▶ 0:06:54The subject of today's hearing is fiscal year 2027, budget request for the library of congress and the us government publishing office, gpo. Today's hearing marks the beginning of the subcommittee's fiscal year 2027 appropriations hearing season. In addition to our hearings being broadcast live, this hearing will include closed captioning option. Last year, the house modernization and innovation subcommittee recommended this technology for all committees across the house.
▶ 0:07:22As the chairman of the subcommittee that provides the funding for the modernization project, I was pleased to approve the funds providing greater accessibility for those participating in committee hearings. I'd like to thank ranking member espaillat and our committee members for being here today. I particularly appreciate your flexibility with the schedule for the remaining for remaining in town for this important hearing. I'd also like to thank Mr. robert newland, the acting librarian of congress, and Mr.
▶ 0:07:46Uh, and director halpern, uh, from the us government publishing office for being here today and for accommodating the hearing schedule change. The library is looking forward to an exciting year of celebrating america's 250th birthday with a new exhibition entitled the declaration's promise, opening in july. The government publishing office is celebrating its 165th birthday this week. Uh 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of the gpo's production of the us passport.
▶ 0:08:19We appreciate the efforts of each of your staff for the work they do to help congress and to celebrate this historic american milestone. Library of congress fiscal year 2027 budget request is offsetting with offsetting amounts. Totals $931.5 million, a 3.8% increase from the enacted fiscal year 2026. Funding. The requested budget was support professionals and staff across the library, including the congressional research service.
▶ 0:08:46The library's request also includes modest investments in technology, including ai, cybersecurity, and cloud improvements, and other efforts to modernize library systems. The government publishing office has requested flat funding for 132 million flat funding of 132 million for fiscal year 2027. Director halpern, congratulations. A flat budget request isn't something I see very often in this chair.
▶ 0:09:09The gpo request was developed utilizing zero based budgeting as directed by this subcommittee, utilizing savings through enhanced technologies, including ai, while also absorbing increased raw material and labor costs. Thank you again for joining us today, and I look forward to hearing your testimonies and learning more about your budget priorities for fiscal year 2027. I now recognize ranking member espaillat for his opening remarks. >> thank you, Mr. chairman. Um, thank you, ranking member. Mr.
▶ 0:09:42Hoyer and all the members of this are important. Committee. Subcommittee. Good morning, Mr. newland and halpern and your teams. We appreciate you being here today to discuss your fiscal year 2027 budget requests. Together, the library of congress and the us government publishing office account for roughly 14% of the legislative branch budget. Yet their role in supporting congress and the american public is significant.
▶ 0:10:10Last year, the house majority proposed reductions to the library's budget. In the fiscal year 26 house bill. Through bipartisan negotiations, we were able to secure a flat funding level for the library. That stability allows the library to manage operations, better, protect its workforce workforce and continue core services without disruption. Predictable funding really matters.
▶ 0:10:39As we consider fiscal year 2027, congress has a responsibility not only to fund these institutions responsibly, but to ensure they remain strong, stable and accountable to the legislative branch they serve. Institutional continuity, sound management and operational independence are essential to maintaining trust and carrying out the library's mission without interruption. Mr. llewellyn and Mr.
▶ 0:11:08Halpern, I'm particularly interested in your proposed investment in information technology and cyber security, protecting digital collections, strengthening cloud security, and modernizing connectivity are critical to safeguarding both the institution and the people who rely on it. Modernization must also expand access.
▶ 0:11:31Digital services ensure that students, researchers and families across the country can benefit from the library's resources. As chair of the congressional hispanic caucus, I believe our national institutions must reflect and serve the full diversity of our nation and continue broadening outreach to underserved communities.
▶ 0:11:53The government publishing office plays a vital role in ensuring transparency and public access to government information. Reliable access to official information strengthens accountability and reinforces confidence in our democratic institutions. These agencies, both of these agencies, are pillars of an informed democracy.
▶ 0:12:16Our responsibility is to ensure they remain strong, secure and accessible while using taxpayer dollars wisely. I look forward to today's discussion. Thank you, Mr. chairman, I yield back. >> thank you. Thank you, ranking member espaillat. And I'd like to now I'd like to recognize the full committee ranking member rosa delauro, for her opening remarks. >> thank you so much, Mr. chairman. And the ranking member.
▶ 0:12:45Pleasure to be here with all of you this morning. It's a and I say a very big thank you to our witnesses, Mr. newland. Director halpern, uh, thank you for taking the time to be here and to answer our questions. But as I said, coming in to you, I view where you are and what you do. You really are our soul. You are the keeper of the flame here for, uh, for all of us, for for our nation.
▶ 0:13:09And, uh, it's we're so excited to hear about what your plans are for the 250th, uh, celebration. And so thank you so, so much. Um, and both of the the agencies perform indispensable functions, uh, for the american people, uh, who we represent. So I'm so grateful, um, for your service. Uh, even under what? I know, what can be difficult circumstances.
▶ 0:13:35So eager to hear from you both about the efforts you are undertaking to adapt the agency's modernize the programs, continue to provide the exceptional public service that we all come to expect. Um, the government publishing office, library of congress, storied storage institutions in american history. In fact, the gpo just celebrated its 165th anniversary on wednesday, having opened its doors for the first time on march 4th in 1861.
▶ 0:14:08And on that same day, just down the road from its offices on the corner of h street and north capitol, uh, where it remains to this day, president abraham lincoln was giving his first inaugural address. It's breathtaking. I mean, to to, you know, get the, you know, the depth, as I say, of the soul of of of this nation. The library of congress is the largest library in the world.
▶ 0:14:39It's a testament to the significance that we as as a government, as a society, as a nation plays on the importance of knowledge, of research, of objectivity. These are values, um, that sometimes are challenged today.
▶ 0:14:55Um, and I know the library has not been spared from efforts to undermine some core principles, but we will prevail because of what the, the the value, the history, uh, and what it what it means, what the library means, uh, to, uh, to this, to this great nation. When you think of every book that's ever published, is it the library of congress?
▶ 0:15:21I just I say I was there, um, the other the other day, I asked for nih, had a reception there. And you look around and you feel like you're in the presence of really of greatness here, so forth. And I'm so thankful for those who built the library when they did. I'm not sure we would have the magnificence of that building if it were structured today, but I look, I, I know that both of your institutions face no shortage of challenges today.
▶ 0:15:52I'm confident that we on the appropriations committee, democrats and republicans, can work productively, uh, as we did this past fall, to provide you with the resources and the support you need to carry on your very, very important work. I look forward to your testimony and look forward to your, uh, to answering our questions. Thank you so much for being here today. >> thank you. Ranking member delauro. Uh, I'd now like to recognize Mr.
▶ 0:16:20Nuland, the acting librarian, for your full your full testimony has been submitted for the record, and you are now recognized to provide a summary of your written testimony. >> thank you. Thanks for coming. >> thank you. >> chairman, ranking member and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of the library's fiscal 27 request. I am deeply grateful for the consistent support congress has shown the library throughout the year.
▶ 0:16:48I am profoundly grateful for the library's talented and resilient staff. This includes the strongest management team I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I'm also pleased to be testifying with a much valued colleague, hugh halpern. To start, I want to say that we are the library of congress.
▶ 0:17:07We exist to support you in the performance of your constitutional duties, being an enduring source of knowledge for you and your constituents requires ongoing investment in expert staff, cutting cutting edge technology and comprehensive collections. You will see these three areas in our budget. Request. Our fiscal 27 request totals $931 million.
▶ 0:17:35It is designed to maintain the library's core operations, cover unavoidable cost increases, and make targeted investments that strengthen service efficiency and public value. The request includes a net increase of $34 million, or a 3.8 increase over fiscal 26. If approved, this would be the first increase in three years. It falls into two categories.
▶ 0:18:03First, approximately 24 million to cover mandatory pay and price level increases, and second, approximately 11 million for program increases. Back in the 90s, we needed 5000 employees to deliver our services. Today, we deliver on our mission with 3100 employees, steady investments in modernization and automation over the last ten years have allowed us to be more efficient and accomplish more with this reduced staffing level.
▶ 0:18:32Our people are really our greatest resource. It is critical that this relatively low staffing level be adequately supported. Our fiscal 27 program request is chiefly for a centralized ai enterprise platform.
▶ 0:18:47We use commercial ai where possible, but in order to use confidential data to ensure data integrity and privacy, and to train ai on our unique data types, we need to be able to develop and manage ai models in a controlled and secure environment. Without an ai platform of our own, we will be left behind, as will congress.
▶ 0:19:15So far, we have used existing resources to underwrite ai experimentation. To move forward, we need a relatively modest increase of 5.4 million. And as we move forward, we also remember the past the celebration of america's 250th anniversary gives us all an opportunity to appreciate the treasure that is the library of congress. We invite everyone to join us this summer for our declaration's promise exhibit.
▶ 0:19:44It will feature our copy of the declaration of independence with thomas jefferson's handwritten notes and lincoln's reading copy of the gettysburg address. In the spirit of a250 and going from sea to shining sea, I have two important collection items I want to share with you today prints and photographs. Curator sarah duke is going to help me out.
▶ 0:20:07First, from 1825, I have a beautiful watercolor of new york harbor seen from brooklyn. And second, and you are the very first to see this image. I have a rare eyewitness drawing of the magnificent yosemite falls from 1855. It is among the first known images of this natural wonder.
▶ 0:20:35We were able to buy it thanks to a generous donation from the library's james madison council. Thank you sarah. I started at the library a lifetime ago. What keeps me young are precious new treasures like these, and all the tools and new ideas on how to deliver on the library's old fashioned promise, providing you with authoritative, unbiased support that is grounded in a comprehensive collection of knowledge.
▶ 0:21:04To close, I want to reiterate my gratitude for congress's continued support for the library. We take the fact that the word congress is in our name very seriously when making financial decisions. We always remember that these are hard earned taxpayer dollars, and we remain committed to delivering exceptional service and the best possible value in return. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:21:34>> thank you, Mr. newland. I now recognize director halpern for a summary of your written testimony, which has been submitted for the record. >> thank you, Mr. chairman. Ranking member, sbi, ranking member delauro. All my friends, old and new on the committee, uh, I am pleased to be here to present the government publishing offices fiscal year 2027 appropriations request.
▶ 0:21:55I appreciate everyone's past support of gpo and look forward to working with the committee and subcommittee closely in the coming year. I am requesting appropriations of $132 million for fiscal year 2027, unchanged from our fiscal year 2026 appropriation. As you know, gpo operates as a business enterprise, and directly appropriated funds represent only about 9% of gpo's revenue.
▶ 0:22:28The remainder of our more than $1.3 billion in revenue from last year came from gpo's billings to other federal customers, such as the department of state, national archives, department of defense and countless others. We sell products and services to those customers and adjust pricing based on the cost of materials, labor, and overhead. Our model continues to deliver results. We closed our books for fiscal year 2026 or 2025. Excuse me?
▶ 0:23:00With a net positive income of $32.8 million, enabling us to continue investing in our team, equipment and campus. Our fy 2027 request includes $80 million for congressional publishing, the same amount as our fy 26 appropriation. Based on our estimate of congress's likely needs, informed by historical trends and available unexpended balances, we believe that this amount will be adequate for this fiscal year.
▶ 0:23:29For this account, we offset increased labor and materials costs through efficiency. A request for the public information programs account, through which we administer the federal depository library program, is about $42.9 million. Our final request is for $9.1 million for gpo's revolving fund to support key technological upgrades, the same amount as was appropriated last year, and about $2 million less than the amounts appropriated in fy 2025.
▶ 0:23:59About 40% of that amount will support continued development of xpb. Our next generation composition engine. We are continuing to push forward with the final stages of development for xpb for bills, resolutions and amendments. We've completed our first phase of testing with both the house and senate and hope to begin the second expanded testing phase soon.
▶ 0:24:25The remainder of our revolving fund request is for funds to support gov info, our online trusted digital repository. The data in that system supports my friend, uh, Mr. newland and the library of congress, congress's bulk data efforts, and dozens of other federal agencies enabling americans, uh, to access government information digitally rather than in print.
▶ 0:24:52Last year, the system received nearly 2 billion information retrieval requests, and that's a 16% increase year over year. This is a big year for gpo, as you've said, along with the nation's 250th birthday, gpo celebrated its own 165th birthday on wednesday. And we're also celebrating a century of producing the united states passport.
▶ 0:25:17We appreciate all of your support in the past and hope it continues well into the future. Chairman. Ranking member. Ranking member delauro. Members of the subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to present our request and for the support you and your staff have shown us over the years. I look forward to answering any questions you may have. >> thank you, Mr. halpern. We now begin the question portion of the hearing.
▶ 0:25:42I'll call on members based on seniority of those present when the hearing was called to order, alternating between the majority and minority, followed by members in order of their arrival. Each will have five minutes. I now recognize myself. Mr. newland, tell us a little more about the impact an ai platform would have on the library. What ai streamline and expedite services provided to congress? If so, please tell us how congress would notice these changes. >> the answer to that question is yes.
▶ 0:26:10The library has embraced ai since the very beginning, and our staff have been very creative in applying it to a whole range of work processes and services to enhance service to congress. But we've only used existing funds to do that, and we've pretty much hit a roadblock because we need a larger platform in order to train ai models.
▶ 0:26:39And I'll use the congressional research service as an example. Um, members and staff are requesting more, uh, analysis of big data, and we have the right people to do it, but they don't have the platform to do it. The big data requires the cloud. It requires a much bigger, um, platform in order to manipulate it securely and stably.
▶ 0:27:05So the platform would actually be shared across the library, not just ours, but crs would certainly be one of the great beneficiaries of this, and it would give them more opportunity to provide you with quantitative data. >> and follow up. If funding for the platform is not available, what should we expect? Would there be a loss of services, or would you anticipate its services maintaining the status quo?
▶ 0:27:34>> services would be the status quo. But in terms of, uh, exploiting the the potential of ai, um, we would we would be left behind. >> all right. Thank you. Mr. halpern, in your testimony, you mentioned that you've been able to increase productivity through the adoption of new technologies, which has helped your need for additional or help keep your need for appropriations down.
▶ 0:27:58Can you tell us a little more about the technology you've implemented and how it has improved your processes and made your offices more efficient? >> certainly. Um, as as I explained, gpo is a manufacturing operation at its heart. Um, and we were confronted around the time I came to gpo, uh, six years ago, uh, with the situation where the, uh, daily circulation of daily publications.
▶ 0:28:27So thank federal register, congressional record, congressional calendars, those items, the print circulation was dropping off. Traditional printer printing methods are economical when they are at scale. So when the congressional record was 25,000 printed copies every day, that made sense economically.
▶ 0:28:48But when it was only about 1500 copies per day, each one of those copies would cost hundreds of dollars, which didn't make any sense. So we we switched our printing technology from traditional offset printing, uh, to digital inkjet. And if you think of a digital inkjet as just being that same inkjet printer that's sitting next to your desk, except the size of a panel van, and it runs at 1000 pages a minute.
▶ 0:29:17Um, it's the same technology, and it doesn't care whether you're printing ten copies of something or 10,000 copies of something. So that has enabled us to reduce that per print cost to very, very low numbers.
▶ 0:29:34And we have a tremendous savings because there isn't the the inherent waste that you get with a traditional printing process where that first 500 or 1000 copies goes straight into the recycling bin. Uh, because that's just what's required to set the machine up. So that's one example.
▶ 0:29:53Uh, we are using ai and other technologies, uh, to try and figure out where we can streamline internal processes. One of the key things that we do for congress is essentially document conversion. So, Mr. valadao, when you if you.
▶ 0:30:13Uh, want to write out a bill longhand on the house floor and drop it into the hopper, we have to be able to turn that into good structured data. Um, right now we do that manually and we break that into pieces, and we have people work on that.
▶ 0:30:32Each one of those pieces, having ai tools will eventually enable us to get rid of sort of that low level, uh, kind of document conversion activity and really let our trained proofreaders focus on the more difficult, uh, composition and structural problems with, with trying to turn those files around. >> all right. >> well, thank you. My time is expired. So I now recognize ranking member espaillat for his five minutes.
▶ 0:31:04>> thank you, Mr. chairman. Um, recent geopolitical tensions and conflicts have underscored the growing risk of cyber attacks targeting us government systems and critical information infrastructures.
▶ 0:31:21Agencies that manage and provide public access to congressional and government information, including, uh, gpo and the library of congress, playing an essential role in safeguarding the integrity and availability of that information as compared to last year. How are the government publishing office and the library of congress assessing their cyber security posture and vulnerabilities in the current threat environment?
▶ 0:31:52>> um, Mr. espaillat, I can I can start, um, the. When I came to gpo about six years ago, I got a very rude awakening about a month into the job when, uh, a, a group of actors, uh, associated with iran defaced, uh, one of our fdlp sites. The good news is they didn't get any farther than the front page. Um, but it was a wake up call.
▶ 0:32:20So in the meantime, we have been moving all of our public facing systems, uh, to more secure platforms. And, you know, knock on wood, we have had a very, very good track record with that over the last several years.
▶ 0:32:35Um, we made maintain a strong cybersecurity posture, frankly, because of our secure id work for the department of, uh, state, we have to maintain a very strong cyber, uh, posture and a physical security posture. Um, we test and monitor constantly, and we really work with our team to make sure that they, they integrate, uh, strong security thinking into almost everything we do.
▶ 0:33:04And we're we're always continuing to. >> your system ever been compromised? >> as I said, the, uh, the one that we had a couple of years ago was really. They just compromised the front page. Um, they delivered a pro-iran message, but they never got any farther. Um, but it was a good wake up call. It was an old platform. And we moved that system to a newer, more secure platform. And so far we haven't had any any difficulties there. >> Mr. newland.
▶ 0:33:37>> cyber security is really our number one priority, and we're grateful to congress for the support that you've given to, uh, ensuring that our data is properly protected from cyber attacks. Each year we get tens of thousands of attacks on our system.
▶ 0:33:56And, uh, so obviously, we have to be very sure that we have the latest technology to address protecting our and your legislative data. Um, we work, uh, across the legislative branch and across the larger national cyber security community to ensure that we're always up to date. We want to avoid what happened to the british library.
▶ 0:34:24They had a, um, a huge hack, which five years later, they still haven't recovered from. And we spent a lot of time examining that to ensure we have safeguards so it doesn't happen to us. >> can you share with the members of the subcommittee what are some of the areas that are so sensitive that are within the library of congress that could be targets for these actors? >> certainly.
▶ 0:34:52Well, our legislative data for congress.gov, um, would certainly, um, be a major target. Um, the data that the congressional research service uses, um, would also, um, also be a major source of interest. >> okay.
▶ 0:35:11Do you believe that the existing infrastructure and funding levels requested for 2027 are sufficient to defend against and respond to any potential cyber attacks? >> yes. And I believe that we have the right staff in place to ensure that that doesn't happen. >> is there any sensitive or classified information within the the system itself? >> yes. There's a great deal of sensitive information.
▶ 0:35:40One example would be all of the requests that are placed with the congressional research service. Um, all of that data is very sensitive. And obviously we have, um, walled off and ensure that there, um, you know, that it can't be. >> what about classified information?
▶ 0:36:03>> to the best of my knowledge, um, we occasionally our analysts have access to classified information, our foreign affairs analysts. But, um, that's not routine. And it would be, um, not a significant number, not a significant amount of classified information. >> thank you, Mr. chairman, I yield back. >> thank you. Mr. I now recognize Mr. lalota for his five minutes. >> thank you. Chairman. Mr. nealon well done on the artwork you brought here. I am sure Mr.
▶ 0:36:35Espaillat and I enjoy seeing the new artwork. And the chairman likes seeing the california artwork. I think you might have made some other members jealous, and they probably want you to bring some of their artwork at a future date. But but well done, sir. >> we're happy to do that. >> great. Um, you're the you're in charge of the library of congress, sir. >> yes, sir. It's my honor and privilege to serve as acting librarian of congress. >> and for how long have you been doing that? >> 304 days. >> counting everyone. >> however, um, I've enjoyed every minute of it.
▶ 0:37:03Um, however, my career at the library is is much longer. I spent 33 years with the congressional research service, spent a year and a half as acting um, director of crs, and also um act, deputy librarian of congress. >> and thank you for being here today, testifying about the library's budget. Uh, you've helped the library's held its budget flat since fy 24, and we appreciate the library doing that. Uh, yet this year, you're asking for a 3.8% increase.
▶ 0:37:31And if we were continuing on that track, your library would hit $1 billion just two years from now. So I have to ask, while we recognize your important work, uh, at the same time, I hope you appreciate that we have to scrutinize, uh, increases like that, especially when they exceed the rate of inflation. So can you tell us a little bit if we granted the request for the 3.8% increase, what does that bias can you show us?
▶ 0:37:54Can you tell us 1 or 2 significant things that that increase, uh, would get the country in the congress? >> sure thing. Um, for the past two years, we've had to absorb all of the mandatory pay increases and price increases, and that's about 34 million. So we've just had to carve that out of our budget.
▶ 0:38:14Um, the other thing that would, um, that would have a big impact is the is the platform for artificial intelligence. Um, we, uh, believe that we can be a leader in the legislative branch for ai, and this would really, um, help us move forward. >> great. That leads me to my next question.
▶ 0:38:41You said in your testimony that in the 90s, the library had about 5000 full time employees, but now you're around 3100. And that ai automation has helped put you on that track. Um, do you expect, uh, that decrease reliance on full time employees to continue? And if so, what do you expect in the future for that impact to be. >> with ai? I don't predict, um, uh, that we're going to have a reduction of workforce.
▶ 0:39:08In fact, ai is replacing some, uh, work processes that free our, uh, staff to do more. And I'll give you an example, um, for our bill summaries, um, for congress.gov, we have an enormous backlog.
▶ 0:39:28We're working now with ai to, uh, to have, um, the first kind of summary part done by ai, not the analytical part, which is the most among the most important part of that bill digest. Um, but if we could, um, implement an ai solution, it would give us an opportunity to get rid of that backlog.
▶ 0:39:54We're able to get every bill that's coming to the floor into congress.gov, but we have a huge, um, inventory of bills that we can't get to, as you know, um, congress is introducing more and more bills, I believe 13,000 this um, this session. And we try very hard.
▶ 0:40:16We have a staff of 12, but if we can get the, um, the ai to help us with these summaries, and we've got to be really careful because obviously we have to ensure that the data is authoritative. Um, I think that we could reduce this backlog. So that's one area where I think we could, um, get some efficiencies. >> great. Thank you for that.
▶ 0:40:39With my less than a minute remaining, I want to ask you a little bit about the veterans history project, I think, which I think has had a tremendous impact nationwide. If members wanted to tap more into the veterans history project and avail their constituents more of it and brag on the great work you're doing, what's the best way we can do that? Sir? >> thank you for asking. As a matter of fact, your your question is very timely because we're celebrating the 25th anniversary this year of the veterans history project, and it's going stronger than ever.
▶ 0:41:07We have over 120,000 histories in it now, and we would like to work with every congressional office, with every member to, um, to get veterans stories. So, uh, we'll be happy to provide you with information. We routinely, um, try and push information out about it. Um, but it's a it's a fabulous program. >> thank you. >> time is expired. >> thank you. Mr. I now recognize the full committee ranking member, miss delauro, for five minutes.
▶ 0:41:38>> thank you very much, Mr. chairman, a very quick question. Um, this based on your last comment, do you have the latest technology that you need to do what you, uh, whether, you know, to protect information, to do what you need? Do you have the latest technology. >> in the area of cybersecurity? Yes we do. >> what areas do you not have the latest technology?
▶ 0:42:05>> I would use the example of the of the increase that we're asking for in the ai area. It's changing the as you know, the um, yeah. It's changing so quickly. We we want to keep up. We have the right kind of staff, um, to work in this area, but they need the resources to do it. >> uh, I'd like to ask you this, though. Speak to me about how the recent funding cuts have impacted the library and your ability to function.
▶ 0:42:39>> because, um, because we've had to, um, uh, take our mandatory price increases using our current budget. >> 34 million. >> it has, um, prevented us from, um, we've had to, you know, pull this from other, other programs. Basically, it has prevented us from hiring any new staff. And, um, we've, uh, had over the past two years a number of, of hiring freezes.
▶ 0:43:08That's probably the biggest, biggest area where, um, where we've had impact. >> mhm. Um, you mentioned I was going to ask, but I think you said that you're testing new initiatives, programs to make the resources, um, vast and also accessible. Uh, is the I was going to ask about that. What are actively exploring what you have already implemented is that specifically around the ai platform, or are you doing other areas as well. >> in terms of growth in.
▶ 0:43:39>> new initiatives, programs to make the resources, uh, as vast as we can possibly make them and as accessible as possible. >> one of our big focuses right now is pushing out our resources to celebrate america. 250 and, um, we are doing that, um, as we speak. One of the things that we're looking forward to is this is the 50th year of the american folklife center. >> yes. >> a congressional initiative, which we carried out.
▶ 0:44:07And, um, we will be pushing out a lot of content related to that. We have cultural history from every state and territory. And, um, this will be we have an exhibit coming this fall, and we'll be pushing out a lot of, uh, a lot of content on that. Thank you for asking. >> so, yeah, the folk life, as you point out, is, is understanding the various cultures, different states. Is that what that's about? >> that's correct. >> okay.
▶ 0:44:36So it's a cataloging of individual states, who we are, what we're about, what our history is. So it's connecticut, maryland, you know, new york, etc. >> yes, it's actually physical, um, a physical collection as well as oral histories. >> okay. Um, let me ask. I want to try to get to a quick things in. I recently learned more about the documenting america initiative. What is this program?
▶ 0:45:02Uh, how it collects and preserves the digital history of of contemporary americans. Tell us a little bit about that. >> well, we do that in several ways. We work with a number of, um, uh, contractors to help us, um, gather oral histories, um, uh, in particular themes, for example, um, we had a, um, a special oral history project on covid 19, um, which is is
▶ 0:45:33Coming to completion. So that would be that would be one example. We document the oral histories in many ways through the veterans history project. Which is through, um, uh, through the american folklife center. >> storycorps, part of your, um. >> yes, storycorps is one of our our partners, uh, we really value our working relationship with them.
▶ 0:45:56Um, they're they're one example of a number of of organizations that we work with to help us with this oral history project. >> uh, final very quick question.
▶ 0:46:10You talked about the sensitive information, the data that that you have and the protection of that data, uh, has, I best say this, uh, have you ever had, um, any request to release any of that data or to, um, is there been any pressure in any way with regard to the sensitive data that you. Uh. >> no, that's not been our experience. >> okay. That's great. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:46:42>> thank you. Ranking member. I now recognize, uh, Mr. strong for his five minutes. >> thank you. Chairman and ranking member, uh, sbi and ranking member, dolores. An honor to serve with each of you on this dais. Uh, I think each of our witnesses for being here today. Director halprin, since taking over as gpo director, what areas of wasteful or ineffective spending have you identified within your agency?
▶ 0:47:09>> so as I, as I alluded to earlier, changing technologies is really key to keeping costs down. Um, because we operate like a business, we have a built in incentive, uh, to keep those costs down.
▶ 0:47:23Now, just as, uh, just as the library has shed headcount over over the last several years, our timeline is a little bit longer, but our high water mark for headcount was in the mid 1980s, and we had almost 8500 people. We're now down to 6614 as of last week. Um, we did doge before doge was cool.
▶ 0:47:49Um, we're about at the right size for us and for our customers. Our biggest, our biggest challenge, frankly, is the age of our workforce. Um, my average age is about 54. And while we've been able to push back the retirement cliff, we've been facing by about 3 or 4 years.
▶ 0:48:14Um, we still need to hire folks so that we've got that next generation of professionals and craftspeople coming in to learn these trades so that when folks take their well-earned retirement, we've got that next generation coming in behind them. >> thank you. What piece of advice would you offer to other directors on how you have managed, through attrition and additional demands, but you present a flat budget or a balanced budget?
▶ 0:48:41Uh, before this committee, what one piece of advice would you offer to other directors? >> look at all of your processes and figure out where you can be more efficient. Um, you know, we we face that every day with, uh, the requests we get for from congress, um, gpo functions in very much a siloed, uh, structure.
▶ 0:49:07So the organization that produces passports is highly, highly efficient. They can tell you where every piece of paper is at any given time during the manufacturing process. The group that produces stuff for congress and the federal register, they don't have that same culture. So we have been trying to move this lean six sigma culture from our secure identity documents division over to our printing plant.
▶ 0:49:37And it's a long process, but it's something that pays off over time. >> uh, thank you, Mr. newland, I'd like to ask you the same question. Since, uh, taking on this role, have you identified any areas of waste or inefficiency within the library of congress? And if so, how do you plan to address them? >> yes, and I'll give you two examples. One that you just mentioned, attrition has given us a real opportunity to go back and reexamine our management structure.
▶ 0:50:06And in some cases, it has, um, because times have changed, technology has changed. Um, we don't need to hire in those areas and we can, um, combine them with other, other kinds of positions and save resources for new areas like ai. Um, ai has really given us an opportunity to look at our work processes. And one example is in, um, I'll use crs again as an example.
▶ 0:50:35Um, in gis and um, uh, infographics, there's a huge demand for both of these in crs reports, a huge demand for members, and they have used ai to make that process much more efficient.
▶ 0:50:54And that's just one example of of actually dozens of, um, processes that we're reexamining in the library where we think ai can have a, um, can really help us simplify and free our staff to do more, um, higher level tasks. >> thank you. Speaking of ai, um, your budget request seeks additional funding for ai and digital initiatives. Yet some of these programs have been piloted for several years.
▶ 0:51:21What specific evidence shows that past investments have improved efficiency and reduced the manual workload? Sure. >> well, bill summaries is the first one. Um, crs initially, um, have have been testing different models. Um, some of them were successful, some of them weren't.
▶ 0:51:42The biggest problem is, is that, um, it takes, um, you know, a, a robust platform to, to do a large training model. And we don't we don't presently have that. Although I will say this, the crs has been very creative in terms of how far they have come. They have a plan to move forward if if they can have access to a to a larger, a larger platform. >> I think both of you for being here today, Mr. chairman, I yield back.
▶ 0:52:12>> thank you, Mr. strong. I now recognize Mr. hoyer for his five minutes. >> thank you very much. And thank you very much, Mr. nolan and Mr. halperin for the work that you're doing this these are critical agencies. They're not well known by the public and, frankly, not well known in terms of the intricacies of congress other than request.
▶ 0:52:34First question I'd like to ask, uh, you, director nolan, is, uh, what is the increase from at the point that you wish you had 5000 employees? I'm not sure when that exactly was. And the increase in the request from congress, uh, for information, you mentioned the escalation of numbers of bills, but you now have 3100 employees, presumably a lot more technology which
▶ 0:53:05Allows you to to decrease, uh, the numbers of employees you need. But what about the workload? >> uh, the workload. Well, let me let me go back and answer your first question. Um, the, uh, we had 5000 employees in the very early 90s, in 1991 and 92.
▶ 0:53:25And as you just mentioned, over time through modernization efforts, thanks to the support of congress, um, we've been able to decrease decrease that, um, that number. But, um, there are areas, for instance, in the congressional research service where we have needs for policy analysts. And, um, right now, um, we've not had a lot of attrition there.
▶ 0:53:50So we're not able to hire, um, and, um, that's a problem because we don't like to have any holes in our public policy coverage for congress. >> how many crs analysts do you have that respond to congressional questions? >> we have a total of 600 employees in crs that consists of, um, policy analysts, uh attorneys, uh librarians, and some administrative staff.
▶ 0:54:20>> okay, I interrupt you. Go ahead. >> um, so over time, um, yes, we have been able to bring staff level, that staff level down right now. I would say we're at a point where reducing it further would, um, in time, erode our service to congress in the nation. Um, it's it's, uh, about as as as low as we have been.
▶ 0:54:49>> now, you indicated you had a very substantial backlog, but were responding to congressional requests in a timely fashion. Explain that. >> the backlog is in the bills that we put in congress.gov. When we do the summary of the bill and the analysis, because this has been, you know, such an act of congress with so many bills we've gotten behind, our goal is to is to get everything in in a timely basis.
▶ 0:55:16But we can't do that, um, with, with our current resources. Now, hopefully we're looking at some ai, um, some ai solutions. Um, that may help us, but we are successful in getting the bills into congress.gov that are coming to the floor. Um, but other bills are a lower priority. >> thank you.
▶ 0:55:41I don't mean you to respond to this observation of mine, but I am very concerned about the fact that the librarian of congress, uh, was dismissed by the president of the united states. This is a congressional service, and it's a congressional arm. And in my view, the president, any president, democratic or republican, should have no role. As a matter of fact, I've talked to the speaker, and I think the speaker agrees with that proposition.
▶ 0:56:10I'm hopeful that we can have that in a bipartisan way, uh, corrected so that it is the congress through a bipartisan structure, as we have in some other agencies, uh, have that oversight. Um, lastly, let me ask you a specific question about the storage facility at fort meade. It happens to be in my district. And I know there's some question regarding the space available. Would you comment on that? >> yes. Yes, sir.
▶ 0:56:39We are, um, just in the process of completing a module, but as soon as it's finished, we have a need for another one. Um, there is a power plant that needs to be completed before, um, before we can start, uh, start the next one, but, um, the facilities and, and I often just like to refer to them as just another part of the library, because if you come to the jefferson building and request an item, you get it the
▶ 0:57:12Same day we have couriers that go back and forth. So it is an active part of our of our collection. But we do need, um, resources, uh, through the architect's office to, uh, begin the, um, design and accomplishment of the power plant. And then the next, um, the next, uh, module, which I believe is module eight.
▶ 0:57:34And what we want to avoid is, you may recall from a number of years ago that, uh, we did run out of space, and that resulted in, um, books being piled up in the stacks on the floor, um, which created a lot of safety, safety problems. The modules are very efficient.
▶ 0:57:56They they store material by size so that every inch of the module is, um, is used. >> are those materials also digitized? So in other words, hard copies as well as, uh, digital. >> some are digitized, are focused on digitization, are rare and unique materials.
▶ 0:58:20So we're not going to digitize bestsellers or, um, that kind of thing. But we, um, our specialty is, um, rare and unique materials. And we do store some of those. Um, we do keep some of those at, at fort meade in cold storage. Um, I can attest to that. You need a fur coat when you go in. >> thank you. Thank you, Mr. chairman. >> thank you, Mr. hoyer.
▶ 0:58:49I now recognize miss malloy for her five minutes. >> thank you, Mr. chairman. Thank you both for being here. Uh, Mr. newland, I want to join my colleague from new york and thanking you for bringing in the artwork. Uh, I will disagree with him that the rest of us are jealous. As beautiful as this is, I'd rather be from the middle of the country. Not new york or california. Um, but, Mr.
▶ 0:59:13Chairman, I'm excited to see the america 250 work and displays that you're doing. I think that'll be really good for the country to have that opportunity to reflect on who we are and where we came from and what we want to be moving forward. So thank you for that. Um, I do have speaking of progress, my first question for you is, uh, when my staff uses ai to do research, a lot of times the ai will cite crs articles.
▶ 0:59:39And then if crs is also using ai, I'm concerned that we might get in a loop where I have done research, where ai makes up citations or, you know, misinterprets things are how are we going to make sure as crs is using ai, that we don't have a loop where ai is reinforcing itself? >> that's that's a really good question. And it's something that we're very concerned about.
▶ 1:00:07Let me give you an example of something that we tried very early, um, in the in the ai space, obviously, we like to look at like commercial resources. It can be more efficient than building our own model. So we in the legal area, we chose one, a very well known legal publisher, um, came out with a product, um, a legal ai product, which they said could answer a whole range of questions very quickly.
▶ 1:00:35So for the exact reason that you mentioned we we cannot afford a bad site. Um, we cannot afford a hallucination in anything that we give to the congress. >> and thank you. >> for that. The product was a total failure. Um, it, uh, there were all kinds of case problems. Uh, it made up cases.
▶ 1:01:03Um, and for something like that, a lot of products have been rushed to the, to the market, and, um, they're not, um, you know, they're not ready for prime time, um, our own products. And this is part of our, um, our focus on bill summaries. I mean, we have to be we have to have 100% accuracy. There cannot be any, um, we cannot be giving the congress any improper court case or site.
▶ 1:01:30Um, so we're we're approaching it very, very cautiously. And, um, but because the ai is changing so fast and things are improving so fast, I'm very optimistic that that crs is going to be able to use it in a way, um, that will be productive. They've already started using it with gis and infographics, which I'm really excited about. It's a new way of presenting data to you.
▶ 1:01:58And, um, I hope, I hope that we can continue our progress with that. >> thank you. I'm excited about ai and its potential to, you know, do some of the lower level work like you talked about earlier. I just I want us to stay in a scenario where crs reports can be very trusted. So thank you for that. Um, Mr. halpern, passports. Uh, you talked about how this is the 100th year of gpo producing passports in the united states. Um, but the demand is rising.
▶ 1:02:31How do you plan to keep up with the new demand for passports? >> so we are keeping up with record orders from our customer, from the department of state two ways. First is we are hiring, um, two weeks ago, I graduated our newest, uh, newest class of production technicians.
▶ 1:02:53So it's a three year on the job training program that trains, uh, folks who have a talent for operating machine into full journeyperson book binders. Um. So we invest in our people, and we are also investing in equipment. So we are bringing online new equipment to create efficiencies in that production line.
▶ 1:03:20We think that we are going to be we we know that we'll be able to meet this year's order, uh, which we estimate to be around 27 million passports. Um, we are fully on track to meet that by the end of the fiscal year. Um, we believe based on our conversations with our with our customer, that probably, um, in the next several years, that number will grow to about 30 million.
▶ 1:03:49Um, and we intend to be able to meet that as well. So we are continuing to hire the personnel we need. Um, we operate a two different facilities, one here in dc, one at stennis nasa base in mississippi. Um, and to give you an idea, in mississippi, we we run three different sets of ships. So we run, uh, two ships. >> so if you could explain it really quickly. >> sure.
▶ 1:04:16Two ships that are four days a week, uh, for ten hours a day, and then we do a weekend shift, which is friday, saturday and sunday, 12 hours at a time. So we we've made those investments. >> thank you. Thanks for the explanation. I am out of time, so I'll yield back. >> thank you, miss malloy. Now, recognize Mr. moore for his five minutes. >> thank you, Mr. chairman. And I'm excited to start the fy 27 appropriations cycle under your leadership.
▶ 1:04:44Look forward to working with you again as the vice chair. As we craft this legislative branch. Bill, um, I also want to thank our witnesses for being here today and all the work they do on behalf of the american people. Thank you. Uh, Mr. newland, uh, thanks for the work you're doing since becoming acting librarian.
▶ 1:05:04You touched on it a little bit in your testimony testimony, but could you elaborate more on how the visitor experience initiative is progressing? >> sure. I'm happy to do that. Um, first of all, we've had our, I guess, our very first delivery, which is our treasures gallery. It's been opened about a year. It's been a huge success.
▶ 1:05:27It's having record attendance, and we're excited that this will be our platform for our a250 exhibit to bring out treasures that the public has never seen, that the congress and the public have never seen. Um. The second, um, the second, um, release is going to be our, um, facility called the source.
▶ 1:05:51And this is a center for, um, children and teens. Uh, it's going to be in our jefferson building. It's going to give children the opportunity to learn how research is done in a major research library. And, um, I can't wait for you to see it. It's really a remarkable facility and something a really kind of new kind of outreach that we haven't done in the past.
▶ 1:06:17Um, other parts are orientation gallery has been delayed, and, uh, the delays have primarily been because of the renovation in the 1995 building when they start, um, moving walls or looking at floors, they realize they often come across things that weren't anticipated that they couldn't have known in advance.
▶ 1:06:42But, um, we work closely with the architect's office and, um, literally on a daily basis, um, because we're very eager to complete these. And for more information about the, um, specific, um, details about the delay, I believe the architect would be the best source for those. >> great.
▶ 1:07:06And then just real quickly, I mean, as we all know, we're approaching america's 250th birthday this year, and it's a great chance to reflect on this great nation of ours and incredible people who built it. I saw that the library is hosting a display beginning on july 3rd that includes jefferson's rough draft of the declaration of independence, or a couple other things you can maybe highlight for us that are coming up. Um, you know, these paintings are great. West virginia is obviously not one of them there, but that's okay.
▶ 1:07:38I can move past that. Uh. >> we're happy to show you our west virginia collection. >> all right. >> it's quite it's quite extensive. It's a matter of fact, but we have a whole, um, a whole range of things coming up. Well, in that specifically other treasures in the, um, exhibit, um, will be a number of broadsides, um, of the declaration.
▶ 1:08:00Um, and it's going to, uh, again, have a lot of material that has just not been on display before for an extended period of time, like the gettysburg address. This magnificent drawing will be, um, in, in the collection as well. But we have, again, a whole range of things coming up. Our george, our two george's exhibit, george washington and george the third. It's been so popular.
▶ 1:08:29It will be up through july 3rd. And if you haven't seen it, it's a wonderful opportunity to see washington's papers and a whole range of material from, uh, the now king's collection at windsor castle and, um, anybody that would be interested in our full range of activities. I have handouts here, programing throughout the year. Um, it's going to be a really exciting, exciting time at the library. >> that's wonderful. And then just if I could ask Mr.
▶ 1:09:01Halperin question real quick, the remaining time I have, obviously, um, my colleagues and I, last night we passed a bill to reopen the department of homeland security, which is your where's been shut down for weeks. Um, with our colleagues across the aisle widely not supporting. But last fall, we experienced the longest government shutdown in history. Director halpern, can you give us a little color on how government shutdowns impact your operations? >> absolutely.
▶ 1:09:30It's pretty simple. Uh, we run, like, a business. And, uh, during the shutdown, we did not have revenue coming in. So for the first quarter of our fiscal year, uh, we ended $15 million in the hole. Um, I believe in being very transparent with my team. Uh, the good news is that was the first quarter. We've got three quarters to make that up.
▶ 1:09:55Um, but I'll be very frank with you, uh, a large part of my team's compensation comes from a performance bonus at the end of the year. Uh, if we meet our financial targets, they are eligible for up to 5% of their base pay. In order to reach that level, we need to fill in that $15 million hole and then essentially do that again, plus a little bit, uh, to reach that performance bonus level.
▶ 1:10:22So we're we're in a, we're not in a great in great shape financially. The good news is I'm getting briefed on our january numbers. Uh, this afternoon, it looks like we've started we've gotten over the hump, uh, and are starting to make some of that money back. Um, but we've got a we've got a big hole we've got to dig ourselves out of. >> well, I appreciate that very much. Hopefully we can avoid any government shutdowns here in the future. So thank you for that.
▶ 1:10:53>> I appreciate your time, Mr. moore. Um, if there are no further questions, I'd like to thank our witnesses and our colleagues. Yes. >> thank you. Um, I appreciate that. I wasn't going to say this, but I will respond. We had an opportunity, uh, with department of homeland security, uh, to make sure that cyber security was funded.
▶ 1:11:13Tsa, fema, coast guard, uh, all of the agencies of the department of homeland security, of which there is both bipartisan and bicameral agreement. Uh, what we did say was let us reserve the continued debate. It's a serious debate over ice, uh, and cbp. I won't go into all the reasons for that, but I think it's fairly well known. And let's reserve that.
▶ 1:11:40But in the meantime, let us fund all of the agencies to which there are no controversies. That was I speak about that because it's a bill that I, um, authored. And unfortunately, it's not something that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, uh, thought was a worthy thing in order to be able to provide you with what you may need with regard to cyber security.
▶ 1:12:02That aside, two of your really just pretty incredible, um, in, in, in, in laying out, I think some of the statistics are, are really pretty extraordinary. Uh, crs responded to 76,000 congressional requests, 5400 bill summaries, 1100 new products, 1900 updates, uh, gpo digital access milestone gpo surpassed $15 billion total information retrieval
▶ 1:12:33Retrievals across its public websites. It's really pretty extraordinary. Now, you talked about dealing with budgets. That's what we talk about here. But what is it that we could potentially provide you with?
▶ 1:12:49What if your what your your vision, you each have a vision for your agency and what you need to try to do to go forward, to make it the very, very best possible and make the accessibility possible and give the country the benefit of of the resources that we have. What what's your dream and your vision for the library and for gpo? >> so we have very simple needs.
▶ 1:13:20Um, we, we we offered a request this time which funds our needs for congress. Um, and this committee and the subcommittee. >> are with less, my friend. So I, I use that as a backdrop. More with less. You can't do tell me what more. >> you know, I don't know that we because we function like a business and we set our prices for our other customers. We're actually pretty good. >> okay. Good. Good. Mr. nolan.
▶ 1:13:51>> so you'll be sorry you asked me that question. Um, since I in in my time as acting librarian, I have tried to focus, um, very, um, very much on service to congress in terms of how everyone in the library of congress, no matter what you do, contributes to this service. So that that has been a focus.
▶ 1:14:17So one of the things, um, one of my visions is, is that we have adequate staff to make sure that all of congress knows about every service we have to you and to your constituents. It's a challenge because there is so much turnover in the congress, but I would love to have more staff in that area to do that. The congressional research service, something I know well, I would love, um, incredibly talented staff.
▶ 1:14:45They're doing well, but I would love to see some policy areas expanded. Um, some areas that we haven't been able, um, able to hire. I would like to have a, um, a, a take a leadership role in the legislative branch for ai. I think we have the capacity to do that.
▶ 1:15:08We're already working with other agencies, but we have so much talent throughout the library that, um, I think that we can be leaders in that area. Thank you. Thank you. >> members may submit additional questions for the record. And this subcommittee stands adjourned. >> Mr. chairman. >> what?