Full Committee Hearing, “Oversight of the Government Publishing Office in the Digital-First Era.”

1[House Hearing, 119 Congress]2[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]34                      OVERSIGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT5                PUBLISHING OFFICE IN A DIGITAL-FIRST ERA6=======================================================================78                                HEARING910                               BEFORE THE1112                           COMMITTEE ON HOUSE13                             ADMINISTRATION1415                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES1617                    ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS1819                             SECOND SESSION2021                               __________2223                            January 22, 20262425                               __________2627      Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration2829[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]3031                             www.govinfo.gov32                           www.cha.house.gov33                                __________3435                   U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE3662-653                      WASHINGTON : 202637-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------3839                   COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION4041                    BRYAN STEIL, Wisconsin, Chairman4243LAUREL LEE, Florida, Vice Chair      JOSEPH MORELLE, New York,44BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia                 Ranking Member45H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia         TERRI A. SEWELL, Alabama46GREG MURPHY, North Carolina          NORMA TORRES, California47STEPHANIE BICE, Oklahoma             JULIE JOHNSON, Texas48MARY MILLER, Illinois49MIKE CAREY, Ohio5051                      Mike Platt,  Staff Director52                 Jamie Fleet,  Minority Staff Director5354                        C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S5556                              ----------57                                                                   Page5859                           Opening Statements6061Chairman Bryan Steil, Representative from the State of Wisconsin.     162    Prepared statement of Chairman Bryan Steil...................     363Ranking Member Joseph Morelle, Representative from the State of64  New York.......................................................     365    Prepared statement of Ranking Member Joseph Morelle..........     56667                                Witness6869Hon. Hugh Halpern, director, Government Publishing Office........     670    Prepared statement of Hon. Hugh Halpern......................     97172                        Questions for the Record7374Hon. Hugh Halpern answers to submitted questions.................    327576                            OVERSIGHT OF THE77                      GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE78                         IN A DIGITAL-FIRST ERA7980                              ----------8182                            January 22, 20268384                 Committee on House Administration,85                                  House of Representatives,86                                                   Washington, D.C.87    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:06 p.m., in88room 1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Bryan Steil89[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.90    Present: Representatives Steil, Griffith, Bice, Carey,91Morelle, and Torres.92    Staff present: Mike Platt, Staff Director; Abby Salter,93Deputy General Counsel; Dan Durak, Professional Staff; Jessica94Smith, Deputy Director of Oversight; Jordan Wilson, Director of95Member Services; Kristen Monterroso, Director of Operations;96Evan Van Orman, Professional Staff; Annemarie Cake,97Professional Staff and Deputy Clerk; Jamie Fleet, Minority98Staff Director; Khalil Abboud, Minority Deputy Staff Director;99Matthew Schlesinger, Minority Senior Counsel for Oversight and100Investigations; and Owen Reilly, Minority Senior Counsel.101102    OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BRYAN STEIL, CHAIRMAN OF THE103 COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM104                           WISCONSIN105106    Chairman Steil. The Committee on House Administration will107come to order.108    The title of today's hearing is ``Oversight of the109Government Publishing Office in the Digital-First Era.''110    I note a quorum is present.111    Without objection, the chair may declare a recess at any112time.113    Also, without objection, the hearing record will remain114open for five legislative days so Members may submit any115materials they wish to be included therein.116    Thank you, Ranking Member Morelle, Members of the117Committee, and our witness, for participating in today's118hearing.119    This is the first full Committee oversight hearing for GPO120since 2020. Our purpose here today is twofold. First, to121examine the current work of GPO, including successful122initiatives and ongoing challenges; and second, to discuss how123the agency is adapting to the digital-first era and evaluate124what statutory reforms may be necessary.125    Over its 165 years, the Government Publishing Office has126effectively delivered on its mission to provide trusted127information from the Federal Government to the American people.128Its vision is ``America Informed.''129    When it first opened its doors--coincidentally, the same130day President Lincoln was inaugurated in 1861--GPO was directed131to carry out printing authorized by Congress, Federal agencies,132and the courts.133    Today, their role is broader. Today, 1,600 employees at GPO134operate distribution centers nationwide to fulfill the135publishing needs of every branch of Government.136    One great example is the passport book, which GPO has137produced for the State Department for a hundred years. It also138produces credentials for agencies and products used for139Presidential inaugurations and the State of the Union address.140    As the agency develops plans to use the latest141technologies, we will explore how GPO is adapting its business142operations to meet customer needs.143    Another example of GPO's expanded mission is the Federal144Depository Library Program. Formally established by Congress in1451962, this program provides nationwide public access to146Government information by sharing published resources with a147web of libraries across the country.148    On top of that, in recent decades GPO has transformed its149digital operations to continue meeting the needs of people150where they are at.151    One notable example is the website GovInfo which GPO152maintains to provide permanent public access to Government153information online.154    At the start of the year, GPO announced it had surpassed 15155billion retrievals of Government information through156GovInfo.gov.157    Finally, as a legislative branch agency, GPO also ensures158lawmakers can effectively do their job of representing the159American people.160    Some of their services to Congress include printing and161publishing committee reports, reviewing and editing legislative162text prior to online publication, and daily publication of the163Congressional Record, which documents the proceedings and164debates of this body for history.165    While GPO has effectively performed and adapted to needs166over its 165-year history, changes are undoubtedly necessary to167keep pace with the private sector, to ensure we meet the168evolving needs of our Government, and to continue serving the169American people.170    In today's digital-first era, the work of the GPO has171become more critical than ever both for the institution and for172Government as a whole.173    Thank you for being here today. And I look forward to174hearing your testimony, Director Halpern.175    With that, I will yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. Morelle,176for his opening statement.177    [The prepared statement of Chairman Steil follows:]178179   PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE180                   ADMINISTRATION BRYAN STEIL181182    Thank you, Ranking Member Morelle, Members of the183Committee, and our witness for participating in today's184hearing. This is the first full committee oversight hearing for185GPO since 2020. Our purpose here today is twofold.186    First, to examine the current work of GPO, including187successful initiatives and ongoing challenges. Second, to188discuss how the agency is adapting to the ``digital-first189era,'' and evaluate what statutory reforms may be necessary.190Over its 165-year history, the Government Publishing Office has191effectively delivered on its mission to provide trusted192information from the Federal Government to the American people.193Its vision is ``America Informed.'' When it first opened its194doors, coincidentally the same day President Lincoln was195inaugurated in 1861, GPO was directed to carry out printing196authorized by Congress, Federal agencies, and the courts.197    Today, their role is broader. Today, the 1,600 employees at198GPO operate distribution centers nationwide to fulfill the199publishing needs of every branch of Government. One great200example is the passport book, which GPO has produced for the201State Department for 100 years. It also produces credentials202for agencies and products used for presidential inaugurations203and the State of the Union address.204    As the agency develops plans to use the latest205technologies, we will explore how GPO is adapting its business206operations to meet customer needs. Another example of GPO's207expanded mission is the Federal Depository Library Program.208Formally established by Congress in 1962, this program provides209nationwide public access to Government information by sharing210published resources with a web of libraries across the country.211    On top of that, in recent decades GPO has transformed its212digital operations to continue meeting the people where they213are. One notable example is the website GovInfo, which GPO214maintains to provide permanent public access to Government215information online.216    At the start of this year, GPO announced they had surpassed21715 billion retrievals of Government information through218GovInfo.gov. Finally, as a Legislative Branch agency, GPO also219ensures lawmakers can effectively do their job of representing220the American people.221    Some of their services to Congress include printing and222publishing committee reports, reviewing and editing legislative223text prior to online publication, and daily publication of the224Congressional Record, which documents the proceedings and225debates of this body for history. While GPO has effectively226performed and adapted to needs over its 165-year history,227changes are undoubtedly necessary to keep pace with the private228sector, to ensure we meet the evolving needs of our Government,229and to continue serving the American people.230    In today's digital-first era, the work of GPO has become231more critical than ever, both for this institution, and for232Government as a whole. Thank you for being here today and I233look forward to hearing your testimony, Director Halpern.234235OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH MORELLE, RANKING MEMBER OF THE236 COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM237                            NEW YORK238239    Mr. Morelle. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for your240opening comments, and thanks for calling this hearing together.241    Again, welcome back to your old stomping grounds, Director242Halpern. It is nice to see you once again.243    Under the heading--we used to say this in Albany all the244time--under the heading of ``everything has been said but not245by everybody,'' let me make a few comments.246    I was going to begin my remarks by talking about March 4,2471861, that consequential day, not only Abraham Lincoln's248inauguration, but I have been scooped on that, the beginning of249the Congressional Printing Office.250    And so I appreciate that, the long history, and one of our251true institutional treasures. I think we believe that. And I252appreciate all the comments by the chair that I agree with253relative to the incredible work you do. We have relied for that254165 years on GPO to carry out our Article I responsibilities255and duties.256    Ensuring over the decades that it has grown into the257world's largest and most celebrated information organization258takes the support and the partnership of Congress.259    And I think, as you noted, the Government Publishing Office260now. I do not know why we still say Printing Office. I261apologize for that. I should get more with the 21st century.262    It does recognize it is a modern digital-first publishing263service for all three branches, and it is also, remarkably, a264largely self-funded agency, which is something I think most265taxpayers would be happy to hear.266    You continue to produce, as the chair mentioned, essential267printed materials like the Congressional Record, Federal268Register, and U.S. passports, and now provides ebooks, digital269publishing services, mobile access, and so much more--270indicative of the way that Americans get their information now.271You have kept with the times and continue to adapt to that.272    And those innovations have lowered costs, increased273efficiency, and strengthened public access--still so vital,274public access to Government information--all saving taxpayers275money while enhancing that transparency and that276accountability.277    And particularly, I think, in an era marked by278misinformation, by fractured media, coordinated efforts to279distort the public record, the role of trusted Government,280authoritative information is indispensable, which is why your281mission, keeping America informed, has never mattered more.282    The chair mentioned the Federal Depository Library Program283and how important that is to the more than a thousand, I think,284depository libraries across the country that you serve, which285includes--I will just make a public service announcement for286the Rochester Public Library that I am privileged to represent,287as well as the Rush Rhees Library at the University of288Rochester.289    Those are two of those libraries that provide the public in290my community with a vast and constantly evolving body of291information from the Government--newly issued and revised292documents to resources on health, careers, military, science,293and so much more.294    In addition, the FDLP plays a critical continuity of295Government role by ensuring Federal information is preserved296and available in disperse locations, so it is distributed297information.298    I am interested in hearing today about the challenges you299may face in administering the program as digital materials300become predominant, difficulties depository libraries may301encounter in managing tangible collections that have outgrown302their physical space--obviously something to be concerned303about--and recommendations to further modernize the programs304that you may have.305    And I look forward to discussing, I think, some of the306broader challenges you may face. Workforce, I assume, is307skewing older, and I am interested in hearing about plans to308ensure critical skills and institutional knowledge are309successfully passed on and preserved to the next generation.310    The Committee, particularly the Subcommittee on311Modernization and Innovation, which my good friend Mrs. Bice312leads, has spent time discussing how increasing the volume of313legislation introduced each Congress strains legislative314capacity. I am curious whether or not efforts to alleviate that315strain, such as allowing Members to waive GPO proofreading,316have been effective.317    The Committee has also spent--and I will close with this--318has spent a significant time examining the impact of the Loper319Bright decision on institutional capacity.320    And as Congress is required to draft legislation that is321more specific, more technical, more complex, more detailed,322needing more and more information, I would welcome your323perspective, Mr. Director, on the challenges that may pose for324the GPO as we go through and enter into that sort of new era.325    Once again, thank you to you and your staff, thank you for326being here today, thanks for all that you do.327    And certainly thank you to the Chairman for holding this328important hearing.329    I yield back.330    [The prepared statement of Ranking Member Morelle follows:]331332PREPARED STATEMENT OF RANKING MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE333                 ADMINISTRATION JOSEPH MORELLE334335    Under the heading--we used to say this in Albany all the336time--under the heading of ``everything has been said but not337by everybody,'' let me make a few comments.338    I was going to begin my remarks by talking about March 4,3391861, that consequential day, not only Abraham Lincoln's340inauguration, but I have been scooped on that, the beginning of341the Congressional Printing Office. And so I appreciate that,342the long history, and one of our true institutional treasures.343I think we believe that. And I appreciate all the comments by344the chair that I agree with relative to the incredible work you345do. We have relied for that 165 years on GPO to carry out our346Article I responsibilities and duties.347    Ensuring over the decades that it has grown into the348world's largest and most celebrated information organization349takes the support and the partnership of Congress. And I think,350as you noted, the Government Publishing Office now. I do not351know why we still say Printing Office. I apologize for that. I352should get more with the 21st century. It does recognize it is353a modern digital first publishing service for all three354branches, and it is also, remarkably, a largely self-funded355agency, which is something I think most taxpayers would be356happy to hear.357    You continue to produce, as the chair mentioned, essential358printed materials like the Congressional Record, Federal359Register, and U.S. passports, and now provides ebooks, digital360publishing services, mobile access, and so much more--361indicative of the way that Americans get their information now.362You have kept with the times and continue to adapt to that. And363those innovations have lowered costs, increased efficiency, and364strengthened public access--still so vital, public access to365Government information--all saving taxpayers money while366enhancing that transparency and that accountability. And367particularly, I think, in an era marked by misinformation, by368fractured media, coordinated efforts to distort the public369record, the role of trusted Government, authoritative370information is indispensable, which is why your mission,371keeping America informed, has never mattered more.372    The chair mentioned the Federal Depository Library Program373and how important that is to the more than a thousand, I think,374depository libraries across the country that you serve, which375includes--I will just make a public service announcement for376the Rochester Public Library that I am privileged to represent,377as well as the Rush Rhees Library at the University of378Rochester.379    Those are two of those libraries that provide the public in380my community with a vast and constantly evolving body of381information from the Government--newly issued and revised382documents to resources on health, careers, military, science,383and so much more. In addition, the FDLP plays a critical384continuity of Government role by ensuring Federal information385is preserved and available in disperse locations, so it is386distributed information. I am interested in hearing today about387the challenges you may face in administering the program as388digital materials become predominant, difficulties depository389libraries may encounter in managing tangible collections that390have outgrown their physical space--obviously something to be391concerned about--and recommendations to further modernize the392programs that you may have.393    And I look forward to discussing, I think, some of the394broader challenges you may face. Workforce, I assume, is395skewing older, and I am interested in hearing about plans to396ensure critical skills and institutional knowledge are397successfully passed on and preserved to the next generation.398    The Committee, particularly the Subcommittee on399Modernization and Innovation, which my good friend Mrs. Bice400leads, has spent time discussing how increasing the volume of401legislation introduced each Congress strains legislative402capacity.403    I am curious whether or not efforts to alleviate that404strain, such as allowing Members to waive GPO proofreading,405have been effective. The Committee has also spent--and I will406close with this--has spent a significant time examining the407impact of the Loper Bright decision on institutional capacity.408And as Congress is required to draft legislation that is more409specific, more technical, more complex, more detailed, needing410more and more information, I would welcome your perspective,411Mr. Director, on the challenges that may pose for the GPO as we412go through and enter into that sort of new era.413414    Chairman Steil. Always a Rochester plug, but a Rochester415library plug today. That was well done.416    Thank you. The gentleman yields back.417    Without objection, all Members' opening statements will be418made part of the hearing record if they are submitted to the419Committee clerk by 5 p.m. today.420    As our witness today, we have Hugh Halpern, Director of421GPO. Director Halpern was nominated by President Trump and422confirmed by the Senate in December 2019. Prior to that role,423he was director of floor operations for then-Speaker Ryan and424served on half a dozen committees during his 30 years of425service to the House.426    We are pleased to have you back with us today in the House.427Director Halpern, you are now recognized for 5 minutes to428provide your opening statement.429430STATEMENT OF HON. HUGH HALPERN, DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING431                             OFFICE432433    Mr. Halpern. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, Ranking434Member Morelle, all of the Members of the Committee. I am435pleased to appear back in my old stomping grounds here in the436House.437    I am here on behalf of GPO's 1,625 craftspeople and438professionals, all of whom work to support Congress and our439vision of an ``America Informed.''440    As the Chairman mentioned, this is a big year for GPO.441Along with the Nation's 250th birthday, GPO turns 165, and we442celebrate a century of producing the U.S. passport.443    As you know, GPO runs like a business and we charge our444customers for the work we do. I am pleased to announce that we445have just successfully completed our annual financial statement446audit, and that shows that we ended Fiscal Year 2025 with total447revenue of just over $1.3 billion.448    While we have a diverse portfolio product supporting all449three branches of Government, I am focusing my remarks today on450the work we do for Congress.451    When people think of GPO, they often picture us as a452building filled with printing and binding equipment. While we453are, most of the work we do for Congress is essentially454document conversion. We receive paper documents, typically with455a basic electronic file, and we need to convert them into456easily accessible structured data files that can be distributed457both digitally and in print. That is where our work is. It is458not in the printed output.459    Unfortunately, GPO's software stack, which Congress also460uses to produce its own official documents, has not kept pace.461Replacing our legacy composition engine with our new XPub462product will allow us to round trip electronic files in the463legislative branch's native XML format. We are making progress464with this transition.465    Now, when I worked in the House, I was always told that466XPub was 2 years away. That was more than 8 years ago. At the467risk of being my own punchline, I am pleased to report that we468are in the user testing phase of our release for bills,469resolutions, and amendments, and we hope to move to production470by the end of the calendar year.471    It is a very complicated project with multiple House and472Senate dependencies, but everybody is working together to bring473it in for a landing.474    One area where I am pleased to report that we have a new475product available today is our Model Context Protocol server476for GovInfo, our trusted digital repository for Government477information.478    Our MCP server, which is today in public preview, will479allow LLMs and other AI models to access GovInfo without having480to separately train on it. That means when it is integrated481with these services, you can ask Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, or482Gemini your question and it can respond with up-to-date,483accurate Government information.484    We believe that this is a far better approach than building485our own chat interface for GovInfo. We are really excited to486see what the community can do with these new capabilities.487    GPO's single biggest challenge is the age of its workforce.488Our median age is 54. The Federal average is 47. When I started489at GPO at the end of 2019, almost half of the agency was490eligible to retire in 2027.491    The good news is we have already pushed that cliff back to4922030 through targeted recruiting, apprenticeships, on-the-job493training, and a recent graduate program.494    We are going to continue investing in our next generation495to ensure that we have the people we need to deliver for our496customers. That also means we have got to work smarter with the497people we have.498    Let me give you one example related to our chronic backlog499in processing bills.500    With the support of the Modernization and Innovation501Subcommittee, under the leadership of Chair Bice and Ranking502Member Torres, we created a partnership with the Clerk and503provided Members with the option to opt out of having their504bills proofread by GPO.505    While I still believe that our proofreading process yields506a higher-quality product, we have seen that we can produce507these bills much more quickly if a Member is willing to accept508that risk.509    Only about 9 percent of our bills are processed using this510option, but among those that are, we can generally batch511process them in as little as 20 minutes and quickly move them512into production, often making them available on the next day.513    Last, just a brief note. The GPO's statutes need to be514updated. They were written for the world of print, not our515digital present, and I look forward to working with the516Committee to ensure that our statutes facilitate and do not517impede our work.518    Since I last appeared here, a great deal has changed. In519that time, we have seen nearly a 400-percent increase in520monthly GovInfo retrievals and our annual passport production521has nearly doubled. Our gross revenue is up over $392 million522in that same period. None of that would have been possible523without the support of this Committee.524    Chairman Steil, Ranking Member Morelle, and Members of the525Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am526open to whatever questions you may have.527    [The prepared statement of Mr. Halpern follows:]528529            PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. HUGH HALPERN530[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]531532    Chairman Steil. Thank you very much, Director.533    I will begin our questions, followed by the Ranking Member.534I recognize myself for 5 minutes.535    I want to start off with GPO's role for a hundred years in536the passport operation. As we look back a handful of years ago,537there were significant delays as it relates to passports.538Obviously, there is a role of the State Department, GPO.539    Was part of that delay the result of GPO technology? Could540you provide a little bit of color as to what that delay was and541how some of that has already been solved in ways that GPO is542analyzing a potential future increase in the demand for543passports?544    Mr. Halpern. Absolutely.545    It is important to remember GPO produces the blank546passports. The State Department then adjudicates and547personalizes. During my tenure, supply has never been a real548issue in backlogs.549    That said, the State Department keeps increasing their550orders. This year it is a record 27 million. We are on track to551provide that number of passports this year to the State552Department.553    We have boosted our capabilities to deliver passports to554the processing centers in a timely fashion. For instance, we555just opened up a new distribution facility adjacent to our556Pueblo distribution facility where we can ensure that West557Coast processing facilities will be within 1 day's delivery558time for passports, much like East Coast and southern559processing centers.560    We continue to work with our State Department customer to561make sure that we deliver the supplies they need.562    Chairman Steil. I am going to bring you all the way down.563You think, from the supply side of GPO, you think you can meet564the demand that is there.565    Mr. Halpern. We believe we can.566    Chairman Steil. OK.567    Mr. Halpern. We are continuing to hire folks. We need to568make sure that we have----569    Chairman Steil. Understood. Only cognizant of the time. We570could go for 5 hours talking about it. That is helpful to know571as I think making sure that these are processed quickly is572really important.573    Mr. Halpern. Absolutely.574    Chairman Steil. Let me shift gears a little bit into the575business model.576    Uniquely, GPO is largely self-funded, about a 90/10 ratio,57710 percent appropriated by Congress, 90 percent billing your578customers, if you will.579    As you look out at the change in the business model from580printing into more of a digital framework, do you think you can581maintain that balance? Can you improve upon that balance? How582do you look out in the future?583    Mr. Halpern. Absolutely.584    The short answer is that our pricing structure is focused585on what it takes for us to produce the entire item. Let me give586you an example. The Congressional Record is a good example.587    We bill that at several hundred dollars per page, and that588includes everything from doing the document conversion to589laying it out to ultimately producing it online and in its590tangible format. One price covers everything. That has worked591really, really well for us. We adjust those prices as we need592to.593    We realize that both Congress and some of our executive594branch customers are increasingly price conscious. We are595looking for new investments in technology and other things to596drive those costs down.597    Chairman Steil. With my 90 seconds remaining, I want to598touch base on that technology. Some of what you talked about599earlier I think was quite interesting about how you are600converting hard text into digital format.601    Obviously, AI has a huge opportunity and just broadly602technology writ large. When we think about that conversion603process, what it looked like even five or 10 years ago, we are604light years ahead of where we were.605    Do you utilize AI? Do you think you have the technology606needed? How do you think that will transform GPO?607    Mr. Halpern. We use machine learning and associated608technologies in a variety of different places. We are looking609very closely at solutions.610    One thing that we have deployed recently is a technology611called Schematron which can figure out if our structured data612files are internally consistent and flag problems before they613become bigger problems.614    We still have not found a good substitute for a GPO615proofreader. They have been doing this work for years. They616know how you talk and they know what that is supposed to look617like. Their job is to make sure that they are faithfully618presenting your remarks in the Congressional Record or in your619bill or whatever, and we have not found a machine that can do620that as well as our well-trained folks yet.621    I think we are open to looking at a mix of technologies622that can really let our people do the work they do best and try623and clear out some of that more routine scut work.624    Chairman Steil. Very good. Thank you very much, Director.625Thanks for being here. Welcome back to the House.626    Mr. Halpern. Thank you.627    Chairman Steil. I yield back.628    I now recognize the Ranking Member, Mr. Morelle, for629questions.630    Mr. Morelle. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chairman.631    In your testimony, you talk about Title 44, which governs632much of GPO's activity, which I think, as you said, was written633for the age of print and no longer reflects how GPO operates634today.635    With much of our publications needing to move to digital636formats, are there statutory printing obligations that you637currently have which you think no longer serve your mission or638customers that we should be thinking about?639    Mr. Halpern. The way GPO is structured and the way Title 44640is structured is GPO is governed by the Joint Committee on641Printing, which this year is chaired by the Senate, but in the642past it alternates between the House and the Senate.643    The JCP, working with GPO, has found ways to sort of, as I644like to put it, operate in the liminal spaces of our statute,645so that we can usually find ways to get around some of the more646rigid parts of Title 44.647    A good example is the number of printed copies we are648supposed to make is written in statute. That does not make any649sense anymore. Addressing what we call the usual number to650reflect the current practice where we work closely with JCP and651the Clerk and the Secretary of the Senate to make sure that we652are not overproducing things that people do not need.653    We have submitted to this Committee and to the Senate a654series of legislative proposals, some big, some very small, and655we are happy to talk with you all about what the right package656there looks like.657    Mr. Morelle. Well, and I would certainly defer to the658Subcommittee chair on Modernization and the Ranking Member,659Mrs. Torres, to take those up.660    I think it is interesting, not only here in Washington, but661my prior life in the State legislature in New York, how many662things get written into statute that make no sense. I mean,663when you think about it over time, it is like every time we664have to change a number, we have to go back and rewrite or665change the law and it does become outmoded. There are probably666better ways to do it.667    I would certainly, Mr. Chair, look forward to working with668you and the Subcommittee chair and Ranking Member to make that669easier.670    If you were asked what is one legislative change for the671Committee to prioritize as it relates to GPO, are there any672thoughts that you have about ways we can continue to serve the673mission but make it easier, more effective, more efficient, or674things that you just think, ``OK, why do we have to do it this675way?''676    Mr. Halpern. There are a number of changes, one of which--a677good example is----678    Mr. Morelle. I would like a good example. Do not give me a679bad example.680    Mr. Halpern. I have got plenty of bad ones.681    Mr. Morelle. Give me a good one.682    Mr. Halpern. A good example would be the fact that our683statutes do not spell out the fact that we can provide684publishing services in addition to printing services for a lot685of our customers.686    The addition of just that one word vastly expands what we687can provide our personnel, whether it is our congressional688customers or our executive branch customers, because we are not689doing as much printing anymore.690    Really what we are doing is helping folks prepare these691documents. At the end of the day, if you need a set number of692printed copies, we have got the machinery to do that.693    That is not the No. 1 thing we do anymore.694    Mr. Morelle. Got it. OK. That is very helpful.695    I think, again, I would defer to my colleagues, but I think696we are all looking for ways to continue the mission and make697sure that at the end of the day the most important thing is698that the information is made available to taxpayers and the699citizens so that they can continue to feel like they have700transparency and access to the Government.701    It is no--there is no secret that when Abe Lincoln was702inaugurated 165 years ago today, and the--or not today, this703next month, March--and the Government Printing Office, it was704just different, done differently, and you could not foresee the705world as it is today. We want to make sure we keep present and706keep active.707    I have other questions that related to your comments to708``bolt on'' to digital capabilities in the absence of formed709law, but I think I will defer. We can have further710conversations.711    In the interest of time and the fact that I have 6 seconds712left, let me just conclude by thanking you again for being713here, for your leadership, your team.714    Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to ask some715questions. I yield back.716    Chairman Steil. Thank you. The gentleman yields back.717    The gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Griffith, is recognized718for his 5 minutes.719    Mr. Griffith. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I greatly720appreciate it.721    Mr. Halpern, good to see you.722    Mr. Halpern. You too, sir.723    Mr. Griffith. Hope you are doing well.724    Mr. Halpern. Thank you.725    Mr. Griffith. Earlier this Congress, I introduced H.R.7266028, the Legislative Branch Agencies Clarification Act. One of727the things that the bill does is it transfers the power to728appoint the Director of the GPO from the President to a729congressional commission consisting of House and Senate730leadership as well as the chairs of the House Administration731Committee and the Senate Rules Committee.732    Do you agree with me that these changes would help733strengthen transparency, continuity, and accountability at GPO734compared to the current appointment process?735    Mr. Halpern. Absolutely.736    The GPO provisions in your bill actually do three things,737and they are all very important.738    First is, as you mentioned, it addresses the constitutional739issues surrounding the appointment of the Director.740    There are two other constitutional issues where we have741been sort of operating in that liminal space between the742executive and legislative.743    One is what we call the print mandate, the requirement that744people use GPO. The executive branch has said that is745unconstitutional since the mid-1980's. We have sort of skirted746around that and we kind of ignore it these days, but it is747still on the books.748    The last place, which in my opinion is just as important as749the appointment of the Director, is our personnel system.750Through sort of a fluke from President Harding--I believe it751was President Harding, maybe it was President Cleveland--but by752executive order they placed GPO's personnel system under what753today is OPM. I think that provides the same kinds of754constitutional conflicts that we get from the print mandate and755others.756    I believe that the series of reforms you have got in your757bill would serve GPO well into the future, both with respect to758our obligations to the legislative branch but to all of the759other work we do as well.760    Mr. Griffith. I appreciate that. We are going to blame it761on Harding because Coolidge's secretary, which would now be the762chief of staff, was a former Congressman from the Ninth763Congressional District of Virginia.764    Mr. Halpern. There you go.765    Mr. Griffith. It is going to be Harding's fault, not766Coolidge's. I am just saying.767    That said, let me show my ignorance on something, because I768am always trying to learn stuff.769    I heard and was interested in your testimony where you said770that the processing bills without proofreading. Is that before771it comes to me for me to file?772    Mr. Halpern. No, sir.773    Mr. Griffith. It is after that.774    Mr. Halpern. What happens today for a bill that goes775through the normal process is we receive from the Clerk the----776    Mr. Griffith. After passage.777    Mr. Halpern. After introduction.778    Mr. Griffith. After introduction. OK.779    Mr. Halpern. We receive the paper version, the manuscript,780from the Clerk. We also usually, but not always, get an781electronic file that goes with it. If you went to Leg Counsel,782that is great for us, because we get a really good electronic783file. Sometimes we only get a Word file. It does not help us784all that much.785    My team's job is to make sure that that paper, because that786is the official document of record, matches that electronic787file.788    Mr. Griffith. OK.789    Mr. Halpern. We often have questions. Sometimes there is a790discrepancy between the two, or sometimes, because my folks791look at literally thousands of bills a week, they are pretty792good at going, ``Did you actually mean to leave off three zeros793in this figure?''794    Mr. Griffith. If we use the AI concept, is there some way795that if there is a glitch--because every now and then there796will be--that we can catch that?797    Mr. Halpern. We hope so. I have got high faith in my team798that we are going to catch stuff.799    There is a lot of stuff like capitalization or how you800structure some of these typographic styles. That stuff we can801probably get through some sort of automated system.802    It is that more refined view where the guys who proofread--803guys and gals who proofread bills--they are kind of like well-804trained paralegals. They know what they are looking at. Free805them up to see if they can spot the bigger mistakes.806    Mr. Griffith. My time is running out.807    Would you go back and double-check AI every so often?808    Mr. Halpern. Yes. I think we would----809    Mr. Griffith. Samples? Core samples?810    Mr. Halpern [continuing]. we would have first cut on low-811level stuff and then have our people----812    Mr. Griffith. I am sure Mrs. Bice is much better versed on813this, but I think it is a good plan. I just wanted to make sure814that I understood exactly what it was, because if it is before815it is introduced, I am proofreading it.816    Mr. Halpern. Right. Absolutely.817    Mr. Griffith. I yield back.818    Chairman Steil. The gentleman yields back.819    The gentlewoman from California, whose home district will820be about a hundred degrees warmer than mine this weekend,821Representative Torres is recognized.822    Mrs. Torres. Come to my district. Always invited.823    Chairman, I think this is one of the best meetings that we824have had where there is, like, you have already asked all my825questions, and it is really great.826    I want to follow up on the passport question that the827Chairman asked. If we have a surge, all of us are encouraging828our constituents to apply for their American passport. If we829have a surge, are you prepared to deal with that?830    Mr. Halpern. We believe we are.831    Mrs. Torres. OK.832    Mr. Halpern. We manufacture passports in two locations, one833here in D.C., right on the other side of Union Station, and the834other in Stennis in Mississippi.835    Both of those facilities run most of the week. Stennis runs836basically all day, every day. We found it is more efficient to837run four 10-hour days with our folks. We run two of those838shifts a day. Then in Stennis we also run a weekend shift, a839Friday, Saturday, Sunday shift.840    Mrs. Torres. OK. That could be scaled up if needed.841    Mr. Halpern. Right. Right.842    Mrs. Torres. OK.843    Mr. Halpern. We can hire more people to do that.844    At some point we will just run into a--our machines will845have a top-level capacity. We are in the process of replacing846some of those machines with more modern equipment that will847have better uptime, better processing speeds, all in848preparation for the next version of the passport when State is849ready to move forward with that.850    Mrs. Torres. OK. As you know, Modernization Chair Bice and851I are working on how to best modernize the legislative branch852systems, including GPO.853    I am concerned that Congress is asking you to serve the854public with a budget that has not kept pace with how people855access information anymore. The Fiscal Year 2026 funding level856for GPO is $800 million.857    Can you talk a little bit about your budgetary needs and858what is it that you need?859    Mr. Halpern. Sure.860    As I mentioned, we are largely self-funded. For Congress,861you give us about $80 million a year for those programs.862    Mrs. Torres. The price for the passports went up.863    Mr. Halpern. Price for passports went up. Just to give you864an idea of the cost structure, it depends on the year and865depends on quantity. We charge the State Department someplace866between $23 and $25 dollars per book.867    Sometimes they will give us a supplemental order, an extra868million at the end of a year. We will have already recouped all869of our overhead costs. We can drive that individual piece down870to basically the cost of materials and a little bit of labor.871    In terms of the work we do for Congress, we are within the872budget that you all have given us. It is a difficult estimating873process for us. Based on historical data, we estimate what your874volume will be in a particular year and try and match that with875the appropriate level we get for that.876    Where we actually run into a much tighter budgetary877situation is with the Federal Depository Library Program. That878is a purely appropriated program.879    The good news is we have driven down the costs of that880program, because it is now largely digital. It is just feeding881off of the files we are creating every day.882    With that said, we still have librarians and other really883highly skilled professionals in that unit, and those personnel884costs continue to increase.885    In terms of----886    Mrs. Torres. I am going to stop you there, because we are887running out of time, and I really want you to tell our888Members--or at least to say it out loud once more--how many889amendments Members of Congress file.890    Mr. Halpern. I apologize, I actually do not have up-to-date891numbers. In terms of bills, we are well up over 7,000. Last892Congress it was almost 23,000 measures between the House and893the Senate. Each one of those my team needs to read--it is a894little different this year--and make sure that we are accurate.895    It is difficult work. I can give you a small recent896example, less with a bill, but with the work we do on897legislation.898    There was a large insert into the Congressional Record just899a couple of weeks ago and we did not get the underlying Word900document. All we got was a scanned version. We actually had to901do that--we had to read that document twice.902    Mrs. Torres. Wow.903    Mr. Halpern. Once was convert that scanned document into a904text file and make sure that that translation was accurate; and905then engross all of the handwritten changes and things like906that with that scanned document.907    If we are getting good files on the front end, that can908help us speed up that process, but----909    Mrs. Torres. Thank you.910    Thank you, Chairman, for your generosity in time.911    Chairman Steil. Thank you very much. The gentlewoman yields912back.913    The gentlewoman from Oklahoma, who is the chair of the914Subcommittee on Modernization, who has been ingratiated into915this issue, is recognized for 5 minutes.916    Mrs. Bice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.917    Director Halpern, it is great to see you again.918    Mr. Halpern. Always.919    Mrs. Bice. Glad to have you with us.920    I want to also thank you for your work with the921Modernization Subcommittee and the Clerk's Office to pilot the922waiving proofreading option for bill introductions.923    I was able to have a little sidebar with my colleague from924Virginia to explain sort of the reasons for the waiving of925proofreading. I think it has been, I would say, successful in926trying to help reduce the number of bills that you are having927to proofread, but also getting things through the pipeline a928bit quicker.929    Thank you for your work on that issue.930    Last year, I also introduced legislation to remove the931printing requirement for the Constitution Annotated, CONAN, and932replace it with a digital-only version. According to the CBO,933replacing the print version of CONAN with the digital version,934which is already publicly available and out there, would reduce935the Library of Congress' operating costs by $4 million over the936next several years.937    The Library has actually hosted CONAN on their website938since 2019. It is easily searchable, accessible, and provides939links to Supreme Court decisions, and it is being updated real940time by CRS, which is incredibly important.941    Despite this, we are still spending a tremendous amount of942money on producing hard copies of it, because it is required by943statute. You addressed previously there are many of these areas944that have been codified in statute that you are required to945print, and I would love the opportunity to work with you to946find some ways to reduce that burden.947    My assumption would--and this is the first question--be948that many of the printed documents or books that you are949currently producing are available online. Is that correct?950    Mr. Halpern. Absolutely. Almost everything is available951online, either through GovInfo or some other fashion. Yes.952    Mrs. Bice. Great. I think there is an opportunity for us to953be able to scale that back, still providing transparency for954the American people if they want to read these documents, but955saving taxpayer money because they are available digitally, and956when the original statutes were written, that was not an957option.958    Mr. Halpern. Absolutely. If I can just sort of fill in959there just a hair.960    One of the changes--and I cannot take credit for this, this961was happening as I arrived at GPO--but one of the changes we962made was shifting from traditional offset printing to digital963inkjet technology for a lot of our more routine documents.964    Offset printing requires large quantities to be economical.965That first copy that comes off of the press costs you thousands966of dollars and everything else is just pennies, whereas digital967inkjet, it is a per copy cost. You are paying for ink and968materials and that machine.969    As a result, a digital inkjet press does not care whether970we are printing 10 copies of something or 10,000 copies of971something.972    That allows our process to be a lot more economical, a lot973more automated, and really help drive down those costs, and we974are always looking for technologies that will enable us to do975things like that.976    Mrs. Bice. What would you say is the percentage of977documents that are now being printed using digital rather than978offset?979    Mr. Halpern. I can get you that exact number. It is most of980our daily publications, so the Congressional Record, Federal981Register, CFRs.982    We are getting ready to retire one of our big offset983presses that we purchased about 10 years ago, because we can984supplement all of the work that we were doing.985    That machine gets used for hearings, big reports, that kind986of thing. We can do all of that through digital inkjet and the987cost is a lot lower.988    Mrs. Bice. I like saving taxpayer money, so it is great to989hear that.990    Let me pivot, if I may, to your website talks about ten991different use cases for AI that are being utilized, piloted, or992currently under review, and as the Subcommittee on993Modernization, that is something that we are looking at. How do994we properly and responsibly bring AI into the legislative995discussion here and be able to utilize it?996    Our offices are actually adopting Microsoft Copilot to be997able to allow for speedy access to information through email or998calendar review and utilizing AI.999    Talk a little bit about what you are doing on the AI front.1000    Mr. Halpern. Sure.1001    It is probably not a lot different than what the House is1002doing sort of on the administrative side. For instance, we are1003using Copilot to help draft contract terms for our acquisitions1004professionals. Again, need a human being on the other side of1005that to make sure you are doing it right. I got a lot of1006lawyers who need to make sure that we are----1007    Mrs. Bice. Do not want to lose their job?1008    Mr. Halpern. Exactly. They also need to make sure we are1009getting this right, because the cost on the other side if we do1010not get it right can be big.1011    Things like that. Using it for internal administrative1012stuff. I will fully tell you, when it comes time for annual1013reviews and I get pages and pages and pages of stuff, I am1014like, ``Hey, Copilot, can you put this into a couple of1015paragraphs for me to stick in the form so that we capture1016this,'' and it does a pretty good job of that.1017    We are also looking to use AI tools to help with our1018cataloguing activities with the Federal Depository Library1019Program.1020    We still need good, experienced librarians and catalogers1021to get that work done. If we can--just like I was talking about1022with bills--if we can get the machine to do the more1023rudimentary, the sort of initial tasks, and then free up our1024people to do the work that they need to do, that is really the1025best use of this technology.1026    Mrs. Bice. Thank you so much for being with us this1027afternoon, Dr. Halpern.1028    With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.1029    Chairman Steil. The gentlewoman yields back.1030    We believe one more Member is literally outside the door,1031so we are going to pause for 30 seconds with the blessing of1032the Ranking Member. If he is here, we will continue. If he is1033not, we will wrap up. We will just hold for just a moment.1034    [Pause.]1035    Mr. Halpern. I am used to this from my days running the1036floor.1037    Chairman Steil. As director of House operations, this would1038be called a regular Thursday in your book.1039    Mr. Halpern. I have heard more than one time people yelling1040``one more'' from the back of the chamber.1041    Mr. Morelle. I apologize, I do have to leave. I do want to1042thank you again.1043    Mr. Halpern. Absolutely.1044    Mr. Morelle. I look forward to staying in touch.1045    Thank you, Mr. Chair.1046    Chairman Steil. Thank you, Ranking Member.1047    Not that any of us have too many things to do on a day1048where they have moved votes up from yesterday due to the1049weather, so everybody is getting a little bit double booked1050this afternoon. We appreciate everybody bearing with.1051    We will now recognize the gentleman who is probably out of1052breath from a short jog across campus, Mr. Carey, for 51053minutes.1054    Mr. Carey. Mr. Chairman, I do appreciate your indulgence.1055There is a little bit of a line outside the Ways and Means1056Committee, as you can imagine.1057    It has been truly my honor to support our Chairwoman Bice1058in her initiatives to modernize the House through the efforts1059of the Modernization Committee, and a significant aspect of our1060work is the implementation of the AI technologies for1061congressional offices and administrative staff.1062    Breathe.1063    In this regard, Chairwoman Bice and I are constantly1064looking to understand how other Government offices are1065incorporating AI and machine learning systems into their daily1066operations.1067    Which brings me to the GPO's Model Context Protocol, or the1068MCP.1069    The Model Context Protocol is an open-source standard that1070allows connecting artificial intelligence applications to1071external systems.1072    In short, the public can use this protocol to examine the1073troves of data and better understand Government information.1074    Can you share a little bit more about this development, and1075as you share that, maybe explain kind of in layman's terms so1076people can understand exactly what that--as you are describing1077what you are doing, describe what it means.1078    Mr. Halpern. Sure.1079    The Model Context Protocol--and I will preface this with I1080am not an expert in constructing APIs and these similar kinds1081of things, but I will do my best.1082    The Model Context Protocol is an avenue in for these other1083kinds of LLMs and other kinds of AI models so that they can1084utilize our depository of data and use it without having to1085constantly train on it ahead of time.1086    It is a lot more efficient, particularly for a dataset that1087changes literally every day, multiple times a day. Every time1088we upload a new addition of the Congressional Record or a new1089group of bills that have been introduced the day before, that1090dataset changes.1091    This enables your AI tool, whether it is Claude or Gemini1092or ChatGPT or whatever, it gives those tools a root into our1093dataset so that it can effectively query that dataset, find the1094answers it is looking for, and then present that back.1095    Everybody was talking about at the beginning of sort of1096this AI revolution, like, what chatbot are we going to adopt1097for GovInfo, and that is not the best use of our resources,1098because folks on the outside are going to be a lot smarter1099about this than we can be.1100    Mr. Carey. I appreciate that.1101    I know we only have a minute 44, and, obviously, your role1102in the processing and publishing of bill texts that are online1103and I think--and, obviously, you worked on the Hill, as many of1104us have over the years, whether in this capacity or at the1105staff level.1106    One of the things that I have found, that it is very easy1107to get the bill text, but to upload--and I am sure this is1108complicated--what exactly are kind of the synopsis of the bill.1109    Then I was finding just the other night trying to put1110together some remarks as related to blockchain and bitcoin and1111the complexities therein, even when you have a breakdown, it1112gets to be more complicated.1113    One of the things that I have discussed with our team is1114the possibility of somehow--and I know most of these are all1115verbal--but somehow a visual application as it relates to the1116structure and the contents of a particular piece of legislation1117and vis-a-vis also the synopsis of that legislation.1118    In going through some of the things that you have done--and1119I know I am cutting into your time--but it is something that I1120want to continue to work on, my team will be working with you1121on that.1122    I appreciate you coming back to your old stomping grounds1123and look forward to working with you in the future.1124    Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for indulging me to be in1125two places at once. With that, I yield back.1126    Chairman Steil. The gentleman yields back. It is the only1127thing no one can do, be in two places at one time, although1128sometimes we wish we could.1129    Appreciate everyone's participation.1130    I want to thank you, Director, for coming before us today.1131The Members of the Committee may have some additional questions1132for you, and we ask that you please respond to those questions1133in writing.1134    Without objection, each Member will have five legislative1135days to insert additional material into the record to revise1136and extend their remarks.1137    There being no further business, I thank the Members for1138their participation.1139    Without objection, the Committee stands adjourned.1140    [Whereupon, at 2:58 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]11411142                    QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD1143[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]11441145                                 [all]