The latest on Section 108 of S.536 is that a (ahem) public hearing will be held on 14 June. I'll just post the text of the blogospheric alert I'm sending out:
Status update on S.536 Section 108:Thanks again to all of you who blogged on McCain's stealth amendment to NAGPRA (Section 108, S.536). A public hearing on this amendment is now scheduled for 14 June. I heard through the grapevine that the decision to hold a hearing on this deplorable "'was' vs. 'is'" amendment was effected by the number and variety of citizens who wrote in protest. I know many people wrote to say they'd contacted their congressmen; I'd like to think the blogosphere had a hand in getting this into the light.
Unfortunately, as you will note, the hearing has been scheduled on very short notice, and no public notice has been given. Furthermore, word is that the hearing invitations are very much biased against the opponents of the amendment (possibly 5-1 or 4-2), and no time was allowed for the advocates of the underrepresented side to organize, re-arrange their schedules, and find an affordable flight to Washington. [UPDATE: Apparently a staffer of McCain's had indicated that the hearing was to be scheduled for the fall. If so, why the big rush now?] Obviously McCain et al. consider this hearing to be an inconvenience, temporarily interfering with their efforts to ignore the establishment clause of the First Amendment and the public's interest in scientific inquiry.
So now I'm doing my Struthers-esque "save the skeletons" act one more time: time is short, and I'm asking bloggers and readers to make their views known once again to their representatives and to all the members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee - and perhaps to ask what's the big damned hurry here. Friends of America's Past has all the amendment and contact info. (And, of course, you can find more background at my joint.)
Thanks again for your help.
Updates for 6 June: Major and minor.
Related links here.