JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE Expenditures: Actual July 1977 thru December 1978 and January 1979 thru September 1979 and Estimated FY 1980 and FY 1981 The Joint Committee on Printing (JCP) respectfully requests $786,000 for Fiscal Year 1981 to support its operations and activities. This request includes an increase of only $26,000, or 3.4% over our estimated FY 1980 expenditures, and a request for one additional Professional Staff member. While the Joint Committee's request is modest, it will enable us to fulfill our prescribed responsibilities. JURISDICTION AND RESPONSIBILITIES Under title 44, United States Code, the Joint Committee on Printing has primary responsibility for setting and administering policy for the printing and distribution of government publications. Section 103 establishes the major JCP policy goal to "remedy neglect, delay, duplication, or waste in the public printing and distribution of Government publications." In addition, other sections of the law state that specific actions or assignments are "subject to regulation by the JCP", or must be "approved by the JCP." The responsibilities of the JCP include: (1) Establishment of policy for the federal printing and distribution system through the formulation of regulations. Some of the specific regulations are compiled in the publication entitled Government Printing and Binding Regulations. (2) Establishment of standards and specifications for federal paper procurement and use. The Committee is the final arbiter in differences concerning paper quality between the Government Printing Office and paper contractors. (3) Oversight of the operation of almost 300 department and agency printing plants, world-wide. The Committee monitors this program through evaluation and inspection of Federal printing plants (including regional GPO offices and field plants, agency plants, and agency copying and duplicating facilities). Operations and management reports are submitted to the (4) Approval of agency requests to purchase printing and binding equipment. (5) Oversight of the Federal Printing Procurement Program whereby a substantial percentage of the Government's printing requirements (about 69.8 percent or $426 million in fiscal year 1979) are purchased from commercial sources via competitive bids. The JCP developed this program in 1965 to improve service, effect cost savings, and lessen unnecessary government competition with private industry. (6) Oversight of the Government Printing Office's operations and policies. Additionally, under 44 U.S.C. 305, the Keiss Act, the Committee serves as the final board of appeal in GPO labor/management negotiations pertaining to wage related matters. (7) Oversight over public access to government publications and documents through various programs including by-law distribution, sales and the Depository Library Program. (8) Promotion of cooperation between the Senate and House of Representative's publishing activities in such areas as automated production of Congressional publications and automated indexing. (9) Formulation of recommendations to Congress for the up-dating, revising, and/or eliminating sections of title 44 of the United States Code. (10) Compilation, publication, and distribution of certain Congressional publications and supplements including: The Congressional Directory, The Congressional Pictorial Directory, The Capitol Magazine, and the Biographical Directory of the American Congress. OBJECTIVES OF JCP The Joint Committee's primary objectives are: 1) to insure costeffective printing, binding, and distribution services for the Congress and the entire Federal Government, 2) to eliminate duplication and waste in the Government's printing and dissemination programs, and 3) to improve the public's access to government publications and documents. CONGRESSIONAL PRINTING The JCP actively supports the Appropriations Committee in their desire to control and reduce congressional and governmental spending. With that goal in mind, this Committee carefully monitors all Congressional printing activities. For example, we survey Members of Congress before certain documents are printed to determine pre-print demand so that unwanted copies are not produced (e.g., the bi-weekly and permanent bound Congressional Record, Foreign Relations of the U.S., U.S. Treaties, U.S. Statutes at Large). Further, we actively discourage duplicative and unnecessary insertions in the Congressional Record, and the wasteful practice of compiling and reprinting materials, such as committee prints and reports, into Committee legislative histories. The following letter to all Members is an example of JCP's serious efforts to prevent printing waste and duplication by Congress. Enclosure No. 1) (See |