by Page Putnam Miller, Director of the National Coordinating
Committee for the Promotion of History <pagem@CapAccess.org>
1. Good News for NEH
2. House Hearing on Extension of Copyright Set for July 13
3. NHPRC and National Archives' Budgets
4. National Archives Responds To Researchers' Frustrations
5. July 3 Was Trudy Peterson's Final Day at National Archives
6. State Department Historical Advisory Committee
1. Good News for NEH -
The House Rules Committee voted on July 11 in favor of a
"protective rule" to allow the endowments to be funded even though
they have not been authorized. Representatives Ralph Regula (R-OH)
and Sidney Yates (D-IL), with the support of Bill Goodling (R-PA),
made the request. Representative Gerald Solomon (R-NY), who chairs
the Rules Committee, noted that since this request had the support of
both the appropriations and the authorizing committee chairs, it
should be passed. This is good news for NEH for it means that the
subcommittee's recommendation of $99.5 million for NEH is protected
and can not be dismissed as out of order. While there may be
amendments, either negative or position, introduced on the floor, the
NEH will not be faced with the possibility of zero funding because of
a legislative technicality. The full House expects to consider on
either July 12th or 13th the Interior Appropriations bill which
includes funding for the endowments and historic preservation. The
Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee has set July 19 as the date
for the markup on S. 856, the reauthorization bill for NEH, NEA, and
the Institute of Museum Services.
2. House Hearing on Extension of Copyright Set for July 13 -
On July 13 the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and
Intellectual Property, chaired by Representative Carlos Moorhead (R-
CA), will hold a hearing on H.R. 989, a bill to extend the duration of
copyright for twenty years. The NCC has submitted written testimony
prepared by Professor Michael Les Benedict that recommends
modification to the section dealing with the duration of copyright of
unpublished material that would minimize the negative impact of this
legislation on historical research. A more detailed report on this
matter will appear after the hearing.
3. NHPRC and National Archives' Budgets-
The House Appropriations Committee met on July 11 to consider the
recommendations of the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and
General Government. By early evening they had not reached the agenda
item dealing with the NHPRC and the National Archives' budgets.
However, there were no indications that the numbers coming out of the
full committee would differ from the recommendations of the
subcommittee, which called for $4 million in FY'96 for the grants
program of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission
and only a slight reduction of approximately 1% from the President's
request of $195.291 million for the National Archives.
4. National Archives Responds To Researchers' Frustrations -
Almost two years ago President Clinton issued an Executive Order on
"Setting Customer Service Standards" that started a process at the
National Archives that is bearing fruit for researchers. Through
focus groups, interviews and suggestion boxes, the National Archives
staff have sought to figure out how best, with limited resources and
staff, to respond to the needs of users and are experimenting with
various means of facilitating research. In recent conversations with
National Archives staff, I discussed the frustration of researchers
with a system that restricts the pulling of requested material to four
times a day. Researchers, who have not been able to navigate the
complex finding aids fast enough to get their request in by 9:15 am,
have been required to wait until 11:15 am for the next opportunity to
request records. Valuable time is wasted. I urged that the staff
consider an addition morning time for pulling records. I was pleased
to receive word last week from Assistant Archivist Michael Kurtz that
the National Archives will be adding on August 1 a 10:15 am time to
the schedule of pulling textural records at Archives II. A 10:15 am
pull time is already in effect at Archives I, and records at the
Suitland Research Room are now pulled on demand.
5. July 3 Was Trudy Peterson's Final Day at National Archives -
Trudy Huskamp Peterson, who has worked for over 24 years at the
National Archives and for 26 months served as Acting Archivist,
indicated over a month ago that she planned to take advantage of the
government's early retirement opportunity. It appeared at that time
that she would not leave until the end of September. However, having
completed the projects remaining from her tenure as Acting Archivist,
she decided it was best to leave on July 3. In a statement announcing
her departure, she said: "I have been fortunate to be associated with
the wonderful people of the National Archives, and of the national and
international archives community. My enduring faith in archives and
archivists burns brightly."
6. State Department Historical Advisory Committee -
On July 7 and 8 the State Department Advisory Committee on
Historical Diplomatic Documentation met to consider the content and
progress of the Foreign Relations volumes as well as the status of the
State Department's declassification efforts. Two items of particular
note from this meeting were the announcement of a job opening and a
report on the controversy surrounding the declassification of CIA
records. The State Department has posted the opening for the
position of Deputy Historian and General Editor. The closing date for
applications will be in early August. Anyone interested in the
position should contact Bill Slany, Chief Historian, at (202) 663-
1122. The chair of the committee, Warren Kimball, announced that
although there had been no formal notification, the committee expects
a negative response from the appeals panel to their request for the
declassification of CIA documents from the Kennedy Administration
pertaining to covert CIA operations to support conservative
politicians in Japan in the 1950s and 60s. The Advisory Committee
plans to take a strong stand indicating that publication of a volume
on Japan which omits these documents would result in distorted and
inaccurate history.
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