<div dir="ltr"><div><a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2013/08/what-did-you-do-during-summer-vacation-2/">http://www.districtdispatch.org/2013/08/what-did-you-do-during-summer-vacation-2/</a></div><div> </div><div><h1>
What did YOU do during summer vacation?</h1><div><span>Posted on </span><span><font color="#0066cc">August 5, 2013</font></span><span> by </span><span><font color="#0066cc">Lynne Bradley</font></span> <span> </span> </div>
<div><p>Congress is now in a five-week recess. Some pundits are asking “recess from what?” because this 113th Congress has passed even fewer bills in its first months between January and August than even the previous lowest-scoring 112th Congress. When they return, they will have only nine legislative days until the government shuts down. Neither side of government (House or Senate) has a plan or path to a plan. The House and Senate have different caps for domestic and defense spending and they are over those caps; the debt limit could be reached in mid-Fall; and the sequester stays in place unless the Congress passes legislation to remove or change it (which is very unlikely.) In this type of mess, usually little other legislation gets passed or even discussed.</p>
<p>But the American Library Association (ALA) and other advocates must still work the issues—like the surveillance and privacy issues – just as if there is a true expectation that bills will be passed when Congress returns. And, it could happen….</p>
<p>With approximately 20 bills related in one way or another to surveillance law reforms, it is unfortunate to be in this current political situation. But there is still hope following hearings on the extent of surveillance abuses based upon the Snowden revelations from early June.</p>
<p>If you <a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/privacyconfidentiality/fisa_nsa_113th_congress.pdf"><font color="#0066cc">review the surveillance bills</font></a>, you will see a variety of approaches to reform. Some of the bills would require more reporting and transparency about government data collection as well as more information about the number and type of requests approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). Yet other bills call for requests to FISC be focused on individualized and targeted investigations not wholesale big data collection about millions of people. Other proposals attempt to use the appropriations process to either limit practices or require changes.</p>
<p>In the closest vote on any type of reform since passage of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001, a <a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2013/07/amash-amendment-fails-205-217/"><font color="#0066cc">proposal</font></a> to limit some NSA activities thru appropriations cuts by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) was narrowly defeated in a 205 to 217 vote recently. Sen. Durbin is using a similar tactic in the Senate. Hope springs eternal within the civil liberties community, that some reforms will eventually get passed in this Congress.</p>
<p><b>What you CAN do on your summer vacation….</b></p><p>Now is the time, when your representatives and senators are back home for recess, to contact them about these important surveillance issues. By calling their respective district or regional offices, you can find out about town hall meetings and other events where you can ask them to support serious reforms to the country’s surveillance laws and practices. With so many bills introduced, and likely more in September, a generalized message is appropriate: “Reform the USA PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to improve the balance between our civil liberties and security. Stop the secret collection of data about innocent people and assure true transparency about what our government is doing in the name of security.</p>
<p>It is also a good idea to sign up for your legislators’ newsletters on their websites. Most Members of Congress have nesletters and include town hall information in them during district work periods. To find out who your Members of Congress are and their website infromation, use the “Find Your Officals” box on the <a href="http://capwiz.com/ala/home/"><font color="#0066cc">Legislative Action Center</font></a>. The August recess is also a great time to invite legislators to visit your library. <a href="http://vimeo.com/album/196486/video/8080747"><font color="#0066cc">Check out this webinar</font></a> on how to arrange and plan for such a visit.</p>
<p>You can also advocate for full funding of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and other library appropriations by telling your local library story – emphasizing the benefits to library users – whether in public, school or academic libraries. To keep up-to-date on all of these issues and for action alerts, please <a href="http://capwiz.com/ala/mlm/signup/"><font color="#0066cc">subscribe to the Washington Office <i>District Dispatch</i></font></a> and encourage other library supporters to sign up also. Especially encourage library boards, friends of library groups and other supporters to use <i>District Dispatch</i>, we need every voice!</p>
<p> </p></div></div><div><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2013/08/what-did-you-do-during-summer-vacation-2/">http://www.districtdispatch.org/2013/08/what-did-you-do-during-summer-vacation-2/</a><br clear="all">
<br>-- <br></p></div><div><em><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt">Diedre Conkling</span></em><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"><br><em><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Lincoln County Library District</span></em><br>
<em><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">P.O. Box 2027</span></em><br><em><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Newport, OR 97365</span></em><br><em><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Phone & Fax: 541-265-3066</span></em><br>
<em><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Work email</span></em></span></i><em><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt;font-style:normal">: </span></em><a href="mailto:diedre@lincolncolibrarydist.org" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"><font color="#0000ff">diedre@lincolncolibrarydist.org</font></span></i></a><i><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"><br>
<em><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Home email: </span></em></span></i><a href="mailto:diedre08@gmail.com" target="_blank"><em><span style="color:blue;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt">diedre08@gmail.com</span></em></a></div>
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<span>“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”―Maya Angelou</span><span></span></h6><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:10pt"></span></div>
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