ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES
Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program
 
 
 
Vol. 18, no. 04 GP 3.16/3-2:18/04       February 28, 1997
 
 
 
 
MICHAEL F. DIMARIO
PUBLIC PRINTER
 
PREPARED STATEMENT BEFORE THE 
SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE APPROPRIATIONS
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ON
APPROPRIATIONS ESTIMATES FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998
 
February 11, 1997
 

PRIVATIZING THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
 
        I have testified previously on the subject of procuring
congressional printing before the Senate Rules and Administration
Committee in July 1996, and the House Oversight Committee in August 1995.
As I stated then, we fully support the procurement of any Government
printing that is commercially procurable, e.g., purchasable from the
private sector on the same terms (timeliness, quality, and control) at
less cost.  That philosophy underlies our Printing Procurement Program,
one of the Government's most successful procurement programs, in which we
routinely buy 75 percent or better of Federal printing at highly
competitive prices.
 
        However, based on long experience with public printing, I have
serious concerns about whether any savings can be achieved by procuring
congressional printing due to its inherent unpredictability.  Former
Public Printers Thomas McCormick (appointed by President Nixon) and John
Boyle (appointed by President Carter) stated the same thing before this
Subcommittee two years ago.  I have concerns about the level of
congressional control that could be retained over printing that is
essential to the legislative process if it is commercially procured.  I
also have concerns about ability of a study to fully predict a private
sector contractor's costs for producing the range of services we currently
provide.  Without a clear decision to procure congressional work and the
consequent expectation by potential contractors that they will be held
financially and legally responsible for performing the work under the
estimates they submit, any such estimate should be regarded as
speculative.
 
Study Requirement
 
        In the House report accompanying GPO's Congressional Printing and
Binding Appropriation for FY 1997 (H. Rpt. 104-657, pp. 28-29), we were
required to conduct a study, using independent outside experts, to
determine if opportunities exist for outsourcing the Congressional Record
and the Federal Register.  The report also requested us to consider the
option of converting to a two-shift operation in GPO's printing plant.
 
        Accordingly, we have developed a notice that was recently posted
in the Commerce Business Daily seeking "a contract for an independent
outside expert to conduct a study to determine if cost-effective
opportunities exist to privatize certain GPO printing plant functions."
We also are requesting evaluation of the option to convert to a two-shift
operation.  The studies are to be conducted in consultation with the Joint
Committee on Printing, which has statutory oversight of congressional
printing, and should reflect the needs of GPO's congressional customer
base.
 
        Factors to be considered in the study are:
 
                *       how legislation flows through Congress;
                *       the laws governing the flow of legislation and the
Congressional Record;
                *       the promulgation of administrative and regulatory
law in the Federal Register;
                *       the current procedures used by congressional and
executive branch staffs to submit legislation/publications to GPO for
printing;
                *       GPO's support functions which include facilities,
personnel, procurement of paper, materials and supplies, and equipment
capabilities used to meet congressional requirements, including same-day,
overnight turnaround requirements, the peaks and valleys in the volume of
printing requests, and efforts to capture electronic databases at the
source;
                *       Congress's efforts to move toward a
Cyber-Congress;
                *       GPO's efforts to retrain personnel and develop
online dissemination products;
                *       the technologies available in the private sector
that, if made available to GPO, would permit GPO to produce its products
faster and at lower costs;
                *       the laws requiring special programs that affect
GPO's scale of prices but which are not required in the private sector;
                *       the obligations of public information
dissemination; and
                *       the requirements to fully meet the needs of GPO's
congressional customer base.
 
        In order to ensure that this study provides the truest possible
representation of the potential costs for contracting out congressional
work, and to prevent affording any party a preferential opportunity for
any subsequent contracts, the successful contractor will be precluded from
any follow-on contract arising from the completion of this contract.  A
pre-solicitation conference will be held February 27, 1997, at GPO.  Based
on a review of prior independent studies of GPO as well as the costs of
recent contract audits conducted of GPO, we estimate that the cost of this
contract could be $600,000, although the actual contract price may vary
significantly from this estimate based on the final scope of work.  No
funds were appropriated specifically for this study.  Therefore, the cost
would be additional overhead to be allocated to all GPO programs and
reimbursed to the revolving fund through adjusted rates.  We have
requested approval for this procurement from the Joint Committee on
Printing.