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(FWD) NCC Washington Update, Vol 6, #25, July 27, 2000



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 6, #25, July 27, 2000
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig3@juno.com> of the National Coordinating
Committee for the Promotion of History

1.   Appropriations Update: Full House and Senate Subcommittee Acts on
Archives Budget
2    ACTION ITEM: NHPRC Reauthorization Passes House -- Referred to
Senate Committee
3    Moynihan Declassification Board Legislation Receives Hearing
4.   House of Representatives Fills "Manager Historical Resources"
Position
5.   News Bits and Bytes - NARA Strategic Plan Reviewed; Digital Library
Reference Tool

1.   APPROPRIATIONS UPDATE: FULL HOUSE AND SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ACTS ON
ARCHIVES BUDGET
On Thursday July 20, the House of Representatives passed a $29.1 billion
Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government appropriation bill.
The full House passed measure makes no significant changes to the
appropriation subcommittee proposed recommendations for the FY 2001
budget for the National Archives and grants programs of the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) which passed on
July 11 (See NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol 6, # 23, July 12, 2000).  The
House subcommittee had proposed that the National Archives receive
$201.171 million with the NHPRC being allotted $6 million, the same as
the President's proposal. The House passed measure provides sufficient
money to cover all the National Archives fixed costs and provides funds
to transfer President Clinton's papers to the Clinton Library in Little
Rock, Arkansas.  The House also earmarked money to accelerate the
processing of veterans records and provided start up monies for the
electronic records project.

On the Senate side, on July 20, the Senate Appropriations Treasury and
General Government Subcommittee marked up its version of the National
Archives and NHPRC proposed budget.  The Senate version includes full
funding of the President's request - $209.392 million for National
Archives "operations" and base level funding of $4.950 million for
"repairs and restoration."  While the Senate subcommittee did not
provide any funds for the Archives I renovation proposed in the
President's budget, the subcommittee did provide "forward funding" of
$88 million, thus allocating funds for the renovation in FY 2002.  (The
President's proposed FY 2001 budget had included $88 million for the
renovation of Archives I on the Mall. The proposed work would include
correcting mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire safety
deficiencies, upgrading storage conditions to meet modern archival
standards, providing increased exhibit and public meeting spaces, and
constructing new encasements for the Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.)  Because language relating to the
renovation is in the Senate bill, the item is conferenceable, and, since
Representatives Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) - two key
conferees on the House side - have made their support for funding the
Archives I renovation widely known, sources inside the Archives are
hopeful that the resulting bill sent to the President will include
funding for the renovation in the FY 2001 appropriation bill. Should
funding for the renovation not be allocated this year, some historians
are concerned that funds for the electronic records project (perhaps
more than $100 million will be needed) anticipated to be part of a FY
2002 appropriation request may be delayed for another year.

The Senate subcommittee passed measure also provided earmarked funds for
two NHPRC directed grants. Under the Senate passed measure, special
NHPRC grant money would go to the Three Tribes Museum ($200,000) in
North Dakota for cataloging of records and artifacts; $250,000 is also
earmarked for the Heritage Harbor Museum in Rhode Island for a
cataloging project relating to the museum's Native American exhibit.
Because of these earmarks, the Senate bill provides for $6.450 million
for the NHPRC verses $6 million that was recommended in the President's
budget and passed in the House version.

In general, National Archives officials are pleased with the Senate
passed measure though they hope to see the "forward funding" of $88
million provided for the Archives I renovation in FY 2002 added to the
FY 2001 appropriation during conference. Because of controversial
provisions relating to gun control and a Congressional pay increase are
in the Treasury bill, inside sources think it unlikely that the full
Senate will want to take up the massive appropriation bill until after
the Republican National Convention.  Thus, it is expected that the full
Senate will wait to act on the bill until after the August recess. A
conference is expected to be held shortly thereafter.

2.  ACTION ITEM:  NHPRC REAUTHORIZATION BILL PASSES HOUSE - REFERRED TO
SENATE COMMITTEE
On July 24 the House of Representatives passed a bill to reauthorize the
National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the
fiscal years 2002 through 2005 with a federal appropriations ceiling of
$10 million.  The bill (H.R. 4110) has been referred to a Senate
Committee but action this Congress appears unlikely.

After passing the House, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee
on Governmental Affairs, chaired by Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN).  Since
the NHPRC still has a year to run in its current authorization cycle,
the Senator appears reluctant to push for enactment.  However, the
climate for reauthorization is currently favorable and Hill sources
report that it would be preferable to see the bill move this year rather
than wait for the next Congress whose members may not be as supportive
of NHPRC programs.

ACTION ITEM: There still is time before the end of this Congressional
session for the bill to be reported out of the Senate Committee, but the
decision whether to report the bill rests with Senator Thompson.
Supporters of the NHPRC (particularly those in Tennessee) are urged to
call Senator Thompson's office at (202) 224-4944 or fax him at  (202)
228-3679 or e-MAIL him at senator_thompson@thompson.senate.gov and urge
him to move the proposed NHPRC reauthorization bill forward.

3.    MOYNIHAN DECLASSIFICATION BOARD LEGISLATION RECEIVES HEARING
On July 26, the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs conducted a
hearing on the Public Interest Declassification Act (S. 1801) - the
latest version of Senator Patrick Moynihan's (D-NY) legislative efforts
to reform the national security classification and declassification
system.  Senator Moynihan, Representative Porter Goss (R-FL), Steven
Aftergood (Project on Government Secrecy, Federation of American
Scientists), Steven Garfinkel (Director of Information Security
Oversight Office, National Archives and Records Administration),
Professor Warren Kimball (Robert Treat Professor of History, Rutgers
University), and James Woolsey (Former Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency) testified before the Committee.

During the two hour hearing, key provisions of S. 1801 were discussed.
The legislation would create a nine-member "Public Interest
Declassification Board" designed to promote openness, to support
congress in its oversight of declassification, and to make
recommendations to the President on declassification practices and
procedures.  Its powers would include that of recommending the
collection and declassification of government records in response, among
other things, to "the interests of the public in national security
matters." The Board would also review the declassification programs of
various federal agencies and make recommendations on how they could be
improved. The President would appoint the advisory board members.  If
the President appoints qualified people, the Board could foster
increased openness.

All of the individuals testifying on the measure were supportive of  the
proposed legislation.  Representative Porter Goss, Chair of the House
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has introduced a companion
bill (H.R. 3152) and vows to do all he can to push the measure through
the House. Goss's comments focused on the provision in the legislation
that deals with the explosion of "special search" requests by members of
Congress, the executive branch and the American public in recent years.
Goss stated that he felt the proposed legislation "established a
structure by which such special searches will be done once, and done
right."  In his prepared comments, Senator Moynihan emphasized that the
board cannot stop a special search from being done, but could advise the
President on whether a search needs to be undertaken.  His oral comments
focused on the history of declassification and he described some past
abuses by federal agencies.

In his statement, Steven Garfinkel expressed the Clinton
Administration's support for the legislation and said that "the
establishment of the Public Interest Declassification Board could not
come at a more propitious time for providing expert advice on the timely
issues of classification and declassification policy." He expressed the
concern that several Executive Orders that currently provide for
mandatory declassification could be reversed by a future President.  He
believed the Board could play a vital role in recommending to future
Presidents that they not revert to policies of the past. Steven
Aftergood expressed some reservations with the current measure but
viewed it as a stepping stone to larger goals - such as advocating
reform within the Executive branch - and hence believed S. 1801 should
be enacted.  Warren Kimball expressed his view that the legislation was
an important step in "opening the historical record to the scrutiny of
the American public."  Kimball also suggested a number of proposed
amendments to the legislation including a provision that the Board
should be mandated to meet two to three times per year. Finally, former
CIA Director R. James Woolsey spoke on the need for reform on one hand,
yet "caution and experimentation" on the other.  He concluded that the
establishment of the Declassification Board seemed to be "a positive
step."

The future of this legislation still is in limbo. Now that the Senate
hearing has been completed, the key question facing the Senate committee
is whether  S. 1801 would ease or hinder declassification. Because there
are little costs and no authorities associated with this bill and since
it would honor a retiring Senator who has been a champion of
declassification, it may pass despite the few legislative days left in
this congress.   Inside sources believe that a House hearing is
unlikely, but because Representative Goss is supportive, the measure
could be attached to other pending legislation and be enacted this
Congress.

4.  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FILLS "MANAGER HISTORICAL RESOURCES"
POSITION
Back in April 2000, the Washington Post classified add job section
included 3 positions, listed by the Clerk of the House, to fill
positions slotted for the House's Legislative Resource Center.  The
Clerk of the House, Jeff Trandahl, has hired Ken Kato to fill the first
of these three positions -- "Manager Historical Services."  For the last
eight years Kato has been assigned to the National Archives Center for
Legislative Archives; he possess and MA in Political Science from Johns
Hopkins University and is currently working on his Ph.D. at Johns
Hopkins.

Kato began work on July 24; one of his first duties will be to
participate in the selection of the two other staff members -- a
"research assistant" and an "archival specialist."  Collectively, these
positions will constitute the historical services division of the
House's Legislative Resource Center.

The Center has not had a professional historian on the staff for over
five years and has not had a professional archivist for two years.   In
1995 the House established a Legislative Resource Center and merged the
functions of Records and Registration, the House Library, the House
Document Room, and the Office of the Historian.  When the 106th Congress
convened in January, 1999, the House of Representatives recodified and
passed a revised version of its standing rules and retained the
provision for the "Office of the Historian." For all intents an purposes
the House and Senate now have historical offices.

5.  NEWS BITS AND BYTES
Item #1: On July 17 representatives of the historical and archival
community as well as other organizational stakeholders met with
Archivist John Carlin and other NARA representatives to provide comments
on NARA's most recent update of the strategic plan entitled "Ready
Access to Essential Evidence: The Strategic Plan of the National
Archives and Records Administration, 1997-2007."  Updating the plan is
mandated by law every three years. Comments and discussion points of
reviewers focused on many aspects of the plan including electronic
records, human resources development, the unique needs of the
Presidential libraries and genealogists, partnering and organization
collaboration; the need for NARA to "cultivate allies" and the need for
the plan to better link goals, with money and provide time frames for
accomplishment were also raised. A draft of the plan that was discussed
may be found at: http://www.nara.gov/vision/PlanUpdate.html

Item #2: The Digital Library Federation (DLF) and Research Libraries
Group (RLG) have issued "Guidelines to Quality Visual Resource
Imaging"-  a Web-based reference tool designed to serve the growing
community of museums, archives, and research libraries that are turning
to digital conversion of original photographs, prints, drawings, and
maps.  More information including the guidelines are available at
www.rlg.org/visguides/

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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