ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 198 / C&RL News ■ M arch 2003 W a s h i n g t o n H o t l i n e Lynne E. Bradley The Museum and Library Services Act of 2003, H.R. 13 As w e g o to p ress, th e H o u se E d u catio n a n d Workforce Committee will b e doing a m arkup of H.R. 13, the M useum an d Library Services Act o f 2003 o n February 13. This is essentially the sam e proposal introduced in the H ouse last Congress, w here there w as bipartisan (also m eaning unani­ m ous) support in the sam e committee. Meanwhile, th e Senate continues to w o rk o n its bill. Additional cosponsors are still w elcomed. If yo u have n o t contacted y o u r state’s U.S. sena­ tors, please d o so an d ask th em to cosponsor the M u seu m a n d Library Services Act. O n ce b o th houses of Congress pass the legislation there will be a conference to negotiate the final bill. Thanks to all ACRL supporters w h o m ade calls to seek cosponsors for the H ouse an d Senate bills. At this writing, there are 68 cosponsors o f H.R. 13 and 23 o n the Senate version. Increases for library programs in President's FY2004 Budget Request O n February 3, the President’s Budget for FY2004 w as released. T he bu d g e t w as p ro d u c e d b y the G overnm ent Printing Office an d is also available online at http://w w w .om b.gov. In early February Secretary Paige announced a 5.6 percent increase in p ro p o sed funding for program s in the D epart­ m en t o f E ducation, a re q u e s t in th e P resid en t’s b u d g e t fo r FY2004 o f $53.1 billion. In creases cited w e re in Title I, IDEA, a n d Pell Grants. For FY2004 library program dollars allocated u n d er th e Institute for M useum an d Library Ser­ vices, th e total w o u ld b e $207.6 m illion, w hile the m useum program am ount w ould b e $34 mil­ lion, bringing th e total req u est for b o th libraries a n d m useum s to $242 million. T h e b u d g e t p ro ­ poses a $15 million increase in library state grants, a n d a $20 million am o u n t for library recruitm ent from th e FY2003 b u d g et request. T h e b u d g e t d o c u m e n t states that, “T h e Ad­ m in istratio n su p p o rts th e ro le o f libraries a n d m useum s to enhance lifelong learn in g … ” Lynne E. Bradley is Office o f Government Relations director o f A LA's Washington Office; e-mail: leb@alawash.org It is a ra re o c c u rre n c e th a t th e b u d g e t for FY2004 w o u ld b e presen ted before the com ple­ tion o f th e b u d g e t for FY2003. T he H o u se/S en ­ ate c o n fe re n c e m eetin g s o n th e rem ain in g 11 FY2003 appropriations bills w ere not com pleted until th e first p a rt o f February. W atch for m ore in fo rm a tio n a b o u t th e s e a p p ro p r ia tio n s in ALAWON at h tt p :/ /w w w .a la .o r g /w a s h o f f / alaw on/. New "Patriot" legislation announced by Justice Department The long-anticipated Justice D epartm ent legisla­ tion, so m etim es called “P atriot Act II,” w as re ­ vealed o n Febru ary 10. H aving just o b tain ed a n unofficial draft, ALA is still rev iew in g th e p ro ­ posal a n d its im plications for libraries, library us­ ers, a n d others concerned w ith civil liberties. ALA Council passes privacy and electronic surveillance resolution O n January 29 at the Midwinter Meeting, the ALA Council p assed th e “Resolution o n the USA PA­ TRIOT Act a n d R elated M easures th a t Infringe o n th e Rights o f Library U sers.” Visit o u r Web site at http://w w w .ala.org/w ashoff/patriot.htm l for m ore information. "Safeguarding Our Patrons' Privacy" video now available for purchase T h e v id e o k it o f th e D e c e m b e r 11, 2002, te le ­ conference sp o n s o re d b y th e A m erican Library A ssociation, A m erican A ssociation o f Law Li­ b ra r ie s , A s s o c ia tio n o f R e s e a rc h L ib raries, M edical L ibrary A sso c ia tio n , a n d S p ecial Li­ braries Association, provides libraries a n d their g o v ern in g institutions w ith a n analysis o f th e im plications o f recen t antiterrorism legislation. P an elists a d d re s s k e y leg al issu es a n d p o licy im p lic a tio n s fo r lib ra rie s a n d th e im p a c t o f legislative a n d regulatory p roposals o n th e pri­ v acy o f lib rary users. W h e th e r y o u w e re ab le to w a tc h th e teleco n feren ce o r n o t, this v id e o ­ ta p e is a n im p o rtan t so u rce to discuss a n d d e ­ v e lo p privacy p o licies a n d offer local training a c tiv itie s o n th e USA PATRIOT A ct a n d r e ­ lated surveillance a n d e-privacy issues. For o r­ d e r i n g i n f o r m a t i o n g o t o h t t p : / / w w w . a r l.o r g /p u b s c a t/o r d e r /. ■ http://www.omb.gov http://www.ala.org/washoff/ http://www.ala.org/washoff/patriot.html http://www mailto:leb@alawash.org C&RL News ■ March 2003 / 199