ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 15, Number 62
June 13, 2006

In This Issue: URGENT ACTION NEEDED on S. 2686, the Communications 
Reform Bill

YOUR ACTION NEEDED:  

Library advocates with members on the Senate Commerce Committee 
(see list below) are asked to call Senators today:

* Urge Senate Commerce Committee members to maintain Universal 
Service Fund/E-rate provisions and add network neutrality language 
during the pending markup of S. 2686 (see full message points 
below).

For those advocates without a Commerce Committee member, please 
contact your Senator and ask him or her to urge their Senate 
colleagues to support these two important issues. 

DEADLINE:  Please contact Senators before the Committee markup --
currently scheduled for sometime between June 20-22, 2006.

MESSAGES:

Network Neutrality: 
* Urge senators to include the Snowe-Dorgan network neutrality 
proposal as an amendment to S. 2686.  The library community 
supports a proactive approach to preserving diverse sources of 
information on the Internet by passing enforceable network 
neutrality language.  It is too risky not to pass affirmative 
language at this time especially since there has been little 
attention paid to the public sector implications if S. 2686 is 
passed without network neutrality protections. 

* ALA urges inclusion of the Internet Freedom Act, S. 2917, 
introduced by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Byron Dorgan (D-
ND), and cosponsored by Senators Inouye, Wyden, Leahy, Boxer, 
Obama and Clinton.  Because only two senators (Boxer and Dorgan) 
spoke favorably about network neutrality during the June 13th 
hearing, it is even more important that grassroots library 
supporters contact senators now.

* Libraries of all types are providers, creators and users of 
digital information and serve users with on-site Internet access 
in libraries and remote access to online catalogs and collections.   
Libraries' ability to provide services to our communities could be 
at risk in a tiered Internet environment.  Libraries, K-12 and 
higher education and many other public sector institutions should 
not be marginalized or moved into slower tiers in favor of big 
corporations. 

Universal Service and the E-rate:

* The library community applauds Senate efforts to stabilize the 
Universal Service Fund and maintain the E-rate.  Thank senators 
for their ongoing support of E-rate discounts and for exempting 
USF programs from Anti-Deficiency Act accounting requirements in 
S. 2686.  

* The E-rate program is working by making telecommunications 
services affordable to libraries and schools in the poorest 
communities.  Communities benefit by having Internet access at 
their libraries, especially in those high-poverty areas that 
receive the deepest discounts and need the E-rate to support the 
ongoing costs of connectivity.

* The E-rate is a capped program within the Universal Service Fund 
and is providing stable and predictable support for the ongoing 
costs of connectivity.  The program promotes the build-out of 
broadband services and establishes new markets for 
telecommunications providers.  The education and training done by 
libraries and others raises new demands and public expectations 
that help create new consumers of broadband services and benefits.

Members of Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee   
 Chairman Ted Stevens (AK)
 John McCain (AZ)
 Conrad Burns (MT)
 Trent Lott (MS)
 Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)
 Olympia J. Snowe (ME)
 Gordon H. Smith (OR)
 John Ensign (NV)
 George Allen (VA)
 John E. Sununu (NH)
 Jim DeMint (SC)
 David Vitter (LA)

 Co-Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (HI)
 John D. Rockefeller (WV)
 John F. Kerry (MA)
 Byron L. Dorgan (ND)
 Barbara Boxer (CA)
 Bill Nelson (FL)
 Maria Cantwell (WA)
 Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ)
 E. Benjamin Nelson (NE)
 Mark Pryor (AR)


Thank you in advance for your efforts in support of net neutrality 
and the E-rate. Stay tuned to ALAWON for updates on these 
important issues.


******
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