****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 93 November 10, 1995 In this issue: (139 lines) TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE COMMITTEE TO CONTINUE WORK ON S. 652 ***************************************************************** TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE COMMITTEE TO CONTINUE WORK ON S. 652 Hill staff to the telecommunications conference committee continue some work on S. 652, the Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act of 1995. However, it appears that the actual senators and representatives have not been able to turn their attention to this legislation because of the contentious debate over appropriations, (especially the continuing resolution that determines whether the federal government stays "open" next week). SNOWE-ROCKFELLER-KERREY-EXON AMENDMENT: Library advocates are asked to continue their grassroots efforts to save the Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerrey-Exon amendment in S. 652. It remains extremely important to send letters and make phone calls, etc. to key conferees, especially members from the House of Representatives. (See list below as well as ALAWON, Vol. 4, No. 91, November 1, 1995.) The basic message to conferees should be to support the Senate universal service language which includes the Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerrey-Exon amendment. Emphasis should be put on the importance of providing affordable rates for advanced telecommunications services so that libraries can serve as "on-ramps" to the information superhighway. (K-12 schools and rural health care providers are also included in the SRKE amendment.) Whenever, possible, use examples from your community or state on the costs of connectivity and why it is important to your community to provide an equal playing field for all to utilize these new technologies. Research has shown that the "cost of ongoing connectivity" remains one of the main reasons that libraries are not or cannot maintain Internet and other types of connections to advanced telecommunications services. COX-WYDEN AND EXON AMENDMENTS: Some Hill staffers have suggested that, once the universal service section is finally addressed by the conferees, the parental empowerment/cyber-censorship provisions will be debated. Watch for additional information on the Cox-Wyden amendment in the House version and the Exon-Coates amendment in the Senate version. ALA continues to monitor this issue and has been working with the Interactive Working Group (IWG) on addressing libraries problems with these provisions. Some Congressional offices continue to predict a "quick turn around" on final telecommunications legislation; other observers suggest that, with Congress so heavily involved with the budget, telecommunications may not even be completed by the end of the year, say nothing about being finalized before Thanksgiving. ACTION NEEDED: Please continue to support the SRKE amendment through calls and letters, etc. and watch for alerts on the "parental empowerment" amendments. Conferees could turn their attention to telecommunications legislation with little notice. Grassroots efforts will be the key to supporting libraries in this critical debate on telecommunications. TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Following is a list of the telecommunications conferees. SENATE: Republicans: Democrats: Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD) Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC) Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) Sen. Wendell H. Ford (D-KY) Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) Sen. James Exon (D-NE) Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA) Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) HOUSE: Commerce Committee: Republicans: Democrats: Rep. Thomas J. Bliley, Jr., (R-VA) Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) Rep. Jack Fields (R-TX) Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH) Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) Rep. Rick White (R-WA) Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) *Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) *in lieu of Boucher solely for consideration of sec. 205 of the Senate bill Additional Conferees to address Section 310, which includes the Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerrey-Exon amendment: Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-CO), Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Rep. Bill Paxon (R- NY), Rep. Scott Klug (R-WI), Rep. Daniel Frisa (R-NY), Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), Rep. Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-ARK) Also: Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), Rep. Carlos Moorhead (R-CA), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN), Rep. Michael Flanagan, (R-IL), Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), Rep. Martin Hoke, (R-OH), Rep. John Conyers, Jr., (D-MI), Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-CO), Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), Rep. John Bryant (D-TX), Rep. Robert Scott (D-VA), and Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX). ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-628-8410; Fax: 202-628-8419. Contributing to this issue: 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 listserv 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 File****************End File****************End File**** *****************************************************************