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(FWD) NCC Washington Update, Vol. 6, #31, September 15, 2000



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 6, #31, September 15, 2000
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig3@juno.com> of  the National Coordinating
Committee for the Promotion of History

1.   Appropriation Update: Expect Omnibus Bill
2.   Cold War Theme Study Legislation Introduced
3.   House Committee Approves Mall Site for Reagan Memorial
4.   News Bits and Bytes: Contentville.com; LC to Hold Symposium;
Historians Named to Lincoln Bicentennial Commission

1.   APPROPRIATION UPDATE: EXPECT OMNIBUS BILL
On September 5 Congress returned to Washington from its month long
recess.  Despite the fact that relatively few days remain in the
Congressional session, Congress gives little evidence of making a mad
dash to the appropriation finish line.  Word on Capitol Hill is that
several of the remaining appropriations bills will probably move at a
relaxed pace and eventually - perhaps as many as eight - will be
gathered in a huge omnibus bill that would be presented to President
Clinton at the end of the session. Insiders also report that House
Republicans are not being shy about confronting the White House with
appropriation demands; the Senate, on the other hand, is attempting to
avoid showdowns with either the House or the President. The rumor seems
to have some truth to it as Senators have been seen shuttling back and
forth to the White House trying to reconcile differences between various
appropriations bills and the President's positions.

Still no word on the appropriation bill of particular interest to the
historical/archival community - the Labor, Health and Human Services and
Education bill (H.R. 4577 and S. 2553) - legislation that includes
funding for education and library programs funded through the Institute
of Museum and Library Services.  This bill also contains the amendment
that earmarks $50 million for the Secretary of Education, "to award
grants to develop, implement and strengthen programs to teach American
history (not social studies) as a separate subject within school
curricula." (For related stories see NCC WASHINGTON UPDATES, Vol. 6 nos.
22, 23, 26, and 30.) Now a victim of legislative maneuvering, the
conference report for this bill has been written but it will be released
only when the Appropriations Committee is ready - to quote one staffer,
the timing of its release is "a political decision."

The Interior and Related Agencies bill (H.R. 4578) - legislation that
includes funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH),
the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Park Service
(NPS) including the Historic Preservation Fund has yet to go to
conference though staffers are busy at work.  House and Senate conferees
are expected to meet next Tuesday or Wednesday to iron out the few
remaining outstanding issues that staffers alone cannot reconcile. As
far as NEH and NEA funding is concerned, Capitol Hill insiders report
that funding levels for the NEA is still an issue, but creative Hill
problem-solver staffers are working on finding a solution satisfactory
to both sides (Some House GOP leaders are adamant that the NEA should
not receive the increase that was adopted in the Senate measure; some
Senators are equally determined that there ought to be an increase).
Stay tuned!

Finally, on September 14, the House of Representatives approved a $30.3
billion Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government appropriation
bill (H.R. 4871; S. 2900 now wrapped into H.R. 4985) that provides
funding for various agencies including the National Archives and Records
Administration. By a vote of 212 to 219, House GOP leaders forced
passage of a bill that is $1.1 billion below the Administration's
request.  After learning of the action by the House, the White House
promptly issued a statement that if the bill reached the President's
desk in its present form it would be vetoed because of the inclusion of
several measures (such as funding for certain anti-terrorism programs)
that are unpopular with the Administration.

In spite of the White House objections to certain aspects of the House
passed bill, National Archives officials were delighted that the
legislation passed provides sufficient funding to cover all the National
Archives fixed costs, funding to transfer President Clinton's papers to
the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, money to accelerate the
processing of veterans records, and some start-up monies for the
electronic records project.  Most importantly, the House passed measure
includes the $88 million needed for the Archives I renovation which is a
part of both the President's budget proposal and the Senate version of
the bill.  Perhaps as early as next Tuesday, the Senate will take up the
House passed measure; no changes to the proposed National Archives
budget is expected.

2.    COLD WAR THEME STUDY LEGISLATION INTRODUCED
On September 6, Representative Joel Hefley (R-CO) introduced H.R. 5114 -
legislation requiring the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a
National Landmark theme study to identify historic sites and resources
and to recommend alternatives for commemorating and interpreting the
Cold War.  The bill was referred to the House Committee on Resources; it
is not expected to receive a hearing this Congressional session.

Assuming this legislation passes during the next Congress as presently
drafted, the Secretary of the Interior (operating through the National
Park Service) would inventory sites and resources associated with the
Cold War. In preparing the study, NPS historians would be required to
review studies completed by the Department of Defense, surveys conducted
by State historic preservation offices, and to review other studies
currently underway. In preparing the theme study the Secretary would
also be required to consult
with the public and "scholarly and other interested organizations and
individuals."

The thrust of the study currently focuses on defense/strategic related
sites, though, in all likelihood, the next version of this bill that
will be introduced in the next Congress will expand the scope of the
study to include civilian related and other non-military sites
associated with the Cold War.  Once the study is finished, the
legislation mandates that an interpretive handbook be published based on
the study's findings. The bill authorizes a $200,000 appropriation to
carry out the provisions of the Act.

3.   HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES MALL SITE FOR REAGAN MONUMENT
By a voice vote on September 13, the House Resources Committee
disregarded the views of the National Capitol Memorial Commission (see
NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 6, #30, September 8, 2000), ignored well
established procedures for the location and design of memorials in
Washington D.C., and  approved The Ronald Reagan Recognition Act -
legislation proposed by Chairman Don Young (R-AK) that authorizes a
memorial to former President Reagan on the National Mall. Should the
House and Senate approve the bill, the 14-year-old Commemorative Works
Act which provides that no memorial to an individual
should be built until 25 year's after the person's death would be
overridden. A fear of some members of Congress is that by passing this
"exception" and thereby gutting the Commemorative Works Act, the door
would be left open to other such memorial bills. The bill comes at a
sensitive time when three commissions - the National Capital Memorial,
Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning commissions have all agreed
to ban any new monuments on the Mall in order to protect the historic
landscape and vistas.

4.   NEWS BITS AND BYTES:
Item #1: In July, a consumer-oriented online bookseller began selling
master theses and doctoral dissertations from various disciplines
including history through an agreement with UMI Dissertations
Publishing. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education ( September
15, 2000) "many academics were surprised and a bit annoyed to find their
scholarship being sold online, in so commercial a venue, without
explicit permission, by a company they had never heard of."  To check
out the website key into  <Contentville.com>.

Item #2: On October 30-31, 2000, the Library of Congress will hold a
symposium, "To Preserve and Protect: The Strategic Stewardship of
Cultural Resources" - a meeting designed to bring together professionals
from across the country to discuss key preservation and collection
security issues. Sessions will focus on securing and preserving cultural
assets entrusted to institutions, developing strategies for security
programs, conducting comprehensive preservation planning, and coping
with theft and vandalism and security programs.  Other sessions will
focus on security challenges dealing with electronic information and
digitization.   For more information, contact Kathy Eighmey at (202)
707-4836 or visit the website <www.loc.gov/bicentennial/symposia.html>

Item #3: President Clinton has named historians James Oliver Horton of
George Washington University and Harold Holzer, one of the country's
leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln, to the newly created Abraham
Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.  Last year, Representative Roy LaHood
(R-IL) introduced legislation (H.R. 849) creating the Commission and on
February 25, 2000, President Clinton signed the bill into law. The
Commission is charged to advise the government on ways to honor the 16th
President on his 200th birthday in 2009.

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