The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) was created by an Act of Congress on June 23, 1860 and opened its doors nine mont ... hs later on March 4, 1861. With 1,700 employees, GPO is the Federal Government's official, digital, secure resource for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information products of the U.S. Government. The GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of Congress, the White House, and other Federal agencies in digital and print formats. GPO provides for permanent public access to Federal Government information at no charge through www.govinfo.gov, partnerships with approximately 1,150 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program, and our secure online bookstore. For more information, please visit www.gpo.gov. In December 2014, Congress passed legislation and President Barack Obama signed into law that the U.S. Government Printing Office would now be called the U.S. Government Publishing Office. read more