ALAWON v4n61 (June 24, 1995) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n61 ****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 4, Number 61 June 24, 1995 In this issue: (150 lines) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SLASHES FUNDS FOR DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES - ACTION NEEDED HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE POSTPONES MARKUP ON INTERIOR BUDGET *************************************************************************** HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SLASHES FUNDS FOR DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES On June 22, the House of Representatives agreed to a major policy change in the way the American public obtains government information produced at taxpayer expense. In passing H.R. 1854, the Legislative Branch Appropriations for FY96 (H.Rept.104-141), the House voted to slash in half the appropriation that funds the Depository Library Program--from $32 million to $16 million (see June 22 Congressional Record, pp. H6217-22, H6225-6). This appropriation supports the production and distribution of paper, microfiche and electronic publications to depositories, the nearly 1,400 Congressionally designated libraries that provide no-fee public access to government information. In a major change to current policy, mandated in law for more than a century, the House would shift to the publishing agencies the cost of printing, binding, and distributing to depository libraries government information in paper and microfiche formats. To make this change in the funding mechanism legal, H.R. 1854 amends the statute governing the Depository Library Program, a procedure not appropriate on an appropriations bill. While intended to encourage agencies to publish electronically, this slash in the appropriation will more likely result in a great reduction in the number of printed documents made available to the public. A floor amendment Representative William Orton (D-UT) offered to restore $7 million of the cuts in the Federal Depository Library Program was defeated 104 to 321. Orton said: "This reduction in funding is a disincentive for Government agencies to participate in the Federal Depository Library Program. This will result in a drastic reduction in the number of printed documents produced by the agencies, and will ultimately hinder free public access to Government information. Also, these deep cuts will result in new costs to depository libraries, as more time and effort will have to be expended to locate and acquire Government agency products." Orton entered into the Congressional Record a letter from ALA President Curley supporting his amendment, and a letter of support from the Association of Research Libraries and the American Association of Law Libraries. Representative Major Owens (D-NY), pointing out that H.R. 1854 mandates a massive shift from print to electronic dissemination of information, said: ...information must be produced not only in electronic formats, but also in traditional print formats, in order to accommodate the wide range of the majority of our people's needs and abilities. Many citizens are not yet ready to use Government information in an electronic format. In opposition, Representative Bill Thomas (R-CA) said: The concept driving this amendment is truly circa 1854. No one is talking about cutting off depository libraries from getting information. In fact, we want to promote it. What we do not want to encourage is a central paper printing process which then produces a bulk paper product, which is then shipped across country and then made available at a depository library....If taxpayers want a hard copy at the depository library, the library will produce it there. H.R. 1854 also eliminates the funding for constituent copies and by-law distribution of the Congressional Record, and the free distribution of copies of bills, reports and other documents to non-Congressional recipients (other than to federal depository libraries). Many of the constituent copies of the Congressional Record go to small public libraries, schools and hospitals which will not be able to afford a print subscription to the Record and which do not have appropriate equipment to access the Record electronically. Members of the Senate will consider H.R. 1854 soon, probably within the next two weeks and will be under strong constraints to approve the cuts made in the House. They need to hear from librarians, library trustees, mayors, heads of chambers of commerce, business owners, and other members of the public about the potential loss of public access to government information. ACTION NEEDED: 1) Contact the Senate Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee asking them to restore funds cut by the House of Representatives from the Superintendent of Documents Salaries and Expenses appropriation for FY 96, providing the $30.3 million requested by the Public Printer. Urge the Senators to refuse to restructure the Depository Library Program through the appropriations process, and to restore a reasonable number of constituent copies of congressional publications. IF YOUR SENATORS ARE LISTED BELOW, YOUR ASSISTANCE IS ESPECIALLY NEEDED: Connie Mack (R-FL), chair; Robert Bennett (R-UT); Jim Jeffords (R-VT); Patty Murray (D-WA) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). 2) If your Senator is on the full Appropriations Committee chaired by Senator Mark Hatfield (R-OR), ask them to urge their colleagues to take the actions described above on your behalf. 3) During the July 4th home district period, invite your Senators to visit your depository library. Show them how people use information in a variety of formats, and the costs and constraints involved in making the transition to electronic dissemination and retrieval of government information. Tell what would be involved for your library to assume the government's responsibility to produce hard copies of government publications for the public. *************************************************************************** HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE POSTPONES MARKUP ON INTERIOR BUDGET The House Appropriations Committee has now postponed the markup of the Interior Department appropriations bill which includes funding for the Institute for Museum Services as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. It had been scheduled for June 22. ALAWON will report additional information as available. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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. Contributing to this issue: Claudette W. Tennant; Editor: Lynne E. Bradley (leb@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***