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Ad Lib: Advocacy for Libraries

July 5, 2006

Two Items From ALA

The most recent issue of American Libraries Direct from ALA has a couple of items on the advocacy front—neither of them particularly good from a library standpoint.

• First, they report that “Net Neutrality Loses a Round in the Senate” after the Senate Commerce Committee narrowly rejected (by an 11-11 split vote) a bill that would have safeguarded net neutrality.
  

  In opposing the Snowe-Dorgan bill, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who chairs the Commerce Committee, characterized it as “imposing a heavy-handed regulation before there’s a demonstrated need,” according to a June 29 report on the online Cnet news service. The telecommunications-reform legislation—S. 2686, the Communications, Consumer’s Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006—sent to the Senate floor contains an Internet Consumer Bill of Rights provision introduced by Stevens that protects online users’ content-neutral access to any constitutionally protected speech “subject to the limitations of the internet service such subscriber has purchased.”

• We also learn, following up on this long-ago item, that “10,000 EPA Scientists Protest Elimination of Libraries.”
  

  The presidents of 17 locals of the American Federation of Federal Employees, the National Treasury Employees Union, the National Association of Government Employees, and Engineers and Scientists of California have signed a letter asking Congress to halt the closure of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s network of research libraries. The unions represent 10,000 EPA scientists, more than half of the total agency workforce.

posted by Alan at 4:45 pm | Comments (0)

Why It’s Always Important To Contact Your Legislators

I know I’m guilty of this: an issue will come up, and I’ll think, “Oh, I don’t have to contact so-and-so; he’s a [insert party here], and they already support my position.” Well, the MegaVote I received this week shows why that’s never a good assumption to make. Take a look at this vote (which has nothing to do with libraries, but can be demonstrative anyhow):

U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act – Vote Passed (60-34, 6 Not Voting)

The Senate approved this free trade pact with the Middle East nation of Oman.

Sen. Richard Durbin voted NO……send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Barack Obama voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

So even though 99% of the time you might correctly “know” a legislator’s vote based on his party, there’s still that 1% chance he’ll go against the grain.

posted by Alan at 2:46 pm | Comments (0)