Mr. SAMPSON. The Air and Space Museum would be in this category, as would the U.S. Tax Court and the Howard University Hospital. There are a total of 16 projects in the category currently under Construction. Mr. STEED. Are any proposed during the coming year? Mr. ROUSH. Yes, we do expect to have some this coming year, and we'll be glad to provide those for the record if the chairman would so desire. [The information follows:] LIST OF PROPOSED PROJECTS FROM OTHER AGENCIES FOR FISCAL YEAR 1974 JUSTICE-BUREAU OF PRISONS Women's Correctional Facility, Central United States; Youth Correctional Facility, Northeastern United States; and Youth Correctional Facility, Southeastern United States. TREASURY Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Beltsville, Md.; New Mint, Denver; and Bureau of Engraving and Printing, new buildings, District of Columbia. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION National Zoological Park, lion and tiger house, District of Columbia; Museum of History and Technology Library, District of Columbia; Bicentennial Park, District of Columbia. CONSTRUCTION FOR OTHER AGENCIES Mr. ROBISON. Mr. Chairman, might I see if I can clarify this in my own mind and for the record? Are we speaking here, in these latter two or three instances, as to the two or three buildings you mentioned, and some others that might come along, with regard to the "old program," so-called, rather than the "new program," as established by virtue of the amendments to the Public Buildings Act passed last year? Mr. SAMPSON. There's no relation between the two. Mr. ROBISON. There's no relation between them. The buildings, and you mentioned three, Mr. Sampson, are they being provided for by direct appropriations? Mr. SAMPSON. By direct apropriation to another agency. For example, the Smithsonian is financing construction of the Air and Space Museum. The U.S. Tax Court building is being financed by that agency. The Howard University Hospital is funded by appropriation to HEW; and Washington Technical Institute by the District of Columbia. Mr. ROBISON. The U.S. Tax Court building is financed through appropriations considered by this subcommittee? Mr. SAMPSON. To the Tax Court. PLANS FOR DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Mr. STEED. What are your plans for the District of Columbia under your purchase contract program? Mr. SAMPSON. There are no buildings planned for the District of Columbia under the purchase contract program. COMPLETION OF PROJECTS FOR BICENTENNIAL Mr. STEED. Are the projects currently under construction going to be finished by 1976, by the time of the Bicentennial? Mr. SAMPSON. The GSA projects will be finished far ahead of tha time, sir. Mr. STEED. Has any consideration been given, by you and the people that you have to do business with, to this problem of timing, so that you will have the projects finished by the time the Bicentennial comes up? Mr. SAMPSON. There are several significant projects the funds for which are in other agencies' budgets that relate to the 1976 Bicenten nial. GSA will ultimately be the construction manager for those proj ects. A great deal depends upon approval by the Congress of planning and design funds this year in order to finish them by the 1970 Bicentennial. The Department of the Interior, I believe, has most of those projects There are no projects within the GSA budget that relate directly to the Bicentennial. Mr. STEED. If they don't do better than they have on the construction work they've been doing around here, they won't be finished by the time the Bicentennial is here. I know that you folks do a good job, but you can't perform miracles, and there's going to have to be a cutof date so that when the Bicentennial arrives we won't have the Distric all torn up like it is now. Mr. SAMPSON. Most of the projects that I'm familiar with and that the President has approved for the Bicentennial, do not consist of major construction. Mr. STEED. Of course you're not involved in the construction of highways, however, I am concerned with all of the building going on about all of the streets that are torn up. I suppose the day will come if we wait long enough when we can put a roof on some of the holes they've dug around town. It seems they're better at digging holes than they are at covering them up. But we still have some time left, so maybe they'll make the streets available again by the time the Bicen tennial comes up. PROVISION FOR BICENTENNIAL VISITORS Have you had any discussions with people in the administration concerning the probable flow of people we can expect during the Bicentennial year? Mr. SAMPSON. Yes. The Bicentennial Coordination Center, which is operating within GSA, has done some work in this area with the administration. I believe that it is estimated that approximately 34 million will visit the District of Columbia in 1976, and they're making provisions for that number of visitors. Mr. STEED. What are some of the facilities which they are going to need to take care of visitors? Mr. SAMPSON. I'm not that familiar with the overall program, Mr. Chairman. If you would like the information, we could very well get it for the record. Mr. STEED. If you could, please furnish a brief summary of what we are going to be faced with, on what is being done in the program, and what has to be done. Mr. SAMPSON. I know they're doing a great deal of planning for some concessions, where they're going to park automobiles, locate rest facilities, information centers, visitors' centers, and things of that kind, We'll provide a summary for you for the record. [The information follows:] WASHINGTON BICENTENNIAL PREPARATIONS As many as 34 million visitors to Washington may be expected in calendar 1976. This is nearly twice the number recorded in 1968 and one-third more than might normally be expected in 1976, were there no special or extraordinary Bicentennial activities planned. A comprehensive study of all problems associated with this increase in tourism was initiated July 1972, by the Department of Transportation and the Bicentennial Coordination Center and will be issued in July 1973. The Bicentennial transportation study is being jointly conducted by the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. It projects the numbers of 1976 visitors to Washington, their points of origin, mode of transportation, type of lodging, length of stay, and purposes of visit. The study will recommend transportation improvements to accommodate the projected 34 million visitors. These recommendations will address the needs of both out-of-town visitors and area residents emphasizing long-term residual benefits of the 1976 experience. The Federal Government and local area governments under the aegis of the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments will respond to the recommendations in time to make appropriate improvements in all areas of transportation by the 1975 summer visitor season. This effort will be undertaken to insure that these services are in place and operating satisfactorily by 1976. On February 4, 1972, President Nixon sent a message to the Congress outlining a Bicentennial program for Washington. Outlined below is the status of the projects included in that message. It should be noted that one goal is to have no major construction in downtown Washington throughout the peak visitor season of 1976. FORT LINCOLN NEW TOWN (NORTHEAST) Ground broken for first elementary school April 12, 1973; goal: 40 percent completion by mid-1976. NATIONAL VISITOR CENTER (UNION STATION) Construction begun May 8, 1973; goal: Open to public September 1975. BICENTENNIAL GARDENS (17TH STREET AND CONSTITUTION AVENUE, NORTHWEST) Goal: Complete by June 1976. NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM Goal: Open to public July 1976. METRO (SUBWAY SYSTEM) Goal: 24 miles, 28 stations operating in 1976; Arlington Cemetery Station and Mall Entrance (Smithsonian Station) authorized by Congress, requested in fiscal year 1974. Other Federal construction in the Mall area will be completed as follows: Hirshhorn Museum October 1973; National Sculpture Garden (7th and Constitution Avenue), June 1974; East Annex, National Gallery of Art, January 1976. Major new Smithsonian exhibitions, resident- and visitor-oriented park and Mall redevelopment, and activities planning that does not involve majoj new construction are all on schedule and will be available for public enjoymen in time for the Bicentennial observance in Washington. These are detailed it the President's message. Mr. STEED. They're going to have to do a lot better than we've seen so far, or about half that number of people are going to create uttei pandemonium and chaos. I'm worried about the slow progress so far: to do anything of any magnitude like that you need time. There is a pretty good flow of visitors right now. Probably the Bicentennial will stimulate an increase. I don't want to get into it here, but another situation which has had an impact is the increase in air traffic, which has been astronomical I don't know whether we're going to be able to cope with it or not. PBS EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS Going back to the Operating Expenses item, could you provide for the record a breakdown concerning the various categories of em ployee work forces and then the total number of people that you fund under this item? Mr. SAMPSON. Yes, Mr. Chairman. [The information follows:] OPERATING EXPENSES-PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE Estimated average employment fiscal year 1974 Buildings management activity (employment in Buildings Management Fund) Other (laborers not performing cleaning services, riggers, and gardners) _ Central office assistant commissioners and supporting staff: area man- Mechanics (carpenters, painters, electricians, plumbers, heating and air-conditioning engineers, roofers, glaziers, boiler firemen, sheet metal mechanics, plasterers, masons). 3, 165 2,749 732 1,017 221 Subtotal Space management activity Operational planning activity. Design and construction activity (employment in construction services fund) 15, 288 152 400 Service direction___ Total average employment financed by Operating Expenses, PBS, 75 169 16,084 PBS FUND TRANSFER Mr. STEED. This transfer in House Document 93-99, of the $400,000. are there any personnel or equipment included in that transfer! Mr. GARDNER. Mr. Chairman, there will be no personnel or equipment transferred. This is a request for reprograming to finance people who are being transferred from the Office of Management and Budget. That's together with the related reprograming item of $1 million from "Operating Expenses, Federal Supply Service." Mr. STEED. Mr. Robison, would you like to ask some question on this item? Mr. ROBISON. I'll pass on this item. Mr. STEED. Mr. Miller, would you like to ask some questions on the Public Buildings Service operating expenses item? PARKING AND LOCATION OF FEDERAL BUILDINGS Mr. MILLER. Yes, Mr. Chairman, if I may. You had mentioned about the location of some of the buildings here in Washington. According to the statement on page 2-A, you speak about the additional buildings that would be constructed under purchase contract, and you state that it consolidates nearly 40,000 Federal employees from over 500 locations to 60 locations. This appears to be a big problem, as far as parking is concerned, as far as traffic congestion is concerned. Would you elaborate on that, how the choice is made as to what location? In other words, instead of helping, it does appear to create a problem by not diversifying, but instead pulling together. Mr. SAMPSON. We have a national problem as far as parking is concerned from two standpoints: There is not enough parking to satisfy Federal employees, but there is too much to solve the pollution in the city. This program, I think, helps to solve that problem to a certain extent. If you take many employees in the city who are in scattered locations and you consolidate in one building, you have an opportunity to promote a great deal of car pooling with fewer cars coming into a particular city. I think this particular program will help that parking problem to a certain extent. All of our buildings that we construct now call for minimum parking, in accordance with local codes, and we apply our national standards to the local codes, if the local codes are not sufficient. We try to supply at least one parking space for every six employees in all of our buildings as a minimum, and in most instances we are able to do this. Sometimes we do better. As far as your question as to how we choose a location for a particular building, we operate under Executive Order 11512, issued by the President in 1970, which first requires that we try to find a location in the city to help solve some of the socioeconomic problems. Rather than constructing a building in some remote location, we try to construct it where it helps the city. We work with city officials, such as the Mayor and the councilmen, in their planning functions to find out what they need in the city. In many instances now, we're constructing the buildings in Urban Renewal areas. So our locations now are selected in concert with the need of the particular area where we're planning a facility. Mr. MILLER. Thank you, Mr. Sampson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. DECREASE IN LEVEL OF GUARDING SERVICE Mr. STEED. In the justification, you make reference to a decrease in the level of guarding service in the amount of $3,826,800. That is a substantial reduction. Can you comment on that? |