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(FWD) NCC Washington Update, Vol 6 #3, February 4, 2000



(Apologies for this one out of order...it's a long story that doesn't
belong here--Holly)

NCC Washington Update, Vol 6, #3, February 4, 2000
   by Page Putnam Miller, Director of the National Coordinating
Committee for the Promotion of History <pagem@capaccess.org>

1.  Historians Express Opposition To Moynihan's Bill
       That Focuses on Declassification of Selected Documents
2.  House Vote Expected Soon on
        Database Copyright Legislation
3.  Congressional Commission on Distance Learning

1.  Historians Express Opposition To Moynihan's Bill That Focuses on
Declassification of Selected Documents - The American Historical
Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Society
for Historians of American Foreign Relations have all officially
expressed opposition to S. 1801 and H.R. 3152 the Public Interest
Declassification Act of 1999, introduced last October respectively by
Senator Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) and Representative Porter Goss (R-FLA).
While Moynihan has been a strong supporter of broad declassification
reform, this bill addresses only one very narrow concern, special
searches such as the declassification of records related to Pinochet,
the American church women murdered in Central America, and the President
Kennedy assassination. The declassification associated with this
legislation would be of selected documents and not entire record groups,
which is the usual archival procedure for systematically declassifying
files.

The American Historical Association letter stated that this legislation
"would institutionalize the practice of special searches and would not,
in practical ways, advance the imperative of agencies to declassify all
but the most sensitive of their older records that are of historical
significance."  The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
commended Senator Moynihan for his work over the years in promoting
openness but described S. 1801 as a flawed bill and a "potentially
harmful policy initiative."  Citing the 1997 report of the Commission on
Protecting and Reducing Secrecy, that Moynihan co-chaired, the
Organization of American Historians (OAH) emphasized that this
legislation runs counter to the findings of the Commission and to the
current executive order covering declassification.  The OAH letter
explains that "selective declassification will very likely result in
keeping some records in some agencies classified that may have an
important bearing on a subject, and this will mean denying historical
researchers and the public full access to records."  Furthermore, the
OAH points out that because the legislation focuses on "subjects of
extraordinary public interest," the bill could run the risk of
"politicizing" the declassification process by favoring attention to
records for which it is possible to arouse extensive media attention.

A growing number of critics of this legislation question the
appropriateness of the placement of the Board, that would implement the
legislation, within the National Archives, an agency that already has
its hands full.  There is also concern about the limited authorities of
the Board, which would have few of the powers that legislation mandated
for the Kennedy Assassination Review Board.  And finally there is dismay
that the legislation does not require a higher standard than the Freedom
of Information Act for opening records.

2.  House Vote Expected Soon on Database Copyright Legislation -
Indications are that the House of Representatives may with in the next
two weeks bring to the floor for a vote H.R. 354, the Collections of
Information Antipiracy Act.  Many in the scholarly community view this
bill as overly protective of database producers and as limiting
legitimate access to factual information and databases that are in the
public domain. Scholars and librarians have supported an alternative
bill, H.R. 1858, "The Consumer and Investor Access to Information Act of
1999," contending that it provides the needed balance between the
interests of database producers and "fair use" access by users.  H.R.
1858 protects the publishers who add value to the databases and promotes
access to factual information that is in the public domain.

Critics of H.R. 354 point out that the bill relies on an overly broad
prohibition of the use of facts and then uses narrowly conceived
exceptions to deal with issues such as fair use and value-added
publications.  The American Library Association is calling on its
members to oppose H.R. 354 and to support H.R. 1858 by enlisting more
Representatives as cosponsors.  Background material on the database
copyright bills may be seen at the American Library Association's web
site at <http://www.ala.org/washoff/databaseprotection.pdf>

3.  Congressional Commission on Distance Learning - Responding to
amendments to the Higher Education Act that called for Congress to study
the growth and accessibility of online education, the Congress recently
formed the Web-Based Education Commission, made up of Senators,
Representatives, educators, and private sector representatives.  The
Commission, chaired by Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE), has just held several
days of hearings that addressed the issue of whether the government or
the higher education community should establish standards for online
courses. Chairman Kerrey is on record stating that he thought Congress
should not pass any laws that would impeded the growth of distance
learning, yet he indicated that he hoped the Commission could find ways
to encourage high standards for university web-based courses.

The National Center for Education Statistics, primarily a federal entity
for collecting and analyzing data related to education, released in
December its report "Distance Education at Postsecondary Education
Institutions: 1997-98."  The report states that 79% of public 4-year
institutions, as of 1997-98, were offering distance education courses.
The 1997-98 report shows that distance education course offerings and
enrollments have doubled since the 1994-95 report. The recent report
also notes that the fastest growth has been in courses provided over the
Internet, jumping from 28% of institutions in 1995 to 60% in 1998.  The
full report may be viewed at
<http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000013>

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** *  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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