ALAWON v4n92 (November 81995, ) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n92 ------------------- ALWN492.DOS follows -------------------- ****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 92 November 8,1995 In this issue: (140 lines) INFORMATION FLOW TO CONGRESS ENDANGERED BY PENDING LEGISLATION ***************************************************************** INFORMATION FLOW TO CONGRESS ENDANGERED BY PENDING LEGISLATION The Istook amendment--which would restrict the advocacy voice of nonprofit organizations--may come up for a vote today, November 8, when the Continuing Resolution (the spending bill to keep government running, which needs to pass by midnight on November 13) will be on the House floor. A group of House freshmen are demanding that various riders, including the Istook amendment, be added to the Continuing Resolution. It is unlikely that the House leadership would allow a separate vote to kill the Istook amendment, so most likely there would be an up or down vote on the CR (with various riders such as the Istook amendment as a part of it). Thus, the only way to beat the Istook amendment will be to defeat the "rule" under which the CR is considered. That vote will occur just before the up or down vote on the CR this afternoon. The Istook proposal, named for its principal sponsor Representative Ernest Istook (R-OK), would curb "political advocacy" by nonprofit organizations that receive federal grants. The bill would mandate how nonprofits and charities spend their private funds, require them to file new and extensive reports, restrict collaboration with other organizations, and offer incentives for bounty hunters to sue nonprofit organizations. The American Library Association opposes the Istook amendment because it believes the effects of the proposal would be extensive and adverse: Congress and other law and policy makers would be shut off from information nonprofit organizations provide them to help craft good public policy. The burden of compliance and enforcement with the requirements of the Istook proposal would be onerous. Realistically, there is no need for the proposed amendment since using federal funds to lobby is prohibited under current law. ACTION NEEDED: Urge your Representative to vote against the rule on the Continuing Resolution if the Istook amendment is part of the bill. The Senate will take up the Continuing Resolution soon after the House completes its work. Ask Senators to delete the Istook amendment from the CR if the House passes it. STATE AND LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSE THE ISTOOK AMENDMENT State and local organizations are signing on to the following statement opposing the Istook Nonprofit Gag Bill. The American Library Association joined several hundred national organizations last summer in signing a similar statement. To sign on call OMB Watch at 202-234-8494. SERVING THE PUBLIC GOOD A Position Statement on Advocacy By Nonprofit Organizations The nonprofit sector plays a key role in our society today. In partnership with government, nonprofit organizations are engaged in service delivery, research, educating the public, and much more -- in general, they work to build a better world, at home and abroad. People across the country use nonprofit organizations to learn more about key issues of the day, and link up with other citizens to create a more powerful voice. Nonprofit organizations themselves also speak to policy makers and the public on behalf of the people they serve. Advocacy by the nonprofit sector has led to significant improvements in people's lives at the local, state, and federal level. Because nonprofit organizations do not stand to profit by lobbying and can provide enormous insight on public policy issues, Congress has encouraged them to lobby. However, it has placed detailed restrictions on nonprofit organizations on the amount of money that can be used for these purposes. Nonprofits also are barred from using any federal funds for lobbying and partisan politics. Nonprofit organizations faithfully comply with all these restrictions and support enforcement of penalties if the rules are ever violated. However, some in Congress are proposing to go beyond current restrictions to silence the advocacy voice of the nonprofit sector. They would, for example, expand the lobbying restrictions to include all advocacy activities, bar certain organizations that engage in advocacy from receiving any federal grants, and prohibit federal employees from making workplace contributions to nonprofits that engage in advocacy. Such efforts will have a chilling impact on the democratic process as well as the rights of individuals and organizations to participate in public policy debates. The organizations listed below, which include Independent Sector members and other groups, oppose any effort to restrict the advocacy voice of the nonprofit sector. Curtailing the historical responsibility to speak to the public and to policy makers on behalf of the people whom nonprofit organizations serve would be a severe blow to our democratic freedoms. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-628-8410; Fax: 202-628-8419. Contributing to this issue: Carol C. Henderson; 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 listserv 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 File****************End File****************End File**** *****************************************************************