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FW: [NCCmailings] NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 8, #32, August 8, 2 002
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From: rbcraig@nccph.org [mailto:rbcraig@nccph.org]
Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 1:52 PM
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Subject: [NCCmailings] NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 8, #32, August 8, 2002
NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 8, #32, August 8, 2002
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig@nccph.org>
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH)
*****************
1. House Acts on Homeland Security Bill -- No Great News for Historians 2.
Presidential Records Bill Expected To Be Advanced to House Floor;
Senate Action Pending
3. Legislative Update: Bills Introduced -- Rename FBI Headquarters;
Authorization for Civil War Battlefield Protection Program; National
Maritime Heritage Act
4. FRUS Volume on Greece to be Released (Finally!)
5. Report: Meeting of the State Department Advisory Committee on
Historical Diplomatic Documentation
6. News Bits and Bytes: NHPRC Fellowship in Historical Documentary Editing
-- Call for Host Institution Applications; NARA Request for Comments 7.
Articles of Interest: "Rethinking the Unthinkable" by Bob Thompson
(Washington Post; July 28, 2002)
1. HOUSE ACTS ON HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT BILL -- NO GREAT NEWS FOR
HISTORIANS
Shortly before Congress began its traditional summer recess, the House
passed its version of legislation (H.R. 5005) designed to create a new
Department of Homeland Security. The bill that passed closely resembles the
legislation advanced to that body by President Bush.
In spite of efforts by several members of the Government Reform Committee
to statutorily establish a history office in the new department, no such
language was written into the final House passed measure. In addition,
following intense debate, an amendment to eliminate a proposed exemption
from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for certain information
generated by the private sector was defeated by a vote of 188 to
240. According to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) who offered the amendment,
her measure was needed in order to "prevent the Department of Homeland
Security from becoming the Department of Homeland Secrecy." However,
proponents of the FOIA exemption successfully argued that the FOIA
provision was "very narrowly tailored," and was needed "to enhance the
safety of the American people." For the debate, tap
into: <http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2002/h072602.html>.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN), the Ranking
Minority Member of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, continues to
explore the possibility of inserting statutory language in the Senate
version of the Department of Homeland Security bill (S. 2794) creating a
history office. The challenge for lawmakers in both the House and Senate is
a lack of precedent -- virtually no history offices have been created by
statute at either the departmental or agency level. In most cases, such
offices have been created by departmental order or directive. Reportedly,
however, Congressional Research Service officials who have been asked to
comment on the history office proposal by Senate staff responded favorably
to the idea of inserting statutory language creating such an office in the
Homeland Security department legislation.
With respect to the FOIA exemption, a compromise that would limit the scope
of a FOIA exemption for private sector information held by the proposed
Department of Homeland Security was reached in the Senate shortly before
the recess. "The compromise would limit the exemption to 'records'
submitted by the private sector, not 'information' from the private
sector," according to a press release from Senator Patrick Leahy's (D-VT)
office. Courtesy of the Federation of American Scientists, Project on
Government Secrecy, the implications of that distinction, and other
features of the Senate compromise, are explained at the website:
<http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2002/07/leahy-foi.html>.
In light of remaining unresolved controversial measures in the legislation
and the number of Senators who have strong reservations about the bill as
presently crafted, including Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), the powerful
Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, it seems doubtful that the
homeland security bill will be enacted by the Bush Administration's
self-imposed deadline of September 11. According to Senate Democratic
Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), "Senator Byrd and others are suggesting
that they may support the measure in the end, but they want more care, more
attention, more consideration of a proposal of this magnitude."
2. PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS BILL EXPECTED TO BE ADVANCED TO HOUSE FLOOR;
SENATE ACTION PENDING
According to Hill sources, Representative Dan Burton (R-CA), Chair of the
House Committee on Government Reform, is "undeterred" in his challenge to
the Bush executive order that establishes new administrative procedures for
implementing the 1978 Presidential Records Act (PRA).
Now that the House has acted on the Homeland Security Department
legislation, the long-delayed mark-up of the Committee substitute bill to
Congressman Stephen Horn's (R-CA) measure, "The Presidential Records Act
Amendments of 2002" (H.R. 4187), is expected to pass through Committee and
will be considered by the full House in early September.
While supporters of Horn's legislation feared that the House leadership
would never allow the measure to reach the floor due to White House
objections, it now appears that the measure will be considered and probably
has sufficient bi-partisan support to pass the House. Should the bill pass,
attention will then focus on the Senate where there is considerable
sympathy for the legislation.
3. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: BILLS INTRODUCED
Rename FBI Headquarters Building: On July 25, 2002, Rep. Dan Burton
(R-CA) along with five co-sponsors introduced legislation (H.R. 5213) to
remove the name of J. Edgar Hoover from the FBI headquarters building as a
kind of posthumous rebuke to the controversial FBI director who died in
1972. According to Burton, "J. Edgar Hoover clearly abused his role as
Director of the FBI...Symbolism matters in the United States and it is
wrong to honor a man who frequently manipulated the law to achieve his
personal goals." The bill was referred to the House Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Economic Development,
Public Buildings and Emergency Management for action.
Authorization for Battlefields Program: On July 15, 2002 Rep. Gary Miller
(R-CA) and five colleagues introduced legislation (H.R. 5125) the "American
Battlefields Protection Program Act of 2002" authorizing funding to
preserve Civil War battlefields in the United States. The legislation
creates the first authorization for comprehensive battlefield preservation
in the United States. Although Congress has a history of providing funding
for the program, in the past it was accomplished through an earmark. Under
the legislative proposal, funds would be available to nonprofit
organizations, local governments, and states which seek to preserve
battlefields and can provide a dollar-for-dollar match. Should the bill be
enacted, it would eliminate the need for special annual earmarks of funds.
The legislation was referred to the House Resources Committee, Subcommittee
on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands for action.
National Maritime Heritage Act: On July 26 legislation (S. 2804) was
introduced in the Senate to amend the National Maritime Heritage of 1994 to
reaffirm and revise the designation of some twenty-one museums as part of
America's National Maritime Museum. This legislation was referred to the
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for action.
4. FRUS VOLUME ON GREECE TO BE RELEASED (FINALLY!)
According to the electronic newsletter "Secrecy News," the State Department
publication of "Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1964-1968,
vol. XVI: Cyprus; Greece; Turkey" which was printed more than two years ago
but repeatedly suppressed (reportedly at the insistence of the Central
Intelligence Agency) will finally be released on August 14 or 15,
2002. According to departmental insiders, the CIA contended that the
volume's compilation of four decade-old revelations about CIA covert
actions could trigger a violent response in Greece. State Department
officials and scholars on the State Department Historical Advisory
Committee viewed the CIA claim as "improbable. . . .a self-serving effort
to evade historical accountability."
The CIA effort to prevent publication of the controversial FRUS volume was
first reported last year in "History of U.S.-Greek Ties Blocked; CIA
Opposes Disclosure of Proposed Covert Actions in '60s," by George Lardner
Jr. in the August 17, 2001, Washington Post (see:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15770-2001Aug15.html>).
Last February, after learning that the State Department was under pressure
to either destroy the printed volumes or cull relevant pages deemed
objectionable by the CIA from the original printed version of the volume,
the NCC filed a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request for a copy of the
unredacted printed volume. This triggered a provision in FOIA that
prevents the destruction of materials requested under the
Act. Preservation of at least one volume was thus assured.
When the unredacted printed volumes are released next week, an electronic
version should be posted on the web site for FRUS volumes from the Johnson
Administration which may be found at:
<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/johnsonlb/>.
5. REPORT: MEETING OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON
HISTORICAL DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTATION
On July 22, 2002, the public session of the meeting of the Advisory
Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation was held at the Department
of State. After the meeting was called to order by Robert D. Schulzinger,
new committee member Diane S. Clemens of U.C. Berkeley was introduced.
Following approval of the Minutes of the previous meeting
(http://www.fas.org/sgp/advisory/state/hac0302html), Executive Secretary
Marc Susser presented his report.
Susser stated that two volumes in the FRUS series had been released -- the
last in the J.F. Kennedy series and the first of the Nixon series and that
he expected as many as six additional volumes to be released before the end
of the year. Susser also announced that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
between the State Department and the CIA was signed in May and thus far
seemed to be working well. He stated that the History Office would soon be
staffed with a total of 18 historians and an internal reorganization of the
office was proceeding. Review of Ford presidential library materials was
continuing and staff had made a courtesy call to the Carter library to
initiate review of Carter era records. A memorandum of agreement was signed
with the Russian government to produce two volumes on the "Era of Detente"
(1969-72 and 1972-76). The volumes will highlight Henry Kissinger/Anatoly
Dobrynin materials with the first targeted for completion in 2004. Finally,
Susser announced that the History Office was scheduled to participate in
several conferences and that staff was working on two exhibits focusing on
the events of September 11.
Margaret Peppe, Office of Information Programs and Services, delivered a
brief report on the electronic records project. Brian Dowling of the Office
of Information Programs and Services reported that the Nazi War Crimes
project is nearing completion and that the search through some 1100 boxes
of Japanese War crimes related material has been completed; document
review is now in progress.
During the open session, members of the committee discussed the need to see
Congress comply with a provision in the Intelligence Authorization Act for
2001 that authorized the creation of the "Public Interest Declassification
Board" (the so-called Moynihan Board). Once appointed this Board is
empowered to assess and prioritize special Congressional requests for
records processing. Such special requests affect timetables for the
processing of State department documents over 30 years old. The committee
decided to write letters to the Secretary of State and relevant
Congressional committees urging that the Board be appointed in accordance
with public law. The committee also recommended that the History Office
produce a plan to meet the 30-year release deadline through print and
electronic publications. Finally, copies of the committee's revised
charter were reviewed.
6. NEWS BITS AND BYTES
Item #1: NHPRC Fellowship in Historical Documentary Editing -- Call for
Host Institution Applications: The National Historical Publications and
Records Commission (NHPRC) has announced the availability of a fellowship
in historical documentary editing that is designed to give fellows hands-on
experience in historical documentary editing, including documentary
collection, document selection, transcription, annotation, proofreading,
and indexing. The fellow's stipend is $35,000, with a benefit payment of
$8,750. To this end, the Commission is now accepting applications from
NHPRC-sponsored documentary editing projects interested in serving as host
for the NHPRC fellow. Host institution applications must be post-marked no
later than October 1, 2002. The host institution will be selected by
December 1, 2002. The selected institution will be awarded $1500 to cover
the cost of interviewing prospective fellows and for the fellow's
professional travel during the fellowship year. The NHPRC encourages any
interested editing project to contact the Commission staff to discuss their
applications. The Commission staff will work with applicants to assure that
their proposals include the range of opportunities desired by the
Commission. The application and related forms are available on the NHPRC
website at:
http://www.archives.gov/nhprc_and_other_grants/education_programs/education_
programs.html#arch>.
For additional information and/or hard copy application forms, contact
Michael T. Meier, at: (202) 501-5610 ext. 252 or by e-mail:
<michael.meier@nara.gov>.
Item #2: NARA Request for Comments: The National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) is requesting comments on a "Proposal for a Redesign
of Federal Records Management" part of NARA's series of records management
initiatives to examine and redesign, as necessary, its records management
policies and procedures. The Proposal is available on the NARA Records
Management web page at:
<http://www.archives.gov/records_management/pdf/rm_redesign.pdf>. Comments
are due by September 15th to Susan Cummings (NPOL) by email to:
susan.cummings@nara.gov or by fax to 301-837-0319 or by mail to NPOL,
National Archives at College Park, Room 4100, 8601 Adelphi Rd, College
Park, MD 20740-6001
7. Articles of Interest:
One article this week -- "Rethinking the Unthinkable" by Bob Thompson
(Washington Post; July 28, 2002) focuses on the challenges the National
Park Service faces in interpreting Cold War history through the
preservation of an old nuclear missile site. For the article tap into:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59355-2002Jul24.html>.
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