ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 8, Number 59 June 16, 1999 In this issue: URGENT ACTION ALERT: E-RATE FILTERING MEASURE TO BE CONSIDERED ON HOUSE FLOOR TODAY ACTION NEEDED: Please call your Representative and urge him or her to vote against the "Children's Internet Protection Act", an amendment offered by Reps. Bob Franks (R-NJ) and Charles Pickering (R-MS) to H.R. 1501, the Consequences for Juvenile Offenders Act of 1999. This amendment would impose requirements on schools and libraries to use technology to block or filter material considered harmful to or inappropriate for minors as a condition for receiving or retaining the E-rate telecommunications discounts. The House is scheduled to debate this measure TODAY and a vote will soon follow. You may reach your Representative by dialing the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Let your Representative know that your library, in conjunction with your board and your community, is addressing a wide range of issues raised by the introduction of advanced technology and telecommunications. Ask your legislator to respect your thoughtful and responsible local decision-making process on Internet access for minors. ALA has sent letters to each Member of the House stating concerns about the Franks/Pickering amendment as well as the amendment offered by Henry Hyde (R-IL) discussed in an earlier ALAWON (ALAWON, v. 8, n. 58, June 14, 1999.) ALA acknowledged the reduction of youth violence as a compelling objective. Federal content restrictions and inappropriate requirements on eligibility for the E-rate will not, however, achieve it. ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Editor: Lynne E. Bradley; Managing Editor: Deirdre Herman; Contributors: Phyllis Albritton, Mary Costabile, Carol Henderson, Peter Kaplan, Claudette Tennant and Rick Weingarten.