ALAWON v6n54 (July 12, 1997) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v6n54 ================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 54 ISSN 1069-7799 July 12, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (151 lines) APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE MARKUP 7/15: ACTION NEEDED BY 7/22 JUVENILE JUSTICE BLOCK GRANT MOVES TO HOUSE FLOOR USDA/RUS ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF GRANT AND LOAN FUND FOR DISTANCE LEARNING AND TELEMEDICINE FCC RELEASES NEW FAQ ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE _________________________________________________________________ APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE MARKUP 7/15: ACTION NEEDED BY 7/22 The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education will meet today, July 15 to mark up the FY98 Appropriations bill which includes funding for education and libraries. The bill will then be approved by the full Appropriations Committee and be forwarded for House action. This year action has been slowed on all appropriations bills because of the lengthy budget agreement process and the supplemental appropriations bill for flood relief. With the August recess looming ahead, appropriators are feeling the pressure of time. The "Dear Colleague" letter referred to in the July 9 ALAWON (v6, n52), being circulated by Reps. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) and Michael Castle (R-DE) in favor of funding for ESEA Title VI, has 70 co-signators as of July 14 and will be sent to Rep. John Porter, chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee today. When we obtain the names, we will post them in a future ALAWON so library supporters can send thanks. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education plans to meet on July 22, to mark up the Senate Appropriations bill for Labor Health and Human Services and Education, but time tables are always subject to change. House numbers for library program appropriations may not be available until later in the week, or early next week. However, there is still time for library supporters to contact Senators with the same message sent to House members. ACTION NEEDED: Contact your Senators before Tuesday, July 22 to ask them to speak to Senate appropriators in favor of the full $150 million appropriations for library programs. Also stress the importance of funding for ESEA Title VI, the only program which provides funds for school library materials. The U.S. Capitol switchboard phone number is 202/224-3121. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education St. Pty Name Phone FAX AR D Dale L. Bumpers 224-4843 224-6435 HI D Daniel K. Inouye 224-3934 IA D Tom Harkin, Ranking Min. 224-3254 224-9369 ID R Larry E. Craig 224-2752 228-1067 MO R Christopher S. Bond 224-5721 224-8149 MS R Thad Cochran 224-5054 NC R Lauch Faircloth 224-3154 224-7406 NH R Judd Gregg 224-3324 224-4952 NV D Harry M. Reid 224-3542 224-7327 PA R Arlen Specter, Chairman 224-4254 228-1229 SC D Ernest F. Hollings 224-6121 224-4293 TX R Kay Bailey Hutchison 224-5922 224-0776 WA D Patty Murray 224-2621 224-0238 WA R Slade Gorton 224-3441 224-9393 WI D Herb Kohl 224-5653 224-9787 _________________________________________________________________ JUVENILE JUSTICE BLOCK GRANT MOVES TO HOUSE FLOOR HR 1818, the juvenile justice legislation which includes a block grant for prevention programs, will be on the House floor for action today, July 15. With the Senate bill, S.10, which only addresses judicial solutions for delinquency under consideration of the Senate, it is thought that HR 1818 and S. 10 might be merged into an omnibus juvenile justice bill. _________________________________________________________________ USDA/RUS ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF GRANT AND LOAN FUND FOR DISTANCE LEARNING AND TELEMEDICINE The Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service(RUS) has announced the availability of grants and loans for rural distance learning and telemedicine projects. For FY97 RUS will award $7.5 million in grants and $150 million in loans for education and health care initiatives to libraries, rural schools, colleges, hospitals, clinics and other health care providers, training centers and community networking centers. This is the fifth year of the grant program and the first year of the loan program. According to a USDA announcement, "The RUS program fits hand in glove with the Federal Communications Commission discount for schools, libraries and rural health providers, with the FCC to cover transmission costs and inside wire and the RUS covering end-user equipment." TO be considered for funding in FY97, grant applications are due to RUS by August 12, 1997. Loan applications may be filed at any time, but must be received before August 15, 1997 to ensure consideration for FY97 funding. Applications and information are available at http://www.usda.gov/rus/dlt/dlml.htm or phone 202/720-9554. _________________________________________________________________ FCC RELEASES NEW FAQ ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE The Federal Communications Commission has released "Frequently Asked Questions on Universal Service and the Snowe-Rockefeller Amendment." The document responds to 40 questions asked on the libraries and schools portion of the Universal Service Order that was adopted on May 7, 1997. Categories of the FAQ include: Eligibility for Universal Service Discounts, Services and Functionalities Eligible for Discounts, Discounts, Funding, Restrictions Imposed on Schools and Libraries, Applying for Discounts and Implementation. The FAQ is available online from the FCC Universal Service page at http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/universal_service/ or direct at http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Public_Notices/1997/da971374.html. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Mary Costabile Claudette Tennant All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================