1. Istook Lobbying Amendment
2. Update on Interior Appropriations Bill
3. Congress to Hold Hearing on Library of Congress
4. Heritage Areas Legislation
5. Park Reform Legislation
1. Istook Lobbying Amendment -- On October 25 Representative Ernest
Istook (R-OK) again tried to attach his amendment to restrict
lobbying by non-profit organizations to the Conference Report of the
Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations
Bill. After failing to reach an agreement on the Istook amendment,
the conferees decided to ask the House and Senate to take two
separate votes on the Treasury Appropriations Bill. One vote will
be on the federal budget accounts, which includes the budget of the
National Archives. The other vote will be on the Istook amendment.
In its latest version the Istook amendment states that any non-
profit organization with an annual budget of $3 million or more that
engages in political activities would be prohibited from receiving
federal grants. Any non-profit organization that spends less than
$25,000 on political activities could be exempt from the amendments
requirements. Representative Steny Hoyer (D- MD) has said the
amendment is unconstitutional and "a device to intimidate those with
whom you disagree." Votes on the Treasury Appropriations Conference
Report and the Istook Amendment are expected the week of October 30.
2. Update on Interior Appropriations Bill -- On September 29 the
House voted to "recommit" the Conference Report on the Interior
Appropriations Bill back to the House/Senate Conference Committee
with instructions to rework the section on mining patents. Now, a
month later, the Conference Committee has not resolved the mining
patents issue. Thus the appropriations bill that includes the
funding for the endowments as well as for the National Park Service
and historic preservation is still stalled.
3. Congress To Hold Hearing on Library of Congress -- The Joint
Committee on the Library, chaired by Senator Mark Hatfield (R-OR),
will be holding hearings in November to consider several troubling
matters at the Library of Congress. However, the committee has not
yet set a date for a hearing nor determined the extent of the issues
that will be addressed.
Some of the problems at the Library of Congress that have surfaced
in "Roll Call" and other publications in recent months and that may
be on the hearing agenda are: use of psychiatric exams to punish
whistle blowers; continuing security problems with loss and
mutilation of books; and review of fiscal management. The Library's
use of psychiatric tests to determine job fitness has been a concern
for some time of the library union. In the 1980s the Executive
Branch restricted the use of psychiatric fitness for duty tests;
however, the Library of Congress as a legislative branch agency does
not fall under these restrictions. Senator Connie Mack (R-FL), who
chairs the subcommittee with responsibility for appropriations for
the legislative branch, has expressed concern about the use of
psychiatric fitness exams and indicated a desire to review the
Library's practices on this matter.
Reports of increased theft and vandalism in the collection is also a
concern to Congress. Part of the recent concern focuses on reports
of former Library of Congress police detective Deborah Maceda.
Since 1992 she has been documenting mutilation and loss of
significant numbers of valuable books. Maceda claims that her
recent demotion was an attempt by managers to thwart her efforts and
to minimize theft problems for fear of negative publicity for the
Library. Because researchers are no longer allowed in the stacks,
indications are that this destruction has come from Library of
Congress employees. The FBI and the US Attorney's Office are now
investigating the report of thefts and mutilation of books.
Fiscal management of the Library of Congress is another matter about
which members of Congress have questions. A representative of
Senator Mack's office said that there had not been a thorough audit
of the Library's financial accounts since 1988.
4. Heritage Areas Legislation -- Legislation to establish a Heritage
Partnership Program, H.R.. 1280, has run into opposition from the
"property rights" advocates. This legislation would provide a means
of designating and assisting heritage areas. Although the
legislation was marked up in September by the National Parks,
Forests, and Lands Subcommittee, no date has been set for it to come
before the full Resources Committee. Proponents of "property rights"
are seeking provisions in the bill for "owner consent" from 100% of
owners before the partnerships could move forward. Many supporters
of the bill believe that this provision would have the affect of
immobilizing the effort and that previous experience with heritage
areas has indicated that such a measure is not necessary. Some
supporters of the bill have said that if a "owner consent" provision
is added, they would oppose the bill.
Since the broad Heritage Areas legislation to establish a new
partnership program has stalled, it appears that individual bills
dealing with specific heritage areas may move forward independently.
Some of the bills that deal with individual heritage partnerships
include: the Blackstone River Valley in Massachusetts and Rhode
Island; the Cache La Poudre River in Colorado; the National Coal
Heritage Area in West Virginia; the Dayton Aviation Heritage
Preservation Act in Ohio; the South Carolina National Heritage
Corridor; the Tennessee Civil War Heritage Area; the Augusta Canal
National Heritage Area in Georgia; the Vancouver National Historic
Reserve in Washington; and the Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage
Corridor in Ohio.
5. Park Reform Legislation -- On September 19, H.R. 260, the National
Park System Reform Act, also know as the "park closure bill" was
defeated in the House by a vote of 180 to 231. However,
Representative Jim Hansen (R-UT) has inserted the bill as a part of
the House Budget Reconciliation bill. There has been considerable
opposition to this measure for it would create a commission --
similar to the one used for military base closings -- to`review and
recommend the closing of National Parks. The House is voting today
on the Budget Reconciliation Bill. There is no parallel provision
in the Senate Reconciliation bill. If the final House bill includes
this measure, a Conference Committee will have to reconcile the
difference between the House and Senate bills.
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