If you care about getting money to digitize library materials, send a fax or email to your Senators and Congresspersons right now, supporting DO-IT legislation, just introduced in the House and the Senate. DO-IT says that Congressional leaders will be reaching out to their Senate and House colleagues next week to get co-sponsors to House (HR-2512) and Senate (S. 1023) bills. Here are sample letters to House Representatives and to Senators. Actual examples are here 1, 2, 3.
If your reps are on the House Commerce Committee or the House Education and Workforce Committee, the Senate Commerce Committee or the Senate HELP Committee, they are especially important... click on the committee, and then your member to get contact info. Then do it - send your support for this legislation that will help fund library and education digital projects.
Congressman Ralph Regula of Ohio, a senior Republican appropriator and longtime DO IT champion, joined Ed Markey (D-MA) and Paul Gillmor (R-OH) to introduce HR-2512 on May 19th. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) joined Senators Dodd (D-CT), Snowe (R-ME) and Durbin (D-IL) in introducing S. 1023 on May 12th. These are folks to THANK!
Here's quick background. More at Digitalpromise.org
These bills don't raise taxes. They designate money from spectrum auctions to this specific purpose instead of going into a general fund. I suppose that if the money from general funds is thus diverted, the government can then say it needs to raise taxes, but that's a fairly indirect way to see it. This would be an investment into our educational infrastructure, modelled after the Northwest ordinace, land grant colleges, and the GI bill.
Posted by: Mary | June 03, 2005 at 06:46 PM
The short version:
Dear Congressperson,
I want more of someone else's money!
Posted by: garym | June 03, 2005 at 11:55 AM