****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 24 March 17, 1995 In this issue: (169 lines) SENATE TO MARK UP TELECOMMUNICATIONS BILL - ACTION NEEDED FREEDOM OF INFORMATION DAY AWARDS ANNOUNCED AMERICAN'S CAN'T WAIT - LIBRARY ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED *************************************************************************** SENATE TO MARK UP TELECOMMUNICATIONS BILL - ACTION NEEDED Telecommunications reform legislation has not been officially introduced in the House or Senate yet this year but rumors are circulating that a bipartisan bill may be introduced as early as this coming Monday, March 20. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee could proceed with a mark up this coming week on some kind of bipartisan bill. As previously reported in ALAWON, Senator Pressler (R-SD) and Senator Hollings (D-SC) each have distributed draft bills which staff members in both Houses of Congress have been working on for several weeks. Some observers are seriously concerned that the "public interest" provisions in the Democratic draft, while not perfect, could be compromised away in the attempts to get some agreement on the "big" issues and to push forward this reform legislation to increase competition and provide for major deregulation. Two critical public access provisions that should be retained in any telecommunications reform package, are 1) access to telecommunications networks by public telecommunications users including libraries, schools and community organizations and 2) the prevention of electronic redlining. There is concern that the Committee could proceed without taking any action to ensure that community users have affordable access to new telecommunications services or to prevent discrimination in telecommunications development. Some reports suggest that the Senate Subcommittee on Communications may reject the Senator Hollings' proposal to give community organizations access to the new telecommunications networks at affordable rates. ACTION NEEDED: Library supporters should contact members of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications as well as members of the full Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Ask that they include strong language to ensure that public telecommunications users, such as libraries, schools and other community users, can provide the necessary educational informational, cultural, civic or charitable services in particular communities at affordable rates. Strong anti-redlining protection should also be included. Reform legislation must not foreclose the opportunities to get access to the information superhighway. ALAWON will publish the pertinent bill number and related information as soon as it is available. Supporters should contact the Senators, by Monday if possible, since the bill may be submitted and marked up quickly in the coming week. Senator Pressler's Committee office is 202-224-5115; Senator Hollings' Committee office phone number is 202-224-9340. Senator Robert Packwood (R-OR) is chair of the Subcommittee on Communications. Other Republican members of the subcommittee are: Stevens (AK), McCain (AZ), Burns (MT), Gorton (WA), Lott (MS) and Ashcroft (MO). Democratic members, in addition to Hollings, are: Inouye (HI); Ford (KY), Exon (NE), Kerry (MA), Breaux (LA), and Rockefeller (WV). *************************************************************************** FREEDOM OF INFORMATION DAY AWARDS ANNOUNCED The Government Printing Office (GPO), the State of Maryland's Sailor Project, the Seattle (Wash.) Public Library and the Internet Multicasting Service's Town Hall project, based in Washington, D.C., are the 1995 recipients of the James Madison Awards, sponsored by the Coalition on Government Information (COGI). The awards were presented on March 15 during a ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Nancy Kranich, chair of COGI, and a member of the ALA Executive Board presented the awards. ALA President-elect Betty Turock was also present to congratulate the award winners and to announce the kick-off of ALA's "American's Can't Wait - Library Advocacy Now!" campaign, a major element in ALA's "Goal 2000" proposals. The James Madison awards are given by coalition on "Freedom of Information Day", March 16, which is Madison's birthday. (The awards reception was a day early this year.) The coalition, founded by ALA in 1986, presents the annual award in connection with Freedom of Information Day on March 16 to recognize outstanding efforts to protect and promote public access to government information. The Government Printing Office was cited for the GPO Access system which provides broad public access to computerized federal government information including the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, and other Congressional publications. The State of Maryland's Sailor Project was honored for its pioneering efforts to provide all state residents with rapid, easy access to government documents via the Internet at libraries throughout the state. Maryland is the first state to offer all residents no-cost access to the Internet via libraries. The Seattle Public Library was recognized as a leader in providing public access to all kinds and levels of government information. The library was among the country's first outlets for the GPO Access System. It hosts the Washington Information Network Kiosk giving library users access to a variety of state government information and also offers access to local government information through the City's Public Access Network. Seattle is the first library to receive the James Madison Award. The Internet Multicasting Service, begun in 1993, posts massive government data archives including the Securities Exchange Commission EDGAR database and the U.S. Patent Trademark PTO database onto the Internet free of charge. Hailed as a "major shift" in the way government information s made available to the public, the project distributes close to 15,000 documents daily. The members of COGI represent a wide range of interests including law, medicine, science and consumer rights. They include the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the National Association of Counties, the National Consumers League and the National Security Archive. *************************************************************************** AMERICAN'S CAN'T WAIT - LIBRARY ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED ALA's new "American's Can't Wait - Library Advoacy Now" campaign is part of ALA's Goal 2000 efforts to make the voice of ALA and libraries heard where information policies are developed. In kicking off the new campaign at the James Madison Awards program on March 15, ALA President-elect Betty Turock emphasized how important the Goal 2000 program is. She added that ALA and the voice of the American people are "outnumbered, outspent and - too often - absent" at the "tables" where information policies are developed. Many of those developing information policy have "deep pockets and cadres of lawyers and staff to defend their interests." ALA has proposed to change this by expanding its existing role as a voice of the American people. Turock urged ALA members to vote in favor of a proposed dues increase on the spring elections ballot. She added that the increase in funds would be devoted exclusively to strengthening the ALA Washington Office and establishing an Office for Information Technology Policy. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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***