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To: H-ANNOUNCE@H-NET.MSU.EDU NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 6, #33, September 29, 2000 by Bruce Craig <rbcraig3@juno.com> of the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History NEWS FLASH: NHPRC Reauthorization Clears Senate Committee 1. Appropriation Update: Little Progress in Passing Bills 2. NPS "Discovery 2000" Conference: Report on Proceedings 3. WWII Memorial for National Mall Gets Approval 4. News Bits and Bytes: Senate Energy Committee Mega-mark-up; Report on Gap in Nixon White House Tapes; National Constitution Center Groundbreaking NEWS FLASH: NHPRC REAUTHORIZATION CLEARS SENATE COMMITTEE Thanks in large part to your letters, e-MAIL communications, and phone calls to Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) and other members of Congress (see "Action Item" in NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 6, #25, July 27, 2000), the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs just passed H.R. 4110 - a bill to reauthorize the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the fiscal years 2002 through 2005 with a federal appropriations ceiling of $10 million. While the bill passed the House of Representatives on July 24, because the NHPRC still has a year to run in its current authorization cycle, the Senate was reluctant to push for enactment this year. Now that the legislation has passed out of committee, the full Senate is expected to quickly take up and pass the measure. It no longer seems to be a question of whether the measure will pass once it is taken up by the Senate, but when will it be enacted into law. 1. APPROPRIATION UPDATE: LITTLE PROGRESS IN PASSING BILLS The budget impasse discussed in last week's NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 6, #32, September 21, 2000) continues. While Senate Majority Leader Trent Lot= t (R-MISS) believes that "the tempo has picked up a bit," the fact remains that President Clinton has signed into law only two of the 13 spending bills. The House has passed its version of all the various appropriations bills, but the Senate has yet to begin its consideration of three of them. Clearly, Capitol Hill appropriators are frustrated. Some - especially thos= e with fervent needs to return home to campaign for re-election - are weary of the slow pace of Congressional action. Others (especially fiscal conservatives) are frustrated with the Republican leadership because they have been unable to adhere to their own budget blueprint - for example, GOP officials acknowledge that it could take an additional $3 billion to move the Interior bill and perhaps as much as $13 billion to get the President t= o sign off of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education measure. In spite of the rhetoric calling for fiscal conservatism the sentiment of both Democrats and rank and file Republicans is frustration with the budget caps and the appropriation process. Representative David R. Obey (D-WIS) - the House Appropriation Committee's ranking Democrat - summed up the feeling of many lawmakers: "we proceeded for 10 months under a set of GOP budget assumptions that were patently ridiculous." In other appropriations news, in the House, action on the massive Interior Department and Related Agencies bill (which includes the National Endowment= s for the Arts and Humanities, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Park Service), was set aside on September 27 in deference to Congress takin= g up the Energy Department bill. Last night (September 28) House and Senate negotiators reached agreement on an $18.6 billion Interior bill thus bringing weeks of discussion over dozens of environmental riders to a close= .. The bill will probably be voted on early next week. The massive $100 billion Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bil= l (H.R. 4577 and S. 2553) - legislation that includes funding for education and library programs funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Services and also contains the amendment that earmarks $50 million for the Secretary of Education, "to award grants to develop, implement and strengthen programs to teach American history (not social studies) as a separate subject within school curricula." (For related stories see NCC WASHINGTON UPDATES, Vol. 6 nos. 22, 23, 26, and 30.) - remains stalled because of continuing disagreements with the White House over spending for school construction and several other controversial provisions in the bill. Capitol Hill insiders report that House and Senate conferees have begun direct negotiations with the White House in order to avoid a major public confrontation. The Treasury/Postal bill that includes funding for the National Archives an= d Records Administration, is expected to come to a vote again next week; whether it will again be tied together with an other appropriation bill - such as the Legislative Branch appropriations (this includes the Library of Congress appropriation) - as a "minibus" has yet to be determined (See NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 6, #32, September 21, 2000). 2. NPS "DISCOVERY 2000" CONFERENCE: REPORT ON PROCEEDINGS >From September 11-15, 2000 some 1,350 representatives from the National Par= k Service (NPS), non-profit and advocacy groups met in St. Louis to tackle several issues pertaining to the future direction of that bureau. The hope was that the meeting entitled "Discovery 2000: The National Park Service General Conference"- the first major management conference in twelve years = - would signal a fundamental change in attitude and image for the Service. A= t the meeting, agency officials declared that no longer would visitor service= s be the agency's top concern, instead, protecting and preserving America's natural and cultural resources would take top billing. The meeting was organized along four program tracks (cultural resources, natural resources, education, and leadership). Clearly, the conference was designed to develop a vision of the NPS's 21st century role in the life of the nation and to inspire and invigorate the Service, its partners and the public about this vision. Based on feedback from conference participants, the lofty goals appear to have been largely met. Early on, a glitzy 18-minute film produced by the Harpers Ferry Interpretive Design Center inspired the participants to think about the challenges of the future. The first day of the conference (perhaps indicative of the new emphasis on the relative importance of historic and cultural resources to the Service) focused nearly exclusively on issues relating to cultural resource stewardship. Participants could attend up to 35 sessions some of which addressed topics relating to preservation policy and technology, cultural resource interpretation, urban revitalization, the importance of historical context, memory and history at historic sites, as well as sessions dealing with archeology and collections management. The track on cultural resources was highlighted by a keynote address by historian Dr. John Hope Franklin, Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University and the newly appointed Chair of the National Park System Advisory Board. Franklin's comments focused on history as a contributor to the civic good. He emphasized the usefulness of the study of history and that the preservation of historic sites make a better society. Professor Franklin's comments may be accessed via <http://www.nps.gov/discovery2000/culture/keynote.htm> 3. WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL GETS APPROVAL On September 21, Washington D.C.'s National Capital Planning Commission voted 7 - 5 to approve the final design for the controversial World War II memorial that supporters hope to see constructed between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Memorial on the National Mall. The meeting lasted ten hours and more than a hundred witnesses including veterans, representatives of civic and preservation groups, and residents voiced thei= r opinions. After the vote, opponents vowed to attempt to stop the project from moving forward through court action. The WW II memorial site was approved in 1995 but major objections only surfaced in 1997 when the design was unveiled. Most recently, the President's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation slammed the controversial memorial in a letter to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. The Council stated that construction of the memorial on the site contemplated "has serious and unresolved adverse effects on the preeminent historic character of the National Mall." The panel called the design (a sunken replica of the existing Rainbow Pool surrounded by a plaza and 56 columns) incompatible with its historic setting and a violation of the open feeling of the Mall. In his own letter, Babbitt answered the Advisory Council's objections and vowed to move forward with the project. It is estimated tha= t the $100 million project will take some 2 =BD years to complete - supporter= s hope to dedicate the memorial on Memorial Day, 2003. The groundbreaking ceremony has been scheduled for November 11, 2000 (Memorial Day); President Clinton has been invited to attend the ceremony. 4. NEWS BITS AND BYTES: Item #1: MEGA-MARK-UP - During a recent mega-mark-up, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee moved out of Committee a number of bills including H.R. 4063 - Congressman Miller's (D-CA) legislation that seeks to establish the Rosie the Riveter-World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California and S. 2950, Senator Campbell's (R-CO) bill to establish the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in Colorado. Both bills have been discussed previously in this newsletter (see NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, vol 6., #28, August 16, 2000). In addition, the Senate Energy Committee moved S. 2885 - Senator Warner's (R-VA) legislation that establishes the "Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission." The 16-member federal commission is being created to ensure = a suitable national observance of Jamestown's 400th anniversary in 2007. Thi= s legislation received a hearing on September 14 and garnered the full suppor= t of the National Park Service. For more information on the various Jamestown commemoration activities see: <http://www.Jamestown2007.org> Item #2: Nixon Tape - On September 21, the Advisory Committee on Preservation of the National Archives and Records Administration issued its findings regarding technological advances in the recapturing of sound from audio records as it relates to the famous "18 =BD minute gap" in the Nixon White House tape recordings that figured so prominently in the Watergate hearings. The Committee found "We know of no available non-destructive technique that will extract the signal that was erased...[furthermore] it i= s highly unlikely that one can recover the erased speech from the tape." Item #3: Museum Groundbreaking - President Clinton was on hand in Philadelphia on September 17 to put his signature on a metal girder that will form the foundation of a newly planned museum - the National Constitution Center. The museum was authorized by Congress in 1988 and is being constructed in order to increase the public's awareness and understanding of the Constitution. Financed by both government and private funds, the $105 million museum will be built in the heart of Philadelphia's historic district. It is scheduled to be finished in time for the 215th anniversary of the original signing of the Constitution on September 17, 2002. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * = * * * * * * * * * * NCC invites you to redistribute the NCC Washington Updates. A complete backfile of these reports is maintained by H-Net at <http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~ncc> To subscribe to the "NCC Washington Update," send an e-mail message to listserv@h-net.msu.edu according to the following model: SUBSCRIBE H-NCC firstname lastname, institution. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ********************************************************* This announcement has been posted by H-ANNOUNCE, a service of H-Net, Michigan State University. For an archive of announcements and information about how to post, visit: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/announce*********************************************************
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