In "Open Access Bill Stalls in Congress," Bob Grant reports on the status of the Federal Research Public Access Act in the Senate.
Here's an excerpt:
Congressional staffers in the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) of 2009 (S.1373) lingers, have been forced to shift their attentions to health care and away from the bill. "They're definitely swamped," Heather Joseph, executive director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, told The Scientist. Joseph added that movement on FRPAA is not expected "until after health care gets sorted out."
You can send an e-mail supporting the bill to your Senator using the Alliance for Taxpayer Access Web form.
With all due respect, I have read this comment on numerous sites and it really is inaccurate. “Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) of 2009 (S.1373) lingers, have been forced to shift their attentions to health care and away from the bill.” Senate Committees continue to do their work while issues of major importance such as health care are being debated. Surely all Committee work hasn’t rolled to a close. I think more accurate to say would be that no one within that special committee has found the topic compelling enough to force a discussion. I think things are winding down just as they did in 2006 when no one within the Senate Committee on the Judiciary cared to bring up the Act and hence it died.
Helen