ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 12, Number 69
July 30, 2003

In This Issue: MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES ACT REMAINS TO BE VOTED ON BY FULL SENATE; 
FY 2004 LABOR HHS EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS BILL SCHEDULED
FOR FALL ACTION

ACTION ALERT:  The Senate has one more week of business to complete before the summer recess.  S. 888, the Museum and Library Services Act still needs to be voted on by the full Senate.  The bill was reported out of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on June 26, and there are currently 51 Senate sponsors.  During the summer recess please contact your Senators to alert them that this very important vote needs to occur after the summer recess and that you would like their support.  Remind them that the House passed its bill (H.R. 13) with an overwhelming majority and the Senate should do the same.  The Museum and Library Services Act contains reauthorization of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

Of equal importance is the FY2004 Labor HHS Education Appropriations bill, that remains to be considered when Congress reconvenes in September.  Funding for library programs in the House is higher than that in the Senate, a fact that will create difficulty when conference on the two bills occurs.  Explain to your Senators that the lower number in the Senate will be a problem for states already suffering from the recession and increased funding for library programs in the appropriations bill, would allow the formula change written in the authorizing legislation to occur in FY2004.  This change would help the smaller states increase their allotments under LSTA while holding the large states harmless. 

 Many of you came to Washington this past spring for National Library Legislative Day and brought examples of how LSTA funds are spent in your state.  Contact the Senate staff person you spoke with to remind him or her of the importance of these votes, and you may also wish to fax them talking points to use in case there is a floor discussion.  Thanks for your help.  Please use our legislative action center web site to look up your Senators and/or send e-mail or obtain a fax number at  http://congress.nw.dc.us/ala/home/ , or contact them in their home offices.  






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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; Kathy Mitchell, Carrie Russell. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.