Mr. STEED. Not only does it serve that purpose but those who perform the duties should have the right to know that the committee knows what their responsibilities are and that they are not required to take on any responsibilities that are unfair to them. Mr. GARY. That is exactly correct, Mr. Chairman. One other action that we took, we have been permitting them to operate under the budget but we have also provided: All funds expended by the studios will be approved by the Clerk of the House. The purchase of any article of equipment costing more than $50 shall also be aproved by the committee. As you will recall, at one time we had one studio which served both the Senate and the House. That was changed by the Congress and now we have the House studio in the House Office Building and the Senate studio in the Senate Office Building. At the time of the separation we divided up the property and the money. The law provided that any funds that we had should be put in the Treasury of the United States, but in a special revolving fund for the use of the studio to buy new equipment. We have in the fund at this time about $265,000. We are holding that because the time will soon arrive when we will have to install in the studio a video tape recording machine and they are very expensive. We have not put one in up to this time because it is comparatively new. We have been discussing it, but so few of the television studios have had these machines to use the tape recordings that we did not feel we were justified in making the expenditure. Now, however, practically all the television stations are installing those machines and it is a tremendous stride in modern telecasting. Several years ago I visited a Richmond station to see one demonstrated. I stood before the camera and talked into the mike and then the person demonstrating the machine said, "Come on, Mr. Gary, let us walk into the next room and I will play it back for you." It is almost instantaneous. All they have to do is put the tape on and start the machine. But the machine is expensive and if we install one it may be we will have to come before you and ask for additional funds, but we have not reached a conclusion yet to install it. That just explains why we are holding this fund back, because it is set aside for equipment. We do have to buy smaller equipment from time to time, but we thought any expenditure for equipment costing over $50, our committee should approve. Mr. STEED. Are you not also faced with the problem of shifting around as the new buildings become available and as the remodeling goes on? Mr. GARY. We probably will have to have a new studio. We could use a new studio now but we can make out until the new buildings are ready. Mr. STEED. Is there a time element involved in the video, to get it used by the home station when the time is available? Mr. GARY. Yes, and of course another problem that we have, so many of the Members want to cut tapes at the same time or make the film at the same time, but they are meeting the demand fairly satisfactorily. We will watch that development, but I am merely forewarning you as to what might happen in this area. Mr. STEED. In other words, we are probably going to have to come into the modern world, it is just a matter of how long? Mr. GARY. It is a matter of just when, that is right. I am sure you will be interested to know that the funds of the studio are audited every year and we are furnished a copy of the audit by the Comptroller General of the United States. I have the latest audit, which was made last November. I have studied it carefully. There is one recommendation the Comptroller General makes faithfully every year. I thought I had answered it sufficiently. He recommends that we increase our fees so as to make the studio self-sustaining. When that recommendation was first made I went to Mr. Rayburn, the then Speaker, and talked to him about it. I told him that our committee was perfectly willing to make the studio self-sustaining, but that we were charging approximately the same rates as in the Senate studio and that we were absolutely opposed to increasing our rates until the Senate increased theirs. The Speaker agreed it was not fair to make Members of the House pay more than Members of the Senate, and I wrote the Comptroller General that if he could induce the Senate to increase their rates we would go along with them. So far the only reply I have gotten is each year he repeats his recommendation, and it is in this report. I have also discussed it with our new Speaker and he agrees with our position that we ought not to try to put a burden on the Members of the House which will exceed that which is being borne by the Senators. We are not asking for any additional money for next year. We are asking for the same amount. The staff say they can get along with the force they have. Frankly, I think the staff is doing a good job, I do not think there is any question about it, particularly the two directors. Mr. STEED. What about the volume? Has not the use of that studio increased steadily since it was founded? Mr. GARY. Yes, although it does vary somewhat between election years and nonelection years and so forth, but not enough to make any great difference. It is increasing very substantially. Particularly is that true of television. Mr. STEED. Mr. Horan, do you or Mr. Bow have any questions? Mr. HORAN. I think Frank had better handle this. He is on the committee. Mr. Bow. Off the record. (Discussion off the record.) Mr. Bow. On page 3 of the report of the Comptroller General of the United States on the audit of the House recording studio it states: The appropriated funds provided in excess of such operating losses have reverted to and are retained in the House recording studio revolving fund. The question in the minds of the committee is whether this is proper inasmuch as the funds are originally appropriated as a part of the Clerk's salaries. It is appropriated for Clerk's salaries and then reverts to the House recording studio revolving fund. I wonder what authority there is for that? Mr. GARY. Well, the act provides that there shall be a revolving fund and that is also the way it is handled in the Senate. Mr. Bow. I understand that, but I wonder whether we ought to have a separate appropriation if we are going to do that rather than an appropriation under the clerk hire. We have been appropriating under clerk hire and are taking a portion of the clerk hire and it is reverting to the revolving fund. I was going to suggest we ought to separate this in some way perhaps. In other words, if it reverts we should have the appropriation for the studio and not a part of the clerk hire. Mr. GARY. I think that is unquestionably true. Mr. HORAN. I think if we separated it we would clear up a lot of things because we did not have a very satisfactory hearing on this last year. Mr. STEED. I think an important point Mr. Gary has brought up here today is the fact that by the very nature of this operation we are somewhat limited by what the Senate does or does not do. That is a practical matter we have to recognize. Mr. GARY. That is right. Mt. STEED. It is not like an operation that did not have its counterpart in the Senate. (Discussion off the record.) Mr. STEED. Mr. Gary, we want to express to you our appreciation. We know you are busy and that this is a function that has been wished on you that takes a lot of your time, but you have been most helpful and we are grateful to you for taking time from a busy schedule to come here and give us this information, which will be most helpful. Mr. GARY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have an excellent committee. Mr. O'Brien, as you probably know, is a former radio man, and Mr. Bow was the author of this law and is more or less responsible for the setup. It is a pleasure to work with them. I have been very much pleased with the few complaints we have had on the operation. I think it is being very well operated. Mr. STEED. I think you gentlemen perform a very important function because it is through this program that a lot of American people are permitted to find out more thoroughly what is going on in the Government, and this is a method of communication that I think is more than justified. Mr. GARY. Yes. I do not think it is a service to the Congress alone. I think it is a service to the American people. For example, I know a great many of the Congressmen have programs. I have a weekly program and have had one for the last 15 years. Every Saturday night I report to my constituency on what has taken place in the Congress during the week, and I think a great many of the other Congressmen make similar reports. Mine is carried as a public service program by the radio station. They asked me to make this broadcast each week and it is a free service that they render the public. They think well enough of it to donate the free use of their facilities. I think if they do that we want to cooperate and be able to furnish them with the script. With the studio located in the House Office Building it makes it possible for some Members to do this who could not do it otherwise. Mr. STEED. Again we thank you very much, Mr. Gary. HARRY J. HUMPHREY, DEPUTY COMPTROLLER CARPER W. BUCKLEY, SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS WILLIAM H. ADDISON, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCU- MERRILL C. GLEASON, BUDGET AND ACCOUNTING OFFICER, OFFICE We have with us this afternoon Mr. James L. Harrison, the Public Printer, and his staff. Mr. Harrison, will you proceed with your prepared statement? GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. HARRISON. Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, it is a great pleasure for me to be here today and to renew my associations with my many friends in Congress. It is always a matter of satisfaction and pride for me to appear before you and explain as best I can the needs and accomplishments of the Government Printing Office. We are proud of our role as printers to Congress and of our record of service to the Government. When I took office as Public Printer 1 year ago, I was fairly well acquainted with the workings of the Government Printing Office, through my former service with the Joint Committee on Printing. Since that time I have taken every opportunity to increase my knowledge of the plant and its workings. One of my first acts was to visit all production units in the Central Office, both the day and night forces and the field offices. This required considerable time, but was quite rewarding, as I not only acquainted myself with methods and problems of all sections but had the opportunity of meeting personally approximately 6,600 of our employees. I feel that I have the cooperation of our large working force and that we will be able to work together most harmoniously. 1 MODERNIZATION PROGRAM One of the big problems in the graphic arts industry is keeping abreast of the rapidly changing technology. Through our Modernization of Machinery and Equipment Committee, we endeavor to take advantage of the latest advances in machinery and processes in order to increase our production and reduce our costs. Just installed in our bindery is a machine that gathers the signatures of a book, then stitches, covers, and trims it in a continuous automatic process. While not in use too long, our records indicate this machine will turn out about 3,000 finished books per hour, an increase of 75 percent over present methods. Also soon to be added to our pressroom is the first of two web-fed offset presses. These machines are extremely fast and will take the place of five sheet-fed presses. These are but two of the many additions to our production facilities in all areas of the plant, designed to make the Government Printing Office, which is the largest plant of its kind in the world, also the most efficient. All of this new equipment is carefully evaluated to insure a recovery of its cost within a reasonably short period of time. In line with our policy of keeping our plant as modern as possible, we also encourage the constant appraisal of technical innovations and improvements in the printing industry. Personnel are encouraged to acquaint themselves with the latest advances in new processes and machinery. Supervisory personnel are given every opportunity to attend graphic arts meetings in order to keep them informed of the most recent developments in that field. Arrangements are also made to have key personnel visit other plants engaged in printing and binding and related work in order to investigate new machinery and processes which may be used to further modernize our equipment. NEW ANNEX BUILDING The need for a fireproof annex building for paper storage increases with time. This structure, which is urgently required for reasons of economy and efficiency, was authorized by Public Law 87-373 of the 87th Congress and is to be built adjacent to existing Building No. 3 of the Government Printing Office. The latest estimate made by the General Services Administration for constructing this annex $6,450,000. Based upon the estimated savings that will result from its use, we have determined that this cost will be recovered in about 23 years. The Comptroller General has made a review of the Government Printing Office study and stated in letter dated January 28, 1958, that the computation of the estimated savings was based on a consideration of all material factors. He also stated that they believe that there would be some additional intangible benefits, such as better utilization of machine time, which would result from the storage of paper nearer the equipment and economies that might result from possible rearrangement of operating activities. Conditioning of the paper being stored in the new air-conditioned annex will result in another saving which had not been previously considered. This will especially be true with paper to be stored for use on the new webfed offset presses. The difficulty of moving paper from our present warehouse in Franconia, Va., is pointed up each winter when road conditions become difficult and hazardous. The Shirley Freeway, |