NCC Washington Update Vol.1. #7 - February 8, 1995
Washington Update by Page Putnam Miller, Director of the
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History
<pagem@CapAccess.org>
[H-Net subscribers may freely copy and redistribute this report]
1. Senate Attack on History Standards Dropped
2. JFK Assassination Records Review Board.
3. Upcoming Appropriations Hearings:
1. Senate Attack on History Standards Dropped from the Unfunded
Mandates Bill. On January 18 Senator Slade Gorton
(R-Washington) introduced an amendments to S. 1, the
Unfunded Mandates Bill, that would prohibit funding for the
National History Standards. A compromise amendment passed 99
to 1 that involved shifting the amendment language from
statutory status to a resolution, which meant that the
provision would not have the enforceability of a law.
Subsequently, however, the Senate voted to strip the Federal
Unfunded Mandate bill of all extraneous provisions,
including the History Standards amendment. Thus the final
bill which passed the Senate included no mention of the
History Standards. The House had never considered the
History Standards as a part of the Unfunded Mandates
legislation.
2. JFK Assassination Records Review Board. On February 8 the
JFK Assassination Review Board, an independent federal panel
created to oversee the review and release of records related
to the assassination of President Kennedy, proposed guidance
on the definition of an "assassination record" for federal
agencies. The Review Board published the proposed guidance
in the Federal Register (Federal Register, Vol. 60, No. 26,
pages 7506-8) and requested comments by March 10. Congress
has urged the Board to apply a "broad and encompassing
working definition." Comments from historians would be very
helpful. The address for the Board is: Assassination
Records Review Board, 600 E St., NW, Washington, DC 20530.
The e-mail is to David Marwell, Ex. Dir. of the Board -
dmarwell@aol.com.
3. Upcoming Appropriations Hearings:
February 16 - NEH and NEA - On February 16 the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior will be holding
a hearing on funding for NEH for outside witnesses.
The committee staff, who lined up the witnesses, have
not disclosed their names, but indications are that
there will be some strong support for the endowments.
Members of the committee are: Chair, Ralph Regula
(R-OH); Bob Livingston (R-LA); Joseph McDade (R-PA);
Jim Kolbe (R-AZ); Joe Skeen (R-NM); Barbara Vucanovich
(R-NV); Charles Taylor (R-NC); George Nethercutt
(R-WA); Jim Bunn (R-OR); Sidney Yates, Ranking Minority
(D-IL); David Obey (D-WI); Norman Dicks (D-WA); Tom
Bevill (D-AL); David Skaggs (D-CO).
March 2 - National Archives and National Historical
Publications and Records Commission. On March 2 the
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal
Service, and General Government will hear the testimony
of the U.S. Archivist concerning the FY '96 budget of
the National Archives and NHPRC. Members of the
committee are: Jim Lightfoot, Chair (R-IA); Frank
Wolf (R-VA); Ernest Istook (R-IN); Jack Kingston
(R-GA); Mike Forbes (R-NY); Steny Hoyer, Ranking
Minority (D-MD); Peter Visclosky (D-IN); Ronald
Coleman (D-TX).
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