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OFFICES, HOUSE OFFICE BUILDINGS

All offices in Washington are fully equipped and no furnishing or office equipment may be removed therefrom.

RECORDING FACILITY

The Clerk of the House maintains a studio in the Old House Office Building where transcriptions and takes for radio use are made for the Members at cost. The Coordinator and his assistant are competent to render advisory radio and television service which can be of considerable value to those Members availing themselves of this convenience.

FRANKING PRIVILEGE

A Member has the privilege of sending free, through the mails, under his frank, any mail matter to any person, correspondence, upon official or departmental business. The franking privilege also covers the free mailing of public documents printed by order of Congress.

Retired or resigned Members are entitled to the same franking privilege until the 1st day of December following the expiration of their respective terms of office, but in the mailing of public documents printed by order of Congress the franking privilege extends only to the 30th day of June following the expiration of their respective terms of office.

in the event of the death of a Member his frank for mailing purposes automatically becomes void and in such cases his clerks, who are continued on the payroll, as provided by law, should make arrangements to use the frank of the Clerk of the House for official business only. (No postage is available to the office staff of either a resigned or deceased member.)

INFORMATION CONCERNING ELECTRICAL】AND】MECHANICAL OFFICE EQUIPMENT

Pursuant to Public Law No. 10, United States House of Representatives, Eighty-third Congress, first session

Compiled under direction of Lyle O. Snader, clerk, United States House of Representatives

PUBLIC LAW 10-83D CONGRESS

CHAPTER 10-1ST SESSION

H. J. Res. 206

JOINT RESOLUTION To authorize the Clerk of the House of Representatives to furnish certain electrical or mechanical office equipment for the use of Members, officers, and committees of the House of Representatives.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) upon the request of any Member, officer, or committee of the House of Representatives and with the approval of the Committee on House Administration, but subject to the limitations hereinafter prescribed, the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to furnish electrical or mechanical office equipment for use in the office of such Member, officer, or committee. The cost of such equipment shall be paid from the contingent fund of the House of Representatives.

(b) The original cost of equipment furnished under this joint resolution, together with the original cost of any equipment purchased under H. Res. 318, Eightysecond Congress, which may be in use in the office of a Member, officer, or committee at any one time shall not exceed $2,500.

(e) The electrical or mechanical office equipment which may be furnished under this joint resolution for use in the office of a Member, officer, or committee shall be limited to not more than two of each of the following general types of equipment: (1) addressing machines;

(2) automatic typewriters;

(3) electric typewriters;

(4) recording machines for dictating and transcribing; and
(5) duplicating machines.

SEC. 2. Electrical or mechanical office equipment furnished under this joint resolution shall be registered in the office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and shall remain the property of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 3. The last paragraph under the heading "Contingent expenses of the House" in the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act, 1953, is hereby repealed, and the provisions of H. Res. 318, Eighty-second Congress, shall not hereafter be in effect.

SEC. 4. For the purposes of this joint resolution, the term "Member" means a Representative in Congress, a Delegate from a Territory, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.

SEC. 5. The Committee on House Administration shall prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this joint resolution. Approved March 25, 1953.

ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL OFFICE EQUIPMENT

(H. J. Res. 206, 83d Cong., 1st sess.-Public Law 10)

The Committee on House Administration, pursuant to section 5 of Public Law 10, has promulgated the following rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of the act:

1. The Clerk of the House is authorized to furnish any item of equipment that may be required to fulfill the provisions of Public Law 10 as implemented by regulations prescribed by the Committee on House Administration pursuant to section 5 of the act.

2. Whereas previous legislation (H. Res. 318, 82d Congress) provided that the Clerk of the House shall "purchase" equipment for the offices of Members, Public Law 10 provides that the Clerk of the House shall "furnish" equipment for use in the offices of Members. The intent of Public Law 10 is that the Clerk of the House shall acquire and maintain an inventory in each of five specified categories of equipment sufficient to accommodate requests from Members for such equipment. If current inventory allows, the Clerk will furnish the make or model of equipment requested by a Member, but the Clerk will not purchase new equipment of any particular category unless all inventory of that particular category is already in use under authorized assignment to the offices of Members.

3. Requests for furnishing equipment pursuant to Public Law 10 for the use of committees and other offices of the House, except Members' offices, must be approved in writing by the Committee on House Administration before such equipment may be furnished by the Clerk of the House.

4. The Clerk of the House shall ensure that equipment furnished to Members' offices from current inventory is in good operating condition prior to delivery to Members' offices; further, the Clerk shall arrange to repair and maintain all equipment furnished under Public Law 10, except that the creation of any positions or jobs necessary to proper maintenance of equipment must be approved by the Committee on House Administration.

5. The Clerk of the House is not authorized to purchase secondhand or used equipment for use in Members' offices unless such equipment is fully covered by warranty similar to that for new equipment of the same type.

6. The Clerk of the House is authorized to dispose of items purchases under Public Law 10 only when specifically authorized by the Committee on House Administration.

7. The Clerk of the House may furnish to a Member's office an item of equipment whose cost, together with the cost of equipment previously furnished under Public Law 10, exceeds the allowable limit of $2,500 per Member's office, provided that:

(1) the Member personally pays the amount of the item's cost which exceeds the allowable limit; and

(2) the Member agrees in writing that he claims no equity whatever in the item of equipment, which remains entirely the property of the House of Representatives.

8. The Clerk of the House is not authorized to approve joint or cooperative purchases, i. e., purchase of an item of equipment whose cost is to be divided and charged equally to the allowances of two or more Members. This is not meant to discourage the joint use of equipment by several offices, but to insure that each item of equipment held in inventory by the Clerk be charged to the allowance of an individual Member.

9. Members may be permitted to exchange items of equipment between their respective offices provided that the Clerk of the House adjusts each Member's

equipment allowance record in accordance with the original cost of the items so exchanged, and the total original cost of equipment furnished each Member under Public Law 10 does not exceed $2,500 following the exchange.

10. The Clerk shall make a comprehensive survey of inventory at least once a year or oftener to ensure that equipment is located in accordance with records maintained by the Clerk of the House (Assistant Property Custodian).

11. In support of regulations prescribed by the House Office Building Commission, Members are not authorized to remove equipment furnished under Public Law 10 from the House Office Buildings and Capitol. If, upon surveying equipment inventory, the Clerk of the House determines that items of equipment furnished for use in Members' offices are not in their proper locations, the Clerk shall take steps to have such equipment returned to the House of Representatives. The cooperation of Members, officers, and committees will be appreciated.

RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE HOUSE OFFICE BUILDINGS

(Adopted by the House Office Building Commission)

OCTOBER 5, 1951.

The House Office Building Commission, pursuant to the authority vested in it by the Act of March 4, 1907 (34 Stat. 1365), to prescribe rules and regulations necessary for the protection, care, and occupancy of the House Office Building, hereby authorizes and directs the Clerk of the House, or his deputy, to control and superintend the installation of furniture and other office equipment, to wit: (1) All furnishings shall be as were recommended by the architects and approved by the House Office Building Commission.

Any additional furnishings in either the Old or New House Office Buildings shall be paid for by Members, with the exception that the Clerk is authorized to make temporary loans of equipment when convenient and available. All loaned equipment shall be recovered by the Property Custodian at the end of each regular session of Congress.

(2) When reassignments of rooms are made for any reason, the regular office furnishings in the room formerly occupied by a Member shall not be removed, nor shall the office furnishings of the Member assigned to such room be moved thereto.

(3) It shall be the duty of the Clerk of the House to have an inventory taken of all furniture, typewriters, and other equipment after the adjournment of each regular session of Congress, and if any furniture, typewriter, or other equipment is missing, the Clerk shall immediately take such steps as necessary for their recovery. (4) The Clerk shall prohibit the repair of or work on any furniture or equipment, including picture frames, not the property of the Government.

(5) The removal of typewriters or equipment from the office to which they are assigned to any other office in the building is prohibited, except unon order of the Clerk, and in no case must they be taken out of the building, except for repairs by authorized dealers.

(6) Only persons employed under the direction of the Clerk of the House are authorized to remove furniture from any room.

Mr. HORAN. Please continue, Mr. Snader.

CLERK HIRE, MEMBERS AND DELEGATES

Mr. SNADER. For clerk hire necessarily employed by each Member, Delegate, and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, in the discharge of their official and representative duties, as authorized by law $9,828,565, including increase or additional compensation provided by the increase pay acts now in effect, as compared with $9,678,565, appropriated for 1953, or an increase of $150,000.

The clerk-hire allowance is, of course, predicated on the basis of 438 Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, at the basic rate of $12,500, per annum each, or a total of $5,475,000; and we estimated $4,203,565, or 76% percent additional in order to carry out the 5 pay acts now in effect. The latter amount is, of course, more or less arbitrary, as there is no way to forecast

as to the exact amount that would be required, since it depends entirely upon the number of clerks each Member carries on his clerkhire payroll. At the present time, a Member may appoint from 1 to 6 clerks out of a basic allowance of $12,500, per annum, but not more than $5,000 basic per annum may be paid to any one clerk; and if a Member should employ 5 or 6 clerks, the total gross amount payable would, of course, be greater than in the case where a Member employed only 2, 3, or 4 clerks.

Our total clerk-hire payroll at the present time is approximately $775,000, gross a month. Our total estimate, however, is based upon an average of approximately $806,000 a month, which is higher than the present rate we are running. However, we believe that sufficient funds should be appropriated to meet all contingencies. Some Members use more clerk-hire allowance than others. The total gross amount used will vary depending upon the number of clerks and their basic rates of salary, who may be carried on each Member's payroll. In other words, an accurate estimate cannot be made for this appropriation.

CONTINGENT EXPENSES OF THE HOUSE

We shall now take up the various items in the contingent fund.

FURNITURE

The first item covers the furniture and repair department. For furniture, material, and the repair of same, including labor, tools, material, and supplies for the repair shops, purchase of new furniture and equipment, trunks or so-called packing boxes, rugs or carpets, cleaning and repairing of same, we have submitted an estimate of $220,500 for the fiscal year 1954, as compared with $238,750 appropriated for 1953, or a decrease of $18,250.

Mr. HORAN. On this item, if the committee will agree, I would like to have our Clerk prepare language concerning the packing box and trunk item, looking to furnishing trunks to Members when requested, instead of automatically. We should appreciate any suggestions from the Clerk as to what would be the best thing to do in this matter.

Mr. SNADER. Our budget for 1954 is based on $119,000 for gross salaries of employees of the furniture and repair shop; $25,000 for supplies and materials; $25,000 for the purchase of furniture and equipment; $7,500 for cleaning, repair work, and remaking of old rugs; $25,000 for the purchase of new carpet; $10,000 for the purchase of trunks or so-called packing boxes for the second session of the 83d Congress; $7,000 for the purchase of new drapery material, drapery supplies, and sewing; $2,000 for handling of insect-extermination work. For the current fiscal year, our total appropriation amounted to $238,750. Breaking this amount down, our revised budget for the fiscal year 1953 is now as follows: Salaries, $104,000; supplies and materials, $24,500; furniture and equipment, $66,750; repair and cleaning of old rugs, $5,000; purchase of new carpet, $24,000; purchase of trunks or so-called packing boxes $8,500; purchase of new drapery material, and so forth, $5,000; and insect-extermination work, $1,000. Mr. Chairman, I would like to make two brief statements. First of all, I have no hesitancy in recommending this amount for the socalled furniture and repair department.

Mr. HORAN. I would not, either. Johnny Page runs a very good shop.

Mr. SNADER. I think the House may well be proud of that shop. We have one of the best woodworking and repair shops in the country. I would put it up against any of them. It is run efficiently and it's run with a view toward giving the Members everything that they reasonably require.

Secondly, Mr. Chairman, at the beginning of this year, the chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Civil Service made representations to me as Clerk for the improvement of that committee room. I might say to the committee that every committee room has been remodeled and brought up to date with the exception, I believe, of that of the Appropriations Committee and of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee. The chairs are in bad repair. The lighting is extremely bad. The room needs to be redone, actually. At that time, the Architect of the Capitol and others of us involved visited the room and asked what work they wanted done. An estimate was made by Mr. Lynn of the work that the committee felt should be done. Mr. Rees and other members of the committee decided that it was a little too expensive and they would eliminate some of the work to be done. It was narrowed down to rew chairs and new drapes and new lighting and an acoustical board on the ceiling, and a retouching of the walls where plastering was necessary. It was my understanding at that time that the Architect of the Capitol would make representations in his budget for a complete job, which would amount to some $7,000 or $8,000, because it is more efficient for either the Architect or the clerk, one or the other, to do a complete job, to make all the purchases of furniture, and so forth, than to split the job.

I learned just 2 days ago that the Architect had not requested the purchase of the chairs and the drapes and therefore I found myself at an impasse, since I had not included in my recommendations to the committee, the purchase of those chairs for the remodeling of the committee room.

Because of that, I have asked the property custodian for an estimate of what it will cost to buy the chairs and the drapes necessary and I find that a reasonable estimate would be approximately $5,500.

I dislike very much having to ask for that. But in continuation of the policy of this committee and the policy that I referred to at the beginning of these hearings, I feel that the membership of the House should have every convenience to work with. These committees sit for hours and hours and hours.

In that particular committee room the lighting was so atrocious, it was not conducive to either good thinking, or to good results on any bill before the committee.

But because of some reluctance on the part of the Architect to submit an estimate to this committee for a complete job, we now find it will have to be a two-pronged operation and I have inherited the job of purchasing the necessary furniture for the committee.

So I am therefore making a request for an additional $5,500 for the purchase of furniture for the committee on Post Office and Civil Service, that money to be earmarked for that purpose.

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