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FINS - NEWS BREAK 9 JUNE 1993
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Ten-Year Struggle For Electronic Public Information
PRESIDENT SIGNS GPO ACCESS BILL
President Clinton approved and signed into law Tuesday, June 8, 1993,
the GPO Access bill (known as the "Government Printing Office Electronic
Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993"), Pub. L. No. 103-40, 107
State. 112 (1993) [codified at 44 U.S.C. 4101-4104 (1993)]. The Act is to
establish in the Government Printing Office (GPO) a means of enhancing
electronic public access to a wide range of Federal electronic
information. When approved and signed by the President, the bill would
require the GPO to: (1) Create and maintain a directory of federal
publications in electronic format; (2) Provide on-line computer access to
the directory as well as the Congressional Record, the Federal Register,
and possibly other documents; and (3) Operate an electronic storage
facility for the information provided through the on-line system. The GPO
is authorized to charge reasonable fees for use of the directory and the
system of on-line computer access (not exceeding the incremental cost of
dissemination of the information involved), but the use of the directory
and the system "shall be made available to depository libraries without
charge."
The President's signing marks the end of a long struggle by
members of the Joint Committee on Printing, library groups, and
public interest groups to secure access to electronic public
information for citizens. Almost ten years have passed since the
Ad Hoc Committee on Depository Library Access to Federal Automated
Data Bases (which broadly represented the producers, disseminators,
and users of Government information), issued their 1984 report.
The Committee "unanimously support[ed] the principle that the
Federal Government should provide access to Federal information .
. . in electronic form through the depository library system." [S.
Prt. 98-260]. The Chairman of the JCP, which initiated that report
was Frank Annunzio, Vice Chairman was Charles McC. Mathias, Jr.,
and Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee was Bernadine Abbott Hoduski, who
has continued to serve as a professional staff person on the JCP
and will presumably carry forward the implementation of the GPO
Access Act.
Congress did not approve or appropriated any funds to carry out the
provisions of the GPO Access bill,reportedly because opponents threatened
to block passage if funds were approved for FY94. However, Capital Hill
sources told FINS that this "foot in the door" for public access to
electronic public information, is "just te start of the fight for citizen
access to this important source of information about the Government of the
United States."
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* Vigdor Schreibman, Editor & Publisher *
* Federal Information News Syndicate (FINS) *
* 18 - 9th Street, NE #206 *
* Washington, DC 20002-6042 *
* Voice: 202-547-6106 *
* Internet: fins@access.digex.net *
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