity plan,\4\ which addresses:

        1.  policies to direct and guide House offices to recruit, hire,
    train, develop, advance, promote and retain a diverse workforce;
        2.  the development of a survey to evaluate diversity in House
    offices;
        3.  a framework for the House of Representatives diversity report;
    and
        4.  a proposal for the composition of an Advisory Council to inform
    the work of the Office.

        House Rules also require the OD&I to submit an annual demographic
    and diversity report. The study involves surveying House staffers to
    determine their demographic characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity,
    gender, military status), and analyze how demographic diversity within
    the House of Representatives compares to that of private sector
    organizations and the broader Federal Government. Furthermore, the OD&I
    proposed it oversee the undertaking of the House's annual compensation
    and diversity study, in part to record staff job satisfaction, benefits
    and compensation satisfaction, and perceptions of their workplace
    diversity climate. These suggestions are reasonable, and we commend
    them to you.
        The purpose of gathering and publishing this information on staff
    diversity is to strengthen the pipeline of capable and diverse staff
    hired and retained by the Senate by providing information about the
    current stay of play. This will let us know how the Senate is doing as
    an institution and suggest where further improvements can be made. It
    is not intended to draw public attention to the operations of any
    particular office, nor should it intrude upon the privacy of any
    individual.
        We urge the committee to appropriate funds for the creation of its
    own OD&I Office. The House established the OD&I as an independent
    office, reporting directly to the authorizing committee, and has seen
    immense success in its operations and information gathering. We do not
    have a perspective on where to situate a Senate OD&I, although there is
    value in having it be more visible and independent because that would
    assist with its mission of supporting the hiring and retention of
    capable, expert, diverse staff.
        Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony to the committee.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ See, ``Racial Diversity Among Top Staff In Senate Personal
    Offices'' p. 2. The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
    (August 2020). https://jointcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020-
    Senate-Report-Draft_08-21-20-5AM.pdf.
        \2\ Dutton, Jane E. and Robert B. Duncan, ``Strategic Issue
    Diagnosis and Creation of Momentum for Change.'' Strategic Management
    Journal 8, no. 3 (1987): 279-295; Wiersma, Margarethe F. and Karen A.
    Bantel, ``Top Management Team Demography and Corporate Strategic
    Change.'' The Academy of Management Journal 35, no. 1 (March 1992): 91-
    121; Maddock, Su. ``Change You Can Believe In: The Leadership of
    Innovation.'' The Whitehall Innovation Hub, Sunningdale Institute,
    National School of Government. (April 2009) https://
    www.researchgate.net/publication/
    264541467_Change_you_can_believe_in_the_
    leadership_of_innovation.
        \3\ See, H. Res 6 (116th), section 104(d) (p. 40), https://
    www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-116hres6eh/pdf/BILLS-116hres6eh.pdf.
        \4\ See, Section by Section Analysis of H. Res 6 (116th Congress),
    House Rules Committee p. 11 at https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/
    20181231/116-HRes6-SxS-U1.pdf.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     ______

               Prepared Statement of National Security Counselors
        Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and members of the Legislative
    Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
    submit this written testimony.
        The Government Accountability Office plays a critical role in
    Congressional oversight of the Executive Branch. Unfortunately, that
    role may be stymied when it comes to the Intelligence Community
    (``IC''). Despite the fact that, by statute, GAO already has the
    purview to conduct oversight of all Federal agencies \1\ and has since
    its creation in 1921,\2\ the IC has, with a few exceptions, insisted
    that it is not subject to such audits since its inception. This
    effectively deprives Congress of one of the most effective tools in its
    arsenal, especially at a time when the activities of the IC present
    some of the most pressing needs for robust oversight in the Executive
    Branch. I respectfully recommend that Congress take steps to
    conclusively validate GAO's jurisdiction in such matters.
        In response to the IC's recalcitrance, some Members of Congress
    have periodically attempted to resolve the matter over the past few
    decades. For instance, then-Congressman Leon Panetta introduced a bill
    in 1987 called the CIA Accountability Act to officially clarify GAO's
    authority vis-a-vis the Central Intelligence Agency (``CIA'') and the
    IC as a whole.\3\ Unfortunately, it was not enacted. In 1988, GAO
    attempted to conduct an investigation ``[i]n order to evaluate whether
    `information about illegal activities by high level officials of other
    nations may not be adequately considered in U.S. foreign policy
    decisions,''' leading the National Security Council to request an
    opinion from the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel which
    has been cited ever since:

            We therefore conclude based on the nature of the GAO request
            that the subject of the GAO investigation is the Executive's
            discharge of its constitutional foreign policy
            responsibilities, not its statutory responsibilities. The
            subject is thus not ``a program or activity the Government
            carries out under existing law,'' and it is beyond GAO's
            authority under 31 U.S.C. Sec. 717(b) . . .

            In addition to the infirmity in GAO's statutory authority to
            pursue this investigation, we believe that GAO is specifically
            precluded by statute from access to intelligence information.
            In establishing by law the oversight relationship between the
            intelligence committees and the executive branch, Congress
            indicated that such oversight would be the exclusive means for
            Congress to gain access to confidential intelligence
            information in the possession of the executive branch.

            This intelligence oversight system has been codified at 50
            U.S.C. Sec. 413. That section sets forth requirements for the
            Director of Central Intelligence, the heads of all other
            Federal agencies involved in intelligence activities, and the
            President to inform the Congress through the intelligence
            committees (and in some circumstances the Speaker and minority
            leader of the House of Representatives and the majority and
            minority leaders of the Senate) of intelligence activities.\4\

        Over two decades later, this fight was still underway. When an
    amendment to the FY2010 Intelligence Authorization Act (``IAA'') sought
    to reaffirm GAO authority, it prompted a veto threat in the form of a
    letter from Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter
    Orszag,\5\ which Acting Comptroller General Gene Dodaro thoroughly
    refuted, demonstrating that ``[n]either the language of section 413 nor
    its legislative history provides support for this position'' and that
    the IC's resistance ``has greatly impeded GAO's work for the
    intelligence committees and also jeopardizes some of GAO's work for
    other committees of jurisdiction, including Armed Services,
    Appropriations, Judiciary, and Foreign Relations, among others.'' \6\
        Despite Mr. Dodaro's testimony, the enacted law took a middle-of-
    the-road approach, stating that clarification was necessary but
    deferring to the Executive for that clarification, instructing the
    Director of National Intelligence (``DNI'') to ``issue a written
    directive governing the access of the Comptroller General to
    information in the possession of an element of the intelligence
    community.'' \7\ The DNI, for his part, issued Intelligence Community
    Directive 114 the following year, which reluctantly admitted that GAO
    had some authority to investigate the IC, but adopted a severely
    restrictive interpretation of the scope of that authority:

            Information that falls within the purview of the congressional
            intelligence oversight committees generally shall not be made
            available to GAO to support a GAO audit or review of core
            national intelligence capabilities and activities, which
            include intelligence collection operations, intelligence
            analyses and analytical techniques, counterintelligence
            operations, and intelligence funding. IC elements may on a
            case-by-case basis provide information in response to any GAO
            requests not related to GAO audits or reviews of core national
            intelligence capabilities and activities.\8\

        In other words, GAO can investigate anything involving the IC that
    the Intelligence Committees cannot, which amounts to basically nothing.
    Moreover, this is not an academic dispute: in response to a question
    about this matter from Congressman Yoder in 2018, Mr. Dodaro explained
    that this remained an ongoing controversy, although the situation is
    minimally better than it was before 2010:

            Mr. YODER. Do you need additional support from Congress--
            Mr. DODARO. Yes.
            Mr. YODER [continuing]. Or direction to the intel agencies to
            make sure they are aware that this is an authority you have?
            Mr. DODARO. Yes, that would be helpful.\9\

        When Mr. Dodaro testified before the House subcommittee in 2019
    regarding GAO's FY2020 budget, Chairman Ryan again asked him about this
    matter, and Mr. Dodaro again remarked that GAO needs ``the cooperation
    of the Intelligence Community'' because GAO ``ha[s] more difficulties
    when the request comes from non-intelligence committees,'' concluding,
    ``I think we could do more, particularly in the management area, and in
    the investments that are made, in that area, whether there's good
    return on the investments in all cases.'' \10\ And in his testimony
    before that subcommittee in 2020, Mr. Dodaro testified, ``It's the same
    status as it was last year. Congress could work with the Intelligence
    Committees to provide better direction to the intelligence agencies to
    cooperate with us.'' \11\
        In fact, however, even the involvement of the Intelligence
    Committees is not sufficient to overcome the IC's reliance on ICD 114
    to obstruct meaningful GAO access. In a meeting in 2019 with staffers
    from the House Legislative Branch and Defense Appropriations
    subcommittees, a member of the Defense subcommittee's staff dismissed
    the need for reform, arguing that IC components do not refuse GAO
    requests for information if GAO was acting pursuant to an Intelligence
    Committee request. That presumption is unfortunately false. One need
    only consider the example of AR 13-5, the internal CIA regulation which
    implements ICD 114. This regulation directly addresses the question of
    how the Agency should respond to a GAO request for information when GAO
    is acting under the direction of an Intelligence Committee:

            As a general rule, if GAO makes a request on behalf of or to
            obtain information responsive to a tasking by an intelligence
            oversight committee, the [Point of Contact (``POC'')] will
            ensure that the CIA response to GAO does not contain
            information prohibited in paragraph b.(2)(c)(3) above.\12\ The
            response to GAO shall indicate that information responsive to
            the tasking, but not authorized for release to GAO under the
            provisions of ICD 114, shall be made directly available to the
            requesting intelligence oversight committee. The POC shall
            prepare an additional response for the intelligence oversight
            committee that contains information responsive to the committee
            request, but not authorized for GAO access.\13\

        In other words, if GAO asks CIA for any information which would
    fall under the jurisdiction of an Intelligence Committee, CIA will
    simply refuse to cooperate, but if an Intelligence Committee tasks GAO
    to make the request, CIA will still refuse to provide the information
    to GAO, but instead will send the information directly to the relevant
    Intelligence Committee. In neither situation does GAO receive the
    requested information.
        GAO possesses significantly more resources and institutional
    expertise in certain kinds of Executive Branch investigations than even
    the most robust committee staff, and there is frankly no reason for
    this arbitrary restriction on its authority. Congress gave the
    Executive Branch a chance to establish reasonable limitations which
    balanced the Executive's legitimate interests with one of the most
    important functions of Congress-effective oversight. Instead of
    crafting a reasonable policy, the DNI memorialized the IC's original
    hard-line position.
        I recommend this subcommittee include language to remove any doubt
    concerning GAO's audit power over the IC by advancing a measure that
    reStates Section 335 of the FY2010 IAA, as engrossed by the House of
    Representatives in February 2010.\14\
        Not only would taking such a measure resolve a longstanding
    problem, but it would be revenue neutral, since it would not require
    GAO to take on any more responsibilities than it already has; it would
    only open the universe of matters it may investigate. When one
    considers the fact that the number of GAO employees with Top Secret/
    Sensitive Compartmented Information (``TS/SCI'') clearances is higher
    than the combined number of staffers employed by both Intelligence
    Committees, it is clear that these artificial restrictions on GAO's
    authority are causing Congress to expend more financial and manpower
    resources to accomplish less oversight over a significant portion of
    the Executive Branch. In a time of crisis, when agencies across the
    Government are spending vast amounts of time, money, and resources to
    combat a once-in-a-century threat, it is more important that ever that
    GAO be able to investigate allegations of governmental waste, fraud,
    abuse, and violations of law wherever they may be found. It is time for
    Congress to assert its prerogatives to protect its oversight
    capabilities over all agencies.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ See 31 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 712, 717, 3523(a) (GAO has authority to
    investigate each ``department, agency, or instrumentality of the United
    States Government.'').
        \2\ Budget and Accounting Act, Public Law 67-13, 42 Stat. 26, June
    10, 1921 (``All departments and establishments shall furnish to the
    Comptroller General such information regarding the powers, duties,
    activities, organization, financial transactions, and methods of
    business of their respective offices as he may from time to time
    require of them.'').
        \3\ H.R. 3603, available at https://fas.org/irp/eprint/panetta-
    1987.pdf.
        \4\ Investigative Authority of the General Accounting Office, 12
    Op. Off. Legal Counsel 171 (1988).
        \5\ Letter from Orszag to Feinstein of 3/15/10, available at
    https://fas.org/irp/news/2010/03/omb031610.pdf.
        \6\ Letter from Dodaro to Feinstein of 3/18/10, available at http:/
    /www.pogoarchives.org/m/co/dodaro-letter-to-intel-committees-
    20100318.pdf. Mr. Dodaro concluded that reaffirming GAO's authority in
    this area ``would prove beneficial both to the conduct of oversight by
    the intelligence committees and to the efficiency and effectiveness of
    IC operations.''
        \7\ 50 U.S.C. Sec. 3308.
        \8\ ICD 114(D)(4)(b), available at https://www.dni.gov/files/
    documents/ICD/ICD_114.pdf.
        \9\ Legislative Branch Appropriations for 2019: Part 2, Fiscal Year
    2019 Legislative Branch Appropriations Requests, Hearings before the
    Subcomm. on the Legislative Branch of the House Comm. on
    Appropriations, 115th Cong., 2d Sess. 310 (Apr. 25, 2018) (testimony of
    Comp. Gen. Gene Dodaro) (testifying that GAO has been able to
    investigate peripheral matters in the IC such as ``a facilities area''
    and contract management in the last few years).
        \10\ Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3WU2uZMlyk.
        \11\ Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaRnD62qun4. Mr.
    Dodaro's testimony last year reiterated the same point, see https://
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PQWaMSJG7Y.
        \12\ That paragraph reads: Information that falls within the
    purview of the congressional intelligence oversight committees
    generally shall not be made available to GAO to support an audit or
    review of intelligence collection operations; covert action;
    intelligence capabilities related to national intelligence activities;
    counterintelligence operations; intelligence analysis and analytical
    techniques; intelligence sources and methods; or intelligence budgets
    or funding; (including records or expenditures made under the authority
    of 22 U.S.C. 2396(a)(8) or 10 U.S.C. 127, 7231 and 50 U.S.C. 403j(b)).
        \13\ CIA, AR 13-5: Comptroller General Access to Information in the
    Possession of the CIA, Sec. (b)(3), available at http://docs.house.gov/
    meetings/AP/AP24/20200304/110517/HHRG-116-AP24-Wstate-McClanahanK-
    20200304-SD001.pdf.
        \14\ Available at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr2701eh/
    pdf/BILLS-111hr2701eh.pdf.

        [This statement was submitted by LiKel McClanahan, Executive
    Director]
                                     ______

             Prepared Statement of Preservation Technologies, L.P.
                                     issue
        The Fiscal 2022 budget for the Library of Congress included
    language regarding the mass deacidification program budget request:
    ``Preservation of the Collection.-The Committees recognize the Library
    currently has over $2,000,000 available through September 30, 2022, for
    the purposes of the de-acidification preservation program. Upon the
    exhaustion or expiration of those funds, whichever comes first, the
    Committees will evaluate the need for the continuation of the
    program.'' The funds allocated for the mass deacidification program
    will be exhausted before the end of this September. This testimony is a
    request to continue funding for this program for fiscal 2023.
                              request to congress
        We respectfully encourage Congress for Fiscal Year 2023 to
    reinstate the mass deacidification line item as was included in Fiscal
    Year 2021 for $3.0 million with the intention to focus on the
    preservation of the remaining high value acidic titles expected to stay
    in the Library's collections and for newly acquired acidic material
    upon receipt by the Library.
                                 justification
        The Library of Congress has been a world leader in the development
    and use of mass deacidification for preventive preservation of acidic
    collections. The Library has used mass deacidification to preserve more
    than five million acidic books and nearly 20 million acidic documents
    in the past 22 years as part of a 30-year plan to preserve up to 7.5
    million books identified as candidates for treatment. Acidic books have
    pages that contain residual acid from the paper making process. The
    acid turns the paper brittle, sometimes in just a matter of decades.
    Deacidification is a chemical process that neutralizes the acid in
    paper, thereby extending the useful life of books and documents by
    hundreds of years. Institutions across the country benefit by using
    this technology to preserve their collections.
        The focus of the deacidification program has been to preserve
    important book collections documenting American history, family
    genealogy, literature, law, science, rare foreign titles, and nearly
    all sections of the Library. Documents preserved from the Library's
    Gold Manuscript collections include the NAACP archives including Martin
    Luther King, Jr.'s papers and also the Federal Writers Project, part of
    the depression era Works Progress Administration (WPA) featuring
    authors like Eudora Welty and William Faulkner.
        The Library proposed for FY 2021 to stop the deacidification
    program and reassign the budget to other activities. The Library is
    stopping the program too suddenly when there are still several hundred
    thousand high value books and millions of manuscript pages considered
    as top priority for preservation, and in a way that will ultimately
    hurt the preservation programs of other important institutions.
    Concluding the program by a controlled reduction is in the best
    interest of the Library and its collections. Stopping the program cold
    jeopardizes collections, jobs, and the long term preservation of books
    and archives across the Nation.
        As justification for closing the program, the Library has asserted
    that storage at Fort Meade is more cost effective than deacidification.
    This plan is flawed for several reasons:
    Reduced temperature storage is not the same as deacidification.
      --Reduced temperature storage slows but does not stop the chemical
            reaction between acid and paper. The acidic paper will still
            age much quicker than alkaline paper no matter how it is stored
            and at any temperature. Deacidified paper will last 3-5 times
            longer than acidic paper under all storage temperatures, and
            the benefit of deacidification is further enhanced if stored at
            lower temperatures.
      --All modern paper is produced in an alkaline process.
            Deacidification turns the older, acidic paper into alkaline
            paper. To achieve the life extension equivalent to alkaline
            paper, whether stored in the current stacks on the Hill or in
            new storage at reduced temperatures, the acidic paper still
            needs to be deacidified.
    Cold storage is not a practical solution.
      --The Library has consistently reported on the significant quantity
            of important acidic material remaining in their collections--
            more than 2 million books and millions of documents--that would
            benefit from deacidification. Paper is acidic because of the
            method of production, and acidic materials are distributed
            throughout the collections in the Library. To send the
            remaining millions of acidic books to cold storage requires the
            Library to do what we are already doing--search for these books
            one by one to extract them from the collections. Then they must
            send them to perpetual cold storage instead of deacidifying and
            returning them to stay with their collections.
      --The other method would be to send entire collections into cold
            storage as a way to make sure the acidic books are protected.
            The projected cold storage capacity will not have nearly enough
            space to allow this option.
      --Neither method is practical. The Library has not indicated how to
            deal with the remaining millions of acidic books and over what
            time schedule. It should be clear that a significant quantity
            will remain on the Hill for the foreseeable future continuing
            to weaken from acidic attack.
    Cold storage is not a guaranteed solution.
      --There are cost and energy policies to consider. Using cold storage
            to slow the rate of deterioration only works if the paper is
            stored in cold conditions forever, incurring higher energy and
            maintenance costs. It is easy to envision a future situation
            when the temperature in the storage facility will be increased
            either to save costs and/or to reduce energy consumption driven
            by climate change, energy policy, or simple budget
            requirements. The point is that deacidification fixes the
            problem today for life. Cold storage reduces the problem only
            as long as the storage temperature is cold.

        The Library needs to continue the Fort Meade storage module program
    because it is out of space for proper storage of its collections.
    Reducing the temperature is better for all paper, but cold storage is
    not a ``quick fix'' to eliminate the need to deacidify the collections.
        The current modules at Fort Meade are already near their storage
    capacity and still the stacks in the Capitol Hill complex are full.
    Construction of new modules has been delayed by budget concerns. The
    Library has testified that the rate of construction of new modules at
    Fort Meade is unable to keep up with the acquisition rate of new
    materials. This means the collections stored on the Hill will continue
    to exist in roughly the same quantity and storage conditions for the
    foreseeable future. Those acidic materials kept in the storage on
    Capitol Hill for the next 20 years will be losing 100 years or more of
    usable condition.
    Recommendations to Congress:
        Preservation of the most critical acidic books and unique
    manuscript materials via deacidification should remain a priority for
    the Library. Mass deacidification is the most effective and lowest cost
    program for preserving the Library's acidic materials. For the past 20
    years, Congress and the Library of Congress have been making the
    financially responsible decision to use deacidification as the primary
    method of preservation for our acidic collections. The best policy
    would be to finish the program as originally envisioned. Recognizing
    that the Library has other priorities, and it desires to retire the
    program, we believe the best course is to allow for a controlled ramp
    down rather than a hard stop to the program.
        1.  We respectfully request Congress reaffirm its strong support
    for mass deacidification and direct the Library of Congress to continue
    the program of mass deacidification to preserve the Library's unique
    manuscript collections and the remaining high value acidic books.
        2.  We respectfully request Congress restore the line item for mass
    deacidification and appropriate an amount of $3.0 million to fund this
    program of mass deacidification for one additional year with the
    intention to preserve the remaining ``Top Priority'' books as quickly
    as possible to give maximum benefit to the collection before retiring
    the program.
        3.  We respectfully request Congress to consider that cancelling
    the deacidification program now would have a significant negative
    impact on research institutions outside the Library. The Library is the
    largest customer for deacidification services and establishes the
    standards and the market for this technology for other institutions.
    Current estimates are that 90 percent of culturally important materials
    held outside the Library on acidic paper are at risk of loss and not
    available in digital or other means of access. Programs to preserve
    these materials are underway but not yet sufficiently developed.
    Cancelling the Library's program effectively eliminates the
    availability of the service to other institutions.
                                   who we are
        Preservation Technologies, L.P. is the recognized worldwide leader
    in this field with the only technology capable of meeting the standards
    for preservation by deacidification set by the Library of Congress.
    From its headquarters location just north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
    Preservation Technologies provides preservation services, equipment,
    and supplies to institutions throughout the U.S. and internationally.
    In 2017, the company won the President's ``E'' Award for Export Service
    presented by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

        [This statement was submitted by James Burd, CEO]
                                     ______

             Prepared Statement of Project On Government Oversight
        Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and Members of the Senate
    Appropriations subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, thank you for
    the opportunity to submit testimony on closing the gaps in legislative
    branch inspectors general coverage and coordination. I am Liz
    Hempowicz, director of public policy at the Project On Government
    Oversight (POGO). POGO is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that
    investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power, and when
    the government fails to serve the public or silences those who report
    wrongdoing. We champion reforms to achieve a more effective, ethical,
    and accountable Federal Government that safeguards constitutional
    principles.
        Inspectors general (IGs) provide independent, professional, and
    nonpartisan oversight over various government operations, helping to
    uncover evidence of waste, fraud, abuse, and malfeasance. The inspector
    general system that was established for the executive branch in 1978
    has largely been a success. Similarly independent watchdogs are also
    uniquely positioned to provide objective oversight of legislative
    branch components.
        The COVID-19 pandemic and the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol
    laid bare the urgent need to increase coordination across Congress and
    its agencies related to cyber security and information sharing.
    Currently, congressional information and technology is too often
    managed on an ad-hoc basis and in multiple silos. The legislative
    inspector general community is not immune to those challenges.
        Within the legislative branch, there are a number of information,
    technology, and cybersecurity gaps in inspector general coverage. There
    are currently five inspectors general situated within legislative
    branch agencies: the inspector general for the Library of Congress, the
    inspector general for the United States Capitol Police, the inspector
    general for the Government Accountability Office, the inspector general
    for the Government Publishing Office, and the inspector general for the
    Architect of the Capitol.\1\
        However, significant offices remain without oversight, including
    the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, Office of Attending
    Physician, and others. Additionally, while the rules of the House
    establish an inspector general for the House of Representatives, there
    is no similar inspector general overseeing the work of the Senate.\2\
        And even when individual watchdogs are in place, gaps in the
    legislative inspector general system can limit their efficacy. There is
    no coordinating council for legislative branch inspectors general that
    enables information sharing and the creation of best practices
    standards, as the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and
    Efficiency (CIGIE) does for executive branch IGs.\3\ Perhaps most
    importantly, current legislative IGs may lack sufficient independence
    to best enable rigorous oversight.\4\
        With all of this in mind, I urge the Appropriations Committee to
    request the Government Accountability Office to produce a report
    examining the gaps in independent oversight within the legislative
    branch inspector general system. Specifically, the report shall
    determine these gaps, identify conflict areas and offices that are not
    covered, and make recommendations around structures and best practices
    to properly protect IG independence within the legislative branch,
    using the executive branch as a model where it may be helpful. In doing
    so, I would encourage the GAO to consult with CIGIE and other internal
    and external stakeholders with expertise around inspectors general.
    Given the urgency around these issues, I would recommend the committee
    ask for such a report to be published no later than 180 days after the
    passage of the Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations Bill.
        Thank you again for the opportunity to submit this testimony.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Ben Wilhelm, Congressional Research Service, Appointment
    Methods for Legislative Branch Inspectors General, IN11763 (September
    28, 2021), 2, https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/2021-09-
    28_IN11763_00e696b72ee4f22f53ad6b5af75c55e7e2721847.pdf.
        \2\ Rules of the House of Representatives, 117th Cong., Rules II-
    III (February 2, 2021), https://rules.house.gov/sites/
    democrats.rules.house.gov/files/117-House-Rules-Clerk.pdf.
        \3\ 5 U.S.C. App. Sec. 11 (2022), https://www.law.cornell.edu/
    uscode/text/5a/compiledact-95-452/
    section-11.
        \4\ To give executive branch inspectors general the requisite
    independence, the Inspector General Act of 1978 includes a requirement
    that inspector general nominees are selected ``without regard to
    political affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity and
    demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law,
    management analysis, public administration, or investigations"; a
    prohibition against the head of an agency from interfering in IG
    investigations; and a dual reporting structure where an inspector
    general reports to both the agency head and to Congress. 5 U.S.C. App.
    Sec. 3 (2022), https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5a/compiledact-
    95-452/section-3; Kathryn A. Francis and Michael Green, Congressional
    Research Service, Federal Inspectors General: History, Characteristics,
    and Recent Congressional Actions, R43814 (July 20, 2016), 5, 7, https:/
    /www.everycrsreport.com/files/20160720_R43814_
    c8b393d645313cc24a2b7a1bb8c1cb4abe072ccd.pdf; Restoring Independence:
    Rebuilding the Federal Offices of Inspectors General: Hearing before
    the House Oversight and Reform Committee subcommittee on Government
    Operations, 117th Cong, 1, (April 20, 2021) (testimony of Liz
    Hempowicz, director of public policy, Project On Government Oversight,
    https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/
    Hempowicz%20Testimony.pdf.

        [This statement was submitted by Liz Hempowicz, Director of Public
    Policy]
                                     ______

                      Prepared Statement of Thomas Susman
        Introduction. Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and Members of
    the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony
    addressing the need to enhance public access to Legislative Branch
    information. My name is Thomas Susman, and I am testifying today in my
    personal capacity. I'm no stranger to either the Legislative Branch or
    to transparency: I served on the Senate Judiciary Committee and various
    subcommittee staffs for over 12 years and am currently on the boards of
    a number of organizations whose mission is to enhance public access to
    government information, including Open The Government, the National
    Freedom of Information Coalition, and the D.C. Open Government
    Coalition. By way of background, as a Senate staffer I helped shepherd
    through the post-Watergate amendments to the Freedom of Information Act
    in 1974 that largely created the law we know today and have been
    involved in access-to-information matters ever since.
                                   background
        The Federal Advisory Committee on the Freedom of Information Act,
    appointed by the Archivist of the United States and comprised of an
    equal number of government and private sector representatives, adopted
    the following recommendation \1\ by unanimous vote in November 2020:

            Congress should adopt rules or enact legislation to establish
            procedures for effecting public access to legislative branch
            records in the possession of congressional support offices and
            agencies modeled after those procedures contained in the
            Freedom of Information Act. These should include requirements
            for proactive disclosure of certain information, procedures
            governing public requests for records, time limits for
            responding to requests, exemptions to be narrowly applied, and
            an appeal from any initial decision to deny access.

        Congress has, in many ways, historically been the most transparent
    of the branches and in recent decades has taken additional steps to
    increase public access to its work. Every congressional committee has a
    website that contains bills and hearing transcripts, and every House
    and Senate member has a website replete with information about the
    member's positions, speeches, activities, and bills. Congressional
    leadership offices publish details of the legislative agendas, and
    Congress.gov provides online access to bills and legislative histories.
    Congress has in many ways already taken steps to embrace transparency
    in recognition of its importance to the public.
        The legislatures of many States and foreign countries have long
    been fully subject to the requirements of their access-to-information
    laws. However, you will note that the recommendation quoted above does
    not propose that the U.S Congress be subject to the Federal Freedom of
    Information Act (FOIA); it recognizes and respects unique features of
    the Legislative Branch and the special relationships that members have
    with each other, with staff, and with constituents, as well as the
    potential constitutional issues that application of the FOIA might
    implicate. There are still, however, a number of steps that Congress
    should take to enhance public understanding of legislation and the
    legislative process, to improve accountability of some of its offices,
    and to make its records more readily available to the public and media.
        The case for greater transparency.--There is no principled reason
    why the public's right to know should not apply to support offices and
    agencies of the Congress, discussed in greater detail below. Most of
    those offices perform functions similar or even identical to those
    performed by executive branch entities that are fully covered by FOIA,
    such as law enforcement (Capitol Police); auditing, buildings and
    grounds maintenance (Architect of the Capitol); inspecting and
    adjudicating (Government Accountability Office); budgeting
    (Congressional Budget Office); publishing (Government Publishing
    Office); enforcing rights (Office of Congressional Workplace Rights);
    maintaining the library (Library of Congress); and performing research
    and drafting reports (Congressional Research Service and Law Library of
    Congress).
        It is not just their functions that these legislative branch
    entities have in common with their executive branch counterparts; they
    are funded by the same taxpayer dollars that pay for executive
    agencies, and they often have the same or greater impact on the lives
    of individuals, the viability and profitability of businesses, and the
    activities of all levels of government and all the political
    subdivisions in our Nation. While confidential aspects of the lawmaking
    process may merit special consideration, the routine work of government
    does not.
        Some of the congressional offices and support agencies understand
    this message. The Government Accountability Office, although not
    legally subject to FOIA, has adopted ``FOIA-like'' regulations. GAO
    acknowledges that ``While GAO is not subject to the [FOIA] . . . GAO's
    disclosure policy follows the spirit of the act consistent with its
    duties and functions and responsibility to the Congress.'' GAO reports
    and an array of other GAO resources are available online. And the U.S.
    Copyright Office is fully subject to the FOIA and has adopted
    regulations implementing the procedures for administering its
    requirements.
        I'd like to highlight two support agencies where Congress has
    expressed concern in the past regarding public access to information
    and where this Committee should press forward toward requiring that
    information be more readily available to the public.
        U.S. Capitol Police.--A call for greater transparency of the U.S.
    Capitol Police (USCP) began before the events of January 6, 2021.
    Congressional appropriators inserted language in the House report on
    the 2021 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill calling for ``USCP
    Information Sharing'' as follows:

            While the USCP is not subject to the [FOIA]  . . .  the
            Committee encourages the USCP to develop a policy and procedure
            for the sharing of information that follows the spirit of the
            Freedom of Information Act. This policy should be consistent
            with, and not interfere with, USCP's primary function of
            protecting the Congress.

        The Joint Explanatory Statement echoed this refrain:

            USCP Information Sharing.--The Department is encouraged to
            continue increasing its efforts to communicate with Members of
            Congress, congressional employees, and the public about events
            occurring around the Capitol complex in a manner that is
            consistent with and does not interfere with its primary mission
            of protecting the Congress and the legislative process.

        After January 6, 2021, the calls for greater public access to USCP
    information increased, and last year congressional appropriators once
    again, this time in more forceful terms, included language in the House
    report of the 2022 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bills, which
    directed:

            USCP Information Sharing.--While the USCP is not subject to the
            Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 USC 552), the Committee
            directs the USCP to develop a policy and procedure for the
            sharing of information that follows the spirit of the Freedom
            of Information Act. This policy should be consistent with, and
            not interfere with, USCP's primary function of protecting the
            Congress.

        The Joint Explanatory Statement repeated the call for information
    sharing:

        USCP Information Sharing.--The Department is encouraged to continue
    increasing its efforts to communicate with Members of Congress,
    congressional employees, and the public about events occurring around
    the Capitol complex in a manner that is consistent with and does not
    interfere with its primary mission of protecting the Congress and the
    legislative process.
        Police departments across the country are waking up to the value of
    increasing transparency; it may be time for a wake-up call for the USCP
    in next year's appropriations bill with clearer and even stronger
    direction to USCP to move forward with a FOIA-like information access
    regime.
        Congressional Research Service.--The Congressional Research Service
    (CRS) of the Library of Congress has been producing informative reports
    for decades. And the public--also for decades--has been denied direct,
    full access to that body of taxpayer-funded knowledge. Yes, there has
    been significant progress, made at the direction and encouragement of
    this committee. But there is still a long way to go. Historical CRS
    reports need to be proactively available to the public online. They are
    already digitized by-and-large, so the next step of providing the
    public access to all these reports is but an easy one--and one that
    Congress should mandate. This is not a call for public availability of
    confidential CRS reports, but rather the ones that already can be
    shared with any staffer who asks. For a model of what can be
    accomplished, look to the Law Library of Congress, which undertook a
    digitization and online publication effort for its Legal Reports, with
    thousands of reports now online from the 1940s forward and with efforts
    to publish additional historical reports on the internet that continue
    on a rolling basis.
        Proactive disclosure.--Beyond CRS reports, there are other sets of
    records that should routinely be made available to the public without
    the need for a request. Examples include the following: Legislative
    Branch inspectors general reports; Congressional Budget Office
    conflicts-of-interest disclosure forms; Legislative Branch budget
    justifications and semiannual reports; and unclassified reports from
    agencies to Congress. Some of these documents are already published
    online, but that practice should be consistent and universal.
        Conclusion and recommendations.--In proposing to expand access to
    Legislative Branch records--both through FOIA-like procedures and
    through proactive disclosure on a congressional website--I am mindful
    that there may be a need for redaction of specific information that may
    involve disclosing classified matters, revealing ongoing criminal
    investigations, or constituting a clearly unwarranted invasion of
    personal privacy. Every access regime respects the need to protect
    certain categories of information. In addition, there may be
    circumstances that are unique to the legislative branch that would
    require further investigation prior to implementation.
        Accordingly, I encourage the Committee to charge the GAO, which has
    the most robust FOIA-like process, to make recommendations for applying
    a FOIA-like process to congressional support offices and agencies. This
    analysis should exclude the personal, committee, and leadership offices
    in the House and Senate. I recommend the following report language:
        Public Records Information Sharing for Legislative Agencies Based
    on FOIA Advisory Committee Recommendations.--Within 180 days, the
    Government Accountability Office shall make recommendations to the
    House and Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations committees, the
    Committee on House Administration, the Senate Rules Committee, and
    publish on its website recommendations concerning the creation and
    implementation of a uniform public records request process for
    congressional support offices and agencies modeled after the Freedom of
    Information Act and inspired by the recommendations of the FOIA
    Advisory Committee. In constructing an implementation plan, the GAO
    shall consult with the FOIA Advisory Committee, experts on the Freedom
    of Information Act, representatives of civil society and the press,
    affected congressional offices and agencies, and others as it deems
    fit. The GAO shall recommend statutory language and regulations to
    implement a public records request-and-appeals process that vindicates
    the public's right to know to the maximum extent practicable, sets
    standards for information that an agency should proactively disclose,
    establishes uniform processes and standards to all congressional
    support offices and agencies, and provides for independent review of
    agency determinations consistent with our constitutional framework.
        Congress has come a long way in opening its proceedings and records
    to access by the public. But its work is not complete, and this
    subcommittee has the jurisdiction and authority to press forward to the
    next level of legislative transparency.
        I appreciate the opportunity to present this testimony.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Recommendation 2021-01 available from the National Archives
    Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at https://
    www.archives.gov/files/ogis/assets/fac-rec-2021-01.pdf.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     ______

                       Prepared Statement of Verdance LLC
        Chair Reed, Chair Leahy, Ranking Member Braun, Vice Chair Shelby,
    and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit
    testimony on establishing a Task Force to study how and whether
    Congress should create a Congressional Digital Service.
        My name is Alex Prokop, and I am a public interest technologist. I
    was a software engineer on the team that rebuilt HealthCare.gov in the
    wake of its technology failure. In 2020 and 2021, I had the opportunity
    to serve the House Select Committee for the Modernization of Congress
    as a digital service fellow under Chairman Kilmer and Ranking Member
    Graves. Last year, I founded a company called Verdance to pursue the
    mission of making government digital services more adaptable,
    efficient, and effective.
        Over the past 2 years, Congress has made laudable technology
    improvements. The Senate Sergeant At Arms developed the e-signature
    tool Quill that now is successfully deployed in both chambers, making
    digital signatures on sign-on letters commonplace. Additionally, the
    Senate has successfully implemented remote and hybrid hearings. The
    Senate should build on this progress and position legislative branch
    technology for transformational change.
        I urge the committee to establish a Congressional Digital Service
    Task Force, which also has been recommended by the House Select
    Committee on the Modernization of Congress.\1\ The purpose of this task
    force would be to assess and evaluate the technology challenges across
    the entirety of the Legislative branch, to evaluate the various
    approaches to ensuring Congressional technology evolves at a healthy
    pace and meets Congress's institutional challenges, and to make
    recommendations on how best to constitute a Congressional Digital
    Service that serves the entirety of the Legislative branch.
        The list of potential challenges for a digital service team is
    long, but here are a few:
    A Congressional Digital Service could act as a bridge to create
            software tools shared by chambers and offices.
        The Senate, House, and support office and agency technology
    ecosystems are almost completely fractured. Even for broadly comparable
    needs, the Senate and House develop their own solutions. The rollout of
    Quill was one bright moment of successful technology collaboration. A
    properly empowered Congressional Digital Service would ensure that
    Quill is an exemplar of things to come, and that Congress can share and
    co-develop technology between the chambers and offices where
    appropriate, creating cost savings and increasing productivity.
    A Congressional Digital Service could develop a unified cloud services
            strategy for the Congressional technology ecosystem.
        The Legislative branch currently lacks a consistent and mature
    approach to cloud hosting of software systems. Cloud hosting offers
    many cost and efficiency savings over on-premise services and will
    unlock the development of new, productivity-increasing tools, which is
    why the private sector and many executive branch agencies have long ago
    moved many of their systems to the cloud. Despite some progress,
    Legislative branch offices and agencies have yet to widely adopt cloud
    hosting services as a leading choice for new systems. A Congressional
    Digital Service could consult with offices and develop a unified cloud
    strategy--it is unlikely that one will come to exist otherwise.
    A Congressional Digital Service could assess unserved committee
            technology needs.
        Committees have inconsistent support concerning putting together
    their technology toolset. While there are bespoke projects, so far
    there is not yet a comprehensive look across committee needs to
    discover where the biggest common pain points and potential solutions
    are. A Congressional Digital Service could spearhead such an effort and
    uncover tools to save taxpayer dollars and streamline committee
    operations.
    A Congressional Digital Service could help fill gaps in legislative
            processes that are currently unsupported by digital tools.
        The absence of digital tools supporting some Congressional
    processes wastes valuable staff time and causes avoidable errors. House
    Majority Leader Hoyer and Leader McCarthy sponsored a Congressional
    Hackathon in April 2022. At the hackathon, a team of Congressional
    staff and technologists outlined a list of technology gaps. A
    Congressional Digital Service could identify those gaps on an ongoing
    basis, and ensure that the right bridges are built between offices to
    handle them.
    A Congressional Digital Service could create a standing, high level
            technology capacity to support Congress in times of crisis.
        Investment in a modern digital service organization will give the
    Legislative branch needed standing capacity to solve urgent
    technological needs as they arise. The U.S. Digital Service was
    established in the wake of the HealthCare.gov crisis, and serves as a
    non-partisan home for expert technologists in the executive branch. The
    injection of talent it provided has kept many tech issues from reaching
    front-page status across both Democratic and Republican
    administrations. Last year, many compared the launch of CovidTests.gov
    to the launch of HealthCare.gov. Where the latter was famously unusable
    for weeks after launch, the former delivered on its promises from day
    one, and did not suffer downtime or major glitches. When the urgent
    need arose, expert U.S. Digital Service staff was already in place to
    connect the dots between organizations to handle it. Congress will face
    such moments in the future, and a Congressional Digital Service would
    bolster this branch with needed high-level technology capacity.
        Since the U.S. Digital Service was started in 2014, many States and
    cities have started their own digital service offices. These digital
    service organizations are not cure-alls, but on balance and over the
    long term we have seen government technology capacity increase
    dramatically since 2014 as a result of digital service offices and
    initiatives. If properly constituted, empowered, and funded, a
    Congressional Digital Service could play the same role in the
    Legislative branch. We believe the committee should create a task force
    composed of internal and external stakeholders to study how to properly
    constitute a Congressional Digital Service and make recommendations to
    you.
        We recommend the following report language to accomplish this
    purpose:

            Congressional Digital Service Task Force.--Congressional
            operations depend upon technology, but the Legislative branch
            is often insufficiently empowered and coordinated when it comes
            to purchasing technology and providing technological services.
            The Executive branch responded to similar operational
            challenges by creating the U.S. Digital Service, which hires
            technologists to build tools that make government work better
            for the American people. We note with favor the recent creation
            of the Congressional Digital Service within the House's Chief
            Administrative Office. A more expansive, sophisticated, and
            coordinated approach to the provision of technology and
            technological services across the Legislative branch would help
            members better serve their constituents.

            To address these and other questions, the committee directs the
            establishment of a Congressional Digital Services Task Force
            composed of staff representatives of the Secretary of the
            Senate; the Senate Sergeant at Arms; Member, Committee, and
            Leadership offices; the Library of Congress; the Congressional
            Research Service; the Government Publishing Office; the
            Government Accountability Office; and such other congressional
            offices as may be appropriate and invites the participation of
            public stakeholders and representatives from appropriate
            offices in the House to examine these and any additional issues
            it considers relevant and to provide a report to the committee
            within 180 days that also shall be made publicly available.

        Thank you once again for the opportunity to provide testimony to
    the Committee.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress--116th
    Congress Recommendations, 95th recommendation https://
    modernizecongress.house.gov/116th-recommendations.

        [This statement was submitted by LiAlex Prokop, Founder]

           LIST OF WITNESSES, COMMUNICATIONS, AND PREPARED STATEMENTS

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

    American:
        Association of Law Libraries, Prepared Statement of the......    77
        Bar Association, Prepared Statement of.......................    79
        Library Association, Prepared Statement of...................    80

    Bipartisan Policy Center Action (BPC Action), Prepared Statement
      of.............................................................    81
    Blanton, J. Brett, Architect of the Capitol:
        Prepared Statement of........................................    24
        Statement of.................................................    23
    Braun, Senator Mike, U.S. Senator From Indiana:
        Opening Statement of.........................................    44
        Statement of.................................................     9

    Demand Progress, Prepared Statement of...........................    82
    Dodaro, Hon. Gene, U.S. Comptroller General, Government
      Accountability Office, Statement of............................    51

    Gibson, Hon. Karen H., General, Sergeant at Arms, Senate Sergeant
      at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate:
        Prepared Statement of........................................    12
        Statement of.................................................    10

    Hayden, Hon. Dr. Carla, The Librarian of Congress:
        Prepared Statement of........................................    47
        Statement of.................................................    46

    Lincoln Network, Prepared Statement of...........................    84

    National:
        Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
          (NALEO), Prepared Statement of.............................    86
        Security Counselors, Prepared Statement of...................    87

    Preservation Technologies, L.P., Prepared Statement of...........    90
    Project on Government Oversight, Prepared Statement of...........    92

    Reed, Senator Jack, U.S. Senator From Rhode Island, Opening
      Statement of

    Susman, Thomas, Prepared Statement of............................    93
    Swagel, Phillips, Director of the Congressional Budget Office,
      Prepared Statement of..........................................     1

    Verdance LLC, Prepared Statement of..............................    96

                                 SUBJECT INDEX

                                  ----------

                                                                       Page

                            ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL

    Additional Committee Questions...................................    40
    Architect of the Capitol.........................................    23
        I. GPrioritizing Physical Security Projects..................    25
        II. GTackling Aging Infrastructure with Technological
          Approaches.................................................    26
        III. GSupporting Safety Standards and Solutions..............    26
        IV. GSenate Priorities and Programs..........................    27
        V. GSustaining our Commitment to Future Generations..........    29
        VI. GPandemic Procurement and Preparedness...................    30
                                   __________

                          CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

    Additional Committee Questions...................................    40
    Answers to Questions for the Record..............................    41
    CBO's Appropriation Request for Fiscal Year 2023.................     2
        Enhancing Transparency.......................................     5
        Figure 1--Components of Requested $3.7 Million Increase......     4
        Strengthening Responsiveness.................................     4
        Table 1--The Congressional Budget Office's Major Products,
          Calendar Years 2021 to 2023................................     5
                                   __________

                        GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

    Additional Committee Questions...................................    75
    Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request..................................    54
        Concluding Remarks...........................................    62
        GAO's Mission................................................    65
        Highlights from FY 2021 and Recent Results...................    60
        Table 1: FY 2021-2023 Summary of Resources by Program........    56
                                   __________

                              LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

    Additional Committee Questions...................................    75
    Continuing Stabilization and Optimization of Financial
      Infrastructure.................................................    50
    Expanding Active Engagement With Visitors to the Library.........    50
    Library of Congress:
        Library Reopening............................................    67
        Mitigating Inflation.........................................    70
        Security Coordination Post January 6.........................    66
    Strengthening Data Analysis Expertise in Life Cycle Costing and
      Cost Estimating as well as in Evaluating and Setting Copyright
      Fees...........................................................    51
    Sustaining Continuous Technology Innovation and Delivery.........    49
        Veterans History Project.....................................    73
        Welcoming Visitors Post COVID................................    69
                                   __________

              SENATE SERGEANT AT ARMS AND DOORKEEPER OF THE SENATE

    Additional Committee Questions...................................    40
    Capitol Operations...............................................    12
    Chief Information Officer (CIO)..................................    13
    Employee Assistance Program (EAP)................................    16
    Executive Office.................................................    16
    Executive Office Acquisitions Department.........................    16
    Human Resources (HR) Department..................................    17
    Office of Security, Emergency Preparedness & Continuity (OSEPC)..    17
    Page Program.....................................................    17
    Support Operations...............................................    21

                                     [all]