Video: House Appropriators Support Boosting Library of Congress Budget

From Roll Call:

House appropriators considered modest budget increases for the Government Accountability Office and the Library of Congress during a Wednesday panel hearing.
[Clip]
Librarian of Congress James Billington also won praise from [Legislative Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla] Cole for the “amazing work” he has done to modernize and digitize the library’s collection of more than 155 million items “under very constrained budget resources.”
In recent years, the LOC has reduced its workforce by about 1,400 people. Between fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2014, the LOC’s budget dropped from $643.3 million to $579 million, according to the CRS.
“Maybe we thought we could get away with that because nobody really understands or appreciates what the Library of Congress does,” Rep. James P. Moran, D-Va., said, then predicted: “We’re going to pay a price for that.”
The de facto national library of the United States, which also serves as Congress’ parliamentary library, is asking for an additional $14.2 million, which would be a 2.3 percent increase over current levels.

Read the Complete Article

View the Hearing (Including Dr. Billington’s Statement and Questions)

The hearing begins at 32:16 in the video.

Video streaming by Ustream

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