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(FWD) NCC Washington Update, Vol 7, #17, April 25, 2001



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #17, April 25, 2001
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig3@juno.com> of  the National Coordinating Committee
for the Promotion of History
*****************

1.   NHPRC Budget - Special Action Request
2.   News Bits and Bytes: NCC Activities at OAH Convention

1.   SPECIAL ACTION REQUEST: YOUR IMMEDIATE HELP IS NEEDED TO RAISE FUNDING
LEVELS FOR THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDS COMMISSION
The NCC has just learned that there is a MAY 1, 2001, deadline for House of
Representatives "Members Requests" for funding various aspects of the federal
budget.  As has been previously brought to your attention (see NCC WASHINGTON
UPDATE (Vol. 7, #15 April 11, 2001), a deep funding cut is proposed in the
President's budget proposal for the National Historical Publications and
Records Commission (NHPRC).  The President's proposal is for a funding level
of $4.436 million - dramatically down (31%) from the $6.436 million funding
level in the current FY 2001 budget.

We urge you to contact your Congressional representatives IMMEDIATELY and
have them forward a "Members Request" to the Chairman of the House
Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government urging
Chairman Istook and members of that Committee to fund the grants program of
the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the $10
million level.

ACTION NEEDED:
*INDIVIDUALS:  Letters, phone calls, faxes, and E-mails (least effective) to
your own Representatives and Senators asking them to support the $10 million
figure and to let the chair and ranking member of the subcommittee listed
below know of this support.  The appropriation is due to be considered early
in May in the House so you need to act immediately! *ORGANIZATIONS:
Communicate with the committee listed below stating your organization's total
membership and purpose and supporting the $10 million figure.  It's
particularly important to focus on the myriad uses of NHPRC-funded products.

BACKGROUND:  The National Historical Publications Commission was created with
the National Archives in 1934, given its own staff in 1951, authorized to
make grants in 1964, and reorganized in 1975 as the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission.  Its mandate is to assist efforts to
preserve and make the documentary heritage of the United States widely
accessible by using modest federal grants to stimulate state, local,
institutional and private contributions.  The federal funding leverages
contributions to historical documentary editing projects (i.e. The Papers of
founders Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams,
and James Madison, the correspondence of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.
Anthony, the Papers of Eleanor Roosevelt, the Frederick Douglass Papers, the
Papers of Gen. George C. Marshall, to name a few), to projects designed to
preserve historical records of enduring value and to cooperative projects to
address common archival issues, such as the complex problem of electronic
historical records.  The Commission has an excellent record of accomplishment
and is seen as a model federal grants program.

NHPRC has an FY'01 appropriation of $6.436 million, however, the
Administration has recommended only $4.436 million for FY'02, which
represents a 31% cut. The NHPRC's grants program is authorized at a $10
million ceiling for FY'02. The Administration's request would cut the NHPRC's
grants funding almost back to its FY1980 level of $4 million!! This cut would
be particularly damaging given the fact that the NHPRC's grants are
addressing ever bigger and more expensive records issues, particularly in the
electronic records research area.

The proposed cut also threatens the NHPRC's well recognized ability to
leverage monies and to act as the "venture capitalist" for the nation's
documentary heritage.  Documentary publications projects, which are already
universally understaffed and underfunded, will suffer further cutbacks and
their progress will be slowed, or halted altogether.  State and regional
activities in planning implementing archival programs will be seriously
hampered and research on the pressing problem of electronic records will be
curtailed, jeopardizing the preservation of important historical
documentation.

KEY POINTS TO RAISE IN RELATION TO THE NHPRC:
*  The National Historical Publications and Records Commission makes grants
each year to institutions across the country to preserve historical records,
publish historical papers, and make historical materials more accessible.
NHPRC has an outstanding record of making grants to edit and publish
historical documents, to develop archival programs, to promote the
preservation and use of historical records, to promote regional and national
coordination in addressing major archival issues, and to support a wide range
of other activities relating to America's documentary heritage.  While
the National Archives concentrates on federal records, the NHPRC helps
archivists, documentary editors, and historians who preserve and make
available non-Federal records of exceptional historical significance.

*   The public benefits that come from the preservation and dissemination of
documents significant to an understanding of the United States were most
eloquently stated by J. Franklin Jameson, the founder of the National
Archives and the NHPRC when he wrote in a November 30, 1927 memorandum: "The
publication of documentary historical materials is a regular function of all
civilized governments, and it is not likely to be omitted by any government
in which there is any appreciation of how much historical study does and can
do for the promotion of national patriotism."

*  Documentary history editions are used not only by scholars but by students
and teachers at every educational level, as well as by documentary film
makers and museum curators.  The Internet has literally opened up a new world
for the dissemination of the products of NHPRC funded projects.

*  NHPRC grants are a good investment for the country.  They result in major
matching funds from private sources which would not have been available
otherwise.  Federal funds ensure potential backers that the projects are of
genuine significance and capably staffed and organized. Through this model
cost-sharing program, in which the average non-Federal contribution is almost
50%, NHPRC has efficiently used federal leverage to preserve our documentary
heritage.

NHPRC supporters are urged to contact their Congressional representatives
(the Capitol switchboard telephone number is 202. 224-3121) immediately, and
urge them to send a "members request" to the Committee on Appropriations to
support full-funding ($10 million) for the NHPRC. Furthermore, request that
these funds not be taken out of the existing NARA program base. Communication
with  House members Ernest J. Istook, Frank Wolf, Anne Meagher Northup, John
E. Sununu, John Peterson, Todd Tiahrt, John Sweeney, Don Sherwood, Steny H.
Hoyer, Carrie Meek, David E. Price, Steven R. Rothman, and Peter J. Visclosky
(all of whom sit on the House appropriation subcommittee of jurisdiction)
would be particularly useful.

Letters from historical and archival organizations are especially important
right now and should be sent to the Appropriation subcommittee of
jurisdiction:

The Honorable Ernest J. Istook
Chairman, Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
B-307 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515-6028

2.  NEWS BITS AND BYTES:
Item #1- The National Coordination Committee for the Promotion of History
will hold its breakfast briefing during the meeting of the Organization of
American Historians (OAH) in Los Angeles, California, on April 27 from 7:30
to 9:00 am. The NCC Board meeting will follow. Readers with an interest in
the work of the NCC are invited to attend the breakfast portion. In addition,
the NCC will host one of the OAH's experimental "chat-rooms" on Sunday, April
29 from 9 to 11 am. The chat room will provide attendees with an opportunity
to learn about the political process, ask questions about
pending legislation, appropriations, and the work of the NCC. Consult the OAH
program for additional details.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  * * * * * *
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