ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


C&RL News ■ January 2004 / 35

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e Lynne E. Bradley and Camille Bowman

A p p ro p ria tio n s update
The federal government is operating at FY2003 
funding levels until the end of January 2004, 
under a continuing resolution passed on De­
cember 9.

This year’s funding for the Institute of Mu­
seum and Library Services (including LSTA) 
is wrapped-up in the Omnibus Appropriations 
bill (H.R. 2673). The House returned on De­
cember 8, after the Thanksgiving recess, to 
pass the $820 billion bill by a vote of 242-176, 
and immediately recessed for the year.

A handful of senators returned on Decem­
ber 9 to take up the measure. Senate Majority 
Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) planned to 
bring up the bill under unanimous consent 
(UC). Because Minority Leader Tom Daschle 
(D-South Dakota) and Senator Robert Byrd 
(D-West Virginia) objected to the UC (and 
called for a recorded vote), Frist filed a clo­
ture motion to limit debate on the measure. A 
vote on the bill is set for 2:30 p.m. on January 
20, w hen Congress returns for its second ses­
sion. Following official passage of the cloture 
motion, the Senate adjourned for 2003.

E le ctro n ic su rv e illa n ce , priv a cy, and 
yo u  (E-SPY)
ALA remains active on the USA PATRIOT Act 
and its impact on libraries and library users. 
Of particular concern has been Section 215 
of the USA PATRIOT Act, which allows the 
FBI to get an order from the secret FISA Court 
for “any tangible thing” sought “in relation to 
a foreign intelligence investigation,” a very 
loose and vague standard.

In September 2003, the Attorney General 
indicated that the Department of Justice, in­
cluding the FBI, has used “Section 215 of the 
USA PATRIOT Act relating to the production 
of business records . . . zero (0)” times. The 
Attorney General did not, however, declas­
sify the number of “National Security Letters,” 
(NSLs) authorized under Section 505 of the 
Act, used with respect to libraries. Section 505

Lynne E. Bradley is Office o f Governm ent Relations director 
o f  ALA's W a s h in g to n  O ffice , e-m a il: le b@ alaw ash.org, 
Camille Bowm an is governm ent relations specialist o f ALA's 
W ashington Office, e-mail: cbowman@ alawash.org

has received less attention, but is actually of 
greater concern. This section permits the FBI 
to get an order, through an internal certifica­
tion (non-judicial) process, requiring produc­
tion of transactional records. Because some 
libraries provide access to e-mail and/or the 
Internet, the Department of Justice can take a 
more expansive view of libraries as ISPs and 
use NSLs to obtain library records.

In recent months, a num ber of bills ad­
dressing the library comm unity’s concerns 
with the Act have been introduced. Detailed 
information about all of these bills can be 
found on the ALA Office of Government Re­
lations Web site at: w w w .ala.org/C ontent/ 
N avigationM enu/O ur_A ssociation/O ffices/ 
ALA_W ashington/Issues2/Civil_Liberties,_ 
In te lle c tu a l_ F re e d o m ,_ P riv a c y /P riv a c y / 
Privacy_Related_Legislation.htm.

C o n g re ssio n a l Research Service
On November 11, 2003, 59 organizations, in­
cluding ALA, and 3 individuals wrote to Repre­
sentatives Mark Green (R-Wisconsin) and Shays 
(R-Connecticut) to express their dismay at the 
discontinuation of the “Index of Congressional 
Research Service Reports” (a copy of the letter is 
on the w w w .ala.org/ogr site). On November 
21,2003, Rep. Shays introduced H.R. 3630, which 
would “make available on the Internet, for pur­
poses of access and retrieval by the public, cer­
tain information available through tire Congres­
sional Research Service Web site.” Watch for 
more on this issue.

GPO 's m odel fo r s u sta in a b le  g ro w th  
GPO’s Public Printer Bruce James has indicated 
his desire to explore all models for sustaining 
both GPO Access and tire Federal Depository 
Library Program, and building on them to en­
sure an informed public. ALA, through the Com­
mittee on Legislation, its Ad Hoc Subcommittee 
on Government, and the Government Docu­
ments Round Table (GODORT), are engaging in 
discussions with GPO to ensure a model that 
retains and enhances no-fee, unfettered public 
access to government information, including (but 
not limited to) through Federal Depository 
Libraries. ■

mailto:leb@alawash.org
mailto:cbowman@alawash.org
http://www.ala.org/Content/
http://www.ala.org/ogr


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