House Panel Passes Spending Bill for Legislative Branch, Tightens Scrutiny
June 7, 2007

House appropriators yesterday unanimously approved $3.1 billion for legislative-branch operations for full committee review.
The bill would increase funding for legislative-branch activities by $122 million, or 4.1 percent, over last year’s levels. The bill gives $1.2 billion — the full amount requested — to the House of Representatives.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee’s legislative branch panel, said that the bill emphasizes security, safety, fiscal responsibility and accountability. It granted a 3 percent increase for operations, rather than the 12 percent increase that legislative-branch agencies requested.

Wasserman Schultz criticized the management of the Architect of the Capitol (AoC) once again at yesterday’s markup, calling the office one of the most “mismanaged” she has ever seen. The bill would establish a statutory Inspector General for the AoC with seven full-time employees.

“It would be an understatement to say that the architect faces a number of challenges,” Wasserman Schultz told the panel, citing management concerns and ongoing problems with utility tunnels. The bill also directs the Government Accountability
Office to analyze how facilities are managed in the Capitol Complex.

Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey (D-Wis.) praised Wasserman Schultz, a sophomore member, and called her bill “very reasonable.”

Ranking member Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) also commended Wasserman Schultz for the “fiscal responsibility” of the bill. He noted that it is “one of the few bills that was under the president’s request.”

However, Wamp called on the chairwoman to allow for more bipartisan involvement in the process.

Wamp offered an amendment to change the name of the main hall in the Capitol Visitor Center from “Great Hall” to “Emancipation Hall” to honor the slaves who helped to build the Capitol. He later withdrew the amendment after assurances that the name of the hall would be changed after further discussion and evaluation of several possible alternatives.

Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) introduced an amendment to fully fund the Open World Leadership Center, which operates out of the Library of Congress but is funded separately. The amendment failed along party lines, but the chairwoman included $1 million to transfer the project to the State Department.

The bill would also increase the budget for the Office of Compliance, which ensures the health and safety of legislative-branch employees, by 22.7 percent, or $700,000.

Capitol Police got an almost 12 percent increase, which included a requirement that they audit their financial management in two years.

“This bill is both fiscally prudent while at the same time expanding programs which are needed to improve efficiency and safety of the Capitol,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “In areas needing additional supervision, such as the AoC, we are increasing oversight, which in turn will help to rein in spending.”