Salaries and expenses, Office of Superintendent of Documents Revised appropriation estimate 1961__. $3,849, 200 3, 520, 350 Obligated as of Mar. 31, 1960_. Estimated obligations for April, May, and June, 1960_ Estimated total obligations, fiscal year 1960- 01 Personal services: Estimate, 1960_ Estimate, 1961__. Increase_-_. $2,690, 809 829, 541 3, 520, 350 2,315, 590 2,533, 415 217, 825 Of the increased amount, $39,474 is to cover the cost of within-grade salary increases for employees, as provided by law. We are also requesting funds to employ 25 additional employees at a cost of $85,651. These would consist of 4 clerk-typists, GS-3, at $3,495 per annum each, 15 order processors, GS-3, at $3,495 per annum each, and 6 skilled laborers at the beginning hourly rate of $1.64. The remaining $92,700 will provide for necessary intermittent (parttime) employees. The additional employees requested will be necessary to handle orders for an estimated sales for fiscal year 1961 of $9,075,000 with earnings for return to the Treasury estimated at $4,400,000. Sales for the first 9 months of the current fiscal year reflect an unprecedented increase of 23 percent of the comparable period of last year and there is every evidence this trend will continue in the fiscal year 1961. 02 Travel: Estimate, 1960_. Increase___ $1,500 1,500 None We anticipate that the same amount requested for travel in 1960 will be sufficient to meet the travel expenses incidental to the operations of the Office of the Superintendent of Documents, which include the statutory requirement of inspection by the Superintendent of Documents of the condition of depository libraries, which now number 591. 03 Transportation of things: Estimate, 1960_. Estimate, 1961_--. Increase $1,200 1,200 None This expenditure covers the cost of transporting sales publications ordered by Members of Congress for local delivery and deliveries to branch bookstores of the Office of the Superintendent of Documents in Washington, D.C. Funds for communication services are used principally for payment of postage to the Post Office Department for necessary official correspondence, and for telephone and telegraph service. The additional amount of $5,000 requested is to cover additional postage incidental to the increase in volume of sales expected in fiscal 1961. 05 Rents and utility services: Estimate, 1960- Estimate, 1961----- Increase__ $11,000 11,000 None This amount covers charges for heat, light, and power, which have fluctuated little from year to year in the past. 06 Printing and reproduction: Estimate, 1960--- Increase_ $630,000 25, 000 No appropriation is required for the printing of publications offered for sale by the Office of the Superintendent of Documents, as the cost of these publications is paid from sales receipts. We are, however, charged by law with the function of furnishing free of charge upon request one copy of every publication not confidential in nature printed at the Government Printing Office, to each of the 591 designated depository libraries throughout the United States. Another statute requires us to compile and issue catalogs and indexes covering all Government publications. Last year we were required to purchase and distribute 5,228,441 publications to depository libraries, and it was also necessary for us to order printed 18,879,385 copies of official catalogs and indexes. Funds are requested for these purposes under "Printing and reproduction." The $25,000 increase requested is to cover the cost of printing additional copies of the pricelists of Government publications which are available from this Office. These pricelists are used as working tools, and a laborsaving device, to help in the processing of thousands of nonorder requests received by letter and telephone each year. These inquiries, which require extensive use of our pricelists, as well as direct requests for these lists, have increased in proportion to the increase of our sales program. This has increased our printing requirements of pricelists last year by 29 percent over the preceding year. Due to our underestimating in this fiscal year of the unusual increasing interest of the public in the services provided by this Office, it has been and will be necessary in the next 3 months to defer many requests for specific pricelists. 07 Other contractual services: Estimate, 1960_. Increase_ $82, 000 27, 800 This expenditure covers necessary maintenance, repairs, and alterations of equipment, machinery, and facilities, and also cleaning and sanitation services. In addition, there is included under this heading the amount of $27,800 to cover A the Government's share of the cost of providing employee health benefit plans under the Federal Employee Health Benefits Act of 1959. 08 Supplies and materials: Estimate, 1960__. Estimate, 1961_-_ Increase__. $252, 770 297, 770 45, 000 These funds cover the cost of wrapping paper, cardboard, envelopes, shipping bags, cartons, mailing tubes, adhesive tape, cord, glue, and office supplies, necessary in the mailing of more than 130 million publications which must be performed each year by the Office of the Superintendent of Documents to the public which purchases Government publications, to depository libraries, and for Members of Congress and other Government agencies as requested. We have no control over the volume of mailing that these functions may require but each publication or order must be packaged or wrapped, which requires the extensive use of the materials in this category. We have based our 1961 estimate on the known factors of materials used and their cost in previous fiscal years, and the anticipated substantial increase in the volume of business expected in fiscal year 1961. 09 Equipment: Estimate, 1960. Increase.. $33, 100 33, 100 None In the performance of the operations required of this Office, a variety of items of equipment and laborsaving devices must be employed, such as mailing and inserting machines, high-speed addressing machines, lift trucks, stencil cutters, tying machines, typewriters, addding machines, pneumatic tube and automatic conveyor systems equipment, bookkeeping machines, tape and labeling machines, etc. The estimate for 1961 covers anticipated needs for replacement of equipment items which have become obsolete or worn beyond the point of economical repair, plus additional equipment that will be required to process the continually increasing workload of the Office. 11 Grants, subsidies, and contributions: Estimate, 1960_. Estimate, 1961- Increase_ $121, 190 129, 415 8, 225 For contribution of 61⁄2 percent of salary expenditures to civil service retirement fund (title 4, Public Act 854, 84th Cong., 2d sess.). Income and expense statement, Superintendent of Documents-Sale of publications 1 This amount is turned into the U.S. Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. 2 This is the amount of the annual appropriation required to operate the sales program. Mr. NORRELL. Now I assume you have a statement you would like to make at this time? Mr. BUCKLEY. Mr. Chairman, we do have a brief general statement which I can summarize, if that would be satisfactory. GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. NORRELL. Your prepared statement will be inserted in the record at this point and you may proceed to summarize it. (The statement referred to follows :) The services supplied by the Office of the Superintendent of Documents comprise five functions, all provided for by law. We are constituted as the sales agency for U.S. Government publications; compile and issue catalogs and price lists of publications; distribute for Members of Congress their quotas of certain publications allotted to them by law; distribute publications to designated depository libraries; and operate a centralized mailing service for certain publications distributed by other agencies. A special feature of our sales function is the Government publications exchange service that we provide for Members of Congress. The primary function of the Office is the sale of Government publications, which has shown a steady growth in recent years, has exceeded all advance estimates during the current fiscal year, and is expected to reach the alltime high of $8.260.000. From this amount, the earnings for return to the Treasury are estimated at $4 million, which will exceed for the first time in history the amount of our entire 1960 appropriation, $3,520,350. The amount of earnings will cover, not only the cost of the sales function, but also that of the four other functions of the Office of the Superintendent of Documents, none of which produces revenue. The unprecedented increase in sales orders during the current year has meant that we have not at times been able to maintain the standard of service that those who pay for publications ordered have a right to expect. This situation is becoming increasingly critical, and will undoubtedly become even more so as the year progresses. It is apparent that the tremendous growth of interest in Government publications will continue in fiscal year 1961, and it is now evident that our original appropriation estimates for that year, which were made on the basis of known factors at the time they were submitted, will no longer be adequate to provide the resources we need to handle this workload. Consequently, we have revised these estimates to request an additional $328,850 over our 1960 appropriation, this being the amount, based on the best information available, that will be required to enable us to provide the services with which we are charged by law. All of these services are of the type that we have no control over the volume of work that we shall be called on to perform. Of the additional amount requested, $217,825 is for personal services, $39,474 for within-grade salary increases provided by law, $85,651 to enable us to employ 25 additional employees (4 clerk-typists, GS-3, at $3,495, 15 order processors, GS-3, at $3,495; and 6 skilled laborers at $1.64 an hour), and $92,700 to provide necessary intermittent (part time) employees, to handle estimated sales for 1961 of $9,075,000, of which an estimated $4,400,000 will be returned to the Treasury as earnings. If this estimate proves correct, as now seems evident, the return to the Treasury for fiscal 1961 will again exceed the amount of our entire appropriation. Increases requested for expenses consist of $5,000 for communication services, because of the additional postage for official correspondence necessitated by the increased volume of sales: $45,000 for the increase in office supplies and mailing materials that will be required in handling more sales; $25,000 for printing additional pricelists, used as a working tool in answering the thousands of nonorder requests received each day; $27,800 to cover the Government's share of the cost of providing employee health benefit plans under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act of 1959; and $8,225 for the contribution to the civil service retirement fund, pursuant to law. We feel that we must be prepared to fulfill the demands made on us for the services for which our Office has been established. Increased investments in our operations that have been necessary as these operations have grown, have always resulted in more than a proportionate increase in the amount of revenue that we have turned into the Treasury. We shall continue to return to the Treasury as much revenue as we can while making every effort at the same time to provide Congress, the public, and the other Government agencies with the best possible service. We are deeply appreciative of the help which this committee has given us in the past, and for the opportunity to present this statement today. Mr. BUCKLEY. Mr. Chairman, our estimate for fiscal year 1961 shows an increase of $328,850 over our appropriation for 1960. I want to say at the beginning that last year when we were before this committee, you and Mr. Horan and several other members asked specifically if we felt that in the near future we would be turning into the Treasury enough earnings to cover not only the cost of the sales program but also the cost of the other programs with which the Office is charged. I said at the time that I hoped this would be possible in the future. I am happy to tell you that this year, quite unexpectedly, it will be possible, according to the best estimates we can get, and that our return to the Treasury this year from the sales function will be around $4 million. |