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(FWD) NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #39, September 27, 2001



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #39, September 27, 2001
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig@nccph.org
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH)
*****************

1.   Appropriations Bills May See Dramatic Modifications
2.   Teaching American History Grants to Be Announced
3.   Smithsonian NAPA Report Draws Fire
4.   Henry Moran Selected as New Executive Director of the President's
Committee on the Arts and Humanities
5.   Trade Center Damage Report Update
6.   Book Burning a Possibility for Disputed FRUS Volume
7.   Legislation Passed: House Passes El Camino Real de los Tejas National
Historic Trail Act
8.   News Bits and Bytes: New Head of LBJ Library; LC Scholars Council Set to
Meet

1.  APPROPRIATION BILLS MAY SEE DRAMATIC MODIFICATIONS
In light of recent terrorist attacks on American soil, issues associated with
national security have made it difficult for Congress to attend to the more
routine legislative business such as consideration and enactment of the 13
appropriations bills that fund the activities of the federal government.
Without a doubt, the battle over the federal budget has been dramatically
reshaped as Congress begins to pour money into the fight against global
terrorism, providing funds for an economic stimulus and several industry
bailouts.

This past week, leaders of the House and Senate agreed to jettison all but a
few of their earlier legislative priorities in the hope of avoiding partisan
debates.  Both houses also approved legislation (H.J. Res. 65) that will give
lawmakers a 16-day extension into the new fiscal year (to October 16) to
resolve the remaining differences in the FY 2002 budget. (At this writing the
House has passed 10 and the Senate has passed seven appropriation bills but
none have been conferenced or signed into law.)  President Bush has made his
desire known, however, for Congress to finish work as quickly as possible on
his education reform bill (S.1) and one or two other measures.

Agencies are now being asked to formulate budget numbers for FY 2003.  For
virtually all agencies (the Department of Defense probably excepted), FY 2003
promises to be unusually tight. Budget representatives of several agencies
inform the NCC that they are being asked to assemble agency budget proposals
with starting budget figures less than those advanced by the White House for
FY 2002.

With respect to where things stand now - for the education bill, both the
House and Senate have passed their respective versions of the legislation.
On Tuesday, September 25, conferees met to ratify various provisions that
staff have worked out over the last couple of weeks. Negotiations, however,
are far from over.

Both the House and Senate have also passed their respective versions of the
Treasury/Postal appropriation measure (HR 2590) which includes funding for
the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), but conferees have
not yet met.   The Interior and Related Agencies appropriation bill (H.R.
2217) that provides funding for the National Park Service and the National
Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, has also been passed, but conferees
have yet to meet. When they do, managers will reconcile the differences
between the House bill that gives the NEH a $3 million increase verses the
proposed $5 million increase in the Senate bill. Of concern to historic
preservationists are funding levels in the Interior bills for historic
preservation. FY 2002  funding levels are substantially down - the Historic
Preservation Fund (HPF) is $20 million lower in the Senate version of the
bill from the FY 2001 enacted level of $94 million; the Senate appears
prepared to fund the HPF at $74 million while the House has allocated $77
million.  State and tribal programs are also down $7.495 and $2.560
respectively over last year's funding levels.

2.   TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY GRANTS TO BE ANNOUNCED
The Department of Education (DOE) has informed the NCC that the grant
recipients for the "Teaching American History" initiative will be announced
in the very near future - perhaps as early as Friday, September 28.  Some $50
million in grants are expected to be awarded to over 100 applicants. For news
and informational postings relating to the awards, tap into:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/TAH/

3.  SMITHSONIAN NAPA REPORT DRAWS FIRE
A recently released report - "A Study of the Smithsonian Institution's
Repair, Restoration and Alteration of Facilities Program" -  by the National
Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) concludes that the Smithsonian
Institution (SI) must spend perhaps as much as $1.5 billion in the next
decade to fully repair, renovate, and alter its facilities. The study was
commissioned eight months ago to address concerns raised by House and Senate
appropriation committees stemming from rising cost estimates (at times the SI
underestimated costs by a third) relating to various repairs and improvements
to the Institution's Washington D.C. based facilities.

The report concluded that the "extensive backlog of major repair, restoration
and renewal requirements are valid and have not been overstated."  The study
also found that the Smithsonian is hampered by an outdated financial system
that cannot accurately track obligations and expenditures; NAPA recommended
that the SI install a new internal records keeping and reporting system.

Perhaps most important, the report recommended centralization of research and
education functions across the Institution's museums and divisions. In a
statement, SI Secretary, Lawrence Small, expressed his view that "this report
gives us a valuable blueprint for the future." It is widely believed inside
the SI that the NAPA report will be used by the Smithsonian's top management
to support its desired "strategic redirection" and that management will use
the report to counter a 1994 Regent's "Commission on the Future of the
Smithsonian" report that reached conclusions the exact opposite of NAPA's
about the advisability of centralization of research and public education.

On September 14, 2001, the Smithsonian Congress of Scholars released its
response to the NAPA study.  The Congress represents some 500 curators and
researchers in all disciplines and branches of the Smithsonian.  In a letter
to the House and Senate Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation
Committee, the Scholars expressed "agreement with NAPA's main conclusions"
and shared NAPA's concerns about "Smithsonian management attitudes toward
Federal funding and gross under-estimation of facilities expenses." The
Scholars disagreed, however, with the recommendation to centralize research
and education, characterized the recommendation as "misguided," and argued
that in reaching this conclusion, NAPA "moved beyond its areas of expertise."
  The Scholars stated, "centralizing management of our intellectual content
will remove trained professionals from the collections for which they are
responsible, distancing them from the decision-making process, and eroding
the capabilities of staff to accomplish the Institution's primary missions
and its Congressional mandates."

The Scholars also raised a concern not addressed in the NAPA report -
"erosion of support for core functions of the Institution." The Scholars
noted that there are "significantly fewer professional curators, fewer
research staff, and fewer research resources than just ten years ago" and
took NAPA to task for not addressing the need for "corresponding increases in
funding for the core functions of research, education, and care of the
national collections."  "Without rebuilding capabilities to support the
Smithsonian's fundamental mission," noted the Scholars, "we will be left
merely with attractive facades housing superficial entertainment, while one
of the worlds's great centers of learning, and some of history's foremost
collections, will be allowed to crumble and disappear."

The report is available on the web at http://www.si.edu.

4.   HENRY MORAN SELECTED AS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE PRESIDENTS
COMMITTEE ON THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES
President Bush has selected Henry Moran, current head of  the Mid-America
Arts Alliance, a private, regional multi-state arts organization, as
Executive Director of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
At Mid-America, Mr. Moran was responsible for greatly expanding the
availability of cultural programming in the Mid-West. He is well known to
colleagues in cultural organizations across the United States, including
staff at NEA, NEH, and the IMLS.  Mr. Moran's appointment does not require
Senate confirmation.

The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities was initially
created by President Ronald Reagan to bring together private citizens active
in the support of arts and humanities and federal officials responsible for
cultural programs.  Established by Presidential Executive Order in 1982 to
encourage private sector support and to increase public appreciation of the
value of the arts and the humanities, through projects, publications and
meetings, the Committee comprises leading citizens from the private sector
who have an interest in and commitment to the humanities and the arts. Its
members also include the heads of federal agencies with cultural programs,
such as the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, the
Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Department of Education, the
Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art
and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Information on the
President's Committee for the Arts and Humanities can be found at:
http://www.pcah.gov.

5.  TRADE CENTER DAMAGE REPORT UPDATE
Damage and loss reports continue to trickle in about the recent terrorist
attacks on New York and Washington D.C.  The Associated Press reports that
some $10 million in art works including sculpture and tapestry works by
Calder, Nevelson, Lichtenstein, and Miro that were on display at 2 World
Trade Center have been damaged or destroyed. It has also been reported that
representatives of the New York State Archives, State Library, and State
Museum have begun to muster resources to respond with appropriate technical
advice and materials to impacted institutions.

In Washington D.C., we have learned that the Pentagon library was damaged in
the attack and its aftermath. Since the library is considered part of the
crime scene, no one has been allowed into the area for an assessment. Water
damage is expected to be significant.

6. "BOOK BURNING" A POSSIBILITY FOR DISPUTED FRUS VOLUME
According to several press reports and information gleaned from the
Federation of American Scientists, there is growing pressure from the Central
Intelligence Agency on State Department officials to destroy the inventory of
1,500 copies of volume XVI of the "Foreign Relations of the United States"
(FRUS) series dealing with US policy towards Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey
during the 1960s and to replace it with a sanitized version.

The sticking point for the release of "Foreign Relations of the United
States, Eastern Mediterranean 1964-1968" appears to be a handful of documents
that allude to CIA intervention in the electoral process in Greece some 35
years ago. CIA officials claim that release of such documents could upset
current relations with Greece or even provide a pretext for terrorism.
Similar claims that delayed the release of another FRUS volume on Indonesia
earlier this year proved unfounded.

Sources inside the State Department report that the existence of the volume
is too well known and that destroying them would be a huge public relations
disaster for the U.S. government. According to one key official inside State,
"Book burning is definitely not a politically correct thing to do."
Reportedly, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, George J. Tenet,
has gotten personally involved in the matter and is attempting to enlist the
help of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in blocking release of the
official history.  In the meantime, State Department officials continue their
dialog with representatives of the CIA.

7.  LEGISLATION PASSED: HOUSE PASSES EL CAMINO REAL DE LOS TEJAS NATIONAL
HISTORIC TRAIL
On September 10, 2001, the House of Representatives acted on a July 1998
National Park Service feasibility study and passed legislation (H.R. 1628)
introduced by Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX) to designate the El Camino Real de
los Tejas as a National Historic Trail.  The 2,600 mile trail served as the
primary route between the Spanish viceregal capital of Mexico City and
several Spanish provincial capitals.  In later years, the Old San Antonio
Road carried immigrants from the east. The legislation directs the Secretary
of the Interior to coordinate an international effort between Mexico and the
United States to recognize the significance of this trail. The bill sets
forth specific protections for private property owners, including that
privately-owned real property or property interests may be acquired only with
the owner's willing consent.  The House bill has been referred to the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for action.

8.  BITS AND BYTES:
Item #1- New Head of LBJ Library:
Betty S. Flowers has been appointed the new director of the Lyndon B. Johnson
Library in Austin, Texas. Dr. Flowers currently is the Kelleher Professor of
English at the University of Texas at Austin. Flowers will assume the
position in January 2002.  She replaces Harry Middleton who has served as
director since 1971.

Item #2 - LC Scholars Council Set to Meet:
On October 11, 2001, the Library of Congress will convene the first meeting
of the Scholars' Council to advise the Librarian of Congress on the
appointment of five senior-level chair positions at the newly created Kluge
Center: 1) American Law and Governance; 2) Societies and Cultures of the
North; 3) Societies and Cultures of the South; 4) Technology and Society; and
5) Modern Culture.  The Council which includes historians Bernard Bailyn,
Judith Margaret Brown, Bronislaw Geremek, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Jaroslav
Pelikan, and historical novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, will also provide advice
on suitable recipients for the Kluge Prize of $2 million to recognize
lifetime achievement in the Human Sciences.  The Kluge Center was recently
created with a $60 million endowment to foster scholarly research in the
Human Sciences worldwide.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  * * * * *
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