Record Numbers Lobby Legislators
As Budget Talks Peak
A record 650 librarians and library advocates flocked to Washington, D.C., from nearly every state in the union May 1 for the 27th annual National Library Legislative Day, sponsored by the American Library Association and the District of Columbia Library Association.
State delegations met with their senators and representatives and their staffs at an opportune time in the congressional debates over President Bush’s proposed FY2002 federal budget, as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was discussed on the Senate floor and marked up in the House.
Other key lobbying efforts went toward encouraging cosponsorship for House bills including the Improving Literacy through School Libraries Act (H.R. 1570), the Public Libraries Enhancement Act (H.R. 1525), and the Reading Enhancement After-School Development Act (H.R. 323). The delegates lobbied for Senate support for the Andrew Carnegie Libraries for Lifelong Learning Act (S. 671), the Senate version of the Improving Literacy through School Libraries Act (S. 327), and the E-Government Act (S. 803), which was introduced in the Senate on Legislative Day.
Friends of Libraries USA presented its annual public-service award to Rep. Edward L. Schrock (R-Va.), who vowed, “I am going to be one of the strongest advocates you have ever had here.”
Posted May 7, 2001.
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