On Tuesday, May 1st, Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) introduced the "E-Government Act of 2001" (S. 803) that creates a Federal CIO for the executive branch and includes key provisions on "Accessibility, Usability, and Preservation of Government Information" (Sec. 215).

We believe that a new position of Federal CIO and a new Office of Information Policy at OMB will result in heightened visibility and an improved policy framework for the dissemination of electronic government information by executive branch agencies.

We in the DC library community worked closely with the Senator's staff in drafting Sections 215, 216 and 217; they provide for:

• the development of interoperable cataloging and indexing standards for agency web resources (Sec. 215);

• a 30-month study to develop permanent public access standards (Sec. 215);

• a public domain directory of Federal agency web sites (Sec. 216);

• and standards for agency web sites (Sec. 217).

In addition, Sec. 205 includes two key provisions regarding the Federal courts:

• to improve public access to judicial information by mandating that Federal courts develop and maintain comprehensive web sites; and

• repealing current statutory language to make the judiciary's electronic PACER system available to the public at no cost.

AALL issued a press release in support of the legislation that describes other key provisions and includes a list of early cosponsors (add to the list Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI): http://aallnet.org/aallwash/pr05012001.html

ACTION NEEDED:

If your Senator is already listed as a co-sponsor on our press release, please contact her/his office by phone, fax or e-mail and thank her/him for supporting such an important piece of legislation that will result in improved public access to government information.

If your Senator is not yet among the co-sponsors, please contact her/his office by phone, fax or e-mail and ask her/him to co-sponsor this important legislation. If your Senator's staff has any questions about S. 803, please ask them to contact Kevin Landy, Minority Staff Counsel, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs at: 202/224-7194.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Sen. Lieberman's press statement is at:
http://www.senate.gov/~gov_affairs/050101_press.htm

Bill Summary and Status from THOMAS:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:s.00803:

Thank you very much,
Mary Alice

Mary Alice Baish
Acting Washington Affairs Representative
American Association of Law Libraries
E.B. Williams Law Library
Georgetown University Law Center
111 G Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001-1417
Voice: 202.662.9200
Fax: 202.662.9202
E-mail: baish@law.georgetown.edu
Internet: www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash