****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 3, Number 72 December 12, 1994 In this issue: (179 lines) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT REAUTHORIZATION PENDING SENATE APPROVES U.N. TREATY ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT DEFEATED ELECTRONIC FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT DIES IN 103RD CONGRESS CONGRESS PASSES H.R. 4922, TELECOMMUNICATIONS WIRETAP BILL *************************************************************************** PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT REAUTHORIZATION PENDING One of the bills proposed to implement the House Republicans' "Contract With America" would reauthorize the Paperwork Reduction Act. Contained within the 82-page "Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act of 1995," Title V is called "Strengthening of Paperwork Reduction Act." The proposed legislation would be a five-year reauthorization of the 1980 statute which has been without a reauthorization since October 1989. The proposed Subtitle D--Enhancing Agency Responsibility for Sharing and Disseminating Public Information is similar to legislation, introduced in the 103rd Congress, that did not pass. The proposal has three sections: sec. 5401, prescribing governmentwide standards for sharing and disseminating public information; sec. 5402, agency responsibilities for sharing and disseminating public information; and sec. 5403, agency information inventory/locator system. In the proposed sec. 5402, agency heads would be directed--to the extent appropriate and practicable, and conforming to OMB policy guidelines--to establish and maintain a management system for the dissemination and sharing of information. One of the seven requirements of the system is that it: ...takes advantage of all appropriate channels, Federal and non-Federal, including State and local governments, libraries and private sector entities, in discharging agency responsibilities for the dissemination and sharing of information. This proposed bill, likely to be introduced early in the 104th Congress, would also: (1) Provide a 50 percent capital gains rate cut and prospectively index capital gains to account for inflation; (2) Create a regulatory budget requiring each agency to annually project the cost to the private sector of complying with its regulations. Then a system of caps would be imposed to require each agency to reduce those costs. (3) Prevent cost-shifting to states and localities through restrictions on what are called "unfunded mandates." (4) Permit taxpayers to designate a portion of their tax liability (not to exceed 10 percent) to a public debt reduction fund. Also within this section of the bill (Title XII) is complex language that would require federal discretionary spending to be sequestered (withdrawn) "equivalent to the estimated aggregate amount" that taxpayers had designated to reduce the federal debt. The complete text of the "Contract With America" and the 10 proposed bills to implement it can be obtained electronically: type: _gopher gopher.house.gov_, go to _Party Organizations_, _Republican Conference and then _Contract_. ********************************************************************** SENATE APPROVES U.N. TREATY ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN An important human rights treaty, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, has been pending before the Senate since 1980, when the United States signed it. More than 136 countries are now parties to the Convention; the United States has not ratified the treaty yet. The United National Commission on the Status of Women formulated the Convention, and the United Nations General Assembly adopted it in 1979. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the Convention on September 29, recommending by a vote of 13-4 that the full Senate ratify the treaty, which has languished in Congress for the past 14 years (Senate Exec. Rept. 103-38). The treaty did not reach the Senate floor before Congress left Washington in early October because a confidential "hold" by an unknown Senator blocked its consideration. The treaty's fate is unknown in the next Congress in a Foreign Relations Committee likely to be chaired by Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC). At its Annual Meeting in June, ALA's Council passed a resolution that the Association go on record in support of United States ratification of access to the Convention. ********************************************************************** LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT DEFEATED The Lobbying Disclosure Act, S. 349, was defeated in the Senate on October 7 (see October 7 Congressional Record, pp. S14606-18). Republican Senators raised questions about the conference report (S. Rept. 103-37) particularly concerning a provision that would have required many groups, including nonprofits, to provide the names and addresses of persons who contributed money to organizations to lobby on their behalf. The provision, added to the legislation during the House- Senate conference on the bill, created opposition that caused groups across the political spectrum to call for the defeat of the measure. At the request of a coalition that included Independent Sector (to which ALA belongs), some helpful modifications were made in the legislation before it came to the Senate floor. However, the measure continued to require disclosure that would have been a burden to nonprofits. ********************************************************************** ELECTRONIC FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT DIES IN 103RD CONGRESS Although the Senate passed S. 1782, the Electronic Freedom of Information Improvement Act of 1994 (S. Rept. 103-365), on August 25 (see September 19 ALA Washington Newsletter, p. 7), there was no action on the bill in the House. Both S. 1782 and its companion, H.R. 4917, were referred to the House Government Operations Committee but died with the 103rd Congress. ********************************************************************** CONGRESS PASSES H.R. 4922, TELECOMMUNICATIONS WIRETAP BILL The House and Senate passed a controversial telecommunications wiretap bill on a voice vote as Congress raced to go home in October. On October 5, the House passed H.R. 4922, a bill to make clear a telecommunications carrier's duty to cooperate in the interception of communications for law enforcement purposes, while the Senate passed the bill on October 7. (The House bill was substituted for S. 2375, see October 7 Congressional Record, p. S14660 and pp. S14663-6). President Clinton signed the bill on October 25, making it P.L. 103-414. Under the legislation, the Attorney General is authorized, subject to the availability of appropriations, to pay phone companies $500 million over the next three years to tailor existing digital networks so that they can be tapped. Phone companies will be asked to pay for similar features in new networks. But if a company thinks those costs are unreasonable, it can appeal to the Federal Communications Commission. ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** 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. Contributing to this issue: Anne A. Heanue (aah@alawash.org); Editor: Lynne E. Bradley (leb@alawash.org). 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 and other documents 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. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. For other reprinting or redistribution, address requests to the ALA Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org). ********************************************************************** End of file******************End of file******************End of file***