You asked about the salaries for the staff there, the gross annual would be $491,164. Mr. BENJAMIN. The $133,000 would not even come close to making up the cost of your staff that operates that store? Mr. COLLEY. Well, the store basically is there to provide supplies and materials. Mr. BENJAMIN. For offices? Mr. COLLEY. For the members and committees and for the offices. The fact that nonofficial purchases of some items are made there is secondary. METHOD OF PURCHASING Mr. BENJAMIN. When you make the acquisition for the sales, that is to purchase the items, do you base it on what you think the committees will need and the operations of the offices will need or is there a certain amount of purchases just calculated on what the member or the staff might need? Mr. COLLEY. On the basic items in the Office Supply Service, we take bids on estimated amounts, and then make large purchases of those supplies needed by the House. On the other miscellaneous items that are stocked, we have acted to meet requests from members and staff. We do not always honor those requests. We do not try to stock everything that anybody would want, in other words. There are a few items that we do stock simply because they are in demand. Mr. BENJAMIN. Any questions at this point? Mr. MICHEL. No, Mr. Chairman, I do not think so. FURNITURE AND FURNISHINGS Mr. BENJAMIN. Furniture and furnishings. Mr. COLLEY. For furniture and furnishings, the estimate is $2,079,000. This appropriation provides the necessary funds to acquire furniture, carpets, drapes, lamps, file cabinets and other furnishings which the Office of the Clerk provides for the House office buildings, the two annexes, and the House side of the Capitol. Also, funds are included to provide supplies, materials and tools used by the various shops operated in the Clerk's Property Supply and Repair Service. These supply materials and tools are different from those that we were talking about in the item above. The funds requested for fiscal year 1980 will be budgeted generally as follows: (1) Supplies and materials, $480,000; (2) furniture and equipment, $897,000; (3) new carpet, $486,000; and (4) drapery materials, cleaning, etc., $216,000. The funds estimated for fiscal year 1980 are approximately double those appropriated for the current fiscal year. It was pointed out in last year's testimony that we had been able to keep pace with the demands for furniture and furnishings, but that we might possibly find it necessary to seek additional funds in view of our reduced request for this fiscal year. ANALYSIS OF INCREASE The need to have more funds available for the new budget year is brought about for several reasons. Among them is an increased pace in the permanent remodeling of spaces in HOB Annex No. 2, which will create an expanded demand for furniture and furnishings; the replacement program for the old gray and green carpeting has expanded into a much larger demand for the new five colors than anticipated. This has been further enlarged by the recent moves of Members into different offices. Requests for drapery replacement have grown due to both normal wear and the need to coordinate colors with new paint, new carpet, and things of that nature; requests for more guest and side chairs, more desk organizers, more lamps, and acoustical roomdivider screens are anticipated, and there will be needs for various special construction projects in our shops from various offices. Requests for furniture and furnishings, or service and installation or construction, come from Members, House leaders and officers, and committees and subcommittees. We work with the Architect, the House Office Building Commission, and the Committee on House Administration in trying to meet all requests on a reasonably prudent basis. Mr. BENJAMIN. The request for furniture and furnishings is nearly 100 percent above the fiscal year 1979 appropriation level. Some of this apparently is attributable to that which is needed for the 2nd House Annex. RENOVATION HOUSE ANNEX II Please explain the number of square feet remodeled in the House Annex during calendar year 1978 and the specific furnishings that were needed to furnish the area. What area do you expect will be remodeled in fiscal year 1979? What specific furnishings will be bought for this area, for fiscal year 1980? Mr. COLLEY. Yes, sir, we will supply that for the record. [The information follows:] SQUARE FOOTAGE REMODELED House Annex I: In fiscal year 1978, 9,046 square feet were remodeled. In fiscal year 1979, 3,843 square feet are scheduled for remodeling, primarily on the 8th floor. House Annex II: In fiscal year 1978, 110,710 square feet were remodeled. In fiscal year 1979, 145,000 square feet are scheduled for remodeling, primarily in the northeast quadrant of the building, floors 1-6. FURNISHING COSTS During Fiscal 1979-Furniture, rugs and drapes for Annex No. 2 will amount to approximately $450,000 (includes $100,000 for new cafeteria). It should be noted that the expenditure in fiscal 1978 was based on a more rapid pace of permanent remodeling of Annex No. 2 than actually occurred. The figures will equalize themselves by the end of fiscal 1979 when approximately 260,000 square feet will have been permanently remodeled. As to fiscal 1980, it may be pertinent to know that the total assignable space in the Annex No 2 is approximately 450,000 square feet. This does not include hallways which must be carpeted. Expenditures for furniture, rugs and drapes for Annex No. 2 are estimated in the neighborhood of $850,000. Square footage of completion cannot be the sole criterion of estimates because of the variety of occupants, i.e., a conference area would require less furniture than a working office. The estimates contained herein are based on experience to date in the permanently remodeled areas and the temporarily remodeled areas. There is a high density of furniture in HIS and CBO and a lesser density in subcommittee areas. Square footage is only accurate insofar as carpet is involved. FURNITURE FOR ANNEX EMPLOYEES Mr. COLLEY. Obviously we have some of these items but there will be need for other items. Carpeting is a good example. Mr. BENJAMIN. I would also like to know-if you do not have the information now, provide it for the record-why people who are already working in House Annex 2 or those who are projected to move into House Annex 2 cannot use their present furnishings and what happens to those furnishings which are no longer used or were used by these employees in their old offices. Mr. COLLEY. I can respond partially at this point. When House Office Annex No. 2 was initially occupied, the spaces were not renovated completely and the Architect of the Capitol, as I am sure you know from discussions with the Architect, and the House Office Building Superintendent started a longrange project of permanent renovations. When the building was first occupied, we endeavored to use any furniture we could find because we did not have great quantities to be used in that building. As the permanent renovation has taken place, and is occupied we have tried to upgrade the furniture in those offices and meet their requests for furniture comparable with the other House office buildings. The instructions received from the House Office Buildings Commission were to the effect that Annexes 1 and 2, which are the old Congressional Hotel and FBI, building, were to eventually be comparable to the other House buildings. This has been ongoing for two or three years. Mr. HENSHAW. Mr. Chairman, we went down and walked through that building when we took it over. Half of it was being put together in order to be usable; the other half was nothing, just blank. We found another mess, really. We got to work to see what we needed in order to go ahead and furnish it. This is where we ran into some of these costs to furnish it from absolutely nothing. We had absolutely nothing. Partitions were put up by the Architect. OCCUPANCY OF HOUSE ANNEX BUILDINGS Mr. BENJAMIN. There are two types of occupancy, people that have been added by various committee funding resolutions or people that are somewhere else that are going to be moving into this building. If they are moving in, obviously they had some furnishings. I would say it is comparable to what they would have in any office building; if they have had it in their offices before, why don't you just move it to the new location. Mr. HENSHAW. The only thing I would answer to that is, there have been a lot of new people that have gone in there. We really Idid not have that much to move in because, as I say, there was nothing there when we went in. Mr. BENJAMIN. Any questions? Mr. MICHEL. House Annex 1 is what, the old Congressional Hotel? Mr. HENSHAW. Yes. Mr. MICHEL. Annex No. 2 is the FBI building? Mr. HENSHAW. Yes, sir. Mr. MICHEL. Who are the people going over to 1 and 2 now? Are those committee people? Mr. COLLEY. I do not have a complete list available. When Annex No. 1 was initially utilized several committee staffs were there; for example, the Judiciary Committee's Impeachment Subcommittee operated from a whole floor there. The Congressional Budget Office is in Annex No. 2. The House Assassinations Committee staff has been functioning out of Annex No. 2. Several subcommittees and various support groups for the House are located there. TEMPORARY OFFICES FOR MEMBERS-ELECT One new thing that House Annex 2 enabled us to do, by directive of the leadership and consultation with the Committee on House Administration, we provided temporary office space in Annex No. 2 for the newly-elected members to the 96th Congress. So they had a desk, telephone, a place to hang their hats and function, so to speak, in the interim between Election Day and when they occupied their offices in early January. Those offices were ready to be allocated by the House Office Building Commission. They were used temporarily for that purpose. That is now over, and the space is being reassigned the desks and chairs and things that were there will be used by the new occupants. PURCHASE POLICY Mr. MICHEL. How do we buy this furniture and equipment? Is it by competitive bidding? Mr. COLLEY. We buy furniture by competitive bid. We have a publicized bid invitation. We develop the specifications and advertise in the Washington Post, Washington Star, and the Commerce Daily, for a certain period of time. We invite any interested bidder to obtain specifications and submit a bid by a definite deadline. We have a public bid opening and we award the contract to the lowest responsive bidder upon the approval of the Subcommittee on Contracts of the Committee on House Administration. Mr. HENSHAW. Their guideline is what we work under. Mr. COLLEY. Yes. Mr. MICHEL. What are we paying for new carpeting per yard? Mr. COLLEY. The carpeting being installed now was bought on an old contract approximately $7 and $8 a yard. The new bid invitation that we opened a couple of weeks ago for additional carpeting, which is now awaiting approval of the Committee on House Administration's Contracts Subcommittee, is a bit higher than that, around $10 a yard. OCCUPANCY-HOUSE ANNEX I AND II Mr. MICHEL. Well, apparently last year we had on, page 421 of the hearings, a listing of who all were assigned to Annex 2. Can you not just Mr. COLLEY. We can update that for you. Mr. MICHEL. Update that, make it both for Annex 1 and 2. |