================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 94 ISSN 1069-7799 August 13, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (100 lines) ACTION NEEDED ON LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS BILLS MCCAIN BILL ON CRS REPORTS RULED OUT OF ORDER _________________________________________________________________ ACTION NEEDED ON LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS BILLS ACTION NEEDED: The House and Senate have passed H.R. 4112, the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill for FY99. Senate conferees are: Senators Bennett (R-UT), Stevens (R-AK), Craig (R-ID), Cochran (R-MS), Dorgan (D-ND), Boxer (D-CA), and Byrd (D-WV). Although House conferees have not been named, they are likely to be: Representatives Walsh (R-NY), Young (R-FL), Cunningham (R-CA), Wamp (R-TN), Latham (R-IA), Livingston (R-LA), Serrano (D-NY), Fazio (D-CA), Hoyer (D-MD), and Obey (D-WI). Please contact legislators now about the House-Senate conference on the FY99 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill (H.R. 4112). Urge them to support in conference the higher Senate level ($29,600,000 ) for the Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents Salaries and Expenses Appropriation to provide needed funds for the Federal Depository Library Program. Also ask legislators to support the Senate-passed level ($393,676,025 for FY99) for the Library of Congress in conference. BACKGROUND. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 4112, Legislative Branch Appropriations for FY99, on June 25 (H. Rept. 105-595). This appropriations bill funds the activities of Congress but also includes agencies with functions important to the library community such as the Government Printing Office and the Library of Congress. The Senate on July 21 passed their version of the bill (S. Rept. 105-204) by a 90-9 vote. The legislation moves next to a House-Senate conference committee where the two Houses will reconcile their differences on the two bills after the August recess. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. The Senate-passed appropriation for FY99 is $29,600,000--an increase of $523,000 over current funding for the salaries and expenses of the Superintendent of Documents. The House voted to appropriate $29,264,000--an increase of $187,000. Most of these funds are used for the Federal Depository Library Program, which is responsible for supplying 1,365 designated libraries throughout the United States with federal documents in multiple formats, and for the GPO Access program. Three other programs also are funded through this appropriation: the International Exchange Program, the cataloging and indexing of government publications, and the distribution of publications authorized by law at the request of Members of Congress and other government agencies. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Library of Congress funding for FY99 is $393,676,025 as passed by the Senate and $386,409,000 as passed by the House, compared with $377,207,000 in current funding. The higher Senate level would allow for needed increases in building and collection security, Congressional Research Service staffing, mandatory pay increases, and new digitization projects. MCCAIN BILL ON CRS REPORTS RULED OUT OF ORDER During consideration of the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill, the Senate voted to shut off debate on the bill. In doing so, the Senate prevented a vote on an amendment by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to require the director of the Congressional Research Service to begin posting CRS reports on the Internet. McCain's amendment was ruled out of order as being non-germane when debate was cut off. Senator John Warner, Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, opposed the amendment, defending the current practice under which legislators authorize the public release of CRS reports. McCain said he might try to attach his proposal (S. 1578) to any continuing resolution Congress approves this fall to stand in for unfinished appropriations bill. _________________________________________________________________ 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: Anne H. Heanue Claudette W. Tennant All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================