ALAWON v2n25 (June 10, 1993) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v2n25 ****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 2, Number 25 June 10, 1993 In this issue: (223 lines) SENATE APPROPRIATORS RESTORE ALL FY93 LIBRARY RESCISSIONS HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE MARKS UP FY94 APPROPRIATIONS BILL GPO ACCESS BILL SIGNED INTO LAW CONFERENCE ALERT -- COL INFORMATION UPDATE CONFERENCE ALERT -- LSCA REAUTHORIZATION SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES NHPRC REAUTHORIZATION *************************************************************************** SENATE APPROPRIATORS RESTORE ALL FY93 LIBRARY RESCISSIONS On June 8, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported out their version of an FY93 Supplemental Appropriations Bill (HR 2218, S. Rept. 103-54) without the rescission of LSCA title VI and HEA titles II-A and II-B library funds as approved by the House in HR 2244 on May 26. Among other things, the bill would provide $196,000,000 to create about 160,000 summer jobs. To offset expenditures for the programs they chose to fund, the Senate Committee recommended a rescission of $500 million appropriated last year for the Bush Administration's "weed and seed" proposal which was not enacted. HR 2244 was not reported out by the Senate Committee. Senate floor action on the bill is expected next week, and conference between the House and Senate will occur shortly thereafter. Many thanks to all library literacy and HEA library program supporters across the country who contacted House and Senate members within the last few weeks. All of your many efforts achieved success in the Senate. ACTION NEEDED: Senate appropriators need to be commended for their action and all Senators should be urged to vote for HR 2118 as reported by the Senate committee. House members should be requested to agree to the Senate version of HR 2118. *************************************************************************** HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE MARKS UP FY94 APPROPRIATIONS BILL On June 7, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education met to mark up the FY94 L-HHS-ED appropriations bill. Information on appropriations for FY94 will not be available until the full House Appropriations Committee acts on and reports out the bill. We will report on action as soon as possible. ACTION NEEDED: Thanks to all who have contacted House and Senate appropriators stressing the importance of FY94 funding for library programs. Please continue contacting House members about FY94 funding for LSCA and Higher Education Act library programs, since the full House Appropriations Committee as well as the House will soon vote on the bill. *************************************************************************** GPO ACCESS BILL SIGNED INTO LAW On June 8, President Clinton signed into law S. 564, the Government Printing Office Electronic Access Bill. It is now P.L. 103-40. A statement released by the President said that "this important step forward in the electronic dissemination of Federal information will provide valuable insights into the most effective means of disseminating all public Government information." The law establishes in the Government Printing Office a means of enhancing electronic public access to a wide range of federal electronic information. The system will provide online access to the Congressional Record and the Federal Register, and other appropriate publications distributed by the Superintendent of Documents. It will also establish an electronic directory of federal public information stored electronically and an electronic storage facility. The system will be available without charge to depository libraries; other users will be charged approximately the incremental cost of dissemination. The law requires the system to be up and running within one year from the enactment date. In a press release issued by his office, Sen. Wendell Ford (D-KY) called the law "one more way we can make government more accountable to the American people. This law puts information about the government right at the public's finger tips. Whether they live in a rural community in Eastern Kentucky or the big cities of New York, San Francisco and Chicago, anyone will be able to access government documents through their home computer or a local depository library." ALA President Marilyn Miller also welcomed the passage of the bill: "Libraries are part of a long-standing partnership with the federal government to assure ready and equitable access to government information through the nation. The Association applauds this Congressional initiative that enhances the public's right to know." In concluding his press release, Sen. Ford stressed that this law is "the first step to creating across-the-board public access." He believes that coverage of congressional hearings and committee prints will be made available very soon. *************************************************************************** ALA COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION INFORMATION UPDATE 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Saturday, June 26, 1993 New Orleans Convention Center Rooms 10-12 TENTATIVE AGENDA Introduction to the Program Thomas L. Hart, Chair ALA Committee on Legislation Update on Library Funding; Eileen D. Cooke,Director School Library Bills ALA Washington Office Looking Ahead - Representatives have been invited from: Reauthorization of the ASCLA, COSLA, PLA, ULC Library Services and Construction Act Libraries and ED's Sharon Porter Robinson, Office of Educational Assistant Secretary Designate, OERI, Research and Improvement U.S. Dept. of Education (invited) National Information The Honorable Rick Boucher (D-VA), Infrastructure, Chairman, Science Subcommittee, Networking Applications U.S. House of Representatives (invited) GPO Electronic Access Michael DiMario, Acting Public Implementation Printer, Government Printing Office *************************************************************************** OPEN INVITATION - LSCA REAUTHORIZATION SESSIONS ALA Annual Conference, New Orleans The ALA Committee on Legislation and its Ad Hoc Subcommittee on LSCA reauthorization, co-chaired by Jan Moltzan and Joan Ress Reeves, have scheduled two periods during the upcoming ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans for discussion of reauthorization of the Library Services and Construction Act. This major piece of federal legislation, which fosters improvement of public library services and interlibrary cooperation and resource sharing among all types of libraries, will come up for congressional review in 1994, when its current authorization expires. A consensus seems to be emerging that this reauthorization cycle calls for a major rethinking of LSCA. Congressional education committees made clear during the last cycle that they were limiting themselves to minor amendments and would conduct a major review during the next reauthorization following the second White House Conference on Library and Information Services. Although LSCA is a strong and flexible piece of legislation, years of zero budget recommendations have taken their toll, and several titles enacted recently have never been funded. These factors, plus a new Administration with ambitious plans for an information superhighway involving library connections and applications, led the Committee on Legislation to facilitate discussion among interested ALA units and related library organizations. The Committee and Subcommittee invite you to join them at two sessions in New Orleans: 1. SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. NEW ORLEANS CONVENTION CENTER, ROOMS 10-12 The Committee on Legislation's Information Update will include approximately one hour of speakers from the library community, including units which have already been thinking and planning about how LSCA might evolve to meet emerging and future needs of libraries and users. Two ALA divisions, the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) and the Public Library Association (PLA), and two library organizations, the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) and the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) have been invited to have representatives speak about LSCA reauthorization. Note that Sharon Porter Robinson, nominated to the post of Assistant Secretary for Education Research and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education, has also been invited to speak at the Information Update. Her area of responsibility will include LSCA. 2. MONDAY, JUNE 28, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. NEW ORLEANS CONVENTION CENTER, ROOM 25 The Legislation Committee meets from 2:00-5:30 p.m. in this room. The last hour and one-half will be devoted to a discussion of LSCA reauthorization. The discussion will follow up on the presentations made at the Information Update, identify similarities and differences, and plan for development of consensus recommendations. Legislation Assembly members, members of LA unit legislative committees, chapter representatives, and representatives of state library agencies are urged to attend if at all possible. Others are welcome, to the space capacity of the committee meeting room. *************************************************************************** SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES NHPRC REAUTHORIZATION On June 9, the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs marked up S. 314, the reauthorization of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The Committee approved an amendment in the nature of a substitute which reauthorizes the Commission for an additional two years at a funding level of $10 million. The bill now goes to the Senate floor. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363; Internet: alawash@alawash.org. Editor and List Owner: Fred King (fdk@alawash.org). All or part of ALAWON may be redistributed, with appropriate credits. ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (internet). Back issues of ALAWON are available from the list server. To find out what's available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the listserv. The ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with the exact filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. *************************************************************************** ***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***