****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 2, Number 20 May 21, 1993 In this issue: (292 lines) GPO ACCESS BILL ADVANCES IN THE HOUSE APPROPRIATORS NEARING ACTION ON LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION FUNDING NTIS WANTS AGENCY INFORMATION SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES LC FUND ACT AND FOLKLIFE CENTER SENATE COMMITTEE CONSIDERS NOMINATION FOR OIRA CHIEF GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE LOSING MILLIONS ACTING PUBLIC PRINTER PLANS CHANGES *************************************************************************** GPO ACCESS BILL ADVANCES IN THE HOUSE On May 20, the Committee on House Administration, chaired by Rep. Charlie Rose (D-NC), unanimously ordered reported S. 564, the Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993. Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA), ranking minority on the Committee, offered the motion to report the bill which passed the Senate on March 22 (S. Rept. 103-27). The House is expected to vote on S. 564 within the next few weeks. The Committee plans to file a report on S. 564 that slightly amends the Committee's report (H. Rept. 103-51) on its own version of the GPO Access bill, H.R. 1328. S. 564 establishes in the Government Printing Office a means of enhancing electronic public access to a wide range of federal electronic information. The bill provides for online access to the Congressional Record and the Federal Register, other appropriate publications distributed by the Superintendent of Documents, and the establishment of an electronic directory of federal public information stored electronically and an electronic storage facility. Depository libraries would access the directory and system, including the electronic storage facility, at no charge; other users would be charged approximately the incremental cost of dissemination of the information. ACTION NEEDED: Urge your Representatives to support S. 564 when it comes to the House floor for approval. Thank the members of the Committee on House Administration and the Senate Rules Committee for their leadership in promoting public access to government information in electronic format. *************************************************************************** APPROPRIATORS NEARING ACTION ON LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION FUNDING House and Senate Appropriators are wrestling with tough choices and conflicting desires--on the one hand they have the President's budget which includes a number of new education initiatives, but also is $5.4 billion over the discretionary ceiling for next year; on the other hand, they have the fact that some of those new initiatives come as a result of 24 program terminations with savings of $214 million and another $342 million in cuts. The White House so far has remained silent on what further cuts should be made to bring the budget under the discretionary ceiling. Library programs proposed for elimination under the President's budget are LSCA II, V, and VI, and all HEA library programs. In a statement on May 12, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education, told Secretary of Education Riley that "the money isn't there to meet the demands posed on this subcommittee by the administration's budget." He further stated that it left the subcommittee with two choices: "scale back the President's investment initiatives or find other offsetting cuts in the rest of the budget. I strongly suggest that we do both." On the House side, many members of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education expressed their discomfort at not having direction from the President as to what areas to cut. ACTION NEEDED: In this stressful atmosphere, all library programs are at risk. It is especially important for the voices of library supporters to be heard. It is expected that the appropriations bill will be marked up by the House subcommittee the week after the Memorial Day recess. Take the opportunity to talk to legislators while they are home for the recess. Library supporters, especially constituents of House or Senate L-HHS-ED Appropriations Subcommittee members, should send letters emphasizing the importance of library programs and the necessity for funding. *************************************************************************** NTIS WANTS AGENCY INFORMATION The National Technical Information Service issued proposed regulations describing to federal agencies procedures for the timely transfer of federally funded unclassified scientific, technical and engineering information (STEI) to NTIS in the May 11 _Federal Register_, pp. 27681-4. Comments on the proposal must be received by June 10, 1993, and should be sent to Acting Director, NTIS, 5285 Port Royal Road, Room 200F, Springfield, VA 22161. For further information contact Donald Corrigan, 703-487-4778. The American Technology Preeminence Act (PL 102-245) requires all federal agencies to submit to NTIS unclassified scientific, technical and engineering information resulting from federally funded research and development activities. The proposal defines "product" broadly and states that the term "applies to items produced in-house or outside the agency through the Government Printing Office, its contractors, ... or any other producer, provided that such material is intended by the agency for public dissemination." Scientific, technical and engineering information is also defined broadly to include, among other things, "information that bears on business and industry generally...." Additionally, NTIS wants discretion to "ride" agency printing and other reproduction orders on a basis comparable to that accorded to the Government Printing Office for printing. NTIS plans to set up a system of "affiliates," including federal agencies or private sector partners to receive any STEI product required to be transferred by an agency. ACTION NEEDED: The ALA Washington Office is analyzing the proposed regulation and would appreciate contributions to the ALA response before June 3. Particularly needed are assessments of the effect on agency responsibilities to provide their publications to the Government Printing Office for distribution through the Depository Library Program. Comments can be sent to Anne Heanue at aah@alawash.org. *************************************************************************** SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES LC FUND ACT AND FOLKLIFE CENTER On May 20, the Senate Rules and Administration Committee approved S. 345, the Library of Congress Fund Act of 1993, with technical corrections but no substantive changes. However, floor action is uncertain because some members had concerns or were considering amendments to the bill. The March 12 statement of concerns of ALA, the American Association of Law Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries had been distributed to all committee members. Personal visits by association representatives reinforced these concerns. The Senate committee also approved S. 685, reauthorization of LC's American Folklife Center. *************************************************************************** SENATE COMMITTEE CONSIDERS NOMINATION FOR OIRA CHIEF On May 19, the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs considered the nomination of Washington attorney Sally Katzen to be Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget. After referring to information "in new forms," Chairman John Glenn (D-OH) asked Katzen what she thought about sending information directly to schools and libraries. Katzen responded that depository libraries have been an important outlet for years. She was aware of the pending GPO Access bills and said that it is time to do a variety of projects "to see how the system works." Indications are that the Senate will confirm Katzen soon. *************************************************************************** GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE LOSING MILLIONS A General Accounting Office audit of the U.S. Government Printing Office concluded that "Consolidated net losses amounted to nearly $.3 million in fiscal year 1991, about $5.2 million in fiscal year 1992, and are projected by management to increase to as much as $11 million to $13 million for fiscal year 1993." This information was presented at a GPO oversight hearing on May 11 chaired by Senator Wendell Ford (D-KY), chair of the Joint Committee on Printing. GAO's David Clark and J.A. Meriwether of Arthur Andersen & Company presented the results of the audit in a report, "Financial Audit: U.S. Government Printing Office's Financial Statements for Fiscal Year 1992," (GAO/AFMD-93-62), May 1993. Acting Public Printer Michael DiMario attributed GPO's financial condition to the policies of previous GPO administrations that resulted in "staffing bloat" and to current trends in government printing and in the economy. DiMario said that it is clear that GPO needs to undergo a period of retrenchment and realignment. He plans to hold the line on costs and to seek increased revenues. William Boarman, president of the union which represents printers at the Government Printing Office, identified the General Services Administration and the Department of Defense as agencies that are ignoring the law requiring them to obtain printing through GPO. Boarman said: "Given the realities of how the GPO is required to operate, and the decision by major agencies to violate the law by bypassing the Office, it is wholly unreasonable to hold GPO accountable for operating losses." Boarman maintained that if "GPO customers simply pay their bills" the red ink could be substantially wiped out. He concluded: "I believe the financial problems facing GPO are neither major nor unmanageable. I urge some changes in procedures, some encouragement to agencies to use GPO's services and then pay their bills when they do so, and a slight increase in GPO income through its fee structure." *************************************************************************** ACTING PUBLIC PRINTER PLANS CHANGES The following remarks were presented by Acting Public Printer Michael DiMario on May 17, 1993 to the Depository Library Council at their Spring meeting. He addressed a number of concerns that have been raised in the past year, such as the financial situation of the Depository Library Program, the plans for the bound Serial Set, and membership in the Depository Library Council. In his remarks, DiMario refers to Superintendent of Documents Wayne Kelley and Judith Russell, Director of Library Programs Service, as Wayne and Judy. The text was given to Susan Tulis, DLC Secretary, who posted it to GOVDOC-L. I'm pleased to see all of you here today. There are a few topics I want to touch on briefly. As all of you know, I'm currently serving in an acting capacity, pending the appointment (nomination and confirmation) of a new Public Printer by President Clinton. We're not in a "holding pattern," however. I'll be making some changes designed to get GPO moving again, to address the current financial situation we're in, to restore morale to GPO's employees. There are going to be some organizational changes. I talked about these things in a hearing before the JCP last week. Our public affairs office would be happy to give you copies of my statement, if you don't already have it. I'm also looking closely at the depository library situation--the financial situation the program is in. I've been talking with Wayne and Judy about this. I've met with a number of you already and I'll continue to meet with you. I've spoken with concerned parties on Capitol Hill. Also, I've been kept aware of other actions that are going on with respect to the depository library community--such as the meetings and discussions of the Dupont Circle Group. I appreciate the fact that I've been kept so well informed. As most of you know, I once was Superintendent of Documents. The design and operation of the Council are different now. I see some value in the new way the Council meets. But I see some value also in making sure the Council's activities are made as accessible as possible--and as useful as possible--to the entire depository library community. I think it's important that the Council meetings be linked with the annual depository library conference. That would give the Council a greater opportunity for dealing with operational issues. I also support moving the annual meeting and Spring Council meeting around the country. Experience shows that continuing the annual meeting in Washington will close it off from access by most depository librarians in other parts of the country. The meeting needs to be rotated around to different sites so that others can participate. For the period that I'm Acting Public Printer, I want Council members to provide me with advice and communications about the state of the depository library community. I want to know what's going on out there with working depository librarians. I want to know how GPO can best help them do their jobs, and how we can remedy problems and issues they're concerned with. I think advising on policy is fine, but I want that policy advice to be directed toward ensuring that the depository library program--as it's currently configured--works. I will be making some new appointments to the Council. I think it's best for all concerned, as well as for the depository library program, that these appointments come from the ranks of working depository librarians. I understand that since the Council was restructured by Public Printer Houk, the old Council bylaws have been ignored, and that new guidelines are being framed. That's fine. I want to make sure, however, that the new guidelines have a broad range of input from the depository library community. I also understand that a new Council Vice Chair will be named. I think that's fine, too. Now to a specific issue before I close. On the subject of the current financial situation, I've had some real concerns. I'm not sure that the approach currently being used--to make cuts in the distribution of certain publications to stay within a particular amount of funding--is the only way to manage the depository library program's funding. I think there may be other ways to do that which would impose fewer problems on the working depository community. The decision to cut back on the distribution of the bound Serial Set is obviously a deep concern to the depository community. We're looking at ways to address that concern, and I think the plan for the Serial Set is going to change. I'd like to get your views on this issue while you're here. With that, then, I'm going to close. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363; Internet: alawash@alawash.org. Editor and List Owner: Fred King (fdk@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 of ALAWON 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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