Oklahoma Senator Blocks Internet Safety Bill
Joan Oleck -- School Library Journal, 3/25/2008 4:00:00 AM
If you're a librarian in Oklahoma, Internet safety organizations need your help. The reason: Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has placed a "hold" on a Senate bill that would authorize $50 million over a five-year period for Internet Safety crime prevention education programs for kids.
Coburn's concerns are strictly fiscal, says his spokesman, Don Tatro. But Internet safety organizations want the bill to go forward so they can get some of that cash.
That's why they're looking for educators, especially those in Coburn's state, to contact the Oklahoma senator and protest his move.
Coburn's hold is linked to the senator's opposition to new federal grant programs that already allocate money to this cause, Tatro explains. "While this bill is well-intentioned, its goals duplicate existing efforts by the federal government as well as private organizations," the Oklahoma senator himself wrote in a December letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Coburn's decision to exercise his "hold" power means that a quick, unanimous passage by the Senate is no longer possible, Tatro explains. Instead, the bill must now go to the Senate floor for a formal vote.
That presents an obstacle that Internet safety organizations would rather avoid. "We need some pressure from the field to be placed on Senator Coburn to release this hold," Nancy Williard, director of the Eugene, OR-based Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use wrote to readers of her WWWEDU nternet and education listserv over the weekend.
About 10 Internet Safety organizations want passage of S.B. 2344, which has been endorsed by groups such as the Center for Democracy and Technology because of its emphasis on education rather than on filters. "Internet safety education programs are greatly needed across America to prevent online exploitation of children and teenagers," another organization, WebWiseKids wrote to Coburn this week. "S. 2344 would authorize a competitive grant program to all organizations, which equip individuals and communities with up-to-date information and tools needed to safely, securely, ethically and effectively use the Internet and a variety of other technologies."
