WASHINGTON—Public Printer of the United States Bruce James has informed President George W. Bush of his intention to retire from his post as head of the U.S. Government Printing Office. James will depart when a new Public Printer is chosen. As James reflects on the GPO’s accomplishments during his tenure, he credits GPO’s hardworking and dedicated workforce for making the GPO the model agency it is today. “Being the Public Printer has been one of my greatest joys and I am proud and honored to have stood side-by-side with the men and women of the GPO as a fellow public servant.” James says the GPO has achieved historic levels of customer service, financial management and technological innovations in the last three years. “We developed a truly innovative plan, now before Congress, that will allow GPO to build and fully equip a new 21st century digital information factory at no cost to taxpayers. We completely reversed our financial situation, moving from red ink year after year, to surpluses -- this fiscal year will mark three consecutive years of positive cash flow which has allowed us to make investments in the digital technologies that we need to continue to serve our customers as their needs change. This will ensure our citizens the ability to access all published Government information through the Internet while knowing that the information is authentic and will be preserved for public access in perpetuity. We reorganized the agency around product and service groups that are focused on providing unparalleled service to our Government customers, library partners and the general public. All of these milestones are outlined in the well-respected road map we created, “A Strategic Vision for the 21st Century,” which is not only a guide to our future but to Government publishing in all three branches of the Federal Government.” James became Public Printer in 2002 at the request of the President. “The President asked me lead the GPO’s transformation into a financially-sound, hightechnology, 21st century provider of Government information for the American public. As I enter my fourth year at the GPO, I am happy to report we are right on track.”