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postage. Four Smithsonian employees who had been performing these functions have been reassigned to other units within the Institution

The permanent transfer of this responsibility requires amending the existing statute which reads as follows:

1719.  International exchange of Government publications.

For the purposes of more fully carrying into effect the convention concluded at Brussels on March 15, 1886, and proclaimed by the President of the United States on January 15, 1889, there shall be supplied to the Library of Congress not to exceed one hundred and twenty-five copies each of all Government publications, including the daily and bound copies of the Congressional Record, for distribution [[underlined]]through the Smithsonian Institution[[/underlined]], to foreign governments which agree to send to the United States similar publications of their governments for delivery to the Library of Congress.
(Pub. L. 90-620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1282.)
(Emphasis added)

The Library of Congress has prepared draft legislation for introduction in January which will eliminate the clause "through the Smithsonian Institution."

The Smithsonian staff has reviewed the feasibility and utility of continuing the distribution by IES of scientific and literary publications among learned institutions. The response to a questionnaire sent to the 200 users of the IES has affirmed the usefulness of our doing so, and this element of the service will be continued.

It was VOTED that the Board of Regents approves and supports the permanent transfer of the function to distribute U.S. Government publications to foreign governments, as delegated to the Smithsonian Institution in 44 U.S.C. 1719, subject to the satisfactory implementation of an interim Agreement.