NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 12, #48; 15 December 2006)

1. 109th CONGRESS ADJOURNS SINE DIE -- REPUBLICAN CONTROL OF CONGRESS ENDS
2. NEW APPROPRIATIONS LEADERS ANNOUNCE FY 2007 BUDGET PLANS -- AGENCY BUDGETS FROZEN AT FY 2006 LEVELS
3. PIDB BOARD REQUESTS ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY FROM CONGRESS
4. BIG BOOST FOR MUSEUM FORMULA GRANT INITIATIVE -- IMLS TO EXPLORE FEASIBILITY OF STATE FORMULA GRANT PROGRAM
5. FINALLY -- NATIONAL PARK SERVICE POSTS VACANT CHIEF HISTORIAN POSITION
6. BITS AND BYTES: Humanities Alliance Conference and Advocacy Day Registration; Pachter to Retire; Correction
7. ARTICLES OF INTEREST: "Microsoft Offers Book Search" (PC World)

A DEPARTING NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: For the last seven years I have served as Executive Director of the National Coalition for History and editor of this newsletter. Throughout these years, it has been my privilege to bring readers timely and informative news about developments impacting the history and archive professions on Capitol Hill. With this posting though, I write my last NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE. The newsletter is in good hands as beginning next week, my successor, Lee White, will carry on the history coalition's tradition of keeping you informed through weekly postings.

As I pack the last of my boxes in anticipation for my move to Prince Edward Island, Canada, which is now home for the Craig family, I depart the history coalition with a certain amount of regret. I do however, look forward to my new teaching responsibilities at the University of Prince Edward Island, to assisting my wife in operating our bed and breakfast, and to begin working in earnest on several research and writing projects that have languished in various piles on my home office desk for far too long. I especially look forward to what I hope will be a more relaxed and quieter lifestyle than the hustle and bustle of the nation's capitol. For those who wish to contact me in the future, I can be reached at rbcraig84@hotmail.com .

1. 109th CONGRESS ADJOURNS SINE DIE -- REPUBLICAN CONTROL OF CONGRESS ENDS Republican control of the House and Senate came to an end on 9 December as the 109th Congress adjourned Sine Die at 5 AM in the morning with but a handful of members in attendance. However, just prior to the end of the session both the House and Senate took action (or in some cases opted not to act) on a number of bills impacting history and archives.

First, the House agreed to the Senate amendments to legislation (H.R. 1492) to provide for the preservation of historic confinement sites where Japanese-Americans were detained during World War II. The bill seeks to provide federal funds (with a partial private match) to preserve and protect surviving internment sites. According to Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA), who spoke in support of the bill on the House floor, "Preserving these internment sites is a solemn task we all bear..In the process it will help to demonstrate our country's commitment to equality, justice, and liberty for all."

The House also approved legislation (S. 1378) to amend the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) to provide appropriation authorization and improve the operations of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Both the confinement site and NHPA measures now go to the president for signature.

Equally significant are a number of legislative measures that Congress opted not to enact, chief of which was a proposal titled, "To Authorize Grants for Contributions Toward the Establishment of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library" (H.R. 4846). The bill was introduced by Congressman Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) and supported by eleven members of the Virginia Congressional delegation. The bill sought to authorize the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to make a grant contribution of an undisclosed amount at some future undisclosed date toward the establishment of the "Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library" in Staunton, Virginia.

This legislation was never subjected to the scrutiny of a congressional hearing. It was rammed through the House in late September in an effort to enact the measure and provide federal funding for a private museum in Virginia prior to the 150th anniversary of the birth of President Woodrow Wilson on 10 December 2006. If enacted the bill would have diverted NARA funds to a private museum that has neither any significant library holdings nor any archival collection associated with President Wilson (the Wilson papers, for example, are housed at Princeton University). The measure specified that federal money would be channeled to the site by NARA to "provide interpretive and educational services that communicate the meaning of the life of Woodrow Wilson," with the proviso that "the Archivist shall have no involvement in the actual operations of the library, except at the request of the non-Federal entity responsible for the operation of the library."

National Archives insiders report strong opposition to the legislation by professional staff. According to one source, had the measure come to hearing, NARA would have opposed the bill for a variety of reasons, perhaps chief of which would be that the bill would have set a dangerous precedent in which other private presidential museums and historic sites would feel at liberty to pursue special earmarked funding for their private institutions as well. With NARA running a $10-$12 million projected shortfall in FY 2007, the agency clearly cannot afford a diversion of limited funds to such special-interest purposes. In addition, designations by small historic sites and museums claiming to be "presidential libraries" add to the already confusing miscellany of nomenclature relating to presidential libraries, thus making it that much harder for the general public to understand what is and what is not a true presidential library.

For the reasons cited above, the National Coalition for History opposed enactment of this measure and communicated that opposition to Virginia senators and key members of the Senate, including members of the Homeland Security Committee to which the bill was referred for consideration.

While the measure was not acted on in the 109th Congress, according to a spokesperson for Representative Goodlatte, the Congressman plans to reintroduce the bill and hopes to see the measure enacted early in the 110th Congress.

Readers who reside in Virginia who wish to make their voices heard on this measure are encouraged to contact their House member or senator and express your views on the proposed legislation. Member offices can be reached via the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

2. NEW APPROPRIATIONS LEADERS ANNOUNCE FY 2007 BUDGET PLANS - AGENCY BUDGETS FROZEN AT FY 2006 LEVELS As regular readers of this publication are aware, the Republican controlled 109th Congress adjourned last week without finishing the eleven remaining appropriation bills for FY 2007. On 11 December the new Democratic leaders of the House and Senate appropriation committees who will assume the key positions in January - Representative David Obey (D-WI) and Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) - announced that they will not attempt to cope with the budget crisis left by the outgoing Republican-controlled Congress. Instead, they will recommend extending the current levels of federal agency funding until the beginning of FY 2008 next October 1.

According to Rep. Obey, "While the results will be far from ideal, this path provides the best way to dispose of the unfinished business quickly..and allows [officials] to plan for the coming year with some knowledge of what the federal government is funding." The decision translates into a mixed blessing for history and archives.

The leaders' announcement is considered a victory for fiscal conservatives, as all federal agencies will operate at funding levels that Congress approved for FY 2006, which for the most part is lower than what was proposed in FY 2007. There will be no new funds to cover the standard agency administrative costs that escalate each year such as mandatory increases in personnel (cost of living increases) and facility rental costs. In essence, every agency will realize a sizable cut, ranging (in most cases) from three to nine percent of their total operating budget as had been proposed for FY 2007.

For the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) the decision made by the appropriation chairs means the agency will receive an operating budget of $325.535 million - some $12 million less than the $338 million that was requested by the president for FY 2007. In the NARA budget, the only winner is the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The commission budget is slotted to be set at $7.425 million -- $5.5 million for grants and $2 million for administrative costs; this represents a half million increase over what most insiders expected the House and Senate would have agreed to for the NHPRC in FY 2007.

Another winner is the Department of Education "Teaching American History" initiative, which will see a funding level of $121 million -- the amount appropriated to the program in FY 2006 and the same as proposed by Senator Byrd in the Senate for FY 2007; this figure is some $71 million more than recommended by the president in the FY 2007 budget proposal.

Under the proposed funding scenario, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) would be allotted $140.949 million - about what was proposed for the agency in FY 2007 by President Bush; this translates into some moderate belt-tightening for the agency. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will experience a significant loss as the agency will not get the $15 million (or 6% percent) increase that the White House supported for the IMLS in its FY 2007 budget proposal; funding for the IMLS will be set at $247.100 million.

The new appropriation chiefs also have announced that they would place a "temporary moratorium" on special interest provisions (i.e. earmarks) that have been affixed to various FY 2007 appropriation measures by the Republican-controlled Congress. At this writing, appropriation committee staff in the Senate assert that it has "yet to be decided" how various appropriation subcommittees of jurisdiction will reconcile the 2006 budget numbers with language found in House and Senate reports for FY 2007.

With the control of Congress now squarely in the hands of the Democrats, and with the fiscally conservative decision by Obey and Byrd, the president will see his overall budget recommendation for FY 2007 realized -- that being "flat funding" for most domestic agencies. It is ironic though that it took a change in control of Congress from the Republicans to the Democrats to achieve the fiscally-conservative goal that the president has all along sought for domestic agencies in FY 2007.

3. PIDB BOARD REQUESTS ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY FROM CONGRESS According to a report from the Cox News Service (see http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/159482), the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) - a body established six years ago by Congress "to promote the fullest possible public access to a thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record of significant United States national security decisions" (FY 2001 Intelligence Authorization Act, Section 703) -- has yet "to recommend declassifying a single page." However, the PIDB is now seeking Congressional authority to review documents without White House approval.

According to the news report that was also posted by Steven Aftergood in the Federation of American Scientists'' newsletter "Secrecy News," the board's charter requires it to seek permission from the White House before it can review a classified document, let alone actually recommend disclosing it. But according to the Cox News report, the board has now asked Congress to modify its charter to make clear that White House approval is not required for this purpose.

Recently, we reported (see "Public Interest Declassification Board Unable to Act" in NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE Vol. 12, #24 3 November 2006) that Members of Congress asked the board to review the classification of two recent reports on pre-war Iraq intelligence to determine if more of the text could be disclosed. The board concluded that it did not possess the authority to do so without White House approval, which has yet to be granted.

4. BIG BOOST FOR MUSEUM FORMULA GRANT INITIATIVE -- IMLS TO EXPLORE FEASIBILITY OF STATE FORMULA GRANT PROGRAM On 11 December 2006, Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), announced that her agency will undertake an effort to explore the feasibility of formula grants to the states to support museum services. The IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.

Radice said, "For fifty years there has been a population-based formula grant to each state and the territories to support library services. In recent years the museum community has been engaged in discussions about the feasibility of a similar program for museum services, and the agency has received several requests from members of Congress to explore the issue. This is a serious issue and must be fully examined by bringing a variety of voices to the table. I have asked Celeste Colgan to lead this effort. Celeste is an outstanding strategist and policy advisor with a passion for education and a keen interest in the role of cultural institutions in the United States. I am delighted that she has agreed to take on this important task."

Colgan is a consultant on higher education academic matters and is the intermountain coordinator for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni for teacher preparation reform. Her academic and policy roles have included senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), director of the State of Wyoming Department of Commerce, and deputy chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. She was also an adjunct professor at the University of Wyoming and the chairman of the Division of Language and Literature at Casper College. Colgan received a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Wyoming and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

The announcement was good news for member organizations of the "Federal Formula Grant Coalition" (of which the National Coalition for History is a member), which for several years has been advancing a museum formula grant program for the states. A separate coalition -- comprised largely of archival organizations that is spearheaded by the Council of State Archivists (COSA) -- is working on a similar proposal for archives titled the "Partnership for the American Historical Record" (PAHR). The PAHR proposal, however, would be funded through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission or as a separate line-item in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) budget, and not the IMLS.

In the coming year plans call for Colgan to review for the IMLS relevant funding models and work with community leaders, museum professionals, and educators across the country to convene local hearings to investigate the public's needs for museum services and the potential for meeting these needs through federal grants to the states. She will also convene national leaders to discuss her findings. A report will be published in December 2007.

5. FINALLY - NATIONAL PARK SERVICE POSTS VACANT CHIEF HISTORIAN POSITION As regular readers of this publication are aware, we rarely post vacancy announcements. Once in a great while, however, an announcement of such importance comes to our attention that we break our own rule. This is one such occasion.

Since the retirement over a year ago of Dwight Pitcaithley, Chief Historian of the National Park Service (NPS), this key history position has remained vacant. Upper level management at the NPS redescribed the position several times in an effort to downgrade it to a lower salary level and status. That effort failed. Thanks to the persistence of the selecting official and others, the position has finally been properly described and is advertised to be filled at the same target level as the position was when Pitcaithley occupied it -- at the GS-14/15 level.

According to the position announcement (NPS/WASO-06-128), "The purpose of this position is to serve as the Chief Historian of the National Park Service. As such, the selectee provides expert advice and guidance on all NPS historical programs and oversees the development of policy and guidelines to govern these programs."

The basic eligibility requirement is a "Bachelor's degree in history, historic preservation, or related field that includes at least 18 semester hours in history or a combination of experience and education with courses equivalent to a major in history, or major in a related field with at least 18 semester hours in history, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Additionally, to qualify for the GS-15, applicants must have 1 year of specialized experience at the GS-14 level; to qualify for the GS-14, applicants must have 1 year of specialized experience at the GS-13 level. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position and involves overseeing and directing an American history program." Closing date for applications is 19 January 2007.

The position is being advertised as what amounts to be an "all sources" posting - that meaning that not just NPS employees may apply, but any and all qualified federal historians (persons employed in the historian series 170 who currently are at the GS-13 pay level will easily qualify for the position) as well as public historians, and historians employed in universities and outside federal service. While a BA in history is the minimum requirement specified in the announcement, it is expected that the position will be filled with a qualified person possessing at least a Masters degree, and in all likelihood with a person possessing a Ph.D. If interested in this key federal position, please visit the USA Jobs announcement at: http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/getjob

6. BITS AND BYTES Item #1 - Humanities Alliance Conference and Advocacy Day Registration: Registration forms are now available from the National Humanities Alliance for its 2007 conference and Humanities Advocacy Day event to be held 26-27 March 2007 in Washington, D.C. The two-day event is a unique meeting ground for members of the alliance and others interested in humanities policy and advocacy, including higher education leaders, college and university faculty, teachers, museum professionals, librarians, archivists, curators, and independent scholars. The opening session on March 26 features a luncheon and keynote address by Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States. In the afternoon, Congressional staff and leaders in the field will outline changes in the newly-elected 110th Congress, and brief participants on the status of significant policy and funding issues for the humanities community in 2007. Later, "Advocacy Guru" Stephanie Vance will lead an informative and energizing session on effective strategies for communication with elected officials. For registration forms, visit: http://www.nhalliance.org/conference/2007/RegForm07.pdf. Completed forms can be mailed or faxed to the National Humanities Alliance office.

All registered conference participants are encouraged to take part in Humanities Advocacy Day on 27 March 2007. The event provides supporters an important opportunity to meet with their representatives in the new Congress, and to work together to communicate the public value of the humanities to policymakers in Washington, DC. Conference activities will be capped by a reception on Capitol Hill featuring exhibits of federally-supported humanities projects from around the country. For the event website, visit: http://www.nhalliance.org/conference/2007/ .

Item #2 -- Pachter to Retire: National Portrait Gallery Director Marc Pachter, who has served as the gallery's head since 2000, has announced his intention to step down from his position in October 2007. After leaving the position he intends to write about themes and personalities in American cultural history. In his over 33 year tenure at the Smithsonian Institution (SI), Pachter has served in a number of high-ranking positions, including acting director of the National Museum of American History and chair of the Smithsonian's 150th anniversary committee. Pachter is the second SI museum director to announce his retirement this year - in October, Richard West, director of the National Museum of the American Indian announced his intention to leave in November 2007.

Item #3 -- Correction: In "New Members Confirmed to Sit on Humanities Council" that appeared in the 29 November 2006 issue of the NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE there was an error in reporting the name of one of the new Council members -- the correct name is Josiah Bunting II rather than Jean Bunting. Also, two other members of the Council mentioned in the article-- Jean Bethke Elshtain and Allen C. Guelzo -- began their terms in July 2006, not 2007.

7. ARTICLE OF THE WEEK One Posting this week: In "Microsoft Offers Book Search" (PC World; 6 December 2006), Microsoft announces plans to launch a beta version of Live Search Books, which, like Google Book Search, is a service that indexes and makes searchable the full text of books. For the article, tap into: http://www.pcworld.com/