Boarman Honored in Congressional Record

It seemed like we barely got to know Bill Boarman when the 26th U.S. Public Printer was suddenly out of job after the Senate left for its holiday break in December without confirming him. As a recess appointee, the lack of Senate confirmation meant that he had to step down, despite the good work he was doing.

His accomplishments did not go unnoticed though. On Wednesday, Maryland Senator Steny H. Hoyer placed a tribute to Boarman in the Congressional Record, citing the many positive changes he made in his short one-year term as head of the Government Printing Office.

"Bill slashed agency spending dramatically by eliminating nonessential hires, cutting needless travel, restricting use of overtime and reducing the GPO’s annual spending plan for 2011 by 15 percent," wrote Hoyer. "Bill created a specialized task force to collect funds owed to GPO and within months collected over a third of the money due, some outstanding for seven years."

He noted that Boarman authorized a buyout of up to 15 percent of his workforce, and restricted new hires. The buyout plan achieved 94 percent of its goal and reduced the GPO’s staffing to its lowest level in a century. This achievement, he said, will save GPO and taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in future years.

He added that Boarman ordered the first-ever survey of Congress’s printing requirements, resulting in the largest single-year percentage reduction in the number of printed Congressional Records delivered to Congress. He made customer service GPO’s primary strategic goal. He put GPO on Facebook and ordered the development and release of the GPO’s first mobile Web application. He pushed forward with aggressive plans to make more GPO space available for lease to other agencies. And before he left, made GPO history by appointing Davita Vance-Cooks as Deputy Public Printer, the first woman ever to hold that post and head the agency.

"Mr. Speaker, Bill Boarman’s tenure as Public Printer set a new standard of achievement for his successors to emulate," said Hoyer. "In my judgment, the actions of a handful of Senators to block an up-or-down vote on the President’s nomination of Bill Boarman deprived Congress, Federal agencies, and the American public of his faithful service during this time of difficult transition when most needed. Regardless what may come next, Bill Boarman can leave the Government Printing Office confident that GPO is better than when he found it."

To read Hoyer's full tribute, download a PDF of this segment of the Congressional Record.