    [Senate Hearing 118-539]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 118-539

             LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024

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

                                    HEARINGS

                                    before a

                              SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

                COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                       on

                               H.R. 4364/S. 2302

    AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH FOR THE FISCAL
             YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2024, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                   __________

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

                                   __________

             Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations

            GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT

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

                                 _______

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
            50-527 PDF        WASHINGTON : 2024

                          COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

                        PATTY MURRAY, Washington, Chair
    DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California \1\     SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine, Vice
    RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois              Chair
    JACK REED, Rhode Island              MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
    JON TESTER, Montana                  LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
    JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire        LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina
    JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon                 JERRY MORAN, Kansas
    CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
    BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii                 JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
    TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
    CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut          Virginia
    JOE MANCHIN, III, West Virginia      JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
    CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland           CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi
    MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico          BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee
    GARY PETERS, Michigan                KATIE BRITT, Alabama
    KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona \2\          MARCO RUBIO, Florida
                                         DEB FISCHER, Nebraska

                          Evan Schatz, Staff Director
                  Elizabeth McDonnell, Minority Staff Director

                                     ------

                     Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch

                       JACK REED, Rhode Island, Chairman

    CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut      DEB FISCHER, Nebraska, Ranking
    CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland               Member
                                         MARCO RUBIO, Florida

                               Professional Staff

                                Richard Braddock
                                 Maria Calderon

                             Lucas Agnew (Minority)
                            Molly McCarty (Minority)

                             Administrative Support

                                 Ann Tait Hall

        \1\ Died September 29, 2023.
        \2\ Appointed to Committee October 18, 2023.
        \3\ Appointed to Subcommittee November 2, 2023. deg.
                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                                    hearings

                           Wednesday, March 15, 2023

                                                                       Page

    Government Accountability Office.................................     1
        Honorable Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General:
            Prepared Statement of....................................     6
            Statement of.............................................     3

    Government Publishing Office.....................................     1
        Honorable Hugh N. Halpern, Director:
            Prepared Statement of....................................    27
            Statement of.............................................    26

    Congressional Budget Office......................................     1
        Honorable Dr. Phillip Swagel, Director:
            Prepared Statement of....................................    31
            Statement of.............................................    29

                           Wednesday, March 22, 2023

    Library of Congress..............................................    47
        Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress:
            Prepared Statement of....................................    51
            Statement of.............................................    49

    Architect of the Capitol.........................................    47
        Chere Rexroat, Acting Architect of the Capitol:
            Prepared Statement of....................................    61
            Statement of.............................................    60

                           Wednesday, April 25, 2023

    United States Senate Sergeant at Arms andDoorkeeper..............    73
        Honorable Karen H. Gibson:
            Prepared Statement of....................................    77
            Statement of.............................................    75

    United States Capitol Police.....................................    73
        Chief J. Thomas Manger, Chief of Police:
            Prepared Statement of....................................    92
            Statement of.............................................    90
                                  ----------

                                  back matter

    List of Witnesses, Communications, and Prepared Statements.......   107

    Subject Index:
        Architect of the Capitol.....................................   109
        Congressional Budget Office..................................   109
        Government Accountability Office.............................   109
        Library of Congress..........................................   109
        United States Capitol Police.................................   110
        United States Senate Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper.........   110

             LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024

                                  ----------

                           WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2023

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

        The subcommittee met at 10:01 a.m., in room SD-138, Dirksen
    Senate Office Building, Hon. Jack Reed (Chairman), presiding.
        Present: Senators Reed and Fischer.

                          CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

                    THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE AND

                        THE GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

                     opening statement of senator jack reed

        Senator Reed. 2024 budget hearing, for the Legislative
    Branch Appropriations Subcommittee.
        I would like to welcome the Ranking Member, Senator
    Fischer, to the Appropriations Committee, and our subcommittee.
    As the Ranking Member of the Committee on Rules, she brings to
    this new role a wealth of knowledge about the operations of the
    Senate and its support agencies.
        And I know from serving with her on the Armed Services
    Committee, that she is a diligent worker, and a principal
    partner. I am delighted to be working with her, and the other
    Members of the subcommittee, in crafting responsible funding
    legislation that supports the Legislative Branch.
        Today, we have with us the Comptroller General, Gene
    Dodaro; Director Halpern; and Director Phillip Swagel. I would
    like to thank you for joining us to testify on your agency's
    fiscal year 2024 budget.
        I ask unanimous consent that the witnesses' written
    testimony be placed in the hearing record.
        Hearing no objection, so ordered.
        Again, let me begin by thanking the women and men of your
    agencies who work every day to facilitate the work of the
    Senate. Your agencies play key roles in ensuring that the
    Senate can perform its constitutional responsibilities.
        The Legislative Branch agencies have submitted to fiscal
    year 2024 budget request, that account for a $259-million
    increase over the fiscal year 2023 Legislative Branch
    Appropriations. While it is a priority to fund the important
    work of this Branch, we will be carefully considering these
    requests to ensure they continue to improve our ability to meet
    our responsibilities to govern effectively.
        In fiscal year 2024, the GAO is requesting $859.7 million
    in appropriated funds, which is an increase of $69.4 million
    over the fiscal year 2023 enacted level. The request proposes
    increasing the agencies' staffing level to 3,675 personnel, to
    fill critical skill gaps, and fulfill the GAO's mission to
    support Congress.
        With the mandate required of the GAO to oversee spending of
    pandemic and Ukraine assistance funding, as well as many other
    mandates to conduct audits and assessments of Federal programs,
    the GAO's workload continues to grow.
        The agencies' request also includes funding to continue
    building GAO's Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics
    team to provide Congress with the most critical current
    information about technology. The GAO performs critical work on
    behalf of the Senate, and I look forward to hearing from
    Comptroller General Dodaro on his agency's work.
        Today, we will also be reviewing the Government Printing
    Office request. The GPO is seeking an appropriation of $132.5
    million in fiscal year 2024, which is an increase of $2.6
    million over the fiscal year 2023 enacted level. The agency's
    request includes funding to continue its transformation to
    digital technologies which have increased productivity and
    reduce cost while facilitating public access to Congressional
    and other Government information.
        The work that the agency performs on a daily basis for the
    Senate is critical, and I look forward to the Director's
    testimony.
        And we will also hear from the Congressional Budget Office.
    The CBO plays an important nonpartisan role as it tries to
    provide clear, and objective, timely analysis, and reporting on
    budgetary and economic information for the Congress.
        The agency's fiscal year 2024 budget request of $70.8
    million, which is an increase of $7.5 million over fiscal year
    2023 enacted levels. This increase provides salary and benefits
    for 11 new positions that are intended to continue to improve
    the responsiveness of the agency to the Congress so that
    Legislative work can be informed by the important information
    provided by the agency. The increase also provides funding to
    improve the agency's cyber security infrastructure.
        Director Swagel and I have discussed the importance of the
    CBO's work, and how critical a timely response to Congressional
    requests is to our ability to conduct our work. I look forward
    to hearing about the innovative things the agency is doing to
    meet customer service expectations.
        With that said, the goal of the Senate Appropriations
    Committee is to return to normal order for appropriations
    bills. As such, this subcommittee will be aggressively working
    to produce a thoughtfully crafted bill that can be considered
    by the Full Committee and the Senate in the coming months.
        I look forward to the testimony of our witnesses, and to
    working with Senator Fischer towards this goal.
        And now, I will return to the Ranking Member, Senator
    Fischer, for any remarks she might have. Thank you.

                    opening statement of senator deb fischer

        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        This is my first hearing with the Appropriations Committee,
    and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as Ranking
    Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee.
        Chairman Reed, I have greatly enjoyed serving with you on
    the Armed Services Committee. I look forward to working with
    you on this subcommittee and crafting a fiscally responsible
    bill that will meet the needs of our agencies and their work to
    support the Congress.
        I would like to thank the three witnesses for appearing
    before the subcommittee today, and for their testimony.
        Before I discuss the specific details of your budget
    requests, I must note that we are entering an uncertain budget
    cycle. After years of significant spending increases the
    Federal Government, as a whole, must exercise more fiscal
    constraint. Throughout this year's appropriations process we
    need to be good stewards of taxpayer funds, and make
    investments where they are truly needed.
        Mr. Dodaro, as the Comptroller of the United States, you
    play a critical role in providing oversight of Government
    spending and finding needed improvements in Federal programs.
    For fiscal year 2024, the GAO seeks an increase of $69 million.
    This is a sizable request. I would like to hear from you how
    this proposed increase will expand audit capacity, and provide
    greater oversight of the Executive Branch.
        Dr. Swagel, the Congressional Budget Office--or the
    Congressional Budget Office's fiscal year 2024 request focuses
    on hiring new staff and building increased IT capacities. In
    your testimony I hope to hear how these proposed increases will
    improve CBO's forecasting accuracy and responsiveness to
    Congress.
        Mr. Halpern, the Government Publishing Office serves a much
    needed role in producing and preserving the official documents
    of the Federal Government. The GPO's budget request continues
    funding the transition to digital technologies that will
    achieve savings, while also increasing transparency for the
    American public. I look forward to learning more about these
    efforts in your testimony.
        Again, thank you, to our witnesses for being here today, I
    expect to have a productive conversation on these budget
    requests.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Reed. Thank you, Senator Fischer.
        I would like to first recognize, Comptroller General
    Dodaro, and then Director Halpern; and then, finally, Director
    Swagel.
                                    ------

                      THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

    STATEMENT OF HON. GENE L. DODARO, COMPTROLLER GENERAL,
                THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
                OFFICE
        General Dodaro. Thanks very much Mr. Chairman, good
    afternoon to you. Ranking Member, Senator Fischer, good
    afternoon. I am very pleased to be here to discuss GAO's
    request for fiscal year 2024.
        First, I want to thank this Committee for its past support
    of GAO's work. I believe we have provided a good return on
    investment. Last year as a result of the implementation of our
    recommendations there were financial benefits to the government
    of over $55 billion. And on average over the last 5 years, we
    have returned $145 to every dollar spent on GAO.
        Our work, for example, pointing out overlap duplication and
    fragmentation in the Federal Government is now in its 12th
    year. In the first 11 years, there have been financial savings
    of $552 billion. So we have passed the half-trillion mark in
    that area.
        Our work continues to be in high demand. We provide
    services to over 90 percent of the standing Congressional
    Committees as Members, Chairs, and Ranking Members request
    work. Our list of statutory mandates continues to grow. There
    are 158 mandates in the National Defense Authorization Act for
    this year and almost 100 mandates in the Consolidated
    Appropriations Act for 2023. There are 35 mandates in the
    Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Inflation
    Reduction Act requires GAO oversight. So far we have 32
    engagements ongoing or planned in that area.
        Mr. Chairman you mentioned the work in the Ukraine, where
    we were directed to provide oversight of the Federal assistance
    provided. We will be tracking military aid and humanitarian
    assistance, and looking at the replenishment at DOD of the
    military equipment provided to Ukraine.
        Also, recently, given the banking situation over the
    weekend, another mandate that GAO has will be triggered because
    we have to look at any designation of systemic risk made by the
    regulators. We also, during a global financial crisis, received
    statutory authority to review any Fed Emergency Lending
    Facility. So we will be looking at the lending facility the Fed
    recently set up. The CHIPS Bill had about 10 mandates for us as
    well.
        So demand, as you point out, Mr. Chairman, continues to
    grow. And I think it is a good thing because the list of our
    domestic and international issues continue to grow. GAO can
    provide good assistance to the Congress in addressing these
    pressing national issues.
        Now, Senator Fischer, of the 165 new FTEs that we want;
    there are four areas that I would like to increase our
    resources in. One is the science and technology area. Congress
    gave GAO the responsibility to conduct technology assessments.
    We are currently conducting assessments of forensic attribution
    of chemical weapons, regenerative medicine, and precision
    agriculture, which is one of the requirements in the CHIPS Act.
    And we will conduct a technology assessment of satellite
    defense technologies.
        The use of artificial intelligence, biotechnology,
    decarbonization technologies, and other technologies is
    increasing faster than any time in human history. It is very
    important that GAO provide these technology assessments to the
    Congress so they can make timely and informed decisions.
        Second, is National Defense: In addition to the Ukraine
    assistance that we will examine, there are 158 mandates in the
    National Defense Authorization Act. We have deep knowledge in
    every service in the DOD. For example, we are looking at the
    Air Force Modernization and the Nuclear Command Control
    Communication Systems.
        I would like to do more work in the readiness of the Guard
    and the Reserve and in the recruitment areas. We have noted the
    Army is having recruitment problems and the Air Force just
    noted some recruitment problems as well. So there is much more
    work to do, particularly as we strive to maintain our
    competitive advantage against competitors in China, Russia, and
    others. So I think that is very important.
        Third, is cyber security: We have been advocating for many
    years that we have a national cyber security strategy. The
    Administration just issued one, but the government needs an
    implementation plan to make sure it is implemented effectively.
    GAO has deep knowledge in cyber security and can help to
    examine this important area.
        The last area I will mention is health care. Health care
    costs are growing faster than any other part of the Federal
    Government. And if we are going to get control over our budget
    deficit and cumulative debt we must do more work to control
    spending in the health care area. We have a lot of suggestions
    on ways to save in that area, and can help Congress figure out
    how to control those costs.
        So thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Senator Fischer. I
    would be happy to answer questions at the appropriate time.
        [The statement follows:]
        GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT

        Senator Reed. Thank you, very much Comptroller General.
        Director Halpern, please.
                                    ------

                        THE GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

    STATEMENT OF HON. HUGH N. HALPERN, DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT
                PUBLISHING OFFICE
        Mr. Halpern. Thank you, Mr. Chairman; Ranking Member
    Fischer.
        I would note, this is also my first hearing before the
    Senate Appropriations Committee, so I am very happy to be here.
        For fiscal year 2024, GPO is requesting about $132.5
    million in appropriated funds, which is, overall, about a 2
    percent increase, well below the level of inflation.
        As you know GPO operates very much as a commercial
    enterprise, about 88 percent of our, more than a billion-dollar
    annual budget comes from directly billing our other Federal
    customers. Of the three categories covered by our
    appropriations request the largest is what funds Congress' own
    needs.
        Based on our experience we estimate that we will need about
    $83 million for Congress' printing and publishing work during
    fiscal year 2024. That will cover everything from the
    Congressional record, bills, reports, hearings, and more
    specialized publications, stationery, and unique materials,
    such as the blank books that the Senate and the House use to
    keep the journal.
        The second category of funding is for GPO's public
    information programs. We are requesting about $37 million to
    fund the Federal Depository Library Program, and support the
    operation of GovInfo, the world's only ISO-certified, trusted
    digital repository.
        Our partnership with about 1,100 libraries nationwide, and
    continued investment in our digital offerings, ensures that
    government documents are easily available regardless of how you
    get them. This request also, notably, includes funding to
    implement the recently enacted access to Congressionally
    Mandated Reports Act.
        Lastly, we are requesting a direct appropriation of about
    $12.1 million to our revolving fund to support a few specific
    agency initiatives, and that is an increase of less than $0.5
    million from our last appropriation.
        The specific appropriation funds the continued development
    of XPub, our next-generation composition engine, among some
    other priorities. This is a major agency initiative central to
    our own modernization efforts, and those of our customers that
    use our software in their printing stack.
        I am proud that last fall XPub released the--reached the
    Release 1.0 stage, and is now in testing with our customers in
    the Senate, and House Offices of Legislative Council.
        It is my sincere hope that our customers will be
    comfortable enough to start using XPub to produce bills,
    resolutions, and amendments as early as this summer. Once it
    enters production, we will see new capabilities come online,
    such as fully responsive and formatted text view of
    legislation, which will allow that output to be repurposed for
    any number of purposes
        So with that, I will wrap up, and just thank you, on behalf
    of myself, and everybody at GPO, our 1,600 craftspeople and
    professionals; to thank you for your past support, and support
    in the future.
        And I am ready to answer any questions you may have.
        [The statement follows:]
           Prepared Statement of The Honorable Hugh Nathanial Halpern
        Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the
    Subcommittee, I am honored to present the Government Publishing
    Office's (GPO's) fiscal year 2024 appropriations request. I thank you
    and your staff for your past support of GPO and I look forward to
    working closely with you during my time as Director. For the coming
    fiscal year, I am requesting appropriations in the amount of
    $132,488,000, an increase of $2,634,000 over our FY 2023 appropriation.
        This marks just the third time in a decade that GPO has requested
    an increase in appropriated funds and incorporates increased costs in
    labor and materials, while accommodating certain initiatives of
    importance to Congress. Our FY 2024 request represents a 2 percent
    increase over FY 2023, less than a third of the increase in the
    consumer price index during calendar year 2022. It is also 10.2 percent
    lower than the Agency's all-time high appropriation of $147.5 million
    in FY 2010.
        GPO runs as a business enterprise and appropriated funds represent
    a comparatively small portion of GPO's overall revenue and operating
    capital. Over 88 percent--or $934 million--of GPO's FY 2022 revenue of
    $1.06 billion came from billings of its other Federal customers,
    including the State Department, the courts, the Department of Defense,
    and many others. For FY 2024, we estimate that direct appropriations
    may be an even smaller portion of our overall budget.
                  charting a course for the future in fy 2022
        At GPO, fiscal year 2022 was one of significant accomplishment and
    encouraging progress. After a challenging 2020, the Agency was able to
    close out our books with a net positive income for the 2nd straight
    year, retaining $26.2 million in FY 2022.
        We are also proud that our efforts to modernize and build a dynamic
    and welcoming workplace are starting to attract attention. Forbes
    Magazine recently rated us--for the 2nd year running!--as one of
    America's Best Midsize Employers after having also honored us as one of
    the nation's Best Employers for Veterans in 2022.
        To help chart a new course for our agency, in FY 2022 we released
    an ambitious five-year strategic plan for fiscal years 2023 through
    2027 and updated our vision and mission statements to better reflect
    GPO's role in our digital present. Today, GPO's vision is that of an
    America Informed, and we aim to achieve our mission of publishing
    trusted information for the Federal Government to the American people
    guided by four key values--honesty, kindness, effectiveness, and
    inclusiveness.
        We also convened the Task Force on a Digital Federal Depository
    Library Program (FDLP) to modernize the FDLP to meet the challenges of
    the future. The Task Force issued recommendations in December and I
    recently shared with Congress a set of legislative proposals consistent
    with those recommendations.
        During FY 2022, GPO completed the transition from the production of
    the ePassport for the State Department to the Next Generation Passport
    (NGP) Program. This transition reaffirmed the United States' position
    as the global leader in the most innovative and secure international
    travel credentials and concluded production of the ePassport after a
    production run of more than 220 million units between 2007 and 2022.
    All told we produced a total of 18,151,000 ePassports and NGPs in FY
    2022.
        GPO's single biggest challenge is maintaining a workforce prepared
    to carry on its work well into the future. Fifty percent of our
    workforce is eligible to retire in the next 4 years. That's one out of
    every two proofreaders, presspeople, bookbinders, carpenters,
    electricians, IT specialists, contracting officers, and a host of other
    trades and professions working at GPO. To ensure that GPO continues to
    attract and retain an exceptional workforce in the years ahead, we
    established the Recent Graduates Program and restarted our
    Apprenticeship Program in FY 2022.
        We also readied ourselves to execute the requirements of the
    Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, which directs GPO to build a
    portal to make those reports publicly available, and we celebrated the
    9 billionth retrieval of government information from Agency websites
    since GPO began publishing government information in 1994.
        Our Customer Services business unit awarded $477 million in
    competitive contracts to private-sector printers nationwide supporting
    thousands of jobs in all 50 states, and their biennial survey revealed
    a customer satisfaction rate of 95.3 percent.
        We produced tickets and credentials for the Supreme Court
    nomination hearing of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and had the solemn
    honor of creating the Lying In State Memorial Programs for
    Representative Don E. Young, former Senate Majority Leader Harry M.
    Reid, and former Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole.
        And--for the 26th consecutive year--GPO's independent outside
    auditor provided us with an unmodified, or clean, opinion on our annual
    financial statements.
                      gpo's fy 2024 appropriations request
        For FY 2024, GPO is requesting an $2,634,000 increase in
    appropriations to $132,488,000. This increase will account for changes
    in our labor and raw materials costs and also fund certain ongoing
    projects of importance to congressional customers.
        This would be GPO's only third proposed increase in appropriations
    since FY 2014 and is actually 10.2 percent less than our FY 2010
    appropriation. Increased productivity through the adoption of new
    technologies has been key to keeping GPO's needs for appropriations
    down, and providing new and improved services at lower costs.
        One tool we used to keep our appropriations requests low was to
    repurpose prior-year unexpended balances. We appreciate the willingness
    of this Subcommittee and the Full Committee to allow GPO to use those
    balances in support of programs and capital investments that benefit
    the original purpose of the appropriated funds.
        However, those balances are declining which forces GPO to request
    additional funds if we are to continue our current pace of development
    and innovation.
        Our FY 2024 request includes $83,000,000 for congressional
    publishing, just $8,000 more than our FY 2023 appropriation. It is
    based on our estimates of Congress' likely needs and available
    unexpended balances. It also incorporates increased costs for raw
    materials and labor. In constant-dollar terms it represents a 35
    percent reduction for congressional publishing appropriations since FY
    2010.
        Our request for our public information programs (PIP) account,
    through which we administer the nationwide Federal Depository Library
    Program, is $37,388,000. This represents an increase of $2,131,000--or
    6 percent--over FY 2023, and will cover the costs of providing Federal
    Government publications in digital and tangible formats to 1,100
    Federal depository libraries nationwide, cataloging and indexing, and
    distributing documents to recipients designated by law and
    international exchanges. In addition to increased compensation and
    materials costs, this request also includes some implementation costs
    attributed to the Congressionally Mandated Reports Act.
        Even with this proposed increase, the PIP appropriation will be 8.6
    percent lower than the amount appropriated in FY 2010, or 34 percent
    lower in constant-dollar terms.
        The final component of our appropriations request is for a total of
    $12,100,000 for GPO's revolving fund to support capital investments and
    information technology upgrades, which represents an increase of
    $495,000 over amounts appropriated in FY 2023. This component of our
    request is critically important to ensuring that GPO can make the
    capital investments in equipment and technology needed to continue
    providing Congress and our Federal agency customers with the high level
    of service they expect.
        This request will support three specific capital investment
    projects that will be familiar to the Subcommittee, as they represent
    longstanding GPO priorities.
        First, we are seeking direct appropriations support for our
    continued development of the XPub composition system, which is intended
    to fully replace our proprietary MicroComp composition system, which is
    more than 30 years old.
        A transformational project for GPO, XPub is being deployed on a
    product-by-product basis. Our current release is in testing with our
    House and Senate customers and is slated to be in production with the
    House, Senate, and GPO Bill End during FY 2023. Features in this
    release include integration with House and Senate XML authoring tools
    for bills, and a new responsive HTML display for congressional bills
    and Public Laws.
        If approved, our $6,575,000 appropriation request will keep XPub
    development and deployment on track in FY 2024. Once development is
    complete, we hope to provide XPub to our customers as a software-as-a-
    service (SAAS) application, ensuring that there is a dedicated stream
    of income to support continued development of the platform without the
    need for separate recurring appropriations.
        The second component of GPO's FY 2024 request for increased capital
    investment appropriations would support continued development of the
    GovInfo online portal, the world's only ISO-certified trusted digital
    repository. In recent years, the Subcommittee directly appropriated
    funds to refresh GovInfo's infrastructure and further develop its
    content collections. This year's request of $5,375,000 for GovInfo is
    $500,000 less than the amount appropriated in FY 2023, and it would be
    divided between infrastructure investments ($1,875,000) and development
    investments ($3,500,000), including the digitization of historical
    content.
        With the Subcommittee's sustained support, GPO has been able to add
    hundreds of thousands of additional documents to the GovInfo online
    repository each year--over 152,000 content packages were added in FY
    2022--and the public's usage of GovInfo continues to grow, with more
    than 868 million retrievals from GovInfo in FY 2022.
        The third component of GPO's request for increased appropriations
    for its business operations revolving fund account is for $150,000 to
    support GPO's broad and ongoing efforts to defend against advanced
    persistent threat attacks (APTs) to its information technology systems.
        Lastly, before I conclude, I want to add that, as required by
    section 1604(c) of the Legislative Branch Inspectors General
    Independence Act, we have forwarded our Inspector General's request for
    $7,243,000 in budget authority for FY 2024 as part of our FY 2024
    Budget Submission. Currently that request is funded as part of GPO's
    agency overhead--a component of the prices and rates GPO charges its
    agency customers and Congress--and not as a separate appropriation.
        Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the
    Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to present GPO's FY 2024
    appropriations request, and for all the support you and your staff have
    extended to us during these challenging past 2 years. This completes my
    prepared statement, and I look forward to answering any questions you
    may have.

        Senator Reed. Thank you, Mr. Director.
        Director Swagel, please.
                                    ------

                          CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

    STATEMENT OF HON. DR. PHILLIP SWAGEL, DIRECTOR,
                CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
        Dr. Swagel. Thank you, Chairman Reed; Ranking Member
    Fischer, thank you for the opportunity to present the
    Congressional Budget Office's budget request.
        The purpose of my testimony today to request an
    appropriation of $70.8 million for fiscal year 2024. This is an
    increase of $7.5 million, or 12 percent, over the amount
    provided in 2023.
        I recognize that is a large request. A big part of that
    reflects inflation and paying for deferred IT costs from 2023.
    Our request is targeted to support CBO's mission to provide
    nonpartisan analysis to the Congress that is timely, rigorous,
    and transparent. We will carry out this mission with integrity.
        CBO is here to support you. We support the Appropriations
    Committee and the authorizing committees in several ways. When
    legislation is heading to a vote, or is on the floor, CBO staff
    analyze amendments in real time, sometimes hundreds or even
    thousands of them for bills such as the NDAA, or last year's
    CHIPS Act and the 2022 reconciliation legislation.
        CBO staff worked long hours over the past few months on
    last year's major legislation, most recently the December 2022
    Omnibus. We are working hard to provide Congress with timely
    and accurate budget and economic projections, cost estimates,
    and other information.
        Our request for 2024 will enable us to do even better in
    terms of our responsiveness and transparency. Roughly, two-
    thirds, or 4.8 million, of the proposed $7.5-million increase
    would be for personnel costs. That amount would cover salaries
    and benefits to hire 11 new staff members in 2024, and to fully
    fund the staff members we hired at various times in 2023.
        These new hires would allow CBO to provide more analysis in
    particular areas of Congressional focus, such as Defense and
    Homeland Security, especially energy, infrastructure, and
    climate, health policy, income security, immigration, and to
    improve our long-term budget analysis.
        Even while the increase would allow us to grow, most of the
    request would cover inflation adjustments and performance-based
    salary increases for the staff we already have.
        The remaining part, about $2.8 million, would be for non-
    personnel costs, and represents a 57 percent increase over last
    year. The increase is large because last year CBO deferred
    expenses for certain computing services and equipment.
        We are now analyzing the President's budget to provide
    information for the appropriations process. We support the
    Appropriators Committees by providing real time provision-by-
    provision estimates of the 12 annual appropriations bills, and
    any supplemental appropriations bills that come. And similarly,
    we will provide hundreds of cost estimates for legislation.
    This year CBO is committed to returning to its historical
    benchmark of providing cost estimates before a floor vote for
    nearly all bills that have been ordered reported.
        We will publish dozens of reports, both statutory and
    requested, and we will work with member offices in both
    Chambers as they consider and draft legislation. We will
    publish interactive tools, presentations, slide decks, and
    other products to bring our work to a wide audience, and to
    increase the transparency of our analysis.
        So finally, let me just recap. To achieve our goal to be as
    responsive as possible, CBO requests an increase of $7.5
    million. With your support, we look forward to continuing to
    provide timely and high quality analysis to the Congress.
        Thank you for your support. And I am happy to take any
    questions.
        [The statement follows:]

        Senator Reed. Thank you very much, gentlemen, for your
    testimony, and for the great work that you have done, and your
    colleagues have done to support the Congress.
        Comptroller General Dodaro, you spoke, and in fact we had a
    chance to speak on the phone. I really appreciate you taking
    the time from your little sabbatical with the family. And one
    of the issues that we spoke about was, again, a part of today's
    testimony, that is the mandates that you receive as both
    Members of the Armed Forces Committee, many of them come from
    us, but not all.
        General Dodaro. Right.
        Senator Reed. Let me put the record straight, but not all,
    we carry a lot of other bills; but those mandates I think are--
    if you could comment on how they impact your work and how you
    have structured the budget to ensure you cover all those
    mandates.
        And also, I think it is worthwhile emphasizing, again, the
    fact that the--and the cost benefit analyses, the benefits you
    have rendered to the Congress and the Nation have been
    significant. So if you could comment?
        General Dodaro. Yes, absolutely. First, I believe mandates
    are a very important part of GAO's work. We track every week,
    every bill that is introduced in Congress, and there are
    hundreds of mandates every year from committees across
    Congress, including outside the Defense Committees. I think
    they are important, and we try to work with the committees to
    make sure that what actually gets passed are mandates within
    our scope of authority and competency, and have timeframes that
    we can meet. We do all of that work in advance working with the
    committees.
        Mandates reinforce our nonpartisan, transparent reputation,
    because by definition, they are generally bicameral and
    direction for GAO work. It is the broadest expression of
    Congressional interest in our work. Also, the reports are
    released to the entire Congress and the public when they are
    ready to be released, as opposed to requests from Chairs and
    Ranking Members, who can hold the report up for 30 days before
    they release it.
        We are to the point now where we are doing more work as a
    result of mandates than requests from committees. I think the
    balance is good. So we built the demand from mandates into our
    request. And where we are receiving more of these mandates, or
    interests from the Congress, are in the four priority areas
    that I previously mentioned.
        Senator Reed. Mm-hmm.
        General Dodaro. Science and technology, national defense,
    health care, and cyber security. The number of cyber security
    requests and mandates has just proliferated as that issue has
    grown, and will continue to grow more complex. Those issues
    will not be resolved anytime soon, and they will become more
    complicated.
        Now, we also plan our work to get a good return on
    investment. And the work that we do on the high-risk areas--
    where we designate areas that are susceptible to mismanagement,
    fraud, waste, and abuse issues that has returned, in the last
    17 years, $675 billion; so we get about $40 billion a year from
    targeting those areas where we know that there is waste, and
    abuse, and can be better management.
        The overlap, duplication, and fragmentation work, as I
    mentioned, is over a-half-trillion dollars in savings so far,
    and that is only with Congress implementing, and the
    administration, about 74 percent of our recommendations.
        Many of our unimplemented recommendations can yield tens of
    billions of dollars more. We will be updating the high-risk
    list next month before Congress, with hearings in both the
    House and Senate. We will also issue our next fragmentation,
    overlap, and duplication report, which includes opportunities
    for cost savings and revenue enhancements.
        Senator Reed. Mm-hmm.
        General Dodaro. The Inflation Reduction Act also directed
    that we provide oversight. We will do a lot of work at IRS
    examining the funding provided to the agency under the Act.
        I am confident we can continue to provide a good return on
    investment, help the Congress meet these national, pressing
    issues in these areas, and respond to all the mandates in a
    timely manner.
        Senator Reed. Thank you, Comptroller General.
        Director Halpern, your agency does very good work, we see
    the paper every day, and we are not disappointed. But can you
    highlight some of the improvements you intend to make, going
    forward, with this budget that you suggested?
        Mr. Halpern. Absolutely. I mentioned in my testimony XPub,
    our next-generation composition engine, and that bears a little
    bit of explanation.
        Senator Reed. Please.
        Mr. Halpern. So GPO built the software stack the Congress
    prints on, so every time you go to the Senate Office of
    Legislative Council, and they hit Control-P, our software takes
    over. The problem is that software was originally written in
    1982, and is still in use today. So every time Microsoft is
    helpful and upgrades Windows, it takes a lot of work, on our
    part, to make sure that our systems continue to function.
        But this is also an opportunity, and it is an opportunity
    to bring new technology that will speed up the process, and
    provide Congress with new options in a very cost-effective way.
    So XPub builds on the work that Congress has been doing over
    the last several decades, to build the legislative process
    around structured data. So instead of having a file that
    describes just how something looks, this is bold, this is small
    caps, or something along those lines; it is: No, this is a
    heading, this is text, this is a paragraph, this is a sub-
    paragraph.
        Ad what that does is that enables, whether it is folks here
    in Congress, or folks out in the public, to build new software
    tools, to look at that data in new and different ways, ways
    that can help you understand what is going on, provide lots of
    links to GAO work, or CBO's work, or whatever.
        So updating our system to be an XML Native system, and
    improving the tools that we provide Congress to author things
    like committee reports, and hearings, and all of those kinds of
    things, will vastly cut down on the time it takes to prepare
    them, the complexity that is involved.
        You pair that with other Investments that we are making in
    digital inkjet press technology. So think of that digital
    inkjet printer that is sitting next to your desk, except it is
    the size of two panel bands.
        Senator Reed. Mm-hmm.
        Mr. Halpern. And we can literally print thousands of pages
    per minute. But that digital technology enables a whole host of
    other options for Congress. So for instance, you look at the
    report this Committee will put out on this bill, it is in small
    type, it is in a weird document size, and all of those things,
    that format was designed to cut down on costs in old-style
    offset printing.
        With digital inkjet technology, we are not constrained by
    that any longer. So we can make that report whatever size you
    want, we also have the ability to easily add graphics, easily
    add color, all of those kinds of things. So if you take XPub,
    and you take these other digital technologies and combine them,
    you are really at an inflection point for Congress to decide:
    How do we want our documents to look for the next, the next
    century?
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much. With your permission,
    may I ask one more question?
        Senator Fischer. Sure.
        Senator Reed. Thank you. Director Swagel, you know, you
    have brought up, and we have had a discussion about this, to
    the timeliness of response. Now, this is a: it takes two to
    tango.
        Dr. Swagel. Mm-hmm.
        Senator Reed. Sometimes we call you with a: We are ready to
    go at 1:00 a.m., and we would like to go at 2:00 o'clock that
    afternoon, we expect you to respond, correct?
        Dr. Swagel. It does happen once in a while.
        Senator Reed. It does happen once in a while.
        Dr. Swagel. Once in a while, yes.
        Senator Reed. So yes, this is not just the problems, but
    can you tell us what you are doing with this proposed budget to
    increase the timeliness of your response to Congressional
    requests.
        Dr. Swagel. Yes, sir. And that really is our focus. A
    couple of things. We have innovated in some ways; we are
    looking at bills that are reported out of committee to
    determine how we can do things faster, maybe not a full-blown
    cost estimate, but get them to the table they need to satisfy
    the budget requirements.
        And we have done that. We did that for Homeland Security
    last Congress and we will continue to do that when it is
    helpful to committees. We are doing that for bills. Regarding
    the House, it is bills coming on the suspension calendar. The
    same thing, we are doing a table with a group of those
    together.
        There is that sort of innovation too where things that are
    moving quickly that maybe we haven't seen to say, well, let us
    do what we need to do to get it on its way even if it is not
    our full-blown process. And then what the budget request will
    allow us to continue to do, is focus additional resources on
    the areas where we know we have fallen behind.
        And you and I have talked about National Security, Homeland
    Security, we just need more people. We have great people
    working on that, we just need more of them, and that is what I
    am hoping to add.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Mr. Dodaro, the GAO's fiscal year 2024 request proposes an
    increase to develop additional oversight capabilities in four
    key areas, which you have mentioned; that includes national
    security. In your written testimony you note that GAO seeks to
    expand assessments of individual defense programs in DOD's
    readiness posture. Can you please explain what specific
    elements of the request will serve to increase GAO's national
    security capacity, including conducting DOD assessments, and
    fulfilling the defense-related mandates that Congress has set
    for GAO?
        General Dodaro. Yes. A good portion of our existing
    resources are in the defense area, because it is half of the
    U.S. government's discretionary budget and the defense budget
    has been increasing. We see a lot of need for additional work
    in this area.
        Of the 165 additional FTE that our fiscal year 2024 budget
    would support, Senator Fischer, I would like to put 40 more
    people into the defense area. This would expand our teams that
    conduct work in this area and expand our capacity to do more
    work and make sure that we can meet the mandates in a timely
    fashion.
        Most of the mandates that are in the National Defense
    Authorization Act require us to report early in the next cycle
    for the next annual bill. And that timing can be a challenge.
    So sometimes we have to meet the required dates with a briefing
    rather than a full report being issued later. I am hoping, that
    with the additional resources, we can increase our ability to
    meet the mandated due dates with full reports, which would then
    allow us to take on other requests from Committee Chairs and
    Ranking Members across the Congress.
        As I mentioned, there are some critical areas that we are
    not going to be able to get to without additional resources. I
    think the recruitment and retention of our military personnel
    is one of those areas. The Army, I understand, reported that
    they missed their recruitment goals last year by 25 percent,
    and the Air Force just missed them by 10 percent or so. I would
    also like to do more work on the Guard and National Reserve
    readiness issues.
        Also, the Defense Department is spending a lot of resources
    on artificial intelligence, and I think they need to show good
    results in that area. We have developed an artificial
    intelligence accountability framework to help ensure that
    Federal agencies use AI responsibility. Using this framework,
    we can now audit agencies' algorithms and related AI systems to
    make sure that they are doing what they intend to do.
        And we have also tried to provide DOD more guidance to
    build in computer security requirements in the development of
    new weapon systems, which they weren't doing before. And so I
    would like to do more work in the cyber area, in artificial
    intelligence, and hypersonic weapons----
        Senator Fischer. Can you?
        General Dodaro. Yes.
        Senator Fischer. Since I am new here.
        General Dodaro. Yes.
        Senator Fischer. Can you tell me how, when you are looking
    for 40 more staff, what qualifications do they have to have?
    Not just with regards for defense.
        General Dodaro. Right.
        Senator Fischer. And you are mentioning things like
    ``hypersonics'', and cyber----
        General Dodaro. Right.
        Senator Fischer [continuing]. And you talked about
    satellites. What do you look for in areas of expertise in order
    to have confidence in the numbers, in what they are proposing?
        General Dodaro. Oh, sure. In GAO we have both subject area
    and technical specialists. The subject area specialists tend to
    focus on a particular program or agency and have deep subject
    matter expertise and experience. For example, we have people
    that know the Defense Department inside and out and have been
    looking a defense issues for 20/30 years and have experience
    working with the different services.
        We also have technical specialists.
        We have scientists looking, for example, at the
    modernization of nuclear warheads. Among other subject matter
    experts, we have a PhD-level nuclear physicist on board to help
    with this work. Our teams are developed by putting together
    interdisciplinary teams. So we assemble teams with program
    experts like those with defense expertise, with technical
    specialists and others. We have so many program experts in
    defense, and then I have these scientists, people that are
    quantum experts, I have people that are biologists and----
        Senator Fischer. Do you ever reach out to the Department of
    Defense, and you know, not just ask questions but do you ever
    take information from them as well?
        General Dodaro. Oh, absolutely, yes. As part of auditing
    process, we get their views and information and documents from
    them, such as test plans. For example, every year we look at
    the Portfolio of Weapon Systems, to obtain information on cost
    and schedule performance. We have a very multidisciplinary
    workforce.
        Senator Fischer. That is helpful. Thank you.
        General Dodaro. Yes.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you.
        General Dodaro. Sure.
        Senator Fischer. Dr. Swagel, in your testimony, in your
    written testimony you mentioned that CBO's workload from
    Congress in 2022 strained the agency's resources in many areas.
    The fiscal year 2024 request seeks an 11.8 percent increase to
    improve capacity through hiring more staff and spending on new
    information technology systems. Can you elaborate on how the
    2022 legislative period strained CBO, and why the proposed
    increases are the correct answer to this problem?
        Dr. Swagel. Yes. And in a sense it was. Last Congress,
    there was both the regular work that we do for committees as
    they develop legislation in both Chambers then, in parallel
    there were legislative efforts, the larger more complex ones,
    that were largely outside of the committee process; the
    Omnibus, the two Reconciliation Bills, the CHIPS Act, the
    Infrastructure Bill, the Guns and Mental Health Bill. In
    substance, we are set up to work in regular order through the
    committees. We will work however the Congress works; we are
    just not set up for that. I think we managed, we innovatively
    managed. But I can see we just need more people.
        There is a part of it we are doing internally to make our
    people more flexible, and have overlapping portfolios, so we
    need to adjust inside. But I really think we just need to grow
    a bit to be able to handle that.
        Senator Fischer. As you are looking at adjusting what
    areas, issue areas, do you see Congress maybe turning to and
    focusing on that were in the near-term?
        Dr. Swagel. Mm-hmm.
        Senator Fischer. And how do you--how do you prepare for
    that?
        Dr. Swagel. Yes. We are at our best when we have our
    analysis done before; when we get to the issue before you do,
    and we do it sometimes. The Surprise Billing that was enacted a
    few years ago, we had our analysis ready, and so we did
    hundreds of iterations on that because we were ready.
        We are building capacity in some things, so I mentioned
    national security, we have capacity, we need more. Immigration,
    we say a lot, and I think excellent work, on the fiscal impacts
    of immigrants, but not on the wider impacts. What they do at
    the border, what they do inside the homeland, what they do for
    the economy, entrepreneurship. That is one area where I want to
    build our capacity. Health care is another. There are a couple
    of other topic areas where I am looking ahead thinking: Where
    will Congress go?
        Just one last sentence; on the near term, we are doing a
    lot on the sort of near-term spending; sort of what is going to
    happen in the near term on the budget. We are working very
    closely with the two budget committees and the two leaderships
    on that as well.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you.

                           HIRING QUALIFIED PERSONNEL

        Senator Reed. I just have a few brief questions; a question
    for everyone at the panel and beginning with the Comptroller
    General. One of the issues we hear consistently is the
    inability to hire qualified personnel throughout the economy of
    the United States, small businesses, large businesses, et
    cetera.
        Interestingly, today, we had a hearing where we had a
    nominee for manpower in the Department of Defense, and a
    nominee for Navy acquisition. It turned out, at the end, we
    discovered that they are competing against each other for
    personnel, shipyard workers versus, you know, sailors for the
    Navy. So I wonder if you are having that same problem.
        General Dodaro. No.
        Senator Reed. Great.
        General Dodaro. At GAO we have no problem. My entire time
    as Comptroller General, which now I have been in this position
    15 years, we have been ranked as one of the best places to work
    in the Federal Government.
        Senator Reed. Mm-hmm.
        General Dodaro. The last 2 years we have been number one
    across the entire Federal Government for mid-size agencies. We
    have a strong intern program, a nationwide recruiting program,
    we have a great mission, we provide people with flexibilities,
    and our work is used by the Congress. So people can actually
    see the results of their work, and they can work in a
    nonpartisan environment, and help the country.
        So we have no problems. We are on track to meet our 2023
    hiring plan. Our attrition is only about 6 percent, so we don't
    have a turnover problem, and people stay at GAO because they
    are satisfied with the work that they do.
        Senator Reed. All right then.
        Director Halpern.
        Mr. Halpern. Senator, you have hit on my number one
    challenge at GPO. So 50 percent of our team will be eligible to
    retire within the next 4 years. That means one out of every two
    press people, proofreaders, IT specialists, contract
    specialists, electricians, carpenters, book binders, you name
    it, our workforce tends to be a little older than the Federal
    average by three or 4 years.
        And attracting the kinds of folks who can do the crafts
    that we need at GPO is a challenge. So we have tried to respond
    to this in a number of different ways. One is, we have
    reactivated our Recent Grads Program where we are trying to
    recruit heavily from recent college grads. We, too, have been
    on Forbes' list of Best Places to Work, 2 years running now,
    something we are very proud of.
        And our first class, I want to say was 22 people this year.
    We expect to double that next year. We have also restarted our
    apprenticeship program, something that goes back 140 years, or
    so. Our first class was eight proofreaders, a particularly
    critical need for us. Next year we hope to up the
    apprenticeship class to 20 people across a whole variety of
    trades: press people, book binders, and the rest. We have also
    responded by creating new kinds of roles.
        So GPO is a heavily unionized institution. I have got 12
    different bargaining units I work with, and they have actually
    been a great partner throughout this. But we worked very
    closely with our book binder union to create what we call
    production technicians. So somebody who may not have training
    as a book binder, but shows some proficiency in machine and
    manufacturing operations, and we bring them in and we have a 3-
    year, on-the-job training program.
        So at the end of that they are earning--they are a full-
    fledged book binder, and they are earning probably about $44 an
    hour in today's dollars. So it is a--there are a lot of
    opportunities for young people. We are working hard to make
    sure we are recruiting out of high schools, and community
    colleges as well to try and fill that need.
        But you know, one of the reasons we are investing in
    technology is to cut down on the actual number of people we
    need, but we can't do it without replacing some of the folks we
    know are going to leave for their well-earned retirement.
        Senator Reed. Well, please keep us advised of that because
    it is--you know, it is a short horizon before you are in, so it
    is a significant issue.
        And Director Swagel, your comments on--could you get that
    microphone closer?
        Dr. Swagel. Oh. I have to push the button; sorry about
    that. We see it at both the macro and the micro level. At the
    macro level our budget analysis takes into account that there
    is over a million workers missing from the economy, and so that
    is affecting the economy and then it affects us at an agency
    level.
        Senator Reed. Mm-hmm.
        Dr. Swagel. And we hire people who are mission-oriented,
    people who want to give back and enter public service. We have
    been successful; we have to work at it, but we have been
    successful. We also have shifted to younger workers in that we
    have expanded the number we hire right out of college. Less
    experience of course, but they tend to be more flexible and
    that has been helpful.
        The challenge we face is given the age of our workforce, we
    hire people right after college; after a Master's, after a
    Ph.D. The really sort of chief years of fertility, of child
    rearing, and childcare. Administratively, we are part of the
    House, we are at the very bottom of the priority list for
    childcare in the House. And so that is one of the key
    challenges that CBO faces.
        Senator Reed. Well, that is something perhaps we might
    consider and work on.
        Senator Fischer.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you. Mr. Halpern, as part of the
    NDAA that passed Congress last December, the access to
    Congressionally Mandated Reports Act became law. GPO is now
    responsible for collecting and making publicly available all
    the congressionally mandated reports from Federal agencies in
    one central online portal.
        The fiscal year 2024 request seeks an increase of $500,000
    to develop the additional web system and contract support. Can
    you explain this new responsibility for the agency, and where
    you are in the process of implementing that?
        Mr. Halpern. Absolutely. So let me let me start before I
    came to GPO, when I was at Committee Council in the House. So I
    was responsible for all of the back office operations for the
    multiple committees I worked for, and one of those was handling
    these executive communications when they came in.
        And I will tell you exactly how it happened. The
    parliamentarians in the Speaker's Office would bundle them into
    an envelope, they would send them to us, we would put that
    envelope in a filing cabinet, and at the end of the Congress we
    would put it into a gray archive box, and send it off to the
    archives, with nobody ever having actually looked at them.
        If we fast forward to today, and the goal of the
    Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, it is to get some eyes on
    these reports, both here, inside the building, and externally
    amongst the public. The good news is, we have already got the
    infrastructure to support this. So GovInfo, the world's only
    ISO-certified, trusted digital repository, where all of your
    data is put online, and shared with our partners at the
    library, and at the archives, and the public, that provides
    sort of the bones that we need to build this system.
        The amount that we are requesting is for those custom
    elements that we are going to need to build, to put this in
    place. And the idea will be that these agencies will be able to
    submit these reports. We will work with them to provide
    standards for them to do that, and then provide both a PDF
    digital version of that, so it maintains that print fidelity,
    as well as a machine-readable format.
        And that is going to start out a little bit more simply; it
    is going to start out as more of a simple----
        Senator Fischer. What impact do you think this requirement
    is going to have on future budgets?
        Mr. Halpern. I am hopeful that it will not be huge;
    probably in that neighborhood of about half-a-million dollars a
    year. So we would like to get to the point where, in order to
    facilitate this for Federal agencies we build, essentially, a
    Word template. And we say: Here you go. You have got this
    requirement, if you use this Word template, we can provide you
    good, press-ready formatted material, and easily ingest that
    into a machine-readable format as well.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, very much.
        Mr. Dodaro, the agency's budget request highlights the
    oversight of the Inflation Reduction Act, and that is going to
    be a central part of GAO's workload in the coming years, that
    includes 32 ongoing or planned audits through 2025, and there
    will be more in the future, as you know. How does the request
    align with this new workload? Are there any requested increases
    specific to the IRA oversight?
        General Dodaro. Our budget request will enable us to
    conduct the oversight envisioned in the IRA while also still
    meeting other demands for our services.
        In other words, our budget request primarily supports the
    costs of the people who are already on board. We need the funds
    requested to pay for the staff on board and those that we hire
    to replace those who we lose through attrition. The staff on
    board already the people who are going to work on the Inflation
    Reduction Act oversight. Plus, Congress already gave us $25
    million in the Inflation Reduction Act to provide support for
    this oversight. The people that we hire will backfill for the
    people that we allocate from our current workforce to timely
    conduct the IRA oversight.
        Senator Fischer. When you say, ``You are going to allocate
    people in your current workforce.''
        General Dodaro. Yes.
        Senator Fischer. Are you going to determine that a certain
    amount of their time is going to be geared toward the IRA? You
    are nodding, yes.
        General Dodaro. Yes. Yes.
        Senator Fischer. So if so, when you look at that, what is
    the percentage of--how much of their workload is going to be
    due to the IRA?
        General Dodaro. Well, it depends on which of the teams we
    need to draw people from. For example, a lot of the IRA funding
    is in the IRS area; there is the $80 billion for the IRS.
        Senator Fischer. Right.
        General Dodaro. And so we will have our of people who are
    experts in tax administration involved; a portion of their time
    will be devoted to IRA oversight. But we will hire people to
    backfill for those positions so we can continue to do other
    work in the tax administration area that we are mandated to do.
    We will do the same thing for the mandates related to rural
    development, for example; in those areas, we will allocate
    people in our natural resources and environment team that are
    subject matter experts. The same thing for the
    decarbonization----
        Senator Fischer. Right.
        General Dodaro [continuing]. Provisions. We will use some
    of our scientists for the work. So yes, for every audit that we
    do we pull people from four or five different teams.
        Senator Fischer. Right.
        General Dodaro. So it is hard to give you----
        Senator Fischer. Now, that will increase----
        General Dodaro. Yes.
        Senator Fischer [continued]: That you are pulling people
    off then to specifically address the IRA?
        General Dodaro. Yes.
        Senator Fischer. And how will GAO regularly report to
    Congress with its findings on the IRA oversight?
        General Dodaro. We will issue individual reports, and then
    like on our coronavirus oversight work where we were also
    mandated to do reports, we will send periodic reports to the
    Appropriation Committees to say how many reports we have issued
    already in these areas and what our work plans are. We will
    keep Congress apprised of our work plans going forward. But we
    will also report separately on all these different broad
    oversight mandates, such as the IRA and the Infrastructure
    Investment and Jobs Act. We have done this before with special
    funding for disaster-related assistance oversight.
        Senator Fischer. Okay. Thank you.
        General Dodaro. Sure.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Reed. Thank you, Senator Fischer.
        And gentlemen, thank you for your testimony, and for your
    service. And again, please compliment and commend all the
    people that do the job every day. So thank you very much.
        With that, unless you have additional questions?
        Senator Fischer. Mr. Chairman, could I follow up with some
    questions for the record, please?
        Senator Reed. Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you.

                         ADDITONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

        Senator Reed. There, we allow, say, 4 days for questions
    for the record? I think you will probably have them in
    tomorrow, but anyway.
        [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 for the record.

                              SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

        Senator Reed. Thank you, gentlemen.
        And with, that I will adjourn the hearing.
        [Whereupon, at 3:58 p.m., Wednesday, March 15, the
    subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of
    the Chair.]

             LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024

                                  ----------

                           WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2023

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

        The subcommittee met at 3:00 p.m., in room SD-192, Dirksen
    Senate Office Building, Hon. Jack Reed (Chairman), presiding.
        Present: Senators Reed and Fischer.
                                    ------

              ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL AND THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

                     OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JACK REED

        Senator Reed. Good afternoon. The subcommittee will come to
    order. I would like to welcome everyone to the second of our
    fiscal year 2024 budget hearings for the Legislative Branch
    Appropriations subcommittee.
        Today we have with us Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of
    Congress, and Ms. Chere Rexroat, the Acting Architect of the
    Capitol. I would like to thank you for joining us here today to
    testify on your agency's fiscal year 2024 budget request, and I
    ask unanimous consent that the witnesses written testimony be
    placed in the hearing record.
        And hearing no objection, so ordered. As I noted in our
    first hearing last week, the Legislative Branch agencies have
    submitted fiscal year 2024 budget requests that account for
    $259 million increase over the fiscal year 2023 Legislative
    Branch appropriation.
        We will be carefully considering these requests to ensure
    they continue to improve our ability to meet our responsibility
    to govern effectively. For fiscal year 2024, the Library of
    Congress is requesting $895.1 million in appropriated funds,
    which is an increase of $66.6 million over the fiscal year 2023
    enacted level.
        This request includes $618.5 million for Library of
    Congress operations, $57.5 million in direct appropriations for
    the operations of the Copyright Office, $146.6 million for the
    operations of the Congressional Research Service, and $72.5
    million for the National Library Service for the Blind and
    Print Disabled.
        The Library of Congress's budget request includes funding
    for investments in the Library's IT and cloud infrastructure,
    as well as funds that can--efforts to modernize the Library's
    collections management systems and processes. Further, it
    requests funding for 40 positions to strengthen acquisition
    planning and contract management, and to strengthen the
    information technology planning and enterprise architecture
    management.
        The Library of Congress performs critical work that goes
    far beyond serving the Legislative Branch. I look forward to
    hearing from Dr. Hayden on the exceptional work of her agency
    to improve access to our Nation's treasures and library
    services for the American people, as well to hear about the
    agency's fiscal year 2024 budget request.
        Today, we will also be reviewing the Architect of the
    Capitol's fiscal year 2024 budget request. Before I address the
    AOC's request, I would like to thank Ms. Rexroat for stepping
    in to serve as the Acting Architect of the Capitol.
        She comes into this role following the removal of the
    previous Architect by the President, a movement both sides of
    the aisle had called for. This has been a tumultuous time for
    the men and women who work at the Architect of the Capitol.
        Please share our appreciation to your workforce for
    everything they do to keep the families and grounds and
    facilities of the Capitol complex operational each day. Each of
    them is critical to not only the ability of the Congress to
    fill Constitutional responsibility, but also for this
    institution to serve as a symbol of democracy around the world.
        Ms. Rexroat, you and I briefly discussed some of my
    concerns about the manner in which the AOC estimates the
    requirements for the significant properties your agency is
    responsible for and the way these projects are managed during
    execution.
        The Architect has a history of executing projects that do
    not meet estimated budgets or timelines, which result in
    significant budget implications affecting the Legislative
    Branch's overall budget.
        I appreciate your willingness to address these concerns
    head on, while a search for a new architect is underway, and to
    reform the way the AOC leadership administrate its
    responsibility to effectively lead your agency.
        I want you to know that I support any efforts to improve
    the AOC's internal operations and the effectiveness of the
    leadership team. The AOC is seeking an appropriation of $1.128
    billion, which is a decrease of $191 billion from fiscal year
    2023.
        While I appreciate that the AOC has submitted a reduced
    request over the fiscal year 2023 enacted level, my team has
    asked the Acting Architect to carefully review the requested
    funding levels for the projects included within this budget to
    ensure they promptly reflect the actual projected cost for the
    project.
        I look forward to receiving the Architect's updated
    information once these reviews are conducted, and I look
    forward to the Acting Architect's testimony today. Now, with
    that, let me turn it over to Ranking Member Senator Fisher.

                    OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR DEB FISCHER

        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you to
    our two witnesses today, Dr. Hayden and Ms. Rexroat, for being
    with us this afternoon for our second Legislative Branch
    hearing.
        As the Chairman noted in our last hearing, it is important
    to restore regular order in the appropriations process. The
    American people deserve a transparent and on time budget from
    their elected officials. It is my hope to craft a fiscally
    responsible bill with Chairman Reed through regular order this
    year.
        Today, as part of that process, we will be hearing from the
    librarian and also our Acting Architect as they testify
    regarding their agency's fiscal year 2024 budget request. Dr.
    Hayden. The Library of Congress does important work, not only
    in support of Congress, but on behalf of the American people.
        I want to commend you on the initiatives to expand access
    and increase engagement so that more people can benefit from
    the Library's collections. In particular, I want to highlight
    the Veterans History Project, the program that collects,
    preserves, and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of
    U.S. military veterans.
        Our veterans put their lives on the line in service to our
    Nation, and we have a responsibility to support and honor them.
    So, I am proud that my office has also helped to facilitate
    some of those recollections from Nebraska and our veterans to
    that project. For fiscal year 2024, the Library seeks a 7.5
    percent increase over last year's enacted level.
        In your testimony, I hope to hear how the increase will
    enable the Library to continue to expand access, modernize
    offerings, and provide research support for Congressional
    staff. Ms. Rexroat, I recognize that you are in an acting role
    as Architect of the Capitol, and I am hopeful that new
    leadership at the AOC will allow for fresh perspectives and
    improvements on the agency's processes and priorities.
        The AOC is asking for $1.1 billion, and while that is a
    decrease from the enacted level, it is still a significant
    request. As we look for fiscal year 2024, we must evaluate how
    the considerable resources we have provided over the past few
    years are being implemented. Additionally, we must ensure that
    projects are properly scoped on schedule and on budget.
        I am looking forward to your testimony on how this budget
    request will help the AOC meet its mission to serve Congress,
    preserve America's Capitol, and inspire memorable experiences.
    Thank you again to our witnesses for being here today. And
    thank you, Chairman Reed, for leading what I know will be a
    productive conversation on these agencies' budget requests.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much, Senator Fischer. Dr.
    Hayden, your brief opening statement is now in order. As you
    know, your written testimony is already part of the record. Dr.
    Hayden, please.

                              LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

    STATEMENT OF HON. CARLA HAYDEN, LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS,
                LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
        Dr. Hayden. Chairman Reed and Ranking Member Fischer, thank
    you for this opportunity to testify in support of the Library's
    fiscal year 2024 budget. I am very pleased to report that in
    fiscal year 2022, the Library returned to regular operations.
        Visitors and researchers returned on site, reading rooms
    reopened, and in-person events multiplied, all while popular
    virtual programing continued. And with the support of Congress,
    the Library continued to build collections in multiple formats
    and engage users in a variety of ways.
        Today, the physical collections contained nearly 175
    million items, with many in digital form, and the Library's
    digital engagement has increased dramatically. I would like to
    express my support here and my gratitude for the support of
    Congress, in particular for funding our recent IT investments.
    Also, special thanks to Congress for support of the Visitor
    Experience Initiative.
        We have raised over almost $20 million from donors
    nationwide for this impactful initiative, and our goal is to
    have these engaging new spaces open in the Thomas Jefferson
    Building to the public for the Nation's celebration, 250-year
    celebration in 2026.
        I come before you to discuss the Library's fiscal year 2024
    appropriations request, and this request does include $45.8
    million in mandatory pay and price level increases, and the
    remaining increases represent critical investments necessary to
    continue to meet the Library's mission.
        With modern IT infrastructure and systems now in place,
    thanks to your support, we are using a continuous development
    approach to ensure ongoing improvements as we manage the
    Library's technology landscape.
        Several of the Library's requests this year include
    resources for congress.gov and to allow us to build capacity
    throughout all of our IT systems. For instance, the U.S.
    Copyright Office continues to reach major milestones toward a
    new enterprise copyright system, ECS, which is transforming the
    entire copyright process.
        The budget requests a permanent base for continuous
    development to the ECS to accommodate changing needs and
    technological advancements. The Library's special
    responsibility for the National Library for the Blind and Print
    Disabled extends to critical IT systems that ensure
    accessibility for NLS patrons and blind staff.
        The request includes staffing dedicated to continuous
    innovation and development for their systems, and other new
    funds would replace obsolete talking book machines with web-
    based systems and make refresh of all braille e-readers
    available to patrons.
        In addition to the continuous development process that is
    led by Library staff, contracted services support a growing
    portion of our IT development. And to support the increase
    volume and complexity of these contracts, additional
    experienced staff are requested for the Library's contracts and
    grants director.
        Other important staffing requests will ensure that we
    continue the responsive service that Congress needs and
    expects. Given the significant increase in the annual volume
    and complexity of bills introduced, the Congressional Research
    Service requests funding for additional staff to accommodate
    the growing build digest workload and to enhance their
    Legislative Information Service support for Congress.
        This request also supports a series CRS pilot program for
    quantitative analysis of research and operation of big data to
    meet emerging Congressional demand. The Library's 2024
    Congressional budget justification advances necessary work
    initiated in previous years to move the Library forward, all
    while preserving its world class resources and making them
    accessible for generations to come.
        We recognize the challenges resulting from the current
    fiscal environment, and our programmatic requests represent the
    most necessary and impactful priorities that will enhance the
    Library service to Congress and the American people.
        Thank you again for supporting the Library and for your
    consideration of our fiscal 2024 budget, and I look forward to
    your questions.
        [The statement follows:]
      Prepared Statement of The Honorable Carla Hayden, The Librarian of
                                    Congress
    Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the Subcommittee:

        Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony in support of
    the Library's fiscal 2024 budget request.
        The Library of Congress (Library) has built one of the largest
    collections of human knowledge ever assembled, in support of our
    mission to engage, inspire, and inform Congress and the American people
    with a universal and enduring source of information and creativity. In
    pursuit of its vision that all Americans are connected to the Library
    of Congress, the Library is committed to making this knowledge and
    creativity more discoverable, accessible, relevant, and useful.
        The Library is an authoritative source of knowledge that enriches
    the American people in countless ways. We serve many customers:
    Congress, Copyright users, researchers, visitors, and blind and print
    disabled citizens, among many others. We directly serve the American
    public with programs like the Veterans History Project that preserve
    and make accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military
    veterans, and Teaching with Primary Sources that allows teachers in
    local school districts to create curricula and develop apps using the
    Library's digitized primary sources. The Library is in the forefront of
    making its resources available and useful to those who come here and in
    digital form for those who cannot.
        In fiscal 2022, the Library returned to normal operations for the
    visiting public after building capacity limits and mask requirements
    were lifted in the third quarter. More visitors and researchers
    returned on site, reading rooms reopened and in-person events
    multiplied, while popular virtual programming that began during the
    pandemic continued. With the support of Congress, the Library continued
    to build collections in multiple formats and engage users in a variety
    of ways. Today, the physical collections contain nearly 175 million
    items, with many more in digital form.
        Robust service to Congress and all Americans continued across the
    Library. The Congressional Research Service's (CRS's) Congress.gov
    sites--the Constitution Annotated, CRS Reports and Congress.gov--drew
    40.8 million visits during the fiscal year. The U.S. Copyright Office
    (USCO) transferred 626,595 works, with an estimated value of nearly $48
    million, to the Library for possible addition to the collections. The
    Library's Center for Learning, Literacy and Engagement produced a year
    full of in-person and virtual programming, including the National Book
    Festival. At the end of fiscal 2022, new collections Module 6,
    completed in 2021, was 36 percent filled. Over the past year, the
    Library's Preservation Directorate performed 8.7 million preservation
    actions on books, serials, prints, photographs, manuscripts and other
    items.
        Notably, the Library's digital engagement increased dramatically
    since the start of the pandemic. In fiscal 2022, loc.gov recorded 392.4
    million page views during 105 million visits from 74 million unique
    users to National Library sites. On the Library's social media
    platforms, engagement has doubled and even tripled on Facebook, Twitter
    and Instagram, and Library YouTube content received 15.8 million views.
        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 initial funding you have
    provided for major Information Technology (IT) investments that we are
    implementing and continuously improving to meet user expectations for
    greater access and new and enhanced tools. These investments include
    the Enterprise Copyright System (ECS); CRS's Integrated Research and
    Information System (IRIS); the National Library Service's Braille Audio
    Reading by Download (BARD) and next generation devices; the Library
    Collections Access Platform (L-CAP); Congress.gov; and the Library's
    core IT infrastructure and IT security.
        I would also like to give special thanks for your support of the
    Library's Visitor Experience initiative over the last 4 years. We are
    working closely with the Architect of the Capitol on final designs, and
    construction is expected to be underway by the end of the fiscal year.
    Our goal is to have our engaging new gallery spaces open to the public
    for the nation's semiquincentennial, in 2026. Further, in addition to
    the funds appropriated by Congress, we are close to having raised $20
    million in private donations for this effort. It is a testament to the
    Library's public engagement and offerings that donors large and small
    from across the country are contributing to this impactful initiative
    that will ultimately provide significant value for Congress and its
    constituents.
        I come before you today to discuss the Library's fiscal 2024
    appropriations request of $940.8 million, which represents a 7.5
    percent increase over the Library's fiscal 2023 enacted appropriation,
    including $45.8 million in mandatory pay and price level increases. The
    budget request reflects the resources needed to sustain the Library's
    mission of service to Congress and the American people, and its vision-
    driven efforts to make the Library more user centered, digitally
    enabled, and data driven. It builds on multiyear strategic efforts to
    stabilize and optimize advanced IT systems and business processes,
    while at the same time enhancing access and customer services. And it
    invests in the future, ensuring that the Library can safeguard and
    support its collections, services, and workforce in person and online.
        The budget request is carefully aligned with the goals and
    objectives of the Library's Strategic Plan: to expand access, enhance
    services, optimize resources, and measure impact. Requests for
    additional resources to support new or expanded programs are grouped in
    three interconnected and mutually reinforcing areas: (1) sustaining
    continuous technology development; (2) enhancing services and expanding
    access; and (3) strengthening expertise in other key areas.
        With the understanding that mandatory pay increases and the effects
    of inflation on the cost of materials and services we procure are
    driving 70 percent of our fiscal 2024 request, we have taken great care
    to make only programmatic requests that are necessary and have the
    greatest impact on our service to Congress and the American people. We
    understand the current fiscal environment and the challenge you face in
    trying to meet the needs of the Library of Congress while being mindful
    of the taxpayer.
                  sustaining continuous technology development
        Recognizing that technology is essential to its mission of
    engaging, inspiring, and informing Congress and the American people
    with an enduring source of knowledge and creativity, the Library has
    adopted a continuous development model to sustainably evolve business
    operations and digital offerings. This approach integrates IT
    innovation, design, and delivery efforts to manage the increasingly
    complex technology landscape, reduce risk, and sustain digital
    transformation. Following industry best practices, and recommendations
    from the Government Accountability Office and the Library's Office of
    the Inspector General, the Library's continuous development approach
    ensures major IT investments are continuously improved in incremental,
    manageable steps, to meet user expectations for greater access and new
    and enhanced tools. The requested funding and staffing will bolster the
    Library's ability to sustain continuous development efforts, keep pace
    with digital advancement, and ensure that technology can continue to be
    harnessed to deliver exceptional services to all Library users.
    USCO Enterprise Copyright System--Technology Transformation
        The USCO continues to reach major milestones in developing the new
    Enterprise Copyright System (ECS), a transformative technological
    investment. The once paper-based Copyright Recordation process is now
    online, and the new Copyright Public Records system is now in
    operation. By 2024, ECS Recordation, ECS Public Records, ECS Licensing,
    and ECS Service Requests will be in full public use. Additional ECS
    applications will be available to the public in fiscal 2025, with the
    ECS Registration system planned to go live in fiscal 2026.
        The budget requests a permanent base for continuous development of
    the ECS. Requested funding will bring in new staff and sustain a number
    of existing staff to implement a collaborative USCO/Office of the Chief
    Information Officer (OCIO) continuous development program that will
    sustain and keep ECS and other systems up-to-date with new features,
    enhancements and applications. It will also increase the functionality
    of ECS core services and add new services. Building an innovative ECS
    not only meets the expectations of today's copyright users, but also
    can accommodate changing needs and technological advances thanks to the
    continuous development approach. Sustained investment is essential for
    our long-term success in meeting the needs of the copyright community.
    NLS--Technology and Service Delivery
        Congressional investment in the National Library Service for the
    Blind and Print Disabled's (NLS's) efforts to modernize its business
    practices and associated IT systems, implement digital braille
    delivery, and develop cost-effective digital content delivery to new
    devices has resulted in important improvements for NLS patrons. To meet
    the evolving needs and expectations of its expanding patron base, NLS
    developed and piloted next generation devices, including DA2 (Digital
    Advanced Player 2), a web-based wireless system that replaces the
    original digital talking-book machine, which is an end-of-life product
    based on 20-year-old technology, and the eReader, a refreshable braille
    device that is in growing demand. Both the digital talking-book machine
    and eReader devices connect to the BARD Braille and audio download
    service. Requested funding will significantly increase the reach of
    these popular devices, making available 145,000 DA2 devices and 4,000
    eReader devices to blind and print disabled patrons over a five-year
    period.
        As an outgrowth of technology modernization, today, NLS is
    critically dependent on 19 IT systems for content delivery, content
    production, library services, marketing and communications, customer
    service, and project and program management. Consistent with NLS's
    mission, these systems must always provide the highest level of
    accessibility to NLS patrons and blind staff, and must allow these
    staff to be as productive as sighted persons when using them. Requested
    funding includes staffing in NLS and the OCIO dedicated to continuous
    development for NLS systems that will enhance efficiency and improve
    access to services for the growing population of blind and print
    disabled Americans. Again, sustained investment is essential for our
    long-term success.
                         enhancing services and access
    Legislative Support--CRS Bill Summaries, Congress.gov, and Quantitative
            ``Big Data'' Analysis
        CRS has experienced greater demand for CRS Bill Summaries, one of
    its most widely used products, thanks in part to technological
    advancements that have resulted in new applications to automate the
    functions for Members to introduce bills. The volume of bills has
    increased by about one-third since the 115th Congress. Although CRS
    took extraordinary measures to keep pace with the volume and increased
    complexity of incoming bills, such as significantly shortening the
    length of bill summaries, a bill summary backlog of over 2,400 items
    remains. The request includes funding for additional staff with subject
    matter expertise to support CRS Bill Summaries and other analytical
    products created by the Legislative Information Services team, which
    makes searchable content available to congressional and public users of
    Congress.gov.
        The request also seeks additional staff to enhance support for
    Congress and to create a permanent capacity for continuous development
    for Congress.gov. Increased staffing will ensure the day-to-day data
    integrity of the system and provide congressional operational support
    to include continuous modernization of congressional collections,
    formats, and capabilities, as well as support of congressional access
    to emerging application programming interfaces.
        Lastly, to meet emerging demand, the budget additionally requests
    funding for a pilot program to augment and enhance CRS's ability to
    perform quantitative analysis of both research and operational ``big
    data'' for congressional clients. The request includes staffing to
    strengthen existing capabilities and an investment in the tools and
    datasets required to broaden the depth of quantitative analysis and
    models by leveraging big data. This program investment will establish a
    base process and increased capacity for in-depth data analysis in CRS.
                      strengthening expertise in key areas
    Contracts and Grants--Support for IT and Other Acquisitions
        The request includes additional staffing for the Library's
    Contracts and Grants Directorate to keep pace with increasing demands
    for contracted products and services for everything from new collection
    display cases to major IT systems. The Library, like other Federal
    agencies, is facing substantial attrition of its contracting staff as
    workloads increase and contracts become more complex, particularly for
    IT-related acquisitions. These are hard-to-fill positions and a
    government-wide shortage of contract specialists makes recruitment and
    retention even more challenging. The requested funds will also acquire
    a Web-enabled solution for the grants lifecycle to support the
    application, award, and management processes.
    OCIO--Enterprise Architecture and Digital Accessibility
        The Library requests funding to establish a Digital Accessibility
    program within OCIO to meet growing demands for accessibility services
    including consultation, compliance assessment, and remediation and to
    improve access to the Library's digital products, materials, and
    services for Americans with disabilities. Direct patron and staff
    feedback, along with preliminary expert assessments, point to a large
    gap between the Library's products, materials, and services and
    Federal/international accessibility standards. The Library seeks to
    expand the program within OCIO so that accessibility is addressed at
    the beginning of the software development cycle while also enhancing
    current digital products.
        The Library also requests funding to strengthen its Enterprise
    Architecture Program Office (EAPO) given the increasing complexity of
    the Library's IT programs and portfolios, together with a rapidly
    growing demand for new and enhanced user tools and technology
    solutions. The budget requests funding and staff to increase EAPO's
    capacity to produce complex architectural artifacts such as
    technological roadmaps and solution overviews, and to support robust
    strategic IT planning with detailed technology solution proposals that
    include accurate project cost and schedule estimations.
        In closing, the Library's fiscal 2024 Congressional Budget
    Justification advances necessary work begun in previous years to move
    the Library forward into the future in an enduring way that preserves
    its resources, unrivaled anywhere else in the world, and makes them
    accessible for those who will come after us, as technological change
    accelerates. We recognize the challenges resulting from the current
    fiscal environment, and these programmatic requests represent the most
    necessary and impactful priorities that will enhance the Library's
    service to Congress and the American people.
        Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the
    Subcommittee, thank you again for supporting the Library of Congress
    and for your consideration of our fiscal 2024 budget request.

                                     ______

      Prepared Statement of Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights and
                        Director, U.S. Copyright Office
    Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the Subcommittee:

        Thank you for the opportunity to submit the United States Copyright
    Office's fiscal 2024 budget request. The Copyright Office is tasked
    with overseeing the national copyright registration and recordation
    systems, advising Congress on copyright policy and legislation, working
    with the Department of Justice and other Federal agencies on copyright
    litigation and international copyright matters, conducting
    administrative and regulatory activity including with respect to
    statutory licenses, and educating the public about copyright. We
    accomplish this with a talented and diverse staff of about 450 people,
    all dedicated to copyright's Constitutional mission of ``promot[ing]
    the progress of science and useful arts.''\1\
                     key accomplishments over the past year
        The Copyright Office has achieved many noteworthy successes over
    the past year, and has fully restored on-site operations.
    Registration and Recordation
        The Office continues to effectively administer the national
    copyright registration and recordation systems. We have eliminated the
    backup of physical deposits caused by the pandemic and have markedly
    improved registration processing times: the average for examining all
    copyright claims stands at 2.7 months for the second half of fiscal
    2022, and for fully electronic claims that do not require
    correspondence, the average is down to just 1.2 months.\2\ While the
    pandemic temporarily impacted processing times for electronic
    applications with physical deposits as well as for paper applications,
    we have reduced these timeframes to an average of 6.5 months and 6.1
    months, respectively. With respect to recordation, in fiscal 2022 the
    Office recorded 14,714 documents containing titles of 1,165,653
    works.\3\ Our online recordation pilot, opened to the general public in
    August 2022 now offers an alternative to the older paper-based process,
    and has shortened processing times from months to weeks.
    Other Activities
        The Office continued its longstanding roles of providing advice to
    Congress and the courts, and information to the public. In fiscal 2022,
    we launched the Copyright Claims Board (described below). We responded
    to numerous requests from Congress on topics ranging from music
    licensing issues to the effectiveness of copyright protection for press
    publishers, the feasibility and advisability of creating a deferred
    examination option for copyright registration, and technical measures
    used to identify or protect copyrighted works. We initiated a study on
    non-fungible tokens and intellectual property jointly with the U.S.
    Patent and Trademark Office. And after completing implementation of the
    Music Modernization Act (MMA) in 2021, we maintain an oversight role as
    directed by the statute and the legislative history, as well as
    engaging in education and outreach activities. The Office also provided
    legal advice and assistance across the government, including on
    litigation and international trade.
        The Office maintained our effective stewardship of over $1.2
    billion in statutory licensing revenues as of the end of fiscal 2022.
    We also engaged in numerous outreach activities; in fiscal 2022, we
    hosted 47 public events and spoke at over 100 more, roughly double the
    prior year. The Office transferred 573,152 works with an estimated
    value of $45 million to the Library collections. We hired our first
    ever Chief Economist and released a report on women authors'
    participation in the copyright system.
                        significant ongoing initiatives
        Below we highlight progress on two particularly important
    initiatives: IT continuous development and the Copyright Claims Board
    (CCB).
    Continuous Development
        Working with the Library of Congress's Office of the Chief
    Information Officer (OCIO), we have completed the fourth year of the
    appropriated five-year funding (fiscal 2019--2023) for modernization of
    our IT systems. The planned Enterprise Copyright System (ECS) includes
    major workstreams on recordation, public records, registration, and
    licensing.
        Recordation.--Our new recordation system was the first ECS
    component to be released to the public, enabling electronic recordation
    of documents under section 205 of title 17. We are now incorporating
    user feedback to make iterative improvements as well as to build the
    functionality to process notices of termination. We anticipate the
    recordation component will move into continuous development in fiscal
    2024.
        Public Records.--Our second ECS application to be publicly released
    was a pilot for the new Copyright Public Records System (CPRS). This
    system provides an improved interface for our public records, along
    with advanced search functionality. We anticipate that this component
    too will move into continuous development in fiscal 2024.
        Registration.--Registration is the most complex of the Office's
    services and there is a lot of public interest in the success of the
    ECS registration component. We have made considerable progress on both
    the external (public) and internal (staff) sides. With continued
    support, we aim to have the standard registration application in a
    limited pilot by the end of calendar 2024. We then hope to expand to
    group registrations and ultimately retire the legacy eCO system by the
    end of calendar 2026. We are working with OCIO to increase the
    resources devoted to registration, in order to attain the pace needed
    to achieve these goals.
        Licensing.--The Office has been developing user experience design
    and initial automated workflows for licensing processes to replace
    outdated systems. We are focusing on migrating the statement of account
    examination process to ECS and migrating all royalty accounting
    processes to the Legislative Branch Financial Management System. The
    new licensing component will move into continuous development in spring
    2024.
        Historical Public Records.--As part of the Office's commitment to
    providing access to our historical records, we are digitizing print and
    microfilm records and making them available online. This includes the
    card catalog,\4\ the Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCEs), and the
    record books. Digitization will be followed by metadata capture for
    searchability, with all records eventually available through the new
    CPRS. Considerable progress has been made this year with respect to the
    record books, which contain well over 26 million pages of records
    between 1870 and 1977. The first 500 books were digitized and published
    on the Library's website in February 2022,\5\ and now over 5,600 are
    available.
        Warehouse Consolidation.--The Office has almost finished
    consolidating copyright deposit materials and other stored records from
    several geographically dispersed storage facilities into a single,
    modern facility in Landover, Maryland. This will allow us to provide
    faster location services, better tracking, and improved security.
        Contact Center.--The Office's work to modernize call routing and
    reporting continued in fiscal 2022, with a contract to develop a state-
    of-the-art contact center awarded in September 2022 through the GSA
    Centers of Excellence program.
    Launching the Copyright Claims Board
        The groundbreaking copyright small claims tribunal, the CCB, opened
    its doors to the public on June 16, 2022.\6\ Within the tight statutory
    timeframe set by the CASE Act, we completed extensive regulatory work,
    hired the officers and other staff, and collaborated with other Library
    service units to prepare an electronic case management system (eCCB),
    virtual hearing facilities, and office space. As of March 15, 2023,
    over 380 claims have been filed and are now being processed, and we
    continue our efforts to inform and educate the public about the
    existence and operations of the CCB.
                funding and fiscal update to 2024 budget request
        Current financial support for our modernization initiative,
    initially funded as part of the fiscal 2019 budget, continues through
    fiscal 2024. Additional support will be needed as the Office begins to
    maintain the ECS in order to avoid repeating the overhaul of severely
    outdated legacy systems.
        For fiscal 2024, the Office requests an overall budget of $103.1
    million in funding and 481 full time employees (FTEs), of which $45.6
    million would be funded through offsetting fees collected in fiscal
    2022 and prior years. Specifically, in conjunction with OCIO, we
    request $7.220 million in additional fiscal 2024 funding to support
    software development and provide capacity for continuous development of
    ECS, including 16 FTEs. Thirteen of these would be used to convert
    current temporary OCIO employees to full-time staff; the other three
    would serve in the Copyright Office. Our requests are as follows:

      --Basic Budget\7\: $93.0 million and 448 FTEs, comprising $38 million
            in offsetting fee collections (41%) and $55 million (59%) in
            appropriated dollars. The request includes mandatory pay-
            related and price level increases of $4.347 million, and one
            program increase of $4.323 million for mission-critical
            Copyright Office Information Technology Continuous Development.
            The $4.323 million request will provide essential investment
            and ongoing funding needed to develop , test, and integrate
            multiple ECS applications with related systems and ensure they
            are kept up-to-date. This shared program increase requires a
            total of $7.220 million, $4.323 million and 3 FTE for Copyright
            and $2.897 million and 13 FTE for OCIO. Notably, the Office's
            portion of this request would be supported through sustained
            funding and is a minor increase in offsetting collections
            authority; it will not require an increase in appropriated
            funds.
      --Licensing Division Budget\8\: $6.9 million and 26 FTEs, all to be
            funded via filing and royalty fees. The requested increase is
            to cover mandatory pay-related and price level increases of
            $0.327 million.
      --Copyright Royalty Judges Budget\9\: $3.2 million and 7 FTEs, with
            $0.2 million to support mandatory pay-related and price level
            increases. Of this total, royalties and participation fees
            offset $0.603 million (for non-personnel-related expenses). The
            remainder, $2.590 million in appropriated dollars, is to cover
            the personnel and other related expenses of the three judges
            and their staff.

        The Copyright Office appreciates the Subcommittee's and Committee's
    continued support of our work to promote and improve the copyright
    system, including the critically important continuous development of
    the ECS to benefit all users.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ U.S. CONST. art. I, Sec. 8, cl. 8.
        \2\ Registration processing times are posted at https://
    copyright.gov/registration/docs/processing-times-faqs.pdf. For the
    April 1 to September 30, 2022 timeframe, 81% of all registration claims
    were eService claims (online claims and electronic deposits); about 17%
    were deposit ticket claims (online claims with separately mailed
    physical deposit materials); and about 2% were mail claims (paper claim
    forms and physical deposits).
        \3\ There are three primary types of documents that may be
    submitted for recordation: transfers of copyright ownership, other
    documents pertaining to a copyright, and notices of termination. The
    pilot and newly released system are currently focused on only the first
    category (section 205 documents).
        \4\ See https://copyright.gov/vcc/. The Office already digitized
    and made available online our physical card catalog, which is available
    in the Virtual Card Catalog (VCC), as well as the CCEs.
        \5\ See U.S. Copyright, NewsNet 947, Copyright Office Launches
    Digitized Copyright Historical Record Books Collection (Feb. 7, 2022),
    https://www.copyright.gov/newsnet/2022/947.html. The scans are posted
    at https://www.loc.gov/collections/copyright-historical-record-books-
    1870-to-1977/about-this-collection/.
        \6\ U.S. Copyright Office, NewsNet 969, Copyright Office Announces
    Claims Board Is Open for Filing, https://www.copyright.gov/newsnet/
    2022/969.html.
        \7\  The Basic Budget funds most of the Office's operations and
    initiatives, including the majority of payroll-related expenses.
    Historically, this has been composed of a combination of appropriated
    dollars and authority to spend fee revenue, with fees constituting
    close to half of this budget.
        \8\ The Licensing Budget is derived completely from collections of
    royalties payable to copyright owners and filing fees paid by cable and
    satellite licensees pursuant to statutory licenses.
        \9\ Although the CRJ program is not part of the Office, we provide
    it with budget formulation and execution support on behalf of the
    Library. Appropriated funding supports payroll and partially funds non-
    pay expenses that are not funded by fees and royalty payments.

                                     ______

    Prepared Statement of Mary B. Mazanec, Director, Congressional Research
                                    Service
    Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the Subcommittee:

        Thank you for the opportunity to present the fiscal 2024 budget
    request for the Congressional Research Service (CRS). I would also like
    to express my appreciation to the Committee for your support of our
    fiscal 2023 request.
        With today's testimony, I outline CRS's budget requirements for
    fiscal 2024, including two proposed programmatic increases that will
    bolster the Service's analytic capabilities and enhance the level of
    service provided to Congress. In addition, I will provide an overview
    of several noteworthy CRS accomplishments in its support for Congress
    during fiscal 2022, and update you on the Service's progress on a
    number of our strategic initiatives.
                fiscal 2024 budget request and program increases
        The CRS budget request for fiscal 2024 is 146.574 million dollars,
    an increase of 12.974 million dollars (or 9.7 percent) over the amount
    appropriated for fiscal 2023. The requested increase includes 7.71
    million dollars for mandatory pay and price increases. The proposal
    also includes program increases of 5.264 million dollars to build
    analytical capacity for CRS's bill digesting services, to support the
    continued development of Congress.gov, and to enhance the Service's
    quantitative analysis capabilities. As in previous fiscal years, staff
    pay and benefits account for approximately 90 percent of the amount
    requested by CRS.
    Increased Capacity for Bill Summaries and Congress.gov
        As part of its proposed program increase, CRS is requesting 2.671
    million dollars and 16 FTE to address a backlog of legislative
    summaries and to continue development of Congress.gov. The publication
    of bill summaries is a function mandated in CRS's authorizing statute
    and is a critical component of the searchable content on the
    Congess.gov website. Due to an increase in the volume of bills
    introduced, the growing complexity of legislative proposals, along with
    inadequate staff capacity within the Legislative Information Services
    (LIS) Bill Digesting team, there is a backlog of bills requiring
    summarization. At present, a single LIS analyst serves as the sole
    subject matter expert for a subject area and each analyst is
    responsible for multiple areas. This ``one-deep'' staffing
    configuration has proven problematic and is insufficient to keep pace
    with the rapid legislative activity occurring over the most recent
    Congresses.
        Twelve (12) additional FTEs will allow CRS to create needed
    redundancies in subject area coverage to better respond to competing
    priorities and spikes in workload; to more efficiently distribute and
    manage the workload of incoming bills; and to improve the depth of
    expertise necessary to authoritatively analyze and summarize complex
    legislation proposed by the modern-day Congress. In requesting these
    new hires, CRS's objective is to remedy the existing backlog and
    improve the overall timeliness of bill summary publication.
        In addition to addressing the backlog, CRS's request includes 4
    FTEs to support the continuous development and day-to-day operation of
    Congress.gov. LIS staff work in close concert with congressional staff
    and the Library's OCIO on the modernization of congressional
    collections, formats, and capabilities for Congress.gov. The additional
    FTEs will be vital to sustain these enhancements as well as ensuring
    the day to day integrity of the Congress.gov system.
    Quantitative Data Analysis Pilot
        CRS's requested program increase for fiscal 2024 includes 3.080
    million dollars and 2 NTE to pilot and enhance the Service's capability
    for quantitative data analysis and policy simulation. In the Joint
    Explanatory Statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
    2023, Congress encouraged CRS ``to explore ways to expand its ability
    to perform quantitative analysis of research data . . . .'' and
    directed the Service to ``engage with an external entity to produce a
    report detailing the feasibility of CRS engaging in the analysis and
    modeling of big data sets by highlighting the information technology
    infrastructure, staffing, and analytical support required to establish
    and maintain such a capability.'' This report language reflects the
    growing demand among Members and Committees for this type of analytical
    support from CRS. While CRS has conducted limited quantitative analysis
    and policy simulation to evaluate the effects of legislation, it lacks
    the capacity to provide this service on a broader scale. Enhancing this
    area would enable CRS to provide congressional requestors with a more
    granular perspective of the impact of legislative proposals on various
    demographic groups, as well as the interaction of such policies with
    other programs.
        CRS would utilize 2.593 million dollars of the requested amount to
    contract personnel (data scientists, programmers, and digital interface
    designers) to process data and maintain simulation models in a cloud
    computing environment. The funds would also be used to invest in the
    software, data sets, and infrastructure required to perform and
    maintain the data analysis and policy simulations. An additional 487
    thousand dollars is requested for OCIO to hire 2 NTE to design, support
    and implement systems, and to contract for IT security services. The
    entire 3.080 million dollars requested for this pilot will non-recur in
    fiscal 2028.
                              service to congress
        As in previous years, CRS provided support to almost every Member
    and Committee office. In fiscal 2022, CRS experts responded to over
    73,000 congressional requests; prepared nearly 1,100 new products;
    updated over 1,900 existing products; and conducted 264 seminars that
    were attended by approximately 10,000 congressional participants. In
    addition, CRS information specialists completed over 200 Geographical
    Information System (GIS) projects. The Service also produced 86 videos
    and podcasts featuring discussions by CRS analysts and legislative
    attorneys covering a myriad of topics including: defense and
    intelligence; homeland security and emergency management; science and
    technology; and healthcare.
        CRS supported Congress during every stage of the legislative
    process and across a range of issues including China's global
    ambitions, policies and activities; border security; climate change;
    cybersecurity; constitutional law, international trade and finance, and
    the conflict in Ukraine. CRS experts worked closely with Congress on
    issues presented in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the CHIPS and
    Science Act, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and the National
    Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023.
                             strategic initiatives
        CRS is committed to achieving the goals and objectives included in
    its 2019-2023 Directional Plan. In addition, the Service is developing
    its next Directional Plan (FY2024-2028) in coordination with the
    Library's strategic planning effort. CRS's priorities for fiscal 2024
    include execution of the Continuing Legal Education Forum (CLEF);
    continuing to work with OCIO to modernize its IT infrastructure; and
    strengthening the diversity and inclusiveness of the CRS workforce and
    working environment. Of course, CRS's primary focus will remain the
    efficient delivery of its core products and services to support the
    118th Congress. The following is a summary of the Service's progress
    during fiscal 2022 in advancing key initiatives.
    IT Modernization/Integrated Research and Information Systems (IRIS)
        The Integrated Research and Information System (IRIS) initiative is
    a multi-year effort to update the Service's mission-specific
    information technology to enable CRS staff to create and deliver
    products and services to Congress. During fiscal 2022 CRS, in
    collaboration with LC OCIO, continued several major work streams
    including Authoring System; Content Management; CRS.gov website
    redesign; as well as the Text Analysis Program (TAP), CRS's legislative
    analysis application. The selected solutions align with the Library's
    technical roadmap and Legislative Branch cloud strategies. Solutions
    are developed using an agile framework, permitting stakeholders to
    incrementally validate the solution during the development phase,
    ensuring the delivered product meets all defined requirements.
    Solutions are informed by both internal CRS staff as well as our
    congressional stakeholders. These efforts are essential to modernizing
    CRS mission critical applications to achieve the Library's ``digital
    first'' strategy and meet the evolving needs of Congress. CRS
    anticipates releasing both the Authoring and Document Management
    solution as well as the TAP solution into production in fiscal 2023.
    (CONAN) Modernization
        Known officially as the ``Constitution of the United States of
    America: Analysis and Interpretation,'' CONAN serves as the official
    record of the U.S. Constitution for Congress. In 2019, CRS collaborated
    with OCIO and the Law Library to introduce a new website for CONAN:
    constitution.congress.gov. The new site features hundreds of pages of
    updated constitutional analysis and content. Since the launch of the
    public website in 2019, CONAN has received over fourteen million unique
    visitors to the site and its pages have been viewed over thirty-five
    million times. During fiscal 2022, CRS legislative attorneys continued
    to provide comprehensive analysis of the Supreme Court's jurisprudence
    as it relates to every provision of the U.S. Constitution, including
    the implications of recently decided cases. To make CONAN more
    accessible to online users, new and existing content has been drafted
    and revised in the form of short, granular essays that focus on
    specific, discrete topics. CRS legal experts have also been preparing
    the print decennial 2022 edition of CONAN. Covering Supreme Court
    interpretations of the Constitution through the Court's October 2021
    term, the decennial 2022 edition features a revised format designed to
    integrate the print version of CONAN with its digital counterpart.
    Recruitment and Retention of a Diverse and Productive Workforce
        CRS continues to recruit, retain, and professionally develop a
    diverse, highly skilled workforce. Specific goals for diversity and
    inclusion are identified in the CRS Operations Plan around recruitment,
    training, and communications. Updates on diversity and inclusion
    efforts are communicated to staff from leadership, in CRS's staff
    newsletter, and it's newly developed internal Diversity and Inclusion
    website.
        The Service has developed and executed a recruitment plan for merit
    selection positions that includes outreach to potential applicants from
    underrepresented groups. During fiscal 2022, CRS participated in over
    30 recruitment events many of which were sponsored by minority-serving
    institutions with a focus on underrepresented groups and has
    participated in 8 events thus far in fiscal 2023. The Service also
    supported a variety of paid summer internships through the Student
    Diversity and Inclusion Internship Program. In fiscal 2022, CRS
    completed its capstone project with Texas A&M University's Bush School
    of Government to research strategies for improving the recruitment and
    retention of a diverse workforce. CRS is in the process of reviewing
    and implementing the capstone recommendations. Additionally, CRS is
    actively engaged with other Library offices to conduct a barrier
    analysis focused on the CRS workforce.
        CRS hosted a number of programs for staff that were aimed at
    fostering a more inclusive and respectful workplace including ``Leaving
    the Door Open for Inclusion;'' ``Generational Diversity;'' and ``Anti-
    Harassment Training.'' In addition, the Service continues to offer
    training opportunities for leadership, writing, and presentation skills
    and has developed customized statistics and data training courses to
    support professional development.
    Knowledge Management
        CRS is developing and implementing strategies to capture and
    preserve the institutional knowledge that it relies on to provide
    exceptional service to Congress. The Service utilizes its Research
    Portal as a hub for digital resources for quick and easy access to
    information needed to research and analyze legislative issues. The
    Research Portal was particularly useful during the COVID-19 pandemic
    when most CRS staff were working remotely, and its utility has
    continued since the resumption of onsite operations. By the end of
    fiscal 2022, four additional sites were added to bring the total number
    of collections on the Portal to 46. In addition, CRS continued to
    capture and transfer tacit knowledge held by senior analysts,
    attorneys, and information professionals. Activities to facilitate the
    sharing of information, knowledge, and best practices have enabled new
    staff to learn from the experience of their colleagues. The Service
    also continued to implement its information resource instructional
    program, which provides staff with best practices on training
    techniques such as adult learning and virtual instruction, to enrich
    the learning experience of congressional patrons.
    Congress.gov
        CRS partnered with OCIO to actively engage with the House Clerk and
    Secretary of the Senate data partners to modernize legislative data
    interchanges. Targeted to be completed by the end of fiscal 2023,
    replacing legacy data processing workflows with new data interchanges
    will better safeguard congressional data and enable potential future
    enhancements. Fiscal 2022 enhancements to Congress.gov that have
    improved access to accurate and timely legislative information include:
    the release of the beta Application Programming Interface (API) that
    enables direct access to structured Congress.gov legislative and
    congressional data; and customizable data elements for downloading, as
    well as increasing the download limit to 5,000 rows from 1,000.
    Additional enhancements included automated appropriations measure
    searches by specific fiscal years and an alerts capability available
    for appropriations measures considered by Congress. CRS and its Library
    colleagues continue to be appreciative of the ongoing high-performing
    partnerships with House, Senate, and GPO colleagues as legislative data
    workflows, tools, and standards continue to be modernized through
    collaborative efforts.
                                   conclusion
        Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the
    Subcommittee, the requested budget resources reflect CRS's ongoing
    commitment to meet the important responsibility that Congress has
    entrusted to it and to do so as comprehensively and efficiently as
    possible. On behalf of my colleagues at CRS, I would like to thank the
    Committee for your support and consideration of our fiscal 2024
    request.

        Senator Reed. Thank you, Dr. Hayden. Acting Architect
    Rexroat, please.
                                    ------

                            ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL

    STATEMENT OF CHERE REXROAT, ACTING ARCHITECT OF THE
                CAPITOL, ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL
        Ms. Rexroat. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Chairman Reed,
    and Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the subcommittee.
    Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony in the
    Architect of the Capitol's fiscal year 2024 budget request. I
    am pleased to be here alongside Dr. Hayden.
        Working together, we continue to align our efforts by
    reflecting shared priorities. I would also like to thank and
    acknowledge my coworkers, colleagues, and dedicated employees
    who work diligently every day to support the functions of
    Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Library.
        I am proud to have served with the agency in various roles
    over the last 5 years. Since assuming this new role, I have
    used this first month to meet with subcommittees' clerks, Rules
    Committee staff, and House stakeholders. In order to learn more
    about key initiatives and identify areas of concern, I am now
    taking all this information into account to continue a plan and
    formulate a plan for the future, including recommendations.
        The AOC's $1.28 billion fiscal year 2024 budget request is
    focused on three key priorities, security, safety, and
    accountability. Security remains the agency's top budgetary
    requirement. With this recommendation and support of this
    subcommittee, the AOC has made significant process--progress to
    improve the security posture across campus.
        While some of these security changes are more visible than
    others, we will continue to balance and maintain the critical
    physical infrastructure while remaining prepared to respond
    rapidly to new developments.
        Safety is another significant priority. Across the agency
    we dedicate time and attention to safety training, processes,
    procedures, and operations. This budget request recognizes
    these essential measures with a focused effort to avoid
    hazards, risks, and interruptions.
        The third key budgetary priority is accountability, fiscal
    accountability, especially as it relates to the overall AOC
    culture and corresponding cultural change as stewards of the
    taxpayer dollars.
        Our current organizational framework is a siloed
    organization. The structure is antiquated, sluggish, and rigid.
    It has not kept up with the current industry practices and has
    not set consistent standards, policies, or procedures causing
    inequities in application, thus impacting agency morale.
        For example, the inconsistent application of policy across
    the agency is the norm. This inconsistency has resulted in the
    lack of accountability seen over the past few years, and if not
    solved now, will remain the standard business-as-usual
    practice.
        Serving as a Chief Architect, I am very familiar with the
    AOC's project management processes. We have traditionally
    managed our programs through a design, bid, then build
    environment, prompting the completion of one step before
    starting another.
        This process causes inefficiencies through duplication of
    efforts, lack of clarity of roles and responsibilities, leading
    to unbalanced workload assignments, thereby causing delays in
    project development, leading to redesign, scope creep, and
    modifications. This, coupled with the ongoing economic and
    labor challenges, has resulted in what we have seen as
    increased costs.
        To keep up with the current standards of practice, the AOC
    needs to realign operational functions in order to streamline
    management for a more collaborative matrixed organization.
    Ultimately, we have to change how we operate to improve our
    processes and procedures for the timeliness of responses to
    speak as one AOC with one voice.
        For the agency to succeed moving forward, we owe it to each
    other, our employees, taxpayer, and the future of the AOC to
    make these changes now. So, I thank you and ask for your
    support as we continue to transform and modernize the agency.
        Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the
    subcommittee, thank you again for supporting the Architect of
    the Capitol's request for the fiscal year 2024 budget.
        [The statement follows:]
    Prepared Statement of Chere Rexroat, Acting Architect & Chief Engineer,
                            Architect of the Capitol
        Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the
    Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present the Fiscal Year
    (FY) 2024 budget for the Architect of the Capitol (AOC). We are
    committed to working closely with you, your staff, and the Senate
    Committee on Rules & Administration (Rules) to ensure that the AOC
    meets the needs and expectations of the Senate community.
        We are truly grateful for the agency's hard-working, mission-
    focused employees who get the job done every day in order to support
    the functions of Congress, the Supreme Court and the Library of
    Congress (Library).
        Serving as the Acting Architect over this past month has been a
    privilege. I began my tenure by meeting with Committee staff to
    understand their concerns, issues, and priorities. I have also met with
    AOC staff to reestablish trust and confidence in leadership and ensure
    they know they are valued for their excellent work. I am personally
    committed to open and timely communication to be transparent and
    accountable, guaranteeing coordination with this Subcommittee,
    Congress, and internal entities, such as the AOC Inspector General.
        I joined the AOC in 2018 serving as the Deputy Chief Engineer and
    became the Chief Engineer in July 2022. The Office of the Chief
    Engineer's (OCE) mission is to provide consolidated services across the
    AOC for safe and efficient project delivery to include maintenance of
    critical infrastructure. OCE is predominantly known for planning,
    programming, design, acquisition, and execution of the agency's major
    construction projects, listed in the budget submission as the line-
    item construction program (LICP).
        The AOC's top priorities for the FY 2024 budget are security,
    safety and accountability.
                                  i. overview
        The AOC supports the day-to-day operations of Congress, the Supreme
    Court and the Library. Every day, more than 2,400 AOC employees are
    responsible for preserving and maintaining more than 18.4 million
    square feet of facilities, 570 acres of grounds and thousands of works
    of art. Around the clock, our team is committed to ensuring these
    historic buildings and aging infrastructure are preserved for the
    benefit of future generations. At the same time, we are working
    tirelessly to upgrade our capabilities and facilities to meet current
    needs.
        The FY 2024 budget request of $1.128 billion represents a 14.5
    percent decrease from the FY 2023 enacted appropriation. The requested
    funding supports critical program investments in physical security,
    safety and facility management priorities. The FY 2024 request also
    includes funding for major special events that require significant
    planning, coordination and resources, such as the next Presidential
    inauguration.
                  ii. prioritizing physical security & safety
        Physical security and safety are top priorities. With the support
    of this Committee, the AOC has made significant progress in improving
    the security posture across campus. The AOC continues to take steps to
    address projects prioritized in the comprehensive physical security
    assessment completed last year. As part of this process, the AOC is on
    track to implement consistent security standards across the Capitol
    campus. The FY 2024 budget request reflects the ongoing coordinated
    approach for projects, including repairing and replacing security
    kiosks, vehicle barriers and other protective measures throughout the
    Capitol campus. Moreover, in coordination with the United States
    Capitol Police (USCP), and the Senate and House Sergeant at Arms, the
    AOC stands ready to respond to emerging requirements.
        The overall safety of the AOC workforce, as well as everyone who
    works or visits here, is another significant priority. Across the
    agency, we continue to dedicate time and attention to training,
    procedures and supervision to ensure our workforce operates safely.
    This budget request addresses important areas of need, including fire
    alarm system upgrades, code deficiencies and system failure risks. One
    example of aging utility infrastructure is deteriorating concrete and
    piping components supporting the campus. These components demand
    immediate attention to avoid service interruptions or failures.
                      iii. supporting the senate community
        The AOC's FY 2024 budget request contains significant priorities
    for the Senate office buildings and Senate operations. The AOC plans to
    address necessary repairs and improvements for committee hearing rooms,
    elevators and air handling units.
        The AOC has commenced a long-term program to renovate 32 committee
    hearing rooms throughout the Senate office buildings. These renovations
    aim to improve technology and accessibility while prioritizing historic
    preservation. The requested funding supports the completion of two
    hearing rooms each year.
        This request proposes a multi-year program to refurbish and
    modernize 46 elevators and associated elevator machine rooms in all
    Senate buildings. The elevators require full refurbishment every 15 to
    20 years, and the AOC has proposed a schedule to refurbish the
    elevators to meet safety and code standards with minimized disruption
    to regular operations.
        In addition, the AOC will focus on several projects in the Hart
    Senate Office Building. One ongoing effort relates to the refurbishment
    of the air handling units. Originally installed in 1982, the units are
    nearing the end of their operational life, and the FY 2024 budget
    request will support the second phase of this construction project.
        AOC's funding request covers the second year of a multi-year
    program to renovate Senate food service operations. The Senate
    jurisdiction oversees nine food service facilities in the Senate office
    buildings and on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol Building, which
    include vending and catering services on the Senate side of the Capitol
    campus. In addition, as requested by this Committee and Rules, the AOC
    has proposed a renovation program to transform current food service
    outlets into a dining experience reflecting the history and traditions
    of the United States Senate.
        The AOC will continue the Senate Recycling Program, reducing
    single-use plastics and advancing waste management in Senate facilities
    as part of ongoing maintenance and process improvement. In FY 2022,
    over 426 tons of non-construction waste was recycled through the AOC's
    program, including 231 tons of paper and cardboard; 60 tons of pre-
    consumer compostable materials and cooking oil; 11 tons of mixed
    plastic, metal and glass containers; and 5.5 tons of used toner
    cartridges and electronic waste. Beyond existing measures, the AOC
    continues to further evaluate strategies to reduce single-use plastics
    and expand sustainable measures.
        Finally, as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Senate
    Sergeant at Arms, the FY 2024 request also includes a comprehensive
    building renovation at the Daniel Webster Page Residence to improve the
    building's functionality and accessibility.
                 iv. modern management of aging infrastructure
        Aging facilities and infrastructure present a variety of issues and
    concerns. The past 3 years have only compounded many of these concerns,
    as supply chain shortages, raw material cost increases and the
    competition for skilled laborers have increased the difficulty of
    addressing existing deficiencies. Across the board, the AOC's funding
    request supports facility management and addresses an array of
    essential issues, including roof replacement and installation of
    emergency generators.
        Implementing an asset management system allows us to prioritize
    work through data-driven decisions. As we continue to develop our asset
    management system, we will promote proactive maintenance-based
    strategies. This program provides a disciplined, consistent approach to
    annual inspections based on the average lifecycle of key infrastructure
    elements. With this approach, the AOC will develop a long-term strategy
    to address existing backlogs and the associated costs of deferred
    maintenance requirements.
        The AOC also remains focused on comprehensive planning for the
    entire campus, taking into consideration immediate and long-term needs.
    With the Committee's support, this forward- looking plan and
    accompanying recommendations will set forth a robust approach for
    future generations.
        Over the past year, our staff has been delighted to welcome back
    the public to the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) and the U.S. Botanic
    Garden (Garden). Already during FY 2023, the CVC has hosted over
    360,000 visitors, and with this Committee's support, the redesigned
    Exhibition Hall has welcomed hundreds of enthusiastic students. This
    innovative space provides a series of new interactive experiences
    sharing the story of the U.S. Capitol and the legislative process. In
    addition, the new Democracy Lab provides a hands-on educational area
    with an array of activities for both the young and the young-at-heart,
    and staff offer on-site and online educational programs. Also, in FY
    2023, AOC websites, including the sites maintained by the CVC and the
    Garden, have recorded more than 1.3 million visitors and nearly 3.5
    million pageviews.
     v. recognizing employee accomplishments & meeting mission requirements
        The AOC remains focused on initiatives to improve employee morale.
    For example, the AOC is expanding training programs at all levels of
    the workforce. Every AOC employee can work with their supervisor on
    professional development plans and training opportunities. In addition,
    the agency's Chief Security Officer is leading implementation of
    emergency management and resiliency training.
        As the AOC strives to meet its strategic benchmarks on hiring and
    retention, we remain focused on ensuring that we have the appropriate
    training and resources our employees need to be successful. Most of our
    workforce is required to be on-site to perform their roles and
    responsibilities. At the same time, certain functions can be performed
    off-site and, as appropriate, we have implemented standardized
    government telework agreements that support our continuous and
    uninterrupted ability to serve and respond from anywhere, any time.
        To ensure that the AOC continues to attract and retain an
    exceptional workforce in the years ahead, we are also expanding
    outreach to educational institutions across the U.S. In just a few
    months, the AOC will welcome eight new apprentices who will be working
    throughout the agency with experienced mentors. Through this program
    and other training initiatives, the AOC is preparing to carry on the
    traditions of unique craftsmanship and ingenuity needed to work behind
    the scenes to support Congress, the Supreme Court and the Library.
                                   conclusion
        On behalf of our dedicated public servants who carry out the
    mission every day, I appreciate the support provided by this Committee.
    Your support has been essential to our daily operations, sustained
    recruitment and retention efforts, and strengthened collaboration with
    Congress, the Supreme Court, the Library, USCP, and Senate and House
    Sergeant at Arms.
        Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the
    Subcommittee, thank you for your time and support in consideration of
    the AOC's FY 2024 budget request.

                      LIBRARY OF CONGRESS' STRATEGIC PLAN

        Senator Reed. Thank you very much, Acting Architect. Dr.
    Hayden, as we have talked about it, the Library of Congress has
    recently completed its prior 5-year strategic plan and recently
    initiated a new plan that further expands on your efforts to
    modernize the Library. And can you give us an idea of how the
    goals of the previous plan were achieved, or met, or not met?
        Dr. Hayden. We are in the final year of our current 5-year
    strategic plan. The title of the plan and the guiding force is
    enhancing the Library experience, and that is in-person and in
    the digital realm as well.
        We have had four basic goals, expand access, enhance
    services, optimize our resources, and measure impact.
    Modernization has been at the heart of all of those efforts. We
    have had great success in modernizing many of our IT systems
    and working toward that as possible.
        We expanded our digital scan center, completed Fort Meade
    Module 6, continued work on the visitor experience in the
    Thomas Jefferson Building, and we have started this past summer
    on the next strategic plan, and it will be ready by October 1
    of 2023. It will carry us from fiscal year 2024 to 2028, and it
    builds on the current plan to maintain a user-centered focus.
        Our digital strategy is what will be different with the new
    plan as it will be incorporated into the larger strategic plan,
    and that was a major step, because now as our CIO says,
    technology and digital is baked into everything we do. And so
    having that now be part of all of our efforts will be quite
    remarkable for us.

                      LIBRARY'S FISCAL 2024 BUDGET REQUEST

        Senator Reed. Well, thank you very much. And in your fiscal
    year 2024 budget request, how does it--you can pick out some
    highlights of how it further is your strategic plan, both the
    one that is being completed and the one that will emerge.
        Dr. Hayden. Well, when you look at the fiscal year 2024
    request and the crucial part of expanding the access for all of
    our users and whatever unit we have, the copyright continuous
    development of the copyright system for all of its users and
    stakeholders will be key.
        We have made great progress so far, and we really are
    heartened by the fact that we will be able to continue that.
    Also, the National Library for the Blind and the Print
    Disabled, the continuous development there.
        They have had great success with introducing new braille e-
    readers. The response has been phenomenal, as they have said,
    and really working on that. Expanding our access to, I would
    say, vulnerable users who really need to have the latest
    technology.
        So one of the requests was specific to that. And so, the
    request to also strengthen our service to Congress directly
    will also be something that we are looking at, optimizing and
    enhancing services.
        Senator Reed. Well, thank you very much, doctor. Acting
    Architect Rexroat, the Architect of the Capitol is a very
    dynamic agency. It faces many challenges, security, historic
    preservation, requests from Senators and representatives,
    etcetera.
        And as I mentioned in my opening statement, many people
    have indicated to me that the programmatic practice and
    leadership structure need to be reformed. And since taking over
    as the Acting Architect, what observations can you share with
    us about the operation and leadership of the organization?
        Ms. Rexroat. Thank you, sir, for the question. The
    observations that I have seen to date, again as I noted in my
    opening statement, are the unequitable application of policies.
    We find that the policies and procedures, because we were
    siloed, the jurisdictions were siloed, that they applied them
    differently.
        So now is trying to be one AOC. The main focus for the
    future is going to be make sure that we apply those equitably
    across the board. We also found that with that silo that we get
    piecemeal of information. What may happen in one jurisdiction
    may not be the same for the other jurisdictions.
        So, if we can get those synergies back together, that would
    help as well. And then, of course, differing priorities. We
    know, as you noted, that there are different priorities that
    come about, and it is a matter of getting those expectations
    aligned and making sure that we are addressing those as needed.
        So, sir, I hope that answers your question.
        Senator Reed. Indeed. Have you experienced any obstacles as
    you have stepped in? I mean, this has to be ultimately a
    cooperative, collegial effort in which, you know, mutual
    support and mutual effort are critical. Have you got that
    support?
        Ms. Rexroat. At this point in time, sir, it is still to be
    determined. I will say that I have had the pleasure of meeting
    with the Rules Committees, the subcommittees, and some of the
    major stakeholders.
        It has been my pleasure to be able to hear from them with
    their priorities are. Now I need to take those priorities back
    to my leadership so that we are in alignment moving forward.
    Some of the other obstacles, as you are aware of, or at least
    have been out there for the last few years is our hiring
    processes.
        That alignment also has to do with our management practices
    as well, making sure that we take care of those. And then, of
    course, succession planning. Make sure we have a left and right
    seat, right, so that if there is a gap in leadership, that we
    have the coverage that we need.
        Senator Reed. Right. And one of the problems that we have
    all addressed here is scoping these projects. We always end up
    realizing that they weren't scoped properly, they are more
    expensive, they are more complicated, etcetera. You have
    addressed that in your statement and I know you will address it
    in action, too. With that, let me recognize the Ranking Member.

                 CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE BUDGET REQUEST

        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Hayden, I see
    that you are seeking about a 10 percent increase for the
    Congressional Research Service. There is a demand for their
    work, obviously, and that demand grows.
        The request includes additional funding for new information
    products for congress.gov and a new data analysis pilot
    program. You have mentioned that briefly in your opening
    comments and I would like to hear more about it.
        Can you explain how the request will improve congress.gov
    to provide the public with greater transparency into Congress's
    work? And how will the proposed data pilot program enhance the
    CRS's ability to provide Congress with greater quantitative
    research analysis?

                           CRS DATA ANALYSIS REQUEST

        Dr. Hayden. Thank you for that, because the request for the
    data analysis pilot is directly a result of a feasibility study
    that Congress requested, and to help CRS determine what its
    capacity is, what it needs to help with big data sets and that
    research.
        The feasibility study was completed and recommended the
    pilot, and the request that is in this year is for the pilot.
    It could be very exciting because it will take us into
    different types of things like data modeling and project
    software and cloud computing and all of these tools.
        But it is something that there is additional Congressional
    interest and need for being able to have CRS help with those
    types of requests. And then the bill summaries and the
    congress.gov enhancement. Right now, we are able to, for
    instance, every three weeks, add new features to congress.gov.
        And so being able to increase the timeliness of responses
    with congress.gov as well will help. The estimate is a 40
    percent enhancement in timelines, and that is really something
    when you think about it.
        Senator Fischer. When they made the estimate on that, on
    the feasibility study, did they take into account certain
    percentage for the growth increase that we are seeing? Congress
    is requesting a lot from CRS now, and is that going to be
    considered, that increase in the time required to get reports
    back?
        Dr. Hayden. Yes.
        Senator Fischer. It is all exciting.
        Dr. Hayden. It is something because we want to be able to
    give Congress the most timely, most efficient service. You have
    your own special forces and we are your research arm.
        Senator Fischer. And we appreciate that.
        Dr. Hayden. You being able to have the latest tools, the
    latest types of things, really, I think would enhance. And so
    these efforts are dedicated to making sure that Congress has
    the most up to date and sometimes cutting edge.
        Senator Fischer. Great. Thank you. Ms. Rexroat, I am aware
    that there is a significant number of deferred maintenance
    needs across the Capitol campus, but I see in the fiscal year
    2024 budget request, it is going to fund an additional 50 full
    time staff, as well as prioritize other operating budget
    increases.
        Given the scale of the backlog that we see here, can you
    explain why you prioritize the operational costs, and how the
    agency--how you figure out how to balance those operational
    costs and major construction costs when you are budget
    forecasting? How do you do that?
        Ms. Rexroat. Thank you, Senator. That is a very good
    question. I am looking into that right now and trying to digest
    the most of it as sitting in the seat. So, I will be happy to
    get back with you on that.
        I know that it is weighed against what we can--what the
    projects are, and then, of course, what we can support with
    resources against those projects themselves. So, the staffing
    to make sure that we are able to execute.
        Senator Fischer. Okay. When you get back to us, could you
    let me know how the AOC tracks its deferred maintenance backlog
    as well?
        Ms. Rexroat. Yes, of course.

                     LIBRARY'S REQUEST AND STRATEGIC VISION

        Senator Fischer. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Dr.
    Hayden, a key aspect in the Library's strategic plan is
    expanding Americans' access to all of the Library's resources.
    How does the Library's fiscal year 2024 request align with that
    strategic vision, and what are the primary initiatives the
    request would fund so that we can enhance every American's
    access to the Library?
        Dr. Hayden. I will start with the National Library for the
    Blind and Print Disabled, and the new devices and the efforts
    to establish continuous development for that user group. And it
    was part of the previous strategic plan and now is a vital part
    of what we know will be an increased need with the expansion of
    the eligibility of people who can use NLS services.
        People who have dyslexia, for instance, and a generational
    shift, whether they are going to be coming to us with their own
    devices and being able to respond to that. And so, the request
    this year will facilitate and establish that.
        And also, with the copyright system and continuing the
    development to get to the most important part of copyright
    system, the registration system. We have a very active public
    advisory committee that is very anxious that we continue that.
        And also, CRS and support for Congress. So, there are
    different users. Congress first and the people Congress serves.
        Senator Fischer. When you say that the--when Americans come
    in with their own devices, are you talking about computers or--
    --
        Dr. Hayden. Different devices so they can download from the
    cloud----
        Senator Fischer. So, you will make it compatible with any
    device that comes in, or----?
        Dr. Hayden. That is the challenge----
        Senator Fischer [continuing]. At least to try to adapt to
    it?

                  CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT OF LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY

        Dr. Hayden. And the adapting. You really hit on the
    continuous development part, and so you will see that term used
    with all of our technology efforts that we are shifting.
        We want to establish systems that can change as technology
    changes and I know personally, the tech changes quickly and we
    will have to be--another part of that, though, you will see in
    our efforts that we are very concerned as we increase access
    through technology, that our cybersecurity is and continues to
    be a major focus and strengthened.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        Senator Reed. Thank you, Senator Fischer. Ms. Rexroat, let
    me resume where I stopped, which is basically this issue of
    scoping, of course, estimation seems to be inadequate because
    of cost overruns. So, what do you believe are the issues within
    the AOC that preclude the agency from doing accurate project
    scoping cost estimations and timelines?
        Ms. Rexroat. Initial, sir, response has to do with the
    planning. We have to start with our planning processes and make
    sure that we get the scopes identified clear and upfront. If we
    can't do that, then we are just tracing the scope as the
    project continues to move.
        So, I will be happy to get back to you with some more
    information on that, but I know we have to look at our initial
    planning processes in order to get it cleared down the line.
        Senator Reed. Now, as Chief Engineer, prior to becoming the
    Acting Architect, will you take any steps to try to improve
    this process?
        Ms. Rexroat. Yes, sir.
        Senator Reed. Could you allude to those?
        Ms. Rexroat. Sure. I had taken the same approach with being
    the Chief Engineer here and started with some initial
    observations. With those observations, I did find that, again,
    we were siloed and we had a little bit more of a stop, start,
    stop, start process.
        With that in mind, we were taking a look at how we could
    get more of a matrixed organization. Once a team is initially
    identified that team then stays on the project from the very
    beginning all the way through the end, cradle to grave, as you
    have heard. That way we get the continuity of ownership.
        We get the continuity of what happened on the project and
    how the project was initially planned, scoped, and outlined.
    Along with that change, I also was taking a look at a project
    controls branch, which would then come in and be my quality
    control, quality assurance arm of the OCE. Therefore, we had
    checks and balances along with that team structure.
        Senator Reed. Now, are there any issues regarding
    contracting? Because I would presume that you would have to
    engage contractors, subcontractors, etcetera.
        Ms. Rexroat. Contracting does currently fall under OCE, so
    we have had them in the mix through the entire process and will
    continue to have them as we develop the new changes moving
    forward.
        Senator Reed. And what resources or other support do you
    believe you need in order to correct these factors long term?
    And is it reflected in this budget?
        Ms. Rexroat. It is, sir, to some degree. We have been
    asking for staff over the past few budget cycles with regards
    to management, project management, and construction management.
    It has been a challenge.
        We did stay, completely opened and our projects did stay
    operational throughout the entire pandemic. There is a lot of
    competition within the metro area for qualified managers and
    construction managers, so we have that resource to contend
    with.
        But knowing that we can continue to get our projects
    outlined and identify upfront early, we will be able to take a
    look at what the staffing requirements are for projects versus
    trying to do them after the fact.

                        LIBRARY RECRUITMENT AND STAFFING

        Senator Reed. Thank you very much. And Dr. Hayden, one of
    the issues that seems to be everywhere is the difficulty of
    securing talented, qualified personnel to fill the ranks. You
    are asking for additional FTEs, and the question is, can you
    fill them, etcetera.
        Every business I go to, and I think Senator Fischer has the
    same experience, we can't find the workers--we can't find good
    workers.
        This morning we had the Army, the Navy, and Air Force about
    recruiting and surprise, they are having a very challenging
    time finding recruits. So, can you comment upon your ability to
    recruit and retain the highest quality?
        Dr. Hayden. In our fiscal year 2024 budget request, we are
    asking for support to help with contract specialists. That is
    one of the areas that has been identified throughout the
    government.
        We are working on trying to help keep our staff - in a
    number of ways. We opened our vacancy announcements and are
    continuing. When we revised our telework policy, we found that
    it is also something that helps in terms of recruitment, and
    diversity, and being able to do that.
        And also looking at more outreach to organizations and
    events that might help us with recruitment. But that is a
    definite problem that we share. There are other positions
    besides the contracting that are difficult.
        Attorneys with foreign legal specialties, our law Library
    is the largest in the world, and specifically supports Congress
    as well, and finding people who have those types of skills,
    especially in foreign language, is very difficult.
        So, we have to find ways that we can make our positions
    attractive, but also do the technical things to get them here.
        Senator Reed. Well, please keep us apprized, both of you,
    of this issue of qualified workers, finding them, keeping them
    because it is critical to the success of both your agencies.
    Senator Fischer, please.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ms. Rexroat,
    recently we have seen the misuse of government resources at the
    highest level of the agency, and it has been a point of public
    discussion. It is important that the American people understand
    that the AOC is a financial steward of those resources that
    they receive.
        What does your organization need for better internal
    controls, and does this budget reflect that priority? Have you
    had those discussions? Are you ready to, you know, figure out
    how to get a handle on things, what needs to happen, and more
    importantly, how can we help?
        Ms. Rexroat. Thank you very much for that. Yes, ma'am, I am
    taking a look into that. As I noted earlier, we have found that
    with the silos, there has been definitely disparate application
    of how policies and which, of course, have led to some of the
    challenges we have seen over the past few years.
        I am looking into that, and my goal is to make sure that we
    get those into alignment, to have greater accountability,
    equitability across the whole agency, and ensure that the staff
    and the supervisors know what is the correct path forward.
        So, with that in mind, yes, absolutely. I am taking a look
    at that and look forward to your support with that. We will
    need it.
        Senator Fischer. Are you looking just within the agency?
    Are you asking for any outside consultation to come in and be
    able to offer suggestions as well to, you know, go through an
    analysis of the agency, or do you want to keep it in the
    agency? Where are you at this point?
        Ms. Rexroat. Sorry to interrupt, but yes, I have broached
    that option. I do want to put all the options on the table in
    order to see what can best serve the agency moving forward, and
    that option is out there.
        I am working through right now the scope and, of course,
    the financial requirements in order to get that done. But it is
    an option that is under consideration and on the table.
        Senator Fischer. Well, thank you very much for stepping
    forward to address it. I know you understand it.
        Ms. Rexroat. Thank you, ma'am.

                            VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT

        Senator Fischer. Dr. Hayden, as I mentioned in my opening
    comments about the Veterans History Project, I personally had a
    wonderful experience with that, and I know that we all share
    the goal of ensuring that the program has the resources that it
    needs so it can continue to be a success.
        Could you walk us through the projects and digitization
    efforts of the material that has already been collected? I
    mean, I would imagine you have a lot of material there. You
    know, how do you plan to do that, and can it be done in a
    fairly timely manner, or is this something that is going to
    take a long period of time? And then how do you hope to reach
    more veterans to tell their story?
        Dr. Hayden. The veteran's history website was recently
    updated and it is the first time in about 20 years. And so
    that--in terms of being able to attract more people, we had 3
    million visitors to the website just last year, and we have
    114,000 collections that are available.
        That includes also our ability to work with Gold Star
    families, and that has really expanded our reach as well. We
    were able to work with over 50 congressional offices. Members
    were able to do videos and put them on their websites, and
    really, as you know, do workshops virtually.
        And we are working with our IT systems to make sure that
    people in the future will be able to use the latest digital
    tools to send materials to us, the recordings. And we see that
    that aspect, beyond the workshops that we give and we have all
    types of programing, and we have been doing quite a bit of that
    and did a lot during the pandemic, in fact.
        But being able to make it easier for people to send in
    materials. And our Folklife Center has a program called
    Paprika, like the spice, we have invested quite a bit in terms
    of making that technology easier so that we can ingest
    different types of digital input. We would love to give you a
    kind of a briefing on that. We have our Chief Information
    Officer, Judith Conklin.
        And I just want to take this opportunity to express our
    appreciation for her. She is a certified cyber security expert.
    She is a veteran herself. She left as a Major and she is here
    behind me. We are so proud because she has just won, for the
    second time, an award for Federal workers for her efforts in
    cyber security.
        So, all of the things, when we talk digital, when we talk
    technology, we are led by Judith Conklin.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you. Congratulations, ma'am, on your
    award.
        Ms. Conklin. Thank you.
        Senator Fischer. And thank you for the work that you do.
    Ms. Rexroat, we are seeing more visitors come. You know, March,
    we have seen a huge uptick in the number of visitors to the
    Capitol.
        We have a lot of folks coming out to meet with us, but also
    to learn more about Washington D.C., the history that is here,
    and all that it offers. And so, I want to acknowledge the CDCs
    staff, along with the Capitol Police officers.
        They have helped to open the Capitol campus. But how is the
    AOC managing the influx? Is there anything from an
    appropriations perspective that we can provide to make that
    experience for our friends and neighbors even better?
        Ms. Rexroat. Thank you, ma'am. From my understanding right
    now, the answer is I think we have got what we need. But I will
    definitely check back and make sure that that is the truth.
        Senator Fischer. Yes.
        Ms. Rexroat. I will find out for you.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

                           CHAIRMEN'S CLOSING REMARKS

        Senator Reed. Well, thank you both, not only for your
    testimony, but for your service. And I just have one final
    question. Major Conklin, is that Major in the United States
    Army?
        Ms. Conklin. Yes.
        Senator Reed. Well, bravo. I really--I mean, I applaud you,
    and I am not surprised either. Thank you for your work. And
    thank you for the work from all your colleagues at the Library
    of Congress and also the architect of the counsel's office.
        This concludes the Legislative Branch Appropriations
    subcommittee hearing regarding fiscal year 2024 funding for the
    Library of Congress and the Architecture of the Capitol. Again,
    I thank you, Dr. Hayden and Ms. Rexroat, for your testimony.

                         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, March 29, 2023.
        [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. The next hearing of the subcommittee will be
    held on Tuesday, April 21 at 3:30 p.m. in room 124 of the
    Dirksen Senate Office Building. We will hear testimony from the
    Senate Sergeant at Arms and the Chief of the Capitol Police
    regarding their fiscal year 2024 budget request.
        Until then, the Committee stands adjourned. Thank you,
    again.
        [Whereupon, at 3:45 p.m., Wednesday, March 22, the
    subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of
    the Chair.]

             LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024

                                  ----------

                           WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2023

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

        The subcommittee met at 3:32 p.m., in room SD-124, Dirksen
    Senate Office Building, Hon. Jack Reed (Chairman), presiding.
        Present: Senators Reed, Murray, Murphy, Van Hollen,
    Fischer, and Rubio.

            UNITED STATES SENATE SERGEANT AT ARMS AND DOORKEEPER AND

                          UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE

                     OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JACK REED

        Senator Reed. Good afternoon. Senator Fischer is on her
    way. But at this point I will call this subcommittee to order.
        I would like to welcome everyone, to the last of fiscal
    year 2024 Budget Hearings for the Legislative Branch
    Appropriations Subcommittee.
        Today, we have with us the Senate's Sergeant at Arms, Ms.
    Karen Gibson, General, United States Army, retired. And Chief
    of the United States Capitol Police, Chief J. Thomas Manger.
    Thank you, both.
        I would like to thank you for joining us to testify. And I
    would ask for unanimous consent that the witnesses' written
    testimony be placed in the hearing record.
        And hearing no objection, so ordered.
        As I noted in our earlier hearings, the Legislative Branch
    agencies have submitted fiscal year 2024 budget requests that
    account for a $215 million increase over the enacted fiscal
    year 2023 Legislative Branch appropriation. We will be
    carefully considering these requests to ensure they continue to
    improve our ability to meet our responsibility to govern
    effectively.
        For fiscal year 2024, the Sergeant at Arms is requesting
    $319.8 million in appropriated funds, which is an increase of
    $32.7 million over the fiscal year 2023 enacted level. This
    increase provides funding for COLA-related costs in locality
    for 43 new positions to support various Sergeant at Arms
    organizational elements, and for salary adjustments for onboard
    personnel.
        This increase also provides for the mandatory Postal Square
    move of certain SAA operations, inauguration support cost, IT
    infrastructure, and cybersecurity requirements, various
    technology upgrades within the Senate, and the Senate
    Residential Security System Program.
        Today, we will also be reviewing the United States Capitol
    Police's fiscal year 2024 budget request.
        And before I address the USCP request, I would like to
    thank you, Chief Manger, and your team for all you do to
    support the safety and security of the Capitol Complex each and
    every day.
        Included in the President's budget request, is a request
    for appropriation of $840.9 million for the Capitol Police,
    which is an increase of $106.3 million from the fiscal year
    2023 enacted level. This is an increase in both the salaries
    and the general expense appropriations. This increase provides
    for the annualization of salaries for onboard personnel in
    fiscal year 2023, increased over time for core mission, and
    national political conventions, funding for new positions, and
    COLA and miscellaneous payments--funding.
        This increase also provides for increased protective
    services support during an election year, to include at
    national political conventions, funding to support the purchase
    and lease of various fleet vehicles, funding to support the
    continuation of the contract to the Security Guard Program,
    technical and physical security equipment, and lifecycle
    replacements and upgrades, and various other non-personnel
    related costs.
        I look forward to hearing from both of our witnesses today.
        We will be joined shortly by Senator Murray, the Chair of
    the Senate Appropriations Committee. We have been joined by
    Ranking Member, Senator Fischer. Thank you.
        And at this point I would like to recognize Senator Fischer
    for her opening remarks.

                    OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR DEB FISCHER

        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And thank you General Gibson, and Chief Manger, for being
    with us today, for our Third Legislative Branch Hearing.
        I want to begin by thanking the men and women of your
    agencies for the work they do to keep Members of Congress,
    staff, and visitors on the Capitol Campus safe every day. I am
    deeply grateful for their service, and acknowledge that their
    support is what enables us to do our job in a secure and open
    environment.
        Both the Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police are
    responsible for maintaining the security of the Capitol Campus,
    and both agencies have a no-fail mission. In recent years, the
    SAA and the Department have faced increasing threats against
    the Congress and evolving mission requirements.
        General Gibson, as the Senate Sergeant at Arms, you have a
    vast range of responsibilities, which span from ensuring the
    physical, personal, and electronic safety of Senators and
    staff, to providing support operations to keep the Senate
    functioning efficiently and effectively.
        For fiscal year 2024 the SAA seeks an 11.4 percent increase
    over last year's enacted level. The request includes funding
    for physical security efforts, information technology, and
    cybersecurity initiatives, and 31 additional FTEs to support
    the Office of Security Emergency Preparedness and Continuity,
    and the Chief Information Officer. In your testimony I hope to
    hear how the requested increase will enable the SAA to improve
    and expand the physical security and cyber defenses of the
    Senate.
        Chief Manger, it is nice to see you again. Thank you for
    hosting me earlier this year at headquarters. I enjoyed our
    conversation and the tour of the Command Center.
        The Department is requesting $841 million, an increase of
    14.4 percent over the fiscal year 2023 enacted level. Congress
    has invested considerable funds in the Department over the past
    couple of years. We have provided funding to hire additional
    officers, upgrade equipment, expand training, improve
    operations, and offer benefits to new and current personnel.
        I look forward to hearing the impact these investments have
    had, and examining how we can best position the Capitol Police
    for the future. We are committed to the safety and security of
    Members, their families, staff, visitors, and Capitol
    facilities. We must carefully consider the significant needs of
    all our security-related agencies, and ensure coordination and
    cooperation in their efforts.
        To that end, Chairman Reed and I will continue to work
    together, in a bipartisan manner, to meet the mission
    requirements for the SAA and the Capitol Police.
        Thank you, again, to our witnesses for being here. And I
    look forward to your testimony.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Reed. Thank you, Senator Fischer.
        And I now ask our witnesses, beginning with the Sergeant at
    Arms, General Gibson, to give a brief opening statement. As you
    know, the written testimony of each witness will be printed in
    full in the hearing record.
        General.
                                    ------

              UNITED STATES SENATE SERGEANT AT ARMS AND DOORKEEPER

    STATEMENT OF HON. KAREN H. GIBSON, SERGEANT AT ARMS AND
                DOORKEEPER OF THE SENATE
        General Gibson. Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer,
    Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to
    testify in support of the Sergeant at Arms fiscal year 2024
    Budget Request.
        I want to thank the subcommittee for supporting our
    initiatives over the last 2 years, which have allowed us to
    improve security and continue critical modernization. We remain
    dedicated to meeting the personal, physical, and cybersecurity
    needs of the Senate, as well as providing essential
    administrative and logistical support. We do so, seeking at all
    times, to improve our effectiveness through innovation and a
    dedication to customer satisfaction.
        In that spirit, we created a security portal through which
    offices and committees can directly request security services
    which are tracked and responded to in real time.
        Two years ago, security support requests were made via
    paper letters, physically routed through distribution, the same
    portal shows my team the status of Emergency Preparedness plans
    and training, the recency of residential security assessments,
    and the nature of threats against senators.
        We are also fielding an accountability tool for use on a
    mobile device that allows staff to directly report their
    personal status and location in an emergency, providing real-
    time visibility to office emergency coordinators. Another
    emergency preparedness app readily provides staff with office-
    specific procedures and contacts during an emergency.
        Finally, rather than relying on staffs' availability to
    attend in-person training, we have developed numerous videos
    that can be viewed at the time and place of one's choosing on a
    broad variety of topics. Our security mission expands beyond
    the Capitol grounds. To demonstrate and promote security at
    State offices, with the assistance of the Rules Committee, we
    constructed a life-sized model of a State office in the
    basement of the Russell Senate Office Building, complete with
    recommended security equipment and design features, which has
    led to the adoption of important features, such as video,
    intercoms, IT security closets, duress buttons, and secure
    reception areas.
        Because this room is outfitted with remote learning
    technology, we will expand its use to include virtual classes
    on state security topics.
        Working hand-in-glove with the Capitol Police, we have a
    renewed focus on personal and residential security, as you will
    see in our request, for the Residential Security System
    Program.
        To date, 37 Senators have received requested Residential
    Security Assessments led by Capitol Police physical security
    experts, and we are on track to start installing security
    equipment identified by the assessments this summer.
        That said, the most persistent threats we face are in the
    cyber domain. We have carefully applied funds to improve the
    resilience, security, and modernization of Senate
    communications. The Senate network is now backed up in two
    modern dispersed data centers, and we protect the network with
    a myriad of software, hardware, and trained professionals. This
    comes at a cost, as you see in our budget request that asks for
    an additional $2.945 million to assist in proactive defense.
        We have also prioritized modernization, including updating
    TranSAAct, partnering with the Secretary of the Senate to
    enhance office payroll processes, and fielding the Unified
    Communication and Collaboration System. Our commitment to
    innovation and customer satisfaction extends to every service
    we provide.
        Last year, we opened the Senate's first Passport Office,
    completing over 1,200 passports in 9 months. We enacted a
    portal system, Direct Express, which allows offices to order
    services through an innovative web-to-print storefront, it cuts
    processing by 90 percent, saving time, money, and supplies.
    Custom flag certificates can take less than a minute using this
    storefront, rather than the 3 to 4 previous hours.
        I am especially proud of our innovative work to support the
    new need for closed captioning on the Senate floor and in
    hearings. In just weeks we developed a bespoke solution for the
    floor and built a temporary system to support closed captioning
    in select committees. Contracts in place will allow us to scale
    as needed, and for the first time provide closed captioning for
    all hearings in D.C. by the end of the year. This is a great
    illustration of the innovation I see daily across the Sergeant
    at Arms.
        This budget request is focused on three core
    responsibilities: The security and safety of senators, staff,
    constituents, and visitors; the security and reliability of
    Senate communications, and innovative solutions to support the
    Senate's needs.
        We seek $5 million in no-year funding to upgrade audio-
    visual equipment in committee hearing rooms, $2 million to fund
    the Senate's share of the campus-wide Joint Audible Warning
    System; and $2.5 million for the Residential Security System
    Program. We also request $4 million for costs associated with
    moving out of Postal Square.
        We request 43 additional positions, 20 will support
    physical security programs, such as the Senate Residential
    Security System Program. Eleven will support critical functions
    for the Chief Information Officer. The remaining 12 address
    additional needs of other personal support efforts, such as
    rolling out the Green and Gold Congressional Aide Program for
    veterans at the Senate.
        In closing, I want to highlight the work also of the
    Capitol Police Board, which I chair this year. I am grateful
    for the strong working relationship with the Capitol Police,
    the Architect of the Capitol, and my counterparts in the House.
        We have reopened the Capitol complex, while ensuring the
    police are properly staffed to meet mission requirements. We
    hired a new Inspector General and established a working group
    to ensure the Board makes the best use of IG reports as an
    oversight tool.
        With the assistance of Congress and this Committee, we
    completed a comprehensive security review of the campus,
    prioritized repairs, and worked to support the men and women of
    the police.
        I am especially pleased that the General Accountability
    Office recently found the Capitol Police Board has fully
    incorporated leading governance practices to enhance
    accountability, transparency, and external communication.
        As Chair, I will continue to ensure the protection of the
    Congressional community remains at the forefront of all we do.
        Finally, thank you for your support of the Sergeant at
    Arms, and for the opportunity to discuss our accomplishments in
    our fiscal year 2024 budget request.
        I stand ready for your questions.
        [The statement follows:]
     Prepared Statement of Honorable Karen H. Gibson, Sergeant at Arms and
                            Doorkeeper of the Senate
        For Fiscal Year 2024, the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms
    (SAA) respectfully requests $319,776,000 and 1,037 Full-Time
    Equivalents (FTEs) for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24). This is an 11.4%
    increase over the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) enacted budget and an
    increase of 43 FTEs. This request includes no-year funding totaling
    $9,500,000 for the Senate hearing room renovations, Senate Residential
    Security System Program, and for the shared use of the Senate's Joint
    Audible Warning System.
        Before I detail our specific requests for FY24, I want to highlight
    some of the many initiatives the SAA has undertaken in the 2 years I
    have been the Sergeant at Arms.
        Communication with Senate offices is a top priority. In partnership
    with the Secretary of the Senate, we created the Senate Operations
    Center (SOC). This one-stop shop disseminates information to Senate
    offices during emergencies or security incidents. The SOC is
    operational weekdays from 7:00 am--10:00 pm, or until the Senate
    adjourns, and is tied into the USCP Command Center for timely
    information on events on or near the Capitol and Senate Office
    Buildings. By consolidating Senate emergency and security information
    into the SOC, we have streamlined and centralized emergency messaging
    to the Senate Community, and are able to provide accurate and timely
    information to facilitate decisions.
        Each Monday morning, the SAA sends out a weekly bulletin to all
    Senate Offices, Committees, and support entities. The bulletin
    consolidates what were multiple daily emails into one reference
    document that details door hours, permitted demonstrations for the
    upcoming week, upcoming trainings, and announcements on new services,
    software, and events.The communications team also created The Chamber,
    a quarterly publication by the SAA highlighting issues and services in
    a format that allows greater depth. Our upcoming Chamber will highlight
    ADA accessibility information for Senate staff and visitors. The
    bulletin and The Chamber have been very well received by the Senate
    Community. In order to receive feedback from the offices, we launched a
    Feedback portal on Webster that allows direct feedback to the SAA, the
    Deputy SAA and the Chief of Staff on any issues related to the SAA or
    the USCP. This feedback can be anonymous or individuals may leave
    contact information for a direct response.
        We hired a new Director of the Joint Office of Training and
    Development and that team has been prioritizing emergency and security
    training. They have created a series of short videos on responses to
    various types of emergencies and created a self-paced webinar on
    Responding to an Active Shooter. This training is online, accessible
    24/7 and makes the information easier for staff to access any emergency
    training as often as they need. We also introduced a new class: Event
    Planning: Best Practices in Safety and Security. This class is designed
    to educate Senate staff who plan events in D.C. or in State offices on
    ways to include security in the event planning process. Our State
    office team developed specialized training to enhance security options
    in State offices and offers CPR, First Aid, and Stop the Bleed classes
    for State Offices.
        In March 2023, we rolled out the Account Tool application which
    sends messages to each D.C.-based Senate staff during an incident or
    emergency so that they can report their own location and status. Each
    Office Emergency Coordinator can see a dashboard of all their employees
    who have reported their status during the incident. This is an
    advancement in how we handle accountability: no longer is one person
    responsible for reporting in for their entire office. Now, every staff
    member reports their own status during an emergency. This application
    allows for rapid accounting of personnel, allows offices to easily
    reach out to staff who have not reported their status, and allows staff
    to ask for help or report injuries.
        By May of 2023, we will have fully implemented our new Emergency
    Preparation (EP) application which will allow staff in each office to
    find and follow their office's specific plan for emergencies. It will
    show evacuation routes, internal relocation areas, and the designated
    shelter-in-place location for each individual office. This is an
    advancement in how offices provide information to their staff by
    literally putting this information in their hand on their mobile
    device.
        SAA teams coordinate security requests for Senators when they
    travel or hold events in the home state. We also coordinate security at
    hearings and arrange residential security assessments for Senators. Two
    years ago, these requests were all via individual letters to me. We now
    have a security portal where all requests are entered by an office and
    action is taken and tracked without the time-consuming exchange of
    letters.
        As we continue to enhance Capitol campus and Senator residential
    security we are also working to enhance security for our state offices.
    We have set up a state office demonstration room in the Russell
    Building where Senators and staff can come and see all the security
    measures available in state offices. We used the demonstration room
    during the transition to the 118th Congress and were able to show
    incoming Senators all the security features available in their State
    Offices. I encourage all Senators to bring their Chief of Staff and
    their Administrative Director to our demo room and learn what security
    enhancements you already have in place in each of your state offices,
    and what additional options are available.
        With the support of the Secretary of the Senate, and approval from
    the Senate Rules Committee, the Senate Post Office began accepting
    passport applications on June 13, 2022. The Senate Post Office was
    approved, by the State Department, to be an official Passport Issuance
    Office through their Special Issuance Passport Program (SIPP). The
    Senate Passport Office offers official travel and tourism passport
    services for Senate members, staff, and their immediate families. In
    the 10 months since the Passport Office has been open, we have
    completed over 1283 passports for the Senate community. On April 4,
    2022, the Senate Post Office began offering notary services to the
    Senate community, augmenting services provided by the Disbursing Office
    and SAA Human Resources. To date, notary public services were provided
    to 262 Senate staff.
        The CIO team does a tremendous job ensuring our enterprise network
    has near zero downtime, and is backed up in two geographically
    dispersed data centers. This not only makes the Senate network safer
    but it also provides resiliency and emergency backup should one of our
    data centers experience an outage. This type of architecture and
    resiliency is not inexpensive as our appropriations request
    demonstrates, but it is required to ensure that the Senate can function
    at all times. The CIO team manages our communications and has recently
    undertaken the Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) project
    which will replace every desk phone in the Senate--both in Washington
    DC, and in every state office. Our commitment to the Senate is that
    communications are resilient and that offices have the equipment and
    the software they need to do their jobs.
        The Cybersecurity team protects our network with perimeter pen-
    testing and multiple monitoring tools, and a highly trained 24/7 cyber
    team. We have increased our training to the Senate community enhancing
    the cybersecurity training required of all Senate staff with customized
    training for offices to help secure Senate data both on-premises and in
    the cloud. We have extended our cybersecurity protections to our cloud-
    based services to ensure they exceed current Federal standards. We have
    enhanced the security of our mobile devices to protect data on the
    devices and prevent malware from being transferred to our network. In
    terms of innovation, our software developers are about to begin work
    with the Senate Disbursing Office to make payroll and overtime payments
    secure, auditable, and easier to create and submit for Senate Offices
    and Committees. We are also modernizing TranSAAct, one of the core
    systems Senate offices use for SAA services such as parking,
    identification cards, smart cards, floor privileges, and asset
    management.
        When I testified before this committee in April of 2021, after 30
    days in this role, I discussed my top priority: working with my Capitol
    Police Board (CPB) partners to develop a comprehensive plan to keep the
    Capitol and its occupants safe, guided by the desire to maintain a
    secure, open campus that balances access and security.
        There is much more work ahead, but we have made significant
    progress as a Board. With the assistance of Congress and this
    Committee, we completed a comprehensive security review of the campus,
    prioritized repairs and improvements to our security infrastructure,
    and worked to provide needed relief and support to the men and women of
    the United States Capitol Police (USCP) that protect our entire
    community. I will continue to ensure the protection of the
    Congressional community remains at the forefront of all we do.
    USCP Reorganization
        The Capitol Police Board has worked with Chief Manger to support
    his vision for the future of the USCP. His reorganization plan focuses
    on expanding the Department's intelligence, threat assessment,
    operational planning, and dignitary protection capabilities while it
    continues to increase its staffing level. We support the Chief's work
    to transform the USCP to ensure USCP's current and future missions
    address feedback from USCP officers and our Congressional stakeholders.
    USCP Hiring and Staffing
        The Board has worked closely with the Department and Congress to
    improve USCP's ability to attract, hire, and retain professional law
    enforcement officers to protect the Capitol complex and its occupants.
    At its lowest point after January 6, USCP had just over 1800 officers.
    Today, that number stands at more than 1900, with almost 200 recruit
    officers graduating this October. The Board has assisted the department
    in setting pay and retention policies aimed to attract both new and
    experienced law enforcement officers, established a lateral transfer
    program for experienced officers, and created a retired annuitant
    program for lighter work posts. The Board also authorized the use of
    Capitol Security Officers to augment USCP at select posts.
        While these efforts have been successful, we still have more work
    to do. We are close to our pre-January 6 staffing numbers, however, the
    mission demand in certain areas of the Department has increased
    considerably. The Board will continue to work closely with the Chief
    and our stakeholders to ensure the Department is able to meet its
    expanding mission at the same time as it is able to provide its
    officers with the support and work-life balance they deserve.
    Reopening
        The Capitol Police Board has spent much of the past 2 years working
    with the Department and our stakeholders to fully reopen the Capitol
    Complex while ensuring USCP is properly staffed to meet the mission.
    I'm pleased to report to you today that we are very close to a complete
    reopening of the Campus. On the Senate side, we have re-opened all pre-
    COVID doors, and only the vehicle barricade at 1st and Constitution
    Avenue remains closed. For the American People, we have re-opened the
    CVC on Saturdays. USCP should be staffed to support the traditional
    summer visitor load following Memorial Day. We will reopen the vehicle
    barricade when staffing allows.
    Temporary Fencing
        One area of focus for the Board this year will be the development
    of consistent guidelines and decision points for the deployment of
    temporary fencing surrounding the Capitol. These guidelines will
    include a balance of threat, event, and Continuity of Congress
    considerations that can be applied to routine events such as National
    Special Security Events as well as unplanned events. I believe these
    guidelines will assist the Board in evaluating the balance between
    security and access, as well as communicating decisions with our
    stakeholders.
    GAO Report/Communication With Stakeholders
        The Capitol Police Board has taken seriously our responsibility to
    be transparent, accountable, and responsive to our stakeholders. In
    response to a 2017 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, as
    Board Chair in 2021, I led the Board as it finalized updates and
    implemented those changes to its governance practices. We held
    stakeholder meetings and updated and issued a revised Manual of
    Procedures. The GAO noted: ``We reviewed the Manual to assess its
    inclusion of leading practices, and, in the spring and summer of 2022,
    we conferred with Congressional stakeholders to understand their
    knowledge of the Manual's updates and the scope and nature of their
    interactions with the Board. Based on our reviews of the Manual and the
    information we collected from Congressional stakeholders about their
    engagement with the Board, the Board has complied with the
    recommendation, and we will close it as implemented.'' Our work does
    not end with the closure of that recommendation, and I look forward to
    continued engagement with our stakeholders.
    Inspector General Reports and Hiring
        I take very seriously my role on the Board overseeing the Capitol
    Police. A critical part of that oversight is ensuring that the Capitol
    Police is properly responding to its Inspector General and implementing
    recommendations from the IG and other outside reports. The Department
    has approximately 61 open recommendations from the USCP IG, of which 28
    are related to the January 6 flash reports. In 2021, the Board
    established a working group to assist in reviewing the flash reports
    that assist the Board in prioritizing and reviewing the Department's
    efforts to implement the IG's recommendations. This year, the Board
    leveraged the working group to provide the Department with guidance and
    direction on moving outstanding IG recommendations to closure.
        After consultation with the IGs from the Library of Congress,
    Government Publishing Office, and GAO, we conducted a national search
    and selected Mr. Ron Russo as the USCP's new Inspector General. Mr.
    Russo is an experienced law enforcement professional who has served in
    audit, investigatory, and law enforcement roles. The Board looks
    forward to supporting Mr. Russo as he continues the critical mission of
    the USCP IG.
        The achievements of the SAA in the last 2 years have been in
    security, training, communications and IT systems. Our focus has been
    modernization, innovation, communication and customer service. I am
    proud of all we have accomplished. Thank you to all the dedicated SAA
    staff who make all of this good work possible, and to this Committee
    for your trust, guidance and support.
    Requests for FY24
        The projects we will be undertaking in FY24 are focused on my core
    responsibilities: security and safety of Senators and staff, security
    and reliability of the enterprise network, and ensuring we meet the
    needs of our customers.
                          capitol operations division
        The FY24 budget request includes a $659,000 increase to enable the
    Senate Recording Studio to provide closed captioning services for
    Senate Committee Hearings, a $50,000 increase to allow us to replace
    equipment in the cabinetry shop, and a $5,000,000 increase 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.
    There are no FTE requests in Capitol Operations for FY24.
    Appointment Desk
        Appointment Desk requests level funding to support the network of
    Appointment Desks located on the first floor of the Capitol, the
    basements of Russell and Hart, and the Congressional Visitor Center.
    The Appointment Desk is utilizing updated software to more efficiently
    assist Senate offices in registering and welcoming official business
    visitors.
    Capitol Facilities
        During the pandemic, in addition to the standard nightly cleaning
    services, the Environmental Services Division procured and used
    advanced equipment and chemicals to disinfect offices, restrooms, and
    hallways. Our Cabinet Shop builds and maintains furniture for the
    Senate Chamber and Capitol offices, and we are requesting an additional
    $50,000 in FY24 to cover the cost of equipment replacement.
    Doorkeepers
        Level funding is requested for the Senate Doorkeepers. The
    Doorkeepers provide access to those with Senate floor privileges;
    enforce the rules of the Senate floor; and facilitate the needs of
    Senators, Senate floor staff, and Senate Pages. The Doorkeepers serve
    in key roles for special events at the Capitol, including
    inaugurations, joint sessions of Congress, and swearing-in and lying-
    in-state ceremonies. Further, they ensure the Senate chamber is
    prepared in the event of an emergency.
    Media Galleries
        Level funding is requested to support the Senate's four media
    galleries. The media galleries serve as liaisons between the media and
    the Senate community and coordinate press coverage of hearings, news
    conferences, stakeouts, and other media events in the Capitol and
    Senate office buildings. Gallery staff support press logistics at many
    high-profile hearings and events, including the Presidential
    Inauguration, Impeachments, State of the Union, and Swearing in of new
    Senators.
    Periodical Press
        The Senate Periodical Press Gallery (Senate PPG) assists over one
    thousand correspondents working for magazines, newsletters, non-daily
    newspapers, or online publications and serves Members of Congress and
    Congressional staff with any periodical press-related questions or
    issues.
    Daily Press
        The Senate Press Gallery staff supports those reporters who work
    for daily newspapers and online publications. The gallery's first
    responsibility--since the House and Senate assigned press accreditation
    to the Standing Committee of Correspondents more than 140 years ago--
    has always been the maintenance of high standards of journalistic
    independence. In 2021, the Senate Daily Press Gallery credentialed
    approximately 1,500 correspondents. At a time when the media landscape
    is rapidly changing, the Standing Committee of Correspondents relies on
    this Gallery staff to supply the research and the institutional
    judgment needed for tough and, sometimes, precedent-setting decisions
    about credential applications.
        Gallery staff continues to innovate how best to serve its
    constituency. An example is the Gallery's Twitter presence. The @Senate
    press currently has over 27,000 followers, an increase of approximately
    10,000 from the previous year.
    Press Photographers
        The Press Photographers Gallery supports press photographers
    representing news organizations from across the United States and
    around the world. Their chief responsibility is to be a liaison between
    news photographers and Congress. Under the guidance of the Standing
    Committee of Press Photographers, staff research new credential
    applications, certify credential renewal requests and issue credentials
    to bona fide news photographers. Staff ensures news photographers have
    the access, information and representation to effectively cover
    Congress, while the Gallery provides filing, office and storage space
    for credentialed press photographers.
    Radio & TV
        The Senate Radio and Television Gallery is the office where the
    radio and television correspondents work when they cover the Senate.
    Correspondents from major news outlets occupy work areas in the gallery
    daily. Gallery staff serve as liaisons between Congressional offices
    and members of the electronic news media. Gallery staff work closely
    with Senate staff and more than 4,000 credentialed members of the
    electronic media to facilitate coverage of Senate news events in and
    around the Capitol. Senate staff relies on the Gallery's personnel for
    information on legislative business and press conference details in the
    Gallery's state-of-the-art studio.
        The Gallery staff is also responsible for maintaining the media
    technical infrastructure in Senate committee hearing rooms and other
    news event locations throughout the Senate campus. For example, last
    year the gallery staff oversaw the completion of a maintenance program
    of all Senate media fiber that exists throughout the Senate office
    buildings and in the Capitol. The maintenance program included
    upgrading old fiber optic cables to new ones in order to extend the
    current fiber network's lifecycle.
    Senate Recording Studio (SRS)
        The Senate Recording Studio monitors, maintains and repairs the
    audio-visual systems in all hearing rooms across the Senate campus. In
    FY24, the Recording Studio requests a $659,000 increase for committee
    closed captioning services. Closed captioning services provide real
    time closed captioning of the committee broadcast for the deaf and hard
    of hearing. This service ensures the Senate is compliant with the 21st
    Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAAA) and allows
    all constituents the ability to participate in Senate hearings. This
    increase allows the Senate to provide captioning to constituents in the
    same manner they receive captioning from networks.
        The FY24 budget request also includes a $5,000,000 increase 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 SRS plans to make targeted replacements of 3 to 4 systems per
    year as they age. The SAA is working towards several targeted
    replacements in FY23 and FY24, including systems in SH-562 and SDG-50,
    as well as central ``press system'' components. 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 and continuing with
    SD-406. To date, the SAA has completed a targeted replacement of audio/
    video teleconferencing equipment in SR-188, as well as broadcast
    cameras in SD-106 and SH-216 and a large replacement of audio and
    control systems in SH-216 and the full renovation of the Commerce
    hearing room (SR-253), the Intel Hearing Room (SH-219), and the Senate
    SCIF (SVC 217). This ongoing effort to renovate hearing rooms will
    continue in FY24.
        The request also includes funding for the ongoing support of
    Recording Studio services to Senators, committees, SAA and Secretary of
    the Senate offices. During 2022, the Senate Recording Studio broadcast
    987 hours of gavel-to-gavel coverage of Senate floor proceedings and
    recorded the proceedings for subsequent archiving. The Recording Studio
    broadcasted, streamed, recorded, and archived 601 hearings. They also
    produced 514 TV studio shows and 716 Radio shows/services. ``In the
    field'' SRS supported 87 events, some of which were Statue Dedications,
    Police Graduations, a Capitol Police Memorial Dedication, a Gold Medal
    Ceremony, press conferences and other various events on/around Capitol
    Hill. The Video Post-Production Department (Tape Room) fulfilled 442
    orders, as well as completed 172 hours of editing.
        Priorities for the SRS consist of the replacement of critical
    infrastructure within studio spaces including video switching, routing,
    and audio mixing systems installed in 2008, which are now near or, in
    some cases, past the end of their serviceable life. These replacements
    ensure the SRS provides exceptional support in each of its functional
    areas.
                        chief information officer (cio)
        In the FY24 budget request, the CIO is requesting an increase of
    $2,945,000 and three FTEs for Cybersecurity, $5,181,000 and three FTEs
    to enhance the posture of the modern and geographically separated data
    centers, $5,493,000 and two FTEs to directly support the modernization
    and replacement of the Senate's Asset Manager application, complete the
    final phase of the Legislative Systems Amendment Tracking System,
    migrate and improve TranSAAct, and expand the capabilities of new
    secure cloud applications.
        Additionally, the CIO is requesting one Senior System Engineer FTE
    to support the increase in vendors and projects within the Constituent
    Systems and Services team. The CIO is requesting an additional $550,000
    to support the final year of the five-year plan to ensure adequate
    funds are available to support the Senate office's technology needs
    through the Economic Allocation Fund (EAF). EAF supports the
    acquisition of supported hardware and software for Senators,
    committees, leadership, and support offices. Finally, the CIO is
    requesting an additional two FTEs to better support and manage large-
    scale projects for the Senate, and to more effectively manage cloud
    licenses within the Senate environment.
    Senate Cybersecurity
        Cybersecurity is a critical priority for the SAA, which ensures the
    Senate network, cloud services, and data remain secure so the Senate
    can conduct its Legislative business. The CIO is requesting an increase
    of $2,945,000 and an additional three 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 FTEs for two Cybersecurity Apprentices and one Threat
    Intelligence Cybersecurity Senior Specialist. While phishing continues
    to be a primary motivation of the advanced cybersecurity adversary,
    threat intelligence has revealed a renewed adversary interest in
    performing denial-of-service and ransomware attacks against
    organizations to deny access to their network or more importantly,
    their data.
        For FY24, we will be focused on three main lines of effort: (1)
    continued emphasis on resilience assessments for offices; (2)
    collaboration with Executive Branch Threat Intelligence partners such
    as the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the National Cyber
    Investigative Joint Task Force, and the Department of Homeland Security
    Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Joint Cyber Defense
    Collaborative; and (3) Zero Trust efforts, to include continued
    maturation of the cybersecurity model of securely accessing data
    located in modern cloud services.
        Leveraging the previously developed Cybersecurity Resilience
    Assessment Methodology, the Department will use this methodology to
    perform an estimated 175 coordinated annual assessments against
    offices, committees, and critical systems to protect against denial of
    service and ransomware attacks. The SAA made great strides to build
    collaborative relationships with Executive Branch threat intelligence
    agencies, and in FY24, the Department will focus on integrating
    cybersecurity threat intelligence staff directly with our intelligence
    partners to continue to mature information-sharing processes and
    procedures to better protect the Senate. As the Senate continues to
    migrate services to the cloud, the Cybersecurity Department will
    continue to focus on building the procedures and technologies to
    accurately evaluate the level of risk associated with using these
    modern services.
    Enhancing the Technical Resilience of the Senate
        Following the events of January 6, 2021, and the ever-evolving
    threat landscape, enhancing the technical resiliency of the Senate
    remains a key area of focus. The CIO oversees the engineering,
    implementation, and operations for the Senate's information technology
    continuity and disaster recovery programs, as well as emergency and
    secure communications. This includes the Senate's radio infrastructure,
    communications security, mobile command vehicles, satellite
    communications, data center continuity, and support for National
    Security Special Events.
        In FY24, the CIO will enhance communications capabilities for
    Senators and staff by purchasing DoD-Mobility Classified Capability-Top
    Secret (DMCC-TS) devices and provision services via the Defense
    Information Systems Agency. This capability offers a mobile solution to
    receive classified information when traveling, or when not in the
    proximity of a fixed secure communication device. The CIO will also
    focus on critical emergency communications efforts designed to better
    protect the Senate's staff and resources to include the Joint Audible
    Warning System (JAWS) and Joint Emergency Mass Notification System
    (JEMNS). We are requesting $2,000,000 in no-year funds to support the
    proposed cost increase due to supply chain issues and modification to
    the original scope which increased from three to five transmitter sites
    to increase the coverage area and ensure redundancy. Additionally, the
    CIO will work to enhance the data center posture and strategic
    satellite communications capabilities of the Senate, to ensure a
    redundant and secure means of communication during a disruptive event.
        The CIO is requesting an increase of $5,181,000 and three FTEs to
    continue to enhance the posture of our modern and geographically
    separated data centers. These data centers provide network
    connectivity, communications, and centralized support of the virtual
    server environment for Senate data and applications. They will support
    the growth of office and vendor-managed systems and applications, such
    as Constituent Services Systems, which are being migrated into the
    Senate data centers and enterprise to improve the performance,
    security, and resiliency of these systems and applications.
        The Senate's public-facing websites and applications are in high
    demand and an attractive cyber target for adversaries. The funding
    request also includes expanded reliable hosting capacity for Senate
    websites to defend against denial-of-service attacks and state-of-the-
    art toolsets to quickly detect and remediate atypical activity
    occurring on Senate websites and applications such as attempts to gain
    access to data or alter a website's content. There is a cost to
    resiliency and this request reflects that reality.
    Modernizing Technical Services to Better Serve Our Customers
        Modernizing technical services is critical to enhancing the
    Senate's ability to work effectively and efficiently when preparing and
    passing legislation and communicating with constituents. Funding for
    FY24 will build on current modernization efforts, as well as add new
    capabilities. The focus for FY24 is on two key areas: (1) Legislative
    and Administrative Systems; and (2) Senate Communications.
        The CIO is working closely with the Senate community to modernize
    key legislative and administrative systems. To that end, the CIO is
    requesting an increase of $5,493,000 and two FTEs to directly support
    the modernization and replacement of the Senate's Asset Manager
    application, to complete the final phase of the Legislative Systems
    Amendment Tracking System, and to expand the capabilities of new secure
    cloud applications such as ServiceNow (IT Help Desk Ticketing),
    Cornerstone (recruitment, talent performance and learning management),
    and Kronos (timekeeping and leave management).
        Additionally, the CIO is requesting one Senior System Engineer FTE
    to support the increase in vendors and projects within the Constituent
    Systems and Services team. This critical team is working with new cloud
    vendors to provide modern systems to better serve constituents. This
    same team is credited with delivering the Senate's ``Communicating with
    Congress'' application, which sees a yearly volume of over 11,200,000
    emails between constituents and Senate offices.
        A major effort to implement a modern and secure Senate
    communications platform at both the Capitol Campus, as well as the
    state offices, will be completed in early FY24. The new Unified
    Communications and Collaboration (UCC) system 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 official device.
    This includes voice messaging, voice-to-text transcription, video
    integration, conferencing, common directory, Contact Center, mass
    notification, and enhanced 9-1-1 connectivity. Additionally, the CIO
    leveraged an opportunity to fold the state offices into the UCC effort
    to deliver a cohesive and secure experience for all Senate users. When
    complete, this project will have replaced every desk phone in the U.S.
    Senate, both in Washington, D.C. and in every state office. Because the
    legacy telephony systems must remain operational throughout the
    migration process, FY24 costs include licensing, support, and
    maintenance for legacy components. Once this project is compete, these
    legacy systems will be decommissioned.
        The CIO is requesting an additional $550,000 to support the final
    year of the five-year plan to ensure adequate funds are available to
    support the Senate office's technology needs through the Economic
    Allocation Fund (EAF). EAF supports the acquisition of supported
    hardware and software for Senators, committees, leadership, and support
    offices so that these expenses do not come out of their office budgets
    but are instead paid for by the SAA.
                          executive and staff offices
    Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
        An increase of $307,000 and two FTEs is requested in FY24 for EAP,
    which offers a variety of emotional, behavioral, and work-related
    support as well as wellness resources and services to nationwide Senate
    staff, their family members, Senate Pages, and interns. The Senate
    EAP's mission is to bolster resiliency, help ensure psychological
    readiness, and attend to the overall employee and organizational
    wellness.
        In 2022, the EAP addressed the continual increased demand for
    services by hiring an additional full-time EAP counselor, providing
    telehealth and onsite support services, delivering customized trainings
    to requesting Senate offices, and extending the contract of a contract
    counselor in order to efficiently and effectively serve the Senate
    community. This included the expansion of service hours from 8:00 am--
    9:00 pm to accommodate multiple time zone and work shifts. In 2022,
    more than 74% of Senate staff accessed EAP services across 90% of
    Senate offices. This was nearly a 30% increase in programmatic
    utilization from 2021. Additionally, 194 employees took an online
    mental health screening; 4,434 employees attended an EAP training
    activity; and 1,749 employees accessed resources for personalized
    information and referrals addressing childcare, parenting, adult care,
    aging, education, legal concerns, and/or financial issues.
        For FY24, 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 can accommodate increased
    demands for services in various time zones 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 as well as wellness coaching
    and consultation. Additionally, the requested budget increase is
    intended to fund the phased in development of a whole-health wellness
    program and the expansion of services to state offices. We plan to
    capitalize on already existing U.S. House of Representatives contracts
    to provide nationwide Senate employees access to wellness apps such as
    a meditation app, a food and nutrition app and a fitness challenge app.
    Further, we will look to expand our dependent care resources with the
    availability of limited backup childcare and tutoring services in
    partnership with LifeCare. Research shows that robust wellness programs
    and resources improve health, energize people and positively impact
    productivity and reduce burnout. This compliments the expansion of EAP
    virtual opportunities, programming and support hours to provide a more
    inclusive, engaging service for staff located in state offices. 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. One FTE is for an attorney who will review matters impacting
    internal procedures and operations including compliance with Senate
    Ethics, and the Congressional Accountability Act. A second FTE is for a
    legislative liaison to work with Senate Offices and Senate Committees
    on a wide range of initiatives, including organizing monthly oversight
    meetings and ensuring required reports and information requests are on
    time and fully responsive.
    Human Resources (HR)
        An increase of five FTEs is requested to support the Human
    Resources department to support the SAA's endeavors in modernizing and
    improving employee relations, HR system management, recruitment efforts
    in support of Senate Offices, as well as establishment and support of
    the new Fellowship Program.
        As our employees increase, the work of the Human Resources
    Department also increases. Our HR Department is requesting a software
    specialist to serve as the subject matter expert for our new HR
    software program, Cornerstone, a Recruitment Coordinator to assist
    Senate Offices and Committees through the Senate Employment Office, a
    division of SAA's HR Department, and an Employee Relations Specialist
    who can assist in conducting and overseeing employee relations
    investigations into employee concerns. We are also requesting two FTE's
    in support of the new Senate fellowship program. We need to hire a
    Program Manager and a Recruitment and Placement Coordinator in support
    of the McCain-Mansfield Fellowship Program, as established under Senate
    Resolution 443 (117th Congress) and the SFC Sean Cooley and SPC
    Christopher Horton Congressional Gold Star Fellowship Program, as
    established under Senate Resolution 442 (117th Congress).
    Inauguration Support
        The SAA is requesting $500,000 in funding to support the 60th
    Inaugural Ceremonies. The SAA provides ongoing support to the Joint
    Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. We rent large-scale video boards,
    take the inaugural photographs presented to the President and Vice
    President, develop and maintain event and credentialing software,
    assist with Printing and Graphics, signage, parking, campus access, and
    support credentialing of staff press and contractors working in the
    Capitol on Inauguration Day. We are honored to provide this support to
    the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies but we do
    incur expenses including overtime. Based on prior costs, we are
    formally requesting funds to continue providing these services.
    Page Program
        The Page Program requests a permanent increase of $35,000 in FY24
    to replace enrollment software. The current Page Program enrollment
    software does not serve the needs of the program and requires
    significant daily maintenance and communication with new pages to
    ensure paperwork is completed correctly. The new enrollment software
    would increase efficiency, accuracy and security. 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, seven
    days a week.
    State Office Operations
        For FY24, State Office Operations is requesting $964,000 as a
    permanent base increase for Federal rents, $300,000 in support of our
    secure reception room project, and one additional FTE to lead records
    and data management to support a data-drive approach to delivering
    security and design improvements in state offices.
        We appreciate the Committee's support to adequately fund the state
    office rent program, reimbursement to the General Services
    Administration (GSA) for Federal occupancy agreements, and standard
    increases in Federal Protective Services (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 March 2023, we support 460 state offices for rental
    payments; renovations; installation, maintenance, and monitoring of
    physical security measures; and emergency supplies and security
    preparedness planning and training.
        In 2022, the SAA completed 151 unique state office projects
    coordinating construction, security, furniture, equipment, and delivery
    of IT services. We are again anticipating a high number of projects, as
    we support numerous Class III transitions expected in the year
    following the mid-term elections. An uptick in work is also expected,
    related to our ongoing efforts to move Senators from facilities with
    minimal security to Federal and commercial buildings that offer better
    access control, guard services, and other important countermeasures.
    Our success in managing the State Office Operations portfolio hinges on
    our close and collaborative working relationship with Senate staff,
    commercial landlords, and Federal partners.
        In 2022, we rolled out a new state office alert and notification
    service for all state staff. This platform uses both artificial
    intelligence and analyst support to quickly monitor, evaluate, and
    release customized emergency notifications to Senators and staff
    working and traveling across the country. The tool is also used in our
    Senate Operations Center to monitor emergency events that may be
    impactful to state office or Senate operations outside of the National
    Capitol Region (NCR). We expect the costs associated with this service
    to rise slightly, as more Senate staff adopt its use and we expand
    services to include mobile duress button features.
        Our partnership with FPS also grew significantly in 2022. The SAA
    and FPS Administrator signed a historic memorandum of agreement (MOA)
    allowing for the use of armed guards (Protective Security Officers-
    PSOs) at commercial Senate state offices. FPS will begin authorizing
    facility security assessments and deployment of PSOs at select Senate
    state offices, beginning in FY23 and continuing into FY24.
        We remain committed to ensuring the safety of Senators and staff
    and leaning forward to providing customized security systems,
    monitoring services, and enhanced office security construction designs
    to state offices without affecting Senate office budgets. Currently,
    over 98% of state offices have adopted some level of SAA-recommended
    and funded security enhancements. Our goal is to achieve a 100%
    adoption rate and we will work through FY24 to ensure all offices in
    our state portfolio have access to appropriate levels of security.
        Our team provided initial physical security enhancements for 31
    offices and improved existing security for 52 others in 2022.
    Maintaining security systems in good working order is a priority, and
    to support this effort our team conducted over 622 service calls to
    maintain, repair, and or test and inspect state office physical
    security systems in 2022. In FY24, we will continue supporting state
    office visits to assess security, confirm that all installed equipment
    is in good working order, and ensure the office design meets the
    Senator's operational needs.
        We believe that emergency preparedness training and familiarity
    with security equipment equate to higher levels of compliance and
    readiness. In 2022, the State Office Operations team offered twice-
    monthly emergency preparedness webinars and worked closely with USCP on
    state office Security Awareness Briefings. Our team also introduced a
    new SAA-sponsored Stop the Bleed training class, offering both in-
    person and virtual learning options. We are evaluating the potential
    deployment of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), resilient
    communications capabilities, and portable power sources. Our focus on
    state office readiness remains a high priority as we move into FY24.
       office of security, emergency preparedness and continuity (osepc)
        For FY24, OSEPC is requesting an increase of 20 FTE's to provide
    additional support to Senators during travel and with residential
    security assessments, as well as in emergency preparation and
    contingency work, management of parking lots and the SAA fleet, as well
    as additional staff to handle logistics and customer support. We are
    also requesting $2,500,000 in no-year funds for the Senate Residential
    Security Program.
    OSEPC Administration
        OSEPC Administration requests two additional FTEs to support the
    development and maintenance for all aspects of the Senate Test,
    Training, and Exercise Program. Work involves coordinating, designing,
    and implementing training and exercises, to include both classified and
    unclassified Senate life-safety and continuity programs. These FTEs
    will also develop annual short and long-term training and exercise
    goals, schedules, and guidance.
    Access Control and Transportation
        Access Control and Transportation (ACT) requests five additional
    FTEs to supplement current staffing levels in Parking Operations (4
    FTEs) and Transportation and Fleet (1 FTE).
    Identification and Access
        The Identification and Access Office is requesting level funding in
    FY24 for the production of identification badges for Senators and their
    families, staff, interns, Pages, support staff, credentialed
    Congressional press, and liaisons approved by the SAA. The
    Identification and Access Office coordinates with the House of
    Representatives and USCP to ensure badge issuance policies are
    standardized to meet security requirements.
    Parking Operations
        Parking Operations is requesting four FTEs in FY24 to will ensure
    adequate coverage of Senate parking lots and associated kiosks, which
    require daily monitoring and issue resolution, as well as maintaining
    presence during construction projects and scheduled events impacting
    the Senate. The Parking Operations office manages space availability in
    Senate parking lots and streets for Senate staff, provides onsite
    customer service and emergency assistance, including jumpstarts,
    vehicle entry, and damage claims. Staff collaborate with the Senate
    Committee on Rules and Administration, USCP, and Architect of the
    Capitol to issue and secure parking for permit holders throughout the
    Senate campus.
        In order to enhance the security and safety of parking areas,
    Parking Operations requested improvements on all five fenced lots,
    including kiosk renovations, barrier installations, and parking
    configuration enhancements. The office also staffs and monitors
    additional parking lots and streets at alternate facilities during
    emergencies and training exercises. Parking Operations will purchase
    additional handheld devices and the necessary software to instantly
    identify vehicles by scanning permit barcodes, capturing photos,
    documenting, and printing parking violations or other associated
    issues.
    Transportation and Fleet Operations
        The Transportation and Fleet Office is requesting one additional
    FTE to cover the increased requests for vehicle transports of Senators,
    as well as continued minor maintenance of SAA fleet vehicles and assist
    with the additional coverage of the expanded shuttle bus route.
    Emergency Preparedness (EP)
        For FY24, Emergency Preparedness requests a total of three
    additional FTEs. One FTE will join the Emergency Equipment team to
    enhance its ability procure, store, deliver, and life cycle manage over
    20,000 items of emergency equipment supporting the Senate community.
    The remaining two FTEs will perform duties supporting both classified
    and unclassified life safety planning, including Disaster Response and
    Recovery, community outreach, and initiatives. These two FTE will
    enhance SAA EP customer focused efforts to ensure the safety of Senate
    community members.
        Annual activities performed by SAA EP include, but are not limited
    to, focusing on the needs of the Senate community by (1) helping
    develop and update individual Senate and Committee office emergency
    action plans, and continuity of operations plans; (2) identifying
    evacuation routes, relocation areas, and internal relocation sites,
    including coordinating with Capitol Police for the safety and movement
    of mobility challenged individuals during emergencies; (3) acquiring,
    distributing, managing and providing training on the use of emergency
    equipment; (4) delivering virtual and self-paced learning for the
    Senate community to take at their convenience; and (5) conducting
    multiple drills and exercises designed to increase the Senate
    community's preparedness to respond to and recover from emergencies.
    Contingency Programs (CP)
        For FY24, SAA CP requests level funding and two additional FTEs.
    One FTE will focus on the logistical activities associated with
    managing contingency facilities, resources, and supplies, including
    individual office and committee continuity fly-away kits. This position
    will also create and maintain accurate records of inventory and develop
    plans to execute deployment and distribution of equipment and supplies
    to relocation sites, as well as perform inspections and walkthroughs of
    contingency facilities and monitor and report on the status of Senate
    continuity resources and capabilities. The second FTE will perform
    analytical and planning duties under the supervision. As the continuity
    portfolio continues to grow and mature across the spectrum, additional
    planner support is needed to manage the increasing number of
    unclassified and classified capabilities.
    Member Outreach and Security Coordination (MOSC)
        The two FTEs requested will respond to the increased demand for
    security support to Senators and staff in the District of Columbia (DC)
    and state offices. Support includes security awareness briefings for
    Senators and staff, arranging security escorts for Senators during
    travel, and coordinating with local law enforcement for events in the
    home State.
        MOSC engaged in active outreach and discussions regarding active
    threats and criminal cases directed at Senators and staff, and use a
    suite of online tools to monitor social media for actionable threats
    against Senators and reports them to law enforcement. MOSC also
    participates in security awareness briefings for Senate office staff
    alongside USCP counterparts and develops security training for Senators
    and staff. Working with USCP, they provide offices with a final product
    highlighting the overall threat level, specific areas of concern, and
    local law enforcement contact information.
        Through an extensive outreach initiative, MOSC has completed
    approximately 1,228 law enforcement coordination and assessment
    requests, 2,182 law enforcement escort and travel notification
    requests, and 98 rest overnight notifications and enhanced patrols
    during FY22. The total number of travel escort support jumped from
    1,581 requests in 2021, to nearly 2,200 in 2022. This represents a 40%
    increase, and we are on track to exceed those total requests in FY24.
    The SAA will benefit from an additional specialist by ensuring
    Senators' security requests are handled in a timely manner, beyond core
    business hours.
    Security, Planning and Police Coordination (SPPC)
        The new Senate Residential Security Program will assist with the
    costs and coordination of certain residential security upgrades to
    reinforce the security of Senators and their families. We request four
    additional FTEs to support this endeavor. These additional personnel
    would manage the program and its related financial and administrative
    requirements. We are requesting a fifth FTE to help monitor and plan
    for the large volume of ongoing security projects on the Congressional
    campus.
        Our efforts during 2022 included coordinating 1,402 Senate campus
    access requests including security coverage for 525 committee hearings
    and 117 Senate-specific security support requests, such as security
    sweeps and security modifications of office space. Further, SPPC
    partnered with the USCP to support 17 residential security assessments
    for Senators. This team also conducts bi-monthly Security Awareness
    Briefings for the Senate staff.
    Senate Operations Center (SOC)
        I've already discussed the new SOC and its role as the information
    and situational awareness hub for the Senate Community. The SOC is
    currently staffed with a Director, Watch Manager, three two-person
    watch teams, and an administrative support specialist. For FY24, the
    SOC requests level funding and one additional FTE to perform duties as
    the SOC Information Management Specialist (IMS). The IMS is a technical
    professional who maintains technology systems and applications and
    provides training on the SOC's incident management, knowledge
    management, situational awareness, Geospatial Information Systems
    (GIS), communications, and information technology (IT) platforms and
    solutions. The IMS will develop, maintain, and train SOC and other SAA
    staff as needed on situational awareness solutions using GIS platforms
    for real time situational awareness. The addition of this position will
    allow SOC Watch standers to devote all efforts to the SOC primary
    mission while the IMS ensures the SOC possesses and is trained on the
    necessary technology and tools to be successful.
                               support operations
        The FY24 budget request for Support Operations includes $4,000,000
    for Facilities Management and $171,000 and two FTEs for Photographic
    Services.
    Facilities Management
        Facilities Management requests a $4,000,000 increase to support the
    move out cost from the Postal Square building. The occupancy agreement
    for the Postal Square building expires in May 2024 and Facilities
    Management is working with the Architect of the Capitol and the General
    Services Administration to identify space for support staff. Following
    a recent internal workspace survey, the amount of space required will
    be approximately two-thirds less than what is currently occupied. We
    are hopeful that new space will be in close proximity of Capitol Hill,
    which will allow us to utilize the current shuttle infrastructure
    offered by Fleet and Transportation Services.
    Photographic Services
        Photographic Services requests $171,000 and two FTEs in FY24 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 with a secure,
    accessible archive of all photos accumulated during a Senator's term in
    office. Currently, the photo browser contains more than 1.5 million
    photo image files. Having surveyed Senate offices, Photographic
    Services is finalizing 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 FY22, our staff
    covered 3,307 assignments, photographing over 92,000 images, and
    producing more than 25,000 photo prints. In FY24, Photographic Services
    looks to purchase new camera kits with improved technology that
    facilitates real-time transmission of imagery to Senate customers. This
    new functionality will provide high-quality, professional imagery to
    Senate staff during key events, which compliments their growing demand
    of social media and mass communication content.
    Joint Office of Training & Development
        The Joint Senate Office of Training and Development (T&D) requests
    level funding to provide employee training and development
    opportunities for Senate learners. There are two sections within the
    department: Technical and Performance Skills Training along with Health
    Promotion. Technical trainers provide documentation and training for
    Senate-supported software packages through instructor-led classes, one-
    on-one coaching sessions, and demos. Performance skills trainers
    provide courses, one-on-one coaching, and facilitation for all Senate
    staff in areas including management and leadership development, staff
    development, and office/team development. Training & Development 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.
        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. In addition, Health
    Promotion serves the Senate community by hosting four blood drives each
    year and providing quarterly Stop the Bleed training.
    Printing, Graphics & Direct Mail
        Printing, Graphics and Direct Mail (PGDM) request level funding in
    FY24. 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. Direct
    XPress, an innovative web-to-print storefront solution, has enhanced
    the customer experience of ordering services from PGDM and has cut
    processing time by 90%, saving time, money, and supplies.
        PGDM has worked with the Secretary of the Senate, the House of
    Representatives, and the Architect of the Capitol to streamline the
    steps related to flying flags over the Capitol. The Layout and Design
    Tem has created a user-friendly template in Direct Xpress to allow
    offices to order flags, easily search and retrieve orders, proof their
    certificates online and send the necessary forms to all stakeholders.
    So far, this fiscal year, 33 Senate offices ordered 405 flag
    certificates.
        Our Digital mail service is in high demand and utilized by eighty
    offices. PGDM's heat press, which generates professional quality
    products, such as table coverings, to provide Senate offices with
    better visibility at Town Hall meetings and other events has been used
    by 18 Senate offices for a total of 89 custom-printed table coverings.
    Senate Post Office
        The Post Office requests level funding and continued support of a
    security maintenance contract at the offsite mail screening facility.
    In FY22 and FY23, new and enhanced security video equipment has been
    installed at the off-campus Mail Screening facility. The enhanced, and
    newly added cameras, provide additional and newly added cameras,
    provide additional functionality with clearer imagery, storage, and
    zoom capabilities. Other features include remote viewing capabilities,
    which could be utilized by USCP during an HMRT response, and an ability
    to capture clearer images of mail processed within the bio-safety
    cabinets. The new cameras and DVR provide necessary components in
    ensuring employee safety for Post Office staff and USCP First
    Responders.
        Within 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 FY22, the Post Office safely processed
    and delivered more than 4.9 million incoming mail items, while
    intercepting 17 suspicious mailings that required an immediate response
    by the USCP. We prevented the delivery of an additional 734 suspicious
    mailings that required further scrutiny by USCP.
        During the pandemic, in conjunction with the United States Postal
    Service, the Senate Post Office established a free forwarding service
    for state offices to enable them to forward state office mail to DC for
    security screening, or to forward mail to a centralized location in
    their state and 51 offices now use this service. In addition, the
    Senate Post Office sorts mail for 78 Senate and Committee offices and
    delivers their mail to PGDM to be digitally imaged and returned to the
    office electronically.
                                   conclusion
        Thank you for your support of the SAA and for the opportunity to
    discuss the SAA's accomplishments and our FY24 budget request. This
    budget remains focused on my three core responsibilities: the security
    and safety of Senators and staff, constituents and visitors; the
    security and reliability of the enterprise network that allows all of
    us to do our work; and innovative solutions to support the needs of the
    Senate community.

        Senator Reed. Thank you, General.
        Chief Manger, please.
                                    ------

                          UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE

    STATEMENT OF CHIEF J. THOMAS MANGER, CHIEF OF POLICE,
                UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE
        Chief Manger. Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer,
    Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
    present the United States Capitol Police Budget Request for
    fiscal year 2024. The Department greatly appreciates the
    subcommittee's consistent support of the men and women of the
    United States Capitol Police.
        Congress' support has been invaluable in providing the
    resources needed to continue our transformation into a
    stronger, more protection-oriented law enforcement agency,
    while meeting dramatic workload increases in an increasingly
    volatile threat environment.
        The Capitol Police is unique among Federal law enforcement
    agencies, we patrol a Campus that is completely open, and now
    that the Campus is fully reopened we again host millions of
    visitors each year, all the while investigating evolving and
    increasing threats against Members of Congress and their
    families. The 2024 budget request reflects this reality.
        In my testimony today I will present the fiscal year 2024
    budget requests within the context of three general themes that
    explain the Department's forward trajectory. First, the
    enduring impact of all the deficiencies identified in the
    Inspector General's reports over the last two-and-a-half years;
    second, the Department's future challenges and continued
    transformation; and third, the need to usher in a new phase of
    protective policing.
        First, I asked the Committee to understand that even with
    our recent staffing increases we remain significantly
    understaffed for an agency that has nationwide jurisdiction and
    responsibilities, and a growing mission, and increasing
    workload. Therefore, our past two budgets have been attempts to
    work toward right-sizing the Department by elevating its
    budgetary baseline to a more normalized level.
        The fiscal year 2024 budget request incorporates a critical
    request to expand dignitary protection, our threat
    investigations, and enhance security operations for the Members
    of Congress and their families, both in D.C., and in their home
    districts.
        Within the 2024 budget request, the Department is asking
    for increased salaries to fund 2,126 sworn employees at a full-
    year rate, and 78 sworn employees at half-year. The budget
    request also includes funding for 555 civilian employees at a
    full-year rate, and 81 civilians at a half-year rate. The
    general expense request is $228.6 million. The total fiscal
    year 2024 budget increase is $106.3 million.
        I fully recognize the Department's requested increase is
    significant, but equally significant are the Department's
    growing responsibilities and challenges. The fact is, we engage
    in a no-fail mission every day, recognizing that there will be
    no tolerance for leadership or organizational failures. The
    Department's 2024 budget request reflects the reality that as
    the Department's mission and environment changes and evolves
    so, too, must its staffing and resources.
        Therefore, I want to highlight six areas that continue to
    be central to our growth and transformation. They are: expanded
    dignitary protection capabilities, continued normalization of
    sworn and civilian staffing levels, enhanced intelligence
    capabilities, expanded capabilities to address threats against
    members, cybersecurity and investigative activity, expanded
    physical and technical security capabilities to secure the
    Capitol Complex, and strengthen training capabilities for
    recruit officers, in-service training, physical skills,
    professional and leadership development.
        Over the last year the world has continuously changed,
    becoming more violent and uncertain. A member of Congress was
    brutally assaulted, and the husband of the former House Speaker
    was critically wounded in a politically motivated attack.
    Increasingly, sophisticated cyber tools are more widely
    available to malicious actors who employ them to infiltrate
    data networks and steal private information. The sheer increase
    in the numbers of threats against Members of Congress,
    approximately 400 percent over the past 6 years, requires new
    and innovative techniques, to identify, deter, and mitigate
    threats.
        Upcoming elections, the political conventions, and the
    campaign activities that go along with them, and the
    increasingly heated political rhetoric, further heighten the
    prospect of future security risks and challenges. We must
    adequately--we must be adequately staffed to handle these
    events. We are not currently.
        The United States Capitol Police traditional model of law
    enforcement no longer applies to the current landscape, the old
    approach to member security has been replaced by the need to
    protect the member's environment, as well as the member's
    family, both in Washington, D.C., and at their home.
        Keeping you and your family safe is a paramount objective.
    There is, in fact, a new normal for our Protective Operations.
    The fiscal year 2024 budget request will allow the Department
    to transition to the next phase of its transformation.
        I thank the Committee for its support, and greatly
    appreciate our continued partnership with the Congress.
        We welcome any questions or comments.
        [The statement follows:]
      Prepared Statement of J. Thomas Manger Chief, United States Capitol
                                     Police
        Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Fischer, and Members of the
    Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present the United
    States Capitol Police (USCP or Department) budget request for Fiscal
    Year 2024 (FY 2024 budget request). The Department greatly appreciates
    the Subcommittee's consistent support of the women and men of the U.S.
    Capitol Police, who courageously carry out their duties of protecting
    the Members of Congress, the Capitol Complex, and the legislative
    process each and every day. Congress' support has been invaluable in
    providing the resources needed to continue our transformation into a
    stronger, more protective-oriented law enforcement agency, while
    meeting dramatic workload increases in an increasing volatile threat
    environment.
        The United States Capitol Police is unique among Federal law
    enforcement agencies. We patrol a campus that is completely open. The
    public has a constitutional right to visit, protest, or do an early
    morning run through this public forum. Our officers work 24/7 to keep
    you safe, whether here on Capitol Hill, when you travel to your home
    districts, or when you travel abroad as part of a Congressional
    delegation. We staff the doors, corridors, plazas, garages, and street
    corners--in sum, every square foot of the Capitol Grounds, which
    includes the Capitol, eight Congressional office buildings, as well as
    three Library of Congress buildings. Prior to the pandemic, the Capitol
    was visited every year by an estimated seven to ten million people from
    around the world. Now that the campus is fully reopened, the Department
    is once again managing this increased level of visitor activity--all
    within the context of evolving and increasing threats against Members
    of Congress and their families. The FY 2024 budget request reflects
    this reality.
        Thanks to the Emergency Security Supplemental Act (Emergency
    Supplemental) and the enacted FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act
    funding (FY 2023 budget), the Department was able to direct its efforts
    to bolstering salaries, general expenses, and mutual aid to partner law
    enforcement agencies as a stop-gap measure. These appropriations, while
    invaluable, represented the next step in the U.S. Capitol's evolution,
    not the final destination. Thus, the FY 2024 budget request is
    predicated upon the Department's continued transformation in a post-
    January 6, 2021 environment, one increasingly defined by evolving
    technologies, an increased threat climate, and a shift towards a more
    protective model of law enforcement. The Concept of Operations
    strategic plan being developed at Congress' request will further shape
    and define the increased staffing and resources needed to support the
    Department's expanded mission.
        While the Department is not defined by the events of January 6,
    2021, the structural changes and recommendations issued in the
    aftermath continue to impact our resource needs, as do the hiring
    delays and other lingering effects of the pandemic. In my testimony
    today, therefore, I will present the FY 2024 budget request within the
    context of three general themes that explain the Department's forward
    trajectory and support our request for the funding needed to keep us on
    that path:
      1.  The Enduring Impact of January 6 and the Pandemic;
      2.  The Department's Future Challenges and Continued Transformation;
            and
      3.  The Need to Usher in a New Phase of Protective Policing.
    Enduring Impact of January 6 and Pandemic
        In the last 2 years, the Department confronted two events of epic
    proportions that are unprecedented in our nation's history: the January
    6 attack on the Capitol and the coronavirus pandemic. These
    transformative events directly impacted the Capitol community,
    particularly the men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police, who
    responded to each crisis with courage and resilience, adjusting and
    pivoting when needed, and within extremely compressed timelines.
        The January 6 attack on the Capitol exposed failures and weaknesses
    within the organization that were profound. The more than dozen after
    action reports shifted the Department's priorities and accelerated the
    timeline for executing them. Working closely with the Congress to
    identify mission requirements in response to the attack, Congress
    appropriated $106.06 million in emergency funding through the Emergency
    Supplemental. This emergency funding allowed the Department to provide
    hazardous duty pay and retention bonuses; increase staffing levels for
    the Intelligence and Interagency Coordination Division; formally
    establish the Howard C. Liebengood Center for Wellness; onboard trauma-
    informed Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and wellness specialists;
    procure additional civil disturbance equipment for our sworn officers;
    provide funding for our Dignitary Protection Agents to travel and
    protect Members of Congress; update Department technology to enhance
    intelligence analysis and investigative capabilities; provide iPhones
    to the entire sworn workforce for information dissemination; and
    support Department-wide and specialty training. The emergency
    appropriation also allowed for the installation of physical barriers at
    vulnerable vehicular access points on Capitol Grounds. Congress'
    support at that time cannot be sufficiently overstated--it was
    invaluable.
        The audit and oversight review of the Department's response
    following January 6 was another pivotal point. The Department dedicated
    a significant amount of time and resources to the implementation of
    recommendations issued by the various stakeholders and oversight
    entities, including the USCP Office of Inspector General (OIG), the
    Senate Homeland Security Committee, the General Honore January 6 Task
    Force, and other third party reviewers. The OIG alone issued
    approximately 103 recommendations. Thanks to the Department's sustained
    efforts, and the support of the Congress, the vast majority of
    recommendations issued have been addressed, and those that remain are
    on a glide path to completion. However, with over 2,000 individuals
    currently identified in connection with the attack on the Capitol,
    January 6-related investigations and prosecutions are expected to
    continue for the foreseeable future. This will require a continued
    commitment of Department staffing and resources.
        The pandemic represented another historic and unprecedented event
    that required the USCP to quickly recalibrate and move to an entirely
    new operational and administrative model. While House and Senate office
    buildings were closed to the public, the work of the Congress had to
    proceed unimpeded and within strict pandemic safety protocols. Under
    these circumstances, the men and woman of the USCP performed critical
    job functions with the additional risk of harm to their personal
    health. The Department had to manage delayed recruitment efforts due to
    the closure of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, a move that
    affected the hiring and deployment of new sworn officers--essentially
    bringing our sworn hiring to a halt. Low officer morale, and the
    public's declining confidence in law enforcement, put a further strain
    on the organization. Hiring within law enforcement remains challenging
    in the post-pandemic environment, not just for the Department but
    nation-wide, as men and women consider other options that provide a
    better work-life balance.
    Future Challenges and Continued Transformation
        January 6 and the pandemic were unforeseen crises that occurred in
    rapid-fire succession, requiring the Department to act quickly to
    triage operational priorities. Given the exigencies it faced, the
    Department's funding requests were submitted under an accelerated
    timeline and, as a result, the Department's overall resource and
    staffing needs were not sufficiently recognized or addressed internally
    in order to develop more appropriate budget requests. Thus, the FY 2023
    and FY 2024 budget requests reflect a critical reality--that prior to
    January 6, the Department was operating at a reduced staffing and
    resource baseline. Subsequent requests, therefore, have been attempts
    to ``right-size'' the Department by elevating its budgetary baseline to
    a more normalized level, a level that will be further impacted by the
    recommendations contained in the Concept of Operations strategic plan
    under development.
        The FY 2024 budget request incorporates both the lessons learned
    from January 6, as well as the Department's articulation of its vision
    for the future as it moves towards a more protective law enforcement
    model. It reflects the need to improve intelligence functions by
    increasing analytical expertise, and operational planning and support.
    It reflects the need to strengthen physical security, fortify the
    capability of Civil Disturbance front-line responders, enhance
    coordination with National Capitol Region partners, strengthen physical
    infrastructure, and expand dignitary protection and security.
        Within the FY 2024 budget request, therefore, the Department is
    asking for increased Salaries to fund 2,126 sworn employees at a full
    year rate and 78 sworn employees at a half year rate, which equates to
    2,165 full-time sworn employees. The budget request also includes
    funding for 555 civilian employees at a full year rate and 81 civilians
    at a half year rate, which equates to 596 full-time civilian employees.
    The General Expense request is $228.672 million. The total FY 2024
    budget increase is $106,366 million.
        I fully recognize that the Department's requested increase is
    significant. But equally significant are the Department's growing
    responsibilities and challenges. Unlike other law enforcement agencies,
    we have been asked in the last 2 years to develop and implement
    transformational structural and strategic changes within extremely
    accelerated time lines, while simultaneously maintaining the staffing
    and resources needed to carry out the Department's daily core mission.
    And the effort and manpower resource allocation that undergirds these
    efforts are not sufficiently recognized or understood. The opening of
    doors throughout the Congressional Campus exemplifies this challenge.
    Adequately staffing a campus door requires 3 to 4 officers per shift to
    ensure a proper level of security (3 shifts per day, often 5-6 days per
    week.) Long lines are not only an inconvenience to Members, staff, and
    visitors, they represent a security risk that, in these increasingly
    volatile times, the Department must address. While the ``big picture''
    reforms are significant and important, staffing daily mission
    requirements are vital. We engage in a ``no fail'' mission every day,
    recognizing there is no tolerance for leadership or organizational
    failures post-January 6.
        The Department's FY 2024 budget request reflects the reality that
    as the Department's mission and environment changes and evolves, so too
    must its staffing and resources. Therefore, the U.S. Capitol Police's
    FY 2024 budget request focuses on the nine areas that continue to be
    central to its efforts to grow and transform. They are:
      --  Continued normalization of sworn and civilian staffing levels;
      --  Enhanced intelligence capabilities;
      --  Expanded Dignitary Protection capabilities;
      --  Expanded capabilities to address threats against Members, cyber-
            security, and other investigative activity;
      --  Expanded physical and technical security capabilities to secure
            the Capitol Complex;
      --  Enhanced event planning, and command and control coordination;
      --  Enhanced response and special operations capabilities;
      --  Strengthened training capabilities for recruit officer, in-
            service, physical skills, professional development, and
            leadership development; and
      --  Enhanced administrative support infrastructure to support
            operational and mission-oriented requirements.

        Even in the relatively short time since the FY 2023 budget request
    was submitted, the world has continuously changed, becoming more
    violent and uncertain. A Member of Congress was brutally assaulted and
    the husband of the former House Speaker was critically wounded in a
    politically-motivated attack. Increasingly sophisticated cyber tools
    are more widely available to malicious actors who employ them to
    infiltrate data networks and steal private information. The sheer
    increase in the number of threats against Members of Congress--
    approximately 400% over the past 6 years--requires new and innovative
    techniques to identify, deter, and mitigate threats before they
    materialize. Upcoming elections, the campaign activities that precede
    them, and the increasingly heated political rhetoric further heighten
    the prospect of future security risks and challenges.
    Ushering In a New Phase of Protective Policing
        The FY 2024 budget request accounts for these growing risks. The
    Department recognizes that new and evolving challenges will continue to
    emerge, rendering it imperative that the USCP be positioned, equipped,
    and resourced to meet and defeat threats to Members of Congress and the
    Capitol Complex. Strategic planning, forward thinking, proactive versus
    reactive policing is the new operational model that is best suited to
    confront the operational challenges facing the Department today and in
    the future. The USCP's traditional model of law enforcement no longer
    applies to the current context. The old approach of Member protection
    has been replaced by the need to protect a Member's environment, as
    well as a Member's family. Keeping you and your families safe is my
    paramount objective.
        The work the Department began prior to January 6, 2021, which has
    since been enhanced and fine-tuned through subsequent appropriations
    and the Congress' support, will allow the Department to transition to
    the next phase of its transformation. Informed by the Concept of
    Operations strategic plan that is under development, the move towards a
    more protective-oriented model of policing will better serve the
    Members of Congress and will increase the safety of the Capitol
    Complex. The Department's proposed reorganization plan complements this
    strategic vision. It exemplifies the reality that a strong
    organizational structure fosters positive change and growth, reinforces
    accountability, internal controls, and employee development. With the
    funding provided by the FY 2024 budget request, the Department will be
    able to successfully transition to the next phase of its evolution,
    further strengthening the ability of the men and women of the U.S.
    Capitol Police to carry out their vital mission.
        While the Department has made significant strides towards right-
    sizing Department personnel and pivoting toward a more protective
    operational model, more work remains to be done. Thus, it is critically
    important to maintain this momentum. The USCP has risen to meet
    emerging challenges at every turn, and the FY 2024 budget reflects the
    Department's determination to continue this upward trajectory.
        Madam Chair, we thank the Subcommittee for its support and greatly
    appreciate our continued partnership with the Congress. We welcome any
    questions or comments.

        Senator Reed. Thank you very much, Chief.
        General Gibson, you mentioned modernization efforts that
    you have undertaken. Could you highlight some that you have
    accomplished, and the most significant ones that still have to
    be achieved?
        General Gibson. Certainly, Senator. Thank you. So, some of
    the ones I mentioned appear simple but not always so; such as
    creating portals, a security portal as well as the Direct
    Express portal that allows and facilitates the ordering of
    services from the Sergeant at Arms. The Passport Office is
    another one that I mentioned, as well as some of the tools that
    we are creating for emergency preparedness and accountability.
        I mentioned the Senate Recording Studio renovation that
    will be a modernization project that will continue on an annual
    basis for a number of years. We also have things that we are
    trying to modernize in our Printing, Graphics, and Direct Mail
    division. But one in particular that I would like to mention,
    because it is a heavy lift for our CIO team, is the Unified
    Communications and Collaboration System, or UCC. This is a
    major effort to implement a modern and secure Senate
    communications platform, both on the Capitol campus and at
    State offices across the Nation.
        It will create a mobile, collaborative, secure, and unified
    environment that is easy to use and supports communication and
    collaboration, anytime, anywhere, and on any connected official
    device, to include voice messaging, voice to text, video
    integration, conferencing, common directory, contact center,
    mass notification, and enhance 911 connectivity.
        When a phone rings, or when the phone on my desk rings it
    could ring on my phone in my home. Because our legacy telephony
    systems must remain operational throughout this migration, our
    fiscal year 2024 costs will include licensing, support, and
    maintenance for the legacy components, until they are
    decommissioned with the project's completion next year. That is
    one of the principal modernization efforts that we will be
    undergoing in the year to come.
        Senator Reed. And within this new system there will be a
    significant emphasis on security of the system so that hacking
    and intrusions will be minimized?
        General Gibson. Absolutely. Yes, Senator. And this is part
    of what drives the cost and makes it a more challenging upgrade
    for us, than simply replacing the phones on the desks.
        Senator Reed. And you have been coordinating with the
    Secretary of the Senate team on a number of initiatives. Could
    you give us an idea of those initiatives?
        General Gibson. So one that we are working through is to
    modernize pay processes with the Disbursing Office. That will
    affect all Senate offices and when completed should make life
    much easier for those Senate offices. I think that is perhaps
    the most significant one that we are coordinating with the
    Secretary of the Senate on. Yes.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much.
        General Gibson. I think--you know, I also mentioned closed
    captioning, that is a modernization effort, and will be a
    capability that constituents, and our broader Senate community
    will benefit from. And that is also a significant ask in our
    budget request for $695,000 to provide that capability.

                              DIGNITARY PROTECTION

        Senator Reed. Thank you very much, General.
        Chief, just a clarification, when you speak of dignitary
    protection, are those visitors to the Capitol, and they are not
    members?
        Chief Manger. No, I am talking about the protection that we
    offer to the leadership, and threat-based details.
        Senator Reed. Yes. So those would be the individuals who
    have basically 24-hour coverage by the Capitol Police.
        Chief Manger. That is correct.

                   INTELLIGENCE SHARING WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES

        Senator Reed. I understand. Can you comment on the
    intelligence sharing progress that you have made with other
    Federal agencies? And anything in this budget that would be
    directed at enhancing that sharing?
        Chief Manger. We have hired, about a year ago, a little
    over a year ago, a new Director of Intelligence, he has built,
    what I believe, is a world-class intelligence operation. It
    wasn't a difficult challenge to raise the bar on our
    intelligence operation, but what he has done, I mean in terms
    of our ability to gather intelligence in the first place, to
    share it with other agencies, to operationalize that
    intelligence for our operational planning, and to disseminate
    that information to those who need to have the information,
    have all been--we have put processes in place to do all of
    those things.
        We continue to put members of the U.S. Capitol Police, our
    civilian analysts, in taskforces around the region so that we
    have our folks spread out in the intelligence community to
    ensure that information we have is shared with them, and
    information they have is shared with us. But probably one of
    the most important things to my officers is the fact that
    everyone was issued a cell phone, and they get daily intel
    briefs, every day, over their phone.

                               HIRING CHALLENGES

        Senator Reed. Very good. You mentioned the biggest
    challenge is staffing, and I don't think that is unique to the
    Capitol Police. As I travel throughout Rhode Island, and I am
    sure Senator Fischer, and Senator Murray, hear the first thing.
    Recruitment to Police Department, Fire Department, Public
    Safety organizations, is very, very challenging. Are you
    running into those problems of recruiting?
        Chief Manger. Not as much as my colleagues from around the
    country. And I think that is due to a number of things: That
    the retention bonus that we have been able to offer, and that
    we plan to offer at fiscal year 2024 as well, that has really
    lowered our attrition. But also, the change in the pay scale,
    made us competitive in terms of being able to attract
    applicants in the first place.
        I have put other strategies in place where we have waived
    the mandatory 57-year-old retirement, bumped it up to 60. You
    would be surprised how many folks that are at 57 years old and
    don't want to leave and--or would be willing to stay for a few
    extra years.
        So we have put a lot of strategies in place to reduce
    attrition and increase retention, and I think it is making a
    difference for us.
        Senator Reed. I will just note, 57 is very young in the
    Senate.
        Chief Manger. I will take your word for that, Senator Reed.
        Senator Reed. Thank you. I have a question, but I will wait
    until the second round, General.
        Senator Fischer, please.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        General Gibson, in your opening comments you were talking
    about, in regards to the budget, and new hires, and your
    expansion there, could you--would you like to highlight any of
    those specific new hires? You went through a list of them, but
    could you highlight some and say why you decided that these
    were the hires that you needed?
        General Gibson. Certainly, Senator. As we stand up the
    Residential Security System Program, we are requesting
    specifically five FTEs, that is for a security engineering
    specialist, an expert in physical security enhancements, and
    construction, a financial administrative specialist, since
    there will be a significant amount of money that we deal with
    in this regard, two program managers and a senior program
    manager.
        Some of the other ones that we are asking----
        Senator Fischer. Do you see that program growing in the
    future?
        General Gibson. I do not see it--we are estimating perhaps
    a participation rate of 50 percent, and you know, it is going
    well so far. Actually, approximately half of the senators who
    are currently in office have had residential security
    assessments. In the last year--or this year alone, I think we
    have had 25, and another 12 who have requested them.
        So the interest in having the surveys and receiving the
    recommendations has been strong, but I don't know that we will
    see it grow, and increase, you know, once one has a duress
    button----
        Senator Fischer. The set up--instead?
        General Gibson. Yes. Yes. But it is not something that I
    would see us asking for additional people for in out years.
        Senator Fischer. Okay.
        General Gibson. Yes. Some of the other requests that we
    have made, we have two for our emergency preparedness team that
    will be replacing the escape hoods, Victim Rescue Units, and
    the emergency supply kits around the Capitol buildings. Two,
    for our continuity programs to help ensure that we are prepared
    to execute Enduring Constitutional Government functions; two,
    for our member outreach and security coordination; for things
    like, law enforcement coordination and, transportation security
    requests.
        And in particular, as the Department stands up and moves
    towards this stronger protective operations capacity for our
    Senators, writ large, to look at their personal security, I
    would probably seek to have an embed in the Protective
    Intelligence Operations Center, much as we have now on the
    seventh floor in the Command Center.
        Senator Fischer. When you talk about the Operations Center,
    the Senate Operations Center; what is your vision for that? And
    how does that request align with it?
        General Gibson. So we have a Senate Operations Center now,
    Senator. The only additional request I am making there is for
    an information manager. The personnel are on board and fully
    hired for our Senate Operations Center, which is complementary
    to the Capitol Police Command Center, and focuses specifically
    on Senate needs and communication with the Senate community.
        In the future, as the Department stands up a broader
    protective operations capacity, we will perhaps take someone
    who is already resident in our staff, and position them there.
        Senator Fischer. Okay. You have also, in your opening
    comments; you were talking about our State offices.
        General Gibson. Yes.
        Senator Fischer. And staff, and the physical and cyber
    security that is needed there. You described some of the
    opportunities, such as the setup in the basement of Russell.
    Are there any other initiatives, or ongoing work that you are
    doing with our State offices at this time?
        General Gibson. I am very proud of our State Office
    Operations Center, and the demonstration room has just been
    terrific. I very much appreciate the support from the Rules
    Committee, and others, to allow us to do that. And really to
    reach out to senators directly to show them some of the
    enhancements that they could have in their State offices. That
    team is very responsive to emerging requirements, whether it is
    flooding, wildfires, and other things. And most recently they
    have been fielding satellite radios, or satellite communication
    devices to senators for use in emergencies in some of those
    State offices, in the event of an emergency that takes out
    communications.
        We also are working with them on capabilities to identify,
    in very short time, threats to Senate offices in the vicinity
    there, whether it is a violent activity of some kind, a
    building lock down, a fire, or whatever. And these are some of
    the initiatives that we have been pursuing.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you.

                             TRAINING IMPROVEMENTS

        Chief Manger, in your budget request there is a section
    that details open GAO and Inspector General recommendations,
    and several of those instruct the Department to provide
    additional, more realistic and hands-On training for your
    officers. In your budget request, how does that align with the
    priority to provide better training for your officers?
        Chief Manger. So we have recently begun doing active
    shooter training in the Senate and House Office buildings
    themselves, as well as the Capitol. This is exactly what the
    recommendation talked about, training where folks are actually
    working.
        In addition to that, we have gotten a number of, what we
    call ``virtual machines'', they are virtual training pods where
    we can do any number of--types of training, whether it is use
    of force, whether it is de-escalation, any number of different
    kinds of training that can be done with the virtual machines.
        So we are ensuring that with--even with the staffing levels
    that we have, that we are able to train officers without
    actually removing them from their posts and making them go to
    the Academy, we are trying to do the training here, on the
    Campus, which allows us more options.

                            SWORN WORK-LIFE BALANCE

        Senator Fischer. And you know, when we arrive here in the
    morning, we see your officers greeting us every day when we
    come to work, and we form relationships with them. When we look
    at the needs that they have, and to really take time off to
    spend time with their families, how do you balance the
    personnel to be able to take those scheduled leaves, and be
    able to use their overtime to address these mission
    requirements?
        Chief Manger. So this has been the--one of the main reasons
    we have tried to increase our staffing levels over the past
    several years, because we still are forcing officers to work
    overtime that they wouldn't necessarily volunteer for. We are
    holding them over at the end of their shifts, you know,
    canceling days off to make sure we have enough folks for a
    particular event.
        And I know that this is not a sustainable strategy. And the
    only way we are going to be able to fix that is to get our
    staffing levels up to what I have asked for in fiscal year
    2024, so that we will have the ability to ensure officers get
    their days off, and have the--that appropriate work-life
    balance.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you.
        Senator Reed. Chairwoman Murray, please.
        Senator Murray. Thank you. Thank you Chair Reed, and
    Ranking Member Fischer. Delighted to join you today as we
    continue to work to return to regular order for the first time
    in years, and pass our funding bills in a responsible way.
        This hearing is really an important opportunity to make
    sure we are providing the people who protect us, and our
    staffs, and our Nation's Capitol, with the resources that they
    need.
        Sergeant at Arms Gibson, I would like to thank you and your
    team for the dedication you all show each and every day, your
    office plays a really crucial role keeping the work of the
    people running smoothly, and we have seen that work continue to
    evolve and improve since you joined in 2021.
        The Senate Sergeant at Arms helps each of our offices work
    effectively for the people that we serve, by improving the
    internal Senate communication, that you talked about, keeping
    our technology safe, and effective, and up to date, preparing
    for emergencies, and maintaining an open environment for
    constituents, and visitors, and a lot more.
        Chief Manger, I would like to thank you and all of the
    Capitol Police for the work you do to keep everyone who works
    here safe. Every day, and every hour members of our staff are
    here--members of your staff are here keeping an eye out for all
    of us who work here in the Nation's Capitol, and everyone who
    comes to visit.
        I am incredibly grateful to you, and all the Capitol Police
    Officers, for working so hard, for putting in late hours, like
    you just talked about, for sacrificing weekends, and a lot
    more, to keep everyone safe. And I know it has certainly not
    been an easy few years. We owe a lot to both of your agencies,
    starting with making sure you have the resources to do your
    jobs.
        So I am really glad to have this opportunity to hear more
    today about your agency's needs for the year ahead.
        Sergeant at Arms Gibson, let me start with you. You know,
    across the country our workers are facing some very real
    barriers to obtaining and retaining employment, including
    livable wages, and quality, affordable child care, critical
    mental health supports, wellness programs, resources for
    education and training, and that challenge, I know is reflected
    here in the Senate as well.
        We really rely on the men and women who work hard every day
    to support this institution. So we need to work to address
    those barriers. So I want to ask you today: What programs are
    most critical to supporting the SSA workforce? And what would
    they mean for your workforce if they were funded?
        General Gibson. So in terms of supporting the workforce,
    both my own, and those who work for our offices and committees,
    our most significant request in this budget is for the Employee
    Assistance Program. I am requesting two additional FTEs. Those
    are counselors that would support, and I should back up to talk
    about, briefly, the significant increase in utilization that we
    have had. 30 percent over 2021, in 2021----
        Senator Murray. 30 percent increase.
        General Gibson. 30 percent increase in utilization, 74
    percent of the Senate staff have accessed EAP services across
    90 percent of the Senate offices, for an increase, in 2022, of
    30 percent over what we saw in 2021. So hiring these two
    additional FTEs, in particular, will help with virtual after-
    hour support for people working in State offices on the West
    Coast, for instance, or for people who are working later at
    night, or cannot come in during the day because of committee,
    or other work that they are doing.
        We are also requesting $307,000 to augment wellness
    resources, and some of that is for purchasing apps that are
    available much like it is done in the House; nutrition apps,
    consumers' checkbook, mindfulness apps. But it is also to
    expand dependent care resources, we would like to contract with
    Life-Care for back-up child care and tutoring services; this is
    a service that would help staff with locating, and assist with
    paying for, adult or child care when regular arrangements have
    fallen through, and that staff member must still come to work.
        The House already provides this support, we would be
    leveraging their contact--their contract to do this. But that
    is our most significant budget request in terms of taking care
    of our staff. Other things that we appreciate are the ability
    to fund Senate provided professional certification, whether
    that is licensing for our counselors, for some of our CPAs,
    project managers, that has been approved periodically by the
    Senate, it is in effect right now and we benefit from that
    tremendously.
        Senator Murray. Okay. Thank you. Those are really
    important. I appreciate that. And I want to ask you about the
    residential security program for senators' homes. How is the
    role out of that program going, and have had you any chance to
    review any of the lessons learned that we should know about?
        General Gibson. Certainly, so it is going well. We have a
    bit of enthusiasm for participation. As I mentioned, we have
    had 25 surveys so far this year, that- is 25 percent,
    obviously, of the Senate, a third of the year in, with another
    12 requests for services that are--or for assessments that are
    on the books, to have Capitol Police physical security experts
    go out and identify things that could be done at the homes. We
    look forward to being able to provide the first installations
    of some of that additional support later this summer.
        Some of our initial lessons learned, I think it has been
    largely positive. I have been able to participate in surveys
    here in the Washington, D.C., area, just to ensure I understood
    how they were conducted, and how that went. So in terms of
    identifying alarms, intrusion detection systems, a need for
    duress buttons, flood lights, deadbolts, lock work, et cetera,
    it has been very appreciated by those Senators and Senate
    spouses with whom we have worked so far.
        Senator Murray. Okay. Thank you very much.

                               RETENTION BONUSES

        Chief, I know that you and your team have been very focused
    on addressing the recommendations that resulted from the events
    of January 6, 2021, and are working to continue to enhance the
    capabilities to meet emerging mission requirements. Those are
    all costly initiatives, but I am glad that we have been working
    to provide you the resources that you need for that.
        But I also know that your workforce spends time away from
    their families, and makes a lot of personal sacrifice, you just
    mentioned that in your comments. I want to make sure we are
    focused on all their needs as well, while we fund those
    mission-critical items.
        Over the last couple of years, you have increased your
    sworn hiring and training to bolster your sworn workforce. Have
    you found the retention bonuses we were--where the fund have
    helped to curb attrition?
        Chief Manger. I think there is no question that that has
    helped. I mean, but in addition the--just changing the pay
    scale which was done last year, helped as well. And so we, I
    think it is--we had 2,037 employees accepted last year, we are
    getting ready to put it out again. And I expect a similar
    response. But the difference this year is, many of the officers
    that were hired right after 9/11 are now becoming eligible.
        And we have between 300 and 400 officers that are eligible
    to retire now. So I think it is very important for us to not
    only continue the retention bonuses but to, as I mentioned
    earlier, waive the mandatory retirement age up to 60, so
    hopefully that will keep some of the officers around for a
    couple extra years.
        Senator Murray. Okay. And have you been getting the support
    you need from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center?
        Chief Manger. Absolutely. As you know, during the pandemic
    that was the choke point. They shut down for the better part of
    a year, and so we had--we were doing zero hiring, and we are
    still, actually, recovering from that, but they have given us
    all the assistance. In fact, we have multiple classes ongoing
    for most of the year.

               EMPLOYEE IN-HOUSE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION

        Senator Murray. Okay. And I am really glad that you were
    able to launch the Wellness Center for Members of the Capitol
    Police, obviously named after Officer Howard Liebengood. As I
    mentioned in the Emergency Security Supplemental Appropriations
    Act, and in the Omnibus, we were able to provide funding to
    continue to build on that effort. Are your employees using the
    In-House Employee Assistance Program?
        Chief Manger. Yes. There is always room for improvement. We
    are aware that oftentimes, folks that choose public safety for
    an occupation are hesitant to ask for help. And we are trying
    to overcome those barriers. But we have had, actually, a very
    good response. The Center is fully focused on outreach and
    awareness for all USCP employees sworn and civilian.
        So we can continue to track the utilization, and the
    service requests, and we have seen these numbers increasing as
    time has----
        Senator Murray. And real quickly, can you just tell us what
    your future plans for the Center are as you try to meet the
    needs of your employees?
        Chief Manger. You know, we always have to be an employee
    assistance organization, but I think what makes us unique is we
    have trauma-informed counselors, so that when we have folks
    that have gone through a crisis that we can provide services
    for them.
        But we are also making sure that we are listening to the
    users, listening to our workforce, and say, you know, what is
    it that you would like; whether it is, yoga, meditation,
    physical fitness, nutrition, coaching, peer support? We are
    asking our workforce what is it that you would like that we may
    not be offering yet?
        Senator Murray. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr.
    Chairman.
        Senator Reed. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
        Senator Van Hollen, please.

                     HIRING TO CLOSE THE STAFFING SHORTAGE

        Senator Van Hollen. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And
    thank both of you for your leadership, and for the
    participation, and good work and service of all your teams, in
    making sure that our Capitol can be safe, and functioning well.
    And many of the folks who work for each of you are my
    constituents in Maryland, and it is always good to see them
    here every day, performing their duties for our democracy.
        Chief Manger, as you have said in your testimony, Capitol
    Police have been under tremendous pressure, we had COVID, we
    had January 6, and you saw, in the aftermath of those events,
    attrition. As you just mentioned, you are also facing the fact
    that a lot of folks who join the force after 9/11 are now
    eligible for retirement.
        I know you have spoken a little bit about how the budget
    you are requesting will address those issues, but can you
    specifically talk about the numbers of folks that you need to
    bring on in order to close the gap? And how confident are you
    that the measures you are asking for in this budget will allow
    you to reach your goals?
        Chief Manger. Well, first of all, I am very confident that
    if we are able to reach the levels for our salary, budget, to
    raise the number of people that we can hire, that that will go
    a long way to solving these attrition issues.
        I mean, there is one big reason that we are facing the
    attrition that we are facing; and that is that officers are
    being burnt out. When you have your days off cancelled, when
    you are at the end of your shift and your sergeant comes and
    tells you: Oh, by the way, you have got to work 6 or 8 more
    hours because we are short on the next shift. I mean, those are
    things that just, after a while, will demoralize your
    workforce. And this is, this happens much too often in our
    daily work days.
        So the only way that we are able to solve that is through
    increased staffing, both in our Uniformed Services, but what we
    are also finding, is in our Dignitary Protection. Those
    officers that are traveling with leadership, traveling with
    CODELs to provide protection all over the country, all over the
    world, that those were short there as well.
        And so that is why we asked for 64 additional DPD agents
    last year, and additional ones this year, so that we could get
    those staffing levels up to a point where those folks could see
    their families. This still remains one of the biggest
    challenges that we face with the Capitol Police, is trying to
    balance that work-life balance for our employees.

                     FALSE NARRATIVES SURROUNDING JANUARY 6

        Senator Van Hollen. Thank you. In I think, February or
    early March of this year, Speaker McCarthy authorized the
    release of more than 40,000 hours of security footage from the
    awful events of January 6. He released them to former Fox News
    Host, Tucker Carlson, who then used them to create a false
    narrative surrounding the events of that day, concluding that
    the attack on the Capitol was, quote, ``Mostly peaceful
    chaos,'' unquote, and that, quote, ``The footage does not show
    an insurrection or riot in progress.''
        Chief Manger, Tucker Carlson is now no longer with Fox
    News, but a lot of the damage has been done. Can you talk about
    the impact this false narrative has had on the men and women
    who work for you?
        Chief Manger. The following day when he did that program, I
    put out a message to all of my employees, and I talked to them
    about what--the narrative that he tried to put forth, how
    disrespectful it was to the men and women of the Capitol
    Police. And I think what was fortunate, is that that narrative
    that Mr. Carlson tried to put out had no legs. I think most
    folks understood exactly what it was. And so I think that was
    very gratifying to the members of the Capitol Police, to see
    that the public did not agree with that assessment.
        I appreciate that. And I agree with you, that despite his
    best efforts, the American public understood exactly what
    happened on that day, and that it was not the narrative that he
    put out.
        Ms. Gibson, thank you and your team as well, for all that
    you do. Obviously, one of the critical functions that you have,
    together with the Chief and the Chief's team, is security here
    at the Capitol. And we want to make sure we provide that
    security. We also, of course, want to make sure that the
    Capitol remains open as much as possible to the public, so that
    lawmakers are accessible to the people they represent.
        Senator Blunt and I had previously introduced--
    formerSenator Blunt and I, had previously introduced
    legislation to make sure we did not have a permanent wall, and
    I know that no one is proposing one. You have outlined some of
    the--you plans, I think, to develop some criteria.
        General Gibson. Mm-hmm.
        Senator Van Hollen. For when you would put up temporary
    fencing, under emergency situations, which is certainly
    understandable and justifiable. Could you talk a little bit
    about the time line for all of that?
        General Gibson. Thank you, Senator. We are working
    collaboratively, across the Capitol Police Board, to establish
    some general guidelines, not requirements, for how we would
    make decisions regarding the implementation of security
    measures like that, based on the imminence of a threat, the
    credibility of a threat, the size of the threat, the ability of
    the Capitol Police to respond to a potential threat.
        As well as, if we did not have a fence for instance, what
    other resources would we apply, and what would the cost of that
    be. And I think that we have demonstrated--in the past the
    Board has demonstrated wise use, constrained use of the fence
    for select events such as the State of the Union Address, and
    has not seen a need to erect the fence for other kinds of
    events.
        So even though we have not yet finalized what that kind of
    framework and guidance would look like, I think we have
    operated well, in terms of making those decisions in the past.
        Senator Van Hollen. Thank you. Thank you both. Appreciate
    it.
        Senator Reed. Thank you, Senator Van Hollen.
        I just have a few questions. General Gibson, you are the
    Chair of the Capitol Police Board, which is an inherently
    difficult job, not many police departments are led by
    committees, so you have got your work cut out for you. But in
    the wake of January 6 there was, I think, some justifiable
    criticism of the Board's actions, and the Board's abilities.
    Can you please tell us what you have done, together with your
    colleagues, to improve the Operational Board, and the
    supervision of the Capitol Police?
        General Gibson. Certainly. Thank you, Senator. I appreciate
    that question. I would start by thanking Congress for the
    statutory change in 2021 that allows the Chief to call on
    resources in an emergency without convening the Board to do so,
    and I think that was an important change that has certainly
    made the security response far more agile.
        The role of the Capitol Police Board is to hire and
    supervise the Chief of Police, and to provide oversight of and
    support to the Capitol Police in the execution of their
    mission, while serving as a touch point between the Police and
    Congress.
        And I think we have done this, you know, through our
    regulating of policing on the Campus, traffic regulations,
    reviewing and approving the overall security measures, and
    establishing broad policy guidelines to manage the Department.
        Our decisions do, generally, require consensus, and a
    consensus that is acceptable to all, which is especially
    important in this bicameral, bipartisan environment, to arrive
    at security decisions that provide for the security of the
    entire campus, and the people who come here, while facilitating
    operations.
        I think an example of one that we would--that I could point
    to where we, as a Board, have worked collaboratively to develop
    a solution would be, the Department's hiring of contract
    security officers. As the Chief, you know, examines the
    security shortage, and the personnel shortage, and identified
    some, potentially, short-term and long-term solutions to that.
        One that was proposed was to deploy contract security
    officers at select secondary locations within the building,
    say, as people are getting on or off of the subway. They have
    already been through screening and magnetometers; perhaps it
    doesn't have to be a sworn officer there. And we work together
    with the Department to develop a proposal that would both meet
    the Department's needs, was respectful of the feedback that we
    received from our key stakeholders, and was performed with an
    understanding of the budgetary implications.
        And so this is, I think, an example of a way in which the
    Capitol Police Board can work collaboratively, outside of
    emergency situations, to develop a solution.
        As I noted in my oral statement, I am especially proud that
    the GAO has determined that a finding from 2017 that had been
    previously unresolved that said that we were not following good
    governance measures that they have said, based on our update of
    the manual of procedures, and are following our manual of
    procedures for the last 18 months, that they now find us to be
    in good standing with the best practices of governance, of
    oversight boards like this.
        And I think that is also a testament to the progress that
    my fellow Board Members and I have made.

                     MUTUAL AID AND COLLABORATIVE POLICING

        Senator Reed. Thank you. And just finally, Chief; the
    General pointed out that you have the authority in a situation
    to call upon additional support, if necessary, which raises the
    issue of mutual aid, practical, coordination, on a constant
    basis, with other departments, both the Metropolitan, and
    Washington, D.C. Police, surrounding Community Police, Federal
    agencies. Can you just come at about how we are doing in that
    regard?
        Chief Manger. We are doing very well. And I can say that
    with great confidence, because we have utilized those
    agreements that we have put into place many times, whether it
    is just getting a couple of police departments to send us a
    civil disturbance unit component for a large event that we
    might be having, or getting, you know, eight to ten different
    agencies here to provide us with the assistance.
        So it is something that not only have we put into place, we
    have dozens of MOUs with agencies in and around the D.C. area,
    but we have put it into practice enough times that it is pretty
    seamless.
        Senator Reed. Thank you very much. I want to thank both of
    you for your dedication and your service. And I particularly
    want to thank all of your uniformed and non-uniformed personnel
    who do so much each day.
        And as one of my colleagues said, as we come in the morning
    we are greeted, and we feel, I think, a little bit more secure
    as well as a little happier when we see the Capitol Police, and
    your personnel, General Gibson. Thank you.

                         ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

        [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. With that, I will to declare the hearing
    adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 4:27 p.m., Tuesday, April 25, the
    subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of
    the Chair.]

           LIST OF WITNESSES, COMMUNICATIONS, AND PREPARED STATEMENTS

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

    Dodaro, Hon. Gene L., Comptroller General, The United States
      Government Accountability Office, Statement of.................     3

    Fischer, Senator Deb, U.S. Senator From Nebraska, Opening
      Statement of

    Gibson, Hon. Karen H., Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the
      Senate:
        Prepared Statement of........................................    77
        Statement of.................................................    75

    Halpern, Honorable Hugh Nathanial, Director, Government
      Publishing Office:
        Prepared Statement of........................................    27
        Statement of.................................................    26
    Hayden, Hon. Carla, Librarian of Congress:
        Prepared Statement of........................................    51
        Statement of.................................................    49

    Manger, Chief J. Thomas, Chief of Police, United States Capitol
      Police:........................................................
        Prepared Statement of........................................    92
        Statement of.................................................    90
    Mazanec, Mary B., Director, Congressional Research Service,
      Prepared Statement of..........................................    57

    Perlmutter, Shira, Register of Copyrights and Director, U.S.
      Copyright Office, Prepared Statement of........................    54

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

    Rexroat, Chere, Acting Architect of the Capitol:
        Prepared Statement of........................................    61
        Statement of.................................................    60

    Swagel, Hon. Dr. Phillip, Director, Congressional Budget Office,
      Statement of...................................................    29

                                 SUBJECT INDEX

                                  ----------

                                                                       Page

                            ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL

    Additional Committee Questions...................................    71
    Chairmen's Closing Remarks.......................................    71
    Congressional Research Service Budget Request....................    66
    Continuous Development of Library Technology.....................    68
    CRSs Data Analysis Request.......................................    66
    Library Recruitment and Staffing.................................    69
    Library's Request and Strategic Vision...........................    67
    Veterans History Project.........................................    70
                                   __________

                          CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

    Additonal Committee Questions....................................    46
    CBO:
        Budget Request and its Consequences for Staffing and Output..    32
        Strengthening Responsiveness.................................    34
        Enhancing Transparency.......................................    34
    Hiring Qualified Personnel.......................................    42
                                   __________

                        GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

    Concluding Remarks...............................................    21
    Contacts.........................................................    21
    Fiscal Year 2024:
        Budget Request...............................................    25
        Request......................................................     3
    Highlights From Fiscal Year 2022 and Recent Results..............    18
                                   __________

                          GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

    Charting a Course for the Future in Fiscal Year 2022.............    27
    GPO's Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Request....................    28
                                   __________

                              LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

    Conclusion.......................................................    60
    Enhancing Services and Access....................................    53
    Fiscal 2024 Budget Request and Program Increases.................    57
    Funding and Fiscal Update to 2024 Budget Request.................    56
    Key Accomplishments Over the Past Year...........................    54
    Library of Congress' Strategic Plan..............................    64
    Library's Fiscal 2024 Budget Request.............................    64
    Service to Congress..............................................    58
    Significant Ongoing Initiatives..................................    55
    Strategic Initiatives............................................    58
    Strengthening Expertise in Key Areas.............................    53
    Sustaining Continuous Technology Development.....................    52
                                   __________

                          UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE

    Additional Committee Questions...................................   106
    Dignitary Protection.............................................    96
    Employee In-House Assistance Program Participation...............   102
    False Narratives Surrounding January 6...........................   103
    Hiring:
        Challenges...................................................    97
        To Close the Staffing Shortage...............................   103
    Intelligence Sharing With Federal Agencies.......................    96
    Mutual Aid and Collaborative Policing............................   106
    Retention Bonuses................................................   101
    Sworn Work-Life Balance..........................................    99
    Training Improvements............................................    99
                                   __________

              UNITED STATES SENATE SERGEANT AT ARMS AND DOORKEEPER

    Capitol Operations Division......................................    80
    Chief Information Officer (CIO)..................................    82
    Conclusion.......................................................    90
    Executive and Staff Offices......................................    84
    Office of Security, Emergency Preparedness and Continuity (OSEPC)    86
    Support Operations...............................................    89

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