On February 3, 2003, President Bush delivered to Congress a $2.2 trillion federal budget for 2004. It includes both a record deficit of $307 billion and record funding levels for several history-related programs—$100 million for the “Teaching of Traditional American History” initiative of the Department of Education (DOE), and a $25 million increase for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to fund the “We the People” initiative launched last year. One disappointment, however—only a $5 million allocation for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Both the $100 million for the DOE’s history initiative and the $25 million increase for the NEH are in sharp contrast to the funding levels for most other domestic agencies. The president’s budget squeezes such programs in favor of funding for homeland defense, the military, and a handful of showcase priorities, which, thankfully, includes history. Many agencies find their budgets frozen at the same levels that were recommended in the president’s budget last year.
One Hill insider predicts, “after Congress gets done with the budget, domestic agency heads will probably be happy with level funding for their agencies.” In reality though, “level funding” translates into a cut if inflation and mandatory personnel-related costs taken into account. Even agencies with a 2–3 percent increase (such as Health and Human Services) will, in reality, barely break even. Here are some agency and program highlights:
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) budget sees the largest increase (22 percent) in recent years. Funding is pegged at $152 million, which includes level funding for the NEH core programs ($127 million) and a massive influx of new funds-$25 million-for the “We the People” initiative.
Many observers, including John Hammer of the National Humanities Alliance (an NEH advocacy group), believe the initiative that was created last year to promote a broad understanding of the ideas and events that have shaped our nation will “capture the imagination” and the support of members of Congress. To spearhead implementation of the initiative, a “We the People” office will be established to coordinate diverse funding opportunities that would cut across virtually every program activity area within the NEH.
The DOE’s Teaching American History Initiative got an unexpected boost when the Bush administration proposed to double the fiscal 2003 budget request of $50 million to $100 million in fiscal 2004. The $100 million figure is the one that the initiative’s champion, Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), has advocated for over the last three years. The program “recognizes the need to create and to expand efforts to raise the level of student knowledge in this core academic area in order to prepare future generations of students to become responsible citizens who vote and fully participate in our democratic institutions.” It makes competitive grants to school districts to promote the teaching of “traditional” American his tory at the elementary and secondary school levels. The increase would in all likelihood double the number of available grants.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is pegged at about $304.6 million with new obligations set at $298 million—a 13 percent increase over what the administration proposed last year. The budget includes a nearly $13 million increase in NARA’s base operating expenses to cover various fixed administration-related costs.
The proposal includes $24.3 million for the electronic records initiative of which $22 million is for a contract to design the Electronic Records Archive (ERA) system. The ERA seeks to preserve virtually any kind of electronic record free from dependence on any specific hardware or software. There also is $620,000 for the National Archives Records Management initiatives to develop online records management training and certification for private sector contractors who offer technical assistance in records management. There is also $5.34 million for a new 110,000 cubic feet facility in suburban Atlanta, the Southeast Regional Archives facility.
The National Historical Publications Records Commission (NHPRC) was dealt a blow, however, in the $5 million recommendation. This is the same funding level proposed by the Bush administration in fiscal NHPRC supporters will have their work cut out for them if they are to raise the fiscal 2004 budget figures. In the past, NHPRC supporters have never been too concerned about the president’s proposed budget for the NHPRC, which has never approached the authorized level of $10 million. NHPRC supporters have relied on members of Congress friendly to the program to raise the numbers. That may not happen this year. With a new cast of characters on appropriating committees and with Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) no longer on the commission, the program is in need of new champions.
The National Park Service is slotted for a funding level of $2.4 billion—an increase of only $8.3 million above the fiscal 2003 proposal. One park advocacy group—National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA)—surmised, “The administration is walking away from its commitment to the public and to our parks.” Nevertheless, the budget does include full funding $900.7 million—for the Land and Water Conservation Fund ($187.2 million for federal land acquisition, $160 million for state grants, $553.5 million for innovative conservation programs) that is so important in insuring the preservation of historic properties. For history-related programs there once again is $30 million for the “Save America’s Treasures” program and $67 million for the Historic Preservation Fund.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services budget line is proposed at $242 million (a $32 million increase) for both libraries and museums. The total includes a request of $207.6 million for assistance to libraries (this figure includes a $15 million increase for the Library State Grants program, a $10 million increase for the 21st-Century Librarian initiative) and $34 million (a $5 million or 17 percent increase) for muse ums. This is indeed good news.
The Smithsonian Institution has a requested figure of $567 million of which $478 million is in discretionary spending. This is a $38 million (7 per cent) increase over fiscal 2003, but virtually all of the increase is for mandatory personnel and operating cost increases. There is $48 million for the renovation of the Patent Office Building that houses the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, and $13.7 million for the National Museum of the American Indian, which is scheduled to open its doors in the fall of 2004. Some $7.8 million is pledged for the first phase of the National Air and Space Museum‘s new building at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, which is scheduled to open in December 2003. For the National Museum of American History, there is $3.5 million set aside in new monies for facility improvement, which would be added to the private funds being raised for that purpose.
Other budget lines of interest to the historical and archival community include $8.6 million for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, $5 million for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and $345 million for the Department of State’s Fulbright program (a 10 percent decrease from 2002 but still a $100 million increase over the president’s 2003 request).
Hill insiders believe that with both the House and the Senate under the control of the Republicans, the pressure will be on the GOP leadership to stay within the White House’s budget numbers, and predict that the budget probably will not divide Republicans in the House. The real squabbling will probably take place in the Senate where the Republicans have a paper-thin majority and liberal Democrats and moderate Republicans share misgivings about the budget especially when they discover that some of their top priorities are underfunded or not funded at all. Nevertheless, some observers assert that because of his control over Congress, Bush’s budget stands a fair to good chance of surviving relatively intact.
