****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 4, Number 6 January 25, 1995 In this issue: (183 lines) ALA MIDWINTER CONFERENCE ALERT: _INFORMATION UPDATE_ AGENDA ANNOUNCED BY ALA COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION VICE PRESIDENT GORE SPEAKS AT LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUMMIT ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2ND ALERT ON HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE FIELD HEARINGS *************************************************************************** ALA MIDWINTER CONFERENCE ALERT: _INFORMATION UPDATE_ AGENDA ANNOUNCED ALA COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION INFORMATION UPDATE 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Saturday, February 4, 1995 Philadelphia Convention Center, Room 103B Philadelphia, Pennsylvania AGENDA Library Advocacy Now! Patricia Glass Schuman, Chair Legislative Agenda Planning by COL ALA Committee on Legislation ALA Goal 2000: The Public's Elizabeth Martinez Intellectual Participation Executive Director American Library Association An Expanded Washington Presence Carol C. Henderson, Executive for ALA: What Will It Mean? Director, ALA Washington Office Government Information Policy: Nancy C. Kranich, Chair Hot Issues and Strategies COL AdHoc Subcommitte on Government Information Political Climate: Opportunities Stanley Turesky, Consultant and Hazards for Libraries Government Affairs Proposed Library Services and Jan Moltzan, Joan Ress Reeves Technology Act; What's Next? Co-Chairs, COL Ad Hoc Subcom. What Can You Do? LSCA Reauthorization Federal Library Programs: Ray Fry, Director, Issues and Outlook Library Programs, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Dept. of Education Copyright/Intellectual Property: Edward J. Valauskas, Chair Hot Issues and Strategies COL Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Copyright Telecommunications/NII: Elaine Albright, Chair Hot Issues and Strategies COL Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Telecommunications Funding Outlook and ALA Washington Office Action Strategies Staff Members Please join the Committee on Legislation and the ALA Washington Office staff in a rundown on the new political climate, the ALA Goal 2000 plan for an expanded ALA Washington presence, pending issues, and what grassroots actions are needed. *************************************************************************** VICE PRESIDENT GORE SPEAKS AT LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUMMIT ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS Vice President Al Gore was the keynote speaker at a Telecom Summit for Federal, State, and Local Government officials on January 9 at the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. The theme of Gore's speech, as well as of others at the summit, concerned competition, universal service and the role of local governments in developing new telecommunications legislation. The issue of telecommunication reform and how governments at all levels can promote lower telecom rates and increased competition was of concern to all the morning session panel participants. Also speaking were Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA), Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, and FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. Other participants included Assistant Secretary of Commerce Larry Irving, Assistant Attorny General Anne Bingaman as well as numerous elected and appointed state and local officials. Other groups participating in the summit included: National Association of Counties, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, National Association of State Utility Connsumer Advocates, National Associaiton of Telecommunications Officers and Administrators, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Governors' Association, National League of Cities, and the United States Conference of Mayors. The summit was cosponsored by the Annenberg Washington Program and the Administration's Information Infrastructure Task Force. All the participants spoke about the need "to be at the bargaining table together" as new telecommunications legislation is developed. This effort at improved cooperation is a direct outgrowth of the disagreements between the federal government and local governments during the attempt to rewrite the Communications Act of 1934 in the last Congress. That bill, S 1822, was killed in part because local governments had been left out of the ongoing regulatory process proposed in the 103rd Congress. Gore pointed out that he had called for such a governmental summit when S 1822 died. The afternoon session, which was to discuss more specifics about local government needs and how the Administration, Congress and local governments might work together, was not open to the public. All involved want see success in passing a new Communications Act in the 104th Congress. *************************************************************************** 2ND ALERT ON HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE FIELD HEARINGS Because a date was missing in the earlier ALAWON issue about these field hearings, the notice is being repeated: House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich (R-OH) recently announced that the Committee will conduct five field hearings around the country to solicit the views of everyday Americans on how to cut the federal budget. The hearings, entitled, _How Do We Cut The Federal Budget_, will be held on the following Saturdays and will be open to the public and the media. The schedule is: 1. Columbus, OH Ohio Dominion College Little Theater January 21, 1995 - 3:00 pm 2. Prescott, AZ The Elks Theater January 28, 1995 - 2:30pm 3. Columbia, SC Airport High School Gymnasium February 4, 1995 - 2:00pm 4. Manville, NJ VFW Post 2290 Meeting Hall February 11, 1995 - 1:00pm 5. Billings, MT Rocky Mountain College Gymnasium - 2:00pm February 18, 1995 ALA encourages library and education supporters to attend these hearings and to testify against cutting library and education funding. It should be emphasized that maintaining a strong federal commitment to invest in education is critical to secure the future of our children and youth. For further information contact the ALA Washington Office. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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. 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***