[11254] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Revisions to Title 44, USC
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vigdor Schreibman - FINS)
Tue Apr 29 20:33:40 1997
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 17:03:09 -0500
From: Vigdor Schreibman - FINS <fins@access.digex.net>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
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FINS: Communicating the Emerging Philosophy of The Information Age
FEDERAL INFORMATION NEWS SYNDICATE
Vol V, Issue No. 8 (162 lines) April 28, 1997
CLOSING THE "VALUES-GAP":
Revisions to Title 44, USC
By Vigdor Schreibman
A draft of the, "Government Printing Office Act of 1997,"
proposed by the US Congress, Joint Committee on Printing
(JCP), was placed under review at a hearing held by the Senate
Committee on Rules and Administration, Apr 24, 1997. Senator
John Warner (R-Va), self-proclaimed champion of the
Jeffersonian ideal of an "informed citizenry" [Fins-NC4-14],
is chairman of both Committees. This draft bill is the latest
attempt by Congress to transform the structure of the public
information systems of the United States through revisions
to Title 44, US Code, originating legislation for the
Government Printing Office (GPO), Superintendent of Documents
(SOD), and Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).
E-text of the draft bill, linked to relevant parts of the
US Code, is now available online at a website constructed by
the University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky University.
URL: http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/jcpbill.html.
The GPO was first inaugurated in 1861, under President
Lincoln, and later included the SOD and FDLP. These
institutions are now recognized as the "lifeblood of
democracy" [Fins-PI-04]. It is expected that the draft bill
will be "perfected" subsequent to hearings, before being
formally introduced in Congress. Assuming passage by Congress
and approval by the President, the Government Printing Office
Act of 1997, would subsequently be further defined and
clarified through regulations, which are required to be
promulgated by the holdover Public Printer. A controversy
about the legal effect of any such provisions would be decided
by the US Courts though the usual chaotic process of statutory
construction, narrow or liberal, leading to contrary outcomes
depending mainly upon the ideology of judicial appointments.
Present attempts to divine the ultimate meaning and actual
practical impact of the draft bill, encompassing centralized
public information systems for the whole Federal Government
of the United States, are likely to be futile. Moreover,
there are evident dangers in large scale systems design of
this character, which scholars have warned, almost always
lead to "despicable outcomes" [Fins-NC1-17]. Consequently, an
abundance of caution is warranted in judging the instant bill.
In its present form, the Government Printing Office Act of
1997, would likely:
* subject GPO printing and SOD dissemination of public
information to a new set of regulations promulgated by
the holdover Public Printer, under pressure of his
seeking appointment as first head of the new GPO;
* sever GPO control over printing of Congressional records,
and subject that function to the arbitrary discretion of
key members of Congress, without the independent GPO or
SOD guarantee of the integrity of the information;
* subordinate GPO functions to the politically governed
information policy functions of the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB);
* subordinate copyright of public information to private
derivative work;
* subject prescribed penalties for fugitive publications to
agency discretion; and
* subject collective bargaining agreements that govern GPO
employees, in seeking future labor contracts, to
unfavorable executive branch personnel rules.
What is proposed in the instant bill is the design of a
structure and operations of the public information system,
which from the inception has been guided by a largely chaotic
political process. This has been motivated, in significant
part, by a set of unseemly and contradictory opinions issued
by the US Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel
(OLC), concerning Constitutional defects in the existing
structure of government, purportedly stemming from the
landmark 1983 Supreme Court decision, _INS vs. Chadha_.
OLC claimed in their opinion letter issued May 1996 that the
"separation of powers" doctrine was violated by the printing
functions of the GOP and JCP. The same document sought to
unilaterally organize defiance of those printing functions by
all agencies of the Federal Government, without any Court
judgement authorizing that extraordinary action. The OLC
opinion letter of May 1966, was contradicted by an earlier OLC
opinion letter dated Sept 1993 (reconsideration later also
denied), in which it was found that the GPO printing function
prescribed by Congress, "does not violate the separation
of powers by delegating executive authority to the GPO." In
response to questions by the Senate Rules Committee about this
contradiction, OLC stated in an Apr 1997 memo that the Sept
1993 opinion letter was limited to, "statutory construction,"
despite the contrary shown upon the face of the document.
Moreover, the printing functions of the legislative branch,
for all three branches of the Government, enable Congress to
frame legislation and execute its exclusive legislative
powers. These functions are of overriding significance
compared to any bare claim of executive authority in the same
field. This has been carried out since the beginning of the
nation, as valid administrative actions, which were implicitly
recognized by the Supreme Court in _Chadha_ [Fins-NC2-17]. No
law suit has ever challenged this practice, and no Court has
ever upheld such a challenge. The attempt in the instant bill
to radically revise the structure of governance, in response
to uncertain Constitutional speculations has no justification.
Nevertheless, a call for changes in the structure of the
public information system may be validly based on entirely
different needs. The emerging Information Age has placed
radical new demands upon the printing, and public information
dissemination functions of the United States. This new age
requires a consistent, coherent, and purposeful management
structure. To meet that need a model of federal information
access and dissemination was proposed by the American Library
Association, based on a working document dated July 28, 1995.
The key to better government in this domain, articulated by
the ALA model is the goal, "to involve all federal information
producers, supporters, and disseminators; to better articulate
their roles; [and] to achieve better coordination across
branches of government." At the head of the new institution,
would be two integrated structures described in the ALA model:
first, a "Coordinating Council," comprising high-level
representatives of Federal agencies with explicit information
dissemination and overarching public policy missions; and
second, a "Council Steering Committee," comprising one
representative from each of the three branches of government.
This structure could be further supported with the "people
science" technique of group dialogue to facilitate interagency
collaboration [Fins-PS-01].
What is proposed, instead, is the dismantling of the
historical information role of the US Congress, and
establishment of a species of Public Printer who would serve
as the singular ruler of a new public information fiefdom,
supported by a set of powerless advisory councils. Such a
public information structure for the future is ill-conceived,
lacking in legitimacy and without the likelihood of obtaining
essential interagency cooperation. The bill should be
resisted both by librarians and the honorable gentlemen from
the Congressional Committee on Rules.
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