****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 2, Number 29 June 30, 1993 In this issue: (218 lines) SUMMARY OF ALA COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS RELATED TO FEDERAL LEGISLATION *************************************************************************** SUMMARY OF ALA COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS RELATED TO FEDERAL LEGISLATION Here's a summary of resolutions passed by ALA Council during the Annual Conference that are related to federal legislation. Copies of these and other resolutions can be obtained from the Office of the Executive Director, American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60619. RESOLUTION ON PUBLIC LAW 103-40 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION ACCESS ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 1993 CD 27.5, sponsored by the Committee on Legislation and passed by Council on June 30, 1993. RESOLVED, That the American Library Association thank President Clinton, Vice President Gore and all Members of Congress who supported the Act as well as earlier versions, and urge them to now seek sufficient funding to implement the Act. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESOLUTION URGING THE PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE TO PROVIDE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION ON CD-ROMS TO DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES CD 27.6, sponsored by the Committee on Legislation and passed by Council on June 30, 1993. RESOLVED, That the American Library Association urge the Department of Commerce and the Patent and Trademark Office to provide government information in CD-ROM format to federal depository libraries for equitable and ready access by the American public, in compliance with OMB Circular A- 130, the GPO Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993, and the 1962 Depository Library Act. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESOLUTION URGING UNESCO TO RECONSIDER RECENT CHANGES IN THEIR DEPOSITORY PROGRAM CD 27.7, sponsored by the Committee on Legislation and passed by Council on June 30, 1993. RESOLVED, That the American Library Association strongly urge UNESCO to reconsider its recent decision to reduce the number of depository libraries worldwide and reinstate all the discontinued depositories; and be it further RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Director General of UNESCO, the United States Secretary of State and the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizational Affairs, and other appropriate persons and bodies. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESOLUTION REGARDING THE CLASSIFICATION OF U.S. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION CD 27.8, sponsored by the Committee on Legislation and passed by Council on June 30, 1993. RESOLVED, that the American Library Association urge President Clinton to: * reduce drastically the scope of secrecy within the federal government, * review all forms of security classification in the agencies of the government, * institute a systematic declassification system to ensure future public access, and * prohibit restrictions on public use of government information solely on the basis that it is sensitive but unclassified; and, be it further RESOLVED, that ALA urge the President to change the composition of the task force responsible for the revision of the security classification system to include not only the perspective of agency staff but also independent professionals well acquainted with the security system, and to include formal public input at all stages of this review process, and to provide drafts of the new executive order to the public for comment well in advance of the task force's November 30 deadline; and, be it further RESOLVED, that ALA urge the President to issue a new executive order that will: * establish guidelines for future classification of material that limit the creation of new secrets and provide for maximum public release of policy-related information, * re-establish a balancing test that takes into account the public interest in release of the information, * classify information only if there is identifiable harm from its release, * ensure that records are automatically declassified after the set time period expires, * establish bulk declassification procedures for older documents to hasten their release at minimal cost, * prohibit the reclassification of government information already in the public domain, and * establish mechanisms to ensure outside independent review of agency classification decisions, and be it further RESOLVED, that the American Library Association send copies of this resolution to President William Jefferson Clinton and appropriate Congressional committees and federal officials. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESOLUTION ON PORTABILITY OF BENEFITS FOR NON-APPROPRIATED FUND EMPLOYEES WHO CONVERTED TO THE CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM CD 27.9, sponsored by the Committee on Legislation and passed by Council on June 30, 1993. RESOLVED, That ALA urge Congress to amend P.L. 99-638 to allow employees with non-appropriated (NAF) service at GS-5 equivalent or higher pay grades between 1966 and 1987 to pay into the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) for credited time if Social Security claims for the same period are canceled; and, be it further RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to appropriate committees of Congress. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDS COMMISSION CD 27.10, sponsored by the Committee on Legislation and passed by Council on June 30, 1993. RESOLVED, That the American Library Association support reauthorization by the United States Congress of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission; and, be it further RESOLVED, That the ALA urge the Congress to reauthorize the NHPRC to receive annual appropriations of at least $10 million, the present authorization ceiling, and to receive appropriations for fiscal year 1994 in the authorized amount. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESOLUTION ON THE RESTORATION OF FUNDING FOR THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CD 27.11, sponsored by the Committee on Legislation and passed by Council on June 30, 1993. RESOLVED, that the American Library Association and its members urge the Senate Committee on Appropriations to restore the cuts made by the House of Representatives to the Library of Congress' budget request for FY94. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESOLUTION ON FY94 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE APPROPRIATIONS CD 27.12, sponsored by the Committee on Legislation and passed by Council on June 30, 1993. RESOLVED, That the American Library Association urge the Senate Appropriations Committee to accept the House levels in H.R. 2348 for the GPO Superintendent of Documents Salaries and Expenses for FY94. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESOLUTION ON NETWORKING APPLICATIONS LEGISLATION CD 27.13, sponsored by the Committee on Legislation and passed by Council on June 30, 1993. RESOLVED, That the American Library Association express its strong support for the passage of H.R. 1757 as approved on June 17, 1993 by the House Subcommittee on Science; and, be it further RESOLVED, That the American Library Association recommend that the Senate remove certain provisions of S. 4 such as those relating to governmental operation of data communications networks and to the timetable for experimental networks, and substitute the more flexible provisions of H.R. 1757 covering these areas; and be it further RESOLVED, That this resolution be transmitted to the appropriate congressional committees. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESOLUTION ON THE REVISION OF OMB CIRCULAR A-130 CD 27.14, sponsored by the Committee on Legislation and passed by Council on June 30, 1993. RESOLVED, That the American Library Association commend the President of the United States and the Office of Management and Budget for taking a major step to improve the federal government's policies and capabilities for making government information, regardless of format, available to the American public in an equitable and timely manner, and be it further RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to President William Clinton, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Administrator of the OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, appropriate Congressional committees, and the Government Printing Office. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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. To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. *************************************************************************** ***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***