R. Eric Petersen
Specialist in American National Government
Chairman Gingrey, Ranking Member Lofgren, and Members of the subcommittee:
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
You have asked me to present testimony to the subcommittee on the Government
Printing Office (GPO). In its 150 years, the agency’s mission has evolved
from pursuing a craft chiefly dedicated to the mass production of books,
government forms, flyers, and other printed materials to its current posture as
“the Federal Government’s primary centralized resource for producing,
procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and
preserving the official information products of the U.S. Government
in digital and tangible forms.”
GPO’s evolution reflects similar transformations in the printing, publishing,
and information management components of the private sector. In the past
four decades, those industries have addressed the emergence of electronic
publishing and distribution. The advent of digital information has expanded the
means of information creation, protection, and delivery beyond mechanical
compilation and production of documents that exist only on paper. Where
mass-produced printed products were the focus in the 19th and 20th Centuries, today GPO
produces passports, identification documents for citizens enrolled in
various government benefit programs, immigration documents, and secure
credentials for the federal workforce. Individual copies are unique,
products are customizable, and include advanced anti-counterfeiting features.
Documents of general interest and mass distribution have changed as well –
according to GPO, approximately 97% of all U.S. Government documents are
“born digital,” published electronically and available through the
Internet, and will never be printed by the federal government. The legacy of
the printing program continues as well, with paper copies of the Congressional Record, Federal Register, and other
government publications available in dwindling numbers, but accessible without
charge in electronic form to Internet users through GPO’s Federal Digital
System (FDsys).
Date of Report: May 11, 2011
Number of Pages: 8
Order Number: T-051111
Price: $19.95
To Order:
T-051111.pdf
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Mary B. Mazanec
Director Congressional Research Service
Mr. Chairman,
Representative Lofgren, and Members of the Subcommittee:
Thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the
Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. I am honored
to have been appointed CRS Director by Dr. Billington last December after
having joined CRS in August 2010 as Deputy Director. The mandate that Congress
gave to CRS is to provide the Congress, throughout the legislative process,
comprehensive and reliable legislative research, analysis, and information
services that are timely, objective, non-partisan, authoritative and
confidential, thereby contributing to an informed national legislature. Every
action I take as Director is designed to ensure that CRS not only fulfills that
mandate to serve the Congress, but continues to improve upon that service. I
want to further a CRS that is responsive at every stage of the legislative
process – from the inception of the significant policy idea, to committee
markup, to informing the floor debate, and coming to final resolution in
conference.
My transition to Director of CRS was seamless due in significant part to the
excellent, dedicated, and talented staff working at all levels of the Service.
CRS staff are truly dedicated to serving Congress and view themselves as
extensions of congressional staff, a pooled resource available to all Members
and committees.
My vision for CRS is the vision enunciated at the time of passage of the Legislative
Reorganization Act of 1970. I intend to ensure that CRS remains Congress’
primary source for the analysis and information it needs to perform its
legislative functions and that we continue to explore new and innovative ways
to best serve the committees of Congress, Members and their staffs.
Date of Report: April 18, 2012
Number of Pages: 5
Order Number: T-041812
Price: $19.95
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Michael L. Koempel
Senior Specialist in American National Government
Christina Wu
Research Associate
When a Senator introduces a bill or joint resolution, or a House-passed
bill or joint resolution is received in the Senate from the House, the
measure is often referred to committee, pursuant to provisions of Senate
Rules XIV, XVII, and XXV. The Senate may, however, use provisions
of Senate Rule XIV to bypass potential referral of a bill or joint
resolution to a Senate committee, and have the measure placed directly on
the Senate Calendar of Business.
Although placing a bill or joint resolution directly on the calendar does not
guarantee that the full Senate will ever consider it, the measure is
available for floor consideration and certain procedural steps, such as
committee reporting or discharging a committee from a
bill’s consideration, and procedural requirements, such as the two-day
availability of a committee report, may be obviated.
Senate rules contain procedures for processing concurrent and simple
resolutions, which are not covered in this report. A Senator may also
offer a germane, relevant, or nongermane amendment to a measure pending on
the Senate floor, in addition to or instead of introducing a bill or
joint resolution. Amendments are also not covered in this report.
This report will not be updated in the 113th Congress unless Senate procedures change. For a fuller examination
of using the Rule XIV procedure and other ways by which the Senate may
bypass committees, see CRS Report RS22299, Bypassing
Senate Committees: Rule XIV and Unanimous Consent, by Michael L.
Koempel and Christina Wu.
Date of Report: November 6, 2013
Number of Pages: 6
Order Number: RS22309
Price: $19.95
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RS22309 .pdf
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