[10752] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
re Congress online -- fax #s, and an insider's insight
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jim Warren)
Wed Oct 23 21:36:12 1996
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 10:04:03 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jim Warren <jwarren@well.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU>
Reply-To: jwarren@well.com
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Previous msgs failed to include the numbers for the crucial
congress-critters in the impending decision to allow/expand mere citizens
to have equivalent early access to crucial documents that are available to
lobbyists inside the Beltway.
Their decision is expected THIS WEEK. Speak now, or accept their decision.
House Oversight Committee:
Majority Chair Rep. Bill Thomas [R-Visalia CA] 202-225-2915; fax/202-225-8798
Minority Chair Rep. Vic Fazio [D-Woodland CA] 202-225-5716; fax/202-225-0354
And, I just received this message from a congressional insider. Appalling
implications.
--jim
==
>As an ex-congressional staffer who has used MIN, I want to let you know
>that while I philosophically agree that all congressional info should be
>available (and, by the way Newt Gingrich is a big advocate of that
>perspective), I would hardly call MIN a diamond. It is a trully awful and
>archaic system that House Information Resources tries to sell as useful
>but it is really a nightmare based on late 1970s technology. I can't
>really imagine how you could port it to the web. The systems it "lives"
>on could surely not handle it as they are probably old time-sharing
>minicomputers.
>
>Anyway, I agree with you philosophically, but in reality, MIN sucks and a
>lot of the useful stuff on there has been made available on Thomas
>(thomas.loc.gov) at the direction of Speaker Gingrich.
===
I responded:
Thanks for the insights from an insider. Since those on the inside give so
little information to those on the outside, we continue to make inaccurate
and uninformed recommendations.
Also, it's sad to think that the House continues to tolerate "a nightmare
based on late 1970s technology" -- but then again, since the public remains
uninformed about that nightmare, we can't even insist that those who are
*supposed* to represent our interests get their act together.
An appalling commentary -- on the Demos who tolerated it for more'n two
decades, and on the Repubs that continue to tolerate it almost two years
after they *could* have instituted improvements.
--jim
Jim Warren, GovAccess list-owner/editor, advocate & columnist (jwarren@well.com)
345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax-for-the-quaint/<ask>
