Capitol Commentary

Lee White

Visit the National Coalition for History online.

National Coalition for History and Society of American Archivists Testify at Senate NARA Oversight Hearing
On May 14, 2008, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security held an oversight hearing on the programs of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Martin J. Sherwin, University Professor of History at George Mason University and winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Biography, represented the National Coalition for History at the hearing. James Henderson, former Maine state archivist represented the Society of American Archivists.

This was the first oversight hearing on the National Archives in well over a decade.

The first panel consisted of Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein, Linda Koontz, Director of Information Services at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and Paul Brachfield, Inspector General of the National Archives and Records Administration.

The question and answer period for the first panel was highlighted by a sharp exchange between Weinstein and Brachfield over the lack of responsiveness by NARA to alleged weaknesses in its programs identified by the Inspector General’s office. The panel also spent the bulk of the Q&A period discussing the progress and deficiencies of NARA’s Electronic Records Archive (ERA).

Weinstein told Subcommittee Chairman Thomas Carper (D-DE) that the delayed ERA system would come online in June and that he expected the system would be capable of accepting the Bush administration’s records at the time of the presidential transition on January 20, 2009.

Inspector General Brachfield stated that he had identified warning signs with the ERA contractor Lockheed-Martin some time ago and his alarms had not been heeded by senior management at NARA. Brachfield expressed concerns as to, “if or when ERA will be operational.”  Koontz stated that the ERA faced challenges in both the long and short term. She expressed real concern that the system was still at risk and that ERA would not be ready to accept Bush administration’s records next January.

Joining Sherwin and Henderson on the second panel was Tom Blanton, Director of the National Security Archive, and Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org.

In summarizing the question and answer period, a number of themes emerged. There was consensus among the panelists that NARA was, as Blanton put it, “drowning” under the challenges of declassification of millions of documents and the processing of presidential records. McDermott and Blanton were sharply critical of NARA’s reticence to aggressively oversee records management by federal agencies, to be a stronger advocate for more resources from the Administration and Congress, and NARA’s deference and timidity toward the White House regarding preserving presidential records.

There was complete consensus among the panelists on the need to reform the classification and declassification process to reduce the amount of material that is over-classified initially so as to reduce backlogs in the future.

Sherwin strongly urged the adoption of the “Presidential Records Reform Act, (H.R. 1255, S. 886),” legislation to overturn Executive Order 13233 which gives incumbent and former presidents, their heirs and designees and former vice presidents broader authority to withhold or delay the release of records.

Both Henderson and Sherwin spoke against the elimination of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), as called for in the Administration’s fiscal year 2009 budget. They urged Congress to provide the fully authorized amount of $10 million and for the passage of a bill to reauthorize the NHPRC for the next five fiscal years at $20 million per-year.

NARA Submits Founding Fathers Papers Plan to Congress
In May, Allen Weinstein submitted a report, entitled “The Founders Online,” to the Committees on Appropriations of the U.S. Congress. This report is the National Archives response to concerns raised by the Committees that the complete papers of America’s Founding Fathers are not available online. The Founders Online is a plan for providing online access, within a reasonable time frame, to researchers, students and the general public.

The National Archives received suggestions from the editors of the papers of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington, university publishers, and others in crafting a blueprint for providing access to the already completed print editions and the raw materials for the editions to come. The plan is designed to make available online work in progress with the already complete editions, accompanied by transcriptions of the papers yet to be published. To hasten the transition process, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission plans to invest $250,000 in a demonstration pilot project. 

The plan outlines three basic steps toward completion:

• Digitizing the existing 217 volumes and publishing the papers on a single website to allow for research and inquiry across America’s Founding Era collections;
• Transcribing and otherwise preparing for publishing on the web the remaining papers (approximately 90,000 documents) and replacing these raw materials with authoritative annotated versions as these are completed; and
• Creating an independent oversight process to ensure that rigorous performance goals are established and met by the parties carrying out all aspects of the work.

To take advantage of existing online publication efforts of completed volumes and to accelerate the online publication of unfinished volumes, NARA proposes to engage a sole service provider to undertake transcription and document encoding for all Founding Father papers that have not yet been edited. This would prepare these documents for access on the Web.

NARA plans to issue a competitive request for proposals in 2008, as a test of concept, to undertake work that will help put the unpublished papers in a usable format for online publication services, such as Rotunda.

“Preserving the American Historical Record Act” Introduced in Congress
The “Preserving the American Historical Record Act (PAHR)” (H.R. 6056) was recently introduced by Congressmen Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Chris Cannon (R-UT). The PAHR legislation would establish a new federal program of formula grants to the states and territories to support archives and historical records at the state and local level. The introduction of the PAHR bill marks the culmination of years of work by the Council of State Archivists (CoSA), the Society of American Archivists (SAA), and the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administration (NAGARA). The National Coalition for History has endorsed the PAHR bill.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) would administer the Preserving the American Historical Records program. PAHR would be entirely separate from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The legislation authorizes $50 million a year for five years for the initiative to preserve and provide access to historical records.

Base funding would be provided to each state or territory, with the remainder of funding distributed using a population/area-based formula. A fifty percent match for any funding awards would be required of state and local partners.

White House Issues New Policy on “Controlled But Unclassified Information”
The White House recently released a new policy attempting to standardize procedures for the treatment of what is referred to as “Sensitive But Unclassified” (SBU) information. The memorandum issued by the president adopts, defines, and institutes “Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)” as the new standard for the treatment of such information. There are currently more than 100 different markings for sensitive information that has led to overclassification. The new CUI policy would reduce that to three categories.

Three new categories are:

• “Controlled with Standard Dissemination,” meaning  that the information requires standard safeguarding measures that reduce the risks of unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure. Dissemination is permitted to the extent that it is reasonably believed that it would further the execution of a lawful or official purpose.
• “Controlled with Specified Dissemination,” meaning that the information requires safeguarding measures that reduce the risks of unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure. Material contains additional instructions on what dissemination is permitted.
• “Controlled Enhanced with Specified Dissemination,” meaning that the information requires safeguarding measures more stringent than those normally required since the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure would create risk of substantial harm. Material contains additional instructions on what dissemination is permitted.

On May 22, Allen Weinstein announced the establishment of the “Controlled Unclassified Information Office” (CUIO) within the National Archives and Records Administration. Weinstein also announced that William J. Bosanko, director of the Information Security Oversight Office, would head up this newly formed office.

History Coalition Endorses “Electronic Messages Preservation” Bill
In a June 13, 2008, letter to Representative Henry A. Waxman, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the National Coalition for History endorsed the “Electronic Message Preservation Act” (H.R. 5811, H. Rept. 110-709). The bill would direct the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to establish standards for the capture, management, preservation, and retrieval of federal agency and presidential electronic messages that are records in an electronic format.

NARA would have eighteen months to promulgate the regulations to implement the bill’s requirements. Federal agencies and the White House would then have no more than four years to comply. NARA would be required to report to Congress on White House and Federal agency compliance.

There would be an additional requirement for presidential records. One year following the completion of a president’s term in office, NARA would be required to report to Congress on the status of the transition of that president’s records into his or her archival depository.

Kathleen Williams Named NHPRC Director
Allen Weinstein announced the appointment of Kathleen M. Williams as Executive Director of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Williams, who has been Acting Executive Director since January 2008, replaces former director Max Evans.

Williams was previously Deputy Executive Director of the NHPRC where she oversaw daily operations and the grant award cycles. She has worked at the NHPRC and the National Archives since 2004.

National Park Service Issues Report on Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites
Recently, the National Park Service released a “Report to Congress on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States.”  The study is the broadest federal effort ever undertaken to determine the status of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 resources. The report reflects the results of years of study and was successful in identifying the sites of almost 3,000 events associated with the two wars, including sixty sites within the National Park System.

The National Park Service has developed a website to highlight many of the sites preserved by the NPS as well as state and local governments and public and private entities (<http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/rev1812/intro.htm>).  In addition to a list of sites, the website includes information and web links to books and documents related to the Revolutionary War and War of 1812.