NCC Washington Update, Vol. 1, #61, December 14, 1995
by Page Putnam Miller, Director of the Coordinating
Committee for the Promotion of History
1. Congress Passes Interior Appropriations Bill
2. State Department Advisory Committee Meets
3. Government Printing Office Expands Free On-Line Service
1. Congress Passes Interior Appropriations Bill --
On December 13 the House passed the Conference Report on the Interior
Appropriations Bill for FY'96, and the Senate passed it on December
14. This bill funds the National Park Service, historic preservation,
and many cultural agencies, including the Endowments for the Arts and
Humanities and the Smithsonian. However, a statement from the White
House budget office stated that the bill fails to adequately address a
number of significant issues. Many anticipate a Presidential veto.
If an appropriations bill is not signed by midnight on December 15, a
continuing resolution will be needed to provide temporary funding for
the agencies and 130,000 federal workers covered in the Interior
Appropriations Bill.
2. State Department Advisory Committee Meets --
On December 12 the State Department's Advisory Committee on Historical
Diplomatic Documentation held its quarterly meeting to advise the
department on matters related to the Foreign Relations volumes,
records management, and declassification. William Slany, the head of
the Office of the Historian, reported that there is some slippage in
meeting the 30 year targets for the publications of the Foreign
Relations volumes. While shortage of staff and declassification
hurdles have slowed down the preparation of the Johnson era volumes,
these volumes have also taken longer to prepare because they are
including material that has previously not been available for
inclusion. The Johnson volumes will be the first to include documents
from the President's Foreign Policy Advisory Board, an independent
Presidential body administered through the National Security Council.
The legislation passed in 1992 dealing with the Foreign Relations
series has increased cooperation with the National Security Council
and other agencies and has resulted in a wider body of material,
including more intelligence material, being part of the volumes which
seek to provide comprehensive documentation of American foreign policy
activities.
The Advisory Committee also discussed the fact that the State
Department central file -- which includes the telegrams between
Washington and the embassies -- for the period from July 1, 1973 to
the present has been digitized. In 1998 the State Department expects
to transfer the 1973 computerized central file to the National
Archives. This will mark the first time the National Archives will
have received from an agency such a large collection of textual
records in electronic format. The Advisory Council members raised the
issue of whether the software that the State Department currently uses
for accessing this material will also be transferred along with the
data tapes. At the meeting representatives from the National Archives
stated that they are currently exploring strategies for handling
electronic records but indications were that there had been no
agreement on the transfer of the software. An Advisory Board member
stressed that systems used to manage records were part of the records.
The Executive Order 12958, signed by the President last April, requires
-- following a grace period of five year -- that all but the most
sensitive agency records over 25 years old should be open and
available for research. Since 1973 records will be 25 years old in
1998, the State Department is making plans for opening this material.
Yet once the State Department transfers the digitized tapes to the
National Archives, the question remains of how researchers will gain
access to the central files which have always been an key source of
information for scholars.
3. Government Printing Office Expands Free On-Line Service --
On December 1, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) began free
online access to the Congressional Records, Federal Register,
congressional bills, and other important government documents. Prior
to December 1, GPO Access service, which had been created by
legislation in 1993, was available only to users on-site in some 600
of the nearly 1,400 Federal Depository Libraries.
GPO Access service can be reached via the Internet or by dial-in
through a modem. Internet users can access the databases with a World
Wide Web browser through the Superintendent of Documents' home page
at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ Internet users can also
telnet to swais.access.gpo.gov; then login as guest. Dial-in users
should use a modem to call (202) 512-1661; type swais and then login
as guest. In more than 20 states, users with modems can connect to
GPO Access through depository library "gateways" with a local phone
call. Listings of depository libraries and "gateways" can be found on
the Superintendent of Documents' home page. For information on
accessing GPO Access, send an e-mail message to
help@eids05.eids.gpo.gov
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