[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

(FWD) NCC Washington Update, Vol 6, #18, May 25, 2000



NCC Washington Update, Vol 6, #18, May 25, 2000
by Page Putnam Miller <pagem@capaccess.org> and Bruce Craig
<Rbcraig3@juno.com> of the National Coordinating Committee for the
Promotion of History

1.   Appropriation Updates
2.   Subcommittee to Consider Archives and NHPRC Budget on June 7
3.   Congress Proposes Cuts for Department of Defense Declassification
Programs

1.  Appropriation Updates =96 On May 25, the House of Representatives
Appropriations Committee passed and advanced to the full House a $14.6
billion Interior Appropriation bill for FY'2001.  In general, the full
committee endorsed its Interior subcommittee's recommendations which
call for the same funding level in 2001 as in 2000 for most cultural
agencies -- including NEH, NEA, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the state
historic preservation program. There are increases for land management
agencies including a $61 million increase for the operations budget of
the National Park Service, bringing that budget to $1.4 billion.

Representative Norman Dicks (D-WA), the ranking member of the Interior
subcommittee, offered two amendments: one to raise both the NEA and NEH
funding levels to $125 million (the amendment was defeated 33 to 25) and
a second that sought to raise the NEA budget to the NEH level (this
amendment was also defeated, 31 to 27).  After passing several
non-controversial amendments, the committee voted to advance the budget
proposal to the House.  When the Interior appropriation bill is taken up
on the House floor, it is expected that legislators will again consider
amendments seeking to increase funding for the NEH and NEA.

On May 23, the House subcommittee which has responsibility for the
National Science Foundation (NSF) rejected the Clinton Administration
proposal for a 17% increase and instead voted for a 4.3% increase.
According to David M. Stonner, director of legislative affairs for the
NSF, if the House panel's proposed budget were enacted into law, it
would curtail some of the agency's research efforts, including the
agencies core programs.

2.  Subcommittee To Consider Archives And NHPRC Budget on June 7 -  The
House Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations
Subcommittee will be deciding the budget amounts for the agencies --
including the National Archives and National Historical Publications and
Records Commission (NHPRC) -- under its jurisdiction on June 7.
President Clinton has proposed a FY 2001 total budget request of
$308.343 million for the National Archives, a $77.755 million increase
over the FY 2000 level of $230.588 million. He has requested $6 million,
the current level, for competitive grants for the NHPRC.  The major new
spending initiative in this budget is $88 million for the renovation of
Archives I on the Mall.  The proposed work will include correcting
mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire safety deficiencies,
upgrading storage conditions to meet modern archival standards,
providing increased exhibit and public meeting spaces, and constructing
new encasements for the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution,
and the Bill of Rights.

Due to the budget caps established by the 1997 budget deficit reduction
legislation, the subcommittee has a very limited allocation with which
to work.   While the President has recommended expenditures of $16
billion for the agencies under the jurisdiction of the Treasury
Appropriations Subcommittee, the leadership of the House has allocated
only $14.088 billion to the subcommittee.

House staffers have indicated that the subcommittee may not be able to
find the $88 million for the renovation of Archives I, but they are
hopeful that since the Senate subcommittee has a larger allocation than
that of the House that funding for the renovation may materialize at the
end of the appropriations process.   Now is the time to contact members
of the House Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government
Appropriations Subcommittee about the budgets for the National Archives
and the NHPRC.  Members of the House Treasury, Postal Service, and
General Government Appropriations Subcommittee are: Jim Kolbe (R-AZ)
<jim.kolbe@mail.house.gov>, Chairman; Frank Wolf (R-VA)
www.house.gov/wolf/;  Anne Northup (R-KY) <rep.northup@mail.house.gov>;
Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) <joann.emerson@mail.house.gov>;  John Sununu
(R-NH) <rep.sununu@mail.house.gov> ;  John Peterson (R-PA)
<john.peterson@mail.house.gov>; Virgil H. Goode (Independent-VA)
rep.goode@mail.house.gov>;  Steny Hoyer (D-MD) www.house.gov/hoyer/,
Ranking Minority Member;   David Price (D-NC)
<david.price@mail.house.gov>; Carrie Meek (D-FL) www.house.gov/meek/ ;
and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) www.house.gov/roybal-allard/

3. Congress Proposes Cuts for Department of Defense Declassification
Programs -- On May 17, the House of Representatives approved a provision
in the Defense Authorization Act for FY 2001 that limits Department of
Defense (DOD) declassification spending to no more than $30 million in
the coming fiscal year; this represents a major reduction from the $51
million currently authorized.  The spending limit would apply to all DOD
declassification activities including those mandated by Executive Order
12958.  Future declassification projects currently authorized; the Nazi
War Crimes Disclosure Act, Japanese Imperial Army Disclosure Act, for
example -- would have to compete for these funds.  According to the
Committee report, the rationalization for the expenditure limit is that:
"The committee is concerned about the drain on operations and
maintenance resources resulting from the declassification process."  The
legislation and the committee report may be seen on the Federation of
American Scientists' web site at
<http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2000/hr4205de.html>

* * * * * * * * * * * * * ** *  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NCC invites you to redistribute the NCC Washington Updates.  A complete
backfile of these reports is maintained by H-Net at
<http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~ncc>   To subscribe to the "NCC Washington
Update," send an e-mail message to listserv@h-net.msu.edu according to
the following model: SUBSCRIBE H-NCC firstname lastname, institution.

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>