Chairman Oberstar's and Subcommittee Chair Norton's Opening Statements from today's Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management hearing

Statement of The Honorable James L. Oberstar

I want to thank Chairwoman Norton and Ranking Member Diaz-Balart for holding this very important hearing on how the Office of the Architect of the Capitol is addressing workplace hazards identified by the Office of Compliance (OOC). A prime objective of the Congressional Accountability Act is to ensure that Congressional employees are afforded a safe and healthy workplace, in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Since authorization of capital projects for the Congressional workplace is the jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, we are interested in examining how the Architect of the Capitol both plans for, and executes projects that abate workplace hazards. Further, we are interested in understanding what the current status is in terms of workplace hazards, from multiple perspectives, including: the Office of Compliance; the Architect of the Capitol (Mr Ayres); and from representatives of rank and file employees of the Architect of the Capitol.

In addition, we are interested in understanding any particular challenges or constraints posed by the historic nature of many of the buildings within the Capitol Complex. To further our understanding of the nature of these challenges, we have private sector witnesses with particular expertise in historic preservation and architectural master-planning in an historic building context.

I am pleased to note that the overall trend in terms of abatement of outstanding hazards, both in terms of numbers and severity, is very auspicious: the grand total of hazards identified by the OOC has declined from 13,141 during the 109th Congress, to 9,250 in the 110th Congress, and is projected to be in the vicinity of 6,300 for the 11th Congress. This is a decline of more than 50 percent. Moreover, the severity of hazards, as determined by the designation of each hazard in terms of a Risk Assessment Code (RAC) is also on the wane: the most severe hazards are those assigned to RAC categories I and II, and the percentage of RAC I and II hazards has declined from more than 35 percent in the 109th Congress, to 25 percent in the 110th Congress.

While these statistics show movement in a positive direction, there are still several thousand open items, and 25 percent of the outstanding hazards pose, in the characterization of the OOC, “a high risk” to the safety of Capitol employees and visitors, so this Committee is interested in understanding what impediments stand in the way of abating these hazards.

I look forward to hearing from today’s witnesses. 

Statement of The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management hearing on
“The Congressional Workplace: Safety Concerns and Future Plans”
September 30, 2010

I am pleased to welcome our witnesses and I look forward to their testimonies. This Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Architect of the Capitol’s (AOC) capital program and, of course, we can engage the oversight generally concerning the office of the AOC. Today, the Subcommittee will examine the Fiscal Year 2009 “State of the Congressional Workplace” report produced by the Office of Compliance (OOC) and its relationship to the AOC’s capital infrastructure plan. The OOC was created by the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-1), which was passed to ensure that Congress and its auxiliary agencies generally follow the same employment, labor, accessibility and safety laws that apply to the private and public sectors.

The Congressional Accountability Act applies to the employees of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, the Office of the Attending Physician, the Office of Congressional Accessibility Services, the United States Capitol Police, the Government Accountability Office, and the Library of Congress, covering an estimated 30,000 employees. Section 215(e) of the Congressional Accountability Act requires the OOC to inspect the facilities of the agencies under its jurisdiction for compliance with occupational safety and health standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act at least once each Congress. On July 13, 2010, the OOC released its Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Report, “State of the Congressional Workplace”. The FY 2009 Annual Report covers 96 percent of the 17 million square feet of space occupied by Congress and other legislative branch facilities in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.

The United States Capitol Complex has a long and storied history, and includes the House office buildings, the Capitol, the Senate Office buildings, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court building, the Botanical Gardens, the Capitol Power Plant, and other buildings. Construction on the Capitol began in 1793, and extensions, additions and renovations of the Capitol have continued from the late 18th century until now, when the Capitol Visitors Center (CVC), the most recent addition to the Capitol, opened in 2008.

Today, the Capitol Complex encompasses over 450 acres and houses several important institutions in American government. With several of the buildings approaching 100 years of age, the care, condition and safety of the buildings of the Capitol Complex are important concerns for the subcommittee. In addition to being symbols of democracy, these buildings also house the working offices of America’s elected officials, the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Library of Congress and other public servants.

The Fiscal Year 2009 annual report documents compliance with occupational safety and health standards for the 110th Congress (2007-08) and provides projections for the number of hazards in the 111th Congress. The report indicates that there were 9,200 hazards in the congressional workplace during the 110th Congress, which represented a 30 percent reduction from the 109th Congress, during which 13,140 hazards were identified. The Rayburn House Office Building had the highest number of safety and health hazards, followed by the James Madison Memorial Building and the Longworth House Office Building. The OOC projects that the 111th Congress will have 6,300 hazards, representing approximately a 50 percent drop since 2006.

We will take a hard look at the long term plan to maintain the safety and accessibility of the Capitol Complex. Going forward with long term capital asset planning, we will examine some of the measures that the AOC and OCC are taking to ensure that legislative branch employees and the millions of visitors to the Capitol Complex are not exposed to harm unnecessarily, and further, that these offices are conducting or identifying requisite training or establishing safety practices and procedures for congressional employees and visitors.

Although there has been a significant drop in hazards since the 108th Congress, there are still significant risks to health and safety in the Capitol Complex. It is our understanding that a recent blue ribbon panel convened by the AOC produced a final report about some of the more serious hazards on the Senate side that will inform how the Architect addresses similar fire safety issues in the Capitol and the Cannon House Office Building. The OOC report detailed serious safety violations -- from open stairwells in the Russell Senate Office Building that could create a dangerous smoke funnel, perhaps preventing people from escaping if the building caught fire or sustained an explosive attack, to the Thomas Jefferson Building, which lacks adequate exit stairwells.

We want to be sure that the AOC has the plans and tools to cope with the challenge of modernizing the Capitol Complex consistent with its status as a National Historic Landmark. With the recent completion of the new 580,000 square feet Capitol Visitors Center, many issues are presented, such as assuring that the Capitol Complex is accessible for Americans and that there are sufficient safeguards in place to prevent a fire from becoming a major calamity. We want to partner with the office of the AOC and OOC so that our subcommittee can draw upon its long term collective expertise in construction, management and long term capital asset planning to ensure that the U.S. Capitol Complex remains an iconic masterpiece.

We also are concerned about the issues I detailed in a letter dated August 18, 2010, concerning emergency preparedness and response training for CVC workers, workings conditions, employee benefits, including the possible loss of benefits, as well as reports that the CVC forbids employee contact with members of Congress. Additionally, CVC employees allegedly were instructed to flush the contents of a bag of white powder labeled "anthrax" down a toilet instead of alerting U.S. Capitol Police of its discovery. It is also alleged that CVC employees are subject to harmful working conditions, including uniforms inappropriate for outdoor work in summer and winter months, and limitations on water consumption. These allegations are serious and we expect to hear from both parties about how these issues are being resolved.

I look forward to the testimonies of officials from the Architect of the Capitol, the Office of Compliance, the American Institute of Architects, and union officials to ensure that the U.S. Capitol Complex remains a safe and accessible workplace.
 

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