----------------------------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.