Capitol Commentary

Bruce Craig, Director of the National
Coalition for History

Bush Administration to Prosecute Journalists
On January 30, 2006 the Bush administration stated in a court filing that journalists can be prosecuted under current espionage laws for receiving and publishing classified information. "There is plainly no exemption in the statute for the press" stated the Justice Department brief that was filed in response to a motion to dismiss charges against two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The lobbyists reportedly received classified information during conversations they had with government officials, one of which told the two men that they were receiving "highly classified 'Agency stuff.' " That official subsequently pleaded guilty to violating the Espionage Act.

The government asserts in the brief that lobbyists "have no First Amendment right to willfully disclose national defense information." But the government went on to say "we recognize that a prosecution under the espionage laws of an actual member of the press for publishing classified information leaked to it by a government source would raise legitimate and serious issues and would not be undertaken lightly, indeed, the fact that there has never been such a prosecution speaks for itself." We now know where lobbyists and journalists stand in the eyes of government prosecutors, but exactly what the status of historians and scholars is remains unclear.

Coalition Calls For NARA Oversight Hearing
On March 22, 2006, the National Coalition for History delivered a letter to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Susan M. Collins renewing the history coalition's previous requests for the Senate to conduct general oversight hearings on the management, programs, and activities of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Both before and following the confirmation of Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein last year, the coalition advanced to Collins's committee a request that a general oversight hearing be conducted. With the exception of Weinstein's hour-long confirmation hearing, it has now been over a decade since the Senate paid any attention to the operating programs under NARA's administration and jurisdiction. During his confirmation hearing, Weinstein welcomed the opportunity for the Senate to scrutinize NARA's program and, according to inside NARA sources, his attitude has not changed since then.

The letter points out a number of issues that make a Senate hearing at this time especially timely. Added to the list of concerns mentioned in earlier requests—i.e. concern over stolen documents, and improperly handled documents by high government officials (most recently National Security Advisor Sandy Berger)—the letter notes the need for Senate investigation into the alarming "secret" reclassification program that the Archivist recently ordered a moratorium on pending completion of an ISOO audit. The letter also points out the need for a progress report and a discussion of the long terms needs of the Electronic Records Archives project; discussion of administrative aspects of the presidential library system (including the recent agreement between NARA and the Nixon Library foundation); the need for scrutiny over the implementation of the Presidential Records Act; as well as the need to consider a proposal for a higher authorization for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). All these, the letter states, are deserving of the Senate's "scrutiny and serious consideration."

NCH staff anticipate meeting with Senate staff on the letter in the near future.

House Approves Clinton Birthplace Home as a National Park Unit
On March 8, 2006, by a vote of 409 to 12, the U.S. House of Representatives granted approval to the Secretary of the Interior to designate President Bill Clinton's birthplace in Hope, Arkansas, as a National Historic Site thus making it a unit of the National Park System. The bill is somewhat unusual as it empowers the Secretary of the Interior to designate the home rather than have the site created through the more common process where Congress alone makes the designation.
The legislation provides that the Hope residence located at 117 South Hervey Street will be established as a unit of the National Park Service and given the name the "President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site" once the Clinton Birthplace Foundation donates the house and related property to the federal government. Figures provided by the National Park Service and Congressional Budget Office estimate the costs of preparing and operating the site would be about $1 million a year.

National Park Service (NPS) insiders report that there was no contextual study to assess and compare the "suitability, feasibility, and historical significance" of this site with others associated with President Clinton. The NPS was not requested by the committee to comment on the proposal. NPS policy discourages designations of birthplaces as NPS units and instead favors designations of other sites more closely associated with a president's historical significance. Congressional supporters of the Clinton site maintain that "While there are numerous residences associated with Clinton, this property is the one most closely identified with his youth and early development." The designation also has the support of President Clinton.

NARA Releases State
Department Digital Records
On March 22, 2006, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) released for online access an unusual and significant collection of diplomatic records: more than 400,000 State Department telegrams and other records from a collection titled "Central Foreign Policy Files, 1973-1974." The Central Foreign Policy files consist of State Department telegrams determined to have permanent historical value from 1973-1974, index references to paper documents created in 1974, and withdrawal notices for permanently valuable telegrams and index references which could not be released for national security or other reasons. Items released include a report of a television interview with former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan concerning the West Bank, a report of an interview with the Syrian Defense Minister discussing Israeli nuclear weapons, and a summary of possible French reactions to Indian nuclear testing. As the State Department continues its declassification review, files for later years will be added to the collection.

NARA reports that access to these newly released electronic records is enhanced by the recent redesign of the National Archives Access to Archival Databases (AAD) system, a research tool that makes a selection of the Archives' most popular electronic records available to the public over the Internet. AAD currently includes over 86 million electronic records from 48 series in some 29 record groups and three collections of donated historical materials. These long awaited digital records are publicly accessible at the National Archives website at <http//www.archives.gov/aad>.