For 2007 The Library of Congress requested $628 million, 4.1% more than in 2006, The Hill congressional newspaper reports. That does not include $102 million for the library’s buildings and grounds, which is part of a separate request from the office of the Architect of the Capitol (AoC). The AoC request includes $54 million for a logistics warehouse.
“This appropriations request represents a tripling over the fiscal year 2006 budget … and will be very hard to accommodate. Questions have been raised whether the design for the warehouse is gold-plated and whether more cost-effective alternatives exist,” said legislative branch subcommittee chairman Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) in a hearing on the request.
The 166,000-sq.-ft. facility in Fort Meade would replace and consolidate other Library of Congress facilities, according to James Billington, the librarian.