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                                                   ISSN 1069-7799
                             ALAWON
                 ALA Washington Office Newsline
               An electronic publication of the 
         American Library Association Washington Office
                                
                      Volume 4, Number 86
                        October 15, 1995
                                
In this issue: (137 lines)
     LSTA-LIBRARY/MUSEUM AMENDMENT PASSED IN SENATE

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          LSTA-LIBRARY/MUSEUM AMENDMENT PASSED IN SENATE
The Library Services and Technology Act was passed by the Senate
as an amendment to S. 143, the Workforce Development Act, on
October 11.  The amendment, sponsored by Senators Claiborne Pell
(D-RI) and James Jeffords (R-VT), passed by voice vote and
consisted of the library and museum portions of S. 856.

The amendment pulled Title II, Museum and Library Services, out
of S. 856, and attached it to S. 143.  Thus, what the Senate
passed includes establishment of the Institute of Museum and
Library Services, which would administer both museum grant
programs and the Library Services and Technology Act.  The
provision passed by the Senate includes the full LSTA proposal,
with only minor modifications, as developed by ALA and other
library groups to update and replace the expiring Library
Services and Construction Act.  In addition to the state-based
LSTA, the amendment includes a national leadership program in
library science, and joint library-museum projects.

Title I, reauthorization of the National Endowment for the Arts
and the National Endowment for the Humanities, remains pending as
S. 856.  Title III of S. 856, the Arts and Artifacts Indemnity
Act, was also attached to S. 143, with its administration changed
from the NEA to the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The Senate then passed S. 143, a bill to consolidate federal
employment training, vocational education, and adult education
programs, by a vote of 95 to 2.  Technically, the Senate passed
H.R. 1617, substituting the text of S. 143 as amended.  In this
way, the House and Senate can convene a conference committee to
work out the differences between the two versions of H.R. 1617. 
The House-passed H.R. 1617 is the CAREERS Act, a block grant bill
with similar purposes, but substantial differences.  The House
version includes a Library Services and Technology Consolidation
Grant, an abbreviated block grant version of the LSTA proposal.

Senators Pell and Jeffords, in their remarks on the library
amendment (October 11 _Congressional Record_, p. S14981),
stressed the need to have the Senate provisions at the conference
table, and also stressed the ways in which the library provisions
were relevant to S. 143.  Senator Pell said:

          ...we should have library services formally on the
table
          when we go to conference with the House....Those
provisions
          stress the importance of both museums and libraries to
          literacy, economic development and most importantly,
the
          work force development, all of which are relevant and
          important to the bill now under consideration.

Senator Jeffords noted:

     Libraries have been key players in developing literacy
     programs and it only makes sense to include the Institute of
     Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as part of this bill
     today.  The problem of illiteracy is of great concern to me
     and I believe that we should not pass up this opportunity
     today to recognize the power and purpose that libraries have
     in dealing with this problem and finding solutions to it. 
     Libraries have made a positive impact in communities
     throughout the Nation and have been instrumental in
     enhancing educational and lifelong learning opportunities.
 
     Because of its focus on literacy as well as workforce and
     economic development, I believe that ensuring that the IMLS
     is part of the S. 143 is an action which will benefit
     individuals in all of our States.  The Pell/Jeffords
     amendment today represents a holistic and winning approach
     to lifelong learning.

Senator Jeffords is the chair and Senator Pell the ranking
minority member of the Education, Arts and Humanities
Subcommittee.  Both Senators Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS) and Edward
Kennedy (D-MA), as chair and ranking minority member of the
parent Labor and Human Resources Committee, urged adoption of the
library amendment.  No Senator spoke against the amendment.

The result is that both House and Senate have now given
bipartisan approval to renewal, although in different forms, of
the LSCA as a Library Services and Technology program.  This is a
major achievement.  Many thanks to all those library constituents
who had been in touch with Senate committee members recently.

THANKS NEEDED: All Senators should be thanked for approval of the
library amendment to S. 143; in particular, constituents of Labor
and Human Resources Committee members should thank them, with
special attention to Senators Pell, Jeffords, Kassebaum, and
Kennedy.

NEXT STEP: House-Senate conferees on H.R. 1617 will be listed as
soon as they are named, along with an analysis of the strengths
and weaknesses for libraries in the House and Senate versions.
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