--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 18:16:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: GOVDOC-L <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: ALAWON v7, n90: ACTION ALERT: URGE PASSAGE OF S. 2288 (fwd)
Sender: GOVDOC-L <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
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Hello,
Please pass this action alert to your subscribers.
Thanks,
Aimee Quinn
GOVDOC-L Moderator
---------- Forwarded message ----------
American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
In this issue: (129 lines)
ACTION NEEDED: URGE CONGRESS TO PASS S. 2288 TO IMPROVE PUBLIC
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS; AUGUST RECESS GOOD OPPORTUNITY
TO CONTACT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN HOME DISTRICTS
ALA AND LIBRARY COLLEAGUES TESTIFY IN FAVOR OF S. 2288
_________________________________________________________________
ACTION NEEDED: URGE CONGRESS TO PASS S. 2288 TO IMPROVE PUBLIC
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS; AUGUST RECESS GOOD OPPORTUNITY
TO CONTACT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN HOME DISTRICTS
ACTION NEEDED: Library supporters should contact their Members of
Congress and ask them to enact S. 2288, which should be a
priority for them in the short time remaining in this
congressional session. S. 2288, The Wendell H. Ford Government
Publications Reform Act of 1998, is critical legislation that
rewrites Title 44 and will make government publications in all
formats easier to identify and locate and ensure continuous and
permanent access to electronic government publications for future
generations.
The August congressional recess is an excellent opportunity to
contact your Senators and Representatives in their local district
offices to urge their support of S. 2288. This is also an
opportunity to invite legislators to visit your library to see
firsthand how the public uses government information in a variety
of formats. Depository libraries have a special role in
demonstrating the important role that they play in serving the
public.
THE MESSAGE:
- Urge your Senators to cosponsor S. 2288 and support its
passage in the Senate;
- Urge your Representative to support S. 2288 when action on the
bill is taken up by the House;
- Emphasize the importance of enacting S. 2288 before the end of
this Congress;
- Stress the importance to the American public of passage of S.
2288 to assure for access to government information and
publications already paid for by the public.
_________________________________________________________________
ALA AND LIBRARY COLLEAGUES TESTIFY IN FAVOR OF S. 2288
Three librarians representing seven national library associations
testified before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
on July 29. The committee, chaired by Sen. John Warner (R-VA),
is considering S. 2288, the Wendell H. Ford Government
Publications Reform Act of 1998. The bill, introduced on July
10, would revise Title 44 of the United States Code to improve
public access to government information in the 21st century,
including strengthening the Federal Depository Library Program.
Those testifying for the library community were: Barbara Ford,
Virginia Commonwealth University and immediate past-president of
ALA; Daniel O'Mahony, Brown University Library and chair of the
Inter-Association Working Group; and Robert Oakley, Georgetown
University Law Center and Washington affairs representative for
the American Association of Law Libraries. Their testimony was
presented on behalf of ALA, AALL, the Association of Research
Libraries, the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, the
Medical Library Association, the Special Libraries Association,
and the Urban Libraries Council.
All three library community witnesses reiterated the importance
of enacting S. 2288 before the end of the 105th Congress in
October to close loopholes in the current law and to improve and
enhance public access to publications from all three branches of
government regardless of format.
"The reforms articulated by S. 2288 are critical to maintaining a
viable system for public access to government publications and
for enhancing that system to handle the challenges of new
technologies in the 21st century," Ford testified.
O'Mahony underscored the need for reform this year: "Every day
that goes by that these provisions are not in effect, the
American public loses access to information that they have paid
for and that they have a right to, today and in the future."
Oakley highlighted the government's partnership with the American
people in making government publications accessible to all.
Other witnesses included Michael DiMario, Government Printing
Office; George Lord, Joint Council of GPO Unions; William
Boarman, Communications Workers of America; Ben Cooper, Printing
Industries of America; Dan Duncan, Information Industry
Association; and Patrice McDermott, OMB Watch. All witnesses
spoke in favor of the bill, although some raised questions about
issues of concern or the need to clarify sections in the bill.
The librarians' testimony is available from the Inter-Association
Working Group on Government Information Policy Web site at
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/IAWG. Testimony of all the witnesses
and additional statements are located on the Senate Committee on
Rules and Administration Web site at
http://www.senate.gov/~rules/hearings/72998.htm
The bill is scheduled for mark-up when the Senate returns in
early September.
_________________________________________________________________
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Lynne E. Bradley, Editor <[log in to unmask]>
Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor <[log in to unmask]>
Contributors: Anne Heanue
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