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(FWD) NCC Washington Update, Vol 6, #39, November 9, 2000



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 6, #39, November 9, 2000
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig3@juno.com> of the National Coordinating Committee for
the Promotion of History.
*****************

1.    Post-election Wrap-up
2.    President Vetoes  "Leak Statute"
3.    Appropriation Update: Vetoed Bills Face Possible Uncertain Future
4.    Supreme Court to Review Tasini Copyright Case
5.    National Recording Preservation Act Cleared for President
6.    News Bits and Bytes: Smithsonian Museum Name Change; Slavery
Reparations Sought


1. POST-ELECTION WRAP-UP
At this writing controversy still surrounds several key races, including who
won the presidency, Al Gore or George W. Bush. The Florida recount may be
just the beginning of a long legal challenge for control of the White House.
Irrespective of who ultimately wins the presidency, we do know that the
Republicans have retained control of the House of Representatives, and by
only the narrowest of margins, the Senate as well.  The Democrats trimmed the
GOP majority and picked up a few House seats and several Senate seats. A
number of arch-conservative Congressmen (including several key figures in the
Clinton impeachment) failed to gain re-election. Nevertheless, on the House
side, Congressional leadership probably will change little over the last
Congress though some leadership changes are expected in the appropriations
committees that oversee the Department of Education and set spending levels
for the Department of the Interior and related agencies.

In the Senate it may be a different story. It is still too early to count
heads as at least one contest is still undecided, but the Democrats have
captured either 49 or 50 seats.  Should they pick up the one seat still up
for grabs (Washington state) and should a Senate emerge that is made up of 50
Republicans and 50 Democrats, it will be the first partisan tie in that body
since 1880. Whoever presides over the Senate (Vice-President Cheney or
Lieberman) can expect to cast lots of votes and will hold considerable power.
Already, Democratic leaders are calling for "power sharing," an idea not well
received in Republican quarters. Out of such a divisive election vote a
unified government does not seem even a remote possibility. The 107th
Congress promises to be one to remember.

2.   PRESIDENT VETOES "LEAK STATUTE"
Stating that the legislation Congress presented him was "over broad" and may
"chill legitimate activities that are at the heart of a democracy," on
November 4, President Clinton vetoed the Intelligence Authorization Act for
FY 2001 (H.R. 4392) because of the inclusion of a controversial "leak
statute".  Clinton called on Congress to draft a more narrowly drawn
provision and to hold public hearings. The veto leaves in limbo yet another
appropriation bill that Congress will have to re-visit when it reconvenes for
a lame-duck session in mid-November.

The leak statute, entitled "Prohibition of Unauthorized Disclosure of
Classified Information" (Section 304 of the Intelligence Authorization Act
for FY 2001), passed Congress by voice vote on October 12.  According to
civil libertarians, historians, and journalists who opposed the legislation,
had the President signed the measure into law he would have sanctioned the
creation of an "Official Secrets Act."  The anti-leak provision would have
made it a felony - punishable by a hefty fine and up to three years in prison
- for any active or retired government official to willfully disclose
"classified information" knowing that the person receiving it was not
authorized to have it.  Government prosecutors would also have been relieved
of the present necessity to prove that any unauthorized disclosure damaged
national security.

The vetoed Intelligence Authorization Act also included The Public Interest
Declassification Act (PIDA - S. 1801), the last vestige of Senator Daniel P.
Moynihan's once ambitious effort to reform the national security
classification and declassification system (see NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol.
6, #34, October 5, 2000).  Moynihan's legislation creates a nine-member
"Public Interest Declassification Board" whose charge would be to promote
openness, to support Congress in its oversight of declassification, and to
make recommendations to the President on classification and declassification
policy, practices and procedures. This provision is expected to be a part of
whatever new legislation is crafted by Congress and advanced to the President
for his action later in November.

3.   APPROPRIATION UPDATE: VETOED BILLS FACE POSSIBLE UNCERTAIN FUTURE
In addition to the Defense Authorization Act, the President has vetoed
several other measures that provide appropriations for federal agencies that
carry out various history and archival programs: The Treasury Department bill
(H.R. 4871) includes the annual appropriation for the National Archives and
Records Administration and the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (H.R.
4516) which includes funding for the Library of Congress and the Government
Printing Office.  The massive Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
bill (H.R. 4577) has yet to reach the floor of either House for a vote, let
alone a possible veto. The Labor H&HS, Education bill reportedly contains a
provision for $50 million to support history education. While Congress could
make changes to the budgets of any or all of the aforementioned agencies,
Capitol Hill insiders doubt that the President's vetoes will have a chilling
effect on any agency budget previously agreed to by the White House and
Congress. Final action on these bills will have to wait for the lame duck
session now scheduled to begin November 14.

4.   SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW TASINI COPYRIGHT CASE DECISION
On November 6 the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review an appellate court
decision relating to a 1993 copyright case, the New York Times v. Jonathan
Tasini.  At issue is the extent to which certain original publications can be
reissued (preserved or even archived) in electronic format.  The central
issue is whether media companies or free-lance writers control rights to
post-published articles and writings that are converted into electronic and
computer based formats.

The high court will be reviewing a September 1999 U.S. Court of Appeals for
the 2nd Circuit decision that overturned a lower court ruling dating back to
1993.  The three-judge appellate court found that the New York Times did not
have the right to include the work of freelance writers in full text
databases without having secured a separate contract with the writers. In
reversing the lower court ruling that had found for the publishers, the
appeals court decided that reuse of a freelance writers work on CD-ROMs and
electronic databases without the author's permission constituted a copyright
infringement.

Should the Supreme Court uphold the appellate court decision, hundreds of
thousands of articles currently on-line may have to be permanently deleted,
thus creating havoc for archivists and librarians.  Also impacted would be
researchers who may find it more difficult to access back articles.  Harvard
professor Laurence Tribe (who also serves as attorney for several publishers
who are principals in the case) believes that if the Supreme Court upholds
the appellate court decision the result would be "disastrous for the nations
libraries, academic institutions and publishers."  Arguments on the case will
be heard in the Supreme Court chamber next year, probably in April.

5.  NATIONAL RECORDING PRESERVATION ACT CLEARED FOR PRESIDENT: On November
1, by Unanimous Consent, the Senate receded from its proposed amendments (see
NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 6, #38, November 2, 2000) and thus cleared the
way for President Clinton to sign into law the National Recording
Preservation Act of 2000 (H.R. 4846).  The Congressionally approved bill was
presented to President Clinton for signature on November 2.  Clinton is
expected to sign the bill in the next few days.

Introduced on July 13, 2000 by Representative William M. Thomas (R-CA), the
Chairman of the House Administration Committee, the legislation has several
major provisions: It directs the Librarian of Congress to establish the
National Recording Registry for the purpose of maintaining and preserving
sound recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically
significant"; it also establishes a National Sound Recording Preservation
Program within the Library of Congress and creates a National Recording
Preservation Board - an appointed body charged to review and recommend the
nominations for the National Recording Registry.  Finally, the bill
authorizes the establishment of a National Recording Preservation Foundation
- a federally chartered, nonprofit-charitable corporation charged to raise
funds for preservation and public access to the nation's sound recording
heritage.

6.  NEWS BITS AND BYTES
Item #1 - Smithsonian Name Change: On October 27  President Clinton signed
legislation (P.L.106-385) renaming the "National Museum of American Art" to
the "Smithsonian American Art Museum."  The name change had been proposed by
Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small and the Smithsonian Board of Regents. By
connecting the Smithsonian name to the museum's mission ("American art")
officials believe that more Americans will be able to recognize how the
museum connects to American culture and history. The museum has also changed
its Web site address to: http://www.AmericanArt.si.edu

Item #2 - Slavery Reparations Sought: The Washington Post ("Groups to Seek
Slavery Reparations," November 5, 2000, p. A-11) reports that several civil
rights class-action lawyers are preparing a lawsuit seeking reparations for
American blacks who are descended from slaves. "We are seeking more than just
monetary compensation," states Harvard Law professor Charles J. Ogletree who
is leading the effort, "we want full recognition and a remedy of how slavery
stigmatized, raped, murdered, and exploited millions of Africans through no
fault of their own."  Yet to be decided is when the suit will be filed, who
will be named as defendants, and what damages will be sought.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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