ALAWON v5n36 (June 20, 1996) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v5n36 ------------------- ALWN536.DOS follows -------------------- ================================================================= ALAWON Volume 5, Number 36 ISSN 1069-7799 June 20, 1996 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: BIPARTISAN CONFERENCE AGREEMENT ON CAREERS ACT FALLS APART ACTION NEEDED: PRESS CONGRESS FOR QUICK ENACTMENT OF THE LIBRARY SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY ACT _________________________________________________________________ BIPARTISAN CONFERENCE AGREEMENT ON CAREERS ACT FALLS APART SUMMARY. The rumors of recent days appear to be correct -- no House-Senate conference agreement is likely to emerge this session on H.R. 1617, the jobs and literacy programs consolidation that contains the Library Services and Technology Act. A Republican alternative bill may be emerging. No objections to the library and museum grant portions of H.R. 1617 have arisen. The ALA Washington Office is pursuing strategies for enactment of LSTA. BACKGROUND. The evidence publicly available for this state of affairs includes the following. In a speech last week, Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee chair Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS) noted that the Senate and House had been in conference on the bill since last October, and that staff had spent countless hours going through a very large bill. She also said that President Clinton had recently sent a letter to the key conferees indicating that Congress and the White House were still far apart and that he could not accept the bill as it stood. The Senate bill (S. 143, the Workforce Development Act) is a high priority for the retiring Senator Kassebaum, but her conclusions about conference prospects were quite pessimistic. Subsequent meetings with the White House did not produce bipartisan agreement. The "National Journal's Congress Daily" of June 19 indicated that the congressional conferees "Tuesday acknowledged they have hit a dead end in bicameral negotiations...leaving little chance the long-stalled bill will escape from conference this year." The same newsletter today indicated that "House and Senate Republicans were close Wednesday to finalizing a bill among themselves to consolidate scores of federal job-training programs." However, this strategy runs "the risk of a Democratic filibuster or a presidential veto." None of the disagreements or offers and counter offers have involved the library and museum portions of the bill. Conferees had agreed on all but a few minor details of the Library Services and Technology Act and the museum grant program as administered by an Institute of Museum and Library Services. No opposition or controversy has arisen concerning agreement or support for library/museum programs, but this small segment of the bill has been overshadowed by the larger programs and disputes over their funding levels and specific provisions. WHAT'S NEXT? The ALA Washington Office is consulting key congressional offices concerning possible strategies for enactment of the Library Services and Technology Act. More information will be provided as it emerges. ACTION NEEDED: The action needed remains the same as in previous alerts--press Congress for quick enactment of the Library Services and Technology Act to replace the expiring LSCA. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname]" to . ALAWON archives gopher.ala.org; select Washington Office Newsline. Web page HTTP://www.ala.org/alawashington.html. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================