[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 137 (Saturday, September 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11771-S11773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION ACT OF 1996
Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R.
1734 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 1734) to reauthorize the National Film
Preservation Board, and for other purposes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate
consideration of the bill?
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate is today
passing and sending to the President for his signature, the National
Film Preservation Act of 1996 to reauthorize and extend the National
Film Preservation
[[Page S11772]]
Act. I thank Mr. Moorhead, Mr. Conyers and the other House sponsors for
successfully bringing this matter through the House of Representatives.
I also commend two retiring Senators who have always been champions of
the arts, libraries and the public--Senator Alan Simpson and Senator
Paul Simon. Without their support this Senate action, which I have been
seeking since January, would not be taking place today.
I have been a sponsor and supporter of the National Film Preservation
Board since 1988 when we first took action to authorize the Board
within the Library of Congress. We acted then to recognize the
educational, cultural, and historical importance and the fragile nature
of our film heritage. Motion pictures are an important part of the
American experience and an extraordinary record of our history, our
mores, and our aspirations. While there is currently a political
penchant for chastising American filmmakers for the sex, violence and
drugs seen on screen, we should not lose sight of the contributions of
filmmaking to our cultural life and our life as a nation.
Before Congress acted in 1988, we had lost more than half of the
feature films produced in the United States before 1951 and 80 percent
of our silent films to deterioration. With the efforts of the National
Film Preservation Board and those of such private groups as the Film
Foundation, Turner Entertainment Co. and others we have made
significant progress.
Since 1988 we have maintained a National Film Registry wherein
classic movies like ``Casablanca'', ``Citizen Kane'', and ``High Noon''
have been maintained and orphan films, which no studio had an interest
in preserving, were rescued from oblivion. The scientists have found
better ways to preserve the images that were decaying on celluloid and
studios have discovered that film libraries retain economic value and
viewer interest.
In 1991, I joined with Senator Stevens, Senator Pell, and Senator
DeConcini to reauthorize and extend the National Film Preservation Act
and we succeeded in doing so in June 1992. We acted at a time when
there were growing film preservation efforts around the country but
little coordination. The Librarian and the National Film Preservation
Board were charged with the responsibility for conducting an extensive
study of film preservation in American. It is that authorization that
expired this summer and which we now renew.
The Library of Congress houses the largest film collection in the
world. I am glad that those film treasures are being preserved there
and at the UCLA film archive, at the Museum of Modern Art and at the
George Eastman House. I am delighted that those films are now being
exhibited to the public with the cooperation of their copyright
holders. I am happy that they are available to scholars and
researchers.
I am encouraged that we have an agreed-upon system for ensuring the
integrity of the National Film Registry Collection of the Library of
Congress and a certification process to ensure that National Registry
films distributed or exhibited to the public that bear the National
Registry seal are the genuine article. That seal verifies that they are
the registry version. While this is not a full-blown guarantee of moral
rights of those involved in the creation of the work, this system is
consistent with a recognition of the first-published version as the
original or true version of the work.
The comprehensive study conducted by the Librarian and the Board
included extensive public hearings and public participation. I am glad
to see the Library and the Board taking seriously their mandate to
raise public awareness and to increase public involvement. The study
further documents the problems that even recent films face, including
color-fading, vinegar syndrome and the like. While new technology may
hold some prospect for greater stability of the film elements, we still
need extensive efforts if we are to preserve our art and respect our
history.
This legislation signals the next phase in our coordinated national
and local efforts. The bill will reauthorize a program for the
preservation of educational and historical films held by libraries,
archives, universities, historical societies, and filmmakers in every
State. The materials that are at the center of concern are not
Hollywood feature films but the orphan films of little commercial value
that will not survive without public intervention. These include
independent films, newsreels and documentaries, films of historical,
educational, and regional importance, films by and about ethnic and
minority groups, silent films, short subject films, early animation and
films no longer protected by copyright and now part of the public
domain.
This action should help preserve important resource materials for
scholars and teachers like Denise Youngblood in the History Department,
Frank Manchel and Ted Lyman in Arts and Sciences and Kenneth Rothwell
in English at the University of Vermont; Ted Perry at Middlebury
College; and Kenneth Peck at Burlington College. It is important to the
special collection at the Bailey/Howe Library at the University of
Vermont and the Vermont Historical Society.
Film preservation, film history and filmmaking matter. They matter to
the Vermont Independent Media Artists, the Vermont International Film
Foundation, the Savoy Theatre, the Flaherty family in Putney, Barbara
VanDyke, the increasing number of creative film artists in Vermont,
Vermont's growing film industry, our new film commission and to us all
as audience and Americans.
Two film archives in our region should be among the beneficiaries of
the preservation program authorized by this legislation. They have
worked closely with the Board and encouraged my continued involvement
in this effort. The Northeast Historic Film archive is dedicated to
preserving motion pictures of northern New England. I know that many
saw and enjoyed their exhibition, ``Going to the Movies: A Century of
Motion Picture Audiences in Northern New England'' last May in
Burlington and that more than 1,000 participating in a screening of
Charlie Chaplin's ``The Circus.'' In addition, I have heard from the
National Center for Jewish Film, which works to preserve America's film
heritage and a glimpse of the cultural heritage of the Jewish people.
I have also heard from the Association of Moving Image Archivists and
ask that letters from these organizations be printed in the Record
following my remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. LEAHY. This bill will reauthorize the National Film Preservation
Board to continue to bring parties together to implement the realistic
program outlined in the 1993 national plan. To help fund these
activities over the long-term, the bill creates a nonprofit
organization to be known as the National Film Preservation Foundation
to combine public and private resources and leverage the Federal seed
money with private fundraising. The bill we consider and pass today
retains only 5 percent of the authorized funds that were initially
requested. I urge the private section and those interested in
preserving our heritage to rise to the challenge, contribute to the
National Film Preservation Foundation and make it a success.
I thank all those who have served on the National Film Preservation
Board for their contributions to this important effort. I want to
commend Eric Schwartz of the Proskauer Rose law firm for his dedicated
commitment as pro bono counsel to the National Film Preservation Board.
Finally, I know that our Librarian of Congress strongly supports this
legislation and want to thank Jim Billington and the Library staff for
their help and for making our National Registry films available to the
public.
Exhibit 1
Northeast Historic Film,
Bucksport, ME, August 30, 1996.
Hon. Patrick J. Leahy,
Russell Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Leahy: On behalf of the board, staff and
members of Northeast Historic Film, we ask for your strong
support of THE NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION ACT of 1996 (H.R.
1734). This bill has already passed the House of
Representatives without controversy or opposition. Now we
hope you will help the Senate to pass H.R. 1734 quickly so
that libraries, educators and archives can benefit from the
legislation as soon as possible.
The passage of this act will mean a great deal to our
survival as a cultural organization. Northeast Historic Film
is a nonprofit
[[Page S11773]]
organization preserving film and videotape from Vermont,
Maine and New Hampshire.
We spent most of May in Burlington with our history
exhibition, ``Going to the Movies: A Century of Motion
Picture Audiences in Northern New England.'' The culmination
of this educational and cultural series--in which scholars
and filmmakers from the University of Vermont, Middlebury
College, and other institutions, spoke to the public--was a
screening of Charlie Chaplin's classic film The Circus with
live orchestra at The Flynn to 1,100 people of all ages.
After the screening we received letters from people around
Vermont, such as a letter from Hinesburg saying, ``It would
be an awful shame to lose this and other such cultural
treasures to neglect.'' Film preservation needs your support.
The National Film Preservation Board, which is up for
reauthorization, has been a significant force in making
people aware of our film heritage nationally. The
establishment of a new National Film Preservation Foundation,
as recommended by the Librarian of Congress and the Film
Board, is essential to the continued preservation and
presentation of our film heritage.
While the amount of federal matching funds authorized by
H.R. 1734 has been reduced by 95% from the original request,
we are all too aware of the frugality of the present period.
We still enthusiastically support the bill, seeing it is an
important start for a preservation effort that will grow in
size and energy as we turn the century.
We are members of the Association of Moving Image
Archivists, the professional group representing our field. I
enclose testimony to the House by Edward Richmond, AMIA's
president at the time of the hearings, in support of this
legislation.
The National Film Preservation Act will give the field a
way to seek matching funds--an important source of leverage--
with a very investment by the federal government.
Archives like this one preserve images and sound that
record the changes to our social history, the changes in our
landscape, the way we relate to each other. The work we do is
very important to the education of young people. We saw
first-hand how compelling this experience is to Vermont
people.
Please help the many organizations working to save our
history by supporting the Senate passage of H.R. 1734.
Sincerely,
Karan Sheldon,
David Weiss.
____
The National Center for
Jewish Film,
Waltham, MA, August 30, 1996.
Re National Film Preservation Act (H.R. 1734).
Hon. Edward M. Kennedy,
U.S. Senate, Senate Russell Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Kennedy: On behalf of the National Center for
Jewish Film, located at Brandais University, we are writing
to ask you to support the NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION ACT
(H.R. 1734).
The passage of this act will accomplish two goals which are
critically important to the nationwide effort to preserve
America's film heritage and make it available to educators,
students, scholars and the public. First, it will reauthorize
the National Film Preservation Board, which has provided
valuable leadership in helping the film archive community
develop a coordinated national preservation plan, and which
has done much to raise the public's awareness of the need for
film preservation.
Second, it will establish the National Film Preservation
Foundation, which will allow the nation's film archives to
raise private sector funding on a national level, with the
need for only a minimum investment by the federal government
in matching funds. In Massachusetts and throughout America,
archives everyday are facing mountains of deteriorating film
which they cannot afford to preserve. These films, often
called ``orphans'' because they are no longer owned by
commercial entities--including documentaries, newsreels,
actuality footage, independent and avant-garde films, films
of local and regional interest, socially significant amateur
footage, and films which have fallen into public domain.
The National Center for Jewish Film was the recipient of
uninterrupted grants from the National Endowment for the
Arts/American Film Institute Film Preservation for 19 years
until that invaluable program was eradicated last year. The
preservation funds provided by that program were crucial in
assisting our Center save a number of classic Yiddish feature
films including: THE DYBBUK, TEVYE, GREEN FIELDS and UNCLE
MOSES. Our Center holds thousands of cans of film in dire
need of preservation. Each can preserved saves a small
glimpse of the rich cultural heritage of the Jewish people.
Important collections of films exist in each of the fifty
states--in local archives, museums, historical societies,
libraries, universities and other non-profit institutions.
Taken together they constitute an amazingly rich and very
endangered cultural legacy.
The National Film Preservation Foundation represents our
best hope for saving this legacy on behalf of the American
people. Please help us in this effort by supporting H.R.
1734.
Sincerely,
Sharon Pucker Rivo,
Executive Director.
____
Association of Moving
Image Archivists,
Los Angeles, CA, September 4, 1996.
Re National Film Preservation Act (H.R. 1734).
Hon. Patrick J. Leahy,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Leahy: On behalf of the Association of Moving
Image Archivists (AMIA), I am writing to ask you to support
the NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION ACT (H.R. 1734).
AMIA is a professional organization established in 1991 to
provide a means for cooperation among individuals concerned
with the preservation and use of moving image materials. It
currently represents over 300 professional archivists working
at more than 100 institutions in both the public and private
sectors, most of the working professionals in the film
archive field.
AMIA strongly endorses H.R. 1734. This Act has but one
purpose--to preserve American films, especially educational
and historical materials, which are deteriorating at an
alarming rate. The need to act immediately was documented by
Film Preservation 1993, a study completed by the Library of
Congress and the National Film Preservation Board. H.R. 1734
will reauthorize the Board and establish a separate
Foundation to coordinate fundraising efforts to save films.
The Act is almost entirely dependent on private funds.
We believe passage of H.R. 1734 is critically important to
preserving our nation's history, and insuring that educators,
students, scholars, and the public will have access to the
most vivid records of our past for teaching, research and
enjoyment. The focus of the Act is not Hollywood feature
films, but so-called ``orphan films'' which are not owned by
commercial entities. These films include newsreels,
documentaries, actuality footage, educational films, socially
significant amateur footage, films documenting local and
regional history, and films which have fallen into the public
domain with no copyright owner to insure their survival.
H.R. 1734 will help preserve such films by accomplishing
two related and vital goals. First, it will reauthorize the
National Film Preservation Board, originally established in
1988. The Board consists of representatives from all
important constituencies within the film and academic
communities, and operates under the direction of the
Librarian of Congress. During the past eight years, the Board
has proven invaluable in raising the public's awareness of
the need for film preservation and in working with archives
throughout the country to develop a coordinated national
plan. Reauthorizing the Board will enable it to carry on the
work of implementing this plan and providing leadership for
the nationwide effort to preserve America's film heritage.
Secondly, H.R. 1734 will establish the National Film
Preservation Foundation, as strongly recommended by the Film
Board and the Librarian of Congress. The Foundation will work
with the nation's film archives to raise private sector
funding on a national level, with no investment of federal
funds until the year 2000, and after then limited to a
maximum allocation of $250,000 in annual matching funds. All
funds raised by the Foundation will be used by non-profit
archives to preserve and make available historical,
educational and cultural films of local, regional and
national interest which will otherwise be lost forever.
Important collections of such films exist in each of the
fifty states. They are housed in local archives, museums,
historical societies, libraries, universities, and non-profit
associations. Everyday these institutions face vaults full of
deteriorating films which they cannot afford to preserve.
These are not Hollywood films, belonging to the film studios
and production companies, but orphan films comprising an
amazingly rich and valuable national resource.
H.R. 1734 is a non-controversial proposal. It has already
passed the House of Representatives by voice vote with
complete bi-partisan support and no opposition. It focuses
exclusively on films held in the public trust, that are not
owned or protected by commercial entities. In recognition of
these frugal times, the amount of federal matching funds it
authorizes has been reduced by a full 95%. It simply and for
the first time gives the nation's archives the tool they need
to save the nation's film heritage--a federally chartered
National Film Preservation Foundation.
We hope the Senate will act quickly to pass H.R. 1734, so
its benefits can be felt as soon as possible. Your help is
very much appreciated. Please give the nation's archives a
chance to do their job for the benefit of the American
people.
Sincerely,
Maxine Fleckner Ducey,
President.
Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be
deemed read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid
upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill appear at the
appropriate place in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (H.R. 1734) was deemed read the third time and passed.
____________________