GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
Since the mid-nineteenth century, one govern-
ment establishment has existed to fill the print-
ing, binding, and distribution needs of the
federal government. Established on June 23,
1860, by Congressional Joint Resolution No. 25,
the GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE (GPO) has
provided publication supplies and services to
the U.S. Congress, the executive departments,
and all other agencies of the federal government.
The definition of the duties set forth in the 1860
resolution has stayed essentially the same over
the years, with only one amendment in all that
time, 44 U.S.C.A. § 101 et seq.
The GPO is overseen by the Congressional
Joint Committee on Printing. The head of the
GPO works under the title public printer and is
appointed by the president of the United States
with the consent of the Senate. The public
printer is also legally required to be a “practical
printer versed in the art of bookbinding” (44
U.S.C.A. § 301).
The GPO uses a variety of printing and
binding processes, including electronic photo
composition; letterpress printing; Linotype and
hand composition; photopolymer platemaking;
offset photography; stripping, platemaking, and
presswork; and manual and machine bookbind-
ing. The GPO also provides supplies like blank
paper and ink to federal agencies, prepares cata-
logs, and sells and distributes some publications
to civilians.
The GPO offers catalogs that detail publica-
tions available to the public. All catalogs are
available from the superintendent of docu-
ments at the GPO. The GPO Sales Publications
Reference File, which is issued biweekly on
magnetic tape, lists the author, the title, and
subject information for each new publication.
A more comprehensive listing, the Monthly
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, serves
as an index to all the publications handled by
the GPO.
The GPO also offers two free catalogs for
people who are interested in new or popular
publications: U.S. Government Books and New
Books. The first lists the titles of best-selling gov-
ernment publications, and the second is a
bimonthly listing of government publications
for sale.
The approximately 20,000 publications
listed in these catalogs can be purchased by mail
from the GPO’s superintendent of documents.
In addition, the books and catalogs published by
the GPO can be purchased at the approximately
two-dozen GPO bookstores open to the public.
Most of the bookstores are located in govern-
ment hub cities such as Washington, D.C.,
Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Los
Angeles. Publications are also available for pub-
lic perusal at select depository libraries around
the United States.
Owing to the large volume of documents
produced by the various federal agencies, the
GPO does not handle all of the printing and
binding services for the government. In some
instances, the GPO takes bids from commercial
suppliers and awards contracts to those with the
lowest bids. From there, the GPO serves as a
connection between ordering agencies and con-
tractors. The booklet How to Do Business with
the Government Printing Office provides a back-
ground and instructions for contracting with
the GPO and submitting bids. The booklet can
be requested from any GPO regional printing
procurement office. Any printing or binding
contract inquiries can be directed to one of thir-
teen offices, located in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago;
Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Hampton,
Virginia; Los Angeles; New York; Philadelphia;
St. Louis; San Francisco; and Seattle.
Since the mid-1990s, many of the docu-
ments published by the GPO have been available
in electronic formats. During the mid-1990s,
GPO distributed CD-ROM products containing
government documents to thousands of Ameri-
can libraries. Many of these documents are now
available through GPO’s Web site, known as
GPO Access. The site contains hundreds of thou-
sands of individual documents from the various
federal departments and agencies. It has become
particularly useful for attorneys who need to
locate such information as administrative regu-
lations and LEGISLATIVE HISTORY of federal
