[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 18, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H207-H209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STOP THE OVERPRINTING (STOP) ACT
Mr. HARPER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 292) to amend title 44, United States Code, to eliminate the
mandatory printing of bills and resolutions by the Government Printing
Office for the use of the House of Representatives and Senate, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 292
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. ELIMINATION OF MANDATORY PRINTING OF BILLS AND
RESOLUTIONS FOR USE OF OFFICES OF MEMBERS OF
CONGRESS.
(a) Elimination of Mandatory Printing.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 7 of title 44, United States Code,
is amended by inserting after section 706 the following new
section:
``Sec. 706A. Prohibiting printing of bills and resolutions
for use of offices of Members of Congress
``(a) No Printing Permitted.--The Public Printer shall make
bills and resolutions available for the use of offices of
Members of Congress only in an electronic format which is
accessible through the Internet.
``(b) Member of Congress Defined.--In this section, a
`Member of Congress' means a Senator or a Representative in,
or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--Section 706 of such title is
amended--
(A) by striking ``There shall be printed'' each place it
appears and inserting ``Subject to section 706A, there shall
be printed''; and
(B) by striking ``Of concurrent and simple resolutions''
and inserting ``Subject to section 706A, of concurrent and
simple resolutions''.
(3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections of chapter 7
of such title is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 706 the following new item:
``706A. Prohibiting printing of bills and resolutions for use of
offices of Members of Congress''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall
take effect upon the expiration of the 3-month period which
begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Harper) and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs.
Davis) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi.
General Leave
Mr. HARPER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Mississippi?
There was no objection.
Mr. HARPER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Lee).
Mr. LEE of New York. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his
assistance in bringing this bill to the floor.
Mr. Speaker, our national debt just recently broke $14 trillion. It
is well past time for Washington to get serious about cutting spending,
and that effort starts right here in our own House.
With this in mind, Speaker Boehner proposed a measure to cut every
Member's budget by 5 percent. In a 410-13
[[Page H208]]
vote, the measure to save $35 million easily passed. It's called
leading by example.
Another simple way to continue this process is by passing legislation
that I brought up in the last Congress and which became part of the
YouCut initiative, which gives all taxpayers the ability to vote on
what Federal spending they want Congress to cut.
When a Member of Congress introduces or originally cosponsors a bill,
we automatically receive multiple printed copies of the legislation,
regardless if we have asked for them.
When the health care bill was introduced, the Government Printing
Office printed and delivered over 100,000 pieces of paper to the
original cosponsors alone. That is just one single piece of legislation
we're talking about. At the start of Congress, the Small Business
Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act, which repeals the onerous 1099
provision of the health care bill, won the support of 245 original
cosponsors, all of whom will automatically receive multiple printed
copies of the bill.
For each bill introduced, there are between 300 and 475 copies
printed. This overprinting of bills is wasteful and inefficient at a
time when we need to be tightening our budgetary belts and looking for
greater efficiencies. In the 111th Congress, nearly 14,000 bills were
introduced. That is a lot of unnecessary and costly printing.
That is why I introduced the Stop the OverPrinting Act--to save both
time and money. This bill is a near mirror image of the legislation I
introduced last year in H.R. 4640, keeping with the initial intent to
strictly end the wasteful practice of printing copies of legislation
for Members.
However, note that this bill will not hinder the daily operation of
the House, the archiving process, or affect the transparency that this
Congress has made a priority. This legislation will lead to significant
savings each and every year--money that can be used, frankly, for
better uses.
With technological advancements, we have become a paperless world. It
is a waste of taxpayer dollars to automatically print and send multiple
unsolicited copies of something that is readily available online.
Should a Member's office truly need a printed copy, they will still be
available in the document rooms and also in the committees.
{time} 1420
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. HARPER. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 4
minutes.
Mr. LEE of New York. Too many people in Washington don't seem to care
about the dollar amount unless it has a ``B'' or a ``T'' after it, and
that is the type of mentality that needs to change here in Washington
and was mandated in the November elections. We need to be looking for
cost savings and turning over every possible rock. With our current
deficit, there should be no such thing as spending cuts just being a
drop in the bucket. Every dollar and every cent counts in the real
world, and it should here, too.
The money we spend here in Congress is not ours; it is the people's.
House Republicans have been stressing this for some time, and together
we proposed over $155 billion in savings for taxpayers throughout the
111th Congress with the YouCut initiative alone. Through this program,
Americans asked Congress to support spending cuts on a wide variety of
issues, including the End the Stimulus Advertising Act, which would
have eliminated the unneeded highway signs notifying the public of
stimulus-funded projects. With no real purpose, tens of millions of
dollars could have been saved. Also considered were proposals requiring
Federal employees to pay back taxes, stopping the cycle of bailouts,
and putting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back on budget.
The American people have spoken loudly that we must get our fiscal
house in order. While previous efforts to curb wasteful spending were
not successful, I am hoping that under our new leadership we will have
far better results.
I would like to thank the leadership for their support in working to
implement laws that will reform flawed aspects of our government and
save taxpayer dollars, be it a dollar, a million, or a billion. I am
encouraged by the fact that the new majority is listening to the will
of the people to eliminate inefficiency and waste. Passing the Stop the
OverPrinting Act today is an important step in beginning this process.
I urge all my colleagues to support this commonsense bill.
Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I will support this bill in the form now before the
House. It certainly bothers me to see multiple copies of bills in our
office's recycling bins every day. Too many bill copies waste time,
trees, and taxpayer dollars.
The gentleman is right to examine this matter and try to effect a
reduction if appropriate. This amended bill represents a vast
improvement from the original version. Concerns were raised about the
original bill's possible adverse effect on the Clerk's staff and others
who labor in support positions inside the House and Senate, so I
commend the gentleman for listening to concerns and making sensible
changes.
As we consider this bill, we must remember that our democracy doesn't
work well without transparency in government. Nobody wants to disrupt
the legislative process inadvertently or to make it harder for any
Americans to read the bills.
Although we can't forget that while many Americans still do not have
adequate access to the Internet, all congressional offices certainly
have the ability to obtain their own bill copies when they need to. So
this bill rightly maintains public access to important documents while
saving the people's money.
Mr. Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
Mr. HARPER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 292, the STOP Act, which
ends the automatic overprinting of bills and resolutions by the
Government Printing Office for distribution to Members of the House of
Representatives and Senate.
I would also like to thank Ranking Member Brady and Chairman Lungren
for their support on this matter.
Mr. Speaker, let me emphasize that this bill is not a criticism of
the GPO nor its hardworking employees. The GPO does--and does well--
what Congress directs it to do. We are simply looking for ways and
opportunities to reduce the cost of government.
Since its establishment in 1860, the GPO has been the printer of
record for our Congressional Record, committee reports, the well-
respected Constitution Annotated, the Federal Register, and many other
historic and necessary documents that this institution and our
government need to do our collective work. But, Mr. Speaker, in this
112th Congress, well into the 21st century, in an age of iPads,
Kindles, BlackBerries, and iPhones, it is simply no longer necessary to
require excess printing and the delivery to our offices of thousands
and thousands of pages of bills and resolutions which simply end up in
the trash.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 292 is another initial step in this majority's
continued commitment to reducing unnecessary government spending,
addressing our deficit and debt, and finding greater efficiencies
within our governmental offices and agencies. With over 8,000 bills and
resolutions introduced in the 111th Congress and multiple copies of
each distributed to Members, eliminating this unnecessary printing and
wasteful spending is a small, but productive, first step, and we will
continue to look at other House operations for ways in which we might
further reduce the cost of government. Mr. Speaker, this bill is a
commonsense measure which prudently adjusts our modern-day mechanisms
of government to the times in which we live.
I might also add that there will be an environmental benefit as well.
With reduced energy and paper needs, the GPO's demand for paper and our
resources will be reduced by this act, helping us continue our
commitment to be better stewards of our environment, our natural
resources, and, of course, our House operations.
As we promised in the Pledge to America and as we have promised here
on the floor during these initial days of the 112th Congress and as we
have tangibly verified by our transparency-enhanced Rules Package, our
bipartisan
[[Page H209]]
vote to trim Congress' budget, and now through this bill, this
Republican majority is committed to fiscal stewardship, to having a
hawkish and relentless eye towards waste and inefficiency, and a
continued commitment throughout this 112th Congress to reduce spending,
create private sector jobs, and challenge ourselves not just in word
and rhetoric but, more importantly, in action and meaningful
legislation.
Mr. Speaker, this bill, introduced by my good colleague from New
York, should garner overwhelming bipartisan support. I thank him for
introducing it and for his commitment to a more responsible and
efficient stewardship of taxpayer dollars. I urge all of my colleagues
to support this matter.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the STOP
Act.
First we reduced congressional budgets and now I stand in support of
another bill that seeks to do what my constituents have asked me to do:
Find ways reducing the federal deficit and saving taxpayer money. The
STOP Act accomplishes this by helping the government operate more
efficiently, stop wasteful spending and all the while helping the
environment.
I have often heard the lament from small business owners across my
district we would all be better off if government were run more like a
business. Today, for businesses in Quakertown, Bensalem, and in
between, many transactions are now entirely paperless. With this bill,
Congress is taking a step in that direction.
Going hand-in-hand with efficiency, the STOP Act will also help end
wasteful spending in government. Mr. Speaker, without the STOP Act,
Congress will spend seven million dollars this year alone on printing
costs. In the last Congress, there were nearly 14,000 different bills
introduced. Some of those bills, like last year's healthcare law, ran
thousands of pages in length. In an era when constituents in Bucks
County and across Pennsylvania's eighth congressional district are
being forced to find every savings in their household budget, so should
Congress. The STOP Act will trim 35 million dollars from the
operational budget of Congress over the next 10 years.
The STOP Act will also end needless waste that harms our environment.
All across America citizens are pitching in to do their part for the
environment. Shoppers in Langhorne carry their own reusable bags to
Geunardi's grocery store, families in Bristol install compact
fluorescent light bulbs in their homes, and countless civic groups and
businesses across our nation and across the eighth district of
Pennsylvania adopt highways to keep our roads clean and our environment
healthy. If citizens are asked and expected to do their part, Congress
must do the same.
The STOP Act is an important demonstration to Americans that this
Congress is serious about ending government waste, ending government
inefficiencies and ending needless overuse of environmental resources.
Mr. HARPER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Harper) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 292, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. HARPER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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