ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 9, Number 86
October 27, 2000

In this issue:
	Education Spending, with Filtering Mandates, Still in Play 

Congressional work on the final appropriations bills is still 
proceeding haltingly.  Congress and the White House have 9 
appropriations bills left to complete for FY2001.  Labor-HHS-
Education (H.R. 4577) is one of those remaining bills.  The 
government is currently operating under continuing resolutions 
that President Clinton has been signing for 24 hours at a time in 
order to avoid a partial government shut down.  

By all indications, a complex filtering mandate only slightly 
altered from earlier drafts will be included in the final 
education spending bill to be sent to the President.  Timing for 
passage of this measure could be as late as next Wednesday.  
Though funding levels for much of the bill are strong, the 
President still may veto it if funding for school construction is 
inadequate. 

ACTION NEEDED:
Library supporters have stated their case to Congress.  Now they 
should let the White House know that they do not support the 
federal filtering riders in the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations 
bill.  Visit the ALA Washington Office Legislative Action Center 
http://congress.ala.org to send messages to the White House.  
Either print and fax your message to 202-456-2461 or send it via 
e-mail from the site.

The White House needs to know that the filtering rider:

? will not protect children. Mandated filters put children at 
greater risk because they instill a false sense of security;

? is an unfunded federal mandate; 

? tramples on the decision-making capabilities and 
responsibilities of parents, teachers and librarians;

? is onerously bureaucratic and cumbersome; and 

? will be difficult and expensive to implement.


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