eventual payment for such shipments. We have not yet received all bills for these shipments but it is expected that the House will save considerable funds through this procedure. Members previously used their franks and incurred extensive postage costs in these shipments. We have excellent craftsmen in our shops and we are pleased at the results of the efforts to have an organization that endeavors to satisfy the daily needs of the Members and the entire House. We coordinate very closely with the Architect of the Capitol and cooperate in many areas, such as in the recently completed office relocations that take place every two years. Office Equipment Service Substantial growth occurred in all program areas of Office Equipment Service in 1978, and increased savings were realized by the House of Representatives through the typewriter repair shop and the electronic stencil cutting facility. A comparison of the Lease Program from December 1977 to December 1978 shows a 12 percent increase of obligated leasing funds in a program with an annual lease obligation of nearly $5 million dollars. The categories of photocopiers and facsimile units are down slightly, while the areas of automatic typewriters has increased by 25 percent. Given the history of the Leasing Program, and high early projection figures, continued growth for 1979 must be anticipated. A record amount of $1,797,561 was spent in total acquisitions under the Purchase Program. Additionally, the 1978 equipment inventory totals reflect a 7 percent increase in units and a 17 percent increase over dollar totals for 1977. Furthermore, in anticipation of the needs of new Members of the 96th Congress, 450 IBM Correcting Selectric Typewriters were ordered and are now ready for immediate delivery. This large order, placed in November, will also result in substantial cost savings to the House of Representatives should the IBM Corporation be granted price increases for that type of equipment. As compared to commercial costs for equal labor, the total savings realized through the typewriter repair shop totaled over $167,000. This figure is based on 8,689 service calls completed and an Office Equipment Service labor rate that takes into consideration paid annual and sick leave as well as insurance and retirement benefits. Office Supply Service Two important changes were put into effect by Office Supply Service during 1978. The first was a cash sales program. Under this new procedure, this department now accepts cash and personal checks for non-official purchases. This eliminates the need for customers to purchase money orders thereby making it unnecessary for an individual to spend an inordinate amount of time in the Office Supply Service selecting an item, determining the exact cost, purchasing a money order and returning to the Office Supply Service to pick up the merchandise. The second change was the institution of a 10 percent service charge on all non-official purchases. This service charge is used to offset the overhead costs incurred in conducting non-official sales and the money realized from such charges is turned over to the Treasury. In a three-month span, from October through December 1978, cash sales produced a service charge total of $33,350. Projected over a year, the service charge program should produce approximately $90,000 which should be sufficient to offset the overhead costs in the Office Supply Service. During 1978, more and more items were purchased either on contracts that are awarded by the Clerk or from GSA negotiated contracts. This procedure has resulted in substantial savings. The number of items that will be under contract from the Clerk has increased by approximately 50 percent for 1979 with a potential savings of approximately $20,000. Continuing efforts are being made to insure that the cost of merchandise is maintained as low as possible. It is significant to note that gross sales in Office Supply Service remained almost the same in 1978 as in 1977. Gross sales in 1978 were $3,741,123 as compared to $3,734,706 in 1977. Although sales to Members were 13 percent less in 1977, sales to committees and others increased by 22 percent to offset the decrease. The sales to committees decreased by 5 percent indicating that non-official sales increased, due largely to the conversion to cash sales making it more convenient for customers to purchase. Special Order purchases were 26 percent less in 1978, indicating that Office Supply Service is succeeding in an effort to carry more items in stock that are required by Members' offices thereby eliminating the need to Special Order. This, in turn, has eliminated the number of vouchers processed in the accounting department by 4 percent, leaving more time to concentrate on work in other areas. Foreign-made items carried in Office Supply Service were further reduced in 1978. Less than one-half of one percent of the items carried in Office Supply Service are foreign made at this time. The value of these items is insignificant and efforts are continuing to reduce it even more. Other significant advances have been made in the area of computerization, i.e., new equipment was added to aid in the efficiency of the system; inventory, where the computerized system has aided in reducing the number of items that are out-of-stock; printing, where the volume handled in the Office Supply Service has increased over 100 percent including major increases in continuous letterhead paper; and personnel, whereby reassigning responsibilities in certain areas, the new policies have been carried out without requiring additional employees. Office of Records and Registration The Office of Records and Registration is primarily responsible for receiving, processing and providing public access to various reports and statements filed with the Clerk pursuant to the Federal Election Campaign Act, the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act, the Ethics in Government Act, the International Security Assistance Act and House Rules XXXVI and XLIV. With regard to assisting individuals in obtaining access to documents filed with the Clerk, during 1978, Records and Registration received and filled 3,800 requests to view records on microfilm: 3,200 campaignrelated requests; 200 payroll; 350 lobby; 30 financial disclosure; 20 foreign travel and 137 requests from House committees for the retrieval of their noncurrent records. This office receives boxes of noncurrent records of the House committees pursuant to House Rule XXXVI and last year 1,415 boxes of files were received by Records and Registration and 1,284 boxes were transferred by Records and Registration to the National Archives. We held a seminar in December to better inform the committee staffs on how to prepare and forward their records to the Clerk and upon request provide the House committees with the necessary file boxes for transmittal. Last year 3,048 such boxes were provided. During the past year the actual pages processed and microfilmed numbered 210,642: 12,290 House payroll; 749 candidate financial disclosure statements; 972 foreign travel; 166,162 FECA reports and statements and 30,469 lobby reports. The logical by-product of all the reports and statements that are received by this office is the amount of mail we generate in the form of receipts, notices of filing deadlines, calendars, duns, forms, etc. This mail totaled approximately 88,000 pieces in 1978. |