July 18, 2001

The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman
Chairman, Committee on Governmental Affairs
United States Senate
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-6250

Dear Senator Lieberman:

Enclosed please find my written testimony, submitted on behalf of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). This testimony is being submitted for the record of the Hearings on S. 803 held before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs on Wednesday, July 11, 2001. The Commission enthusiastically supports most of the key provisions of S.803. In a few instances, we believe there may be other approaches to deal with the problems and challenges involved, and we have been forthcoming in expressing our views.

You are to be commended for taking the very important and timely initiative of introducing S.803, the Electronic Government Act of 2001. The Federal Government needs to act quickly and with carefully coordinated steps to prepare itself, and the American public, to capitalize fully on the benefits of modern information technologies, especially the Internet. Handled prudently, these steps will provide significant benefits to the American public because of more efficient handling of government services, including providing more reliable and comprehensive government information to all citizens.

Electronic government as envisioned by S.803 encompasses delivery of both services and information to citizens electronically. While this cannot be accomplished without information technology, the technology is not an end in itself. It is an essential tool in the creation, management, organization, access and dissemination, and preservation of government information, as well as in the delivery of services to citizens. The Commission feels strongly that Information Resources, both technology and content, must be managed together to optimize both types of resources for effective government and for citizen access to government information and services. S.803 provides the opportunity to clearly link management of both technology and content and provide strong Information Resources Management (IRM) leadership.

In our recent report, A Comprehensive Assessment of Public Information Dissemination, NCLIS emphasized that effective E-Government requires improved information literacy. So that Americans can reap the benefits of the Internet Age, citizens must have access to computers and the Internet and also know what government information exists and how to find, retrieve, evaluate, and use it. They must also be able to depend on the permanent public availability of government information, to know how to verify its authenticity, and to be assured that the information will protected against technological obsolescence of the hardware and software used to create, store and disseminate it.

Finally, you probably know that many State and local governments are already moving ahead aggressively in the E-Government area. One of them is my own State of Nevada, which is already providing interactive online information and other services to its citizens. I am sure that the Council of State Governments (CSG) and the National Association of Chief Information Officers (NACIO) will be willing to share the initial E-Government experiences of State, local, and tribal levels of government.

NCLIS wants to be a proactive member of your E-Government team because we know from our own research how important this landmark legislation is to the American people. Members of the Commission staff will keep in contact with Kevin Landy of the Committee staff. We are eager to explain, clarify, and amplify our enclosed testimony and to be of service in moving this bill forward.

Sincerely yours,

Martha B. Gould
Chairperson