he had in mind and see if we could not work out some arrangement to have that wash rack operated. We have a wash-rack facility right in the garage and yet Members are unable to have their cars washed.

Mr. RIDGELL. Mr. Chairman, when they were building the Rayburn Building, the stalls were put in there for the chauffeurs to take care of the House official cars if the official cars were transferred from the Senate to the House garage. These stalls were not put in there to take care of washing 1,581 cars. You have three entrances to this garage. We have a problem in the Cannon Building, where there is only one entrance. We have 301 spaces there, but each one is specifically asassigned in the Cannon Building. Cars pull in, stop, and the person tells our attendants they want the car washed. Our attendants do get involved in the carwash to some extent. With just the one entrance, in the Cannon Building, you know who wants a wash job when he comes in, and he pays on his way out.

In the Rayburn Building, with 3 huge entrances and 1,581 cars, if they start stopping and telling the attendant, you will have traffic backed up into the streets causing traffic congestion. That is one of the problems-one attendant booking wash jobs on C Street, another booking them on First Street, another on South Capitol Street. You have three men washing cars. We have promised 75 jobs, but we can do only 25. Thirty is our maximum in the Cannon Building where you come in one end of the rack and go out the other end. We are dealing with one entrance and only 301 cars. I have one washer there who has been there since this started, and he wants to quit. I do not know how many I have had in the other two jobs, but 3 men working there 8 hours on their own time can do only about 30 cars a day. They report to work when they feel like it. If there is something up at the White House, some special function, and Members want their cars by 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning, maybe these men stroll in at 9 or 9:30. They are not our employees and we cannot do much about it.

Mr. ANDREWS. We will see what we can do. I do not see why it should not be possible to have some method worked out on a firstcome, first-served basis, if necessary. But you tell us, Mr. Roof, that you cannot get that carwash operated by contract?

Mr. RooF. We have this possibility, Mr. Chairman: If we readvertise it at a higher rate, $2, we believe we will get one bid. We have a man who has said he would be interested in it on that basis. (CLERK'S NOTE.-For further developments on operation of carwash facilities see p. 551.)

PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS FOR RAYBURN BUILDING

Mr. ANDREWS. Now that you have had another year's experience in operation of the Rayburn Building, how has the requirement worked out against the personnel you were given?

Mr. RIDGELL. It is working fine, Mr, Chairman, except for these additional laborers we are asking for. They will take care of these asphalt tile vestibules, leading from the garage to the elevators on all levels. With larger equipment and five men included in our original budget, I thought we could take care of the Rayburn garage and the lobbies, but it just did not work out that way. With the three entrances to the garage, there is a constant draft. We get all the

dust and dirt from the nearby construction, and just general dirt blowing through there..

We were not in the building very long before the complaints mounted on these lobbies. It meant I had to take the 5 men from the garage, plus 1 other temporary man, and assign them solely to scrubbing, mopping, and waxing these 29 asphalt tile lobbies. Frankly, I just overlooked the extent of cleaning in these garages, when estimating our original budget requirement. With 1,581 cars and all the traffic coming through these garages, it is an every-night operation.

Mr. ANDREWS. What mainly are the complaints you are having about the garage and the building?

Mr. RIDGELL. Not too many, Mr. Chairman. Most Members and employees seem quite happy with it.

Mr. ANDREWS. I think you are correct.

WATER LEAKS IN RAYBURN GARAGE

I have noticed water on the floor of the Rayburn Building garage following big snows or heavy rains, and I have been told that there are some leaks somewhere around the gutters and that the matter had been called to the attention of the contractor. What about that?

Mr. RIDGELL. Yes, sir. Mr. Campioli will discuss that.

Mr. CAMPIOLI. We have had leaks at expansion joints in the courtyards, letting some water through into the garage. We are in the process of tracking down these leaks and correcting the condition. We have also had some leaks around the light standards in the courtyards. In certain instances where the light standards were set, water has drained to that place and it has found its way into the pipe sleeve that goes from the light standard down to the garage ceiling. We are in the process of correcting that condition.

Some of the work involves the contractor, and we have had him back to do his share of the work. Other conditions are such that might fall in the category of maintenance. Like the stone maintenance, where from time to time, we will have to recaulk the expansion joints to make sure that they remain tight, so we will have to keep watch on this condition.

That is an item we are gradually correcting, and it is a condition that is not peculiar to our building. We had discussions with other garage operators, including people from GSA, and apparently during the period that we were having trouble, practically all the garages in the Washington area were having similar trouble. We contacted a few companies that make products to help seal garages, and they indicated they had received numerous calls from garage operators in the District of Columbia. We expect in due course these will be corrected.

Mr. ANDREWS. You do not consider it a major problem?
Mr. CAMPIOLI. No, sir.

CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITY FOR CORRECTIONS AND REPAIRS

Mr. ANDREWS. When you find that corrections or repairs are needed, I would assume that would be the responsibility of the

contractor.

Mr. CAMPIOLI. If the failures are due to improper workmanship and installation, as in the case of the light standards where we found certain caulking material had not been installed, he came back and corrected that condition.

REQUEST FOR ANNUAL PAINTING

Mr. ANDREWS. Your request for annual painting is increased by $8,500. Do you hire your own painters? How many do you have on your rolls as permanent employees?

Mr. RIDGELL. As of today, we have three painters and two helpers working. They do the small, routine painting during the year. On this annual painting, we call in union painters and pay the prevailing wage.

Mr. ANDREWS. What is the present hourly prevailing rate?

Mr. HENLOCK. That we pay these outside men?

Mr. ANDREWS. Painters.

Mr. RooF. $4.37 an hour plus 122 cents per hour for fringe benefits.

Mr. ANDREWS. What do you pay your men who are professional painters on your payroll?

Mr. RIDGELL. Wage board 9 journeyman.

Mr. HENLOCK. That runs $2.96 an hour up to $3.28 an hour at the top of the grade.

Mr. ANDREWS. You have to pay outside painters $4.37 plus fringe benefits.

How long does it take to paint a suite?

Mr. RIDGELL. Two days for two coats, the first coat today and finish tomorrow. That is with four painters.

Mr. ANDREWS. Do you keep those four you have on your payroll busy all the time?

Mr. RIDGELL. Yes, sir. After adjournment when we get into our extensive painting. We make the arrangements with the Members' offices and supervise the outside men we bring in.

Mr. ANDREWS. Who determines whether or not a suite needs. painting?

Mr. RIDGELL. We have a policy of one painting every 4 years. In an election year, many times we have to do sidewalls even though it has been less than 4 years since the last job, depending on the number of nail holes and how many pictures were on the walls. This being an election year, we will have a good many sidewalls to do.

Mr. ANDREWS. This item is $40,000 in your 1967 budget. With the Rayburn Building added to the other two, do you have a rough guess how high this might go in a year when you would also be painting a lot of corridors and some committee rooms? You have already indicated this might be an expensive year since it is election year.

Mr. RIDGELL. Back in 1950, Mr. Chairman, we ran as high as $86,000. We did all the corridors in the Longworth Building and several corridors in the Cannon Building.

Mr. ANDREWS. The wage rates were lower than today, and you did not have the Rayburn Building.

Mr. RIDGELL. That is true.

Mr. ANDREWS. You ought not to have much painting business in in the Rayburn Building right now?

Mr. RIDGELL. Primarily, the sidewalls. We have acoustic tile on the ceiling. Last fall we did the entire subbasement sidewalls and floor because the George Washington Inn people had used this area for some time and the painted area was in poor condition.

ELEVATOR SERVICE

Mr. ANDREWS. There was considerable debate last year about operators for elevators in the Rayburn Building since they are automatically operated. The committee, I believe, took out all but 16, the idea being that the 8 elevators nearest to the tunnel might get more traffic from tourists requiring the presence of operators. How did that all work out?

Mr. RUBEL. It is difficult for me to answer that question because I do not have much occasion to use them. But our general experience has been that elevator service in general around here is one of the critical problems. We get complaints from all the buildings about elevator service, and it is understandable. Everybody on Capitol Hill is working under pressure and on short time schedules. Consequently they are in a hurry to get to their destinations. If you have to wait for an elevator 10 seconds, 15 seconds, or 20 seconds, it seems like minutes rather than seconds. It does to me, and I know it must to you gentlemen. It becomes very annoying.

On the other hand, in a commercial building people wait as long as 40 seconds and accept it. Again, I say we have different conditions here. We have worked very hard on this problem. We have tried elevators with operators. We have tried them without operators. I cannot honestly say there is any significant difference in the overall performance. I do not think the service is any better when you have an operator on the elevator than when you depend entirely on the automatic controls. Of course, in the case of some of the elevators, it is an advantage in having an operator to aid tourists and others in locating their destinations.

We have observed, particularly on the three elevators on the west side of the House wing, which serve the subway, as you know, that the rush of traffic there is terrific at times, particularly when groups of visitors arrive simultaneously with rollcalls. There are only three elevators and at times as many as a hundred people may be waiting to use them. Yet, the Congressmen must get through the crowd and get up to the Chamber in a short period of time.

This situation has been improved to some extent by having a starter downstairs, and it has helped. At least, he can direct the visitors and children and keep them away from the elevator entrances so other people who have official business to attend to are not delayed. Still, it is not entirely satisfactory.

I am expressing my own opinion when I say I do not think we will ever be able to attain really satisfactory elevator service of the type that Members should have available at all times during the day. Nevertheless that criterion is our constant objective.

Mr. ANDREWS. I think you have done a good job. I notice one thing you have added. I do not know how long it has been there. On two of the three elevators on the west side leading to the subway, you have flash lights showing "Members Only During Roll Call." That was a great help.

Mr. RUBEL. It helps to some extent, sir.

Mr. ANDREWS. I have had no complaints from any Member about elevator service.

SUBWAY OPERATION

Is the subway operation going smoothly, or are there any special problems?

Mr. RUBEL. Aside from the subject that was mentioned earlier, namely, some roughness in the track, the subway cars are working splendidly.

Mr. ANDREWs. I believe you have five operators.
Mr. RUBEL. Yes, sir.

Mr. ANDREWS. What are their hours of duty?

MR. RIDGELL. 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. to midnight. We close the cars normally at 8 p.m. The operator works from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., on the cars, and then he joins the mechanical crew, oiling, greasing, and policing. Of course, in time, those operators, who have mechanical ability, could move over to the elevator-escalatorsubway mechancial force. We have one who qualified already and was moved over with the mechanical group.

Mr. ANDREWS. Is the pay of the five the same?

Mr. RIDGELL. Yes, sir. The same grade.

Mr. ANDREWS. What is it?

Mr. RIDGELL. Wage board 5, $2.50 an hour, I believe.

Mr. HENLOCK. That is right. The first step is $2.50 an hour; the second, $2.63; and the third, $2.76.

RAYBURN BUILDING ESCALATORS

Mr. ANDREWS. What about the escalators in the Rayburn Building? Are you having much trouble with them?

Mr. RUBEL. I have not heard of much trouble with them lately. When the building was first put into operation, everything was a novelty, particularly for the younger element. As you may know, escalators have an emergency button at each landing for use in case of accident so that the escalator can be stopped immediately. There have been accidents on escalators in other installations. Some of the more playful youngsters soon learned the effects resulting from the operation of the emergency button.

Mr. ANDREWS. I saw a kid kick one, one day, and it just stopped. Mr. RUBEL. It takes 10 or 15 minutes or a half hour sometimes before the stoppage is reported to the proper authorities.

NEED FOR MODERNIZING OLD ELEVATOR NEAR APPROPRIATIONS

COMMITTEE

Mr. ANDREWS. We hear complaints about the slow, unreliable operation of the old elevator over by the main offices of the Committee on Appropriations in the Capitol. People get stuck inside. It responds very slowly, we are told, and generally it is inefficient. Can you tell us anything about that elevator?

Mr. RUBEL. Yes, sir. That is an old elevator. It was originally built by the Otis Elevator Co. before 1935. It was later modified by another elevator company. The modifications apparently did not improve the operation very much, which may have been because of