ALAWON v2n53 (November 29, 1993) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v2n53 ****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ISSN 1069-7799 ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 2, Number 53 November 29, 1993 In this issue: (316 lines) CONGRESS ADJOURNS FIRST SESSION SPENDING CUTS PASS HOUSE - ACTION NEEDED HOUSE APPROVES TRANSFER OF DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM TO LC NCLIS TO HOLD FORUM ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES ED MATH/SCI AND ED TECH GRANTS ANNOUNCED LSCA V APPLICATION NOTICE WITHDRAWN DUE TO ZERO FUNDING *************************************************************************** CONGRESS ADJOURNS FIRST SESSION The first session of the 103rd Congress adjourned on November 26. Congress plans to return on January 25, 1994. Activity during the final days was intense. The next several ALAWON issues will report on end-of-session developments. *************************************************************************** SPENDING CUTS PASS HOUSE - ACTION NEEDED The House on November 22 approved a $37 billion package of spending cuts and narrowly rejected the Penny-Kasich proposal that called for reductions of nearly three times as much. During the days leading up to the vote on the House floor, it became clear to the House leadership that the original bill, H.R. 3400, would not be a strong enough cost-cutting effort; House members were looking for an alternative to Penny-Kasich that would have significant total cuts. A hastily prepared Administration-supported substitute, sponsored by Rep. Martin Sabo (D-MN), was crafted over the weekend and incorporated the reduction of the federal work force by 252,000 positions. The Sabo proposal also included cuts proposed by House Appropriations Committee Chairs that would rescind a total of $2.6 billion, reducing salaries and expenses in the Department of Education by $8,500,000; and cutting $900,000 from the Library of Congress, as well as incorporating changes in the Depository Library Program. Total savings were projected to be $37 billion over five years. The vote on the Penny-Kasich amendment, defeated 213-219, followed passage of the Sabo substitute which amended H.R. 3400. It was accompanied by a storm of rhetoric from both sides of the issue, such as the statement by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) who said House members were "acting like a bunch of swooning Scarlet O'Hara's who, upon inspecting the ruins of Tara, decided to worry about all that tomorrow." He asked members not to vote today and "be left looking at the ruins of what was a recovering economy, tomorrow" (see November 22 CR, p. H10856). Rep. Major Owens (D-NY) decried the cuts in domestic programs "which are hard-pressed to support the Nation's most needy citizens." He also cited the major policy revisions that "have not been scrutinized by the usual, rigorous, legislative process" (see November 22 CR, p. H10853). Rep. William Ford (D-MI), Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, who had previously circulated a "Dear Colleague" against the Penny-Kasich amendment, stated that "it is a proposition that threatens to deny our children's education, our workers' training, and services all Americans count on in their daily lives." Ford mentioned the cut in the Library Services and Construction Act title II, Public Library Construction (see November 22 CR, p. H10854). Rep. Tim Penny (D-MN) said that the opposition to the amendment "has been amazing," and "the tactics here on Capitol Hill are particularly reprehensible;" if this were the private sector, "this kind of intimidation practice would be a crime" (see November 22 CR, p. H10655). Appropriators had distributed "Dear Colleague" letters speaking against the Penny-Kasich proposal to cut the domestic discretionary cap over a five year period. No further action on the legislation will occur until the Senate returns in January. At that time, it is expected that Penny-Kasich will return in the form of amendments, unveiled on November 10 by Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE) and others, which build on the original Penny-Kasich rescissions and include other cost-cutting initiatives for a total of $109 billion. The LSCA II rescission is included in the Kerrey package. ACTION NEEDED: Contact Senators, especially members of the Appropriations Committee, to urge them to defeat rescission of FY94 funded programs, and to defeat attempts to cut the spending cap on domestic discretionary funds. Competition for funds in the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations categories is already fierce. *************************************************************************** HOUSE APPROVES TRANSFER OF DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM TO LC When the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3400, the Government Reform and Savings Act of 1993, on November 22, it approved the transfer to the Library of Congress of the position and all functions of the Superintendent of Documents. The Superintendent of Documents, part of the Government Printing Office for nearly a hundred years, is responsible for the Depository Library Program and GPO's Sales Program. The transfer of functions is contained in Title XIV of H.R. 3400, Reinventing Support Services, and would take effect one year after enactment (see November 22 CR, pp. H10763-4). It is not known whether the Senate will agree with the transfer of the Superintendent of Documents to the Library of Congress, but presumably will consider the matter next year. The fast action on the restructuring of the Depository Library Program was precipitated by the introduction of the Administration's original language of H.R. 3400 on October 28. The bill was intended to implement some of the Vice President's National Performance Review "reinventing government" recommendations. Title XIV in the original version of H.R. 3400 would have--among other things--transferred executive branch printing out of the Government Printing Office, removed the statutory requirement that the Federal Register be printed and sold through GPO, empowered the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to recommend amendments to the law governing the Depository Library Program, and eliminated the authority of the Joint Committee on Printing over Executive branch printing. The Administration's proposal to dismantle GPO opened a new front in the century-old battle between Congress and the Executive Branch over who controls the production and dissemination of government information. On November 10, the Committee on House Administration, chaired by Rep. Charlie Rose (D-NC), reported out a substitute Title XIV to replace the Administration's version in H.R. 3400 (H.Rept. 103-366, part 6). The Committee's amendment would have transferred the Superintendent of Documents from the Public Printer to the Library of Congress, and transferred the remainder of the Government Printing Office to the Executive Branch. In a November 18 letter to the House Committee on Rules, Reps. Rose and Bill Thomas (R-CA) stated: "The Committee amendment preserves and enhances the traditional role of the Congress as disseminator of Government information to the public, while allowing the Executive Branch maximum control over publishing, and procurement of publishing, for the Executive and Judicial Branches of Government." Rose and Thomas also said the Committee "is planning to begin consideration of subsequent legislation early next year to address such matters as the oversight structure and other issues that inevitably arise as a result of this restructuring." At the behest of GPO's unions, representing 4000 employees there, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) secured an amendment in the House Committee on Rules to the House Administration amendment that kept the position and functions of the Public Printer in the legislative branch. As a result, the bill that passed the House omitted the transfer of the Public Printer to the Executive Branch. Additionally, the bill the House passed transferred a number of the management functions of the Joint Committee on Printing over executive branch printing to the Public Printer. One section of the House-passed H.R. 3400 applies specifically to depository libraries (sec. 14007), and states: In addition to any other distribution provided for by law, the Superintendent of Documents shall make Government publications available to designated depository libraries and State libraries. The Superintendent shall have authority to carry out the preceding sentence by appropriate means, including the dissemination and republication of Government publications..., with the cost of dissemination and republication to be borne by the department, agency, or entity involved. The House-passed bill amends the definition of "Government publication" to mean "any informational matter that is published at Government expense, or as required by law." Additionally, the term "publish" means, "with respect to informational matter, make available for dissemination." According to House Administration's report on their amendment (H.Rept. 103- 366, part 6), the House-passed bill places new statutory requirements on the Superintendent of Documents who will report to the Librarian of Congress. These provisions recognize and require that the Superintendent of Documents assure that no documents are "fugitive" from the Sales and Depository Library Programs, and gives the Superintendent the responsibility to identify any matter that is published by an agency, in whatever form, and make that information available to the public through the programs the Superintendent oversees. It also requires a central access point to all government publications through the Superintendent of Documents system of electronic access provided for under the GPO Access Act, PL 103-40. The report further states: The Committee believes that public access to public electronic information will be greatly enhanced by providing 1. an electronic directory of Federal public information stored electronically and an electronic system of access for dissemination of such information, and 2. increased coordination between the SUDOCS and other Federal agencies in developing standards and formats for dissemination of Federal public information stored electronically. The Committee believes that the Office of the Superintendent of Documents at the Library of Congress is an appropriate Federal organization to further access to electronic public information of the Federal Government and that information made available through the access program should be provided without charge to Federal depository libraries and be priced at the incremental cost of dissemination for other subscribers. The version of Title XIV reported by the Committee on House Administration was on the House floor during the debate on the Penny-Kasich amendment to H.R. 3400. During floor debate, Rep. Major Owens (D-NY) strongly opposed the Penny-Kasich amendment (see November 22 CR, p. H10852-3). Among the reasons he cited was the hasty restructuring of the Depository Library Program: Even H.R. 3400 itself includes major policy changes that have barely been examined because of the determination of the Clinton administration to ram the bill through Congress before Thanksgiving. Again, without a single hearing on the issue, H.R. 3400 would radically alter the way in which government information is published and disseminated. That provision flies in the face of the Depository Library Program, which has existed for more than 150 years; the Government Printing Office, which has existed for more than 130 years; and the Joint Committee on Printing, which has existed for 160 years. Despite the fact that this system has achieved cost savings over time, the Clinton administration is asking Congress to make sweeping changes. Congress should not make such an important decision with haste. The impact and cost of dismantling the Government Printing Office should be studied carefully over a period of months, not a period of days. In fact, a study just completed by the Deputy Librarian of Congress concludes that shifting the Government Printing Office's functions elsewhere may cost, not save, money. *************************************************************************** NCLIS TO HOLD FORUM ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science will hold an Open Forum on Children and Youth Services on December 3, 1993, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Wallace Building Auditorium, 502 E. 9th Street, in Des Moines, Iowa. The purpose of the forum is to investigate the changing role of the federal government in support of library and information services and literacy programs for children and youth. Individuals wishing to present oral statements should notify Jan Irving, State Library of Iowa, (515) 281-7572. Deadline for submission of written statements to the NCLIS office in Washington, D.C., is December 17, 1993. For further information, see the November 22 _Federal Register_, p. 61727, or contact Kim Miller at the NCLIS office, (202) 606-9200. *************************************************************************** ED MATH/SCI AND ED TECH GRANTS ANNOUNCED The Department of Education announced in the November 12 _Federal Register_, pp. 60007-60010, Notice of Proposed Priorities for FY94 for the Eisenhower National Program for Mathematics and Science Education and the Fund for Innovation in Education (FIE): Technology Education Program-- Teacher Networking Project. Both announcements are of interest to school library media specialists because they concentrate on computer-based electronic communication among individuals and groups of individuals; and professional development activities that include creating a learning community of professional colleagues to facilitate and exchange information. The Eisenhower National Program for Mathematics and Science Education proposal states that "Forms of technology that may be used in the projects include, but are not limited to: Interactive electronic learning, CD-ROM, and multimedia and/or hypermedia systems; applications of electronic networks of computers, including electronic mail and bulletin boards; local area networks; and information retrieval systems, such as GOPHER and Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS) that are accessible via Internet." Each project must: form a partnership to develop and implement project activities involving local education agencies or private schools, state educational agency, institution of higher education and private sector party with expertise in technology; establish an advisory committee to guide the project; involve two or more schools serving underachieving students and involve the majority of teachers of math and science teaching in the school; provide teachers with high quality professional development activities that focus on the use of technology to improve classroom instruction; provide participating teachers with forums for interaction and access to sources of technical assistance outside their schools. Comments on the Eisenhower Math/Science proposal must be received by December 13, 1993. For further information contact Kathy Fuller or Annora Dorsey, U.S. Department of Education (202) 219-1496. The Fund for Innovation in Education is seeking Model projects that demonstrate applications of electronic networks for teacher professional development. In the description of the emphasis the statement notes that at least 25 states now have state-wide electronic networks, but there is "little understanding of what it takes for a network to be successful in meeting user needs, to be cost effective, and to maintain continuing user interest and garner long-term financial support." By providing support for the demonstration of model networking projects, the Secretary "intends to stimulate and promote the practice of teacher networking, and to learn more about what it takes for teacher networks to be effective." Deadline for receipt of comments is December 13 and further information may be obtained from Cheryl Garnette, U.S. Department of Education, (202) 219-2116. *************************************************************************** LSCA V APPLICATION NOTICE WITHDRAWN DUE TO ZERO FUNDING The Department of Education is withdrawing the notice inviting applications for new awards for FY94 for the Foreign Language Materials Acquisition Program, Library Services and Construction Act Title V. The notice was published in the July 30, 1993 _Federal Register_. The Department will not make new awards in FY94 because no funds were appropriated. For further information contact: Nancy J. Cavanaugh, Program Officer, U.S. Department of Education, Discretionary Library Programs Division, 555 New Jersey Ave., N.W. Room 404A, Washington, DC 20208-5571, (202) 219-1309. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363. Editor: Carol C. Henderson (cch@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 and other documents 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. 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