ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 12, Number 59
June 30, 2003

In This Issue: Congressman Sabo Introduces Legislation Making Federally Funded Research Accessible to the Public
	
Congressman Martin Olav Sabo (D-MN) introduced the Public Access to Science Act (H.R. 2613 or PASA) of 2003 on June 26.  The act would amend copyright law to require federally funded research be made available to the public. "It is wrong when a breast cancer patient cannot access federally funded research data paid for by her hard-earned taxes. It is wrong when the family whose child has a rare disease must pay again for research data their tax dollars already paid for," Sabo said. The Minneapolis Congressman went on to say, "Common sense dictates we provide the most cutting-edge research to all who may benefit from it - especially when they've already paid for it with their tax dollars, and my legislation will do just that." 

H.R. 2613 would require research substantially funded by the federal government to be made available in the public domain. Sabo indicated today's advances in science and medicine, combined with the Internet's capability to disseminate information far and wide, make the applicability of his legislation all the more timely. "The United States government funds basic research with the intention and the belief that the new ideas and discoveries that result will improve the lives and welfare of the people at home and around the world," explained Sabo. "Our government spends $45 billion a year to support scientific and medical research whose product is new knowledge for the public benefit. Via the Internet, it could be made available to everyone at home, work or a public library. We must remember that government funded research belongs to, and should be readily available to, every person in the United States." "It defies logic to collectively pay for our medical research, only to privatize its profitability and availability," Sabo concluded.  



For Immediate Release 
Contact: Rick Jauert
June 26, 2003 (202) 225-4755


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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.