ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 8, Number 118 November 19, 1999 In this issue: [1] Database Bill Deferred Until Next Session; Advocates Encouraged to Contact Congress [2] Appropriations Update [3] Sponsors Still Needed for Library Construction Bill [4] ESEA Reauthorization; Congressional Visits During Recess Encouraged [1] Database Bill Deferred Until Next Session; Advocates Encouraged to Contact Congress The library community and others can breathe a brief sigh of relief that the problematic database bill, H.R. 354, the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act, did NOT come up for a House vote. While Representatives were waiting for the final FY2000 budget deal, there was a risk that H.R. 354 might come to the floor for a vote. For several weeks opponents of H.R. 354, including ALA, conducted extensive grassroots lobbying to defeat or delay the vote. But database legislation will resurface quickly when the next session of the 106th Congress starts in mid-January. ALA and other allies still would prefer to see passage of H.R. 1858, the Consumer and Investor Access to Information Act of 1999. During the congressional recess ALA will work with the Digital Future Coalition on strategies that will promote passage of H.R. 1858 and seek defeat of H.R. 354. This Congressional recess is an excellent opportunity for library supporters to continue to educate their Congressional Representatives and Senators about key issues. For more information, contact Miriam Nisbet at 800-941-8478 or mnisbet@alawash.org. [2] Appropriations Update When the final funding bills are approved by the Senate next week, the agreement will include further action by various departments of government to create an across-the-board cut of .38 percent. For example, the Department of Education and the Institute of Museum and Library Services will have to determine where to cut programs to come up with their part of the cut. No program can be cut more than fifteen percent, but library supporters should be aware that programs like the ESEA Title VI block grant, which was not funded in the President's budget for FY2000, are vulnerable. Further action by library supporters may be necessary; more details will be provided next week. [3] Sponsors Still Needed for Library Construction Bill On November 16, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) introduced H.R. 3391, the Andrew Carnegie Libraries for Lifelong Learning Act. The bill is the House companion bill to Sen. Charles Schumer's (D-NY) bill, S. 1223. Additional sponsors will be needed in the next session of Congress for both of these bills, which would provide funds for needed library construction. The Congressional recess is a good time to assess your library construction needs and enlist more sponsors for these bills. Call your local district office, the U.S Capitol Switchboard (at 202-224-3121), or use the ALA Legislative Action Center at http://congress.ala.org . [4] ESEA Reauthorization; Congressional Visits During Recess Encouraged Although several bills have been introduced for school library media resources -- S. 1262, introduced by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) which has 11 sponsors and H.R. 3008, introduced by Rep. Major Owens (D-NY) which has 14 sponsors -- much remains to be accomplished. Both of these bills need more sponsors and library supporters need to request that the bills be included in next year's reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The congressional recess would be a good time to invite members to your school library media center to see your resources. It will give you an opportunity to stress the importance of a good school library media center to student educational achievement. Should you have any questions about library funding or ESEA reauthorization, contact Mary Costabile at 800-941-8478 or mcostabile@alawash.org ****** 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: Mary Costabile, Peter Kaplan, Miriam Nisbet, Carrie Russell, Emily Sheketoff, Saundra Shirley, Claudette Tennant and Rick Weingarten.