1 Selected resources as of June 30 are as follows: Unpaid undelivered orders, 1965, $126 thousand; 1966, $99 thousand; 1967, $75 thousand; 1968, $75 thousand. Mr. ANDREWS. Next, the Office of Superintendent of Documents, page 136 of the committee print. We are glad to have with us our old friend, Mr. Buckley, the Superintendent of Documents, who has been with the Office since the mind of man runneth not to the contrary. Mr. BUCKLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. ANDREWS. I predict you will be Superintendent of Documents when many of us have left the Halls of Congress. Mr. HARRISON. He would be a hard man to replace. Mr. BUCKLEY. It is a pleasure to be here, Mr. Chairman. Mr. ANDREWS. Let us hear your general statement, Mr. Buckley. Mr. BUCKLEY. In preparing this estimate of the appropriation needed to finance the functions provided by the Office of the Superintendent of Documents for fiscal year 1968, we have anticipated the continued growth in the public demand for Government publications, the further expansion of the depository library program anthorized by the Depository Library Act of 1962, and the demand that will continue to be made on us for mailing services by the Congress and other Government departments. INCREASE FOR DEPOSITORY PROGRAM The amount of our requested 1968 appropriation is $7,447,700, an increase of $1,198,000 over 1967. Of the increased amount requested, $436,231 would be applied to the established programs of publications sales, catalogs and indexes of publications and distribution of publications for Members of Congress and other Government departments; $353,700 of the increase would be used for the depository library program, and reflects the substantial growth of this operation, which required the use in fiscal 1967 of a portion of the reserve for contingencies plus a supplemental appropriation. OTHER INCREASES Necessary modernization of several of our work programs and an improved public sales service are responsible for the remainder of the increase amounting to $408,069. This will permit the completion of the ZIP coding of our mailing lists, consisting of between 2,500,000 and 3 million names, the conversion of the largest list of 875,000 names to an electronic data processing system, and the addition of not more than three new retail sales outlets for publications in other cities. As an important part of the increased expense of this improvement of the service we offer to the public, an additional $8,500 is requested for travel, with the limitation raised to "not to exceed $10,000." The limitation of $1,500 for this purpose that we have had heretofore has been in effect since 1950 and is inadequate to provide for setting up and initially stocking branch sales outlets, in addition to carrying out the responsibility of investigating the condition of an increased number of depository libraries. DEPOSITORY PROGRAM Our total estimated cost of the depository library program for 1968, which amounts to $1,699,000, includes provision for an additional 150,000 copies of non-Government Printing Office publications, to further extend the implementation of that portion of the Depository Library Act of 1962 which provides for the distribution of publications of public interest or educational value, produced in Government departmental and field printing plants. RESERVE FOR CONTINGENCIES Although it has been necessary for us to use the entire reserve for contingencies provided in our 1967 appropriation, this reserve has proved to be most effective since 1962 as a means of avoiding budget amendments due to work increases that could not be anticipated. We have again included the $200,000 reserve for contingencies in the 1968 appropriation, with the assumption and hope that the amounts estimated under the other object classifications will avoid the necessity for use of the reserve in 1968. INCOME AND EXPENSES In 1966, we realized income from the sale of publications for return to the U.S. Treasury of $7,642,000, exceeding our appropriation by about $1,812,000. Based on sales to date, which are about 8 percent ahead of last year, our expected income of $7,800,000 would exceed the 1967 appropriation by approximately $1,550,000. With a further increase in 1968 that would continue the pattern of every recent year, our income for that year is expected to reach at least $7,900,000. This would exceed by approximately $450,000 the amount of our requested 1968 appropriation, despite the inclusion in it of some nonrecurring items which are necessitated by the need for modernization of our programs and improved public service. Each time in the past that it has been necessary for our Office to request increased resources for carrying out its growing work programs, there has been a corresponding increase in the income we have realized for return to the Treasury. If, as it now appears, the considerable initial investment that is required for the necessary modernization and improvement of our operations, would reduce this income for 1968 below that of other recent years, there is every expectation that the ultimate savings and future benefits that will result will more than offset this temporary reduction in the amount of our income. Even with such a reduction that income would still be greater than the amount of the requested 1968 appropriation. We shall continue to do our best in providing the services requested of our Office. I appreciate the assistance which this committee has given us in the past and the opportunity of appearing here today. Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you, Mr. Buckley. So you say that your organization is self-supporting? Mr. BUCKLEY. Yes, sir, so far. Mr. ANDREWS. I want to ask you about this income. Is that net income? Mr. BUCKLEY. Yes, sir. Mr. ANDREWS. You turn that into the Treasury of the United States? Mr. BUCKLEY. That is right, sir. OVERALL INCREASE REQUESTED Mr. ANDREWS. You are requesting a total of $7,447,700 for 1968, as compared with $6,155,900 for 1967, which is an increase of $1,291,800, including the supplemental of $1,198,000. Mr. BUCKLEY. The increase including the salary supplemental of $93,800 is $1,198,000. This does not include the requested supplemental which is now pending. NUMBER OF POSITIONS AND EMPLOYEES Mr. ANDREWS. How many people do you have on your payroll? Mr. BUCKLEY. 492 as of today. Mr. ANDREWS. Are you requesting additional positions for 1968? Mr. BUCKLEY. We have included five positions for the established programs. Mr. ANDREWS. You are requesting five new positions. Mr. BUCKLEY. Yes, we have five new full-time positions. Mr. ANDREWS. That will give you a total, if allowed, of 497. Mr. BUCKLEY. We have 537 as our authorized total and have filled 492 as of today. Mr. ANDREWS. How many vacancies? Mr. BUCKLEY. 537 is authorized. Mr. ANDREWS. 537 and you have 492? Mr. BUCKLEY. There are 45 vacancies, sir. NEW POSITIONS REQUESTED Mr. ANDREWS. What will these new people do, these five you are requesting? Mr. BUCKLEY. We have established the position of an operations manager. Mr. ANDREWs. At what salary? Mr. BUCKLEY. It will be at the grade 12 level. We have a financial manager at the grade 13 level, and assistant financial manager at grade 12, a sales planning coordinator at grade 12 level, the manager of our bookstores at the grade 9 level. Mr. ANDREWS. Why haven't you filled the 537 authorized positions? You have 45 vacancies, you only have 492 on the payroll. Is it because you cannot get them, or you do not need them? Mr. BUCKLEY. We could use the complete 537, but we have never been completely filled at any time. We would not as of today be able to get 45 people to meet our particular needs for those vacancies. DETAILED JUSTIFICATION OF ESTIMATE Mr. ANDREWS. We shall insert the statement supporting the 1968 estimate for salaries and expenses, Office of Superintendent of Docu ments. (The information follows:) The Office of the Superintendent of Documents operates under a separate appropriation which provides funds for the performance of the four functions with which the Office is charged by law. They are (1) the sale of Government publications produced by the Government Printing Office; (2) the compilation of catalogs and indexes of Government publications; (3) the distribution of Government publications to designated depository libraries; and (4) the mailing for members of Congress and other Government agencies of certain Government publications authorized by them. As is true of other operations of the Government Printing Office, all of the functions required of the Office of the Superintendent of Documents are of a service nature and there is no control over the volume of work that we are called on to perform. PUBLICATION SALES The only function which produces revenue is the sale of Government publications, from which we realized income last year for return to the U.S. Treasury of $7,642,000, an amount which exceeded our appropriation by approximately $1,812,000. Our total appropriation for the current year, including salaries supplemental of $93,800 is $6,249,700. Based on sales to date, which are about 8 percent ahead of the comparable period last year, we expect the income from the sales program for fiscal 1967 to reach $7,800,000, which would exceed the entire 1967 appropriation for all programs, by approximately $1,550,000. For fiscal year 1968, we must provide for a continuation of the steady growth in the demand for the purchase of publications which has been evident in every recent year. We know, also, that there must be a continued expansion of the depository library program as authorized by the Depository Library Act of 1962. To the limit of our available space and facilities, we must also be prepared to meet the heavy demands made on us by other agencies and the Congress for the mailing of publications, a demand which is continuously increasing and which we have not always been able to meet as fully or as promptly as desired. BRANCH SALES OUTLETS As part of the President's Program for Improving Government Service to the Public, and with the approval of the Joint Committee on Printing, we are inaugurating during the current year as an experiment, two retail branch sales outlets for Government publications in Chicago, Illinois and Kansas City, Missouri. There has been an overwhelming response to the first branch outside Washington, which was opened in Chicago on March 21, 1967. The latest branch within the local area, situated in the new department of State Building, opened on January 11, 1967 and has also attracted steady patronage. If the present interest in this service continues, we should be prepared in fiscal 1968 to participate along with the General Services Administration and Civil Service Commission, in the extension of this decentralized publications sales service as an important part of the Government Information Centers being established in other principal cities throughout the United States. MODERNIZATION Several of our work programs are overdue for major modernization. The ZIP Coding of the addresses on the 1,300 mailing lists that we must maintain, which total between 2,500,000 and 3,000,000, is only about 60 percent completed, despite the special effort we are making. To complete this important task by December 31, 1967, we will require the rental of necessary equipment and the hiring of temporary personnel. Funds for this are included in our request. We have also reached the point where we could realize undoubted advantages through improved service and ultimately, a reduction in cost, by converting one or more of our largest mailing lists to magnetic tape, and programming for updating and addressing. Such an operation would also accomplish the ZIP Coding simultaneously. Our tentative plans for 1968 call for this improvement for, at least, our single largest mailing list of 875,000 names. In this estimate we have included $225,000, which would enable us to contract for the necessary services and to purchase the additional mailing machine that this conversion would require. The total requested appropriation for 1968 is $7,447,700, which is greater than that for 1967 by $1,198,000. With public interest in Government publications |