1. House Appropriation Committee Acts on NEH and Historic Preservation
2. Efforts to Save Folklife Center Move to Senate
3. National Archives and NHPRC Budget Considerations Set for June 28
1. House Appropriations Committee Acts on NEH and Historic
Preservation Budgets -
On June 27 the House Appropriations Committee voted for $99.494
million for NEH. On June 20 the Subcommittee had recommended $150
million for NEH with $50 million coming from the Life Sciences
Research Service. The full committee's decision to take back the $50
million was not a negative reflection on NEH but instead a reflection
of positive support for the old Biological Research Service, which
will be partly funded and will become a part of the U.S. Geological
Survey.
An amendment introduced by Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) to earmark
an addition $5 million for the state programs from the total
allocation to NEH passed. With a budget of $99.494 million for NEH,
the states would ordinarily receive only $18 million. However with
the added earmarked funds the state humanities programs would receive
$23 million, which is $5 million below their current level of $28
million.
The more positive news on NEH is that Representative Ralph Regula (R-
OH), who chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and
Related Agencies, made an agreement with Sidney Yates (D-IL), the
ranking minority member of the subcommittee, to request that the House
Rules Committee consider a "protective rule" so that the endowments
could be funded even though they have not been authorized. The
leadership of the House has made a strong point of appropriating funds
only for programs that have authorization legislation. There is
speculation that since the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is also not
authorized and since there is support for a "protective rule" for BLM,
therefore the Rules Committee may pass protective measures for both
the endowments and BLM. With a gentleman's handshake, Yates agreed to
support Kolbe's amendment to earmark $5 million in additional funds
for the state programs, and Regula agreed to seek a "protective
amendment." There was no debate by the Appropriations Committee on the
Kolbe amendment for it was bundled with other measures supported by
both Regula and Yates and quickly adopted. The securing of the
"protective amendment" from the Rules Committee would be very good
news for NEH.
The House will probably be considering the Interior Appropriation bill
over a two-day period the week of July 10. Thus it is important that
prior to that time, Regula appear before the Rules Committee, chaired
by Representative Gerald Solomon (R-NY), to seek for NEH a "protective
ruling" since NEH has not yet been authorized. Regula's case would
undoubtedly be stronger if Representative Bill Goodling (R-PA), who
chairs the House Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee,
which has responsibility for the authorization of NEH, is willing to
join him in making this request. Supporters of NEH are hopeful that
Goodling will consent to lend his support to this effort.
The full committee voted to accept the budgets recommended by the
Interior Subcommittee for NEA and the Institute for Museum Services
(IMS). NEA's FY'96 budget would be $99.494 million, down from the
current level of $167.4 million. The IMS is slated for $21 million,
down from $28.7 million.
Although the state historic preservation programs retained level
funding, other historic preservation programs received sharp cuts.
A motion to eliminate funding for the National Trust for Historic
Preservation failed; and instead the House Appropriations Committee
voted for the 50% cut that had been recommended by the subcommittee.
The hardest hit program was the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation, which receive received one-third of its current funding
with an accompanying provision that the funds were to be used to
dismantle the Council. Implementation of the National Historic
Preservation Act will be extremely difficult without the Advisory
Council which works with federal agencies and the states to ensure
that historic properties of significance to the Nation's heritage are
protected.
2. Efforts to Save the Folklife Center Move To Senate -
On June 22 the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1854, the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill, which provided zero funding
for the American Folklife Center, located in the Library of Congress .
Established in 1976, the center grew out of the Archive of Folk Song
which had been founded in 1928 to preserve the raw materials of
American folk songs. The center now holds an impressive collection of
folksongs, folklore, and cultural artifacts, with over 1.5 million
sound recordings, photos, manuscripts and artifacts. This collection
has been central to the research of many historians. Without any
hearings and in a surprise move, Representative Bill Clinger (R-PA)
introduced an amendment to transfer the $1.16 million slated for the
Folklife Center to the Congressional Budget Office for a study of
unfunded mandates.
The Senate Appropriation Legislative Branch Subcommittee will
beginning consideration of H.R. 1854, the House appropriations bill
which includes the Folklife Center, in mid-July. Those who are
familiar with the Folklife Center collection and can testify to its
importance need to contact members of the Senate Legislative Branch
Appropriations Subcommittee: Senator Connie Mack (R-FL), Chair;
Robert Bennett (R-UT); James Jeffords (R-VT); Patti Murray (D- WA),
Ranking Minority; Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). Address: U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC 20510. The Capitol Switchboard which can transfer your
call to any Senator's office is (202) 224-3121.
3. National Archives and NHPRC Budget Considerations Set for June 28 -
The House Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government
Subcommittee, chaired by Representative Jim Lightfoot (R-IA), will
hold the markup of their FY'96 appropriations bill at 8:30 am on
Wednesday morning, June 28. There are indications that the
subcommittee may be considering plans to reduce the funding of the
National Historical Publications and Records Commission's grants
program to $3 million. Many historians and archivists are urging at
least $4 million for NHPRC grants. NHPRC currently has an
appropriation of $4.75 million for competitive grants.
There appears to be a strong possibility that the subcommittee will
consider eliminating the funding for the JFK Assassinations Review
Board, with plans to transfer the function to the National Archives.
The Assassinations Review Board, which is authorized to receive
funding for only two years, has just completed its first year of work
and has made considerable progress. Over 2 million pages of
previously closed federal records, which provide both specific
information on the assassination as well as background material on
Cold War activities, have recently been opened and made available to
the public at the National Archives. Just recently the Board oversaw
the release of classified CIA information from the Oswald files.
Because the National Archives has neither the staff nor the
authorities to assume the work of the Assassination Review Board and
because the Board is scheduled to end after one more year, the
historical organizations are urging the subcommittee not to zero out
funds for the Review Board.
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