News of the Profession

President Issues Order Restricting Congressional Earmarks

On January 29, 2008, President Bush issued Executive Order 13457 "Protecting American Taxpayers from Government Spending on Wasteful Earmarks." Executive Order 13457 could have a real impact on funding for specific historical sites and programs, research and archival projects, and colleges and universities since they are often beneficiaries of congressional earmarks.

The executive order follows through on the threat the president made during his State of the Union address to sharply curtail the ability of members of Congress, through the use of earmarks in committee report language, to designate funds in appropriations legislation for specific projects or organizations, most often in their district or state.

The order defines an earmark "as any funds provided by Congress for projects, programs, or grants where the congressional direction (whether in statutory text, report language, or other communication) (1) circumvents merit-based or competitive allocation processes; (2) specifies the location or recipient of the funds; or (3) otherwise limits the ability of the executive branch to manage its statutory and constitutional responsibilities for the allocation of federal funds."

The battle between the executive and legislative branch over the use of earmarks has been going on for many years. "Pork barrel" projects, such as the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska have led to stronger efforts to curtail the increasing use of earmarks by Congress, which grew exponentially during Bush's years in the White House when the Republican Party controlled Congress. According to the watchdog group Citizen's Against Government Waste, in 2001 there were 6,333 earmarks totaling $18.5 billion in the federal budget. By 2005, that number had ballooned to $27.3 billion for 13,997 projects. In 2007, the first year the Democrats controlled Congress, the numbers dropped dramatically to $13.2 billion for 2,658 earmarks.

The executive order applies to earmarks in bills Congress will send to the president beginning in Fiscal Year 2009. The policy will remain in effect unless the order is repealed by a future president.

Task Force on Smithsonian Business Ventures Issues Report

The Task Force on Smithsonian Business Ventures (SBV) issued its report which called for retaining the business operation as a centralized, distinct organization within the Smithsonian, but more closely aligning its functions with the mission of the institution. The report also recommended that SBV increase transparency in its business operations.

The task force was established by Acting Secretary Cristián Samper in August 2007 to review Smithsonian Business Ventures and recommend ways to improve its operation and maximize contributions to the Smithsonian.

The task force concluded that financial performance and overall quality fell short of expectations because the institution was unnecessarily divided against itself. The task force also recommended reorganizing the business into three large groupings--Retail (stores, catalog and online catalog, IMAX theaters, food services), Business Development and Licensing (new businesses, product development and licensing, student and adult educational travel), and Media (Smithsonian magazine, online publishing, Smithsonian books, Smithsonian Networks, goSmithsonian magazine).

Congress Enacts Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) Reform Bill

On December 31, 2007, President Bush signed into law legislation (S. 2488) to implement the first reforms to the FOIA in more than a decade. Congress passed the "Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act" (OPEN Government Act) bill on December 18, 2007.

The new law improves transparency in the Federal Government's FOIA process by:

• Restoring meaningful deadlines for agency action under FOIA;
• Imposing real consequences on federal agencies for missing FOIA's twenty-day statutory deadline;
• Clarifying that FOIA applies to government records held by outside private contractors;
• Establishing a FOIA hotline service for all federal agencies; and
• Creating a FOIA Ombudsman to provide FOIA requestors and federal agencies with a meaningful alternative to costly litigation.
• In 2007, NCH issued a legislative alert urging passage of the FOIA bill and was involved in a broad-based coalition that worked towards passage of the legislation.

National Security Archive, OAH and Others Petition for Release of Rosenberg Grand Jury Records

The National Security Archive, along with the OAH and other leading U.S. historical associations, filed a petition in federal court in New York City on January 31 for the release of grand jury records from the 1951 indictment of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were accused of running an espionage ring that passed American atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, convicted of spying, and executed in 1953.

Supported by extensive declarations from experts, the petition describes the trial of the Rosenbergs as a defining moment in the Cold War and argues that fifty-seven years later, scholarly and public interest in these transcripts far outweigh any remaining privacy or national security interests in continued secrecy.

"This petition brings together scholars and journalists who have diverse and often divergent views of the Rosenberg case, Soviet espionage, and American counterespionage," commented Tom Blanton, the Archive's director. "What unites the petitioners is the opportunity to end the unnecessary secrecy and to open these unique primary sources to public and scholarly scrutiny."

National Archives Announces Extended Research Room Hours

Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein announced that the National Archives will restore its evening and weekend hours in its Washington, D.C. and College Park, MD, research rooms. Effective the week of April 14, 2008, the extended hours will be 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday. Hours on Monday and Tuesday will continue to be 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Congress and the president provided a one-time appropriation of $1.3 million in the National Archives Fiscal Year 2008 budget to restore these hours. The funds will be used to hire new archival research room staff and to cover the costs of utilities, maintenance, and security during the extended hours.

"I am very grateful to congress and the president for their recognition of the importance of making our documentary heritage as widely available as possible. Extending the research room hours goes a long way in helping us attain this goal. This increase in hours underlines our commitment to open government," Weinstein said in making the announcement. "I would also like to acknowledge the enthusiastic support of our user communities," he added.

Research room hours at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC and at the College Park facility were reduced in October 2006 as a cost-savings measure. Since then, the National Archives has had extended hours only once a month--on Thursday and Friday evenings and on Saturdays. Prior to October 2006, the National Archives extended hours were Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The change from Tuesday to Wednesday evening late hours was implemented to make it more convenient and cost-effective for out-of-town researchers who travel to the National Archives for research.