Mr. JORDAN of North Carolina, from the Committee on Public Works, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 2910]

The Committee on Public Works, to which was referred the bill (S. 2910) having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

SUMMARY OF the BILL

S. 2910 would amend section 3 of Public Law 89-260, a joint resolution to authorize the Architect of the Capitol to construct a third Library of Congress Building in square 732 in the District of Columbia to be named the James Madison Memorial Building and to contain a Madison Memorial Hall and for other purposes, approved October 19, 1965, by striking out $75 million and inserting in lieu thereof $90 million, thus increasing the authorization for the third Library of Congress Building by $15 million.

THE NEED

The great need for a third Library of Congress Building is amply justified in Senate Report 641 and House Report 1024, 89th Congress, first session. Public Law 89-260, approved October 19, 1965, authorized the construction of a third Library of Congress Building to be known as the James Madison Memorial Building, at a total cost not to exceed $75 million. Had funds been appropriated for the design and construction of this building in a timely manner, there is little doubt that the building could have been completed within the funds authorized. However, since the enactment of the joint resolution, only

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$500,000 has been appropriated for preliminary plans and designs and cost estimates. $2.8 million for detailed plans and specifications and related expenses have been included in the legislative branch appropriations bill 1970. However, the House of Representatives, in approving this bill, included the following provision limiting the availability

of funds:

That availability of these funds for obligation shall be contingent upon enactment of legislation adjusting the limit of cost of the project (fixed by section 3 of such act) to reflect projected escalated construction costs required to complete the project on the basis of the preliminary plans heretofore approved by the committee and commissions designated in such act.

In order to proceed with the preparation of the detailed plans and specifications and ultimate construction of this urgently needed building, it is now necessary to increase the authorization for the building to $90 million because of the rapidly escalating construction costs.

GENERAL STATEMENT

Public Law 89-260 recognized the critical need of the Library of Congress for additional space within which to carry out its assigned responsibilities. In 1965, $500,000 was appropriated for the preparation of preliminary plans and designs and cost estimates. The Architect of the Capitol, acting under the joint direction of the House Office Building Commission, the Senate Office Building Commission, and the Joint Committee on the Library, after consultation with the James Madison Memorial Commission, retained architects Roscoe DeWitt, Alfred Easton Poor, Albert Homer Swanke, Jesse M. Shelton and A. P. Almond to prepare these preliminary plans and cost estimates. During the planning stage a committee designated by the American Institute. of Architects was consulted, as required by the law. The resulting cost estimates verified that, on the basis of known costs and anticipated cost escalation over the time necessary for construction of the building, the building could be constructed at a total cost not to exceed $75 million. Thereafter, at the direction of the chairman of the coordinating committee, concurred in by the parent commissions and committee, an appropriation of $2,800,000 was requested for the preparation of contract plans and specifications, for inclusion in the supplemental appropriation bill, 1968; and again requested for inclusion in the legislative branch appropriation bill, 1969.

In acting on the supplemental bill 1968, the request for $2,800,000 was not allowed by the House Appropriations Committee; was included in the bill by the Senate Appropriations Committee and retained in the bill as passed by the Senate; but was deleted from the bill in conference, with the following statement:

Strike out the provision in the Senate bill that would have appropriated $2,800,000 for plans for the James Madison Memorial Library of Congress building. This action is recommended without prejudice to the merits of the project. In acting on the legislative branch appropriation bill 1969, the

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request for $2,800,000 was disallowed by both the House and Senate. Appropriations Committees. The House report contained the following

statement:

In connection with the proposed James Madison Memorial (third) Library building, a $75 million project, the committee has again deferred without prejudice the $2,800,000 sought for plans and specifications. It is the same proposition considered by the committee last December and laid aside in view of the critical budget situation.

There seems to be no question about the Library needing a third building. The Library continues inevitably-to grow. Annual space rental costs now approach $1 million, and the Library keeps looking for more available and suitable space. But the budget situation is worse than it was last December, leaving the committee little justifiable choice in the decision to defer the item.

The Senate report contained the following statement:

The budget estimate is in the amount of $2,800,000 and these funds were requested for architect-engineer fees for preparation of contract plans and specification. The committee has denied the request for these funds at the present time in view of the budget situation.

In the meantime, due to inflationary pressures, construction costs have been accelerating at an ever increasing rate. The associate architects retained by the Architect of the Capitol estimate that it will now cost $90 million to construct this building, assuming it can be completed during 1973. In other words, if the Congress now moves expeditiously to appropriate the required funds, it will cost $90 million to build exactly the same building which could have been built previously for $75 million. The building, as projected, and the preliminary plans have not changed, but construction costs have.

COMMITTEE VIEWS

In reporting S. 2910, the committee recognizes the ever-increasing need of the Library of Congress for this third building, and realizes that further delay in its construction can only increase the ultimate cost. The need to complete the construction of the James Madison Memorial Building is urgent and the committee recommends the enactment of S. 2910.

COST

This legislation authorizes the appropriation of an additional $15 million for the construction of the third Library of Congress building, to be named the James Madison Memorial Building.

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