The Senate Appropriations Committee marked up their version of the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill late this afternoon with the same result that the House arrived at. The committee recommended twelve and a half million dollars of the originally requested nineteen million by NLS for the digital talking book program. In her remarks, Senator Landrieu (D-LA) who is the Chair of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee promised to work to increase this specific program's funding level. It is critical that members call their senators concerning this funding challenge as it appears as though the House will pass its spending bill at the same dollar amount.
Please let me know if any of you receive interest from senate staff regarding this issue and I am happy to further assist .
Tomorrow the House will take up H.R. 2771 their Legislative Branch Appropriations legislation. Unfortunately, this bill is coming to the floor under a structured rule that provides for only three amendments to be offered for debate. None of these deal with the National Library Service. It may or may not be of any consolation to you but Rep. Bilirakis (R-FL) offered the following amendment at the Rules Committee that unfortunately was not adopted.
Amendment Text
The amendment increases funding for the Books for the Blind program at the Library of Congress by $7,882,000 and decreases funding for the Architect of the Capitol--House Office Buildings by the same amount.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding this issue.
Eric Bridges
Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs
American Council of the Blind
Phone: (202) 467-5081
Fax: (202) 467-5085