nov09b.indd


November 2009  605 C&RL News

The fi nal months of a congressional session 
are traditionally a chaotic time, and this year 
will surely be no exception. As the fi rst ses-
sion of 111th Congress approaches a whirl-
wind end, the library community will want to 
keep a close eye on a few key issues that are 
developing but are sometimes overshadowed 
in the media by issues like health care reform. 

USA PATRIOT Act
With three provisions of the USA PATRIOT 
Act set to expire December 31, 2009, the 
Senate began the process of reauthorization 
legislation in September, beginning with the 
introduction of the JUSTICE Act (S. 1686), 
introduced by Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) 
and Dick Durban (D-IL). On September 22, 
Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sens. 
Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Ted Kaufman 
(D-DE) introduced the USA PATRIOT Act 
Sunset Extension Act of 2009 (S. 1692). In 
October, the Senate Judiciary Committee 
passed a weakened version of S. 1692.

While modest tweaks were made, the 
committee rejected substantive and sys-
tematic reform to prevent the unwarranted 
surveillance, collection, and retention of the 
personal information of millions of innocent 
Americans. ALA believes the committee and 
this administration’s Department of Justice 
(DOJ) should have used the opportunity to 
broaden the debate on reforms to the PATRI-
OT Act as well as national security letters. As 
Congress moves forward on this legislation, 
we will continue to fi ght for legislation that 
will protect civil liberties, while providing 
law enforcement with the tools it needs to 
fi ght terrorism. Library advocates can track 
this issue via updates on the Washington Of-
fi ce blog, the District Dispatch (www.wo.ala.
org/districtdispatch/). To become involved in 
grassroots advocacy, go to the ALA Legisla-
tive Action Center (capwiz.com/ala/home/).

The open access dance
As discussed in the September 2009 “Wash-
ington Hotline” column, Congress is demon-
strating a growing support for open access, 
though the support at times seems be a 
dance, of sorts—taking two steps forward, 
one step back. 

The recent introduction of a House bill, 
H.R. 3762, by Rep. Frank Leonard Kratovil 
(D-MD) that would make published Con-
gressional Research Service (CRS) reports 
available to the public via the Internet, is 
defi nitely a dance step forward. More than 
$100 million tax dollars are spent each year 
to fund CRS, which generates detailed reports 
for Congressional lawmakers and their staff 
upon request. 

The bipartisan nature of the House bill, 
with fellow freshman Rep. Leonard Lance 
(R-NJ) cosponsoring, is a hopeful sign that 
more members of Congress will support 
legislation in the future that would increase 
transparency, provide access to taxpayer-
funded research, and allow citizens become 
more informed and engaged in issues being 
researched and studied by Congress. Also, 
this recent House activity complements Sen-
ate Resolution 118, introduced by Sen. Joe 
Lieberman (I-CT) in April 2009. 

With this legislative action in the House 
and the Senate, it looks like members in both 
chambers have added “open access” to their 
dance cards. Now if the House would intro-
duce its own version a Federal Research Public 
Access Act, we’d defi nitely be two-stepping.

Net neutrality on the move
Another issue that is heating up is the net 
neutrality debate, which protects consumer 
access from being regulated based on the 
nature or source of the content or service. 
Net neutrality heating up in response to 
recently appointed Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genach-
owski proposing two new FCC open Internet 
principles to the existing four. 

Jenni Terry is press offi  cer at ALA’s Washington Offi  ce, 
e-mail: jterry@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eJenni Terry