[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 23 (Thursday, February 27, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1730-S1731]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE GROWING CRISIS IN PUBLIC ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, on February 11, in his capacity as
chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing, the senior Senator from
Virginia testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Legislative
Branch Appropriations Subcommittee.
The purpose of that testimony was to provide justification for the
Joint Committee's Fiscal Year 1998 appropriations request, and to
outline the priorities of the Joint Committee in the current and future
fiscal years.
Chief among the Joint Committee's priorities are reform of Title 44
U.S.C., and the implementation of means to assure that the American
public continues to retain access to information created by the Federal
Government at taxpayer expense.
Currently, the Government Printing Office is charged under title 44
with the management of the Federal Government's procurement of
information products and with the maintenance of the public's access to
these products--through the Federal Depository Library System, through
the GPO Bookstore Program, and through GPO access, the on-line service
of the Government Printing Office.
In recent years, however, various Federal agencies have taken to
ignoring title 44. Some are procuring their information products
directly from the private sector without going through the GPO's
private sector procurement program. Others are setting up in-house
facilities to create their own information products. In addition, a few
agencies, in an effort to be entrepreneurial, have taken to making
arrangements with organizations outside the Federal Government for the
dissemination of taxpayer-funded information. In doing so, this
information has become copyrighted, or had copyright-like restrictions
imposed upon it. The net result is that the public's access to
taxpayer-funded information has been greatly restricted.
Mr. President, the Government Printing Office's Superintendent of
Documents, Mr. Wayne Kelley recently delivered a speech on this issue.
In his remarks, Mr. Kelley provided specific details and raised a
number of important questions about these activities and their
detrimental effect on the American public.
I ask unanimous consent that Mr. Kelley's speech before the
Government Documents Roundtable, Federal Documents Task Force, of
February 15, 1997, be printed in full at the conclusion of this
statement.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, the Senate Committee on Rules and
Administration, which also is chaired by the senior Senator from
Virginia, will hold 2 days of hearings later this spring on legislation
to correct this situation and to reform other areas of title 44.
It is this Senator's intention that this legislation will be
supported on a bicameral and bipartisan basis, and that the
administration will fully support it as well.
Mr. President, the strength of America's system of government lies
with an informed public. Free and open access to information created at
taxpayer expense is the principle which has enabled the United States
to endure and prosper for over 200 years, making this Nation the
oldest, continuous, constitutional democratic republic in the world.
Members of Congress have a responsibility to our Founding Fathers, to
our citizenry, and to future generations to ensure that this principle
is maintained.
[[Page S1731]]
Exhibit 1
Remarks of Wayne Kelley, Superintendent of Documents
I'd like to take a few minutes this morning to discuss a
growing trend to transfer Federal Government information from
the public domain to private ownership.
This is happening in a number of ways. One is for agencies
to establish exclusive or restrictive distribution
arrangements that limit public access to information. Another
is to charge fees or royalties for reuse or redissemination
of public information. In some recent cases government
publishers have actually assisted in transferring copyright
to the new owner.
Let me give you an example. For many years, the National
Cancer Institute procured the printing of its Journal of the
National Cancer Institute through the Government Printing
Office. The Superintendent of Documents Sales Program sold
subscriptions to the Journal and it was distributed to
Federal Depository Libraries at GPO expense.
In 1987, NCI made the semimonthly Journal a more current,
higher-quality cancer research publication. It was heavily
promoted by our Office of Marketing in coordination with the
NCI staff. By 1992, the Journal was selling 6,240 copies at
an annual subscription of $51, and was distributed free to
more than 800 selecting depository libraries throughout the
nation. It had achieved recognition as ``the number one
journal'' in its field, publishing the best original research
papers in oncology from around the world.
In 1993, the National Cancer Institute notified us that
they were developing a ``Consolidated Services'' concept
making all print and electronic data information available
only through an ``Information Associates Program.'' GPO could
no longer sell subscriptions at $51. The only way to get a
subscription was to buy an Associates Program membership from
NCI for $100. NCI agreed to supply depository copies at the
agency's expense. GPO continued to sell individual copies in
bookstores at $7 each. In December 1994, the International
Cancer Information Center, publisher of the Journal, received
a Federal ``Hammer'' award for its new Information Associate
Program.
Then, a disturbing development. Just a few week ago, in a
letter dated January 2, our Library Program Service was
notified that the Journal had been ``privatized.'' Ownership
was transferred from the National Cancer Institute to Oxford
University Press--USA, Inc. The letter said: ``Under the
terms of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
signed by the two organizations, the name of the publication
will be retained, and Oxford will assume all responsibility
for printing the Journal and will hold copyright to the
Journal's content.''
The letter went on to explain that ``because the Journal is
no longer a publication of the U.S. Government, copies of the
Journal and JNCI Monographs will not be provided to the
Depository Library Program nor will sale copies be available
at the GPO bookstore.'' The new price, from Oxford, is $120
for an individual and $150 for an institution.
The last paragraph in this brief letter said: ``We
appreciate the service the Depository Library Program has
provided in disseminating the Journal and JNCI Monographs for
many years.''
Looking back, I do not regret that we at GPO invested our
resources in promoting the Cancer Journal in the late 1980s.
Nor do I regret assisting in the transfer of subscribers to
the Information Associates Program in 1993. But I do regret
the loss of this valuable resource to American citizens
through the depository library program in 1997.
I have here the November 20 issue of the Journal which I
purchased from the main GPO Bookstore. Maybe this last,
public domain issue has some historical value.
Looking through the Journal, a number of questions come to
mind. I note that the masthead lists some 26 staff members.
I wonder if the editorial and news staff is still being
paid by the American taxpayer, but working for the Oxford
University Press? I wonder if the Oxford Press is sharing
revenues from the new, higher subscription rate with the
National Cancer Institute? I wonder if copyright will prevent
a librarian from sending a copy of an article to another
librarian?
I have no way of knowing the answers to these questions--
because the details of the Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement are not public information, according
to NCI legal counsel.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. There are
other recent examples of information gathered by government
employees disappearing from the public domain--for a price. I
worry that these cases will become precedents and the
precedents will set an irreversible trend.
I want to make it clear that I do not question the motives
or goals of the agency publishers who take this course. They
are doing what they feel is right in a new environment which
calls for cutting costs and generating revenues. They are
seeking to preserve valuable information.
But what if this new trend drives future Federal Government
Information Policy? Since the founding of our nation, the
cornerstone of information policy in the United States has
been the principle of universal access to Federal
information. This principle is being set aside without
many of the usual checks and balances in our democratic
society: Without any high level policy debate, without
clear rules, without thought to unintended consequences,
and often without full public disclosure of the
negotiations and agreements.
Is all Federal information with sufficient demand going to
be sent to market? If so, we should think about what that
means.
Does it mean that a Government agency may sell its name as
well as its information?
Does it mean that a wide array of private sector publishers
will no longer have access to the information to add value
and redistribute it to many different markets in different
products?
Does it mean the public consumer must pay two or three
times as much, or more, for the same information?
Does it mean that agency publishers will focus their
attention on more popular, marketable information and
eliminate other, perhaps more significant but less marketable
information?
Does it mean that programs authorized by Congress will
begin to move away from public needs, to focus instead on
market needs never contemplated by our elected
representatives?
Does it mean Government employees working at taxpayer
expense to support the information requirements of private
firms? And isn't that corporate welfare?
And what if the Journal of the National Cancer Institute,
now owned by the Oxford University Press, does not meet the
profit goals of the new owner? Does it mean that instead of a
``Hammer'' award, there will be the ``axe'' usually awarded
sub-par performers in the market place?
Who represents the public in a Bottom-line Information Era?
What is to prevent our nation's bridge to the 21st Century
from turning into a toll bridge for Government information?
In 1989, the late Office of Technology Assessment, may it
rest in peace, declared that ``congressional action is
urgently needed to resolve Federal information issues and to
set the direction of Federal activities for years to come.''
Now, eight years later, there is some talk of legislation to
update Federal Information Policy to the Electronic Era.
The critical issues at stake today are preservation of
official information, public access, Government
accountability, and an informed electorate. Americans should
not pass up this opportunity to define their own information
future.
Those best positioned to know the value and power of
information should take the lead. It is not an easy issue for
the media because it lacks the essential elements of hot
news. It is more significant than sensational.
It is not an easy issue for politicians because there is no
visible crisis and framing sound policy seldom delivers
votes.
So it may be up to those among us who by nature are
reluctant to get out front. Remember those riveting lines of
Yeats: ``The best lack all conviction, While the worst are
full of passionate intensity.'' Let's not let that happen.
Before it is too late, let the debate begin.
____
Journal of the
National Cancer Institute,
January 2, 1997.
Ms. Robin Haun-Mohamed,
Chief, Library Program Service,
U.S. Government Printing Office (SLLA), Washington, DC.
Dear Ms. Haun-Mohamed: As you know, the Journal of the
National Cancer Institute has been privatized, and effective
January 1, 1997, ownership of the Journal will be transferred
from the National Cancer Institute to Oxford University
Press-USA, Inc. Under the terms of a Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement signed by the two organizations, the
name of the publication will be retained, and Oxford will
assume all responsibility for printing the Journal and will
hold copyright to the Journal's content.
Because the Journal is no longer a publication of the U.S.
Government, copies of the Journal and JNCI Monographs will
not be provided to the Depository Library Program nor will
sale copies be available at the GPO bookstore. Nonprofit
organizations, however, will be able to subscribe to the
Journal at reduced rates.
For more information on subscriptions to the Journal, call
1-800-852-7323 or 919-677-0977.
We appreciate the service the Depository Library Program
has provided in disseminating the Journal and JNCI Monographs
for many years.
Sincerely,
Julianne Chappell,
Chief, Scientific Publications Branch, International Cancer
Information Center.
____________________