ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 12, Number 41
May 14, 2003

In This Issue: S. 888 Approved in Senate HELP Committee

Today, one day after more than 450 library supporters blanketed Capitol Hill, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted unanimously to approve S. 888, The Museum and Library Services Act of 2003, which includes the Library Services and Technology Act.

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), Chair of the Senate HELP Committee and one of the bill's lead sponsors, complimented Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) on his efforts in support of  S. 888.

Senator Reed (D-RI), the bill's co-sponsor, thanked the museum and library community for their help with the legislation and for their work toward passage of S. 888. He stated that the appropriations should meet the authorization level in the bill of $250 million given the bi-partisan support for S. 888. He promised to work to ensure that the Senate bill is the version that makes it to the President for his signature.

Senator Frist (R-TN), another co-sponsor of the bill, remarked that libraries encourage literacy and that the "fabric of our community is so enriched by libraries."

Library supporters visited Senate offices yesterday and Monday asking for support for S. 888, and the successful vote demonstrates their effectiveness.

The bill now awaits full Senate consideration.  It is hoped that the legislation can be voted on within the next few weeks.


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ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff.  Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Camille Bowman, Mary Costabile, Don Essex, Patrice McDermott and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell, Claudette Tennant. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.