Coburn, Kohl look to chip away at printing costs

Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) have introduced a measure to roll back printing of the Congressional Record, a change they say would save as much as $8 million a year. 

In a release, both senators said this sort of change was long overdue, given how available documents like the Congressional Record are online. The release also said the Government Printing Office produces about 4,500 copies of the record a day, even though it’s been available digitally since 1994. 

“The American people expect us to make these common sense decisions, which can produce millions in savings,” Coburn said in a statement. “Printing thousands of unwanted copies of the Congressional Record with borrowed money represents the kind of activity taxpayers have called on us to end.”

Under the bill, copies of the Congressional Record would be printed only for archives or if specifically asked for by the vice president or lawmakers. 

A spokesman for the GPO said the office's initial evaluation of the measure found it would likely save less than its sponsors had said and that the office was now printing 3,720 copies of the Congressional Record, down from almost 20,000 in 1994.

In January, the House approved, by a vote of 399-0, a bill that would stop the automatic printing of legislative measures for congressional offices. Coburn and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) have introduced a Senate version of that legislation, on to which 13 other senators have also signed.