Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Hearing: Library of Congress and Architect of the Capitol

• •The Library of Congress requested a total budget of $706 million for fiscal year 2019, an increase of $36.2 million over 2018.
• •The Architect of the Capitol requested a total budget of $744.9 million for fiscal year 2019, an increase of $32.8 million over 2018.
• •The Architect of the Capitol's request includes $198 million for capital projects and $434.9 million for daily facility operations.
• •The Architect of the Capitol reports a total deferred maintenance backlog of $1.5 billion.
• •Library of Congress budget priorities include IT modernization for the Copyright Office and Congressional Research Service (CRS), and addressing backlogs in collection processing.
• •The Veterans History Project received 4,335 collections in fiscal year 2017.
• •The Library of Congress has recently digitized papers of historical figures including Alexander Hamilton, Ulysses Grant, Benjamin Franklin, and Susan B. Anthony.
• •The Congressional Research Service is beta-testing online webinars and instant messaging services.

The hearing outlines proposed federal spending of $706 million for the Library of Congress and $744.9 million for the Architect of the Capitol, which impacts the maintenance of historic government buildings and the digital accessibility of national archives.

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.