SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Madam Chair, Ranking Member Alexander, Members of the Committee, I am pleased to appear before you as the Executive Director of the Office of Compliance (“OOC”) in support of the Office’s 2009 fiscal year request for appropriations. When I last appeared before this Subcommittee, I was the Acting Executive Director. Because of the support of this Subcommittee, the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance was successful in presenting to Congress legislation to amend the Congressional Accountability Act (“CAA”), which allows for internal promotion. These enabling amendments not only allowed for my official appointment to the Executive Director position, but they also provided for the possibility of other staff being promoted to any of the four appointed positions. This opportunity will not only provide for continued institutional knowledge, but it will improve the retention of talented staff, and it will overall increase staff morale. The agency will benefit from your efforts for many years to come, and our gratitude for your support will continue well into the future.
My appointment as Executive Director enabled the Board of Directors to appoint two new Deputy Executive Directors: Barbara J. Sapin, Deputy Executive Director for the Senate; and Sana F. Shtasel, Deputy Executive Director for the House of Representatives. Along with the new Deputy Executive Director appointments, Susan Green has joined the Office as Deputy General Counsel. With the addition of these new deputies, as well as my appointment, General Counsel Peter Ames Eveleth and I continue to work toward increased communication and collaboration with the agency’s stakeholders. Our focus of being a resource on Capitol Hill continues, and the recent additions to our leadership only strengthen our abilities to move forward in this way.
The Subcommittee will note that the Office of Compliance’s budget request for fiscal year 2009 is directly linked to its mission and strategic plan, supporting the agency’s mandate to ensure a safe, healthy, and fair workplace on Capitol Hill. This year’s budget request is a minimal increase over our request for appropriations in fiscal year 2008. In fiscal year 2008, the Office requested $4,106,000 to fund such services as expert oversight of the remediation of the utility tunnels hazards and additional positions to meet the agency’s increasingly demanding workload. After the .25-percent across the board recission, our total funding for fiscal year 2008 was $3,341,625.
