Congress Still Pushing Internet Filtering Bills

Staff -- School Library Journal, 8/1/1999

Librarians let out a collective sigh of relief last year when at the last minute, Congress dropped an Internet filtering mandate from the omnibus budget bill. But now, the push for Internet filtering in schools and libraries is back, as strong as ever.

Two bills recently passed that would make filtering a requirement for receiving the e-rate, the federal discount for schools and libraries that hook up to the Internet. One, sponsored by Rep. Bob Franks (R-NJ), sailed through the House in June as part of the juvenile justice bill; a similar measure, sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) [PDF file. Requires Acrobat Reader](www.senate.gov/~commerce/legis/0628s97.pdf) unanimously passed the Senate Commerce Committee shortly thereafter.

Though never dead, say lobbyists on both sides of the issue, the filtering initiative gained steam after this year's massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO. "There's a lot of swarming around and glomming on to things in reaction to ColumbineDthat sort of fanned the flames," says one anti-filtering lobbyist who declined to be named.