Mr. Roof. Right where the subway comes in. Senator PROXMIRE. You have the small elevator that Senators use right there, I see. There are three elevators there now. Mr. Roor. Yes, sir. Senator PROXMIRE. The stairs are right in here? AREA CONGESTION AND SLOW ELEVATOR SERVICE Mr. RUBEL. Gentlemen, the traffic in this area of the building has been a serious problem ever since the New Senate subway was opened. Crowds of people coming over from the Capitol, staff members and Senators all concentrate in this area. The congestion in the corridor is serious, and hampers access to the elevators in the southwest corner of the building. Persons patronizing the cafeteria add to the congestion and delay. The waiting time for an elevator in the southwest corner may be 30 seconds, a minute or 2 minutes depending on how many people are concentrated in the corridor. We have tried to find solutions different from this one. They all involve difficult structural problems, and they all run into considerable money. This proposal appears to be the most logical solution. It has been determined that the present stairway in the southwest corner is not required by the revised building code. At the time the New Senate Office Building was designed, the code requirements for fire exits were more rigid than they are now. CONVENIENCE STAIRWAY LOCATION Senator KUCHEL. Where would you put the new fire exit stairway that Mr. Stewart talked about in his statement? Mr. RUBEL. In part of the electric shop on the right as you come through doors from the Senate subway terminal. Senator KUCHEL. Yes. Mr. RUBEL. That is where the new stairway, the so-called convenience stairway, would be installed. Senator KUCHEL. Where would it be visible on the first floor? Mr. RUBEL. It would not be visible, sir. I can show you its location on this plan. This is the portion of the new stairway within the present electric shop on the basement floor. At the first floor there is a toilet room directly behnd the east wall of the entrance lobby. We would absorb part of that space. There are sufficient other toilet facilities within reasonable distance. Senator YOUNG. Where would the elevators go? EXISTING ELEVATORS Mr. RUBEL. In this existing stairwell [indicating]. The subway terminal is here [indicating]. You come through the double doors into this main north-south corridor; these are the two existing elevators used by Senators, their staffs, and the public. This is the small elevator in the east-west corridor leading to the garage. Senator YOUNG. That is the real slow one, isn't it? Mr. RUBEL. Yes, all of 200 feet per minute. It was designed as a combination freight and passenger elevator because it is the only elevator in this area of the building that serves the attic floor. It was never intended to be used as a passenger elevator. Certainly it was never intended to be a Senator's private elevator at that speed, but it has to be used for that purpose to relieve the excessive load on the two large elevators. LOCATION OF NEW ELEVATORS Senator BARTLETT. These two new ones would be right across from the existing ones? Senator PROXMIRE. The stairway, you would put them right here? Mr. RUBEL. Sir, here are the two existing passenger elevators. The subway terminal is here. This is the corridor leading into the cafeteria. This is the corridor that goes east to the garage. This is the stairwell behind the two large elevators. It is proposed to install three new elevators in this stairwell. Senator PROXMIRE. You would have to go into the cafeteria to get to them? Mr. RUBEL. No, sir. Entry to the cafeteria is by way of the northsouth corridor. The approach to the new elevators is from the east-west corridor. Senator BARTLETT. What are you going to do with the electric shop? Mr. RUBEL. We are encroaching on only a portion of the shop. Senator BARTLETT. You are going to eliminate the men's room then in the subway? Mr. RUBEL. No, sir. Senator BARTLETT. Just part of the one on the ground floor or the first floor. Mr. RUBEL. The new stairway from the basement to the first floor, previously referred to as a convenience stairway, would encroach on the electric shop on the basement level, and would also eliminate entirely the ladies' toilets on the ground and first floors and part of the men's toilets on the ground and first floors. ELEVATORS AT NORTHWEST BUILDING AREA Senator BARTLETT. Now, is the traffic problem there much more acute than at the other end of the building where there are only two elevators? I have often waited 4 minutes there. Mr. RUBEL. It's not too good at the north end either, but it is more acute at the south end because of the subway traffic. Also on the first floor at the south end there is a main entrance to the building which contributes to the congestion at the southwest corner of the building. Senator KUCHEL. There is no question you have more traffic there than just about anyplace in either of the office buildings. You have to fight your way through that corner, don't you? EXPENDITURE ADVISABILITY Senator PROXMIRE. When there are a lot of tourists coming in, a lot of kids especially, going upstairs. Frankly, I am very skeptical about the investment of half a million dollars, $470,000, for two extra elevators. Senator KUCHEL. Why, what would you do? Just forget it? Senator PROXMIRE. I don't think you have as much congestion. I have not heard of any Senator, for example, has missed a rollcall because of this. Maybe this happened, but none have told me about it. And half a million dollars is a whale of a lot of money and you can take the stairs if you have to; of course, for the fellows way on top it's bad, the fifth and sixth floors. I think we ought to hear from them. Senator BARTLETT. I like that compliment, though, you run up and down those stairs all the time. Senator PROXMIRE. Frankly, I have a vested interest in that, too. Senator YOUNG. Senator, if you will yield, I have to use these elevators all the time and I think if you added up the time I have to spend in waiting for elevators, in just 1 year's time, would amount to quite a few days just waiting for elevators. SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE Senator PROXMIRE. Maybe it would be possible to step up this existing elevator that goes 200 feet a minute to 500. Is that feasible or not? Mr. RUBEL. It would have to be rebuilt, sir, and the cost would be in the neighborhood of about $75,000. The small degree of improvement would not justify the expenditure. Incidentally, the proposed installation contemplates three new elevators. Senator PROXMIRE. Oh, three new elevators. Senator BARTLETT. That will give you five. Senator PROXMIRE. It would actually give you six. Mr. RUBEL. It would give you six at that southwest corner, including the slow combination freight and passenger elevator. Senator PROXMIRE. Supposing you put only two in, one or two, what would be the alternatives if you put in one, two, or three? Mr. RUBEL. The saving would only be in the order of $55,000 for the omission of one elevator. The structural changes would have to be made for three elevators. All shafts should be equipped for future installation of any elevators omitted. Senator BARTLETT. Do you have any prospective plans for the other end of the building where there are only two elevators? Mr. RUBEL. No, sir; we have not worked on that end of the building. The southwest corner appears to be the most congested. EMPLOYEE ELEVATOR SERVICE Senator YOUNG. Could I ask a question. Have you made any study at all of the time that the employees have to stand and wait for an elevator to get up or down? I know my employees, as I say, they sometimes have to wait 5 or 10 minutes or even longer. Senator PROXMIRE. I think that is a good suggestion. I think a study would be very helpful. Mr. RUBEL. Several traffic studies have been made. The last study was made in July 1966. Senator YOUNG. The employees will be standing there waiting and a Senator pushes the button and they pass them by. By the time they 79-512-67-13 are about to get an elevator, another Senator pushes the button. Of course, he has to get to some committee meeting but this is a horrible situation. Mr. CARAWAY. You have to wait 3 or 4 minutes sometimes before you can get a car. ELEVATOR OPERATOR COST Senator PROXMIRE. How about the cost of operators-$470,000 for the one-time cost to put the elevators in; then you have to hire people to operate them. Mr. CARAWAY. I would suggest they be left on automatic operation. One thing about these cars, they will be in the back where the public will not see them. Just the employees of the building or Senators, people who know that they are back there will use these three cars. That means the employees and the Senators should be able to get a car at almost any time. 1967 REPORT INJUNCTION Senator BARTLETT. Let me read into the record language from the report on this bill from last year: The elevator service in the Senate Office Buildings is unsatisfactory. The ele vator in the New Senate Office Building at the southwest corner operates too slowly. When nonautomatic elevators in the Old Senate Office Building are closed, Senators and employees working beyond that time are required to use the steps or walk a block to the other end of the building. The Superintendent of the Senate Office Buildings is directed to examine into the elevator situation in both of these buildings and to make recommendations for improvement to the committee at the next session of the Congress, including estimates for cost of converting to automatic elevators. Has that direction been complied with? Mr. RUBEL. Yes, sir; the proposed installation of three new elevators is one facet of that directive, the other is the recommended change in elevator No. 11 in the Old Senate Office Building to make that automatically operated. Senator BARTLETT. That is a start on the direction Mr. RUBEL. In fact, I think it covers the entire subject right now. Senator BARTLETT. Except that if you are making automatic only one elevator in the Old Senate Office Building, a Senator or an employee might have to walk quite a distance to reach that. Mr. RUBEL. Some of the other elevators in the Old Senate Office Building are already automatic. Mr. CARAWAY. That would give us an automatic car on every corner except one; that's at the Constitution and the Delaware Avenue entrance where it does not have an automatic car. REPLACEMENT OF REVOLVING DOORS IN OLD SENATE OFFICE BUILDING Senator BARTLETT. Next it is noted, Mr. Stewart, that you are requesting $5,000 for the replacement of three revolving doors in the Old Senate Office Building. Please locate them for us and explain why these should be replaced at this time. Mr. STEWART. For 1968 we are asking $5,000 to replace three of the eight revolving doors in the Old Senate Office Building. No funds are requested for the other five as one, at the rotunda, was installed in 1950, and four in the First Street wing in 1933, and these five doors are in satisfactory operating condition. AGE, CONDITION, AND LOCATION OF DOORS The three doors, proposed to be replaced, were installed in 1909 and have been in continuous service since the building was originally constructed and occupied. One is located on the first floor at the First and C Street entrance, one on the basement floor at the Delaware Avenue near C Street entrance, and one on the first floor at the Delaware Avenue near Constitution Avenue entrance. These three doors are wooden revolving doors and have now deteriorated to the point where their continued use presents a hazard. They can no longer be kept in satisfactory working order. They have been repeatedly repaired over the years in an effort to keep them in working condition. Replacement parts are no longer available, as the doors are now of obsolete design. They are a constant source of trouble and complaints and, in the event of an accident, could prove costly to the Government under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Also, they are not of fireproof construction. PROPOSED REPLACEMENT DOORS Under the estimate of $5,000 it is proposed to replace these three revolving doors with five new double doors constructed of aluminum, with medium bronze finish and glass panels. The new doors will not be of the revolving type. An exterior double door and an interior double door will be installed at the First and C Street and Delaware Avenue and C Street entrances, and the remaining double door will be installed at the Delaware and Constitution entrance, which is so constructed as to permit the installation of only one double door. ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL FOR UPHOLSTERY AND CARPENTER-CABINET SHOPS Senator BARTLETT. It is a tragedy that they have to go. They are beautiful. Now, Mr. Stewart, you are requesting an additional $30,000 in excess of your budget estimate for the employment of four workers for the upholstery and carpenter-cabinet shops. Please explain to us why you need the additional employees. ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL FOR WORKLOAD INCREASE AND BACKLOG Mr. STEWART. These additional positions are necessary due to the tremendous increase in the workload of the upholstery and carpentercabinet shops. We have a constant and increasing backlog of work for these shops. As the furniture in both buildings gets older, this repair work will continue. The furniture, carpeting, and draperies in the new building are now almost 10 years old and require a great deal of repair. For example, the chairs with fabric seat covers are now being received in the shop at the rate of five or six a day. Carpeting is in constant need of repair, spot cleaning, and in some cases replacement. Draperies have to be cleaned, which means the shop personnel must take them down, reinstall when cleaned, and often reseam. The requirement of partitions has more than doubled during the last 2 years. There is increased demand for specially built furniture |