****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 102 December 8, 1995 In this issue: (175 lines) RESTRICTIONS ON NONPROFIT ADVOCACY HELD OFF HEARING HELD ON ENGLISH AS THE COMMON LANGUAGE ACTION NEEDED: ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO COSPONSOR H.CON. RES. 83, THE ENGLISH PLUS RESOLUTION ***************************************************************** RESTRICTIONS ON NONPROFIT ADVOCACY HELD OFF When it became clear that amendments to H.R. 2564, disclosure of lobbying activities, were likely to fail, proponents of amendments to further restrict the political advocacy of nonprofit organizations and charities decided not to offer their controversial legislative proposals on that bill. Representatives Ernest Istook (R-OK) and David McIntosh (R-IN) have indicated that they will try to attach their proposals to a pending appropriations bill, or to some other legislation in 1996. The Senate has so far refused to add the proposal to their version of the Labor-HHS-Education bill, H.R. 2127. The Istook, McIntosh, and Ehrlich (R-MD) amendments have provoked bipartisan opposition, and have drawn fierce criticism from organizations as diverse as the YMCA of the USA, the American Red Cross, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the American Heart Association and numerous religious groups. ALA joined these groups, and others, in opposing the proposals at a news conference in the U.S. Capitol on November 7. The specific provisions of the Istook, McIntosh, and Ehrlich amendments have varied somewhat with each iteration. But all suffer from the same general defects: They would cut off Congress and other law and policy makers from information nonprofit organizations provide them to help craft good public policy. They inject burdensome new reporting requirements covering the private expenditures made by America's charities and other federal grantees. They impose new and more restrictive rules on how federal grantees can spend their private funds. They create distinctions between those who received federal funds: nonprofits which would be subject to extraordinary restrictions and federal contractors which are not affected by the legislation. They aim at fixing a problem which Inspectors General at key federal agencies have said does not exist. ***************************************************************** HEARING HELD ON ENGLISH AS THE COMMON LANGUAGE On December 6, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) chaired a hearing of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on S. 356, Language of Government Act of 1995, a measure that would formally recognize English as the official language of the United States government. The witnesses were all proponents of the legislation. Stevens indicated a hearing would be held in January including opponents of the controversial proposal. The one voice of dissent at the hearing was Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) who said he was concerned the bill would reduce access to important federal services, is constitutionally questionable and "would foster ethnic and racial intolerance." On December 5, ALA President Betty J. Turock sent a letter to all Senators urging them not to sponsor or vote for any bill that would establish English as the official language of government. S. 356, sponsored by Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) and about 19 colleagues, provides that the government would conduct its official business in English. The term "official business" is defined as those governmental actions, documents, or policies which are enforceable with the full weight and authority of the government. A recurring theme of proponents of the legislation is that taxpayer funds can be saved if the federal government prints documents only in English. One witness at the December 6 hearing, testifying as a private citizen, asserted: "By printing government documents in one language only, billions of dollars could be saved and used to improve the education that is right now at its lowest." He provided no data to back up his statement. In fact, a Government Accounting Office study (B-266194, September 20, 1995) found that only a tiny fraction of government publications are in a language other than English. GAO found that, over a five-year-period, only 265 foreign-language documents were released by the Government Printing Office and the National Technical Information Service out of about 400,000 titles. The House of Representative held two hearings on English as the common language on October 31 and November 1. They were chaired by Representative Randy Cunningham (R-CA) in the Economic and Educational Opportunities Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families on English as the Common Language. Although the hearings were not intended to focus on specific legislative proposals, witnesses commented on several bills pending before the House, particularly the companion to S. 356, H.R. 123, which has nearly 200 cosponsors. A different approach is taken in H. Con. Res. 83, the English Plus Resolution, introduced on July 13 by Representative Jose Serrano (D-NY) and a bipartisan group of 32 colleagues. It resolves that the U.S. government should pursue policies that-- (1) encourage all residents of this country to become fully proficient in English by expanding educational opportunities; (2) conserve and develop the Nation's linguistic resources by encouraging all residents of this country to learn or maintain skills in a language other than English; (3) assist Native Americans, Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians, and other peoples indigenous to the United States, in their efforts to prevent the extinction of their languages and cultures; (4) continue to provide services in languages other than English as needed to facilitate access to essential functions of government, promote public health and safety, ensure due process, promote equal educational opportunity, and protect fundamental rights; and (5) recognize the importance of multilingualism to vital American interests and individual rights, and oppose "English-only" measures and similar language restrictionist measures. In a resolution passed by ALA's Council in 1989, ALA strongly opposed all laws, legislation and regulations relating to language which have the effect of restricting or abridging pluralism and diversity in library collections and services. ALA resolved to work with state associations and other appropriate agencies in devising ways to counteract restrictions arising from existing language laws and regulations. Additionally, ALA resolved to actively encourage and support the provision of library resources and services in the languages in common use in each community in the United States. ACTION NEEDED: As your Representative to cosponsor H.Con. Res. 83, the English Plus Resolution, described above. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 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:Anne A. Heanue and Claudette W. Tennant; 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**** *****************************************************************