================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 51 ISSN 1069-7799 May 20, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (99 lines) HOUSE PASSES FLAWED DATABASE PROTECTION LEGISLATION (H.R. 2652)OVER STRONG PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR OBJECTION CHILDREN'S LITERACY BILL PASSES SENATE JEANNE HURLEY SIMON CONFIRMED FOR SECOND NCLIS TERM _________________________________________________________________ HOUSE PASSES FLAWED DATABASE PROTECTION LEGISLATION (H.R. 2652)OVER STRONG PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR OBJECTION This week scores of librarians again answered the call to ask their members of Congress to oppose passage of the "Collection of Information Antipiracy Act" (H.R. 2652), a bill which would extend sweeping new legal protections to compilations of facts. Although the House adopted the bill by voice vote, many members of Congress heeded their constituents' calls. The issue now goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Reps. George Brown (D-CA), Tom Campbell (R-CA) and Major Owens (D-NY) led the charge in part by circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter to the entire House. In the letter they urged fellow Representatives to oppose action on the bill under the expedited procedures used to get it to the House floor. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Elizabeth Furse (D-OR) also joined in the letter. The ALA Washington Office wishes to express its deep appreciation to all those who responded to recent alerts regarding H.R. 2652 and encourages constituents of the six Representatives named above to thank them for their efforts on libraries' and the public's behalf. To say "thanks," just call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Representative by name. Please stay tuned to ALAWON for further information on the "database front" as the Senate Judiciary turns to this contentious issue in the coming weeks. For information in the interim, please contact the ALA Washington Office at 800-941-8478. _________________________________________________________________ CHILDREN'S LITERACY BILL PASSES SENATE COMMITTEE On May 13 the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee marked up the Reading Excellence Act (H.R. 2614). All committee members agreed to the draft bill presented by the committee chair Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-VT). The ALA Washington Office has been working with committee staff and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) to include school librarians and school libraries in the bill. It is expected that the bill and accompanying committee report will be reported out shortly after the Memorial Day holiday. An analysis of the children's literacy bill will appear in ALAWON when it becomes available. _______________________________________________________________ JEANNE HURLEY SIMON CONFIRMED FOR SECOND NCLIS TERM On May 13 the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee confirmed Jeanne Hurley Simon for a second term as a member of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Simon, currently chairperson of NCLIS, was confirmed as part of a group of nominations considered by the committee. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) spoke briefly in favor of her nomination. Later during the mark-up of the Reading Excellence Act (H.R. 2614), Sen. Kennedy reflected on the fine work Simon's husband, retired Sen. Paul Simon, did in the field of literacy. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Adam Eisgrau Mary Costabile All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================