ALAWON v3n47 (September 2, 1994) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v3n47 ****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 3, Number 47 September 2, 1994 In this issue: (117 lines) COMMERCE APPROPRIATIONS SIGNED INTO LAW ELECTRONIC FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PASSES SENATE *************************************************************************** COMMERCE APPROPRIATIONS SIGNED INTO LAW Information Infrastructure Grants The President signed P.L. 103-317, the FY95 Appropriations bill for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary (H.R. 4603) on August 26. Among the programs funded through this bill are Information Infrastructure Grants to demonstrate applications of telecommunications technology for education, health care, public and community services, and public safety. The conferees on the bill (H.Rept. 103-708) decided to appropriate $64,000,000 for FY95 to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for these matching grants to help nonprofit entities, including libraries, develop the National Information Infrastructure. The conference report noted the value of the creation of a national information highway to rural and remote areas, and urged NTIA to give particular consideration to applications which would lead to increased telecommunications access in areas where such service is not readily available. NTIA had requested almost $99,988,000 for these matching grants in FY95. In passing their respective versions of H.R. 4603, the House provided $70,000,000, while the Senate allowed $52,000,000. National Technical Information Service Additionally, in P.L. 103-317, Congress appropriated $8,000,000 to the National Technical Information Service for a revolving fund for the implementation of the American Technology Preeminence Act, instead of the $18,000,000 NTIS had requested for FY95. In H. Rept. 103-708, conferees added this language: The conferees have been made aware of concerns that some of the programs proposed in the original budget request for this account were potentially duplicative of the responsibilities of the Government Printing Office (GPO). The conferees expect NTIS and the Department of Commerce to develop a proposal, to be coordinated with the Government Printing Office, describing the proposed uses of these funds and the delineation of responsibilities of both NTIS and GPO relative to the American Technology Preeminence Act. The conferees expect the Department to submit this proposal to the Committees on Appropriations of the House and the Senate by November 1, 1994, and expect that none of the funds provided under this heading will be expended until this proposal has been received and reviewed under the Committee's standard reprogramming procedures.... The House had proposed $12,000,000 for the revolving fund, while the Senate had recommended no funds. *************************************************************************** ELECTRONIC FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PASSES SENATE The Senate passed S. 1782, the Electronic Freedom of Information Improvement Act of 1994, on August 25 by unanimous consent. The bill is a substitute version of the one Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Hank Brown (R-CO) introduced in November 1993. S. 1782 is intended to give the public access to the records of federal agencies maintained in electronic form, and takes steps to alleviate the delays in processing requests for government records. Among other things, the bill redefines agency records to make it clear that FOIA covers all government information in any format, requires an index of all major information systems containing agency records regardless of form or format, and requires agencies to provide requested formats when possible. S. 1782 has been on a fast track since August 11 when the Senate Judiciary Committee reported out the substitute bill. On July 22, ALA joined a coalition of 17 organizations--representing a substantial portion of the Freedom of Information Act requestor community--in signing a letter to Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee that supported S. 1782. On August 8, Rep. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced H.R. 4917, Electronic Freedom of Information Act of 1994, a companion to S. 1782 (see August 8 _Congressional Record_, pp. E1676-7). Other cosponsors are Representatives Gary Condit (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Eric Fingerhut (D-OH), Karen Shepherd (D-UT), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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: Lee G. Enyart (lge@alawash.org). 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. To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. For other reprinting or redistribution, address requests to the ALA Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org). *************************************************************************** ***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***