Nation’s top printer steers country to digital documents

Benjamin Grove

Friday, May 30, 2003 | 4:10 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: May 31, 2003

WASHINGTON -- Six months into his dream job, a Nevadan serving as the nation's top printer is overseeing a dramatic shift in the publication of the government's documents.

Five years from now 95 percent of the U.S. government's documents will be produced only in digital form, said Bruce James, public printer of the United States and head of the Government Printing Office. Five years ago nearly all documents were printed on paper, but already more than 50 percent are digital only, he said.

James said transforming the 3,500-employee GPO into a modern digital-document house has been his toughest challenge. The agency has been responsible for the paper printing of all government documents since the days of Benjamin Franklin, the nation's first public printer.

James said he was floored by the talent and experience of the GPO's veteran employees, but some are uncomfortable with the agency's new digital direction. A few weeks ago the GPO offered a cash incentive early-retirement program to 300 GPO veterans, James said in an interview with the Sun.

"That has paved the way for us to bring in the next generation," James said.

James met with President Bush for the first time in the Oval Office on Tuesday, when James handed the president the first volume of the full text of Bush's official papers from the first six months of his presidency -- Jan. 20, 2001, to July 31, 2001.

Bush was pleased with the 880-page, goatskin-bound volume and immediately began thumbing through it, James said. The book contains Bush's speeches, news conferences, messages, statements, communications to Congress and color photographs. It is available on the agency website at gpoaccess.gov/pubpapers.

Bush was jovial as he chatted with James, joked with aides and then gave James a tour of the Oval Office.

"He was in a very good mood," James said.

James said the second six-month volume of the presidential papers is nearly complete, a document that will reflect a presidency radically changed by Sept. 11.

James also commented on a controversy that has reverberated within the agency over whether the GPO should contract out more printing work to save money. The White House Office of Management and Budget had recommended the change before James began his tenure.

James said OMB director Mitch Daniels had not understood that the GPO already contracts out much of its work, except the Federal Register, congressional documents and passports. The GPO has printing contracts with 2,568 private printers in all 50 states, James said. The agency has contracts with 10 printers in Nevada, according to the GPO.

James is a Lake Tahoe resident and retired millionaire who spent 30 years in the printing business. In 1998 the Republican briefly challenged then-Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., in a bid for Senate. Ensign, now a senator, recommended James to Bush for the printer's job.