ALAWON v4n93 (November 10, 1995)
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n93


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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 93
                       November 10, 1995

In this issue: (139 lines)
     TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE COMMITTEE TO CONTINUE
WORK
          ON S. 652
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    TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE COMMITTEE TO CONTINUE
WORK
                           ON S. 652

Hill staff to the telecommunications conference committee
continue some work on S. 652, the Telecommunications Competition
and Deregulation Act of 1995.  However, it appears that the
actual senators and representatives have not been able to turn
their attention to this legislation because of the contentious
debate over appropriations, (especially the continuing resolution
that determines whether the federal government stays "open" next
week).

SNOWE-ROCKFELLER-KERREY-EXON AMENDMENT:  Library advocates
are
asked to continue their grassroots efforts to save the
Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerrey-Exon amendment in S. 652.  It remains
extremely important to send letters and make phone calls, etc. to
key conferees, especially members from the House of
Representatives.  (See list below as well as ALAWON, Vol. 4, No.
91, November 1, 1995.)

The basic message to conferees should be to support the Senate
universal service language which includes the
Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerrey-Exon amendment.  Emphasis should be put
on the importance
of providing affordable rates for advanced telecommunications
services so that libraries can serve as "on-ramps" to the
information superhighway.  (K-12 schools and rural health care
providers are also included in the SRKE amendment.)

Whenever, possible, use examples from your community or state on
the costs of connectivity and why it is important to your
community to provide an equal playing field for all to utilize
these new technologies. Research has shown that the "cost of
ongoing connectivity" remains one of the main reasons that
libraries are not or cannot maintain Internet and other types of
connections to advanced telecommunications services.

COX-WYDEN AND EXON AMENDMENTS:  Some Hill staffers have
suggested
that, once the universal service section is finally addressed by
the conferees, the parental empowerment/cyber-censorship
provisions will be debated.  Watch for additional information on
the Cox-Wyden amendment in the House version and the Exon-Coates
amendment in the Senate version.  ALA continues to monitor this
issue and has been working with the Interactive Working Group
(IWG) on addressing libraries problems with these provisions.

Some Congressional offices continue to predict a "quick turn
around" on final telecommunications legislation; other observers
suggest that, with Congress so heavily involved with the budget,
telecommunications may not even be completed by the end of the
year, say nothing about being finalized before Thanksgiving.

ACTION NEEDED: Please continue to support the SRKE amendment
through calls and letters, etc. and watch for alerts on the
"parental empowerment" amendments.  Conferees could turn their
attention to telecommunications legislation with little notice.
Grassroots efforts will be the key to supporting libraries in
this critical debate on telecommunications.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Following is a list of the telecommunications conferees.

SENATE:
Republicans:                  Democrats:
Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD)    Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)       Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)       Sen. Wendell H. Ford (D-KY)
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)      Sen. James Exon (D-NE)
Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA)      Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS)

HOUSE:
Commerce Committee:
Republicans:                            Democrats:
Rep. Thomas J. Bliley, Jr., (R-VA)      Rep. John Dingell (D-MI)
Rep. Jack Fields (R-TX)                 Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA)
Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH)               Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA)
Rep. Rick White (R-WA)                  Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
                                        Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL)
                                       *Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
*in lieu of Boucher solely for consideration of sec. 205 of the
Senate bill

Additional Conferees to address Section 310, which includes the
Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerrey-Exon amendment:

Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-CO), Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), Rep. J. Dennis
Hastert (R-IL), Rep. Bill Paxon (R- NY), Rep. Scott Klug (R-WI),
Rep. Daniel Frisa (R-NY), Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Rep. Sherrod
Brown (D-OH), Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), Rep. Blanche Lambert
Lincoln (D-ARK)

Also:  Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), Rep. Carlos Moorhead (R-CA), Rep.
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN), Rep. Michael
Flanagan, (R-IL), Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), Rep.
Martin Hoke, (R-OH), Rep. John Conyers, Jr., (D-MI),
Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-CO), Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), Rep.
John Bryant (D-TX), Rep. Robert Scott (D-VA), and Rep. Sheila
Jackson-Lee (D-TX).

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ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the
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