Valadao Remarks at Budget Hearing on the Architect of the Capitol and Library of Congress
The subject of today’s hearing is the Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the Architect of the Capitol and the Library of Congress.
I’d like to thank Ranking Member Espaillat, Committee Members, and our two main witnesses, the Architect of the Capitol, Mr. Thomas Austin, and the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden for being here today.
Dr. Hayden is joined today by Ms. Shira Perlmutter the Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office and Ms. Karen E. Donfried, Director of the Congressional Research Service. Both of their testimonies have been submitted for the record, and Members are welcome to address questions to either, in addition to Dr. Hayen.
The Architect of the Capitol’s Fiscal Year 2026 request is $1.3 billion. In addition to the round-the-clock personnel requirements, the budget focuses on life safety, physical security and critical infrastructure needs of the Capitol campus. Mr. Austin, I welcome you to your first appearance before this subcommittee.
I also want to extend my congratulations and thanks to you and your employees for the incredible work that you have already accomplished this Congress. From the 119th Transition to the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies the office of the Architect of the Capitol has shown its dedication and professionalism in completing the enormous tasks required for these events.
The Library of Congress Fiscal Year 2026 budget request, with offsetting amounts, totals $901 million, a 5.8% increase from the enacted FY 2025 CR. The budget would support the professionals and staff across the Library, including at the Congressional Research Service, and the vast collections of books and other media. It would also support upgrades to preservation storage, digital collections and website modernization, data analytics capabilities and digital accessibility.
The Library recently opened two new exhibits including “Collecting Memories: Treasures form the Library of Congress” and “Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution” in addition to growing it’s collections by 2.5 million new items.
Thank you again to our witnesses for being here. I now recognize the Ranking Member for his opening remarks.
