Congressional Committee Commends GPO for Digital Initiatives
Washington – The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations commends the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) for its use of digital technology in providing public access to Congressional information. The Committee cited GPO’s digital initiatives in its report accompanying the FY 2018 appropriations bill for the Legislative Branch.
According to the report, “GPO's skilled use of digital technology has allowed the agency to constrain the costs of its operations while expanding Government information access options to the American people, bringing greater openness and transparency to the operations of Congress and the Government.”
For FY 2018, GPO submitted a flat budget request for its appropriations, which was recommended for approval by the Committee in its report. GPO’s appropriations request is flat for the third consecutive year; the agency’s request for Congressional Publishing has been flat since FY 2014, and for FY 2018 it has been reduced further.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-115hrpt199/html/CRPT-115hrpt199.htm
Some of GPO’s digital initiatives include:
- govinfo www.govinfo.gov
- the digitization of historical issues of the Congressional Record
- implementing United States Legislative Markup XML (USLM) format for legislative documents
- GPO’s new XML-based composition system for congressional bills
In addition, the Committee’s report directs GPO to assess the costs associated with converting the Statutes at Large from 1789-2002 into USLM format, and encourages the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress to consult with GPO in developing a plan to make available non-confidential CRS reports to the public.
“I appreciate the Committee’s support of GPO for reducing costs while embracing new technologies that ensure the public has access to congressional information on multiple platforms,” said GPO Director Davita Vance-Cooks.
GPO is the Federal Government's official, digital, secure resource for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information products of the U.S. Government. The GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of Congress, the White House, and other Federal agencies in digital and print formats. GPO provides for permanent public access to Federal Government information at no charge through www.govinfo.gov, partnerships with approximately 1,150 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program, and our secure online bookstore. For more information, please visit www.gpo.gov.
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