================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 75 ISSN 1069-7799 June 24, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (231 lines) - URGENT ACTION ALERT: LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION FUNDING SUBCOMMITTEE ADOPTS FILTERING REQUIREMENT; CONTACTS TO HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE MEMBERS NEEDED BY JULY 10 - LSTA LEVEL FUNDED; ESEA VI INCREASED - SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE DOES NOT DERAIL E-RATE; TIIAP PROGRAM CUT IN HALF _________________________________________________________________ URGENT ACTION ALERT: LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION FUNDING SUBCOMMITTEE ADOPTS FILTERING REQUIREMENT; CONTACTS TO HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE MEMBERS NEEDED BY JULY 10 On June 23 the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over library and education funding approved by a vote of 15 to 0 an amendment offered by Rep. Ernest Istook, Jr. (R-OK) that would require public schools and libraries, as a condition of receiving federal funds from any federal agency for the acquisition or operation of computers, to install software to protect children from obscenity. A copy of the discussion draft before the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee indicates that the amendment would require any elementary/secondary school or public library receiving such funds for the acquisition or operation of computers accessible to minors and with access to the Internet (1) to install software "adequately designed to prevent minors from obtaining access to any obscene information using that computer;" and (2) to "ensure that the software is operational whenever that computer is used by minors, except that such software's operation may be temporarily interrupted to permit a minor to have access to information that is not obscene or otherwise unprotected by the Constitution under the direct supervision of an adult designated by such school or library." Determination as to whether such software is "adequately designed" for this purpose would be made by a state official designated by the chief executive officer of the state. An explanatory sheet with the amendment as distributed by Rep. Istook had the following comments on filtering technology: "Because the filters are not yet perfect, the bill allows access to constitutionally protected speech, such as a Web site on Middlesex, England, to be accessed under direct supervision of an adult. The filter can be turned off, with a password, for example, for that one session. It would reset itself after exiting the Internet access software. This provision will also encourage the perfection of the filter software." The same explanatory sheet from Rep. Istook said the following about the constitutionality issue: "This does not cause a constitutional problem because restricting a minor's access to obscenity is not protected. (a.) Adults access to obscenity is not restricted by this legislation. The filter can be turned off by an adult. Therefore the legislation addresses the librarian's concerns about allowing minors to access websites that the filters inadvertently block that are not obscene. (b.) The Communications Decency Act got in trouble over the definition of "indecency," not obscenity, and was much broader than protecting children from obscenity." Despite these assurances, the amendment raises serious constitutional and technological issues, as well as issues of staff burden, privacy of users, and local and state liability. It would be a very significant intrusion into local school and library content decisions. The amendment was offered with practically no advance notice. Most members present seemed quite willing and even eager to vote for its intent. The next decision step in the process will be when the full House Appropriations Committee meets on the subcommittee recommendations after the July 4th recess which ends July 13. Historically, the full committee rarely changes what this subcommittee has approved. ACTION NEEDED: Library advocates, especially constituents, are urged to contact House Appropriations Committee members to object to Rep. Istook's (R-OK) amendment. This amendment would require public schools and libraries, as a condition of receiving federal funds from any federal agency for the acquisition or operation of computers, to install software to protect children from obscenity. (1) Provide members with information concerning the local and state impact of such a requirement. (2) Continue to educate these members about the community-specific ways that schools and libraries are addressing the issues of children and the Internet. (3) The ALA Washington Office would appreciate hearing from the library community concerning issues raised by this amendment. Please send e-mail to phk@alawash.org, fax: 202-628-8419 Attn: Istook Amendment, or by mail to: ALA Washington Office, Attn: Istook Amendment, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Ste. 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701. We would appreciate receiving your feedback by Friday, July 10. _________________________________________________________________ HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE St-Dst Pty Representative Phone FAX (Use 202 area code) AL-1 R Sonny Callahan 225-4931 225-0562 AL-4 R Robert B. Aderholt 225-4876 225-5587 AZ-2 D Ed Pastor 225-4065 225-1655 AZ-5 R Jim Kolbe 225-2542 AR-4 R Jay Dickey 225-3772 225-1314 CA-3 D Vic Fazio 225-5716 225-5141 CA-8 D Nancy Pelosi 225-4965 225-8259 CA-32 D Julian C. Dixon 225-7084 225-4091 CA-34 D Esteban Torres 225-5256 225-9711 CA-40 R Jerry Lewis 225-5861 225-6498 CA-48 R Ron Packard 225-3906 225-0134 CA-51 R Randy Cunningham 225-5452 225-2558 CO-2 D David E. Skaggs 225-2161 226-3806 CT-3 D Rosa L. DeLauro 225-3661 225-4890 FL-10 R C. W. Young 225-5961 225-9764 FL-13 R Dan Miller 225-5015 226-0828 FL-17 D Carrie P. Meek 225-4506 226-0777 GA-1 R Jack Kingston 225-5831 226-2269 IL-9 D Sidney R. Yates 225-2111 225-3493 IL-10 R John Edward Porter 225-4835 225-0837 IN-1 D Peter J. Visclosky 225-2461 225-2493 IA-5 R Tom Latham 225-5476 225-3301 KS-4 R Todd Tiahrt 225-6216 225-3489 KY-3 R Anne Meagher Northup 225-5401 225-5776 KY-5 R Harold Rogers 225-4601 225-0940 LA-1 R Robert L. Livingston, Chair 225-3015 225-0739 MD-5 D Steny H. Hoyer 225-4131 225-4300 MA-1 D John W. Olver 225-5335 226-1224 MI-11 R Joe Knollenberg 225-5802 226-2356 MN-5 D Martin Olav Sabo 225-4755 225-4886 MS-1 R Roger F. Wicker 225-4306 225-3549 MS-4 R Mike Parker 225-5865 225-5886 NJ-11 R Rodney P. Frelinghuysen 225-5034 225-3186 NM-2 R Joe Skeen 225-2365 225-9599 NY-1 R Michael P. Forbes 225-3826 225-3143 NY-16 D Jose E. Serrano 225-4361 225-6001 NY-18 D Nita M. Lowey 225-6506 225-0546 NY-25 R James T. Walsh 225-3701 225-4042 NC-4 D David E. Price 225-1784 225-2014 NC-8 D W. G. Hefner 225-3715 225-4036 NC-11 R Charles H. Taylor 225-6401 OH-7 R David L. Hobson 225-4324 225-1984 OH-9 D Marcy Kaptur 225-4146 225-7711 OH-11 D Louis Stokes 225-7032 225-1339 OH-16 R Ralph Regula 225-3876 225-3059 OK-5 R Ernest J. Istook 225-2132 226-1463 PA-10 R Joseph M. McDade 225-3731 225-9594 PA-12 D John P. Murtha 225-2065 225-5709 TN-3 R Zach Wamp 225-3271 225-3494 TX-11 D Chet Edwards 225-6105 225-0350 TX-22 R Tom DeLay 225-5951 TX-23 R Henry Bonilla 225-4511 225-2237 VA-8 D James P. Moran 225-4376 225-0017 VA-10 R Frank R. Wolf 225-5136 225-0437 WA-5 R George R. Nethercutt 225-2006 WA-6 D Norman D. Dicks 225-5916 226-1176 WV-1 D Alan B. Mollohan 225-4172 225-7564 WI-1 R Mark W. Neumann 225-3031 225-3393 WI-7 D David R. Obey, Rnk. Mem. 225-3365 _________________________________________________________________ LSTA LEVEL FUNDED; ESEA VI INCREASED The House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee approved funding on June 23 for the Library Services and Technology Act at $146,300,000 for FY99, the current level and the same at the President's request. For ESEA VI, the innovative education strategies block grant to the states that many school libraries depend upon for materials, the subcommittee recommended a $50 million increase to $400 million. _________________________________________________________________ SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE DOES NOT DERAIL E-RATE; TIIAP PROGRAM CUT IN HALF It is good news that the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary did NOT use the June 23 appropriations markup to make additional cuts or further delay the startup of the e-rate telecommunications discount program for libraries and schools. Rumors had been circulating that some congressional critics might try using the meeting to put a clause in the Federal Communications Commission budget restricting its authority to administer this new program. It is hoped that when the full Appropriations Committee meets later this week, there will be no attempts to derail the program. Unfortunately, early reports indicate that the subcommittee did cut by roughly 50 percent the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) in the Department of Commerce. Further, the subcommittee asked that K-12 schools not be allowed to apply for TIIAP funds because of the availability of the e-rate for schools. Reports from the markup do not indicate that libraries or rural health care centers--the other entities eligible for e-rate discounts--were included in the TIIAP prohibition. The TIIAP program has been an extremely useful grant program to provide planning and startup costs for local community telecommunications initiatives. Further reports about these appropriation actions will be published in ALAWON as information becomes available. _______________________________________________________________ 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: Carol C. Henderson Peter H. Kaplan All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================