ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries May 1 9 9 5 /3 4 3 Washington Hotline L y n n e E. B r a d l e y The first 100 d a y s . . . T he first 100 days o f the 104th C ongress are co m ­ p le te d an d o b serv ers are d eb a tin g w h e th e r it’s th e “end of the beginning” or the “b e g in n in g o f th e e n d . ” Some library programs sur­ vived the rescission process relatively intact but it is an­ ticipated that th e struggle will becom e much more dif­ ficult in the second 100 days. T e le c o m m u n ic a t io n s reform: The 104 th Congress has begun its efforts to modernize the Commu­ nications Act o f 1934. The major em phasis has been to further deregulate the telecommunica­ tions industry and to maximize com petition within the industry as a whole. Within that con­ text, if and how libraries, education, and other public entities—and therefore, the public it­ self—are included is the subject of much de­ bate. S. 652: T he Senate Committee o n Com­ merce, Science, and Transportation approved on March 23 a draft bill that has now becom e S. 652. It is essentially the “discussion draft” that Committee Chair Larry Pressler (R-SD) cir­ culated in January. Ranking minority mem ber Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC) also circulated draft legislation. It w as reported that lengthy discussion be­ tw een senate staffers had been taking place to try and develop a bipartisan telecommunica­ tions bill. Negotiations w ere only moderately successful w hen the committee proceeded with the m arkup as scheduled on language that was still being negotiated just hours before the com­ mittee w ork session. The Snow e-R ockefeller am endm ent: At the m arkup an important am endm ent was in­ troduced to support K– 12 schools and libraries by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Their am endm ent w ould provide for K– 12 schools, libraries, and rural health care providers to have universal access to the National Information Infrastructure (Nil) at rates not more than the “incremental costs” of providing such services. At this point, librar­ Lynne E. Bradley is deputy executive director o f ALA ’s Washington Office; e-mail: leb@alawash.org ies are not defined in the lan­ guage and could be inter­ p re te d to b e as b ro ad as possible. In a close roll call v o te , th e c o m m itte e a c ­ c e p te d th e a m e n d m e n t 10-8, with Snowe being the only Republican supporter. ALA and many education groups have b een working to g e th e r to s u p p o r t th is a m e n d m e n t a n d to track potential arguments against the provision. There is much contention about the amend­ ment and it is expected to be the subject of a motion to strike w h en the Senate considers it after the spring recess. All of this will be sub­ ject to lengthy debate w h en the Senate returns and the bill comes to the floor. The Exon-G orton am endm ent: Senators James Exon (D-NE) and Slade Gorton (R-WA) incorporated their bill, S. 314, with only slight variation, as an amendment to S. 652. The Com­ m unications D ecency Act raises grave First A m en d m en t q u e s tio n s. T h e E x o n -G o rto n am endm ent poses a significant threat to free­ dom o f speech and the free flow of informa­ tion on the NII. It raises fundamental questions about the right o f governm ent to control content on com ­ munications networks by extending control of “obscene and harassing” use of telephone ser­ vices to all telecommunications devices. ALA and others have advocated that this am endment be rem oved from the telecommunications leg­ islation to be dealt with separately. The Leahy alternative: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced an alternative to the Com­ munications Decency Act on April 7. The Child Protection, User Empowerment, and Free Ex­ pression in Interactive Media Study Bill, S. 714, directs the Department of Justice, in consulta­ tion with the Commerce Department, to con­ duct a study to address technical means for em­ p ow ering users to control inform ation they receive over interactive communications systems. Senators Robert Kerry (D-NE) and Herbert Kohl (D-WI) are cosponsors. In introducing this legislation, Leahy em phasized that ways must be found that do not invite invasions o f pri­ vacy o r lead to censorship of private online communications. Major support for the Leahy mailto:leb@alawash.org 3 4 4 /C&RL News initiative will be necessary in the coming w eeks for it to replace the Exon-Gorton proposal. Rescissions TIIAP Grants: Two major rescission packages, o ne in the H ouse and o n e in the Senate, threat­ en e d the TIIAP (Telecommunications Informa­ tion Infrastructure Assistance Program) grants in the D epartm ent of Commerce. The TIIAP grants are adm inistered by the National Tele­ com munications and Information Administra­ tion. Several w ere received by libraries o r had libraries as partners in com munity an d educa­ tion coalitions that received aw ards last fall. In FY94, $24.4 million in grants was awarded. The original FY95 budget appropriated $63 mil­ lion. A conference committee on H.R. 889, the Emergency Supplemental A ppropriations and Rescission Act o f 1995, approved rescission of $15 million instead of the $34 million that the Senate had proposed. An additional $30 mil­ lion w as pro p o sed to be rescinded from the TIIAP grants in H.R.. 1158. It is yet to be deter­ m ined w hat the final cuts will be to the TIIAP program in these rescissions. Library program s: Before recessing, the Senate recom m ended a total o f $418.9 million in all education rescissions for the FY95 b u d ­ get. Previously the H ouse had recom m ended a $1.7 billion rescission education package. In library programs, the H ouse supported rescission of all of the $6.5 million in research an d dem onstration projects and all o f the $4.9 million for library education and training fel­ lowships for library science students. The Sen­ ate, by comparison, supported only a $2.9 mil­ lion cut in the library education an d training program. The Senate did n o t vote any rescis­ sions for library construction and the research/ dem onstration program. U pon return from Congressional recess the first w eek in May, the House-Senate conferees will m eet to negotiate their differences in their respective rescissions. It is anticipated that while the budget cutters did not completely zero out library programs, they will be far m ore diligent as the FY1996 budget evolves. Library and ed u ­ cation supporters will have to w atch closely and be ready to advocate strongly as the 104th Congress proceeds in its n ew agenda. (Roundtable cont. from page 326) Institutional teams met for over 21 hours to exchange information with representatives from industry, discuss the impact of information tech­ nology o n teaching and learning, develop m ore effective strategies for supporting faculty efforts to integrate information resources and technolo­ gies into teaching and learning, and meet with p ee r institutions to share ideas an d develop partnerships. Representatives from all types of organiza­ tions and industries shared their thoughts and visions for enhancing teaching an d learning through technology. ACRL w as represented by its executive director, Althea Jenkins, w ho spoke o n the role o f ACRL, ALA, an d libraries in this arena. We also heard from representatives from IBM, Follett Corporation, the National Associa­ tion o f College Stores, the Professional and Or­ ganizational D evelopment Network, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and many others. A keynote lun­ cheon address w as given by Reed Hundt, chair­ m an o f the Federal Communications Commis­ s io n , w h o e n c o u r a g e d th e g r o u p to le t technology becom e “cutting edge versus cut­ ting w edge.” He stressed that as educators our planning needs to be inclusive, and as citizens w e n ee d to lobby an d voice o ur needs and concerns for improving our infrastructures. The meeting w as coordinated by project di­ rector Steven W. Gilbert. In the March/April 1995 issue o f Change magazine, Gilbert’s ar­ ticle, “T each in g Learning an d T echnology: T h e N ee d fo r C a m p u sw id e P la n n in g an d Faculty S u p p o rt S ervices,” sp e ak s to th e im­ p era tiv e for form ing an d im p lem en tin g lo ­ cal ro u n d tab les. AAHE will sponsor a summ er institute in July 1995 to provide intensive training and netw ork­ ing opportunities for institutions wishing to par­ ticipate in a TLT Roundtable. There is also a listserv that provides a forum for roundtable teams and others to discuss h ow changing p at­ terns o f teaching an d learning might b e influ­ enced by new applications o f information tech­ nology and vice versa. To join the AAHESGIT listserv, s e n d an e- mail message to: LISTPROC@LIST.CREN.NET th a t says: SUBSCRIBE AAHESGIT YOUR FIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME. To find ou t m ore about the sum m er institute contact Ellen Shorthill, Project Assistant, AAHE Technology Projects: SHORTHILL@ClARK.NET. mailto:LISTPROC@LIST.CREN.NET mailto:SHORTHILL@ClARK.NET