Date Set for Confirmation Hearing for Agresto for US Archivist. As we go to press the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is planning for an August 13 hearing to consider the nomination of John Agresto for US Archivist. Thirteen organizations, including the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Society of American Archivists, and the American Library Association, have officially opposed the nomination. Opponents have stressed the need for a nonpartisan professional leader with seasoned judgment for insuring credibility of sensitive decisions. Of particular concern is Agresto’s limited administrative experience, his lack of national distinction in his field of political science, the fact that he is steeped in neither archives, records management, in formation technology, nor historical research, and finally that his nomination appears to be based primarily on his relationship with the Administration. The Archives’ independence legislation specifies that the Archivist be appointed “without regard to political affiliations and solely on the basis of professional qualifications.” The Conference Report also states that the Archivist should be “insulated from the political orientation of a particular administration.” Following the confirmation hearing, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will need to convene a quorum to vote on whether to recommend the nomination to the Senate. Although the hearing is scheduled for August, the committee vote may not come before mid-September. Members of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee are: Roth, Chair (R-DE); Stevens (R-Alaska); Mathias (R-MD); Cohen (R-ME); Durenberger (R-MN); Cochran (R-MS); Rudman (R-NH); Eagleton (D-MO); Chiles (D-FL); Nunn (D-GA); Glenn (D-OH); Gore (D-TN); Levin (D-MI).
NEH’s Cheney Speaks on Behalf of History. On May 23 Lynne V. Cheney, former senior editor of the Washingtonian Magazine who holds a PhD in nineteenth-century British literature from the University of Wisconsin, officially assumed the responsibilities as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Speaking of her support for history, she has expressed a “particular interest in the way history is taught in the schools and understood by the public at large. People in this country,” she adds “should have a common cultural basis. We need to work toward a common cultural heritage,” but “that doesn’t mean studying just white male history.”
Library of Congress Receives Additional Funds. Following an outpouring of concern in letters and Congressional testimony, Congress passed an Urgent Supplemental Appropriations bill, signed by the President on July 2, which included funds that have enabled the Library of Congress to restore evening and Sunday hours and to resume some of the acquisitions and cataloging activities that had been curtailed by the $18.3 million cut in the Library’s fiscal 1986 budget. On July 10 the Library of Congress restored weekday evening hours and Sunday afternoon hours. The increase in the acquisitions budget has allowed the Library to reverse plans to cancel some current serial subscriptions.
FY’87 Appropriations. As we go to press some progress has been made on FY’87 appropriations bills, but the long budget process is far from over. The House has voted $138 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities for FY’87. This is the same amount appropriated last year but because of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings cuts, NEH has been operating this year on a budget of $132 million. The House recommendation for NEH for FY’87 is $12.2 million more than the Administration’s recommendation. The House Appropriations Committee has accepted the recommendation of the House Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government, chaired by Representative Edward Roybal (D-CA), and rejected the Administration’s recommendation of zero funding for the grants program of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The Appropriations Committee voted on July 30 for a $105.321 million budget for the National Archives for FY’87, This includes approximately current level funding for the Archives as well as $4 million additional funds to cover the costs of the NHPRC grants program. The State Historic Preservation Fund, also targeted for zero funding by the Administration, has fared well in the House, receiving approximately current level funding. The House $20 million for the States and $4.2 million for the National Trust, and $1.5 million for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Efforts of Justice Department to Make Archivist Subordinate to Former President Nixon Faces Strong Opposition. A Justice Department memorandum attached to the National Archives’ proposed regulations for opening the Nixon Administration’s records for public use includes language that would greatly diminish the authority of the Archivist. Reducing the Archivist to a “purely executive officer . . . subject to the President’s supervision and control,” the Justice Department would significantly expand the “executive privilege” of Nixon, giving him exclusive control over public access to his presidential materials. Congressional concern over Justice’s opinion led to a House hearing on April 29. Glenn English (D-OK), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Information, set the tone for the hearing when he stated: “the opinion is the product of a flawed process, legally deficient and espouses policies that are of quesionable ”
Senators Eagleton (D-MO), Mathias (R MD), and Chiles (D-FL), who asked the Comptroller General to review the Justice Department opinion, received a detailed response stating that the conclusions of the Justice Department are “inconsistent with the Archivist’s regulations and contrary to his statutory responsibilities.” GAO also noted that on several occasions the Archivist has reviewed and evaluated Nixon’s claims of executive privilege and has rejected many of them. Finally GAO stressed that the Justice Department opinion “calls into question whether the Justice Department will permit the Archivist to exercise fully his reponsibilities under the Presidential Records Act of 1978 with respect to the materials of future ex-Presidents.” The American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, and the Society of American Archivists have all informed the appropriate Congressional Committees of similar concerns to those stated by GAO.
The most recent oppositi0n to the Justice Department opinion comes from Public Citizen, a consumer group founded by Ralph Nader, and the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, which have filed a legal complaint to enjoin the National Archives from complying with the legal opinion issued by the Justice Department. The suit requests that the Court order the Justice Department and the Office of Management and Budget to rescind their directive to the Archives.
Archives to Begin Releasing Some Nixon Materials in September. On March 29 the National Archives published in the Federal Register proposed regulations regarding access to the records of the Nixon Administration, Since Congress did not within the allotted sixty days intro duce legislation affecting the National Archives’ regulations, plans are under way to open 8,500 White House audio and video tapes. These tapes from the White House Communication Agency record the public appearances and speeches by Nixon and other members of his Administration. No date has been set for releasing materials from the collection known as the White House Special Files, which include sensitive records of the last three years of the Nixon Administration and the Watergate period.
Celebration Planned for Twentieth Anniversary of FOIA. On June 11 the House of Representatives passed a resolution to designate the week of September 7, 1986, as “National Freedom of Information Act Awareness Week,” in commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of passage of the act. The resolution is now before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary awaiting action. The resolution affirms that for citizens “to participate effectively in the governing process,” they need “free access to information about the. activities and decisions of Federal agencies.” Additionally the resolution urges that educational efforts be undertaken to inform the people of the United States of “the substance and principles of the Act” and calls upon the President to urge “Federal, State, and local govern mental officials and the people of the United States to observe such week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”
