ALAWON v4n102 (December 8, 1995)
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n102

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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 102
                        December 8, 1995

In this issue: (175 lines)
     RESTRICTIONS ON NONPROFIT ADVOCACY HELD OFF
     HEARING HELD ON ENGLISH AS THE COMMON LANGUAGE
          ACTION NEEDED: ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO COSPONSOR
              H.CON. RES. 83, THE ENGLISH PLUS RESOLUTION
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          RESTRICTIONS ON NONPROFIT ADVOCACY HELD OFF

When it became clear that amendments to H.R. 2564, disclosure of
lobbying activities, were likely to fail, proponents of
amendments to further restrict the political advocacy of
nonprofit organizations and charities decided not to offer their
controversial legislative proposals on that bill.
Representatives Ernest Istook (R-OK) and David McIntosh (R-IN)
have indicated that they will try to attach their proposals to a
pending appropriations bill, or to some other legislation in
1996.  The Senate has so far refused to add the proposal to their
version of the Labor-HHS-Education bill, H.R. 2127.

The Istook, McIntosh, and Ehrlich (R-MD) amendments have provoked
bipartisan opposition, and have drawn fierce criticism from
organizations as diverse as the YMCA of the USA, the American Red
Cross, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the American Heart
Association and numerous religious groups.  ALA joined these
groups, and others, in opposing the proposals at a news
conference in the U.S. Capitol on November 7.

The specific provisions of the Istook, McIntosh, and Ehrlich
amendments have varied somewhat with each iteration.  But all
suffer from the same general defects:

They would cut off Congress and other law and policy makers from
information nonprofit organizations provide them to help craft
good public policy.

They inject burdensome new reporting requirements covering the
private expenditures made by America's charities and other
federal grantees.

They impose new and more restrictive rules on how federal
grantees can spend their private funds.

They create distinctions between those who received federal
funds: nonprofits which would be subject to extraordinary
restrictions and federal contractors which are not affected by
the legislation.

They aim at fixing a problem which Inspectors General at key
federal agencies have said does not exist.

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         HEARING HELD ON ENGLISH AS THE COMMON LANGUAGE

On December 6, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) chaired a hearing of
the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on S. 356, Language of
Government Act of 1995, a measure that would formally recognize
English as the official language of the United States government.
The witnesses were all proponents of the legislation.  Stevens
indicated a hearing would be held in January including opponents
of the controversial proposal.  The one voice of dissent at the
hearing was Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) who said he was concerned
the bill would reduce access to important federal services, is
constitutionally questionable and "would foster ethnic and racial
intolerance."  On December 5, ALA President Betty J. Turock sent
a letter to all Senators urging them not to sponsor or vote for
any bill that would establish English as the official language of
government.

S. 356, sponsored by Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) and about 19
colleagues, provides that the government would conduct its
official business in English.  The term "official business" is
defined as those governmental actions, documents, or policies
which are enforceable with the full weight and authority of the
government.  A recurring theme of proponents of the legislation
is that taxpayer funds can be saved if the federal government
prints documents only in English.  One witness at the December 6
hearing, testifying as a private citizen, asserted: "By printing
government documents in one language only, billions of dollars
could be saved and used to improve the education that is right
now at its lowest."  He provided no data to back up his
statement.   In fact, a Government Accounting Office study
(B-266194, September 20, 1995) found that only a tiny fraction of
government publications are in a language other than English. GAO
found that, over a five-year-period, only 265 foreign-language
documents were released by the Government Printing Office and the
National Technical Information Service out of about 400,000
titles.

The House of Representative held two hearings on English as the
common language on October 31 and November 1.  They were chaired
by Representative Randy Cunningham (R-CA) in the Economic and
Educational Opportunities Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth
and Families on English as the Common Language.  Although the
hearings were not intended to focus on specific legislative
proposals,  witnesses commented on several bills pending before
the House, particularly the companion to S. 356, H.R. 123, which
has nearly 200 cosponsors.

A different approach is taken in H. Con. Res. 83, the English
Plus Resolution,  introduced on July 13 by Representative Jose
Serrano (D-NY) and a bipartisan group of 32 colleagues.  It
resolves that the U.S. government should pursue policies that--

(1) encourage all residents of this country to become fully
proficient in English by expanding educational opportunities;
(2) conserve and develop the Nation's linguistic resources by
encouraging all residents of this country to learn or maintain
skills in a language other than English;
(3) assist Native Americans, Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians,
and other peoples indigenous to the United States, in their
efforts to prevent the extinction of their languages and
cultures;
(4) continue to provide services in languages other than English
as needed to facilitate access to essential functions of
government, promote public health and safety, ensure due process,
promote equal educational opportunity, and protect fundamental
rights; and
(5) recognize the importance of multilingualism to vital American
interests and individual rights, and oppose "English-only"
measures and similar language restrictionist measures.

In a resolution passed by ALA's Council in 1989, ALA strongly
opposed all laws, legislation and regulations relating to
language which have the effect of restricting or abridging
pluralism and diversity in library collections and services.  ALA
resolved to work with state associations and other appropriate
agencies in devising ways to counteract restrictions arising from
existing language laws and regulations.  Additionally, ALA
resolved to actively encourage and support the provision of
library resources and services in the languages in common use in
each community in the United States.

ACTION NEEDED: As your Representative to cosponsor H.Con. Res.
83, the English Plus Resolution, described above.
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ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the
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