ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 8, Number 122 December 9, 1999 In this issue: [1] End of Session Legislative Summary, 106th Congress, First Session End of Session Legislative Summary, 106th Congress, First Session SELECTED LEGISLATION: (1) Selected Library and Education Program Funding Passed (2) Database Protection Pending (3) Fair Use Rulemaking Clarification Passed (4) ESEA Reauthorization Pending (5) Library Construction, Public and School Pending (6) Filtering and Blocking Requirements Pending (7) Public Declassification Act Pending (8) Government Reform Secrecy Act Pending (9) Congressional Openness Act Pending (10)Community Right-to-Know Pending (11)Regulatory Right- to- Know Act Pending (12)Electronic Rights for the 21st Century Act Pending (13)Science and Educational Networking Act Pending (14)Juvenile Justice Crime Bill Pending (15)Terminate the E-rate Act Pending (16)Federal Excise Tax Proposals Pending (17)Taxpayers Defense Act Pending (18)NTIS Proposed Closing Not Yet Introduced (19)Comm. on Online Child Protection Extension Passed INTRODUCTION This end-of-session summary selects key issues which ALA works on or monitors closely, although there are many other bills that ALA also follows. As one can observe from the above list, the main work of this congressional session was in appropriations, leaving many other pieces of legislation pending for the second session of this Congress. Some of these bills may continue to languish while others may move forward during the final months of the 106th Congress amidst a presidential election year. At this time, it appears that Congress has only about 100 working days scheduled for the next session and a complex appropriations debate brewing. (1) Selected Library and Education Program Funding (Passed) FY2000 Final Program FY99 Pres. Budget House Senate FY2000 LSTA* $ 166.2 $ 154.5 $ 149.5 $ 154.5 $ 166.8 Reading** $ 260.0 $ 286.0 $ 200.0 $ 260.0 $ 260.0 ESEA VI $ 375.0 $ 0.0 $ 385.0 $ 375.0 $ 380.0 Ed. Tech. $ 698.1 $ 801.0 $ 500.1 $ 706.6 $ 768.6 21st C.L.Ctrs. $ 200.0 $ 600.0 $ 300.0 $ 400.0 $ 453.7 Teachers*** $1,100.0 $1,400.0 $1,800.0 $1,200.0 $1,300.0 NCLIS $ 1.0 $ 1.3 $ 1.0 $ 1.3 $ 1.3 * The conference agreement does not accept the President's request for $5million under National Leadership Grants for Libraries for the National Digital Library initiative. There was a 2 million increase in the state grant program, while the remainder is listed under National Leadership Grants. ** Reading Excellence Act (America Reads children's literacy initiative) For necessary expenses to carry out the Reading Excellence Act, $65 million to become available on July 1, 2000 and remain available through September 30, 2001 and $195 million to become available on October 1, 2000 and remain available through September 30, 2001. *** The agreement provides $400 in fiscal year 2000 and $900 million in fiscal year 2001 funding for teachers in the classroom - class size initiative. (2) Database Protection Legislation (Pending) Two bills were introduced this session to provide new protection for databases, in addition to that already provided under copyright law for databases with a reasonable degree of added value or originality. The "Collections of Information Antipiracy Act" (H.R. 354) is a seriously flawed bill sponsored by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) that for the first time would provide copyright-like ownership of facts. As this bill became a favorite of leadership in the last few weeks of the session there were repeated efforts to present it as non-controversial legislation for a vote by the full House. In part thanks to library supporters, those attempts were postponed. As an alternative to H.R. 354, ALA supported the Consumer Investor Access to Information Act (H.R. 1858) sponsored by Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA). ALA made a concerted effort through its membership to increase the number of cosponsors for H.R. 1858. Both bills have been reported out of their respective committees and continued attempts to move to floor action are expected next session. (3) Fair Use Rulemaking Clarification (Passed) Language was included in the final appropriations bill (H.R. 3194) to clarify the nature of the upcoming Library of Congress fair use rulemaking under the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Among other things, the DMCA prohibits circumvention of a technological measure that controls access to a copyrighted work, but allows some exception to the prohibition for non-infringing uses of a protected work. The last minute congressional action clarifying the procedures for the rulemaking benefits libraries by providing for a process in which it is not overly burdensome or expensive to participate. The language was part of a set of intellectual property provisions relating mainly to copyright licensing and carriage of broadcast signals by satellite. (4) ESEA Reauthorization (Pending) Action in the House began with a series of hearings and several bills were reported out of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. Among these bills, Dollars to the Classroom (H.R. 2) and the Academic Improvement for All Students Act (H.R. 2300) were passed by the House as part of the reauthorization package, but no Senate action occurred before the end of session. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Rep. Major Owens (D-NY) introduced "The Elementary and Secondary School Library and Media Resources, Training and Advanced Technology Act" in the Senate and the House (S. 1262, H.R. 3222). If included in reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the bills would provide up-to-date school library media resources and well trained, professional certified school library media specialists for elementary schools and secondary schools. Linda Wood, a school library media specialist from Rhode Island testified at a July Senate hearing on S. 1262. Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE) held a technology hearing in Delaware last spring where Tom Sloan, State Librarian of Delaware testified, while Allison Kaplan made a presentation on I-CONnect. There has been no hearing on the House bill. (5) Library Construction, Public and School (Pending) Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced the "Andrew Carnegie Libraries for Lifelong Learning Act" (S. 1223) which would provide grants to be matched by states for public library construction and technology enhancement. On November 16, Rep. Maurice Hinchey, (D-NY) sponsored a companion measure in the House (H.R. 3391). In late April, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) introduced the State Infrastructure Banks for Schools Act of 1999 (H.R. 1648), WHICH would authorize the establishment of state infrastructure banks and multi- state infrastructure banks for making loans. These loans would be to: (1) local educational agencies to build or repair public elementary or secondary schools; or (2) public libraries to build or repair library facilities. There have been no hearings on this bill and currently there are 50 cosponsors. (6) Filtering and Blocking Requirements (Pending) During this session there were several legislative attempts to require libraries and schools to install filtering or blocking software on their computers. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the Children's Internet Protection Act (S. 97), which would mandate the use of technology to block or filter Internet access. The Senate Commerce Committee completed action on S. 97 (Rept.106-141), and the GOP High Tech Task Force has listed this as one of their top priorities for passage early next session. There were no hearings on Rep. Bob Franks' (R-NJ) "Children's Internet Protection Act" (H.R. 896) before it was attached as an amendment to the Juvenile Justice bill (H.R. 1501). (See No. 14) Rep. Ernest Istook's (R-OK) filtering bill, H.R. 2560, "Child Protection Act of 1999" was attached to the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. During the compromises made on appropriations measures, the filtering provision was dropped. The provision would have required public schools and libraries that received any federal funds for the acquisition or operation of computers to install software to protect children from obscenity. On August 8, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) introduced S. 1545, "Neighborhood Children's Internet Protection Act". The bill would require schools and libraries receiving E-rate discounts to install blocking or filtering systems or implement Internet use policies. The bill would also require a study of available Internet blocking or filtering software. Sen. Santorum's bill is seen by many as a reasonable alternative to the more restrictive S. 97 by Sen. McCain, because of S. 1545's recognition of the local decision making processes. (8) Public Declassification Act (Pending) Sen. Daniel Moynihan (D-NY) and Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL) on October 27 introduced the "Public Declassification Act of 1999". That Act would provide for the identification, collection, and the review for declassification of records and materials that are of extraordinary public interest to the people of the United States. There are currently no cosponsors and no hearings have been held. The bill numbers are S. 1801 and H.R. 3152 respectively. (9) Government Reform Secrecy Act (Pending) Sen. Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) introduced this bill in January and no hearings have been held. The bill provides for a system to declassify information in the interests of national security and a system to declassify information. There are 6 cosponsors on S. 22. (10) Congressional Research Service Bills (Pending) In early February Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the "Congressional Openness Act". This legislation would provide Internet access to certain congressional documents, including certain Congressional Research Service publications, Senate lobbying and gift report filings, and Senate and Joint Committee documents. There are currently only 6 cosponsors of McCain's bill. Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) introduced a similar bill in the House in early February as well, the "Congressional Research Accountability Act". The bill would make available on the Internet, for purposes of access and retrieval by the public, certain information available through the Congressional Research Service web site. There are 17 cosponsors on H.R. 654. There have been no hearings on either of these bills yet. (11) Community Right-to-Know (Pending) Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-VA) introduced the Chemical Safety Information and Site Security Act (H.R. 1790), which would provide for public disclosure of worse case scenario information in required EPA risk management plans from chemical manufacturers. ALA, in conjunction with the Association of Research Libraries and the American Association of Law Libraries, supported a witness and prepared testimony in a house hearing on this issue. Similar written testimony was submitted to the senate hearing on this issue. ALA supports full public disclosure and continues its involvement with the community right-to-know (RTK) coalition. (12) Electronic Rights for the 21st Century Act (Pending) This bill was introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and would protect the privacy and constitutional rights of Americans. The bill establishes standards and procedures regarding law enforcement access to location information, decryption assistance for encrypted communications and stored electronic information, and other private information to affirm the rights of Americans to use and sell encryption products as a tool for protecting their online privacy. There have been no hearings on S. 854 and there are no cosponsors on this bill. (13) Science and Educational Networking Act (Pending) H.R. 2534 would direct the National Science Foundation to develop a report on the establishment of high-speed, large band width capacity Internet access for all public elementary and secondary schools and libraries in the United States. Rep. Larson (D-CT) introduced this in July and there have been no hearings as of yet. There are 49 cosponsors. On November 5 Senator Dodd (D-CT) introduced, S. 1876, which is the companion bill to H.R. 2534, "Science and Educational Networking Act". There is currently 1 cosponsor on this bill. (14) Juvenile Justice Crime Bill (Pending) The Juvenile Justice bill (H.R. 1501) became a vehicle for an assortment of youth related legislation and a battleground over gun control measures. Effects of the shootings at Columbine High School and other school shootings caused legislators to heavily amend both Senate and House bills to reflect stronger penalties for federal crimes by youth, stiffer penalties for recruitment of gang members, penalties for juvenile use of handguns or for those that provide juveniles with weapons and a host of other amendments. Some prevention funds would still be available for hotline training and counseling referral and other community based programs. Long before the end of the session, H.R. 1501 became mired in a conference committee with two very different bills, with serious differences in approach that lost the momentum even to meet. The Children's Internet Protection Act was an amendment offered by Reps. Bob Franks (R-NJ) and Chip Pickering (R-MS). The amendment was included in the House bill and would cause libraries and schools to forfeit their E-rate discounts unless they installed and used technology to filter or block material on the Internet that is considered "harmful to minors". The Senate bill included a provision to encourage Internet service providers to offer "filtering" software for parents to block objectionable sites. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) offered an amendment, which would have made it a felony to sell, exhibit or loan materials that have sexually explicit or violent content to minors. ALA and many other organizations voiced concern over the constitutionality of this amendment. It was one of the few cultural amendments that failed. (15) E-rate Termination Act (Pending) For his very first piece of legislation freshman Rep. Tom Tancredo (R- CO) introduced the E-rate Termination Act. In the early weeks of the session, he became more interested in re-vamping the program and became a co-sponsor of H.R. 1746 (See below). However, the bill will not officially die until the end of the 106th Congress. (16) Federal Excise Tax Proposal (Pending) Sen. Burns (R-MT) and Rep. Tauzin (R-LA) simultaneously introduced the Schools and Libraries Internet Access Act (S. 1004 and H.R. 1746) proposing to use a reduced Federal Excise Tax (FET) to fund a greatly diminished version of the E-rate. After abolishing the current program their legislation would set up a new program to be administered by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) as a block grant. In a September 30 hearing, NTIA officials testified that they do not have the capacity to handle such a program. Unlike the E- rate program, this FET proposal would sunset in five years. (17) Taxpayers Defense Act (Pending) Rep. George Gekas (R-PA) introduced the Taxpayers Defense Act (H.R. 2636) to address concerns that the taxing power of Congress is being eroded by fees levied by different government agencies. Though the E- rate was one of the principle targets when this legislation was introduced, it has since been "grandfathered". Some members of Congress see E-rate as tax that the FCC put on consumers without the authority to do so. The bill has not yet been reported out of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law. (18) NTIS Closing (Not Yet Introduced) The Department of Commerce announced its intention in August to close the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) and transfer its functions to the Library of Congress (LC). Although hearings were held in the House and the Senate on this issue, the draft bill prepared by the Commerce Department has not been officially introduced. Legally NTIS cannot be closed without legislative authorization. Alternatives about how to continue to manage the various NTIS functions are also being discussed. Such alternatives include transferring the functions to the Government Printing Office or a "hybrid" solution with GPO, LC and NARA accepting a mix of the functions. Additional information about these bills and other issues followed by the ALA Washington Office is available at www.ala.org/washoff - or contact our staff at 1-800-941-8478. (19) Commission on Online Child Protection Passed Included in the consolidated appropriations bill was a time extension through November 30, 2000 for the Commission on Online Child Protection to complete its mission of studying the available means for protection children while they are online. ****** 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.