****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 2, Number 26 June 21, 1993 In this issue: (298 lines) FY93 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS VOTE EXPECTED TUESDAY IN SENATE HOUSE CUTS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS BUDGET HEARING ON LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SECURITY POLICIES PAPERS OF JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL BOUCHER BILL, HR 1757, APPROVED BY SUBCOMMITTEE HOUSE FREEZES GPO SUDOCS BUDGET POSTAL REVENUE FORGONE AFFECTED BY RECONCILIATION NTIS PROPOSED REGULATIONS UPCOMING HEARING *************************************************************************** FY93 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS VOTE EXPECTED TUESDAY IN SENATE On Tuesday, June 22, the Senate will resume consideration of HR 2118, the FY93 Supplemental Appropriations bill, with a vote on final passage expected to occur no later than 7 p.m. Conference between the House and Senate is planned for later in the week, at least before the beginning of July. *************************************************************************** HOUSE CUTS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS BUDGET As with most legislative branch agencies, the House-passed Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill for FY94 would provide 1 percent below FY93 levels for the Library of Congress. HR 2348, passed on June 10, would also specify that beginning in FY95, LC program activities and expenditures from any source (including fees, grants, and gifts) are subject to approval in the annual legislative appropriations measure. For FY93, the Library's funding was 1.9 percent above the previous year, but $12.5 million less than required to fund mandatory pay and price level increases. As a result, LC began downsizing most operations, including elimination of 128 budgeted positions, and a reduction in reading room hours. For FY94, the House-passed bill would provide $14.8 million less in purchasing power than in FY93. If this level is enacted, LC would eliminate 178 additional positions, cut back on arrearage reduction, reduce preservation efforts, reduce production of books for the blind, reduce acquisitions (especially of foreign materials), reduce exhibits and other cultural activities, and reduce services to Congress. The House Appropriations Committee report (H.Rept. 103-117) on HR 2348 indicated that no further funds should be spent for American Memory, special projects, or a science and technology initiative. "American Memory has been successfully demonstrated at 44 test sites. The technology works and is in place. Now is the time to prepare the final report which will allow the private sector and educational establishment to utilize the benefits of the Library's research and development." The current American Memory Project is only two-thirds through its congressionally-sanctioned pilot period. The Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee has not yet made its recommendations on LC funding. *************************************************************************** HEARING ON LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SECURITY POLICIES On Tuesday, June 15, The Joint Committee on the Library held a hearing on Library of Congress security proposals and policies. Representative Charlie Rose (D-NC), Chairman of the Joint Committee, explained the reason for the hearing as a follow-up to action initiated in March of 1992, when Librarian of Congress James Billington ordered the general collections stacks closed. Rose said that the decision had triggered numerous calls and letters to the Joint Committee from people unhappy with this decision. Dr. Billington described the growing problems that created the decision to register readers and close the stacks to access. He recalled incidents in May 1991 and March 1992, where people were caught and arrested at the Library for theft of materials. In a way, he said, the new security system implementation has enhanced researcher access. Books sought are no longer misplaced by other researchers and the "not-on-shelf" rate has dropped below 20 percent. As part of the Librarian's testimony, several mutilated books and special illustrated plates that had items razored out were shown to the Committee. Rose said that perhaps a special statute should be created for stealing rare materials from the Library of Congress, since the penalties seemed to be light for this "unusually heinous activity." *************************************************************************** PAPERS OF JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL The decision of the Library of Congress to open access to Justice Thurgood Marshall's papers became controversial after _The Washington Post_ published a series of articles in May based on research using the papers. Justice Marshall deposited his papers at the Library, directing the Library to release the documents to the public, at its discretion, following his death. On June 3, ALA issued a "Statement of Support for the Library of Congress' Decision to Open Access to the Papers of Justice Thurgood Marshall." See ALAWON Vol. 2, No. 24 for the full text for the statement. On June 11, Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), chaired a hearing of the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulation and Government Information on "Public Papers of Supreme Court Justices: Assuring Preservation and Access." Librarian of Congress James Billington explained the Library's actions in the case of the Marshall collection. Other witnesses included several attorneys; Anne Kenney, President of the Society of American Archivists; and Jane Kirtley, Executive Director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. *************************************************************************** BOUCHER BILL, HR 1757, APPROVED BY SUBCOMMITTEE The House Science Subcommittee approved a revised version of HR 1757 on June 17. The full Science, Space, and Technology Committee will take up the bill on Wednesday, June 23 (see below). Now called the National Information Infrastructure Act of 1993, the bill includes all the strengths of HR 1757 as introduced. It defines the National Research and Education Network as a program with three components: (1) networking research and development, (2) experimental test bed networks, and (3) network access support. Network applications would be supported for education, especially K-12, health care, libraries, and government information. A Connections Program at the National Science Foundation would foster local networks in communities for connecting colleges and schools, libraries, museums, and state and local governments to each other and connecting these entities (or organizations representing such entities) to the Internet. The bill also includes programs to train teachers, students, librarians, and government personnel. The subcommittee-approved bill adds a specific emphasis on technology to serve the needs of the disabled, includes additional attention to protecting copyrighted material in electronic form, and specifies that the President should designate a lead agency to implement and issue policy guidelines on the government information applications. The 18-month timetable for the separation between experimental test bed networks and other uses has been removed. The Office of Science and Technology Policy, after consultation with other federal agencies, is to report to Congress on needed technical developments and the proposed timing for such a separation. OSTP Director John Gibbons has testified that he believes a transition should be longer than 18 months. Further, performance measures have been inserted; commercially available network services would have to meet standards relating to geographic access, affordability, timeliness, and technical performance. The language in S. 4 to which the library, education, and research communities have objected (prohibiting support for the operation of data communications networks by any governmental entity or instrumentality) was not included in the House bill. Instead, HR 1757 says development of data communications networks should be through purchase of standard commercial network services when feasible, or by contracting for customized services when not feasible. Authorization levels were reduced from original levels. Further, to encourage Republican support, Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) offered an amendment providing that the authorized amounts would come from sums otherwise authorized. This means no new sums would be authorized, and is regrettable, but Rep. Robert Walker (R-PA), the ranking minority on the full committee, congratulated Boucher. Walker said the amendment gave the bill a chance of passage with widespread support, and made it easier to discuss policy issues while avoiding a firefight over funding questions. Boucher reminded the subcommittee that the same step was taken when the original High-Performance Computing Act was enacted. ALA, along with other constituencies affected by the HR 1757, was asked to provide a written indication of support. ALA President Marilyn Miller sent a letter on June 15 to Chairman Boucher indicating that HR 1757 "carries forward many policy elements ALA has long recommended in support of Internet/NREN legislation." She urged its prompt approval and enactment. *************************************************************************** HOUSE FREEZES GPO SUDOCS BUDGET On June 10, the House passed HR 2348, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill for FY94, approving $29,082,000 for the Salaries and Expenses Appropriation for the GPO Superintendent of Documents. Funding for the Depository Library Program is included in this amount. The bill provided that funds, not to exceed $2 million, are authorized for producing and disseminating Congressional Serial Sets and other related publications for 1991 and 1992 to depository and other designated libraries. *************************************************************************** POSTAL REVENUE FORGONE AFFECTED BY RECONCILIATION The House, in passing HR 2264, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, voted on May 27 to repeal the postal revenue forgone authorization and replace it with a new authority for nonprofit second- and third-class mail and the fourth-class library rate. The legislation would assign these nonprofit rates overhead costs equal to half of the corresponding commercial rate overhead. A six-year phase-in period would make the overall increases of 23 percent in third class and 12 percent in second class more manageable in the short term. Due to the phase-in provision, third-class nonprofit rates would be increased by about 4 percent and second-class nonprofit rates would increase by about 2 percent in October 1993. Increases of approximately the same amounts would be implemented each October through 1998. (Note that this does not take into account the impact of the next general rate case, expected in 1995.) In explaining the reform of rate making for nonprofit mail during floor debate on HR 2264, House Post Office and Civil Service Committee Chairman William Clay (D-MO) said: ...the recommendation will reform rate making for nonprofit mail. Except for appropriations to cover free-for-the-blind and overseas voting rights mailings, this reform will eliminate the need for revenue forgone appropriations. The reform represents a delicate compromise between nonprofit and commercial mailers. It raises rates for nonprofit mailers over 6 years, eventually 23 percent for fund raising letters and 12 percent for publications. The reform also eliminates commercial uses for nonprofit mail so that nonprofit mailers cannot use reduced rates to compete with profit-making businesses. The bill authorizes $29 million per year for 42 [forty- two] years in appropriations to reimburse the Postal Service for phasing-in nonprofit rate increase and for revenue forgone losses in 1991, 1992, and 1993. According to the House-passed bill, the changes authorized would take effect on October 1, 1993. However, when the Senate acts on its version of reconciliation, there may be still other changes made. Likely to be adopted as passed by the House is the repeal of library rate (4th class) eligibility for books sent to or from commercial organizations. This means libraries and schools would have to pay the full commercial rate for books mailed by or to publishers and distributors. The library rate is currently only 4 percent below commercial rates for such mail. The House bill would require that advertising matter in second-class nonprofit publications pay the full commercial rate when it exceeds 10 percent. If the advertising content does not exceed 10 percent, no advertising charges would apply (the same as the current practice). Under third-class eligibility, cooperative mailings would be explicitly forbidden. For example, this would prohibit the practice of nonprofit organizations' use of their bulk rate permits to advertise credit card and travel arrangements. Nonprofit third-class advertising of products or services would be limited to those products or services which are substantially related to the social purpose of the organization. The Postal Service would establish procedures for certification of compliance and verification of compliance. *************************************************************************** NTIS PROPOSED REGULATIONS In a June 10 letter, ALA President Marilyn Miller asked the National Technical Information Service to add a section to its proposed regulations that would make clear that "nothing in this regulation exempts federal agencies from compliance with laws applicable to the availability of government publications to depository libraries...." NTIS' proposed regulations were published in the May 11 _Federal Register_, pp. 27681-4, and spell out procedures for the transfer by federal agencies of scientific, technical and engineering information to NTIS. ALA's response was drafted by members of the Government Documents Round Table. *************************************************************************** UPCOMING HEARING The following hearing was announced in the _Congressional Record_ of June 18, 1993. Location, date, and time are subject to change. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY. Markup of three bills, including HR 1757, the High Performance Computing and High Speed Networking Applications Act of 1993. Wednesday, June 23, 10:00 am, 2318 Rayburn. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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). 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