Appropriations bill FY96, Legislative Branch

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Congressional Operations

Title II: Other Agencies

Title III: General Provisions

Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1996 - Title I: Congressional Operations - Congressional Operations Appropriations Act, 1996 - Appropriates funds for FY 1996 for the Senate, the House of Representatives, and joint items between the House and the Senate.

Prohibits the use of any funds appropriated for House Members' representational allowances, including official mail, to send unsolicited mass mailings within 90 days before an election in which the Member is a candidate.

Makes FY 1996 appropriations for the: (1) Office of Compliance; (2) Office of Technology Assessment (to carry out its orderly closure); (3) Congressional Budget Office; (5) Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress; and (6) Government Printing Office for congressional printing and binding.

(Sec. 114) Directs the Architect of the Capitol to submit a proposal on how to transfer Office of Technology Assessment records and property to appropriate support agencies of the legislative branch, subject to approval of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

Title II: Other Agencies - Appropriates FY 1996 funds for the: (1) Botanic Garden; (2) Library of Congress (with administrative limitations), including the Copyright Office and the Books for the Blind and Handicapped program; (3) Architect of the Capitol; (4) Government Printing Office; and (5) General Accounting Office.

(Sec. 209) States that the purpose of this section is to reduce the cost of information support for the Congress by eliminating duplication among systems which provide electronic access by Congress to legislative information. Directs the Library to develop a plan for creation of a single legislative information retrieval system to serve the entire Congress. Requires the plan (which must be approved by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the House Oversight Committee, and the House and Senate Appropriations Committees) to include an examination of the issues regarding efficient ways to make this information available to the public.

(Sec. 210) Requires the FY 1997 budget submission by the Public Printer for the Government Printing Office to include appropriations requests and recommendations to the Congress that are consistent with specific strategic plans, that assure progress toward electronic information dissemination, and that are formulated so as to require that any government entity that does not make such progress shall bear from its own resources the cost of its information dissemination by other than electronic means.

(Sec. 212) Directs the Comptroller General to prescribe regulations designed to effect a reduction in force of officers and employees of the General Accounting Office. Requires the regulations, to the extent feasible, to minimize disruption and promote efficiency in the Office.

Title III: General Provisions - Prohibits any funds appropriated in this Act from being used for maintenance or care of private vehicles, except for emergencies.

(Sec. 304) Limits the expenditure of any appropriation under this Act for consulting services to those contracts that are a matter of public record, except as provided under existing law or executive order.

(Sec. 305) Expresses the sense of the Congress that, to the greatest extent possible, all equipment and products purchased with funds under this Act should be American-made.

(Sec. 307) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act for the relocation of the office of any House member within the House office buildings.