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CONGRESS ASKED FOR HEARINGS ON OWENS BILL
From: LOVE () vm temple edu <LOVE () vm temple edu>
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 93 01:42:13 EDT
Taxpayer Assets Project Information Policy Note June 12, 1993 WASHINGTON, June 12. Today 15 citizen groups wrote to Representative Gary Condit (D-CA) asking for hearings on HR 629, the Improvement of Information Access Act (IIA Act, sometimes referred to as the "Owens bill" after its sponor, Rep. Major Owens of NY). Condit is the new Chair of the House Subcommittee on Government Information. This subcommittee has bottled HR 629 up for the past two years, due primarily to opposition to the bill by lobbyists for commercial data vendors. Groups calling for hearings include the Taxpayer Assets Project, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Public Citizen, Center for Media Education, Association of Research Libraries, Center for Civic Networking, the Information Trust, Consumer Federation of America, FAIR, Government Accountability Project, National Writers Union, Environmental Research Foundation, Federation of American Scientists, Essential Information, and the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History. The letter follows: ---------------------------------------- June 12, 1993 Representative Gary Condit Chair, Subcommittee on Government Information, Justice and Agriculture Committee on Government Operations U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Representative Condit: We are writing to request that you hold a hearing of the Subcommittee on Government Information, Justice and Agriculture to consider HR 629, the Improvement of Information Access Act (IIA Act). This legislation, first introduced in 1991, is a very important proposal that would broaden public access to government information resources. The IIA Act reflects the views and needs of the research, education and library community. The issues addressed in the bill are relevant to public access to government information in an era when computers are increasingly important. The IIA Act addresses the following issues: 1. AGENCIES ARE GIVEN A MANDATE TO USE MODERN COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES TO DISSEMINATE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION Agencies are required to disseminate information in diverse modes and through appropriate outlets, including federal depository libraries, national computer networks such as the Internet, and other outlets. They must assure free or low-cost public access to Government information. Agency dissemination efforts must ensure the timeliness, usefulness, and reliability of the information for the public. Agencies are given a mandate to provide data users with adequate documentation, software, indexes, or other resources that will permit and broaden public access to Government information. Why are these measures needed? While some agencies have taken bold and imaginative steps to broaden public access to Government information through the use of modern information technologies, other agencies actively resist efforts to broaden public access. This bill would give federal agencies a mandate to provide the types of information services and products that are important to data users. 2. STANDARDS Agencies would be required to disseminate information products and services in standardized record formats. Agencies would be required to report annually on efforts to develop or implement standards for file and record formats, software query command structures, user interfaces, and other matters that make information easier to obtain and use, and also on agency provisions for protecting access to records stored with technologies that are superseded or obsolete. The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Records and Archives Administration (NARA) would be required to develop and periodically revise voluntary performance standards for public access to government records. Why are these measures needed? Many federal agencies have not yet developed standards for information systems, and thus it is often difficult for agencies to share data or for the public to obtain access to agency information resources. 3. PRICING The IIA Act would set a government wide limit on the prices the federal government can charge on information products and services. This price limit would be the incremental cost of dissemination, which is defined to exclude the costs of data collection. Agencies would not be allowed to impose royalties or other fees on the redissemination of federal government information. Why are these measures needed? As federal agencies are faced with difficult fiscal pressures, they are looking at information resources as a source of income. Many agencies price electronic information products and services far above dissemination costs, and impose royalties and restrictions on the redissemination of information. Such policies erode the public's right-to-know, and lead to a society where information is rationed to the most affluent. The IIA Act limits user fees on information products and services to dissemination costs, which is the policy which has long been used for information published in paper formats. Limiting the prices for information products and services to the costs of dissemination is also consistent with the recently revised OMB Circular A-130. 4. PUBLIC NOTICE Perhaps most importantly, the IIA Act would make the federal management of information resources more democratic. Every year federal agencies would be required to publish a report which describes: - the plans to introduce or discontinue information products and services, - the efforts to develop or implement standards for file and record formats, software query command structures and other matters that make information easier to obtain and use, - the status of agency efforts to create and disseminate comprehensive indexes or bibliographies of their information products and services, - the means by which the public may access the agency's information, - the plans for preserving access to electronic information that is stored in technologies that may be superseded or obsolete, and - the agency plans to keep the public aware of its information resources, services and products. Agencies would be required to solicit public comments on this plan, including comments on the types of information collected and disseminated, the agency's methods of storing information, their outlets for disseminating information, the prices they charge for information and the "validity, reliability, timeliness, and usefulness to the public of the information." The agency would be required to summarize the comments it receives and report each year what it has done to respond to the comments received in the previous year. Why are these measures needed? It is essential that federal agencies become more involved with citizens at the grass roots as they design information policies. Citizens have important information regarding the way Government information is used, and they also have important insights regarding emerging information technologies. When issues such as standards are involved, it is essential to have regular and frequent input from citizens regarding the choice of standards, particularly since technologies are rapidly changing. These public notice provisions will empower citizens at the grass roots to shape federal policies in ways that benefit the public. HEARINGS ARE NEEDED ON HR 629 While this important legislation has broad backing from the right to know community, and has been endorsed by such groups as Public Citizen, the American Library Assocation, Computer Professionals for Social Responsiblity (CPSR) and the Taxpayer Assets Project, the Subcommittee on Government Information should schedule or conduct a hearing on this bill. Sincerely, James Love, Taxpayer Assets Project; P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036; 202/387-8030; love () essential org Paul Wolfson, Public Citizen; 2000 P Street, NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036; 202/833-3000 Pam Gilbert, Congress Watch; 215 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20003; 202/546-4996 666 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Suite 303, Washington, DC 20003; 202/544-9240; rotenberg () washofc cpsr org Marc Rotenberg, Computer Professionals for Social Responsiblity Tom Devine, Government Accountability Project, 810 First Street, NE, Suite 630, Washington, DC 20002; 202/408-0034 Prue Adler, Association of Research Libraries, 21 Dupont Circle, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202/296-8656l; prue () cni org Jeff Chester, Center for Media Education, P.O. Box 330039, Washington, DC 20033; 202/628-2620; cme () digex net Richard Civille, Center for Civic Networking, P.O. Box 65272 Washington, DC 20035; 202/362-3831; rciville () cap gwu edu Page Miller, National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History; 400 A Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003; 202/544-2422 Scott Armstrong, The Information Trust, 1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 220, Washington, DC 20036; 202/296-4833 Brad Stillman, Legislative Counsel, Consumer Federation of America, 1424 16th Street, NW, Suite 604, Washington, DC 20036 202/387-6121; bstillman () essential org Janine Jackson, FAIR, 130 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10011; 212/633-6700 John Richard, Essential Information, P.O. Box 19405, Washington, DC 20036; 202/387-8034; jrichard () essential org Jonathan Tasini, National Writers Union, 739 West 186th Street Apartment 1A, New York, NY 10033; 212/927-1208; 76450.2377 () compuserve com Peter Montague, Environmental Research Foundation, P.O. Box 5036 Annapolis, MD 21403; erf () igc apc org Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists, 307 Massacusetts Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20002; 202/675-1012 jstone () igc apc org ------------------------------------------------------------------ tap-info postings are archived at cpsr.org. ftp: ftp.cpsr.org; gopher: gopher.cpsr.org; wais: wais.cpsr.org To receive tap-info, send a note to tap-info-request () essential org ------------------------------------------------------------------ Taxpayer Assets Project, P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036; v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176; internet: tap () essential org ------------------------------------------------------------------
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