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(FWD) NCC Washington Update, Vol 6, #42, November 30, 2000



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 6, #42, November 30, 2000
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig3@juno.com> of the National Coordinating Committee for
the Promotion of History
*****************

1.   White House Asks for Resignations of Agency Heads
2.   Appropriation Update: Congress To Reconvene in Lame Duck Session
3.   Jamestown Commission Legislation In Limbo
4.   News Bits and Bytes: Library of Congress Launches Inauguration Web Site;
Library Commission Seeks Public Comment

1.   WHITE HOUSE ASKS FOR RESIGNATIONS OF AGENCY HEADS
On November 29, the Clinton administration asked for letters of resignation
(effective January 20, 2001) from all U.S. ambassadors and political
appointees. Assuming that George W. Bush finally emerges as the winner of the
contested presidential election, it is expected that some 3,000
resignations will be accepted as the massive transition from Democratic to
Republican control of the executive branch takes place.

Letters of resignation were not requested, however, of inspector generals and
the heads of independent agencies.  When contacted by the NCC, neither the
Archivist of the United States, John Carlin, nor National Endowment for the
Humanities Chairman, William R. Ferris, have been asked or plan to
voluntarily submit letters of resignation. As heads of independent agencies,
in theory at least, their positions are somewhat protected from shifts in the
Washington political arena.

2.   APPROPRIATION UPDATE: CONGRESS TO RECONVENE IN LAME DUCK SESSION
On November 14, Congress briefly came to order in a lame duck session, passed
its sixteenth Continuing Resolution, and then promptly recessed until
December 4. Next week, when Congress reconvenes, lawmakers are expected to
address the four remaining appropriations bills including several of interest
to the historical/archival community: Labor, Health and Human Services and
Education (this bill reportedly includes a $50 million amendment for history
education), the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government bill (this
legislation includes the budgets for the National Archives and the Library of
Congress) and the Intelligence Authorization Act (this bill includes a
section authorizing the Moynihan Declassification Board).

Since the presidential election still remains in dispute, exactly what is
going to happen when Congress meets remains unclear.  There is optimism in
some circles that Congress will not significantly tamper with the various
appropriation bills that for the most part have been agreed to; other Hill
observers doubt there will be a swift conclusion to the budget disputes.  Now
that George W. Bush has declared himself the winner of the election,
Congressional Republicans see little reason to cave in to the President's
budget requests and instead may try to delay action on the various
appropriation bills until after the inauguration and thereby let the new
Congress (and new Republican President) settle the outstanding issues. On
November 28, however, President Clinton made it clear that he won't sign a
Continuing Resolution through inauguration day, but wants Congress to wrap up
their business as quickly as possible.

Should Vice-President Gore win his various court appeals and be declared the
winner of the election, the resulting partisan bickering will undoubtedly
intensify.  We can be assured that the final outcome of the presidential
election will not only make a difference in the future balance of power, but
may impact the remaining FY 2001 appropriation allotments.

One procedural curiosity emerged this last week: Because Democrat Marie
Cantwell appears to have defeated Republican Senator Slade Gordon in
Washington state, when Congress reconvenes on January 3, the Democrats will
be in control of the Senate for 17 days. After the inauguration on January 20
though, the Senate will be split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.
During the 17-day  transition when they control the Senate, the Democrats are
not expected to ram anything through the chamber.  They may, however, be in a
position to advance certain appropriation bills.

3.   JAMESTOWN COMMISSION LEGISLATION IN LIMBO
Enactment of legislation to create a federal commission to raise national
awareness about the first permanent English settlement in North America
appears to be in limbo as the 106th Congress draws to a close.  Legislation
(H.R. 4909 -  "Jamestown 400th Commemorative Commission Act of 2000")
introduced by the late Herbert H. Bateman (R-VA) who died on September 11,
passed the House of Representatives on October 30 and Senate companion
legislation (S. 2885), co-sponsored by outgoing Virginia Senator Charles Robb
and senior Senator John Warner, passed the Senate on October 5.  The bills,
however, are not identical (the Senate version makes two minor technical
corrections to the House passed bill).  At this point, however, because the
technical corrections are so minor, it would be acceptable to all concerned
parties for either the House to pass the Senate version, or the Senate to
pass the House version, in order to see the bill enacted.  Hill sources
report that because Representative Bateman is dead and Senator Robb was
defeated in the recent election, and because Congress appears paralyzed in
partisan bickering, the likelihood of the legislation being enacted this
Congress appears slim.  Senator Warner and a few congressional
friends of history on the House side appear to be doing what they can to see
the legislation move forward, but it is an uphill battle given the limited
opportunities to attach legislation to outstanding appropriation bills.

The Jamestown Commission is an integral part of plans being laid by the
National Park Service (NPS), the Association for the Preservation of Virginia
Antiquities, and the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation to create a unique
partnership that combines research, planning, fund raising, and
construction. While the Jamestown celebration is still seven years off,
planning must move forward in fiscal 2001 if the various programs and
facility construction are to be in place when the visitors arrive. Precious
time will be lost if the Commission is not established this year.

The project was dealt another blow when several hundred thousand dollars in
requested federal funding for the NPS's component of planning of facilities
and programs for Jamestown never made it into the final enacted Interior
Appropriations bill. Irrespective of this, the NPS plans to move forward as
best as they can with limited resources.

In the meantime, popular interest in early American settlement colonies has
never been higher. The fascinating archeological discoveries at Popham Colony
currently being unearthed on a bluff overlooking Maine's Kennebec River by
Dr. Jeffrey Brain of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem,
Massachusetts, for example, is revealing much about the history of early
colonial America.
Popham Colony was chartered by James I to the Virginia Company, but it lasted
only 13 months - from August 1607 to September 1608.  The colony does have
the distinction of being America's first (though unsuccessful) northeast
colony.   Today, the site is largely uncontaminated by modern-day
intrusions and it is somewhat protected by the state of Maine and several
sympathetic landowners.  Because the colony site was occupied for only one
year, it provides a bench-mark time capsule of early colonial life.  It is an
archeological treasure-trove that reveals much about the economic and
social history of early America.  According to Brain, research results cannot
be duplicated through excavations at other colonial sites at Jamestown,
Plymouth, or Roanoke.

Apart from what it may add to the history of colonial America, the
excavations at Popham reveal yet another truth about American history: much
of our past is only now, 400 years after the fact, being discovered. Should
the Jamestown Commission be established, sites like Popham Colony could
benefit from some level of federal support.

4.   NEW BITS AND BYTES
Item #1 - Inauguration Web Site: The Library of Congress is making available
through its American Memory Collection web site a presentation of some 400
items from each of the past 62 inaugurations.  The collection - "I Do
Solemnly Swear...': Presidential Inaugurations" - represents a collaborative
effort between the Library and other institutions and includes entries from
diaries, letters, photographs, and other items that document the ceremonial
aspects of presidential inaugurations. To access the site, tap into:
http://www.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml

Item #2 - Public Comment Sought: The public is invited to comment by 9:00 am
December 11 on proposed recommendations advanced by the National Commission
on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) in a report on public
information dissemination policies and practices. The draft Commission report
suggests the need for the creation of a government-wide information
dissemination budget line in the President's budget and similar lines in each
agency budget.  These recommendations are (or will be) incorporated in draft
legislation - The Public Information Resources Reform Act of 2000.  This
legislation specifically seeks to establish a public information resources
agency in each branch of government. Information about the assessment is
available on the Commission website at
http://www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/assess.html

In seeking public comment, the Commission is particularly interested in
hearing from end-users of government information such as students, teachers,
researchers, librarians, archivists, and others. A draft of the Commission's
Executive Summary of its final report to Congress may be found at
http://www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/execsum.pdf
the draft report may be accessed at:
http://www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/draftrpt.pdf

* * * * * * * * *
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