Hearings to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for Library of Congress and the Architect of the Capitol.
Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
2025-05-06
Source: Congress.gov
Summary
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Participants
Transcript
The committee will come to order. I want to thank everybody for being here. I would like to let everybody know that obviously this is our second of our fiscal year 2026 budget hearing for the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee. Today we'll have Dr. Hayden, the Library of Congress, and Mr. Austin, the architect of the Capitol. I appreciate the willingness of the witnesses to appear before the subcommittee today, and I look forward to their testimony. Before we turn to the specifics of our budget request, I want to comment on the overall outlook for the fiscal year of 2026. We're looking at a significant decrease in discretionary spending across the federal government. and we must do our part to make responsible decisions in the bill on how we allocate our limited funds. We began this year appropriation process not knowing what kind of increase, if any, we'll be able to accommodate, which makes it even more important that we fully understand your agency's greatest needs and how these requests position you to continue to provide support for Congress. This year, the total budget request for the Library of Congress is $946.2 million, which includes an offset of collections and appropriations of $9 million and $100.3 million. This represents the increase of $48.4 million, or a 5.4 increase above the enacted level. I understand the funding would support continued investments and IT modernization including improvements to congress.gov and other library websites and applications and additional investments in the library's digital capacity and accessibility. The architect of capital request for FY26 is over 1.3 billion, an increase of 506.3 million or a 61% increase above the level provided for the full year CR.
This significant increase is primary for project requests which reflects the fact that the important infrastructure projects have been delayed or phased funded. I would like to hear the impact of delaying some of this work year after year in terms of increasing deterioration of these historic buildings and the growing cost and risk to operate them. Thank you again for the witnesses for being here today. I look forward to a productive discussion and understand your agency's priorities for this year. Now I'd like to turn it over to our ranking member, Senator Heinrich. for any remarks you would like to make. Thank you, Chairman. I look forward to hearing from today's witnesses as we continue our work to prepare a fiscally responsible bill that meets the needs of the legislative branch as a separate but equal branch of government. Thank you to the witnesses providing testimony today and to the folks at your agencies who work every day to facilitate the Congress's work.
Mr. Austin, the architect of the Capitol plays an important role in keeping the Capitol complex fully functional. As the newly appointed architect, you're the caretaker of the building that embodies our democracy, and it is because of the dedication of you and your staff that Congress can perform its work effectively, and that millions of people each year can access and experience the seat of American government. This year, the AOC is requesting $1.3 billion to carry out its mission, a $506 million increase over the FY25 enacted level. Now, I understand that this increase addresses both salaries and infrastructure requirements, I also understand that you're finalizing a capital complex master plan that will help inform project priorities for the AOC for the next several years. And I look forward to your testimony about the status of the master plan and the resources your team needs to do its job. Dr. Hayden, you bring both a deep commitment to public access and a modern vision for preserving and sharing knowledge of the Library of Congress. You have requested $900 million to support library operations, the Congressional Research Service, the Copyright Office, and the National Library Services for the blind and print disabled. While your request is a $49 million increase over the FY25 enacted level, I understand that the Trump administration recently froze funding for library service programs and that this freeze may have indirect impacts on your programs. So I look forward to hearing about how this impacts your work and about the resources that you need for your programming in the coming year. I'd also like to hear about the library's ongoing visitor experience project and your work with the architect on this effort. Again, thank you to both of our witnesses for being here today, and thank you, Chairman, for the time.
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Thank you, Chairman Mullen, Ranking Member Heinrich, and this is an opportunity to provide testimony in support of the Library's fiscal 2026 budget request. The mission of the Library is to engage, inspire, and inform the Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity. Above all, the Library exists to serve. Service to Congress remains the foundation for the Library's mission every day with analysis, policy consultations, briefings, programs, and constituent engagement. I'd like to express my sincere gratitude for the ongoing and extraordinary support that this committee and Congress gives to the library. I especially appreciate the funding you have provided for major information technology IT investments that we are implementing and continuously improving to meet user expectations for greater access and new and enhanced tools. Also, special thanks for your continued support for the library's Visitor Experience Initiative. The library's Treasurer's Gallery opened to the public in June of 2024, and we're excited to open the library's new education center, The Source, by the end of 2025, in time for the nation's America 250 celebrations.
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