Chairman Ryan Statement at Hearing on FY 2021 GPO Budget Request

Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH), Chair of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's hearing on the Fiscal Year 2021 budget request for the Government Publishing Office:

We’re now ready to begin our second hearing of the morning, where we will hear from the Government Publishing Office about their budget request. As you all know, GPO is now distributing more and more information by digital means, such as through its upgraded and steadily growing website now called “GovInfo.” GPO’s fundamental function is making information about the operations of government—particularly the Congress— readily available to the public. That’s a crucial function in a democracy.

GPO’s appropriations request for 2021 is $117 million—the same as its appropriation for 2019 and 2020, and substantially less than it received ten years ago.  This is a case where technological advances have produced real cost savings, as typesetting and printing processes have become more efficient, and the rise of electronic documents has greatly reduced the volume of printed material produced.

Here to tell us about GPO’s budget request—and its work—is Hugh Halpern. Director Halpern was confirmed on December 4, 2019, and is the 28th person to lead GPO since its founding in 1861. While Director Halpern may be new to GPO, he spent 30 years working on the Hill in various leadership positions, so we don’t have to take an easy on him.