Fiscal year 2022 funding levels cited in this explanatory statement reflect the enacted amounts in Public Law 117–103, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, and do not include fiscal year 2022 supplemental appropriations. Accordingly, any comparisons to fiscal year 2022 do not reflect fiscal year 2022 supplemental appropriations.

The Good Accounting Obligation in Government Act, or GAO–IG Act (Public Law 115–414) requires that each Federal agency, including the agencies of the legislative branch, include an accounting of any public recommendations by the Government Accountability Office or the agency’s Office of Inspector General that have not yet been implemented and the timeframe for implementation. It is expected that each agency in this bill include such a report in its fiscal year 2024 congressional budget justification.

The Committee believes it is important to ensure independence between legislative branch OIG and their respective reporting agencies and expects a separate section included in each agency’s fiscal year 2024 budget justification reflecting a detailed budget request for the agency’s OIG. Additionally, the Committee directs each OIG to keep the Committee fully apprised of its funding needs. The Committee also directs each agency to avoid interfering with or requiring approval for such communications.

Congressional Requirements for Legislative Branch Cyber and Physical Data Security.

The Committee reiterates that legislative branch agencies should consider proactive steps to protect critical Information Technology [IT] infrastructure, including prevention of cyberattacks, secure data storage, and ensuring continuity of government operations. The Committee recommends that, as part of their production, redundant, and backup network architecture solutions, legislative branch agencies utilize computing and cloud facilities designed for concurrent maintainability (equivalent to ANSI/ TIA–942–A, or Uptime Institute Tier III standards and industry best practices), and also consider geographic diversity. The Committee directs each legislative branch agency to build on the action plan it submitted detailing a schedule, cost, and implementation plan ensuring robust, secure, and resilient data center infrastructure for agency IT systems and data, as required of all legislative branch agencies by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, and to provide the Committee with quarterly status updates on progress.

Legislative branch agencies are charged with combating cyber-attacks that could disrupt Congress’ ability to perform its constitutional duties. Accordingly, the legislative branch agencies, including the U.S. Senate, must have the tools and resources necessary to defend our networks against sophisticated adversaries. The Committee recommendation includes funding requested by legislative branch agencies in fiscal year 2023 to strengthen cyber defenses.

The Committee notes the interest among some Members over the past several years to reinstitute the Office of Technology Assessment [OTA], which was de-funded in 1995. In fiscal year 2019, the Committee instructed the National Academy of Public Administration [NAPA] to conduct a study to determine the best way to increase Congress’ access to needed in-depth analysis of fast-breaking technology developments. The NAPA report, released in November 2019, recommended strengthening the capacity of the Government Accountability Office [GAO] and Congressional Research Service [CRS] in technology assessment rather than restarting OTA. The Committee remains pleased with the efforts of both CRS and GAO to respond to the concerns of Congress and increase the depth and breadth of their capacities to provide research and policy analysis on current and emerging legislative issues related to science and technology [S&T] and Federal uses and oversight of S&T. The Committee encourages CRS to continue to hire additional staff for its specialized teams working on S&T issues in order to expand its capacity and expertise and allow CRS to meet the growing need of Congress for timely, complex, and multidisciplinary analysis of policy issues related to these rapidly changing technologies, the effects of the Federal government in oversight of such technologies, and the effects of the Federal government S&T policies across all sectors. The Committee also encourages CRS to increase outreach efforts to make Members and congressional staff more aware of the resources it provides related to S&T issues Congress is examining. Additionally, in 2019 the GAO established a Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics [STAA] team to better address the evolving and time-sensitive needs of Congress. The Committee encourages the GAO to continue to strengthen its STAA team and the Innovation Lab to increase the depth, breadth, and diversity of knowledge available to meet congressional needs. As a result, the bill provides the full request for CRS and GAO to strengthen S&T programs. The Committee will continue to review the work of CRS and the GAO to see if other steps are needed in the future.

The Committee recognizes that new and expanding micro mobility options in the District of Columbia can offer alternatives to car travel. Dockless commercial scooters, or e-scooters, and other motorized devices for rent have grown as a commuting option for congressional staffers, tourists, and other visitors to the District and Capitol Grounds. However, pursuant to the Traffic Regulations for the United States Capitol Grounds, commercial dockless scooters remain prohibited on Capitol Grounds. The Committee notes that an agreement was reached to modify the 2021 Terms and Conditions established by the District of Columbia Department of Transportation [DDOT] for commercial dockless scooter vendors and these Terms and Conditions now require commercial dockless scooter vendors to install geofencing on their vehicles to ensure that commercial dockless scooters do not enter onto Capitol Grounds consistent with Traffic Regulations for the United States Capitol Grounds prohibitions. The Committee expects the USCP, as well as the Sergeants at Arms [SAA] and Architect of the Capitol [AOC], to continue expanding outreach efforts to dockless scooter and bicycle companies and the District, and to work to better educate users, including congressional staff, District residents, and visitors on the appropriate operation of commercial dockless e-scooters and bicycles on Capitol Grounds. This may include exploring the feasibility of installing shared e-scooter docking points, including hubs for parking and charging, at designated locations adjacent to campus as determined by USCP, SAAs, and the AOC to ensure rider convenience while not creating a public safety risk on Capitol Grounds.

The Committee values the existing workgroups and discussions through which the legislative branch support agencies share ideas with and improve their services to Congress. The Committee also understands the importance of data access to certain of those agencies’ missions. Accordingly, the Committee directs the Congressional Budget Office, the Library of Congress, and the Government Accountability Office to create a working group, in consultation with other appropriate congressional and public stakeholders, to identify the challenges they face in obtaining timely, detailed, and sufficient access to Federal agency information. Within 1 year of enactment of this act, recognizing that the agencies have individual needs, the task force shall provide the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and the Committee on House Administration options for ensuring these agencies have access to the information they need at the time, in the formats and level of detail necessary for them to complete their work. The task force shall continue to meet from time to time to monitor the situation and make recommendations to the committees, as appropriate.

The Committee requests that the Library of Congress, Government Publishing Office [GPO], and Congress.gov data partners provide a report to the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations, the Committee on House Administration, and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration concerning enhancing Congress.gov to include floor scheduling information. In that report, the Library, GPO, and Congress.gov data partners shall evaluate integrating House and Senate floor scheduling information into a combined calendar that identifies legislation and other measures likely to be considered on a particular day (or range of days) during the upcoming week, perhaps alongside the information contained in the ‘‘committee schedules’’ calendar. The report should focus on the feasibility, cost, options, and design of an integrated House and Senate floor schedule on Congress.gov

The Committee is aware of discussions between the Secretary of the Senate and Senate Sergeant at Arms, as well as with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, regarding the necessity for a redesign and rebuild of the Lobbying Disclosure Act online filing system to implement a Congress-wide identifier for all lobbyists and disclose that identifier to the public as structured data. The Secretary and the SAA shall brief the Committee on the feasibility of and plans for the overhauling of such an online filing system, including redesign and rebuild requirements, estimated costs, schedule, and any other challenges or logistics the Secretary and SAA deem appropriate.

Senate Secretary and SSAA

Within 120 days of enactment of this act, the Secretary of the Senate and Senate Sergeant at Arms shall jointly investigate and provide a report to the Committees on Appropriations and Rules and Administration concerning the feasibility of development and implementation of a central, publicly-available repository for official Senate bill, Senate amendment, resolution, and committee documents. In doing so, consideration should be given to ensuring that the bills, amendments, resolutions, and other documents are publicly available prior to or contemporaneously with their consideration by the relevant body. The Secretary should examine the website utilized by the House, docs.house.gov, engage with the Bulk Data Task Force as well as congressional and public stakeholders, revisit the current mechanism the Senate uses to publish this information internally, and review the tools provided by legislative information providers.

Senate Secretary and SSAA

Since fiscal year 2019, each Legislative Branch Appropriations Act has included a provision that directs all agencies and offices funded by this act with a food service provider to reduce plastic waste. The Architect of the Capitol [AOC], which holds the contract with the primary food service provider in the Senate, has worked to reduce plastic waste within its operations in the Senate. To date, progress has been made on this initiative in Senate eateries, including switching from plastic beverage containers to more environmentally friendly products, such as aluminum, glass, and paper. To further this progress, the Committee directs the AOC, Senate Sergeant at Arms, the Secretary of the Senate, and the United States Capitol Police to identify the types of single-use plastic products currently used within their operations and for what purposes; develop recommendations on alternative products, including reuse and refill options; and report within 120 days of enactment of this act to this Committee and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on these findings and the associated costs of implementing recommendations.

AOC, SSAA, Senate Secretary, and USCP

The Committee recognizes that the Senate Sergeant at Arms specifically, and the Senate community more broadly, has made recent efforts and advancements on workplace issues through a number of initiatives, including the implementation of a Talent Acquisition System through the Senate Placement Office, the expansion of the Employee Assistance Program, a review of Senate staff compensation, providing appropriations to allow all offices to pay staff a livable wage, and providing more pay for interns. To continue this momentum, the Committee believes additional steps must be taken to improve the recruitment, development, and retention of a diverse and talented Senate workforce that is representative of the Nation it serves, while acknowledging that final hiring authority lies with each Senate office. To this end, the Committee directs the establishment of a bipartisan Senate Diversity and Inclusion Working Group (the working group) comprised of representatives from the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the Secretary of the Senate, including the Office of the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment, in coordination with the offices of the Majority and Minority Leaders, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and the Senate Committee on Appropriations. Representation must be bipartisan. The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights and the Office of Congressional Accessibility Services shall be invited to participate as appropriate given the independent nature of those offices. Through consultation with the Senate community and external experts, the working group will identify, develop, and recommend options for improving the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce. These policy recommendations should include those both immediately actionable, as well as those requiring statutory changes, and should be compiled in a comprehensive report delivered to the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Rules and Administration. Not more than 180 days after enactment of this act, the working group shall provide a briefing to those Committees on the status of the report, after which point the working group should provide monthly status updates to those Committees until the delivery of the report. Such report must include an analysis of an option or options that would provide for a direct provision of services by the Senate Sergeant at Arms upon voluntary election by an individual Senator. In addition to the formal report, the Committee expects to be kept apprised of any additional goals, activities, and programs believed beneficial to foster and retain a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Briefing not more than 180 days after enactement of this act

The Committee provides full funding for the Office of Security, Emergency Preparedness and Continuity request for 10 FTEs to support the physical security of Senators, staff, and visitors to the Capitol and surrounding buildings. The Committee also expects the SAA to continue increasing its outreach efforts to offices to improve security coordination and emergency preparedness, including creating better awareness of Senators’ activities off of the Capitol campus; educating and training staff to identify and alert the SAA and the Capitol Police of events or activities that may warrant a threat assessment; facilitating threat assessments and security coordination with the USCP as well as federal, state, and local law enforcement, as appropriate; and informing and updating Members and Senate staff on emergency preparedness training and other resources available to them.

Office of Security, SSAA, USCP

The Committee expects SAA to utilize funds provided for fiscal year 2023 to conduct third-party cybersecurity auditing services and resiliency assessments for all Senate offices and committees to protect the privacy and integrity of office networks; provide enhanced cybersecurity training for each Senate office; institute protections against insider threats; and institute and operationalize enhanced privacy protections within the Senate network.

Senate committees have the authority and sufficient resources needed to pay committee interns from within funding made available to committees and should include requests for additional funds for intern pay within their individual budget requests submitted to the Committee on Rules and Administration. The Committee advises any committee that wishes to seek additional funding for intern pay to include such an increase in its budget request to the Rules Committee so that this Committee can fully consider the needs of Senate committees under such budgetary advisement.

Funding is provided for not to exceed two individual consultants as authorized by section 110 of Public Law 95– 94, August 5, 1977, which amends section 101 of Public Law 95– 26, May 4, 1977. Consultants employed under this authority shall not be paid in excess of the per diem equivalent of the highest gross rate of annual compensation, which may be paid to employees of a standing committee of the Senate.

Funding is provided to furnish U.S. Senators with volumes of the U.S. Code Annotated or U.S. Code service, pocket parts and supplements, as authorized by Public Law 92–51, July 9, 1971. The Disbursing Office is responsible for providing the U.S. Code Annotated or the U.S. Code Service to Senators when they assume office and upon receipt of a written request of a Senator.

Contractual Legal and Administrative Services and Miscellaneous Expenses

Funding is provided for various contractual, administrative, and miscellaneous expenses incurred by the Office of the Secretary. In addition, the Office of the Secretary has incurred various types of legal and other expenses, which have been authorized by the Senate. Funding is provided for contractual and other expenses necessary to update and publish the Senate’s legislative precedents and procedure documentation. Administrative services and miscellaneous expenses are housekeeping expenses of the Office of the Secretary.

Funding is provided for travel expenses and registration fees incurred by the Secretary of the Senate and the employees of the Office of the Secretary. This line item excludes funding for travel expenses for the Federal Election Campaign Act under the Office of Public Records, which is provided separately under the authority of Public Law 92–342. The authority for the travel portion of this account was provided for by section 101 of Public Law 94–59, July 25, 1975.

Funding is provided for expenses incurred by the Secretary of the Senate to conduct orientation seminars or similar meetings for Senators, Senate officials, or members 18 of staffs of Senators or Senate officials, not to exceed $30,000 under the authority of 2 U.S.C. 6514. The Office of the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate is also authorized under these provisions to conduct seminars or similar meetings in the same manner and to the same extent as the Office of the Secretary of the Senate.

This account also provides funding for postage for the Office of the Secretary of the Senate for special delivery, registered mail, and additional postage not covered under the frank.

Funding is provided for the education of Senate pages. Senate Resolution 184, July 29, 1983, authorized the Secretary of the Senate to provide such educational services and items in such manner as the Secretary may deem appropriate. Public Law 98–125, October 13, 1983, amended Public Law 98–51, July 14, 1983, striking out the heading and paragraph ‘‘Education of Pages’’ under the heading ‘‘Joint Items’’, and redesignated the funds provided in Public Law 98–51.

Funding is provided for stationery supplies for the Office of the Secretary of the Senate. The funds provided have been allocated to the various departments of the Office of the Secretary.

Funding is provided for the Senate Commission on Art, authorized by Public Law 100–696, November 18, 1988, as amended, and Public Law 108–83, September 30, 2003, as amended to acquire, accept, supervise, hold, place, protect, make known, conserve, restore, replicate, or replace any work of art, historical object, documents, or material relating to historical matters, or exhibits for placement or exhibition within the Senate wing of the Capitol, any Senate office building, or in rooms, spaces, or corridors thereof, and to publish as a Senate document a list of all works of art, historical objects, and exhibits currently within the Senate wing of the Capitol and Senate office buildings. The Senate Commission on Art was formerly the Commission on Arts and Antiquities of the United States Senate, which was authorized by Senate Resolution 382, October 1, 1968, as amended by Senate Resolution 95, April 1, 1977, and Senate Resolution 400, March 23, 1988.

Funding is provided, not to exceed $50,000, to the Secretary of the Senate to coordinate and carry out responsibilities in connection with foreign parliamentary groups or other foreign officials visiting the United States. Authorized by section 2, chapter VIII of Public Law 100–71, November 21, 1989, as amended.

Funding is provided for the Office of Conservation and Preservation to develop and coordinate programs directly related to the conservation and protection of Senate records and materials for which the Secretary of the Senate has statutory authority.

Funding is provided for the Office of Conservation and Preservation to use outside sources for the preservation and protection of the Senate book collection, including historically valuable documents under the care of the Secretary of the Senate.

Funding is provided for expenses of the Office of Public Records. This office has evolved through various pieces of legislation and various responsibilities authorized by the Federal Election Campaign Act, as amended, the Ethics in Government Act, as amended, and the Lobbying Disclosure Act, as amended. The Office of Public Records is mentioned for the first time in Public Law 93–145, November 1, 1973, which authorizes the Secretary of the Senate to appoint and fix the compensation of a superintendent and other positions for the Office of Public Records. In addition, under the authority of Public Law 95–521, October 26, 1978 (Ethics in Government Act) reports filed under section 101 shall be available for public inspection and a copy of the report shall be provided to any person upon request. Any person requesting a copy of a report may be required to pay a reasonable fee to cover the cost of reproduction. Any moneys received by the Secretary shall be deposited into the Office of Public Records Revolving Fund under the authority of Public Law 101–163, November 21, 1989. The office also performs functions such as registration of mass mailings.

Funding is provided for expenses incurred in the operation of the disbursing office. Typical expenses for this office include notary bonds, seals, and necessary supplies in conjunction with the various machinery maintained in the office, which are not available in the stationery room.

Funding is provided for the closed captioning of the televised Senate floor proceedings for the hearing impaired. Closed captioning was first authorized under Public Law 101–163, November 21, 1989.

Funding is provided for the Office of the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment. This office is a nonpartisan office formed in May 1993 at the direction of the joint leadership and is charged with providing legal advice and representation of Senate offices in all areas of employment law.

The Committee recommends $5,000,000 in no-year funding to partially or fully renovate two to four hearing rooms per year, as per the request. The audiovisual equipment and systems in these hearing rooms has or will soon exceed their useful life and must be replaced. The failure of hearing room audiovisual systems disrupted several high-profile hearings in recent years, and represents a problem that will only grow worse as the equipment and systems reach their useful life. The Committee expects the SAA to continue working with the Architect of the Capitol and the Committees on Appropriations and Rules and Administration to develop a replacement plan to avoid equipment failure.

The Committee directs the SAA to continue providing semi-annual updates to the Committee on the development and implementation of the UCC system.

For the past several years, the SAA has offered Senate staff the opportunity to train in Tactical Combat Casualty Care, also known as ‘‘Stop the Bleed’’ training, which increases survivability from mass shootings and other casualty events causing life-threatening external bleeding. The Committee supports the SAA Office of Security, Emergency Preparedness and Continuity’s continued utilization of ‘‘Stop the Bleed’’ training on the Capitol campus so that more Senate staff know how to respond to and administer basic bleeding control techniques to individuals with trauma if such a situation arises and for emergency preparedness purposes.

The Committee notes the unavailability or insufficiency of currently-provided congressional staff contact information. The absence of a congressional staff directory that covers the Senate, House, support offices, and support agencies makes it difficult for congressional staff to identify and connect with relevant staff. The Committee directs SAA, in consultation with relevant support offices and agencies, including the Office of the Clerk and Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, to explore the creation of a centrally-managed staff directory for Congress and congressional support agencies to enhance the exchange of information and improve collaboration across the legislative branch. Within 180 days of enactment of this act, SAA shall brief the Committee on the feasibility of creating a centralized congressional staff directory, including associated costs and directory information features and access.

The Committee recognizes the importance of receiving letters and other appropriate documents from members’ constituents, and notes that SAA worked with Senate offices to develop a safe, web-based solution that accepts attachments from constituents and routes those attachments directly to an office’s Constituent Support Systems. The Committee encourages SAA to continue reviewing its policy concerning the receipt of attachments and to educate offices on its policy and availability of this service from a Senate network cybersecurity perspective.

The Committee directs the SAA to evaluate and provide a briefing within 6 months of enactment of this act to the Committee on the feasibility of Member office and committee use of cloud-based word processing and document real-time collaboration tools in a SAA-hosted and CIO-operated data center.

The Committee notes that the SAA Chief Information Officer [CIO] has worked to provide Linked in Learning training for Senate offices’ and committees’ system administrators and expects the CIO to continue exploring and recommending training options for system administrators.

The Committee recognizes the threat of hacking and cyberattacks on Senators and staff on their official and personal devices and accounts. SAA is working to improve personal cybersecurity, cyber advisories, and cybersecurity best practice documents tailored to such devices and accounts, and should continue to educate members and staff on such practices. In addition, the SAA shall, in coordination with this Committee, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and Senate majority and minority leadership, continue to explore ways—including the options presented in the bipartisan Senators’ Personal Cybersecurity Working Group’s report—in which it may better provide voluntary cybersecurity support to any Senator seeking assistance with their personal devices or accounts under existing ethics, rules, appropriations, statutory, and civil law, including whether investments in additional IT hardware and software, additional personnel, and additional guidelines are needed. The Committee also directs SAA to provide increased training opportunities so that members and staff traveling abroad are aware of cyber threats and appropriate best practices to mitigate such threats to their devices, and to brief this Committee on whether members and staff are utilizing these awareness tools.

Under current law, Congress may only provide funding for employee benefits and travel expenses for employee training activities for the Senate Employees’ Child Care Center [SECCC], and the reimbursement of salaries for the executive director and assistant director of the center, which are provided for and fully funded in this act. However, funds for all other employees’ salaries and operational expenses are paid by the Center’s operating budget and cannot be supplemented with appropriated funds. In agreeing to provide salary reimbursements for the SECCC executive director and the assistant director, the Committee recognizes the importance of access to high quality, affordable child care for recruitment and retention of U.S. Senate employees and supports the ability of the Center to employ high caliber faculty, maintain its commitment to early childhood education, and continue to serve the growing number of Senate employees who require child care for their infant to pre-school children. Furthermore, the Committee understands these payments will free up the Center’s operating budget to provide salary increases for all day care faculty, allowing the Center to pay its staff competitive salaries comparable with the House of Representatives Child Care Center.

This line item is used to cover the costs of Senate resolutions and public laws that authorize expenditures from the contingent fund of the Senate that do not have specific appropriations for such purpose.

This line item includes payment for gratuities for family members of deceased Senate employees; damage to automobiles in the Senate parking lots; contractual, legal, and administrative services; and miscellaneous expenses, and is controlled by the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Employees' Compensation Fund Reimbursements (Worker Compensation)

This amount is for reimbursements made to the U.S. Department of Labor for total benefits and other payments made on behalf of Senate employees from the employees’ compensation fund. Payments are authorized to be made from expired balances, a practice that is consistent with the other agencies of the legislative branch.

The Committee on Foreign Re- lations is authorized to expend not to exceed $30,000 each fiscal year to receive foreign dignitaries under the authority of Senate Resolution 247, agreed to February 7, 1962, as amended.

Committee on Foreign Relations

Senate Resolution 179, agreed to May 25, 1977, authorized payment from the contingent fund of the Senate of the domestic portion of transportation costs and travel expenses incurred by Members and employees of the Senate when engaged in authorized foreign travel.

Federal Employees' Compensation Account (Unemployment Compensation)

This line item provides for expenses incurred for the Senate to reimburse the Federal employees’ compensation account, pursuant to Public Law 96–499, approved December 5, 1980, for unemployment compensation payments made to Senate employees.

The amount recommended provides for the expenses of the majority and minority conference committees.

The amount recommended provides for the expenses of the majority and minority policy committees.

The amount recommended provides for postage allowances for the President of the Senate, Secretary of the Majority, Secretary of the Minority, and Senate Chaplain.

The amount recommended provides funds for stationery and office supplies for the President of the Senate, conference committees of the Senate, Office of the Chaplain, and the Senate Chamber.

The amount recommended provides funds for cellular telephone and mobile data devices and services for the Office of the Vice President, Secretary for the Majority, Secretary for the Minority, Office of the Chaplain, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Majority Whip, and Minority Whip.

This item provides authority for the appointment and payment of consultants to the majority and minority leaders, President Pro Tempore, President Pro Tempore Emeritus, and the legislative counsel. The following summarizes the current authority and limitations: Majority Leader.—Nine consultants at not to exceed the daily rate for maximum standing committee rate. All of the consultants may be appointed at an annual rate of compensation not to exceed the maximum annual rate for a standing committee. Minority Leader.—Nine consultants at not to exceed the daily rate for maximum standing committee rate. All of the consultants may be appointed at an annual rate of compensation not to exceed the maximum annual rate for a standing committee. 25 Legislative Counsel (Subject to President Pro Tempore Approval).—Two consultants at not to exceed the daily rate for maximum standing committee rate. All of the consultants may be appointed at an annual rate of compensation not to exceed the maximum annual rate for a standing committee. President Pro Tempore.—Three consultants at not to exceed the daily rate for maximum standing committee rate. The consultants may be appointed at an annual rate of compensation not to exceed the maximum annual rate for a standing committee. President Pro Tempore Emeritus.—One consultant at not to exceed the daily rate for maximum standing committee rate. The consultant may be appointed at an annual rate of compensation not to exceed the maximum annual rate for a standing committee.

Provides funding for the Senate National Security Working Group, under the authority of Senate Resolution 75, agreed to March 25, 1999. The Senate National Security Working Group was formerly the Senate Arms Control Observer Group.

Pursuant to Public Law 105–275, provides funding for administrative expenses for the Committee on Appropriations.

Provides for the payment of agency contribution costs as authorized by Public Law 102–90, approved August 14, 1991, and Public Law 103–50, approved July 2, 1993, for employees of the Senate Employees’ Child Care Center. The Senate Employees’ Child Care Center is intended for the children of Members and employees of the Senate.

Senate Employees' Child Care Center: Reimbursement of Salaries

Provides for the reimbursement costs to the Senate Employees’ Child Care Center for the basic pay paid to the Executive Director and for the basic pay paid to the Assistant Director of the Center, as authorized by Senate Resolution 329, approved July 29, 2021.

Senate Employees' Child Care Center: Training Classes and Conference Costs

Provides for the reimbursement of any individual employed by the Senate Employees’ Child Care Center for the cost of training classes and conferences in connection with the provision of child care services and for travel, transportation, and subsistence expenses incurred in connection with the training classes and conferences, as authorized by Public Law 104–197, approved September 16, 1996.

$9,800,000 is provided for this program for fiscal year 2023 for the repayment of student loans, for eligible employees at the discretion of the employing office, to enhance recruitment and retention of Senate staff.

The Committee continues to believe that Senate internships should be available to the broadest possible pool of candidates who have the ability and interest to serve. Unfortunately, unpaid internships exclude those who cannot independently afford to work without pay, hindering students’ future career opportunities and making it more difficult for Senators to attract and hire the most qualified interns, regardless of socioeconomic status. Providing interns financial compensation provides an avenue for more students to have the opportunity to serve their country and gain experience toward a career in public service. To date, 96 percent of Senators’ offices expended funds provided in fiscal year 2022 to compensate interns. In addition to funding allocated in the table above for Senators’ office allowances and for agency contribution costs, the bill includes $7,000,000 for the sole purpose of providing financial compensation to interns. This increase will allow offices to continue to diversify their intern hires and, if an office chooses to do so, provide stipends to better help interns with travel and housing costs. Any intern compensation funding that remains unspent by any office will be returned to the Treasury in accordance with section 101 of the bill. Such funding is directed to be allocated among Senators’ offices in relative proportion to funds allocated for each office’s administrative and clerical assistance allowance for fiscal year 2023 shown in the table above, which reflect natural variables including State populations, with a small additional amount for non-contiguous states. On average, each office will be allocated an estimated $70,000 for intern compensation.

Threats against Members of Congress more than doubled in calendar year 2021, to approximately 9,600. In the first 3 months of calendar year 2022, the Department opened cases into more than 1,800 threats against Members. In light of this, the Committee continues to find that ensuring the continuity of government must include protecting the physical security of Members of Congress. The recommendation provides $2,000,000 for the Department to provide Member security outside of the Capitol campus in the National Capital Region [NCR], as warranted by risk-based analyses. The Committee expects the USCP to continue working closely with the Sergeants at Arms and law enforcement partners in the NCR, as well as educating Member offices, on the USCP strategy for Members’ protection within the NCR while off the Capitol Grounds, per the December 2018 report detailing the Department’s plans to enhance off-campus Member security in the NCR.

The Committee directs the USCP to submit to the Committee within 90 days of enactment of this act a report on the performance of contract Capitol Security Officers’ [CSO] ability to assist the USCP with meeting mission requirements. The secured report should include decisional metrics for CSO location utilization and the benefits of supporting sworn officers. The report must detail any additional security training that may be needed in future contracts and the background check process. Additionally, the report is required to detail the estimated cost savings for using CSOs.

The Committee supports reopening the Capitol campus to the public as quickly and safely as possible. The Committee directs the Department to provide the Committee, within 30 days of the posting of this explanatory statement, with a written plan, to include a list of post requirements, the protection/security activity, the sworn staffing, the Capitol security officer staffing, additional duty requirements, and other resources needed to reopen the Capitol campus to its pre-pandemic posture, factoring in any additional requirements resulting from January 6, 2021, and increasing threats against Members of Congress. Further, the Department shall provide an update to the Committee every 30 days on the resources available to staff those posts and challenges that impact the proposed reopening plan. The Committee also requests that the plan include a proposed timeline for reopening, understanding that fluctuations in hiring occur, as well as additional security requirements, and can alter the schedule. The Committee understands that such a plan includes law enforcement sensitive information and therefore, requests that the plan be placed within a secured location(s) to be viewed by authorized representatives of the Committee.

Report within 30 of posting of this explanatory statement and every 30 days thereafter.

Responses to USCP Office of the Inspector General Recommendations

The Committee directs the Department to develop cost proposals for each recommendation detailed in USCP OIG reports to better inform the Committee on what resources would be required to implement the recommendations, such as organizational realignment, changes in position descriptions, increased personnel, reassignment of existing personnel, and additional training and equipment. This directive is the same as language included in the Joint Explanatory Statement to accompany the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public Law 117–103).

The Committee includes funds to support not less than 12 FTE within the USCP OIG. The Committee notes that additional oversight of the USCP is conducted by the Government Accountability Office to supplement the work of the USCP OIG, as needed, as well as the oversight of the USCP provided by the Capitol Police Board, the Committees on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the Committee on House Administration, and Senate and House Leadership offices.

The Committee recommends no more than $64,912,000 for overtime in fiscal year 2023. This provides for approximately 855,829 hours of additional duty.

The Committee directs the Department to submit a report within 90 days of enactment of this act to the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations that outlines the on-board strength of the Department broken down by officials, officers, and sworn recruits; a summary of the overall mission set required by the Department; the number of additional duty (overtime and compensatory) hours worked by each USCP officer; a three-year sworn attrition summary by rank; a summary of the timeline for training new sworn recruits; the challenges to sworn recruiting and hiring; and the Department’s multi-year strategy to remediate staffing shortages and incentivize sworn hiring and retention in fiscal year 2023.

The Congressional Budget Office provides Congress with budgetary and economic analysis that is important to the legislative process and can have significant policy implications. The Committee acknowledges that CBO has undertaken efforts to improve and promote transparency of the agency’s modeling and cost estimates process. The Committee encourages CBO to strengthen its efforts on transparency to respect the interest of Congress and to maintain the agency’s professional independence. As with prior year budget submissions, the Committee expects CBO to include in its fiscal year 2024 budget request details about the agency’s ongoing and future efforts to implement the multi-year plan to increase its capacity to make CBO’s work as transparent and responsive as possible.

The AOC is required to comply with 31 U.S.C. 1343 and, as such, limited by the statutory controls over motor vehicle acquisition and use, including price limitation, equipment, and replacement of motor vehicles, and per regulations set forth by the Government Services Administration [GSA]. The Committee directs the AOC to adhere to GSA regulations on official use of agency vehicles to perform AOC’s mission, including proper identification of the vehicle as Federal Government-issued and -owned, as well as home-to-work policies.

Within the total, the Committee provides no less than $6,110,000 for the AOC OIG. The recommendation includes the request of $495,000 for 3 additional FTE. The Committee also directs the AOC to ensure that sufficient funding is available for contracts and other expenses identified by the AOC OIG to fulfill its mission. Finally, the Committee reiterates that the independence of the AOC OIG is of the utmost importance.

The AOC’s annual Performance and Accountability Report [PAR] provides the results of the AOC’s financial performance each fiscal year, as well as demonstrates the AOC’s commitment to the accomplishment of its mission and accountability for its financial resources. As part of the PAR completed for fiscal year 2023, the AOC will report on greenhouse gas emissions analysis as data is available for the Capitol complex. The Committee further directs the AOC to include information in each PAR that reflects all significant measures taken to address efficient use of steam and electricity. The AOC will include this information as part of this report on an annual basis to leverage energy conservation and maximize the use of energy efficient sources throughout the legislative branch facilities.

The Committee appreciates the AOC’s efforts to document and notify the Committee of ‘‘Miscellaneous Improvements’’ projects, which are completed projects that costs less than $5,000 for labor and materials. The Committee directs the AOC to provide quarterly reports on Miscellaneous Improvements projects, including a description and cost of each project and the status of total funding set aside for this purpose.

While the Committee recommendation does not provide additional funding for composting activities, the Committee encourages the AOC to continue exploring options for composting and food waste reduction with offices who are interested from within existing resources.

The Committee commends the efforts of the AOC and the United States Capitol Police for implementing outdoor recycling programs on the Capitol grounds while maintaining security of the complex. The Committee encourages the Architect of the Capitol and the USCP to continue to collaborate and work together to expand these efforts where appropriate in high-traffic areas across the Capitol complex. The AOC is also encouraged to work with the USCP to find additional locations where garbage and recycling cans can be co-located and clearly marked on the Capitol grounds.

The Committee directs the AOC to continue working with outside partners on the restoration of the Calder Mountain and Clouds sculpture. The AOC is expected to continue providing the Senate Committees on Appropriations and on Rules and Administration with regular updates on the status of these efforts.

The Committee notes the importance of the Senate Employees’ Child Care Center facility expansion and encourages all stakeholders to continue working towards selecting a preferred site option for site expansion.

Senate Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) Construction

The Committee notes the progress made to study and design SCIF space in the Senate. The recommendation provides $3,500,000 in 5-year funds to be used for construction of new SCIF space and to continue implementing recommendations from the SCIF study including preliminary planning, study, design, preconstruction, and construction of additional sensitive compartmented information facility space for the Senate, in coordination with the Office of Senate Security and the Senate Committees on Appropriations and Rules and Administration.

The Committee encourages the AOC and the CPP to continue to find ways to increase the resilience and efficiency of the Capitol complex. This may include exploring the feasibility of procuring increasingly efficient technologies with higher upfront costs, but that will make the Capitol complex more resilient and independent over time. To this end, the CPP shall brief the Committee within 90 days of enactment of this act on the incremental cost differences between conventional and low-carbon or zero emissions alternatives for the Capitol campus, including but not limited to, energy audits, building retro-commissioning, building materials, heating and cooling systems, onsite distributed energy generation and storage. The Committee also expects the CPP to provide periodic updates on the status of the design, construction and installation of the electronic vehicle [EV] charging stations across the Senate appropriated in fiscal year 2022, as well as the estimated costs associated with operating and maintaining those EV charging stations, and any plans for expanding EV charging station for the Senate and other areas within Capitol complex.

The Committee continues to invest in IT modernization at the Library and directs the Library to brief the Committee regularly on these efforts.

Along with budget submissions as part of the regular appropriations process, the Library is directed to provide periodic updates to the Committee on updates to designs, cost estimates, and anticipated timelines for construction and implementation of the Library’s Visitor Experience Master Plan. These updates should also include progress on fundraising initiatives for private funding, including both donations in-hand and verbal commitments, to support the Visitor Experience.

The Committee recommends an appro- priation of $3,976,000 for the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project [VHP]. VHP oversees a nationwide effort to build an archive of oral histories, from World War I through current conflicts, by collecting, preserving, and making available the personal stories of American war veterans and the civilian workers who support them. The VHP collection includes submissions from every State and is the largest oral history project in the United States.

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $10,945,000 for the Library’s successful Teaching with Primary Sources program [TPS], a teacher training initiative that encourages educators to incorporate the Library’s online primary sources into school curricula. The TPS program achieves this by making grants funding available to a broad array of eligible organizations in every State in order to develop innovative strategies, tools, and materials for meaningful teaching and learning experiences using primary source material from LOC collections. The Committee is aware of the important role that colleges, universities, and other educational institutions and foundations have held in developing and expanding the scope and reach of the TPS program since its authorization in 2005. The Committee encourages the Library to maintain funding for these partnerships to continue and expand this effective teacher training initiative that incorporates the Library’s impressive digital collections into school curricula. The Committee believes that efforts to develop learning initiatives on history, civics, and democracy have merit, and encourages the Library to further its efforts in these areas, including through the creation of a Lewis-Houghton civics education grants initiative. For this purpose, the Committee’s recommendation includes an additional $1,000,000 for TPS above the budget request. This initiative will competitively award grants, in an amount no larger than $100,000, per year for up to 3 years, to eligible applicants from educational, civic, and cultural organizations operating within the United States and its territories, focused on using LOC collections to teach about civics and democracy. The Committee believes that competitive, merit-based grants should be awarded through the TPS Consortium of partner organizations, such as colleges and universities, educational nonprofits, libraries, and advocacy organizations, so that grant recipients benefit from the experiences of consortium members located in different geographic areas experimenting with projects, sharing ideas, and working toward common goals. The Committee directs the Library to provide a briefing to the Committee on its plans to implement this initiative no later than 180 days after the enactment of this act.

Briefing no later than 180 days after enactment of this act

The Committee understands that funding remains available through September 30, 2022, for purposes of the deacidification preservation program. The Committee directs the Library to brief the Committees within 30 days of the enactment of this act on the phase out of mass deacidification activity, and how it intends to expend remaining funds.

The Committee recognizes the important work of the National Film Preservation Program and the National Sound Recording Preservation Program, including the federally chartered National Film and National Recording Preservation Foundations [Foundations]. Consistent with the authorizing statute, the Foundations utilize both public and private matching funds to provide grants to a wide array of educational and non-profit organizations that help preserve historical and cultural artifacts that would otherwise disappear or be destroyed over time. Given that these programs were reauthorized under the Library of Congress Sound Recording and Film Preservation Programs Reauthorization Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–217), the Committee expects that the Library will provide support to these programs.

The Committee recognizes that Congress.gov is an important tool for members, staff, and the public to follow and understand the congressional process; however, the Committee believes that Congress.gov could provide a more complete picture of the full legislative process. Therefore, the Committee requests that the Library, in collaboration with the Legislative Branch Data Interchange Working Group, conduct a study to determine what changes are necessary to allow Congress.gov to better track the legislative process. The study should identify technical and procedural changes required to track legislation that is introduced and later included in a separate measure, legislation introduced that is also filed as an amendment, and a better tracking of the congressional committee process, including the notation of recorded votes in committee. The Committee encourages the Library to consult with congressional and public stakeholders in the development of the study and to submit a report to the Committee within 180 days of enactment of this act on the findings of the study.

LOC and LBDI Working Group

The Committee recognizes that public access to the Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress is limited and acknowledges the challenge of maintaining a balance between creating a quiet environment for researchers while also allowing visitors to enjoy the beauty of the Main Reading Room. The Committee encourages the Library to continue exploring opportunities to enhance public access to the Reading Room while preserving the research environment and collections, and directs the Library to keep the Committee apprised of any new efforts to expand public access.

In recognition of the critical need for Americans of all ages to develop information literacy skills, the Committee directs the Library of Congress to collaborate with and provide consultative support to the Institute of Museum and Library Services [IMLS] as IMLS carries out the activities of the Information Literacy Taskforce for the priorities and guidelines described in the explanatory statement to accompany the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022 (Public Law 117–103).

The Committee encourages the Library to collaborate with the IMLS on outreach and activities to engage the diverse community of museums and libraries across the Nation in celebrating and commemorating the semiquincentennial anniversary of the Nation’s founding.

The recommendation continues funding for Copyright Office IT modernization. The Committee directs the Copyright Office and the Library’s Office of Chief Information Officer [OCIO] to continue to work together to achieve efficiencies in shared services, while allowing for mission specific modernization to be the responsibility of the Copyright Office. The Committee directs the Copyright Office to provide a detailed spend plan for the IT modernization efforts intended to be addressed with the funds provided in fiscal year 2023.

Copyright Office and LOC OCIO

The Committee recognizes the tremendous value that CRS has added to Congress by providing objective, authoritative, nonpartisan, and confidential research and analysis on the breadth of policy issues considered during each legislative session since its inception in 1914. The Committee continues to support modernization of CRS mission-specific information systems to increase efficiency of the office while protecting confidentiality of congressional data.

The Committee continues to support CRS’s efforts to increase the depth and breadth of its capacity to provide research and policy analysis on current and emerging legislative issues related to science and technology [S&T] and Federal uses and oversight of S&T. The Committee encourages CRS to continue developing this capacity, as recommended in the National Academy of Public Administration study directed in conference report H.R. 115–929. This added expertise will allow CRS to meet the growing need of Congress for timely, complex, and multidisciplinary analysis of policy issues related to these rapidly changing technologies, the role of the Federal Government in oversight of such technologies, and the effects of Federal S&T policies across all sectors. The Committee also encourages CRS to increase outreach efforts to make Members and congressional staff more aware of the resources it provides related to S&T policy analysis, including on current and emerging S&T issues Congress is examining.

The Committee directs CRS to engage with an external entity to produce a report detailing the feasibility of CRS engaging in the analysis and modeling of big data sets. The study should assess the information technology infrastructure, staffing, and analytical support required to establish and maintain such a capability. The completed study would be made available to the Committees on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the Committee on House Administration, and House and Senate leadership.

The Committee encourages CRS to explore ways to augment its ability to perform quantitative analysis of research data. Within 180 days of enactment of this act, CRS shall brief the Committee on proposed options for such capacity expansion, including costs. CRS currently uses quantitative analysis and policy simulation to evaluate certain legislative proposals, their distributional impact on various demographic groups, interactions with other public programs, and their alternatives. The briefing may evaluate additional research personnel, such as new analysts, data scientists, methodologists and research assistants to expand quantitative analysis on newer topics that assess the impact of legislative proposals more broadly. The briefing may also evaluate infrastructure investment in statistical data science visualization software to strengthen this research capacity.

The recommendation includes $6,899,000 for GPO’s OIG for fiscal year 2023. The recommendation does not include the requested increase of $1,050,000 to migrate the OIG’s human capital [HC] and information technology [IT] support services from GPO to a third-party Federal provider. The Committee notes that the OIG is not funded through a separate appropriation, but the Director submits the OIG’s request without interference, as directed by this Committee. The Committee invests considerable resources through the Business Operations Revolving Fund annually in GPO’s HC and IT services and therefore expects the OIG to utilize them.

In the fiscal year 2019, the Committee directed GAO to provide a comprehensive plan to reconfigure its science and technology function to better address the evolving and timely needs of Congress, and in January 2019, GAO established a Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics [STAA] team. In consultation with internal and external stakeholders, academic and nonprofit organizations, and Members of Congress, the STAA team submitted its plan for staffing needs, resources, areas of expertise, and the products and services that the team will provide or is currently providing to Congress. The plan demonstrates STAA’s value and ability to assess upcoming technological and digital innovations. Presently, the STAA is providing Congress with technology assessments, technical assistance, and reports in the areas of oversight of Federal technology and science programs, as well as best practices in engineering sciences and cybersecurity. The Committee applauds the efforts of GAO’s STAA team and encourages STAA to continue providing Congress with unbiased explanatory data, as well as assessments of future science and technology issues relevant to Congress. The Committee also supports the ongoing growth and adaptation of the STAA team to meet congressional needs.