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(FWD) NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #50, December 14, 2001



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #50, December 14, 2001
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig@nccph.org
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH)
*****************

1.  Education Bill Conference Agreement Reached/Passes House - "Teaching
American History" Initiative Authorized for Five Years
2.  Smithsonian Faces Budget Woes
3.  Second Notice - NCC Board Meeting / "Hill Rat" Open Forum Session
Scheduled
4.  Report: Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress
5.  Recent Actions By Congress: New Public Laws, Legislation Passed,
Legislation Introduced
6.  Clinton Library Groundbreaking Ceremony
7.  Bits and Bytes: NHPRC Archival Fellowship; Footnote to an Appropriations
Bill

1.  EDUCATION BILL CONFERENCE AGREEMENT REACHED/PASSES HOUSE - "TEACHING
AMERICAN HISTORY" INITIATIVE AUTHORIZED FOR FIVE YEARS
Following months of negotiation, on December 11, 2001,  House and Senate
conferees agreed to a far-reaching education bill that brings what some
law-makers considered "much-needed reforms" to a federal law that had "lost
its focus and never met its promise." The legislation seeks to expand choices
for parents, gives states and local school districts new flexibility,
streamlines federal education bureaucracy, and attempts to improve student
achievement through testing. The "No Child Left Behind" bill (S.1/H.R.1) that
up until September 11 had been the President's top domestic priority, had
stalled for months.  Agreement by the conferees now clears the way for final
action on the measure before Congress adjourns for the holiday break. On
December 13, the bill passed the House 381 to 41;
action in the Senate is pending.

In Title II Part C (subpart 4) one finds the "Teaching of Traditional
American History" authorization included in the conference agreement.  This
provision will incorporate into law Senator Robert Byrd's (D-WV) Senate
amendment #402 (passed in the Senate May 10, 2001) to S.1 that authorizes
"Such funds as may be necessary for fiscal year 2002 and each of the 5
succeeding fiscal years" for the teaching of traditional American history
grant program.  Through the Department of Education (DOE), the grant program
has already made available $50 million in federal grant money to local school
districts; another $100 million is expected to be appropriated in the still
pending Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations measure
(H.R. 3061) that Congress is scheduled to take up next week.

The conference agreement requires states to establish minimum level of
proficiency on exams in some subjects (math and English but not history) and
seeks to bring all students to an acceptable knowledge level within 12 years.
 Schools that fail to make adequate educational progress would receive an
influx of extra federal funding for a short time, then, if the schools
continue to fail to progress adequately, they could have staff replaced,
curriculum revamped, or be converted to charter schools.   In addition, the
measure authorizes an increase in spending under the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act by $3.7 billion - some 20%.  There is also another 20% increase
in funding for Title I programs, the federal governments main education
program for the disadvantaged.  Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT), an original
Senate sponsor of the Senate version of the legislation (S. 1) stated, "The
resources are not there to make this bill work" and ended up opposing the
agreement.

2.   SMITHSONIAN FACES BUDGET WOES
In FY 2002 the Smithsonian Institution (SI) received an operating budget of
$497 million - some $3 million more than what the President requested, but
still far less than the complex of museums and research facilities needs to
operate efficiently.  Next year's proposed budget looks even worse, raising
questions in some lawmaker's minds about the priorities and goals of the Bush
Administration as well as the ability of the Smithsonian's top management to
work effectively with the White House and members of Congress to secure the
needed federal funding for the Smithsonian.

This year's appropriation includes $399 million for salaries and other
operating expenses and funding for a number of priority programs: $1.8
million to prepare and move artifacts to the Air and Space Museum's new
facility at Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia; $975,000 for the Traveling
Exhibition Service programs; $7.2 million for upgraded Institution-wide human
resources, financial, and information technology systems; and $30 million in
the construction budget for the American Indian Museum.

A $3 million allocation permits the continued operation of the National Zoo's
Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia and the Center for
Materials Research and Education in Suitland, Maryland, both of which would
have been closed by action of Secretary Lawrence Small had it not been for
Congress's intervention.  Nevertheless, several offices and programs will be
shut down this year including the duplicating branch of the Office of
Imaging, Printing and Photographic Services; Smithsonian Productions; the SI
Libraries Museum Reference Center Branch; and its Horticulture Branch.  These
closures are part of overall reductions Institution-wide cutbacks totaling
almost $10 million.

Next year looks equally bleak. In a letter dated November 27, 2001 from the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to Secretary Small, the Bush
Administration clearly communicated to the Secretary the message that the
President's budget this next year "will focus on winning the war against
terrorism and securing the homeland" - that it is necessary to reallocate
resources governmentwide, and that the White House is prepared to make "all
the necessary adjustments in order to fund those new imperatives" including
advancing a series of budget cuts in the Smithsonian's proposed FY 2003
funding package.  The OMB proposal suggests a budget line of $470.2 million
for the Smithsonian -  a reduction of $27 million or 5.4% of the SI's current
operating budget.  Some lawmakers claim that budget cutbacks ordered by the
OMB will "cause serious and irreparable harm" to the museum complex.

In its directive to Small, the OMB proposes transferring $35 million from the
SI research offices to the National Science Foundation (thus immediately
affecting some 250 scientists working in three Smithsonian scientific
institutes) and stopping the restoration of the Old Patent Office for a year
(this structure houses the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian
America Art Museum - the renovation has been in progress since 1999 and is
scheduled to be completed in 2005).  OMB is also seeking to take $20 million
from the Smithsonian's general funds to improve security at the various SI
museums. Expected to be especially hard hit by the cuts are the 111-year-old
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge Massachusetts, and two
other research facilities: the Tropical Research Institute and the
Smithsonian's Environmental Research Center.

District of Columbia officials expressed particular concern that the
recommendation to suspend restoration of the National Portrait Gallery and
Smithsonian American Art Museum could hamper the District's economic
development efforts to create a  revitalized arts and culture district in
downtown Washington.  Already some $1 billion has been invested by the public
and private sources toward this effort. The Kimton Hotel Group, for example,
is converting another nearby government building into a luxury hotel, and
there is a privately run International Spy Museum set to open next year -
both would be impacted by the restoration delay.  To suspend the restoration
of the 161-year old Patent Office building (the third-oldest building in
D.C.), claims D.C. Councilman Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), is evidence of "how
ignorant" some of the people are who work on the federal budget.  OMB
officials declined to comment on the renovation suspension proposal that
agency officials hope will save $45 million next year.

Sources inside the Smithsonian report that top Smithsonian management has
responded to the OMB budget figures by sending a formal appeal to OMB through
official channels. The Smithsonian's action in opting to appeal the OMB
budget figures in essence pits the Smithsonian management against the White
House.  A Smithsonian spokesman said that Secretary Small would not comment
on the budget dispute.  Reportedly, Small never met with OMB officials
directly as have other agency heads who anticipated budget cuts, but rather
delegated the sensitive discussions to his Congressional relations staff.
Congressional members of the Smithsonian Board of Regents were also mobilized
to appeal directly to OMB, but sources inside the Smithsonian report that
their efforts were rebuffed.  A formal answer to the Smithsonian's OMB appeal
is expected on December 21.  Members of Congress, including Rep. Robert T.
Matsui (D-CA) and a regent of the SI stated, that if the OMB proposals remain
intact when the budget is officially submitted by the Administration to
Congress in February 2002,
"This would be pretty devastating for the Smithsonian."

3.   SECOND NOTICE - NCC BOARD MEETING / "HILL RAT" OPEN FORUM SESSION
SCHEDULED
During the upcoming annual meeting of the American Historical Association,
the NCC Policy Board will meet from 7:30 - 9:30 am on Friday, January 4, 2002
in the Ascot Room of the Westin St. Francis Hotel located at 335 Powell
Street, San Francisco, California (phone 415. 397-7000).  This year there
will be no pre-board "NCC Breakfast," rather, a formal session targeted to
the interests of NCC members, "The Hill Rat Open Forum" (see page 37 and 115
of the AHA program guide) has been scheduled for later in the day (2:30 -
4:30 pm).  The recent executive order on presidential records, next year's
funding challenges for the Smithsonian and the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) will be focal points of
discussion.  Plan on attending!

4.   REPORT: ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE RECORDS OF CONGRESS
On December 10, 2001 the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress met at
the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.  After opening remarks by Clerk of
the House of Representatives, Jeff Trandahl, who chairs the body, Jeri
Thomson, the new Secretary of the Senate, was recognized and made a few brief
remarks.

In his report, Archivist of the United States John Carlin stated that the
renovation of Archives I was well underway.  He also reported that the recent
fire at the NARA Suitland facility that damaged State Department collections
and the papers of several sitting members of Congress (see NCC WASHINGTON
UPDATE, Vol. 7, #49, December 6, 2001) apparently was set by an arsonist; he
announced that a $50,000 reward was being offered for information leading to
conviction of the perpetrator.

NARA staff reported on the discussions that took place during the August 29,
2001 meeting of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) where the Third
Report of the Advisory Committee was the topic of discussion during a
round-table session, with about 85 people in attendance. After discussing
some of the recommendations made during the SAA round-table, the Advisory
Committee passed a resolution to have the Chair and Vice-Chair appoint a
subcommittee to review and report on the various recommendations made during
that meeting and report back to the Committee.

Two other reports were made by NARA staff - one updating the Committee on the
status of the effort to create an educational package about Congress, and a
second report on the progress being made with respect to the new
Congressional Visitor Center.

When discussing the first of the two reports, NARA staff reported that they
have been working on a teacher-training package "with Congress at the center
and documents at the core" that would be distributed nationwide to give
teachers information about the history of the United States as told through
historical Congressional documents and related materials. Committee  members
learned that the project needed to raise some $1.14 million dollars from
private sources if it is to print some 30,000 copies of the materials and
distribute one copy to every high school in the nation; discussion focused on
how best to raise the necessary funds.  Members of the Board also were
briefed on the progress being made on the three-story underground Capitol
Visitor Center.  The new facility is being designed to answer the basic
question: "Why do we have a Congress?" through exhibits and various
educational activities.  The meeting adjourned after the presenters answered
several questions posed by the Committee members.

5.  RECENT ACTIONS BY CONGRESS
As many readers of this publication are aware, the events of September 11
impacted mail delivery to the offices of the NCC.  As a consequence, delivery
of the "Congressional Record" was delayed by several weeks.  This last week,
however, the editor was able to plow though a foot high backlog of
Congressional Records and can report on a number of recent actions of
Congress.

NEW PUBLIC LAWS:
Brown v. Board of Education Commission: On September 18, 2001 President Bush
signed into law (P.L. 107-41) legislation establishing the Brown v. Board of
Education 50th Anniversary Commission to commemorate the Supreme Court
decision in Oliver L. Brown et. al. V. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
et. al.  In anticipation of the 50th anniversary on May 17, 2004, Congress
has established a 22-member body "appointed for the life of the Commission"
and empowered to "encourage, plan, develop, and coordinate observances"of the
Brown decision.

Great Falls Study Act: On November 5, 2001 the President signed into law
(P.L. 107-59) legislation requiring the Secretary of the Interior to study
the suitability and feasibility of designating the Great Falls Historic
District in Paterson, New Jersey, as a unit of the National Park System.
Congress authorized to be appropriated "such sums as are necessary" to study
one of the earliest industrial centers of America that once was considered
the manufacturing center of the United States. The Great Falls Historic
District has been a National Historic Landmark since 1976.  The proposed park
would encompass about 10 blocks and would be approximately 87 acres in size.
Reportedly, the suitability study has widespread community support.

LEGISLATION THAT HAS PASSED HOUSE:
Moccasin Bend NHS:  On October 23, 2001 the House of Representatives passed
legislation (H.R. 980) to establish the Moccasin Bend National Historic Site
in the state of Tennessee as a unit of the National Park Service. The site is
associated with a number of historic themes and cultural resources including
Native Americans and the Confederate siege of Chattanooga in 1863.  The
proposed park area encompasses about 900 acres of land much of which would be
managed by cooperative agreement with non-federal land holders.  A General
Management Plan would be prepared and a visitor center constructed.

Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home NHS: On November 13, 2001 the House of
Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 400) introduced by Rep. Dennis
Hastert (R-Il) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the
Ronald Reagan Boyhood National Historic Site in Dixon, Illinois. The
legislation had the support of 154 co-sponsoring members of the House and
easily passed by voice vote. The bill has been referred to the Senate for
action.

The bill authorizes the Secretary to enter into a cooperative agreement with
the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home Foundation for the management, operation, and
use of the site which currently receives about 20,000 visitors a year.  The
home at 816 South Hennepin Road is associated with Reagan during his teenage
years. It was restored and refurnished in 1984 by the Ronald Reagan Boyhood
Home Foundation to appear as it did during the period that Reagan lived
there. Critics question whether the boyhood home is the best site to
recognize the historical importance of the 40th President of the United
States.

LEGISLATION INTRODUCED:
National Historic Barn Preservation Program: Senator James Jeffords (I-VT)
has introduced legislation (S. 1604) directing the Secretary of Agriculture
to establish a historic barn preservation program. The legislation authorizes
$25 million over five years to assist the states to develop a listing of
historic barns, to collect and disseminate information on historic barns; to
foster education programs relating to the history, construction techniques,
rehabilitation, and contribution to society of historic barns; to conduct
research on the history of barns; as well as to devise best practices to
protect and rehabilitate them.  The bill was referred to the Senate Committee
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

French Colonial Heritage Area: Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO) has introduced
legislation (S. 1638) authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to study the
suitability and feasibility of designating the French Colonial Heritage Area
in Missouri as a unit of the National Park System.  The bill focuses on
resources in the historic downtown area of Sainte Genevieve including a
National Historic District and adjacent related historic properties that
reflect the areas French colonial heritage. The bill was referred to the
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

6.  CLINTON LIBRARY GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY
On December 5, 2001 some 400 people witnessed the symbolic turning of the
spade of earth by former President Bill Clinton thus initiating the
construction phase of his presidential library and foundation located in
Little Rock, Arkansas.  The 12th presidential library will be built on a
60-acre parcel of land and will serve as the anchor for a restoration of
Little Rock's long-neglected warehouse district.  The project is expected to
cost in excess of $106 million.  The 145,000-square-foot facility is planned
for completion in 2004 and is expected to annually attract some 300,000
visitors and researchers.

Eventually the Clinton Library will house some 77 million papers, two million
photographs, and 75,000 presidential gifts and artifacts. The Clinton
collection is currently in temporary storage.

7.  BITS AND BYTES
Item #1- NHPRC Fellowship in Archival Administration:  The National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) is accepting
applications for the 2002-2003 academic year from archival professionals
interested in applying for the NHPRC Fellowship in Archival Administration.
The fellowship is an opportunity for experienced professional archivists to
gain new or additional experience with archival administrative procedures and
problems. The fellow will participate in a wide variety of archival
administrative experiences, as well as formal management or supervisory
training, during the nine to twelve months the fellow will be associated with
the program.  The fellow's stipend is $35,000, with a benefit payment of
$8,750; some additional expenses are also covered. The host institution for
the year 2002-2003 is the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish
Archives in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Applications from potential fellows are due by
March 1, 2002; forms are available on the Commission's web-site:
http://www.nara.gov/nhprc.  For further information, please contact Michael
T. Meier of the Commission staff at (202) 501-5610, ext. 252 or e-mail at
michael.meier@nara.gov.

Item #2 - Footnote to An Appropriations Bill - NPS to Get New Funds:  In late
November the House of Representatives passed a $317 million defense
appropriations bill that included $25 million for the National Park Service
to boost security at monument sites in New York and Washington D.C.  Plans to
enhance security around the Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson
Memorials were already in the works before the September 11 terrorist attacks
but because of the attacks the appropriation process was expedited. Rep.
David Obey (D-Wis), who had sought $35 million as part of a $7.1 billion
homeland security bill, called the House passed measure "woefully
inadequate..." Obey sated, "we need less talk about homeland security and
more action" and "that means putting our money where our mouth is."
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