NCC Washington Update, Vol. 1, #28, May 27, 1995
by Page Putnam Miller, Director of the National Coordinating
Committee for the Promotion of History
1. John Carlin confirmed as next U.S. Archivist
John Carlin, the former governor of Kansas who headed the
Kansas campaign for President Clinton, was confirmed by the
Senate on May 25. On May 31 in Kansas, he will be sworn into the
office and his first day at the National Archives building in
Washington will be June 5.
Only 4 of the 15 members of the Senate Governmental
Affairs Committee attended the confirmation hearing. The Senate
committee met on May 25, two days after the hearing, to vote on
the nomination. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee had
originally scheduled a vote or mark-up that would be open to
outsiders and that would be held in their hearing room in the
Dirksen Building. However, the room was changed to the Capitol
Building with no outsiders allowed due to the many votes
occurring that day. As it turned out, the mark-up, which
included votes on a number of nominees, involved no real meeting
or deliberation. Senators simply dropped by the designated room,
located near the Senate Chamber, and cast their votes for the
nominees. Following the committee's unanimous endorsement of all
the nominees, the nomination was placed on the calendar for floor
action that evening. At the end of business on May 25, at
approximately 8:30 pm, the Senate voted to consider by unanimous
consent a long list of nominees. There was no debate and no roll
call vote. The Senate agreed to the nomination of John Carlin on
a motion "made without objection and so ordered" that involved
the acceptance of a bloc of 8 nominees recommended by the Senate
Governmental Affair s Committee.
The 16 organizations that opposed this nomination were
successful in elevating an awareness of the issues at stake in
this nomination -- a flouting of the law, the appearance of
impropriety, an over reliance on management skills at the expense
of needed expertise, a concern about Carlin's supporters' ties to
former Archivist Don Wilson, and a concern about how the
nomination had been rushed through the Senate. However, C-Span,
National Public Radio, and the national press had features and
editorials that explored many of these issues, particularly that
of the dangers associated with a nominee who is long on political
qualifications and short on professional expertise. Senators
John Glenn (D-OH) and Carl Levin (D-MI) asked at the confirmation
hearing a number of very tough and thoughtful questions that put
Carlin on record regarding the need to be insulated from
President Clinton, on Carlin's need to work with his critics, and
on the importance of avoiding the kind of mismanagement problems
that occurred at the Archives under Don Wilson which were the
subject of a 1992 Senate Report. These concerns were reflected
in a May 26 Washington Post editorial titled "A Close Eye on
Archives." The White House, John Carlin, and the Senate know that
there are many concerned groups that will be monitoring closely
developments at the National Archives.
During a break at the confirmation hearing Arnita Jones,
the Executive Director of the Organization of American
Historians, and I introduced ourselves to John Carlin. He had
told the committee in his opening statement of his desire to work
with his critics. We stressed that our differences were over the
interpretation of the law and not over his personal
accomplishments; and that if he were confirmed, we wished to work
with him. He assured us that he had always been able to work
with his critics and it would not be different at the National
Archives. The morning following the Senate vote to confirm
Carlin, Bob Nash, head of the Office of White House Personnel,
called to tell me that John Carlin wants to work with me and the
others that opposed his nomination.
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