Earl Blumenauer: “this amendment is simple: by instructing the Government Printing Office (GPO) to print half the number of Congressional…”

“this amendment is simple: by instructing the Government Printing Office (GPO) to print half the number of Congressional Records daily, we will save $3.2 million in taxpayer dollars and 57 tons of paper annually. An unofficial survey of House offices revealed that many swiftly discard their daily copy of the Congressional Record. And why shouldn't they? The full, easily searchable text of the Record is available online back to the year 1989. As electronic viewing of this resource becomes more widespread, we must continue to adjust the number of printed copies accordingly. In fact, since 1995 we have reduced the number of daily printed Congressional Records from 18,000 to 5,600 per day. We have an opportunity to save millions of dollars by taking advantage of paperless technology and pushing House operations into the 21st Century. I commend Speaker Pelosi in her recent effort to 'Green the Capitol' and this is a common-sense amendment that is consistent with that initiative.”