ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 92 / C&RL News ■ February 2004 W a s h i n g t o n H o t l i n e Lynne E. Bradley and Camille Bowman M u c h t o a n tic ip a te — l i t t l e t o r e p o r t Since C ongress w e n t in to recess in D ecem b er, th e r e is little n e w a c tio n to re p o rt. H o w e v e r, b y th e tim e y o u re a d th is c o lu m n , th e s e c o n d s e s s io n o f th e 1 0 8 th C o n g r e s s w ill h a v e a l­ re a d y c o n v e n e d J a n u a ry 20, 2004. E n d in g th e f i r s t session N ew s reports across th e country h av e described h o w first t h e H o u s e a n d t h e n th e S e n a te r e ­ c e s s e d b e fo re c o m p le tin g FY2004 A p p ro p ria ­ tio n s bills. B o th th e H o u se a n d S enate d id pass a c o n tin u in g reso lu tio n th a t fu n d e d th e federal g o v e rn m e n t at p ro ra te d FY2003 ap p ro p riatio n s lev els th r o u g h J a n u a r y 31, 2004. C o n g ress m a y p a ss th e “m in i-b u s ” bill th a t r o lle d in to o n e th e s e v e n re m a in in g , i.e., n o t v o te d u p o n , fu n d in g bills th a t in c lu d e e d u c a ­ tio n fu n d in g o f all ty p es. A ch a rt o u tlin in g th e fu n d in g for k e y library p ro g ram s is available at t h e ALA W e b s ite a t w w w .a l a .o r g / w a s h o f f u n d e r “Issu e s” a n d “F u n d in g .” E fforts to a d d o n b ills as rid e rs to FY2004 a p p r o p r i a t i o n s b ills s u c h a s H .R . 1157, th e F re e d o m to R ead P ro te c tio n Act, w e re u n s u c ­ c e s s fu l. All o f th e b ills th a t a tte m p t to “f ix ” t h e USA PATRIOT A ct, in c lu d in g th o s e th a t a d d re s s sp e c ific lib ra ry c o n c e rn s , w ill b e k e y a c tio n item s fo r g ra ssro o ts lo b b y in g b y th e li­ b rary com m unity. L o o k in g t o th e second session D o n o t u n d e r r a te th e e x tre m e im p o rta n c e o f g ra ssro o ts lo b b y in g d u rin g this last h a lf o f th e 108th C ongress, w h ich , y o u m ay ha v e noticed , is a lso a p re s id e n tia l e le c tio n y e a r. E x p e c t a n ex trem ely partisan a p p ro a c h to all issues. This will b e especially ev id en t w ith re sp e c t to fu n d ­ in g fo r h ig h e r e d u c a tio n , f u n d in g fo r th e Li­ b r a r y S e rv ic e s a n d T e c h n o lo g y A ct (LSTA), PATRIOT Act a m en d m en ts, a n d co pyright bills 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, Camil le Bowman is governm ent relations specialist o f ALA's W ashington Office, e-mail: cbowman@alawash.org s u c h a s t h e d a ta b a s e b ill, H.R. 3261, w h ic h ALA o p p o s e s . At th is w ritin g , th e P r e s id e n t’s p r o p o s e d b u d g e t f o r F Y 2005 h a s n o t b e e n r e l e a s e d . ALA is s e e k in g in c r e a s e d f u n d in g fo r LSTA o f $ 3 0 0 m illio n to h e l p s u p p o r t t h e n e e d s o f a c ad em ic, sch o o l, a n d p u b lic lib raries n o w e n c o m p a s s e d in LSTA p ro g ra m s . P le a s e s u b s c r ib e to ALAWON to s ta y u p - t o - d a te o n f e d e r a l le g is la tiv e a n d p o lic y is­ s u e s . I n s t r u c t i o n s o n s u b s c r i b i n g to ALAW ON c a n b e f o u n d o n t h e ALA W a s h ­ i n g t o n O f f ic e W e b s ite a t w w w . a l a . o r g / w a s h o f f n e a r th e b o tto m o f th e p a g e . W atch f o r a n d r e s p o n d t o “A c tio n A le r ts ” c a llin g f o r lo c a l a d v o c a c y , w h e r e m e s s a g e s f r o m c o n s t i t u e n t s w ill n e e d to b e v e r y l o u d a n d v e ry c le a r in o r d e r to s e c u r e in c r e a s e d f u n d ­ in g fo r lib ra ry a n d lib r a r y - r e la te d p r o g r a m s in t h e c u r r e n t p o litic a l e n v ir o n m e n t. F inally, p la n o n p a r tic ip a tin g in N a tio n a l L ibrary L eg islativ e D a y e v e n ts o n M ay 3 a n d 4, 2 0 0 4 , in W a s h i n g t o n , D .C . C h e c k w i t h sta te c h a p te r s o r c o n ta c t th e L egislativ e D ay c o o rd in a to r, C am ille B o w m a n , a t (8 0 0 ) 941- 8 478 o r c b o w m a n @ a la w a s h .o r g . A lso w a t c h f o r r e c e n t p u b lic a tio n s fro m s ta ff a t th e O ffic e fo r I n f o r m a tio n T e c h n o l­ o g y P o lic y ( O I T P ) . F r o m t h e O IT P b o o k ­ s h e lf: C a rrie L o w e , I n t e r n e t p o lic y s p e c ia l­ is t, a l o n g w i t h h e r c o - a u t h o r s M ic h a e l B. E i s e n b e r g a n d K a t h l e e n L. S p itz e r , w r o t e I n f o r m a t i o n L itera cy: E s s e n tia l S k ills f o r th e I n fo r m a tio n A g e (2004, L ibraries U n lim ited ). C a lle d “t h e d e f in itiv e w o r k o n in f o r m a tio n l ite r a c y ,” th e b o o k e x p lo r e s m a n y fa c e ts o f th e c o n c e p t , in c lu d in g its h is to r y , t h e e c o ­ n o m ic p e rs p e c tiv e , K -1 2 e d u c a tio n a n d s ta n ­ d a rd s, h ig h e r e d u c a tio n , a n d m o re. I n f o r m a ­ tio n Literacy: E sse n tia l S kills f o r th e I n f o r m a ­ t i o n A g e is a v a ila b le f r o m L ib ra rie s U n lim ­ ite d a t w w w .l u .c o m . P lu s , l i b r a r i a n s c a n a n t i c i p a t e t h e J u n e r e le a s e o f C o m p le te C opyright: A n E v e r y d a y G u id e f o r L ib r a r ia n s ↑y y C arrie R ussell, ALA’s c o p y r ig h t s p e c ia lis t. ■ http://www.ala.org/washoff mailto:leb@alawash.org mailto:cbowman@alawash.org http://www.ala.org/ mailto:cbowman@alawash.org http://www.lu.com