****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 2, Number 48 October 25, 1993 In this issue: (266 lines) FY94 LABOR-HHS-ED APPROPRIATIONS BILL IS SIGNED INTO LAW EDUCATION AND LIBRARY PROGRAMS WILL NOT BE ON RESCISSION LIST IITF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WORKING GROUP TO HOLD HEARING ARTS AND HUMANITIES AUTHORIZATION PASSES HOUSE GOALS 2000 PASSES HOUSE PRESIDENT RELEASES EXECUTIVE ORDER ON USE OF RECYCLED MATERIALS UPCOMING HEARINGS FAREWELL FROM THE EDITOR *************************************************************************** FY94 LABOR-HHS-ED APPROPRIATIONS BILL IS SIGNED INTO LAW On October 18, the Senate approved the House-Senate Conference version of the FY 94 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill, HR 2518. The measure was signed by the President on October 21 (PL 103-112). See ALAWON Vol. 2, No. 45 (October 14) for appropriations totals. During discussion, both Senators Specter (R-PA) and Hatfield (R- OR) mentioned that Congress had restored the Administration's cuts in library programs (_Congressional Record_, October 18, S13819-13821). Senator Harkin (D-IA), chair of the appropriations subcommittee, said that the conference report provided an additional $206 million for the Summer Youth Employment Program for the summer of 1994. "This figure will assure that the Department has sufficient programs to maintain the same number of slots next summer as were provided for the summer of 1993." This is good news to library supporters who will remember that funds for two library programs were in jeopardy last June in order to fund summer jobs. *************************************************************************** EDUCATION AND LIBRARY PROGRAMS WILL NOT BE ON RESCISSION LIST On October 22, it was learned that education and library programs would not be on the proposed rescission list to be addressed as part of Vice- President Gore's Reinventing Government initiative. Over the last few weeks, the Executive Board of the Committee for Education Funding, an education coalition to which the American Library Association belongs, has held a series of meetings with members of the Administration and Congress attempting to reverse the proposed rescissions. In addition, all the CEF groups were alerted to the proposed rescissions. As a result of this activity, the rescission list will not contain any education programs. Thanks to all those who helped accomplish this removal. Since the Office of Management and Budget has plans to put forward legislation before the end of session to begin the process of down-sizing government, and some education and library programs are mentioned in the Reinventing Government report, there may be floor action and amendments offered to impact those programs. It is anticipated that Rep. Tim Penny (D-MN), will offer amendments to cut entitlement programs by $60 billion, to cut a large part of discretionary programs, and to lower the overall funding ceilings. According to an article in _Roll Call_ on October 7, at least 114 new Representatives are in favor of the initiatives in the Reinventing Government report and will sign a letter to that effect. The ALA Washington Office will continue to monitor this process closely. *************************************************************************** IITF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WORKING GROUP TO HOLD HEARING The Working Group on Intellectual Property of the Information Policy Committee of the Administration's National Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF) is developing proposals for protecting works disseminated via the National Information Infrastructure from unauthorized use. To ensure that the Working Group's proposals are based on the views of all interested parties, the Working Group will hold a hearing on the intellectual property issues involved in the National Information Infrastructure initiative. The hearing will be held on November 18, 1993, from 9 am to 5 pm, in Marriott's Crystal Forum, a part of the Crystal City Marriott Hotel located in The Underground, 1999 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia. The Working Group invites interested parties to submit comments or present testimony at the hearing. They are especially interested in receiving testimony and written comments addressing one or more of the following issues: * Is the existing copyright law adequate to protect the rights of those who will make their works available via the NII? What statutory or regulatory changes, if any, should be made? * Do the existing fair use provisions of the copyright law adequately accommodate the interests of users of the works available via the NII? What statutory or regulatory changes, if any, should be made? * Should standards or other requirements be adopted for the labeling or encoding of works available via the NII so that copyright owners and users can identify copyrighted works and the conditions for their use? * Should standards be established to encourage or require the intercommunication or exchange of information and the interoperability of the different types of computer software and systems supporting or utilizing the NII? * Should a licensing system be developed for certain uses of any or all works available via the NII? If so, should there be a single type of licensing or should the NII support a multiplicity of licensing systems? * Are there technical means for preventing unauthorized reproduction or other unauthorized uses of copyrighted works that should be mandated or required to comply with certain standards (similar to the serial copying controls required in digital audio recording devices and digital audio interface devices under the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992)? * What types of educational programs might be developed to increase public awareness of intellectual property laws, their importance to the economy, and their application to works available via the NII? Requests to attend the hearing or to present oral testimony at the hearing should be received by November 8, 1993. Written comments of persons offering testimony at the hearing that are related to the testimony should be submitted by November 8, 1993. All other written comments are due by December 10, 1993. Written comments and requests to present testimony should be submitted to the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Box 4, Washington, DC 20231, marked to the attention of Terri A. Southwick, Attorney-Advisor, Office of Legislation and International Affairs. Written comments and a transcript of the hearing will be made available for public inspection in room 902 of Crystal Park Two, 2121 Crystal Drive, Arlington, Virginia. For further information, see the _Federal Register_, October 19, 1993, p. 53917, or contact Terri A. Southwick at the address above, by phone at 703- 305-9300 or by fax at 703-305-8885. If you would like to add your comments and suggestions to ALA's response, please send them to Carol Henderson (cch@alawash.org) by November 1. *************************************************************************** Note: The following two articles were listed in the contents of Vol. 2, No. 46, but did not appear in that issue. ARTS AND HUMANITIES AUTHORIZATION PASSES HOUSE On October 14, by a vote of 304 to 119, the House passed HR 2351, to authorize appropriations for two years for the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, and the Museum Services Act. In discussion on the floor, Rep. William D. Ford (D-MI), chair of the Education and Labor authorizing committee, explained that the committee "decided not to reauthorize these agencies for the customary 5 years because none of the three had sitting Chairs. It would be inappropriate to undertake a full review of these agencies without the recommendations of the new administration." (_Congressional Record_, October 14, 1993, H7840) The House rejected an amendment that sought to cut authorization for NEA and NEH by $70 million each and the Institute for Museum Services by $11.5 million, and another amendment that would have abolished the National Endowment for the Arts entirely. Also rejected was a motion to recommit the bill to the committee. The House approved an amendment of Rep. Gunderson (R-WI) to freeze a state's allotment of NEA funds at the preceding year's level if the State's current year funding for the arts is less than the average annual amount the State spent on the arts during the three most recent years, and if the rate of reduction in State arts funding exceeds the rate of reduction in all State general fund reductions. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration. *************************************************************************** GOALS 2000 PASSES HOUSE On October 13, by a vote of 307-118, the House passed HR 1804 as amended by HR 3210, known as the GOALS 2000: Educate America Act. The legislation had been held for the Administration's changes to be inserted. During debate on the measure, Education and Labor Committee Chair Rep. Bill Ford (D-MI) stated that President Clinton, Secretary of Education Riley, and Secretary of Labor Reich had proposed this legislation, which would make the federal government a partner in reforming education and would help develop occupation skill standards. The House approved an amendment by Rep. Goodling (R-PA), that nothing in the bill gives the Federal Government the authority to control or manage local curriculum, instruction or allocation of resources. The House also approved clarifying amendments presented by Rep. Kildee (D-MI), chair of the subcommittee, including one that alters the objectives for math and science education to include the use of the metric system. Also approved was an amendment by Rep. Payne (D-NJ) which added access to physical and health education as a goal of the Student Achievement and Citizenship Goal. *************************************************************************** PRESIDENT RELEASES EXECUTIVE ORDER ON USE OF RECYCLED MATERIALS President Clinton has released Executive Order 12873 of October 20, 1993, Federal Acquisition, Recycling, and Waste Prevention, which concerns federal recycling, acquisition, and use of environmentally preferable products and services, including printing and writing papers. The ALA Washington Office has not yet had time to review this document, which was published in the _Federal Register_, October 22, 1993, pp. 54911-19. It can be retrieved electronically from the Library of Congress' LC MARVEL Gopher. From the main menu, select: 6. Federal Government Information 1. Federal Information Resources 1. Information by Agency 1. General Information Resources 6. Federal Register 6. Selected Agencies -- Access Allowed to Any and All 7. Presidential Documents 102293:Executive Order 12873 of October 20, 1993 *************************************************************************** UPCOMING HEARINGS The following hearings were announced in the _Congressional Record_ of October 21, 1993. Locations, dates, and times of hearings are subject to change. SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION. Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space. Hearing on S. 1537, to revise the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to improve the use of Federal laboratories and advance American international competitiveness. Tuesday, October 26, 2:30 pm, SR-253. SENATE COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION. Hearing on the nomination of Michael F. DiMario to be Public Printer. Thursday, October 28, 9:30 am, SR-301. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY. Subcommittee on Science. Hearing on the High Performance Computing and Communications Program. Tuesday, October 26, 9:30 am, 2318 Rayburn. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS. Hearing on the Paperwork Reduction Act. Thursday, October 28, 10:00 am, 2359 Rayburn. *************************************************************************** FAREWELL FROM THE EDITOR This is my last issue as editor of ALAWON. I am leaving the ALA Washington Office at the end of October, and Carol Henderson will temporarily take over as editor until a permanent editor can be found. Thank you for your comments and encouragement; working with ALAWON has been most interesting. --Fred King *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363. 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