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NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #14, April 6, 2001



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #14, April 6, 2001
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig3@juno.com> of the National Coordinating Committee
for the Promotion of History.
*****************

1.  Congress Passes 2002 Budget Resolutions
2   Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Holds Budget Hearing
3.  Legislation to Create New Army Museum Introduced
4.  News Bits and Bytes: Correction-Arthur Miller Story; Senate Historical
Office Position.

1.  CONGRESS PASSES 2002 BUDGET RESOLUTIONS
Both the House and Senate passed FY 2002 budget resolutions before leaving
town for their spring break due to begin April 7.  Recently, the House voted
222-205 to endorse the Administration's budget request of $1.98 trillion. On
April 3, when the Senate passed the measure, Vice-President Dick Cheney cast
his first tie-breaking vote. One Democratic senator, Zell Miller (D-GE), and
one Republican, Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), broke party ranks and voted with the
opposing party.  In both the House and Senate, Democratic efforts to amend
the legislation were defeated on party-line votes.

The President has yet to release his fully detailed budget (the budget
proposal is expected to be released April 9, while Congress is in recess).
The budget resolution, however, provides a non-binding framework for
spending government-wide. The resolution allocates funds by government
function and the appropriations subcommittees often try to make spending
decisions based on the allocations. However, Congress can and often does
ignore the budget resolution.

This year, it is expected that the Republican proposals for some $1.6
trillion in tax cuts (projected over ten years) and the hoped for surplus of
$5.6 trillion over the next decade will impact fiscal decisions when
Congress begins to consider specific FY 2002 appropriations for the various
governmental departments.

2.  INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE HOLDS HEARING
On Wednesday, April 4, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and
Related Agencies held its first hearing on the budget for the 2002 fiscal
year. William Ferris, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) and Bill Ivey, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA),
both presented testimony on behalf of their respective agencies.

While President George W. Bush is not scheduled to release his full budget
proposal until Monday (April 9), it has been no secret that the Bush budget
seeks to freeze spending levels for the National Endowment for the
Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts at roughly their current
levels.  Ferris's testimony confirmed that expectation when he announced the
Administration's proposed a spending level of $120.504 million for the NEH.
He stated, "Knowing that educational reform is a high priority with the
President, in FY 2002 the Endowment will pursue with renewed vigor its
ongoing efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the
humanities in the nation's schools and colleges." Ivey stated that his
agency was requesting a similar flat-funding level proposal of $105.219
million.

Democrats attending the budget hearing stated that they wanted to see
enacted significant increases for the arts and humanities programs. Norm
Dicks (D-WA), the Ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee, stated that he hoped
that both endowments could receive $150 million. David Obey (D-WI), one of
the champions for funding increases for both the NEH and NEA, stated that he
hoped that both agencies could receive more than the "token increases" that
have been generated in the last two fiscal years (The NEH, for example, has
received a $5 million increase over the Administration's proposals in each
of the past two fiscal years). Representative Joe Skeen (R-NM), the new
chairman of the Subcommittee (who is generally viewed by Hill watchers as
sympathetic to the NEH in the past) did not state whether he would support
or oppose funding increases.

During the hearing, discussion focused on the funding proposal for the
Regional Humanities Centers - a favorite program initiative of NEH Chairman
Ferris.  The program seeks to establish 10 university based regional centers
that would "use the humanities to explore regional cultures in the context
of place."  One Republican member, Representative Jack Kingston (R-GA),
expressed concern that the initiative could draw funds away from the NEH's
core programs.  Ferris, explained that it was hoped that a significant
portion of the initiative would be funded through private sources and
eventually each center would be associated with an endowment that would
enable each to eventually be self-sustaining. The members discussed the
possibility of mandating such a funding arrangement through the inclusion of
legislative language in the appropriation.

3.  LEGISLATION TO CREATE NEW ARMY MUSEUM INTRODUCED
On March 20, 2001, several members of the Virginia Congressional delegation
(joined by other members of Congress ) introduced legislation (H.R. 1120 and
S. 571) to require the Secretary of the Army to designate Fort Belvoir,
Virginia, as the site for the planned National Museum of the United States
Army. Both the House measure and Senate companion legislation seek to
"enhance the knowledge of the American people to the role of the Army in
United States history."

4.  NEWS BITS AND BYTES
Item #1 - CORRECTION: In the story about Arthur Miller's Jefferson Day
lecture in the last NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol 7 #13, March 30, 2001) we
inadvertently misquoted an article in the April 2, 2001 issue of the New
Republic (TNR) relating to Peter Berkowitz, a TNR contributing who may be
being considered by the Bush Administration for the Chairmanship of the
National Endowment for the Humanities. We stated:  "the NEH could do with a
restoration of its intellectual left." It seems the fax copy of the article
that we were provided smeared the last word of the quote. It should read:
"the NEH could do with a restoration of its intellectual heft." Thanks to a
vigilant reader who caught the slip.  This reader also notes: "As a scholar
of the values understood to be essential within the classical liberal
tradition and in many of his articles...Berkowitz is beyond conventional
categories." We certainly did not mean to lead readers to believe Berkowitz
is more ideological than he is.

Item #2 - SENATE HISTORICAL OFFICE POSITION: The U.S. Senate Historical
Office invites applications for the position of Historical Editor. This
individual will copyedit, index, and coordinate production of all Historical
Office print and on-line publications including closed-session transcripts
of historically significant committee meetings, and administrative history
of the Senate, a historical data series of statistical tables, and a
documentary history project that includes volumes on impeachment trials,
controversial treaties, and the development of Senate rules.  The editor
will also prepare a documentary volume on the Senate appropriations process.
The position is available June 1; salary will be at the associate professor
level. Graduate degree in American history or directly related field is
required.  Preference will be given to applicants with at least three years
of experience in an appropriately comparable work setting. Deadline for
submission of resume and the names of three references is May 15, 2001.
Send materials to Ms. Cynthia Houser, Senate Historical Office, Washington
D.C. 20510-7108.

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