The Executive Board of the American Association of Law Libraries
adopted the following resolution at its meeting Saturday, April 24,
1993. Copies have been sent to the Public Printer, the
Superintendent of Documents, the Chairman of the Joint Committee on
Printing, and the President.
* * *
American Association of Law Libraries
Resolution on Reduced Access to Legal Resources
Distributed Through The
Depository Library Program
WHEREAS, the budgetary shortfall in the 1993 fiscal year
appropriation for the U.S. Government Printing Office
(GPO) has led to the GPO's decision to limit the
distribution of the bound U.S. Congressional Serial Set,
starting with the 102d Congress, and the bound U.S.
Treaties and Other International Agreements, beginning
with volume 35, by sending them only to regional
depository libraries, and
WHEREAS, previous budgetary shortfalls led GPO to limit the
distribution of the bound Congressional Record, beginning
with volume 131 (1985), by sending it only to regional
depository libraries, and
WHEREAS, GPO has announced its intention to limit distribution of
paper copies of U.S. Congressional hearings to law
libraries by requiring law libraries to share a single
set going to the same university regardless of any other
circumstances, and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, the Congressional
Record, and Congressional hearings are the authoritative
records of legislative activity, and
WHEREAS, U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements has long
been an official record of U.S. foreign policy, and
WHEREAS, our democracy is based on the assumption of an informed
citizenry, contingent on a citizen's right of free and
convenient access to information about the workings of
our government, and
WHEREAS, there are no other comparable records available to
libraries without charge, and
WHEREAS, regional depository libraries are not located in every
state or U.S. territory and may not be easily accessible
by many law libraries and individuals, and
WHEREAS, for law libraries, limiting access to legal information
resources undermines their ability to provide legal
information to the public,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED
That the American Association of Law Libraries reaffirms
its commitment to the belief that citizens are entitled
to timely and equitable access to government information,
in any format, and
That the American Association of Law Libraries opposes
the Government Printing Office's decision to restrict the
distribution of the bound U.S. Congressional Serial Set,
Congressional Record, and U.S. Treaties and Other
International Agreements, as well as their proposal to
limit distribution of Congressional hearings, and
That the American Association of Law Libraries requests
the Acting Public Printer of the United States to reverse
GPO's decision to limit the distribution of these titles
to regional depository libraries, and
That the American Association of Law Libraries asks
members of Congress to adequately fund the Depository
Library Program so that full distribution of these
important legal materials may be possible.
Approved by the Executive Board of the
American Association of Law Libraries on
April 24, 1993
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