----------------------------Original message----------------------------
 
TO:  Depository Librarians, Users of Federal Information
 
FROM:  Diane Garner, Chair, Government Documents Round Table
 
RE:  Legislative Alert:  Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations
     Committee Markup scheduled for Tuesday, July 18th!
 
**Action needed to restore funding for Depository Libraries**
 
Legislative alerts have been flying fast and furiously as the 104th
Congress wields the budget ax, sometimes slicing useful programs without
due consideration of the effects of changes.  In the case of the
Legislative Branch Appropriations for 1996, the appropriations process has
been used to make a major change in how government information produced at
taxpayer expense is provided to depository libraries across the county.
You may have read some of the information below in the ALA Washington
Office Alert sent out earlier this month.  If you have not yet acted on
the suggestions at the end of the message below, please do so IMMEDIATELY
since decisions are now being made in the Legislative Branch Subcommittee
of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which has scheduled a markup of
H.R. 1854 for Tuesday, July 18th.  Following committee markup, the bill
will go to the Senate floor, and then to a House/Senate conference
committee.  If the provisions of the House version of the bill go into
effect, you will see much less government information, and much more of it
in electronic formats, whether or not those formats are appropriate
 
In passing H.R. 1854 on June 22, the Legislative Branch Appropriations for
FY96 (H.Rept.104-141), the House voted to slash in half the appropriation
that funds the Depository Library Program--from $32 million to $16 million
(see June 22 Congressional Record, pp. H6217-22, H6225-6).  This
appropriation supports the production and distribution of paper,
microfiche and electronic publications to depositories, the nearly 1,400
Congressionally designated libraries that provide no-fee public access to
government information. The House discussion, described below, is very
informative, letting us know how at least some members of the House view
government information, and how they plan to shift the costs of printing
information to libraries and users.
 
In a major change to current policy, mandated in law for more than a
century, the House would shift to the publishing agencies the cost of
printing, binding, and distributing to depository libraries government
information in paper and microfiche formats.  To make this change in the
funding mechanism legal, H.R. 1854 amends the statute governing the
Depository Library Program, a procedure not appropriate on an
appropriations bill.  While intended to encourage agencies to publish
electronically, this slash in the appropriation will more likely result in
a great reduction in the number of printed documents made available to the
public..
 
A floor amendment Representative William Orton (D-UT) offered to restore
$7 million of the cuts in the Federal Depository Library Program was
defeated 104 to 321.  Orton said:  "This reduction in funding is a
disincentive for Government agencies to participate in the Federal
Depository Library Program.  This will result in a drastic reduction in
the number of printed documents produced by the agencies, and will
ultimately hinder free public access to Government information.  Also,
these deep cuts will result in new costs to depository libraries, as more
time and effort will have to be expended to locate and acquire Government
agency products."
 
Representative Major Owens (D-NY), pointing out that H.R. 1854 mandates a
massive shift from print to electronic dissemination of information, said:
 
    ...information must be produced not only in electronic formats,
    but also in traditional print formats, in order to accommodate
    the wide range of the majority of our people's needs and abilities.
    Many citizens are not yet ready to use Government information in an
    electronic format.
 
In opposition, Representative Bill Thomas (R-CA) said:
 
    The concept driving this amendment is truly circa 1854.
    No one is talking about cutting off depository libraries from
    getting information.  In fact, we want to promote it.  What we
    do not want to encourage is a central paper printing process
    which then produces a bulk paper product, which is then shipped
    across country and then made available at a depository
    library....If taxpayers want a hard copy at the depository library,
    the library will produce it there.
 
Rep. Thomas' remark is a key indicator of the position of some members of
Congress that it is not the government's responsibility to provide printed
government information.  It's cheaper to send it out electronically, and
let someone else pay for printing it out (and providing the equipment and
expertise to access it). If you have dealt with printing out tax forms, or
tried to access Federal Register pages that contain tables or graphics,
you know how complex printing can be.  And many reports are voluminous,
making the cost of printing very high.  How many libraries are prepared to
access federal government information primarily in electronic formats?
Does your library have enough workstations, printing facilities?  Can you
provide the required assistance?  Who pays for the printing?  Our point is
that the transition to electronic information formats is underway, but it
is premature to expect that the public and libraries are ready to handle
them immediately.  Not only are many users ill-prepared to handle
electronic information, there is some information that is not suitable for
electronic dissemination.
 
H.R. 1854 also eliminates the funding for constituent copies and by-law
distribution of the Congressional Record, and the free distribution of
copies of bills, reports and other documents to non-Congressional
recipients (other than to federal depository libraries).  Many of the
constituent copies of the Congressional Record go to small public
libraries, schools and hospitals which will not be able to afford a print
subscription to the Record and which do not have appropriate equipment to
access the Record electronically.
 
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
 
H.R. 1854 will be marked up by the Legislative Branch Appropriations
Subcommittee next Tuesday and then will be considered by the full Senate
Appropriations Committee.  Senators will be under strong constraints to
approve the cuts made in the House.  They need to hear from librarians,
library trustees, mayors, heads of chambers of commerce, business owners,
and other members of the public about the potential loss of public access
to government information.
 
ACTION NEEDED ON H.R. 1854:  1) Contact members of the Senate
Appropriations Committee asking them to provide the $30.3 million
requested by the Public Printer for the Superintendent of Documents
Salaries and Expenses appropriation for FY 96. Urge the Senators to refuse
to restructure the Depository Library Program through the appropriations
process, and to restore a reasonable number of constituent copies of
congressional publications.  Please ask other people in your state to take
action as well.
 
     SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
     S-128 Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. 20510-6025
     (202) 224-3471
 
             Republicans                     Democrats
             Mark Hatfield (OR), Chmn.       Robert Byrd (WV)
             Ted Stevens (AK)                Daniel Inouye (HI)
             Thad Cochran (MS)               Ernest Hollings (SC)
             Arlen Specter (PA)              Bennett Johnston (LA)
             Pete Domenici (NM)              Patrick Leahy (VT)
             Phil Gramm (TX)                 Dale Bumpers (AR)
             Christopher Bond (MO)           Frank Lautenburg (NJ)
             Slade Gorton (WA)               Tom Harkin (IA)
             Mitch McConnell (KY)            Barbara Mikulski (MD)
             Connie Mack (FL)                Harry Reid (NV)
             Conrad Burns (MT)               Robert Kerrey (NE)
             Richard Shelby (AL)             Herbert Kohl (WI)
             James Jeffords (VT)             Patty Murray (WA)
             Judd Gregg (NH)
             Robert Bennett (UT)
 
IF YOUR SENATORS ARE LISTED BELOW, YOUR ASSISTANCE IS
ESPECIALLY NEEDED:
 
    LEGISLATIVE BRANCH SUBCOMMITTEE, SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
    S-128 Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
    (202) 224-7246
 
    Connie Mack (R-FL), chair;  (202) 224-5274 (fax 202-224-8022)
    Robert Bennett (R-UT); (202) 224-5444 (202-224-6717)
    Jim Jeffords (R-VT);  (202) 224-5141
    Patty Murray (D-WA); (202) 224-2621 (fax 202-224-0238)
    Barbara Mikulski (D-MD); (202) 224-4654 (fax 202-224-8858)
 
2) Looking forward to the conference process, which could come very
quickly:  Those of you who have representatives who are members of the
House Appropriations Committee should prepare to contact them as soon as
the Senate takes action on H.R.1854.
 
3) Invite your Senators and Representatives to visit your depository
library.  Show them how people use information in a variety of formats,
and the costs and constraints involved in making the transition to
electronic dissemination and retrieval of government information.  Tell
what would be involved for your library to assume the government's
responsibility to produce hard copies of government publications for the
public.
 
Continue to educate your legislators about how your users use federal
government information in paper and electronic formats, and about the
issues involved in providing access to electronic information. Give
examples of business, student, and personal uses of government information
by constituents. Encourage users to contact representatives directly.