Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HR328 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	IV
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. RES. 328
5	5	Expressing support for the staff of public, school, academic, and special
6	6	libraries in the United States and the essential services those libraries
7	7	provide to communities, recognizing the need for funding commensurate
8	8	with the broad scope of social service and community supports provided
9	9	by libraries, preserving the right of all citizens of the United States
10	10	to freely access information and resources in their communities, sup-
11	11	porting a strong union voice for library workers, and defending the
12	12	civil rights of library staff.
13	13	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
14	14	APRIL10, 2025
15	15	Ms. J
16	16	AYAPAL(for herself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BOYLEof
17	17	Pennsylvania, Mr. C
18	18	ASAR, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. EVANSof
19	19	Pennsylvania, Mr. H
20	20	UFFMAN, Ms. LEEof Pennsylvania, Mr. NADLER,
21	21	Mr. N
22	22	ORCROSS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. POCAN, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. SA´NCHEZ,
23	23	Ms. S
24	24	CANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. TONKO,
25	25	and Mrs. W
26	26	ATSONCOLEMAN) submitted the following resolution; which
27	27	was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce RESOLUTION
28	28	Expressing support for the staff of public, school, academic,
29	29	and special libraries in the United States and the essen-
30	30	tial services those libraries provide to communities, recog-
31	31	nizing the need for funding commensurate with the broad
32	32	scope of social service and community supports provided
33	33	by libraries, preserving the right of all citizens of the
34	34	United States to freely access information and resources
35	35	in their communities, supporting a strong union voice
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38	38	•HRES 328 IH
39	39	for library workers, and defending the civil rights of
40	40	library staff.
41	41	Whereas library staff are cornerstones of their communities
42	42	in the United States, providing visitors with access to
43	43	books and media, delivering high-quality programming to
44	44	visitors of all ages, ensuring equitable internet access for
45	45	all, and linking people to crucial information about ac-
46	46	cessing social services;
47	47	Whereas libraries are an economic powerhouse in their com-
48	48	munities, providing resources to small business owners,
49	49	job seekers, and individuals learning new skills;
50	50	Whereas, in recent years, library staff have been called on to
51	51	address the fallout from difficult public crises in the
52	52	United States, taking on roles that exceed the traditional
53	53	role of providing a space for, and access to, educational
54	54	and cultural enrichment;
55	55	Whereas library staff provide lifesaving care to members of
56	56	their communities who are suffering the effects of the on-
57	57	going and tragic opioid epidemic in the United States, in-
58	58	cluding being called on to administer medication to treat
59	59	overdoses;
60	60	Whereas libraries are a safe haven for individuals and fami-
61	61	lies who are unhoused, and library workers provide the
62	62	supportive community environment and resources needed
63	63	by unhoused individuals and families;
64	64	Whereas libraries are often the only source of internet for un-
65	65	derserved communities;
66	66	Whereas library staff maintained public access to essential li-
67	67	brary services and were relied on to distribute personal
68	68	protective equipment and provide testing to the public
69	69	during the worst days of the COVID–19 pandemic;
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72	72	•HRES 328 IH
73	73	Whereas libraries have met an expanded and intensified de-
74	74	mand for community, public health, and safety net serv-
75	75	ices, often while contending with severe funding cuts, cre-
76	76	ating unsustainable and frequently unsafe working condi-
77	77	tions for library staff;
78	78	Whereas the EveryLibrary Institute recently found that
79	79	Project 2025 encourages the mistreatment and misrepre-
80	80	sentation of minority communities as well as the harass-
81	81	ment of library staff;
82	82	Whereas, on March 14, 2025, President Trump signed Exec-
83	83	utive Order 14238 (90 Fed. Reg. 13043; relating to con-
84	84	tinuing the reduction of the Federal bureaucracy) to
85	85	eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services;
86	86	Whereas eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library
87	87	Services would harm the ability of libraries to provide
88	88	critical resources to millions of people in the United
89	89	States, especially in rural, Tribal, and other underserved
90	90	communities;
91	91	Whereas the health and survival of democracy in the United
92	92	States requires that everyone be able to exercise rights to
93	93	information and services, and it is especially important
94	94	for young people to have the opportunity to learn, en-
95	95	counter, and debate all manner of ideas, including con-
96	96	troversial ones;
97	97	Whereas students have been shown to spend more time read-
98	98	ing and exhibit higher reading scores when given access
99	99	to diverse titles, and library staff play a crucial role in
100	100	curating diverse book offerings for young readers;
101	101	Whereas a fundamental responsibility of the job of library
102	102	staff is making decisions about the books and media in
103	103	their collections and assisting visitors in accessing those
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106	106	•HRES 328 IH
107	107	materials without fear of censorship or reprisal for ful-
108	108	filling the role of providing information and resources to
109	109	the public;
110	110	Whereas PEN America found 10,046 instances of book bans
111	111	in school libraries and classrooms during the 2023–2024
112	112	school year;
113	113	Whereas libraries and library staff are more capable of pro-
114	114	viding their communities with access to a diverse, inclu-
115	115	sive, and comprehensive selection of books and media
116	116	when they operate free from threats of book bans and
117	117	censorship;
118	118	Whereas library staff have faced termination and criminaliza-
119	119	tion for refusing to remove banned books from their li-
120	120	braries;
121	121	Whereas, from 2024 to 2025, there were deplorable incidents
122	122	throughout the United States that were orchestrated to
123	123	intimidate library staff and prevent them from fulfilling
124	124	their central work responsibility to provide the public
125	125	with free and unfettered access to information;
126	126	Whereas library staff across the United States are mobilizing
127	127	for a collective union voice in their workplaces to elevate
128	128	their profession, to ensure safe and adequately resourced
129	129	spaces that meet the needs of the communities they
130	130	serve, and to protect the essential role of libraries in the
131	131	democracy of the United States; and
132	132	Whereas the week of April 6 through April 12, 2025, would
133	133	be an appropriate time to celebrate ‘‘National Library
134	134	Week’’: Now, therefore, be it
135	135	Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1
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138	138	•HRES 328 IH
139	139	(1) commends the work of library staff in the 1
140	140	United States; 2
141	141	(2) supports the goals and ideals of ‘‘National 3
142	142	Library Week’’; 4
143	143	(3) recognizes that libraries and library staff 5
144	144	provide critical infrastructure for the United States 6
145	145	and are essential to the future of the United States; 7
146	146	(4) supports the prioritization of full funding of 8
147	147	library services at the Federal, State, and local levels 9
148	148	to ensure the continuation and improvement of li-10
149	149	brary services; 11
150	150	(5) reaffirms— 12
151	151	(A) the fundamental right of the people of 13
152	152	the United States to access information, which 14
153	153	is made real through the efforts of library staff; 15
154	154	(B) the fundamental right of library work-16
155	155	ers to organize and collectively bargain at work 17
156	156	and to have a protected voice in their work-18
157	157	place; and 19
158	158	(C) the civil rights of library workers to ex-20
159	159	ercise their responsibilities to the public without 21
160	160	threats or intimidation; and 22
161	161	(6) recognizes the right of library staff— 23
162	162	(A) to speak out on matters of public con-24
163	163	cern; 25
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166	166	•HRES 328 IH
167	167	(B) to address themselves to elected offi-1
168	168	cials and to the administration of the entities 2
169	169	that employ library staff; and 3
170	170	(C) to inform the people of the United 4
171	171	States about their right to free and unfettered 5
172	172	access to information, and about threats to that 6
173	173	access. 7
174	174	Æ
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