Museums Added to Data Highway Legislation Press Release from the American Association of Museums August 11 -- The Senate Commerce Committee today voted to guarantee the nation's 8000 museums a place in the National Information Infrastructure under the Communications Act of 1994 (S.1822). Museum images, texts, programming and personnel will soon be accessible to highway travelers. S. 1822 would rewrite the federal communications laws and deregulate many sectors of the telephone, cable, entertainment and computer industries. In exchange for the profit-making opportunities of these re-regulated markets, the telecommunications industries have been asked to provide moderate support to specific public institutions. Vice President Al Gore has suggested schools, hospitals and libraries. The Senate Commerce Committee, at the request of AAM and hundreds of museum professionals, added museums. According to surveys by AAM, American museums -- including art, science, history, military, specialized and children's museums, as well as zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums -- care for and educate with more than 700,000,000 objects and provide services during 600,000,000 annual visits, 50,000,000 of which are from school children. The legislation would require the telecommunications industry to assist museums with connections to the highways through "support payments reasonably necessary to provide universal service." The industry would also be under federal directive "to enhance, to the extent technically feasible and economically reasonable, the availability of advanced telecommunications and information services" at museums, and to provide those services at preferential rates. "The Senators on the Commerce Committee listened to their constituents," said Patricia E Williams, Deputy Executive Director for Programs and Policy at AAM. "Museum professionals around the country articulated to their elected officials how their institutions would use the information highways to aid scholarly research, life-long learning, and especially K-12 education." Williams continued, "Just as libraries can do great things with texts on the highways, museums can create effective educational programming with our objects. With the provisions of S. 1822, museums will become major content providers on the information networks. I think the American public, particularly school children, will quickly see the benefits of this legislative decision." The full Senate may address the legislation in early September. The American Association of Museums is the national association representing the concerns of the entire museum community. AAM assesses museum programs and accredits museums; provides education and training; operates international museum programs; and advocates for the advancement of museums. Since its founding in 1906, AAM has grown to include more than 13,700 active members including 9,600 museum professionals, 2,900 museums, and 1,200 corporate members. Michael Roark American Association of Museums, Government and Public Affairs Phone 202 289-9125 in Washington, DC