ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ June 2001 / 635 W a s h i n g t o n H o t l i n e Lynne E. Bradley E-government legislation introduced May 1 was the 27th National Library Legisla­ tive Day. It also happened to coincide with the introduction of a new E-govemment bill, S. 803—The E-Government Act of 2001—co­ sponsored by Senators Joseph Lieberman (D- Connecticut) and Conrad Burns (R-Montana). What does the bill address? Key provisions in the bill include: creation of a federal government-wide chief information officer to be located in the Office of Manage­ ment and Budget (OMB), formalization by stat­ ute of the federal Chief Information Officers Council (CIO Council), and establishment of an interagency information tech fund. The bill also addresses the ongoing sup­ port and developm ent of a centralized portal and directory of federal governm ent Web sites, further investigation into an online na­ tional library, and creation of a federal infor­ mation technology training center. Court Web sites, privacy, and security are also addressed. How might the bill affect the library community? Of particular interest to the library commu­ nity is the provision related to preserving governm ent information and making it ac­ cessible and usable for the public. S. 803 makes a num ber of proposals that address lifecycle m anagem ent issues of federal gov­ ernm ent electronic information, including long-term perm anent public access. Bill a "work in progress" Both senators em phasized that this bill is a “w ork in progress” and that further discus­ sions are underw ay to improve and change the bill. ALA and other library organizations have indicated their willingness to participate in ongoing discussions about S. 803- The library community will participate in the d e­ bate on num erous aspects of the legislation, especially perm anent public access. Lynne E. Bradley is Office o f Government Relations director o f ALA'S Washington Office; e-mail: leb@alawash.org ALA President Nancy Kranich spoke at the press conference. Referencing the library advocates lobbying on Capitol Hill that day, Kranich said: “The issues related to access to government information are critical to [the library com m unity]. We are particularly pleased that Senator Lieberman is incorpo­ rating into his e-governm ent initiative life cycle information m anagem ent issues, in­ cluding the collection, organization and pres­ ervation of online government information. Librarians stand ready to work with [all stake­ holders] to ensure that every American can participate in e-governm ent and that no one is left behind in the digital age.” For the full text o f the current draft of S. 803, visit: http://frw ebgate.access.gpo.gov/ c g i-b in /g e td o c .c g i? d b n a m e = 1 0 7 _ c o n g _ bills&docid=f: s803is. txt. p d f. Sen. Lieberman’s statement at the May 1st press conference is available at http://w w w . s e n a t e . g o v / ~ l i e b e r m a n / p r e s s / 0 1 / 0 5 / 2001501810.html. The text of ALA President Nancy Kranich’s statement is at http://w w w .ala.org/w ashoff/ kranichegovt.pdf. 27th National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) Thanks to the m any academ ic librarians w ho participated in the 27th NLLD. We saw yet again a n ew high in the n u m b er of participants. More than 650 academic, p u b ­ lic a n d sc h o o l lib raria n s, tru ste e s, an d friends of libraries a tte n d e d this annual event sp o n so red by the ALA Committee on Legislation an d the District o f Colum­ bia Library Association. The continued annual increases in NLLD participation is in part, due to the increased participation of academic librarians. ACRL once again had a highly successful luncheon on April 30. More than 60 ACRL members attended the special luncheon w here they heard more about the latest in the state leg­ islative battles over UCITA, the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act. For m ore information about NLLD, see h ttp://www. ala .org/washoff/legday.html. ■ mailto:leb@alawash.org http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/ senate.gov/~lieberman/press/01/05/ http://www.ala.org/washoff/ 636 / C&RL News ■ June 2001