****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 27 March 21, 1995 In this issue: (308 lines) REGISTER BY MARCH 31 FOR LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY NOW! APRIL 11, 1995 WORKSHOP CONGRESS PASSES PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SENATE BILL S. 244 HOUSE BILL H.R. 830 *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** REGISTER BY MARCH 31 FOR LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY NOW! APRIL 11, 1995 IN WASHINGTON, D.C. WORKSHOP SPONSORED BY ALA WASHINGTON OFFICE AND ALA COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY NOW! is a special day of training offered to library groups with meetings scheduled in Washington, D.C. near the date of April 11. This package of library legislative advocacy training and in- depth issue briefings builds on but does not duplicate ALA's Library Advocacy Now! training. The workshop is also open without charge to other library supporters who register in advance. Library advocates are encouraged to take advantage of this special opportunity. YOU WILL RECEIVE: 1. Americans Can't Wait...Library Advocacy Now! action pack and buttons 2. Pass a Buck for Libraries postcards 3. Background materials prepared by the ALA Washington Office specifically for the April 11 event. TO REGISTER: Fax, mail, or email the following information to the ALA Washington Office by March 31. You must register in advance so that we may plan for lunch and send materials to you. Mail, Fax or Email this form BY MARCH 31 to: American Library Association Washington Office 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E. Washington, DC 20002 202-547-4440 Fax: 202-547-7363 alawash@alawash.org Yes, I will attend LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY NOW! on April 11, 1995. NAME TITLE ADDRESS PHONE FAX EMAIL AFFILIATION (such as library trustee, chapter federal relations coordinator, library association legislation committee or officer, WHCLIST, etc.) Could you make visits to Congressional offices on Monday afternoon, April 10? Yes________________ No_______________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- LIBRARY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY NOW! April 11, 1995 9:15 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. Room 443 Martin Luther King Library 901 G St. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001 202-727-1221 PRELIMINARY AGENDA 9:15 a.m. Coffee 9:30 a.m. Welcome; introduction of moderator Betty Turock, ALA President-elect Estelle Black, Moderator ALA Committee on Legislation 9:40 a.m. Library Advocacy Now! Janet Welch, Chair, Training Subcommittee, ALA President's Special Committee on Public Awareness; and Chair, NYLA Public Awareness Committee 9:50 a.m. Americans Can't Wait! Pass a Buck for Libraries; Relating ALA campaigns to legislative advocacy Charles Beard, Co-Chair, LAN Campaign; ALA Executive Board 10:00 a.m. Break 10:10 a.m. Issue briefing #1: Library program funding/authorization issues in changed political climate Carol C. Henderson, moderator Executive Director, ALA Washington Office Charles Barone, Legislative Assistant for Senator Paul Simon of Illinois Other congressional staff and resource persons on appropropriations outlook, ESEA school library resources program, reinvention of LSCA, NEH/NEA reauthorization, etc. 11:00 a.m. Break 11:10 a.m. Issue briefing #2: Government information dissemination Anne A. Heanue, moderator Associate Director, ALA Washington Office Linda Kemp, Staff Director Joint Committee on Printing Other congressional staff, federal agency officials on changing roles of players, future of depository library system, etc. 12:00 noon Break; lunch available 12:30 p.m. Issue briefing #3: Telecommunications and information superhighway Lynne E. Bradley, moderator Deputy Exec. Director, ALA Washington Office Andrew Blau, Director, Communications Policy Project, Benton Foundation Other resource persons on telecommunications legislation, outlook for library/school access and public access provisions 1:20 p.m. Break 1:30 p.m. Special team of library advocates reports back on test visits to congressional offices 2:20 p.m. Break 2:30 p.m. Experts provide feedback and strategy advice Carol Henderson, moderator ALA Washington Office Stanley Turesky, Govt. Affairs Consultant Adam M. Eisgrau, Counsel & Legislative Assistant for Senator Dianne Feinstein of California Other congressional staffers Discussion with team of 10 library advocates who visited key offices within the previous 24 hours. Interaction with audience on what's new and different in the 104th Congress. How to hone the message. What strategies will and won't work this year. What makes an effective group visit--at home or on Library Legislative Day. How best to respond to action alerts. 3:30 p.m. Library Legislative Advocacy Now! Closing advice, Estelle Black, moderator Library Advocacy Now! team of Charles Beard and Janet Welch 3:45 p.m. Adjourn *************************************************************************** CONGRESS PASSES PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SENATE BILL S. 244: On March 7, by a unanimous vote, the Senate passed S. 244, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (S.Rept. 104-8) [See March 7 Congressional Record, pp. S3547-70]. It adopted an amendment offered by Senators Carl Levin (D- MI) and William Cohen (R-ME) to eliminate or modify more than 200 reports by federal agencies to Congress. The bill covers a wide range of complex subjects, including the government's collection, management, and dissemination of information, its use of information technology and computer security. The list of restrictive factors, or "checklist," that has been controversial in the library community, is not in S. 244. Appropriations for OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs would be authorized for five years. Among other things, the bill directs the Office of Management and Budget to cause to be established "a distributed agency-based electronic Government Information Locator Service." OMB is to establish an interagency committee to advise the Secretary of Commerce on the development of technical standards for GILS to ensure compatibility, promote information sharing, and uniform access by the public. In establishing the committee, OMB is to cooperate with the Archivist of the United States, the Administrator of General Services, the Public Printer, and the Librarian of Congress. Although S. 244 does not mention libraries, the report on the bill (S.Rept. 104-8) states: agencies must fulfill legal requirements for dissemination, such as use of the Government Printing Office's Sales and Depository Library Programs. Multiple access points and multiple formats simply serve to enhance dissemination of government information to the public. Conferees on S. 244 are: Senators Roth (R-DE), Cohen (R-ME), Cochran (R- MS), Glenn (D-OH) and Nunn (D-GA); and Representatives Clinger (R-PA), Meyers (R-IN), McHugh (R-NY), McIntosh (R-IN), Fox (R-PA), Collins (D-IL), Peterson (D-FL), and Wise (D-WV). HOUSE BILL H.R. 830: By a recorded vote of 418 ayes, with 6 voting present, the House passed H.R. 830, its version of the Paperwork Reduction Act on February 22 (H.Rept. 104-37) [see February 22 Congressional Record, pp. H2010-29]. OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs would be reauthorized permanently. An amendment failed that was offered by Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) to limit OIRA's reauthorization to five years. During debate on the bill, Representative William Clinger (R-PA), chair of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, said: The dissemination provisions...delineate clear policies that were not articulated in the act's previous references to dissemination. These provisions require OMB to develop governmentwide policies and guidelines for information dissemination and to promote public access to information maintained by Federal agencies. In turn, the agencies are to: First, ensure that the public has timely and equitable access to public information; second, solicit public input on their information dissemination activities; and third, not establish restrictions on dissemination or redissemination of government information. Emphasis is placed on efficient and effective use of new technology and a reliance on a diversity of public and private sources of information to promote dissemination of government information, particularly in electronic formats. H.R. 830 is similar to S. 244. However, among the differences between the two bills is a controversial provision opposed by the library community that would authorize the OMB director to waive any limits on agency user fees for public information after an agency meets several criteria, including a notice published in the Federal Register. Responding to constituent concerns, Representative Connie Morella (R-MD) engaged Clinger in a colloquy on the House floor about the fee waiver provisions (see February 22 CR, p. H2028). Morella said: I know that you share my belief that the Federal Government should not be in the business of profiting from its information resources and that the report language in H.R. 830 reflects your convictions in this regard and,...,I know that you are committed to refining the language in this section in the conference committee....I know that you are committed to aggressively pursuing the intent of this bill with regard to this section and that the committee will act swiftly to curb any abuses of the provision. Clinger responded: This is purely a very rare and probably exceptional kind of situation that might arise where an agency would be entitled to retain some of the funds, but it requires a very difficult procedure to get that approval and would be used in only exceptionally rare circumstances. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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. Contributing to this issue: Carol C. Henderson and Anne A. Heanue; 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***