Capitol CommentaryBruce Craig
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Transition Completed at NCCOn Friday, 16 June, former NCC Director Page Putnam Miller and I completed a multiweek executive director "transition" by finishing the chore of culling the NCC files, packing the last of Page's books, and, in my case, learning the intricacies of NCC's computer systems. This week, as Page is literally on the road, moving to South Carolina, I find myself alone here in the NCC's cosy office located on the top floor of the Capitol Hill Victorian house that serves as headquarters for the American Historical Association in Washington, D.C., writing this--my first installment of "Capitol Commentary" for the OAH Newsletter. In the coming weeks and months, as the NCC Board of Directors begins to review the NCC's past activities and prepares to meet the challenges of the future, you probably will notice some modest changes in the way the NCC conducts its activities and delivers its services. For example, the NCC's webpage (<http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~ncc/>) will be updated and hopefully will evolve into a "cyber center" for our advocacy efforts. Plans are also in the works for the creation of an "advocacy network" where recipients of our "Legislative Alerts" (which are sent to those of you who subscribe to the NCC on-line newsletter, "NCC Washington Update"), may be asked to take rapid action by calling, e-mailing, or writing Senators or Representatives to advance the cause of history. And, you will notice some changes in what is reported in the "Capitol Commentary"--for example, cultural resource and archival issues may figure a little more prominently than they have in the past. But rest assured that NCC's mission is not changing. It continues to focus on advocacy--the support of historical programs, teaching, research, and public programming; the promotion of greater access to historical records and government information, and support for federal humanities programs. We will also continue to address issues relating to copyright and historic preservation. As always, I invite your comments, responses, and suggestions; contact me at <rbcraig3@juno.com>. FY 2001 Interior Bill Passes House and SenateOn 18 July the Senate passed a $15.514 billion Interior and Related Agencies appropriation bill that includes recommended funding levels for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) of $120.26 million; for the Office of Museum Services, $24.9 million; for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), $105 million; and approximately $44.3 million for the Historic Preservation Fund. The Senate recommended funding levels are approximately $1 billion less than the President's request of $16.32 billion but more than the House passed appropriations bill. As of this writing, should the House and Senate conferees advance to the White House either the House or Senate versions of the Interior appropriations bill in their present form, such legislation faces a possible Presidential veto because both versions contain less than the Clinton Administration wanted for parklands and for Bureau of Indian Affairs programs. The Senate measure passed by a vote of 97 to 2 (Senators Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and Russell Feingold (D-WI) both voted against the bill; the ailing Senator Paul Coverdell (R-GA) did not vote. During the Senate debate which stretched over several steamy July days, numerous amendments were offered. Senator James Inhofe's (R-OK) attempt to transfer to another Interior agency proposed NEA increase funds was defeated 73 to 27. The climax of the amendment debates, however, occurred on the morning of 18 July when a proposal by Senate majority Whip Don Nickles (R-OK) that sought to bar the President from protecting any more federal land by designating new national monuments was defeated by a 50-49 vote. Had the measure passed, the President would have also been barred from declaring any historic sites (such as the recently designated Lincoln and Soldiers Home National Monument) as monuments as well. Passage of the Senate version of the Interior appropriations bill follows on the heels of many long months of work by the Senate appropriations staff and supporters of the NEH, the National Park Service, and other cultural institutions. The Senate approved legislation includes modest increases over both the House passed version of the Interior appropriations bill and current FY 2000 funding levels which stand at $98 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and $115.3 for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Over current funding levels, the Senate recommended a $7.4 million increase for the NEA, a $5 million increase for the NEH and a $0.6 million increase for the Office of Museum Service (OMS) at the Institute of Museum and Library Services. If the proposed increases survive the House-Senate conference, the NEH budget will become $120.3 million. According to the Senate report, the $5 million in additional funds allocated to the NEH would be divided as follows: $1.5 million for state humanities councils, $1 million to the public programs division, $800,000 to regional humanities centers, $1 million to research programs, $500,000 for administrative support, and $200,000 for the challenge grant program. Budget Recommendations for NARA, NHPRCDuring an evening session on 11 July, the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriation Subcommittee made its proposed recommendations for the FY 2001 budget for the National Archives and grants programs of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The House subcommittee proposed that the National Archives receive $201.171 million with the NHPRC being allotted $6 million, the same as the President's proposal. President Clinton had proposed a FY 2001 total budget request of $309.355 million for the National Archives, a $86.733 million increase over the FY 2000 level of $222.622 million. He requested $6 million, the current level, for competitive grants for the NHPRC. The major new spending initiative in the President's budget was $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. The House subcommittee did not allot any funds for the proposed renovation. The House subcommittee recommendation did, however, cover all the Archives fixed costs and provided sufficient funds to transfer President Clinton's papers to the Clinton Library in Little Rock. The House also earmarked funds to accelerate the processing of veterans records and provided start up monies for the electronic records project. Historic Preservation Fund ReauthorizedOn May 26 President Clinton signed H.R. 834 into law (PL 106-208) thus extending the reauthorization of the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation through FY 2005. The HPF is the mechanism used by the federal government to channel grant money to the states and certified local governments for a wide variety of historic preservation related activities. The Advisory Council, in cooperation with other federal and non-federal entities, provides leadership in the preservation of the nation's historic and prehistoric resources. The HPF had been without an authorization since FY 1997 which served to create a cloud of uncertainty over the federal government's continued commitment to historic preservation activities. The new law authorizes $150 million annually for the HPF and $4 million for the Advisory Council. The legislation also clarifies that the National Trust for Historic Preservation may receive grants from the Department of the Interior "consistent with the purposes of its charter and this Act." "Peopling" Theme Study Receives Senate HearingOn 27 April, Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), for himself and Senator Bob Graham (D-FL), introduced legislation S. 2478, "The Peopling of America Theme Study Act," authorizing the National Park Service (NPS) to conduct a theme study to identify, interpret, and preserve sites relating to the migration, immigration and settling of America. On 11 May, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee conducted a hearing on the legislation. During the hearing, Akaka noted that "All Americans were originally travelers from other lands. Whether we came to this country as native peoples, English colonists or African slaves, or as Mexican ranchers, or Chinese merchants, the process by which our nation was peopled transformed us from strangers from different shores into neighbors unified in our inimitable diversity--Americans all." Akaka stressed that it is essential for all Americans to understand this process. The legislation recognizes that only one National Park unit now focuses on the peopling of America: Ellis Island, a part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. Akaka expressed his hope that the study will serve as a springboard for the preservation and interpretation of several significant properties. During the hearing, Mr. Denis Galvin, Deputy Director of the National Park Service, declared the NPS's support for the study. According to Galvin, "If the peopling of America theme study is authorized and funded, we anticipate that the National Park Service would partner with experts in the history of immigration to the United States and migration within the country." In preparing the theme study, the legislation calls on the NPS to establish linkages with "organizations, societies and cultures" and to enter into a cooperative agreements with educational institutions, professional or local historical organizations or other entities. These entities would assist the NPS to prepare the theme study in accordance with generally accepted scholarly standards. Senator Moynihan's Declassification BillSenator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's (D-NY) legislative efforts to reform the national security classification and declassification system has moved from the initial effort at bold reform to a draft bill to establish an advisory board with relatively little authority. Moynihan first introduced the Government Secrecy Reform Act. (S. 712) in the 105th Congress. When it didn't pass, he reintroduced it in the 106th Congress and it became S. 22. This legislation built on his work as Chair of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. It called for all but the most sensitive information to be declassified after twenty five years and established an appeals process. Following considerable opposition to this bill from several major federal agencies, he shifted his focus and in October 1999 introduced S. 1801, the Public Interest Declassification Act of 1999. This legislation called for the creation of a Public Interest Declassification Board to oversee and manage the special requests for declassification and to provide agencies with the funding necessary for the "special searches." However, this bill also ran into opposition from those inside and outside of the government, partly because of its emphasis on the declassification of targeted records and not entire record groups, which is the usual archival procedure for systematically declassifying files. 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. Yet there is a lingering question of whether this legislation would end up promoting or hindering declassification. The latest draft of this bill is on the Federation of American Scientists' website at <http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2000/s1801b.html>. Justice and Nixon Estate Settle Case on RecordsOn 12 June, the Justice Department and the estate of former President Richard M. Nixon reached an out-of-court settlement and concluded over twenty years of litigation relating to the White House tapes and papers that the government seized from Nixon shortly after his resignation in 1974. The government agreed to pay $18 million for the collection. While this is a fraction of what Nixon's estate had originally sought--more than $200 million when adjusted for twenty five years' worth of interest--nevertheless, it is more than the government initially had hoped to pay. The government took possession of Nixon's presidential materials in 1974 and placed them under the custody of the National Archives. Nixon brought suit in 1980 claiming that he deserved compensation for his tapes and records. Government lawyers originally contended that because the documents had been created by public officials, at public expense, on public equipment for the public's benefit, the Nixon Estate should receive no compensation. It is expected that more than half of the $18 million will go to lawyer's fees, estate taxes and unpaid interest on back taxes with the remaining amount probably going to the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California. The records of the Nixon presidency will remain as a special collection at the National Archives facility in College Park. |
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