[House Hearing, 107 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL AUDIT PLAN FOR
2002, AND THE CREATION OF THE OFFICE OF HISTORY AND PRESERVATION WITHIN
THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK
=======================================================================
BUSINESS MEETING
before the
COMMITTEE ON
HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
Hearing Held in Washington, DC, June 26, 2002
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
84-512 WASHINGTON : 2003
___________________________________________________________________________
For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; (202) 512-1800
Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
BOB NEY, Chairman
VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan STENY H. HOYER, Maryland
JOHN L. MICA, Florida Ranking Minority Member
JOHN LINDER, Georgia CHAKA FATTAH, Pennsylvania
JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, California JIM DAVIS, Florida
THOMAS M. REYNOLDS, New York
Paul Vinovich, Staff Director
Bill Cable, Minority Staff Director
BUSINESS MEETING
----------
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2002
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to call, at 2:10 p.m., in Room
1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Robert W. Ney
(chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Ney, Ehlers, Hoyer and Fattah.
Staff present: Jeff Janas, Professional Staff Member;
Channing Nuss, Deputy Staff Director; Fred Hay, Counsel; Melody
Hildebrandt, Intern; Bill Cable, Minority Staff Director; Matt
Pinkus, Minority Professional Staff Member; Sterling Spriggs,
Minority Technical Director; and Nuku Ofori, Staff of Mr.
Fattah.
The Chairman. The committee will come to order. Today, the
Committee on House Administration is conducting a business
meeting to consider and approve the Inspector General Audit
Plan for 2002 and a proposal by the Clerk of the House, Mr.
Trandahl, to create the Office of History and Preservation, a
new department within the Office of the Clerk.
We will begin with the first item on the agenda,
consideration and approval of the Inspector General Audit Plan
for 2002.
The Inspector General is responsible for performing audits
of the financial and administrative functions of the House and
joint entities, suggesting appropriate actions when warranted
as a result of the audits, and reporting the results of the
audits back to the Committee on House Administration as part of
our oversight responsibilities of House operations. Working
closely with House Administration and our House officers, the
Office of the Inspector General focuses its efforts on issues
of strategic importance to the House.
The Inspector General's objective, valued-added service to
managers has helped to significantly improve financial
management; House administrative processes; workplace issues
related to health and safety; and the security, control, and
integrity of the computer networks' operating and application
systems and the data that they contain, which is so important
to the House and the citizens of the United States.
The plan before the committee today for review and approval
will continue that important work on behalf of the U.S. House.
At the direction of the Committee on House Administration, the
audit plan as presented will focus on the key themes of life
safety, information security, and customer service to our House
Members and staff.
We will also be evaluating several emerging technologies in
the predeployment stage, including digitized mail, as we deploy
new technology to enhance the speed and effectiveness of our
work force in the House of Representatives.
I would like to thank the members of this committee and our
committee staff, on a bipartisan basis, and the staff of the
Office of Inspector General, who have all worked hard to create
a thoughtful and important audit agenda for the House.
It is my belief that the audit plan will serve to protect
and enhance our House business operations and will help ensure
the financial integrity of this institution.
The Chair lays before the committee a committee resolution
approving the House of Representatives Inspector General audits
for 2002. The Inspector General, I would note--it is a pleasure
to have you here--is available to answer questions. Are there
any questions of the Inspector General?
Mr. Hoyer?
Mr. Hoyer. Mr. Chairman, I do not have any questions, but I
want to thank the IG for, A, his work and, B, his report and
information that he has given to me in terms of what we are
doing, where we are going, how we have done. I think, as I said
in the past, I think the addition of this office has been a
very positive addition to the operations of the House of
Representatives. This was a reform that was brought in in 1995,
but we had talked about it before than. Unfortunately, we had
not implemented it. The Republican leadership did. I think it
has been an excellent step forward, and I thank you for the
work you have done.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Hoyer.
Mr. Ehlers, do you have any questions or points of
discussion?
Mr. Ehlers. Why am I here?
The Chairman. You are here for two reasons, Mr. Ehlers.
One, you are a very valuable member of this committee, and, as
the third member present, you legally allow us to proceed.
Mr. Ehlers. I realize that.
The Chairman. The first is the most important. Would you
like another couple of reasons?
Mr. Ehlers. No. I am sorry; I just raced over here, and I
just got a phone call, so I may have to go and vote. At least I
am here. I have no further questions.
Mr. Hoyer. We better go in a hurry.
Mr. Ehlers. Mr. Chairman, I move a committee resolution
approving the House of Representatives Inspector General audits
for 2002 be adopted.
Mr. Hoyer. Second.
The Chairman. It has been moved and seconded. The question
is on the motion. All those in favor signify by saying aye.
Opposed, no.
Mr. Ehlers. May I just add, I may have questions later, and
I will address them directly.
The Chairman. Without objection.
Mr. Hoyer. On this side of the aisle, Mr. Chairman, we
believe ``Ney'' is a very positive term.
The Chairman. Except when it comes to a vote, I would say.
It is not that positive sometimes. Let us not have a
``positive'' vote today.
The motion is agreed to, and the committee resolution
approving the House of Representatives Inspector General audits
for 2002 is adopted.
I want to thank you. It was your compelling testimony, Mr.
Inspector General. Thank you. Appreciate it.
The committee will now consider the creation of the Office
of History and Preservation, a new department within the Office
of the Clerk, Mr. Trandahl.
The Clerk has requested the committee approve the creation
of the Office of History and Preservation within the Office of
the Clerk. This action would involve mitigating the current
Historical Services Division from within the Clerk's
Legislative Resources Department to a stand-alone department.
The request includes a proposed reclassification of position
19-068, Manager, Historical Services, to Chief, Office of
History and Preservation.
The proposed reorganization represents the culmination of a
6-year effort by the House through the Office of the Clerk, at
the direction of the Committee on House Administration, to fill
the void created by the unfilled House Historian position to
establish professional archival and curatorial response and
support for House records, arts, and artifacts.
Without objection, I will enter the rest of this in the
record.
[The information follows:]
Creation of Office of History and Preservation
The Clerk on March 26, 2002, requested the Committee
approve the creation of an Office of History and Preservation
within the Office of the Clerk. This action would involve
migrating the current Historical Services division (eight
positions) from within the Clerk's Legislative Resource
Department to status as a stand alone department. The request
includes the proposed reclassification of position 19-068,
Manager, Historical Services (HS-11) to Chief, Office of
History and Preservation.
The proposed reorganization represents the culmination of a
six-year effort by the House, through the Office of the Clerk,
to fill the void owing to the unfilled House Historian position
and to establish professional archival and curatorial support
for House records, art, and artifacts. The effort began with
the Committee's approval in 1995 of the creation of the
Legislative Resource Center (LRC) as a department of the Clerk.
The LRC was a consolidation of smaller separate departments of
the Clerk, together with functions acquired through the 1995
reorganization. It was intended then that the LRC serve as the
host entity toward the development of a comprehensive
historical and preservation resource for the House--one on par
with the Senate and other governmental entities. By the year
2000, the Committee had approved the creation within the LRC of
an historical services division and the appointment of a
manger, which was soon followed by the appointment of an
archival specialist. The preservation component was completed
early this year with the appointment of a curator. The unit
currently consists of eight positions, which would transfer to
the proposed new department.
The Clerk's proposal seeks to guarantee the continued
effectiveness of the current division. Separation from the LRC
will allow for more streamlined management and responsiveness
for services. Furthermore, as a department and not a
subordinate subdivision, the division and its personnel will be
more credibly perceived and regarded by entities of the
Congress, the government and professions. The Clerk has pointed
out that the current Historical Services division is already
actively engaged with an array of projects commensurate with
those that would be within the purview of the new department.
It is managing the publication of five congressionally approved
historical publications. Since putting on-line in 1997 the
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, it has
since launched the first comprehensive update and verification
of the over 10,000 House entries. For the first time, the House
has the benefit of a professional archival staff, which in
addition to administering the Clerk's House Rule VII
responsibilities, has implemented an educational records
management outreach program for Committees and Members. The new
curator has been tasked by the Clerk to focus on an inventory
and preservation program for House art and artifacts, beginning
with House Committee Chairmen portraits. With the curator, the
Clerk for the first time can render authoritative curatorial
support to the House Fine Arts Board. The historical, archival,
and curatorial expertise of the division are tapped regularly
by the House in matters pertaining to the Capitol Visitor
Center.
The Chairman. It is a very good program. I think it is a
great job done by the Clerk's Office with a lot of insight, and
I believe on a historical basis it is going to be of tremendous
value for this House to preserve the history, keep up with the
history, and have it available to the citizens of the United
states. So I commend you on that.
With that, I lay before the committee a committee
resolution approving the creation of the Office of History and
Preservation. The Clerk is here, Mr. Trandahl, to make a
statement and see if you have any questions.
STATEMENT OF JEFF TRANDAHL, CLERK, UNITED STATES HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. Trandahl. Actually, what I will do is I will submit the
statement for the record and the background pieces, but if
there are any questions that anyone has----
[The statement of Mr. Trandahl follows:]
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, thank you for
inviting me to appear before the meeting of the Committee.
I appreciate having this opportunity, Mr. Chairman, to
explain how in the past six years, through the support of this
Committee, the Office of the Clerk has developed and delivered
historical services program needs to the House of
Representatives. As part of that effort, we have
professionalized and broadened two closely related disciplines:
archival services in support of House Rule VII records
requirements and courtesy consultation for Members; and
curatorial services in support of the Clerk's responsibilities
to the House Fine Arts Board.
With the continued vacancy since January 1995 of the office
of House Historian, the Committee has enabled my office to
incrementally meet the demand from the House and the public for
historical services. The effort began in 1995 with the creation
of the Legislative Resource Center (LRC) within the Office of
the Clerk. That reorganization helped to better integrate
within the Clerk's organization the Document Room
responsibility it had acquired from the defunct Office of the
Doorkeeper and established an organizational structure within
which to cultivate and design the foundations for the
comprehensive historical services required by the House. By
1997, the resources of the LRC had achieved two significant
accomplishments: the first continuing archival education and
consultation program for House Committees and Members, and, the
launching, with the Senate, of the on-line version of the
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. With the
latter, the LRC took on a major responsibility previously
administered by the former House Historian.
By the year 2000 and with the enthusiastic support and
approval of the Committee, our goal of establishing a credible
historical services operation became a reality with the
creation of an historical services unit within the LRC and the
appointment of a professional manager, who had formerly been
affiliated with the Center for Legislative Archives of the
National Archives and Records Administration. That appointment
was followed shortly thereafter by the addition of a
professional archivist and early this year, a professional
curator. Complemented by five additional support positions that
the Committee approved, the House for the first time has an
historical, records, and arts resource now on par with the
Senate and capable of managing the many new responsibilities
already required by the House as well as those that will be
needed for the Capitol Visitor Center.
I am grateful, Mr. Chairman, that the Committee is
considering my request to establish the current historical
services unit of the LRC as a new department of the Office of
the Clerk and to support the necessary funding for its
operation. This action is necessary for practical as well as
symbolic reasons. Although the LRC served as a valuable
incubator of sorts for the development of the unit, the unit
has matured sufficiently to merit commensurate management and
operational parity as a department. Symbolically, the status of
the unit with the Clerk's office counts to its credibility. As
a department in its own right within the Office of the Clerk,
the Office of History and Preservation, as it is being proposed
to be known, would more closely mirror the organizational
status of its counterparts in the U.S. Senate, which reside
under the Secretary of the Senate. Such departmental status is
critical to earning credibility with other governmental
entities, relevant professional groups, and the general public.
Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to report to you the
satisfaction we already enjoy by having a full team on board.
Our historical staff is at work on new editions of
congressionally authorized publications, including Asian and
Pacific Islander Americans in Congress; Black Americans in
Congress; Hispanic Americans in Congress; and Women in
Congress. They have been incorporated into the exhibit planning
process for the Capitol Visitor Center, and are engaged in a
major verification and updating project for the thousands of
House entries in the Biographical Directory of the United
States Congress. Our archivist has quickly secured our position
within the professional archival associations, enabling us to
better serve Members who require guidance in retiring their
personal congressional papers. Now as never before, we have
been able to proactively educate and counsel House committee
staff on records management procedures, which will stimulate
greater compliance with House Rule VII and ensure consistent
archiving of the non-current records of the House. Finally, I
am pleased to report that our new curator is working on
multiple fronts in support of the House Fine Arts Board.
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate not only your leadership but
also your good counsel. The progress we have made since your
becoming Chairman of the Committee has been remarkable. I am
also grateful for the guidance and assistance I have received
from the Committee staff, with whom I have the pleasure of
working with on a regular basis. This completes my statement
and I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.
The Chairman. Mr. Hoyer?
Mr. Hoyer. Jeff, the Office of Historian has been vacant, I
guess, since 1995 or early 1996, I forget exactly when. In
light of what we are doing here, what ramifications, if any,
does that have to that particular position? I know it is vacant
and has been for 5 or 6 years.
Mr. Trandahl. Yes, Mr. Hoyer, the Office of the Historian,
as you know, was created back in 1987, or 1989, to sort of
correspond with the celebration of the bicentennial of the
Constitution. And then subsequently in January 1995, with the
realignment of staffs, they eliminated the House Historian in
January, February of 1995.
The Clerk's Office then became responsible for all of those
historical functions. Incrementally, we have been trying to add
in and even improve upon what was previously done in that
Historian's Office, because we were building in a lot more
archival staff; we are building in a lot more curatorial
function as well as this publication and historical research
function.
The House Historian by title is not created in this office.
I am hoping that that is one of the next incremental steps that
we can take in this process. But as you may be aware, the House
rules sort of contradict me in this fashion, because they still
allow the Speaker to be involved in the selection or management
of the House Historian.
In the perfect world--in my perfect world, the House
Historian would be the head of this department and be staffed
by these people. There are other people in the Capitol who
obviously have a different opinion where they would prefer it
would be bifurcated, and there would be a House Historian on
one side and the staff on the other side doing the nuts and
bolts.
So we are still working on that issue. You have every
commitment from me that that is exactly the direction I want to
go. But----
Mr. Hoyer. We are not there yet.
Mr. Trandahl. Yes, we are not quite there. Hopefully sooner
than later.
Mr. Ehlers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
On this one, I have quite a few opinions and thoughts. I
heartily approve of this, and as the Clerk knows, and as the
chairman of this committee knows, I have been advocating for
this activity for some 6 or 7 years now.
I find it incomprehensible that the House of
Representatives would be without an Historian, particularly
since the position was created in law. What bothers me even
more, however, is the archival aspects of this position and of
the House. I am amazed at how poorly the archival records of
the House are accumulated and kept. There is no standard, for
example, among the Members of the House as to which of their
papers they should keep. There is no recommendation as to what
should be done with them after they leave office, and at this
point, some Members will give them to a local college, some
will burn them, some will give them to the House Historian.
There is just no uniformity at all and no overall direction.
Not every scrap of paper generated in every office is worth
keeping, but there is a considerable amount of activity in the
House that should be archived, and we need some very
knowledgeable people determining what must be archived, setting
standards for the committees particularly, but also individual
Members, as to what should be archived and how it should be
archived.
I know, for example, that a number of committees and people
are preserving the records on disks. Now, that is extremely
dangerous because algorithms change, methods of storage change,
and I have seen this happen in State government and local
government. Everything is archived, then they get new
computers, they have new memory, and they do not upgrade. The
algorithms are different, and within 10 years, or sometimes
even 5 years, all the previous information is lost simply
because none of them have old enough computers or old enough
software to read it and interpret it.
So we desperately need standards for archival activity and
also some guidance for Members as to what should be archived
and what shouldn't. So I heartily support this proposal, and I
think it is something that we should have done 8 years ago had
it not been for opposition from some Members of the House and,
in fact, some members of this committee.
Mr. Trandahl. As Mr. Ehlers and I have talked personally
several times that it is a large initiative in terms of this
proposal. As well, I just want to thank the committee. I mean,
we have gone from a place, Mr. Ehlers, where we had two
positions that basically dealt with the archiving and the
research part. In the last 2 years here we have been able to go
from two to eight positions with the help of this committee
here. And subsequently, now getting this to an independent,
freestanding office, and giving it the profile and the respect
it deserves, hopefully, within the institution, we will be able
to build upon the programs we have already started, whether it
is archiving or curatorial or the research or the documents.
There are four publications that the committee has
authorized that we create, The Women in Congress, Black
Americans in Congress, Hispanic Americans in Congress and Asian
Americans in Congress, in conjunction with the Library.
Mr. Ehlers. May I add, Mr. Chairman, it is not that this is
going to cost us a lot of money, because we are doing it in a
haphazard way now, but also the expertise. We have expertise at
beck and call at the Federal Archives, but also at the Library
of Congress. Not that they always agree on how to do it, but
nevertheless, we have two great sources of free assistance
there.
The Chairman. The Chair will note there are no current
Members sitting at the dais who opposed this at any particular
time. So we do not need a roll call.
With that, Mr. Ehlers, I would entertain a motion.
Mr. Fattah. Mr. Chairman?
The Chairman. I am sorry, Mr. Fattah.
Mr. Fattah. If I could just ask, you mentioned a Fine Arts
Board in your statement.
Mr. Trandahl. Yes.
Mr. Fattah. Can you tell me what the focus of----
Mr. Trandahl. Yes. The Fine Arts Board is an entity that
consists of the House members of the Joint Committee on the
Library. It is a group that oversees with me--as the Clerk, I
have the curatorial responsibility of what is called the House
collection. Basically a lot of the paintings, the statues, even
the architectural features in some of the buildings here we
have responsibility for, and that Board oversees, for example,
if the chairman of a committee is getting a portrait painted,
it has to be adopted and accepted by the Fine Arts Board before
it can become a part of the House collection.
Mr. Fattah. But all of the art work in the House is part of
the arts collection, not just the portraits of former Chairs?
Mr. Trandahl. Right. There are actually three separate
collections on Capitol Hill. This is where it gets a little
confusing. The Senate has a collection. The House has a
collection. And then is there a joint collection that is
overseen by the Capital Preservation Commission and also the
Joint Committee on the Library. That joint collection, for
example, the statues in Statuary Hall, the 100 that were
authorized from the States, we have 97 currently, those were
actually accepted by the Joint Committee on the Library because
they could be located in the House or the Senate side.
Mr. Fattah. I do understand. Thank you.
I am in full support of what you want to do. I would be
interested in you sharing with the committee in terms of the
House collection to what degree it depicts in any of its
artistic renderings African Americans and others.
Mr. Trandahl. Sure.
Mr. Fattah. There seems to be a dearth of that in the
House's collection, and what you might want to do about that
might be of interest to the committee.
Mr. Trandahl. And just so you know, we are at a real
opportunity, I think, relative to the Capitol and artworks just
with the addition of this Capitol Visitors Center. It allows us
great opportunity to be adding to the collection where we find
holes in history and representation. So----
Mr. Fattah. There is one hole that I have taken note of.
Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you. That is well noted and
appreciated.
The Chair recognizes Mr. Ehlers.
Mr. Ehlers. Mr. Chairman, I move that the committee
resolution approving the creation of the Office of History and
Preservation be adopted.
The Chairman. The question is on the motion.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Those opposed, nay.
With that, the ayes have it, the motion is agreed to, and
the committee resolution approving the creation of the Office
of History and Preservation is adopted.
I ask unanimous consent that Members have 7 legislative
days to submit material into the record and for materials
submitted by the Inspector Genral and the Clerk of the House to
be entered at the appropriate place in the record.
Without objection, the material will be so entered.
[The information follows:]
Committee Resolution 107-6, The Creation of the Office of History and
Preservation
Resolved, That the Committee on House Administration hereby
approves the proposal to create The Office of History and
Preservation, a new division within the Office of the Clerk of
the House of Representatives, attached hereto and incorporated
herein.
The Chairman. I ask unanimous consent that the staff be
authorized to make technical and conforming changes on all
matters considered by the committee in today's meeting.
Without objection, so ordered.
Having completed our business, the committee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 2:30 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]