ALAWON v4n84 (September 25, 1995)
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n84

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                                                             ISBN 1069-7799
                                  ALAWON
                      ALA Washington Office Newsline
                     An electronic publication of the
              American Library Association Washington Office

                            Volume 4, Number 84
September 25, 1995

   In this issue: (181 lines)
     KERREY AMENDMENT WOULD RESTORE TIIAP FUNDING
          ACTION NEEDED: CONTACT SENATORS AND URGE THEM TO VOTE IN FAVOR OF
               SEN. KERREY'S AMENDMENT
     NTIS PRIVATIZATION ATTEMPTS UNDERWAY
     LIBRARY/EDUCATION FUNDING APPROVED
          BY SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

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       KERREY AMENDMENT WOULD RESTORE TIIAP FUNDING; ACTION NEEDED

Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE) plans to offer a Senate floor amendment to
restore $18.9 million in funding for the Telecommunications and Information
Infrastructure Assistance Program for FY 1996.  The amendment is expected
to be proposed during the week of September 25 when the FY96 Commerce,
Justice, State, and Judiciary Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2076) comes to the
Senate floor.

The TIIAP program, administered by the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration in the Commerce Department, provides matching
grants to community and other partnerships to promote the delivery of
social services and information via advanced telecommunications
technologies.  Many libraries have received funds, have applied, or have
been partners in TIIAP projects.

As approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, H.R. 2076 would
eliminate all funding for the TIIAP program in both FY96 and FY95.  The
FY95 proposed rescission would once again threaten the TIIAP grants just
about to be announced and awarded.  Sen. Kerrey's amendment, while not
reversing the full cuts, would restore significant funding for FY96.  If
approved, the TIIAP program would be in a much stronger position heading
into House-Senate conference.  The House-passed version provided $40
million for FY96 and left intact the $36 million about to be awarded in
FY95.

ACTION NEEDED: TIIAP applicants and all interested in this valuable
stimulus program should contact their Senators and urge them to vote in
favor of Sen. Kerrey's amendment to H.R. 2076 to restore $18.9 million in
FY96 TIIAP funding.

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                  NTIS PRIVATIZATION ATTEMPTS UNDERWAY

Pending bills in the Senate and House that would abolish the Department of
Commerce, contain provisions that would affect the future of the National
Technical Information Service.  H.R. 1756, to abolish the Department of
Commerce, introduced by Representative Dick Chrysler (R-MI) and about 60
colleagues on June 7, was referred to at least 11 different House
committees.  As introduced, H.R. 1756 would privatize NTIS and require an
attempt to sell its assets.  The property of the agency is essentially the
2.5 million United States government-sponsored research and development
reports that are available through the NTIS clearinghouse.

Several hearings on the bill have been held in the past few weeks,
including one on September 12  in the House Science Committee, chaired by
Representative Robert Walker (R-PA).  At the hearing, Jean Mayhew, Chair of
the NTIS Advisory Board, recommended reorganizing NTIS as a government
corporation.  When the Science Committee marked up the bill on September
14, an amendment by Representative Tom Davis (R-VA) was adopted requiring
that the proposed Commerce Programs Resolution Agency (which would replace
the Department of Commerce if the legislation were passed) is required to
submit to Congress a proposal for legislation to establish NTIS as a
wholly-owned government corporation.

ALA wrote to Chairman Walker on September 13 recommending that NTIS
continue to operate as a self-supporting, not-for-profit public sector
organization with continued Congressional oversight.  ALA recommended the
deletion of  the provision of H.R. 1756 requiring privatization of the
agency, pointing out that privatizing NTIS would jeopardize the
availability in perpetuity of the research results of the federal
government.

H.R. 1756 would eliminate certain Department of Commerce functions and
allow others to operate as independent agencies or be transferred to other
federal agencies.  For example, the bill, as introduced, would transfer the
Bureau of the Census to the Department of the Treasury, would transfer the
weights and measures functions of the National Institute for Standards and
Technology to the National Science Foundation, and sell NIST laboratories
to the private sector.

The House leadership set a deadline of September 18 for committees with
jurisdiction to report on their plans to dismantle the Department of
Commerce.  At this point, it is impossible to speculate on what H.R. 1756
will look like when the various committees reconcile their different
versions.  On September 7, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
ordered reported S. 929, the Department of Commerce Dismantling Act (S.
Rept. 104-139).  Neither the reported bill nor the report are available
from the Senate document room at this writing.  Reportedly, S. 929
terminates NTIS and requires the General Services Administration to attempt
to sell the property of NTIS to a private entity intending to perform
substantially the same functions as were performed by NTIS.

The Clinton Administration strongly opposes any action to dismantle the
Department of Commerce.

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                   LIBRARY/EDUCATION FUNDING APPROVED
                   BY SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

On September 15, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved H.R. 2127,
the FY96 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations
bill.  The Committee Report (S. Rept. 104-145) recommends a total of
$131,503,000 for library programs, a significant increase above the House
level of $101,227,000.  While the Senate Committee would fund LSCA I and
III at the same levels as the House, the Senate also included $16,329,000
for LSCA II--library construction.  Also funded would be LSCA VI--literacy
at $7,384,000 and Higher Education Act Title II-B, library education and
training at $4.5 million and II-B library research and demonstrations at $2
million..  However, research and demonstrations would be limited to two
specific projects according to the Committee Report:
      "The committee has included bill language providing $1,000,000 to the
 Survivors of the Shoah Visual History
Foundation for a project to     document Holocaust survivor testimony.  This
 nonprofit foundation     plans to compile
a multimedia archive that will encompass over 40,000 interviews and statements
 by Holocaust survivors.

     The Committee has also included bill language providing $1,000,000 for
     the final phase of the Portals demonstration project.  The final phase
     of the project will provide for the upgrade of network capacity,
 allowing additional regional partners to join
the consortia, and will      permit the system to be expanded to maintain and
 improve efficiency   and effectiveness
of information delivery."
Currently the Portals demonstration project is being undertaken at Portland
State University.

The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science would receive
$829,000, compared with the House passed $450,000, but less than the
current $901,000.  Report language stated the reason for the decrease as
"in keeping with the rest of the bill, the Committee has reduced funding .
. . by 8 percent."

The Committee approved the same funding level ($25 million) as the House
for  Education Technology, Part A of title III of ESEA.  Funding was not
provided by the House or Senate for the school library media resources
program authorized last year.  The Committee funded the ready to learn
television program at $6,440,000, while the House did not fund this
program.

The Committee recommended a total of $550,000,000 for the Eisenhower
professional development State grants ($275,000,000) and innovative
education program strategies State grants ($275,000,000).    With regard to
innovative education program strategies (formerly Chapter 2 block grants),
the report states that "State and local funds may be used for acquisition
of instructional materials such as library books, curricular materials, and
computer software and hardware; improving educational services to
disadvantaged children and drop-out prevention; combating illiteracy among
children and adults; programs for gifted and talented children; reform
activities consistent with Goals 2000; and teacher training and other
related activities in support of any of these purposes also is authorized."

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