Capitol Commentary

Bruce Craig, Director of the National
Coalition for History

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Kyle-Lott—Is the Cost Really Worth It?
As part of a congressionally mandated review of previously released historical documents relating to nuclear energy and weaponry, the Pentagon and the Energy Department have reclassified as national security secrets historical data relating to the size of the American nuclear arsenal during the Cold War. The cost of the review to the American taxpayer is over $3,313 per page, a figure that has raised the eyebrows of government watchdog groups that are questioning the relative costs and benefits of the reclassification program. The reclassifications are the result of a wide-ranging review, authorized in 1998, of archival documents that could contain nuclear weapons data. The so-called Kyle-Lott amendments sought to re-screen documents for inadvertent releases of information relating to the American nuclear arsenal. Since then, continuation of the costly program has been justified in terms of its potential to thwart terrorism.

In implementing Kyle-Lott amendments, the Energy Department has spent some $22 million. The department has surveyed more than 200 million pages of previously released public documents. While the program has certainly kept young historians and contract researchers employed, there are serious questions relating to the relative costs and benefits of the program and whether America is actually any safer as a result of the rereview. According to sources, there is no documented evidence of terrorists ever seeking information from archival or historical documents deposited in a NARA facility that has been of use in planning or executing a terrorist attack. The Department of Energy reports that to date a total of 6,640 pages have been withdrawn from public access as a result of the re-screening. This comes at a total per-page cost of $3,313, but even this figure is deceptively low. The majority of the documents being withheld hold a lesser classification than that of “Restricted Data”–a classification that could potentially include weapon systems design information of use to a terrorist.

Agency officials, amid criticism, continue to justify the rereview and reclassification. According to Bryan Wilkes, a spokesperson for the National Nuclear Security Administration, “There’s no question that current classified nuclear weapons data was out there that we had to take back . . . . By today’s environment, where there is a great deal of concern about rogue nations or terrorist groups getting access to nuclear weapons, this [program] makes a lot of sense.” According to critics, there is no national security reason for the administration to keep such historical information classified, especially since it has been publicly available for years and in some cases had been specifically turned over to America’s then number one enemy, the Soviet Union, in order to comply with provisions in two strategic arms reductions treaties. According to National Security Archive director Thomas Blanton, “What’s really at risk is accountability in government.”

Archivist Reports on Declassification Initiative Progress
In a meeting with representatives of the research community in September, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein reported on the progress being made in the effort to implement the “National Declassification Initiative (NDI),” a new set of policies, declassification practices, procedures, and organizational structures believed to be needed to create a more reliable declassification program for federal records. Weinstein said, “When we last met in April, I promised that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) would act swiftly and responsibly to begin to address the very serious challenges that we face in coordinating with other Federal agencies in the realm of declassification.” Weinstein stated that effort is now being implemented.

The new NARA initiative was conceived in response to an April 2006 audit report by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) entitled “Withdrawal of Records from Public Access at the National Archives and Records Administration for Classification Purposes.” Weinstein explained the objectives, milestones, and progress to date for the initiative that he hopes will serve as the catalyst for declassification reform among federal agencies. The program, he said, would establish a better means for managing referrals of classified equities among executive branch agencies. In addition to the NDI, the meeting included a briefing on the National Archives program for handling the systematic declassification of presidential records called the “Remote Archives Capture Project.” The archivist explained that all federal agencies are being encouraged to participate in and support both of these declassification initiatives.

As envisioned, the new NDI program will reduce redundancies in declassification review, will promote accurate and consistent declassification decisions, will improve equity recognition across the declassification community, will develop centralized priorities and management controls around the priorities, and will make the declassification process more transparent to the public. In order to realize that goal, an interagency executive steering group has been established. Weinstein reported that the steering group met on August 28 where representatives of the twelve executive branch agencies with major declassification responsibilities discussed various strategies required to ensure the NDI’s success. The archivist stated that in subsequent meetings, the executive steering group will develop and implement detailed work plans designed to ensure that agency equities are referred and resolved to allow the maximum feasible declassification. In addition, the steering group will focus on ensuring that common referral standards are developed, redundancies are reduced, and that records are appropriately reviewed for declassification so that only information that must be retained for national security purposes is withheld.

Weinstein also gave the group of researchers a status report on specific audit items. He stressed that since the ISOO audit report was issued, notwithstanding the ongoing Department of Energy document review pursuant to the Kyle-Lott amendments, the practice of withdrawing documents from the open shelves “has been stopped in its tracks.” Weinstein stated that “today, withdrawals are extremely rare,” and in order for an agency to do so, it “must demonstrate a compelling case.” He stated that only seven new documents had been withdrawn in that last four months and that “all of these withdrawals have been carefully noted in the opened files so that their removal is transparent to researchers and all have been handled in accordance with the audit protocol.” One of the documents—from the Truman Library—has been declassified and is now back on the shelf and agency decisions are still pending on the other items which originated from the Carter Presidential Library.

NARA Issues New Hours Final Rule
After soliciting public comment on proposed changes in the hours of operation for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) research and museum facilities in Washington D.C. and College Park, Maryland, a final rule was published in the Federal Register on September 27, 2006. New hours for both the museum and research side of the two NARA facilities went into effect on October 2, 2006. The new research hours are: Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. In order to accommodate researchers who work during regular business hours, the National Archives will have extended hours once a month. The monthly extended hours are: Thursday and Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., and Saturday, 8:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. The first extended hours were held October 19-21. The new hours are posted online at: <http://www.archives.gov/research/>.

The new hours also will affect visitors to Washington D.C. who each year flock to visit the NARA Rotunda where the founding documents are on display. The new museum hours are: 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. during the spring and summer (March 15 through Labor Day). Fall and winter hours (the day after Labor Day through March 14) will remain unchanged: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. These changes affect (except for special events) the Rotunda, the Public Vaults, the O’Brien Gallery, the Archives Shop, and the McGowan Theater. The museum will close on Thanksgiving day and Christmas day.

The National Archives’ regional archives around the country will continue to operate during core hours, but will modify their extended hours, effective October 2. For more information on these changes, go to <http://www.archives.gov/locations/regional-archives.html>.

Constitution Day Federal Mandate Expanded
In 2004, Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) tacked onto federal legislation a requirement that “each federal institution that receives federal funds . . . must hold an educational program on the U.S. Constitution on 17 September each year.” This year, there is a new requirement: federal employees must complete a twenty-five-minute tutorial on the Constitution. The tutorial is thirty-seven pages and provides a general historic overview and summary of the amendments.
Some federal officials such as Daniel Sutherland, officer for civil rights and civil liberties and George Tanner, chief learning officer, view Constitution Day and all its requirements as an “opportunity to pause and consider the larger purpose behind our professionalism.” However, not all federal employees find the tutorial worthwhile. One Department of Homeland Security employee noted that the tutorial was a “waste of time . . . stuff I learned in high school.”

Byrd’s belief in the relevance and importance of the Constitution has been apparent throughout his service in the U.S. Senate. He regularly carries a copy of the Constitution in his coat pocket and often quotes from the document during Senate debates. According to Byrd, the Constitution “embodies the vision of the Framers, their dream of freedom . . . but we cannot defend and protect this dream if we are ignorant of the Constitution’s history and how it works.”

Robert Byrd Now Longest
Serving Senator in History
On June 12, 2006, the eighty-eight year-old West Virginia Senator, Robert C. Byrd marked his 17,327th day in the Senate and thereby became the longest-serving senator in American history. Byrd, who has long held the record for the most Senate votes cast as well as for holding more leadership positions than any other senator in history, now also pulls ahead of the late South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, who previously held the record as the “longest serving senator.” The Senate noted the occasion with appropriate tributes to Byrd, a champion for the funding of American history-related programs. Senators gushed as Byrd struggled to maintain his composure; ultimately he exited the chamber without speaking.

This year, Byrd is seeking his ninth term as senator from West Virginia, and, according to some, he faces his toughest reelection campaign in years against Republican businessman John Raese. Raese, who is a relative political novice, has the strong support of the Republican Party, which is expected to pour money raised outside of the state into the campaign against Byrd, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration’s handling of the war in Iraq. Should Byrd be defeated, history would lose its most vocal and most ardent spokesman for American history programs.