The Honorable Donald L. Evans
Secretary of Commerce
Department of Commerce
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20230

Dear Mr. Secretary:

First of all, let me congratulate you on your appointment as the new Secretary of Commerce. I wish you the very best in taking on this new leadership challenge in your distinguished career, and I am confident that you will bring credit to the Department, the Administration, and the federal government.

I am writing to alert you to a continuing problem relating to the Commerce Department., National Technical Information Service (NTIS), which if left unresolved, could result in very serious repercussions for the Nation as a whole.

In August of 1999, when former Commerce Secretary William M. Daley announced plans for closing the NTIS and transferring its programs, collections, and resources to the Library of Congress, the Commission stepped forward to investigate the matter. A final report was produced in March 2000 containing six recommendations on how to deal with the fundamental problems raised by the planned NTIS closure. The Commission urged the Department in the strongest possible terms not to close the agency down and transfer it. We believe its fundamental mission remains sound even though its business model needs to be revised and updated because of the World Wide Web. Details of this study can be viewed at www.nclis.gov/govt/ntis/ntis.html.

Shortly after our NTIS report was published, Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman requested the Commission to identify the broader reforms needed in how the federal government plans, manages, and disseminates its public information products and services, not just the problems that the NTIS is experiencing. NTIS was again examined carefully, but this time in the context of the goals of our broader study, and recommendations specifically directed to that agency are included in our final report. I am attaching a copy of the Executive Summary; the complete report web page can be viewed at www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/assess.html

The just-completed study is the culmination of a three-stage research and investigation process that began in 1996 with a preliminary assessment of the problems being faced by federal agencies in migrating their traditional ink-on-paper public information products to the World Wide Web. Also addressed were the problems faced by the public in finding and retrieving that electronic information, available widely on agency web sites, but often buried deeply down in millions upon millions of web pages. A final report on that study was published in March 1999 and is at www.nclis.gov/govt/gpo1.html.

Without getting into the myriad details here, the bottom line of all three of the aforementioned studies comes down to the need for the federal government to reform its basic public information dissemination sales and service program machinery. Three considerations are paramount:

1. The United States government should formally affirm as a national goal that public information is a strategic national resource;
2. The business and financing problems being experienced by NTIS are not unique to that agency, but are being faced by all government agencies with public information sales and service programs. The solution to the problem should be comprehensive and government-wide in scope to avoid the unnecessary proliferation of wasteful, contradictory, and inconsistent piecemeal "solutions" (i.e., one for the Government Printing Office, one for the Census Bureau, another for NTIS, and so on); and
3. If the President and the Congress do not implement the broader reforms recommended by the Commission, the specific problem of what to do about NTIS will remain and must be resolved expeditiously. The Commission recommends the agency remain in Commerce funded at a satisfactory level of staffing and service until a solution can be found.

The Commission fully understands that these matters are far-reaching and complex. Since our comprehensive assessment final report was just issued, undoubtedly the President and the Congress, as well as all agencies including your Department, will require time to study the many findings, conclusions and recommendations. To that end if I and/or members of my staff can be helpful to you, I want you to know that we stand ready to assist in every way possible. I will be in Washington, DC during the week of February 12th and would be very pleased to meet with you or your designee to discuss these matters.

Again, my warm congratulations and best wishes,

Sincerely yours,

Martha Gould
Chairperson