[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 140 (Tuesday, October 7, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H9237-H9238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRANSFER TO PUBLIC PRINTER OF AUTHORITY OVER INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBLE 
               FOR PREPARING CONGRESSIONAL RECORD INDEXES

  Mr. NEY. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3229) to amend title 44, United States Code, to transfer to the 
Public Printer the authority over the individuals responsible for 
preparing indexes of the Congressional Record, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3229

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. TRANSFER TO PUBLIC PRINTER OF AUTHORITY OVER 
                   INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBLE FOR PREPARING 
                   CONGRESSIONAL RECORD INDEXES.

       (a) In General.--Section 902 of title 44, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:

     ``Sec. 902. Congressional Record: Indexes

       ``The Public Printer shall prepare the semimonthly and the 
     session index to the Congressional Record. The Joint 
     Committee on Printing shall direct the form and manner of its 
     publication and distribution.''.
       (b) Transition Rule for Current Employees.--
       (1) In general.--Any individual who is an employee of the 
     Congressional Record Index Office as of the effective date of 
     this Act shall be transferred to the Government Printing 
     Office, subject to the provisions of this title governing the 
     selection and appointment of employees of the Government 
     Printing Office and any applicable regulations.
       (2) Treatment of accrued leave.--Any annual and sick leave 
     accrued by such an individual prior to such date shall be 
     transferred and made available to the individual as an 
     employee of the Government Printing Office, subject to 
     applicable regulations of the Government Printing Office 
     governing the use of such leave.

     SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall apply 
     with respect to pay periods beginning on or after October 1, 
     2003 (or, if later, the first day of the first month which 
     begins after the date of the enactment of this Act).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Ney) and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney).
  Mr. NEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here today with my colleague, 
our esteemed ranking member of the Committee on House Administration.
  I rise here today in support of H.R. 3229, a bill to amend title 44, 
United States Code, to transfer to the Public Printer the authority 
over the individuals responsible for preparing indexes of the 
Congressional Record. The indexes create the semimonthly and session 
indexes to the Congressional Record.
  Under the Printing Act of 1895, the Joint Committee on Printing, 
known as JCP, designates to the Public Printer persons to prepare the 
index and fixes the compensation to be paid by the Public Printer for 
their work. Their compensation, benefits, and related office expenses 
are charged directly to the Congressional Printing and Binding 
Appropriation.
  Although the indexers have long been recognized as Congressional 
employees, their daily work is supervised by the GPO, the Government 
Printing Office. Therefore, we are here today to make this change to 
title 44.
  GPO provides administrative support for the indexers; pays the 
indexers from the GPO revolving fund, which is then reimbursed by the 
Congressional Printing and Binding Appropriation; and maintains 
employment records for the indexers. The indexers are housed in 
buildings under GPO's control and subject to GPO's rules and 
regulations regarding security and other related matters. GPO provides 
equipment for the indexers, who work on a day-to-day basis directly 
with GPO's production staff in compiling and publishing the 
Congressional Record Index.
  Prior to 1999, the JCP managed the indexers. However, in 1999 the 
funding for the JCP ended. The employee transfer that this legislation 
will provide will relieve the JCP of the administrative burden of 
managing a daily production activity that more appropriately belongs, 
frankly, in the Government Printing Office. At the same time, it will 
preserve the JCP's control over the Congressional Record Index itself, 
which is important.
  Most importantly, however, it will correct an employment situation. 
The JCP, in conjunction with GPO, has crafted legislative language to 
accomplish the transfer with minimal impact on office employees. The 
JCP and the GPO have ensured that despite the transfer accomplished by 
this legislation, the format and substance of the Congressional Record 
will remain the same as before, which, of course, is very important to 
many people in the country.
  With the transfer, the employees will be placed in the civil service 
and will be covered by the laws and regulations covering GPO 
employment. Their contributions and service time accumulated under 
retirement systems as Congressional employees will be fully credited. 
They will retain their current rates of pay and their future pay will 
be subject to pay systems governing other GPO employees. They will be 
allowed to carry accumulated annual and sick leave with them, with 
subsequent use subject to GPO regulations.
  The Congressional Record Index Office will be assigned to the 
appropriate GPO organization, subject to GPO management direction, 
although any future changes to the form and production of the 
Congressional Record Index will be subject to the review and approval 
of the JCP.
  The indexers will continue to be funded by the Congressional Printing 
and Binding Appropriation. This change will not interrupt their work on 
the index. Consequently, the effects of the transfer will have no 
impact to Congressional Record Index users in Congress, the government 
or the public.
  As a request from the JCP, the GPO has briefed the Index Office 
employees on this legislative proposal. No objection was raised to the 
JCP.
  The indexer employment situation has been in flux since 1999, and I 
commend the JCP and the GPO for working through this fluid situation 
and also for helping us bring this resolution to the floor.
  The Public Printer, Bruce James, is to be commended also. He has done 
an excellent job and I think has really brought the Government Printing 
Office into the 21st century. I am going to be urging full support of 
this resolution.
  I look forward to our ranking member, who is a definite student of 
history, and I am sure he is going to provide, Madam Speaker, a 
historical perspective to this resolution.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume, and I thank the chairman for his historical reference.
  I am pleased to join with the chairman in support of this legislation 
to transfer control of the Congressional Record Index Office to the 
Government Printing Office.
  The gentleman has ably explained the bill. The Public Printer, who 
asked

[[Page H9238]]

for this legislation, has submitted a detailed justification that the 
chairman has included in the Record.
  I want to thank the chairman and the Joint Committee on Printing and 
particularly the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Ney) for his thorough 
explanation of the bill, the staff director of our joint committee, 
Maria Robinson, for her hard work, and my joint committee staff 
director, who I am pleased to have back, Michael Harrison, for his 
detailed work on this job.
  I would also like to thank the director of the Office of 
Congressional Affairs at the GPO, Mr. Andrew Sherman, who was so 
helpful in putting this legislation together, as well as so many other 
projects.
  I am pleased to join the distinguished chairman in support of this 
legislation to transfer control of the Congressional Record Index 
Office to the Government Printing Office. The gentleman has ably 
explained the bill. The Public Printer, who asked for this legislation, 
has submitted a detailed justification that the chairman will include 
in the Record.
  Suffice it to say that circumstances have changed in recent years, 
creating a need for the modification recommended in this bill. A law 
dating back to the mid-19th Century, now codified as Section 902 of 
Title 44, United States Code, gives the Joint Committee on Printing the 
duty to appoint and fix the pay of ``competent persons'' to prepare a 
periodic index to the Congressional Record. In addition to appointing 
the indexers and fixing their pay, the joint committee for many years 
actively supervised and directed the indexers' day-to-day work.
  The indexers have been treated as congressional employees for leave 
and retirement purposes. However, unlike other congressional staff, 
whose pay is disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief 
Administrative Officer of the House, the Public Printer pays the 
indexers out of the GPO revolving fund, and is reimbursed from the 
Congress's appropriation for its own printing and binding. The Public 
Printer provides supplies and equipment for the indexers' use, also on 
a reimbursable basis. The indexers perform their work on GPO premises, 
some distance from the Capitol, and naturally their work is closely 
linked to the production of the Congressional Record itself.
  Madam Speaker, if it ever made sense for the Joint Committee on 
Printing to have the responsibility to appoint the indexers, set their 
pay, and provide day-to-day supervision for the Index Office, that day 
ended in 1998 when the 105th Congress chose not to provide further 
appropriations for the JCP. That decision deprived the JCP of its 
separate professional staff, which had previously supported the joint 
committee in the discharge of its responsibilities, including 
management of the Index Office. Now those responsibilities fall upon 
our Committee on House Administration and the Senate Committee on Rules 
and Administration, both of which are responsible for many matters in 
addition to printing. Under these circumstances, it makes sense to 
transfer the Index Office to the Public Printer, as he has proposed, 
leaving the JCP to establish policy to guide the Public Printer's 
exercise of his responsibility.
  The bill does that and nothing else. The Public Printer has assured 
our committee that the transfer's effect on those now employed as 
indexers will be minimal, and on the thousands who use the index, 
invisible. For me, this is key. The Congressional Record is a linchpin 
of Congress's ongoing effort to ``keep America informed,'' which phrase 
is GPO's slogan. Readers of the Record know it is the Index that makes 
the Record a truly useful research tool. Congress could not properly 
keep America informed without the dedicated professionals of the 
Congressional Record Index Office. It is fitting that upon enactment of 
this bill, they will join the many dedicated professionals of the GPO.

                              {time}  1545

  Madam Speaker, I know of no opposition to this bill, and I urge a 
``yes'' vote.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. NEY. Madam Speaker, I want to again thank my colleague, our 
ranking member, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), for 
handling this bill with me on the floor today. This is a very important 
bill.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Capito). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3229.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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