From the Chair of the Board of Directors:
Since my appointment to the Board of Directors in 1999, the Office of Compliance has made extraordinary strides both in accomplishing its statutory mission under the Congressional Accountability Act and in evolving from a nascent independent entity to an integral legislative branch contributor, poised for mature future accomplishment.
During these years, significant progress has been made by our Office to improve the safety of the legislative branch; recognize and implement the rights of employees; respond to the rights and needs of persons with disabilities; and educate our constituency on the mandates of civil rights and fair labor standards law.
Ensuring the safety of the Capitol complex for both employees and visitors is a paramount concern of the Board of Directors. As this Report will detail, significant progress has been made this Fiscal Year. We count as accomplishments not only the resolution of long-standing citations but also the increasing effectiveness of a comprehensive inspection system. As the Fiscal Year ended, the Board was poised to appoint a new executive team, fulfilling one of our statutory mandates and energizing the Office with new possibility. We continued to perform our appellate function in the statutorily-created employee dispute resolution process by issuing more final decisions than in the prior two years, hopefully laying solid foundation for enforcement of legal rights on the Hill. We moved closer to adopting and submitting for Congressional promulgation regulations with enormous benefit to veterans and legislative branch employees who serve in the military, yet another component of our statutory duties. These are important and meaningful roles, and we approach them with care and commitment.
The Board of Directors takes enormous pride in the work of the professional staff and the many accomplishments of the Office. We echo the words of our Executive Director: this is a collective undertaking, with and for the 30,500 employees of the legislative branch; its 1200 offices nationwide; the 1.3 million annual visitors to the Capitol; and the infrastructure of the Capitol itself. We are confident that our significant contributions and our successful performance of mission will only continue to grow in the years ahead.
