****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 70 July 26, 1995 In this issue: (132 lines) REPS. MORELLA AND ORTON SPONSOR LIBRARY AMENDMENT IN HR 1555, THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1995 *** IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED: CONTACT HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE TO SUPPORT PROCEDURES FOR INTRODUCTION OF MORELLA-ORTON AMENDMENT HOUSE APPROVES INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS FUNDING NEA/NEH AND INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM SERVICES TO 1997 - ACTION NEEDED ***************************************************************** REPS. MORELLA AND ORTON OFFER LIBRARY AMENDMENT IN HR 1555, THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1995 Representatives Constance Morella (R-MD) and Bill Orton (D-UT) intend to cosponsor an amendment to HR 1555, the Communications Act of 1995, when it comes to the House floor. Their amendment would add in "affordable" and "users of public libraries" in the pertinent section of the bill. But first the House Rules Committee must adopt procedures that would allow such an amendment to be introduced. The language Morella and Orton propose to be added to HR 1555 is indicated in capital letters in the text from Section 246, (b) (5) as follows: (5) Educational Access to Advanced Telecommunications Services -- To the extent that a common carrier establishes advanced telecommunications services, such plan should include recommendations to ensure AFFORDABLE access to advanced telecommunications services for (A) students in elementary and secondary schools (B) USERS OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES, AND (C) TELEMEDICAL ACTIVITIES IN RURAL HOSPITALS. ALA and other education advocates have sought to strengthen this provision in Section 246, which many critics argue is grossly inadequate to address the public interests in terms of schools and libraries. It is substantially different than its "counterpart" Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerrey-Exon amendment in S. 652, the Senate telecommunications bill. There has been national press, advertising in major newspapers, and other reports on the complex issues being debated in this latest effort to reform the Communications Act of 1934. Relative to the interests of the many major players in the telecommunications industries, education and library issues seem like "small potatoes" to some involved with the debate. Many of the traditional "players" (especially the regional Bells and cable TV interests) are working hard to see that the legislation is acted upon quickly before Congress goes into summer recess on or about August 4. Other industry "players", such as some of the long distance companies, would prefer to see the process slowed down, now that they do not like the latest bill coming out of the House Commerce Committee. Library and education advocates have argued that there must be major consideration given to the "public interest" and schools and libraries in these deliberations. If there is to be a major overhaul of our nation's communications policies, there should be a far more significant recognition of the roles that libraries, schools and other public institutions play in serving the public and providing "on-ramps" to the information superhighway. ***************************************************************** IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED: CONTACT HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE TO SUPPORT PROCEDURES FOR INTRODUCTION OF MORELLA-ORTON AMENDMENT In order for Reps. Morella and Orton to proceed with their amendment on the House floor, the House Rules Committee must adopt procedures to allow its introduction during floor debate. The Rules Committee may meet as soon as Friday, July 28. ALAWON has just heard that there is even an outside possibility that they could meet tomorrow, July 27. It is necessary for all library advocates to contact members of the House Rules Committee AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, whether or not your local representative is on the Rules Committee. They should be asked to adopt the appropriate procedures to allow the Morella-Orton amendment to be introduced. The members of the House Rules Committee are: Republicans: Democrats: Chair: Gerald Solomon (22nd-NY) David Dreier (28th-CA) Joe Moakley (9th-MA) Porter J. Goss (14th-FL) Anthony Beilenson (24th-CA) James "Jim" Quillen (1st-TN) Martin Frost (24th-TX) John Linder (4th-GA) Tony P. Hall (3rd-OH) Deborah Pryce (15th-OH) Lincoln Diaz-Balart (21st-FL) Scott McInnis (3rd-CO) Enid Greene Waldholtz (2nd-UT) House of Representatives phone number: 202-224-3121. House Rules Committee phone number: 202-225-9191. ***************************************************************** HOUSE APPROVES INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS FUNDING NEA/NEH AND INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM SERVICES TO 1997 After days of strong debate, the House on July 18, approved the FY96 Interior Appropriations bill, HR 1977 (H. Rept. 104-186), by a vote of 244-181. The National Endowment for the Arts was funded at a total of $99.5 million subject to passage of a bill "authorizing such appropriation"; the National Endowment for the Humanities was funded at a total of $99.5 million with the same stipulation. The Institute of Museum Services was funded at $21 million. During the debate, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) proposed an amendment to abolish the National Endowment for the Humanities, which prompted lengthy debate on the purposes and good programs presented by the NEH. His amendment was defeated by a vote of 148-277. See the CR for July 17, pp. H7055-7060. ACTION NEEDED: HR 1977 now moves to the Senate for action. Committee markup is scheduled for this week, but it may be that the tight Senate calendar will not permit final action to occur until after recess. Library supporters should contact Senate members describing the far reaching NEH programs in libraries, and urging Senators to increase funding to at least that of FY95. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 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: Mary R. Costabile; 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***