[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 16, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E151]]



           GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: STILL BETTER THAN EVER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 16, 2000

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to bring to the House's 
attention an article about the Government Printing Office from the 
December 1999 issue of In-Plant Graphics.
  This prestigious printing-industry journal has, for a second 
consecutive year, ranked the Government Printing Office first among the 
``Top 50'' printing plants surveyed, thus labeling GPO as the best in-
plant operation in America. The December 1998 issue of In-Plant 
Graphics, while bestowing the same honor for the first time, described 
the GPO as ``better than ever.'' These accolades, from a respected 
trade publication, together speak volumes about the diligence and 
dedication of the versatile GPO workforce.
  As the 1999 article, entitled ``The Digitizing of GPO,'' reveals, in 
recent years technology has changed dramatically the way many Americans 
acquire government information, and the GPO has been in the vanguard. 
GPO still prints the Congressional Record and the Federal Register each 
night for its many customers who must have traditional paper copies, 
including the Congress itself, and produces other printed products 
around the clock. However, GPO also distributes these and other 
products in electronic format, quickly, economically and widely.
  As a case in point, late one Friday afternoon last November, the 
federal district court in Washington delivered to GPO for publication 
its findings of fact in the Microsoft antitrust case, a proceeding of 
immense economic significance and national interest. Within one hour of 
GPO's subsequent release of the document at 6:30 PM, interested persons 
had accessed it 152,000 times through a special GPO website established 
for that purpose. Simultaneously, walk-in customers could purchase 
printed copies of the document in GPO's main bookstore.
  While preserving its capability to produce ink-on-paper, GPO 
recognizes that demand for electronic products will increase 
exponentially in the years ahead. The public already downloads over 21 
million documents each month through GPO Access [http://
www.access.gpo.gov], GPO's electronic gateway to more than 160,000 
federal titles. The GPO is committed to working with its customers and 
others to facilitate that change. GPO is itself reaping the benefits of 
technology and passing the savings along to the American people. The 
agency accomplishes all these feats with 30% fewer production employees 
than it had just six years ago.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in saluting the dedicated men and women 
of the digitized Government Printing Office, still better than ever. 
The article follows:

                [From the In-Plant Graphics, Dec. 1999]

                         The Digitizing of GPO

                           (By Bob Neubauer)

       When the Federal District Court for the District of 
     Columbia prepared to release Judge Thomas P. Jackson's 
     ``Findings of Fact'' in the Microsoft case in November, the 
     court contacted the U.S. Government Printing Office. GPO was 
     asked to make advance preparations for the rapid 
     dissemination of the document. GPO, as always, was ready for 
     the challenge.
       Judge Jackson's decision was announced at 4:30, and the 
     court sent a printed copy and a disk version of the 207-page 
     document to GPO, where print production began immediately. 
     Covers had been produced in advance. By 6:30, when GPO's main 
     bookstore reopened, copies were available. By 8:30, 147 had 
     been sold.
       Meanwhile, GPO made the findings available on its Web site 
     in WordPerfect, PDF and HTML formats. It established a URL 
     for this information (usvms.gpo.gov). In the first hour of 
     release, the site experienced 152,000 successful connections.
       For GPO, the largest in-plant in the country, such 
     monumental projects have become second nature.
       Now in its 139th year of existence, GPO drastically changed 
     itself over the past few years from a strictly ink-on-paper 
     provider to a high-tech digital data delivery organization. 
     The public downloads some 20 million documents a month from 
     GPO Access, GPO's Web site (www.access.gpo.gov).
       ``We're putting more and more electronic products up, which 
     seems to be what the public wants,'' notes Public Printer 
     Michael DiMario. He recently signed a request for more 
     Internet bandwidth in the form of a T3 line to accommodate 
     the anticipated demand.
       The successful online dissemination of the Microsoft 
     findings was welcome news for those who remember the initial 
     posting of the Starr Report last year, when GPO Access was 
     jammed with traffic, which clogged the system.
       ``We took certain steps to upgrade the number of T1 lines 
     that we have and install additional servers,'' notes Andrew 
     M. Sherman, director of congressional, legislative and public 
     affairs. A BigIP load balancer, served by five T1 lines, kept 
     heavy volume from freezing some visitors out.
       Over the past few years, Sherman notes, online delivery has 
     helped to decrease print volume--as well as outside 
     procurement. (Also contributing were shrinking government 
     budgets and fewer requested copies.) Concurrently, the skills 
     of GPO's work force have migrated toward the electronic end.
       But print is still strong. GPO's two new Krause America 
     LX170 computer-to-plate systems are now up to speed, Sherman 
     says, and they're being used to run plates for all major 
     publications, including the Congressional Record and the 
     Federal Register. The new passport bindery line is 
     operational, as well. And with 7.5 million passports passing 
     through GPO last year, the line has its work cut out for it.
       In the next decade, DiMario says, GPO will strengthen its 
     efforts to share its expertise with other government 
     agencies. Already it has expanded its Federal Printing and 
     Electronic Publishing Institute, which offers courses to help 
     agencies deal with technological changes.
       GPO also hopes to provide digital access to even more 
     government documents in the future, he says. As for GPO's 
     size, DiMario doesn't see it changing much. GPO has already 
     downsized dramatically in the 1990s. In 1994 it employed 
     1,701 production personnel; today there are 1,173.
       ``We're probably scaled back as much as we can be . . . 
     without some potential problems,'' observes DiMario. ``We've 
     got a very professional work force. The results speak for 
     themselves.''

     

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