The Honorable Lorraine C. Miller Clerk of the House Statement before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch
February 14, 2008 Madam Chair, Ranking Member Latham and other Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate having the opportunity to provide testimony related to the operation and FY2009 funding request for the Office of the Clerk. My office has been able to serve the House effectively due in large part to the support and guidance of the Appropriations Committee. Not only has the Office of the Clerk been given the resources to meet its recurring responsibilities to the House, but we have been entrusted with initiatives that will improve and positively impact the way business is accomplished here for many years to come. I would like to thank the Subcommittee for its assistance over the past year. The Office of the Clerk oversees the operations of the House Floor and the support functions necessary to carry out the legislative processes – duties this office has discharged faithfully and competently for more than two hundred years. I have served as Clerk of the House for the past year and believe there is no higher calling than the support of the Members of the House and the day-to-day operations of the U.S. House of Representatives. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a few on-going projects and significant accomplishments of the Office of the Clerk. ELECTRONIC FILING The passage of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (S.1), and subsequent signing by the President on September 14, 2007, required a major rewrite of our Electronic Lobbying Filing system. The new system is the result of a six-month collaborative effort with the Senate. This system boasts a central congressional server, which allows lobbying registrants to submit their filings to both the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House simultaneously. A single confirmation notice from the central congressional server is then returned to each filer, acknowledging receipt of their filing by both chambers. Subsequent processing of each filing via the central server is handled independently by the House and Senate. All of the development efforts to provide processing from the central congressional server were completed by the staff of Legislative Computer Systems, a division of the Office of the Clerk.
ACES digital signatures, a major source of complaints from filers, are no longer required to file lobbying reports. Instead, Senate passwords have replaced the ACES digital signatures. A new Senate password issuance system was developed by the Senate in conjunction with our development of the central server processing. This new system expedites the issuance of passwords and our central server processing eliminates the need for data entry of information received on all lobbying registration reports. In addition to a central filing point and the elimination of digital signatures, the new system makes lobbying reports readily and freely available on the Clerk’s web site. The system provides a powerful searching and sorting capability, which allows Internet users to locate and display lobbying reports using various search combinations. Furthermore, lobbying disclosure filings are now available for direct download via the Internet. This new capability allows users to download lobbying information, in eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML), by filing year and period. I am pleased we were able to implement this system so quickly and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Subcommittee for reprogramming $323,000 in FY2008 funds to finance this important project. We are facing continuing expenditures in the area of software development and maintenance imposed by the changes in Lobbying Disclosure, Gift and Travel Disclosure, Financial Disclosure, and the post employment termination notification requirements and these costs are reflected in our FY2009 budget request. PAGE PROGRAM The Page Program is an important responsibility of the Office of the Clerk. Last summer in partnership with the Architect of the Capitol and the House Sergeant at Arms, we improved security at the Page Residence Hall by updating the functions of the Prox Card Access System. This system utilizes staff ID cards, which only allows access for residents and approved staff to the Residence Hall. In addition, we purchased several GPS enabled phones and made them available to Pages as they signed out of the Residence Hall. These phones are programmed with emergency contact numbers, provide walking directions for city navigation, and allow the Page Residence Hall Staff to check the location of Pages. More recently, a renovation of the office area in the Page Residence Hall was completed the week of February 7th. As part of the renovation, additional windows and a view panel were installed to improve the staff’s visual awareness around the entrance of the Residence Hall. As these efforts continue, the enhancements are building upon a robust security and safety system already in place for the Pages. STAFF REORGANIZATION After assuming the duties of Clerk of the House, it immediately became evident to me that most of the staff positions needed to be more accurately defined and to ensure pay parity consistent with the duties performed therein. The staff reorganization of all departments, which had not been addressed in more than eight years, was not included in the FY2008 budget request and is reflected in our FY2009 request. This action has resulted in our ability to recruit and retain a highly skilled and committed workforce.
1VACANT CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES The House experienced eight vacancies in the First Session of the 110th Congress as compared to nine vacancies during the 109th Congress. These vacancies were due to the resignation or death of a Member (Georgia 10th, California 37th, Massachusetts 5th, Ohio 5th, Virginia 1st, Illinois 14th, Indiana 7th and Mississippi 1st). The administration of these offices is a statutory responsibility of the Clerk, requiring time and resources of the Office of the Clerk, to ensure the appropriate operation and management consistent with public law and the Rules of the House. MEMBER INFORMATION SYSTEM The first phase of development of a new Member Information System was started in July 2007, and the completion date for phase one is February 2008. This effort will simplify data entry, streamline maintenance, and ensure data integrity for Member and committee information, by consolidating two disparate systems into one. The Office of Publication Services (OPS) uses a system developed in dBASE for publications and web content needs. Legislative Computer Systems uses a Directory system developed in Natural/Adabas to provide Member and committee information to the Legislative Information Management System (LIMS). Currently, the publications produced from the dBASE system use GPO type setting codes, which are embedded within text files and a PDF print version of these files are produced using GPO’s Microcomp composition engine. At the completion of phase one, HTML and PDF versions of the publications will be created using XML and style sheets created with the eXtensible Style sheet language (XSL). Our goal is to eliminate the dBASE system and the Directory application and to combine the functionality of both systems into one. The new system is titled the Member Information System. These efforts will continue into FY2009. HISTORICAL SERVICES The Office of History and Preservation, with the support of this Subcommittee, continues to make tremendous progress in fulfilling our support of the House’s curatorial, archival and historical information needs, while responding to increased requests for assistance as compared to previous years. Last year, over 6000 historical artifacts were added to the House Collection. In addition, the staff is continuing an aggressive outreach effort to committees, Members and former Members regarding their records. The archival staff handled 2,609 archival boxes of records of Congress, which were transferred to the Office of the Clerk in 2007. The Office of the Clerk is continuing to compile and edit several official congressional publications: Black Americans in Congress, Hispanic Americans in Congress, and Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Congress. Black Americans in Congress has entered the final writing phase, and is expected to be roughly 600 pages long and features the 121 African Americans who have served in Congress since 1870. As you may recall, Women in Congress was published last year, and the Office of History and Preservation has augmented the web site that accompanies the book and developed lesson plans based on the book that will be published as a resource for teachers around the country.
The Subcommittee may be interested to know that after much effort, two significant House records were returned to the House – letters written by President Richard Nixon to former Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter Rodino, during the impeachment inquiry. The letters are official records of the House, but ended up with a private seller who was trying to auction them off. After long negotiations, led by the U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the General Counsel and the Department of Justice, the seller relinquished them to the House. SLAVE LABOR TASK FORCE During the first session of this Congress, we worked with the House and Senate’s Slave Labor Task Force to make recommendations to the Congress on how best to recognize the contributions of enslaved African Americans in building the U.S. Capitol. The task force convened in November and adopted recommendations that will ensure that every visitor to the Capitol will learn that the sweat of African-American slaves went into the construction of the building. Initiatives include commemorative measures, such as installation of one of the original building stones, quarried by slaves, in or near the CVC and Capitol, and educational ones, such as on-line exhibitions and teaching materials. In all, nine recommendations were presented at a hearing called by the Committee on House Administration, and forwarded to the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate by Task Force Chairman John Lewis of Georgia, including an endorsement of this Subcommittee’s efforts to designate the great hall of the CVC “Emancipation Hall.” HOUSE LIBRARY UPDATE Under Rule II of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Clerk of the House is charged with the responsibility of maintaining two copies of printed documents of the House, as well as the House Journal "in the library at his office" for use by the Members and staff. The Clerk has maintained a legislative and legal reference library since the Second Congress in 1792. Since the 104th Congress, the library services are provided by Legislative Resource Center (LRC). The current library needs to be modernized. We plan to recondition and improve the collection and the existing spaces in the Cannon, Madison and Adams buildings. Additionally, we would like to digitize the House Library collection and implement outreach activities, making the Library more visible and easily accessible. We are in the infancy stages of planning for this project, and after working with the Architect of the Capitol will come back to the Subcommittee with an update and any requests for future funding. FY2009 BUDGET REQUEST
The 110th Congress began with the advent of a new majority that had major legislative and policy initiatives it wanted to bring to the attention of the American public. The Office of the Clerk has been pleased to be a part of the most active legislative session in the history of Congress and looks forward to our continued support the U.S. House of Representatives. For fiscal year 2009, the Office of the Clerk is requesting $24,897,000, as modified to conform to the estimated cost-of-living (COLA) adjustments. This amount is a net increase of $2,530,000 or 11 percent over the FY2008 enacted appropriation. The total request includes $19,841,000 for personnel expenses, $5,056,000 for non-personnel expenses and a 252 FTE level request (no change from FY2008). The personnel budget request is a $1,867,000 increase or 10 percent over FY2008. The increase reflects the staff reorganization of all departments mentioned earlier in my testimony. In addition, the personnel increase includes annualization of the FY2008 cost-of-living adjustments, prorated FY2009 cost-of-living adjustments, FY2009 overtime costs, temporary positions, longevity and meritorious increases. As you well know, the Office of the Clerk’s core mission has a direct correlation to House operations. I want to highlight for you just two of the areas within the Office of the Clerk where House legislative activity has had a direct impact on our operations and budget. The number of recorded votes and the increased committee activity impacted our operations. The First Session of the110th Congress has been the most active session in the House of Representatives’ recorded history – with 1,186 recorded votes held. This is 28 votes shy of the total number of votes held during both sessions of the 109th Congress. This is the most votes ever held in a single session of Congress. One result of this activity is that our overtime costs for staff within the Offices of Legislative Operations and Official Reporters increased from $39,000 in FY2007 to $141,000, a 36 percent increase over FY2006 expenses. Coupled with the increased Floor activity, is the increase in Committee activity. The Office of the Clerk is responsible for all stenographic reporting of House hearings and mark-ups. During the First Session of the 110th Congress, the House held 2,373 committee hearings. During 2006, 1,513 hearings were held. This 57 percent increase in hearings resulted in a significant bump up in our overtime expenses and our costs for supplemental stenographic reporting. The high volume of hearing activity impacts our Office of Official Reporters. As a result, our cost of doing business in this area increased 23 percent. Increased Floor and Committee activity has directly impacted our overtime and supplemental stenography costs. The FY 2006 overtime costs of the Office of the Clerk were $243,000. Given the increases of Floor and Committee activity, our overtime costs jumped to $365,000 an increase of $122,000 (50 percent). Concurrently, our supplemental stenography costs leaped to over $900,000 in FY2007 and we have budgeted $1,000,000 to cover these costs in FY2009. Our FY2009 budget request reflects the totality of these increases. Other major non-personnel expenses include:
• $747,000 to pay for the Closed Captioning of the House Floor proceedings. This is the second year of a new competitive contract awarded in FY2006; and • $300,000 for our regularly scheduled computer replacement program. Our computers are on a three-year replacement cycle. Although our expenses have increased, we continue to work diligently to contain costs and to be wise stewards of taxpayer dollars. We make every possible effort to negotiate the best price for services and contracts by combining services; finding every possible discount; and looking for tasks which can be performed in house to control costs. Please be assured we will continue to save money in every way possible. In closing, I want to offer our semi-annual report as an overview of the operations of the Office of the Clerk. As the Subcommittee reviews the projected FY2009 budget request of the Office of the Clerk, I want to assure the Subcommittee that the increases are based on actual costs of providing the services needed to fulfill our statutory obligation to the House. This increase is unusual, but necessary since these costs were not anticipated or budgeted for in FY 2007 or FY2008. The Office of the Clerk will fulfill its obligations to the House; however, we are in need of additional resources. I appreciate having the opportunity to appear today. I am ready to assist you in any way throughout the development of the FY2009 spending bill for the House and will be delighted to answer any questions you may have.