Capitol Commentary

Bruce Craig, Director of the National Coalition for History

National Coalition For History Now Up And Running

For over twenty-five years the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH) has served as a voice for the historical and archival professions on Capitol Hill. On 1 January 2003, the NCC formally ceased operations and a successor advocacy organization--the National Coalition for History (NCH)--began operating, carrying forward the advocacy flag for history and archival organizations.

During the January 2003 annual meeting of the American Historical Association, the Policy Board of the new history coalition elected officers, approved an annual budget, and authorized several new initiatives including a long-needed seminar series targeted to members of Congress and their staff--"Issuing History: Historical Perspectives on Public Policy."

The decision to reorganize the NCCPH under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and change the organization's name to the National Coalition for History was unanimously adopted by the NCCPH Policy Board during the organization's annual meeting a year ago. At that time, the Policy Board approved an ambitious three-year strategic plan that seeks to better position the history and archival communities to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. To view the plan, visit <http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~ncc/>.

The new Articles of Incorporation provide that the NCH is to serve as "a central educational/advocacy outreach office for history and archives." To that end, the NCH will continue the NCCPH's long time commitment to history and archives advocacy. Through the weekly electronic posting of the "NCH Washington Update" the organization will continue to provide a clearinghouse function by bringing news of interest to the professional communities that the NCH serves. In the coming months, the NCH will also begin to expand its outreach and education programs by targeting special educational programs to the news media and professional staff on Capitol Hill.

During the meeting of the Policy Board, Lee Formwalt (Organization of American Historians) was elected chair/president with a vice-presidential slot being filled by Arnita Jones (American Historical Association); a second slot is on hold for the Society of American Archivists (the soon to be appointed incoming Executive Director of the SAA is expected to fill this position). Martha Kumar (American Political Science Association) was elected secretary and Anna Nelson (Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations) was elected treasurer. Policy Board rotating terms were approved for the Association for Documentary Editing, the Society of American Historians, and the Society for History in the Federal Government.

108th Congress Convenes

On 7 January 2003, the 108th Congress was gaveled to order with Republicans controlling both the Senate and House. The new Congress consists of a Senate with 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 1 Independent--Senator James Jeffords (I-VT) who will caucus with the Democrats. The new House will consist of 228 Republicans, 204 Democrats, and 1 Independent--Bernard Sanders (I-VT) who will also caucus with the Democrats. Republicans now not only have control of the White House, but they also have narrow control of the House of Representatives, and "procedural" control of the Senate, where a majority (needed to end a filibuster and force a vote) is sixty votes.

The new Congress brings major shakeups in party leadership, especially for the Democrats who suffered a stunning defeat in the November 2002 elections. In the Senate, following the resignation of Trent Lott (R-MISS) as Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist (R-TN) rose to the occasion and was elected Majority Leader by his GOP colleagues. Tom Daschle (D-SD) was reelected by the Democrats as Minority Leader. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Harry Reid (D-NV) become their party's respective Whips. Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV)--as the longest serving Democratic member of the Senate--passes the gavel as President Pro Tempore to Senator Ted Stevens (R-AS) who is the longest serving Republican. Byrd also gives up his prized seat as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee to Senator Stevens.

Because the House was under the control of the Republicans throughout the 107th Congress, there are fewer changes of note. Dennis J. Hastert (R-IL) was elected as Speaker of the House though Tom Delay (R-TX) moves into the majority leader position with Roy Blunt (R-MO) becoming majority whip. For the Democrats, Richard Gephardt (D-MO) stepped down as minority leader and has been replaced by Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Steny Hoyer (D-MD) steps into Pelosi's old job as minority whip.

There are also several committees worth mentioning. Senator Don Nickles (R-OK) will Chair the Budget Committee with Pete Domenici (R-NM) taking control of the Resources Committee from Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). Judd Gregg (R-NH) replaces Edward Kennedy (D-MASS) as head of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Susan Collins (R-ME) will Chair Government Affairs, taking over for Joseph Lieberman (D-CONN). The House Resources Committee that considers virtually all historic preservation measures will change hands due to the retirement of James Hansen (R-UT).

In the House, Dan Burton (R-IN), who aggressively advanced the "Presidential Records Act (PRA) Amendments of 2002" legislation that was designed to nullify President Bush's Executive Order 13223 steps down as Chair of the Government Reform Committee because of term limitation requirements. With the retirement of Representative Steve Horn (R-CA), who authored the PRA reform bill, there is some question of who will champion that legislation next session. One additional power shift is in the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the National Park Service, the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and a host of what are known as other Interior Department "related agencies."

So what can we expect from the new Congress? In the Senate, Republican moderates begin the 108th Congress in a strong position and are expected to help keep the President's agenda from shifting too far to the right. For the history and archives communities, having Roy Blunt (R-MO) as wajority whip and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the Democrat's most visible centrist and Maryland's highest ranking member of Congress, as the Democratic whip in the House may prove beneficial, especially for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Blunt is a current member of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) and Hoyer, whose district hosts Archives II, has long been a staunch supporter of NARA. And, having Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) as Chair of Government Operations may prove a blessing for supporters of the effort to overturn the Bush PRA executive order.

Under White House pressure, though, Senate Republicans are expected to slash hundreds of millions of dollars worth of both Republican and Democratic-sponsored earmarks in the still unfinished FY 2003 appropriations bills. Though Senator Byrd no longer will chair the Senate Appropriations Committee and incoming Chair Ted Stevens promises to chop at least $9 billion from Senate spending bills, Byrd is still a powerful member of the Committee and he should be able to secure continuing funding for his pet projects, including the Department of Education's "Teaching American History" initiative.

How will the 107th Congress be remembered?

Some political scientists, historians, and Hill-watchers have already dubbed it "historic." It was a Congress that met under the cloud of a contested Presidential election; it survived a possible terrorist attack on 11 September 2001, and an anthrax attack shortly thereafter. The Senate witnessed three changes of party control and the House expelled its second member since the Civil War period. Both chambers valiantly tried to stem accounting scandals and a total meltdown of public confidence in corporate America and began preparing a nation for a war abroad. It may have been "historic," but it certainly left a lot of work on the table and earned few kudos for enacting legislation benefitting history or archives.

When lawmakers adjourned, they left literally hundreds of non-controversial bills to die, many of which had passed both the House and Senate in similar but not necessarily identical versions. These included: three history theme studies--(Cold War (H.R. 107); Peopling of America (S.329); and Reconstruction (S. 2388); dozens of minor boundary adjustment bills for historic national park units; and the Museum and Library Service Act of 2002 (H.R. 3784). Congress also shirked its most important constitutional responsibility when it failed to pass a budget resolution or to act on eleven pending appropriation measures that allow the executive department agencies to operate at their fully authorized levels. Perhaps it will be remembered as the Congress where "talk beat the clock."

So what did pass of note in the second session of the 107th? The USA Patriot Act (P.L. 107-56) which includes many controversial provisions relating to privacy, whistleblower protections, and government oversight and a Homeland Security Act (P.L. 107- 296) that raises new worries about implementation of the FOIA and creates new powers to insure government secrecy. This Act also fails to include any statutory provision for the creation of a history office.

On the positive side, Congress did pass the TEACH Act (P.L. 107-273) that rewrites copyright rules for distance-education and the E-Government Act (S. 803) that seeks to improve citizen access to government services and information. Congress enacted legislation authorizing $10 million a year until 2008 for endangered Civil War Battlefield Preservation (P.L. 107-359); created a new battlefield park in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia--Cedar Creek and Belle Grove Plantation National Historical Park (P.L. 107-373); established the Oil Region National Heritage Area in Pennsylvania, as well as National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area and Great Basin National Heritage Areas, both in Utah; and created the Moccasin Bend National Historic Site in Tennessee as a unit of the National Park System. A handful of suitability studies for historic trail designations was also authorized. Quietly, Congress also passed a joint resolution (H.J. Res 117) approving the location of the commemorative monument to President John Adams in the District of Columbia.

The good news is that all that work last session may not be totally lost. At the end of every Congress there usually are a number of bills left in limbo that members want to see enacted. To attend to these measures, Congress will probably not create an omnibus bill, but rather will move the non-controversial bills individually--probably without benefit of mark-up or hearing--and try to push them through their respective houses as rapidly as possible. To this end, the National Coalition for History together with its history, archives, and preservation partners and various Congressional staff will be working to see that this happens.