Capitol Commentary

Lee White

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Congress Passes FY2008 Budget

On December 26, 2007, President Bush signed into law an omnibus funding package (H.R. 2764) that incorporates the eleven fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills for non-defense agencies. The overall total for the bill is $555 billion.

Here is a summary of FY08 funding for agencies and programs of interest to the historical and archival communities. (For comparison, the FY07 budget figure is included in parentheses after this year’s amount and report language from the House and Senate appropriations committees will be added where appropriate.)

THE FY08 BUDGET: BY AGENCY

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

• Total budget: $411 million (FY07: $341M). This amount includes funding for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
• Operating Expenses: $315M ($279M). This amount is $2.1M more than the administration’s request. The archivist was directed to target the amount above the request first to restore the public research hours that were cut in October 2006, and then to hire more archivist staff. The Archives intends to allocate $1.3M to restore the research hours and $800,000 to replace archival staff that has left in recent years. NARA was directed to report to the Committees on Appropriations, within thirty days of enactment, on specific steps it is taking to restore the research hours and to bolster its archivist workforce.
• Electronic Records Archives (ERA) project: $58M ($45M). The appropriations committees expressed concern about cost overruns in the ERA program, NARA’s oversight of the program, and the reliability of the work of the contractor (Lockheed Martin Corporation). The committees stated that additional delays “are unacceptable.” The archivist was directed to make monthly progress reports to the Government Accountability Office and the House and Senate appropriations committees.
• Repairs and Restoration: $28M ($9M)
• Repairs and restoration of NARA facilities: $8.6M
• John F. Kennedy Presidential Library—$8M
• Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library: $750,00
• Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library: $7.4M
• Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library: $3.7M

National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)

Since the Bush administration had proposed eliminating the NHPRC in FY08, this increased funding represents a major victory for the advocacy efforts of the historical and archival communities.

• Total budget: $9.5M ($7.5M)
• Grants: $7.5M ($5.5M)
• Operating expenses—$2M (same as FY07)

The appropriations committees expressed concern about the length of time it was taking to complete the publication of the Founding Fathers historical papers. They instructed the archivist to “accelerate the process” for completion of the projects by requesting a plan to make the papers available online with a report due back within ninety days to the committees.

Teaching American History (TAH)

• TAH program total—$120M ($119.7M). Since the administration had proposed cutting this program to $50M, this is a significant victory for the historical community. The appropriations committees recommended that the Department of Education provide initial three-year grants, with two additional years if a grantee is performing effectively.

National Park Service (NPS)

• The committees provided $25M in funding for the new Centennial Challenge program. This amount was half of what the Administration had proposed. The Centennial Challenge is a ten-year initiative to generate $2 billion in public and private matching grants to prepare for the Park Service’s centennial celebration in 2016.
• Cultural programs: $21.7M ($22.6M)
• Preserve America program: $7.5M ($4.9M)
• Heritage Partnerships program: $15.5M ($13.3M)
• Historic Preservation Fund: $71.5M ($65.6M). The fund includes: State historic preservation offices: $40M ($37M), and Save America’s Treasures program: $25M ($8M).

National Endowment for the Humanities

• Total budget: $147M ($141M)
• Grants and Administration: $132.5M ($125.8M) Programs under this budget line include:
• Federal and state partnerships: $32.2M ($30M)
• Preservation and access: $18.6M ($18.3M)
• Public programs: $12.9M ($12.3M)
• Research programs: $13.2M ($12.6M)
• Education programs: $12.8M ($12.2M)
• Program development: $362,000 ($375,000)
• “We the People” grants: $15.2M (no change)
• Digital Humanities Initiative: $2M (new funding)
• Matching grants: $14.5M ($15.2M)

Smithsonian Institution

• Total: $693M ($634.9M)
• Salaries and expenses: $571M ($536M)
• Facilities Capital: $107M ($98.6M)
• $15M to establish a “Legacy Fund.”

The Legacy Fund is intended to provide a means to address the $2.5 billion backlog of major repair and restoration of the institution’s facilities that now exist. The Legacy Fund has been designed as a public-private partnership whereby each federal dollar provided must be matched by twice that amount in private contributions before the full $15M is made available. Assuming that the Smithsonian can raise the $30M, the Legacy Fund would provide $45M above the $107M already included in the Facilities Capital account for FY08.

Despite the rocky year the Smithsonian experienced in 2007, Congress reaffirmed its commitment by providing major budget increases for the institution. The large increase approved for the Smithsonian reflects the increased confidence appropriations committees felt they had seen in the institution after a period of great controversy. Since the budget was submitted in February, the committees felt that the Smithsonian had moved aggressively to address longstanding governance and integrity issues. The senior leadership of the institution turned over and the Regents reorganized themselves to ensure that the reform process begun after the departure of Secretary Lawrence Small was fully implemented. The appropriations committees felt the change in leadership and the reform efforts undertaken over the last eight months represented significant progress. The committees said they would carefully monitor this continuing reform process to ensure that the Smithsonian does not backslide on its reforms.

New Hold Placed on Presidential
Records Reform Bill

As we have reported, since last September, Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) has been blocking a vote in the Senate on the “Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007” (H.R. 1255, S. 886). On December 18, 2007, without explanation, Senator Bunning finally lifted his hold. On January 22, 2008, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) brought the bill to the floor under the Senate’s unanimous consent rule that allows noncontroversial bills to be considered on an expedited basis. However, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) became the latest Republican senator to publicly put a hold on the bill and blocked floor consideration. While this is disappointing, we should take heart in the fact that the lobbying efforts of the broad-based coalition of groups supporting the bill have been able to force two Republican senators to lift their holds on the bill.

Passage of the bill is even more important given the recent ruling by a federal judge invalidating the section of Executive Order 13233 that allowed former presidents to indefinitely delay the release of records. And the uncertainty over the impact of the federal lawsuit has once again generated controversy over former President Clinton’s assertions that he is not blocking release of records from his presidential library.

In November 2001, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13233, which gave current and former presidents and vice presidents broad authority to withhold presidential records or delay their release indefinitely. The “Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007” would nullify the Bush executive order and reestablish procedures to ensure the timely release of presidential records.

On March 14, 2007, by a vote of 333-93, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 1255.