[Senate Report 104-283]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 440
104th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE

 2d Session                                                     104-283
_______________________________________________________________________



 
 AUTHORIZING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS 
  AND RECORDS COMMISSION FOR FISCAL YEARS 1998, 1999, 2000, AND 2001

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

         COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 1577

 TO AUTHORIZE APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS 
   AND RECORDS COMMISSION FOR FISCAL YEARS 1998, 1999, 2000, AND 2001




                 June 19, 1996.--Ordered to be printed


                   COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

   TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman
JOHN GLENN, Ohio                     WILLIAM V. ROTH, Jr., Delaware
SAM NUNN, Georgia                    WILLIAM S. COHEN, Maine
CARL LEVIN, Michigan                 FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee
DAVID PRYOR, Arkansas                THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut     JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii              BOB SMITH, New Hampshire
BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota        HANK BROWN, Colorado
    Albert L. McDermott, Staff 
             Director
  Susanne Marshall, Professional 
               Staff
  Leonard Weiss, Minority Staff 
             Director
  Michal Sue Prosser, Chief Clerk


                                                       Calendar No. 440
104th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE

 2d Session                                                     104-283
_______________________________________________________________________


AUTHORIZING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS AND 
     RECORDS COMMISSION FOR FISCAL YEARS 1998, 1999, 2000, AND 2001

                                _______


                 June 19, 1996.--Ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


Mr. Stevens, from the Committee on Governmental Affairs, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1577]

    The Committee on Governmental Affairs, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1577) to reauthorize appropriations for 
the National Historical Publications and Records Commission 
programs, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
and recommends that the bill do pass.

                               I. Purpose

    The purpose of S. 1577, reauthorization of the National 
Historical Publication and Records Commission provides an 
authorization for appropriations up to $10 million for each of 
the fiscal years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 for the purpose of 
awarding grants in support of documenting, preserving, 
publishing and making accessible the heritage of the United 
States.

                             II. Background

    The National Historical Publications and Records Commission 
(NHPRC or Commission) is a statutory body affiliated with the 
National Archive and Records Administration.
    The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has 
a history of its own. Originally created as the National 
Archives Establishment by an Act of June 19, 1934 (48 Stat. 
1122), it was subsequently incorporated into the General 
Services Administration as the National Archives and Records 
Service by section 104 of the Federal Property and 
Administrative Services Act (63 Stat. 381), approved June 30, 
1949. NARA, the successor agency to the National Archives and 
Records Service, was established by an act of October 19, 1984 
(98 Stat. 2280; 44 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.), effective April 1, 
1985 as an independent agency in the executive branch of the 
Government.
    The National Historical Publications Commission was created 
with the original Archives in 1934, and subsequently authorized 
to make grants in 1964. In 1974, Congress enacted Public Law 
93-536, which redesignated the National Historical Publications 
Commission as the National Historical Publications and Records 
Commission (NHPRC) and expanded its charter to permit NHPRC to 
undertake projects relating to the collection and preservation, 
as well as publication, of papers of historical significance to 
the nation. With the inception of the records program, the 
Commission's role was broadened to include assistance to State 
and local government archives and private document repositories 
in preserving and organizing materials they already possess and 
those being newly created.
    Under the provisions of Public Law 100-365 (44 USC Chapter 
25), the Commission is authorized to undertake a wide range of 
activities involving the preservation, publication, and use of 
documentary sources relating to the history of the United 
States, and to recommend the expenditure of funds, usually in 
the form of grants, to support state and local government 
agencies, nonprofit organizations and institutions, and 
individuals undertaking those activities.
    The publications program provides grant money for printed 
and microfilm publications of the papers of famous American 
diplomats, politicians, reformers, and scientists among others. 
Since 1965, the Commission has awarded grants for numerous 
documentary works in American history. To date, 717 sponsored 
volumes have been published, as well as 8,280 reels of 
microfilm and 1,822 microfiches. There are 182 completed 
microfilm editions and 51 completed series, including the 69-
volume edition of the Papers of Woodrow Wilson. Since the 
inception of the grant program, the Commission has subsidized 
and assisted more than 114 print series, such as the papers of 
Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Johnson, and Andrew Jackson, and the 
correspondence of James K. Polk. Microform publications have 
included the papers of political figures, military leaders, 
scientists, diplomats, and numerous organizational records.
    Under the records program, the Commission has given grants 
to State and local institutions (historical societies, 
archives, libraries, associations) for the preservation, 
arrangement, and description of historical records and for a 
broad range of archival training and development programs. 
Since the inception of the records program, more than 650 
institutions and organizations in 50 states, the District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa 
have received grants.
    The publication subvention program started in 1975 when the 
Commission began making small grants (none exceeding $10,000 
per volume) to university presses or other nonprofit publishers 
to defray expenses of publishing the NHPRC's documentary 
editions. The effect of this program has been to encourage 
presses to accept and publish in a timely fashion volumes that 
are of national importance and which are frequently more 
difficult, time consuming, and expensive to print than standard 
monographs.
    A condition of each subvention grant is that the nonprofit 
press must adhere to stringent paper and binding standards set 
by the Commission. These NPHRC standards have become widely 
recognized within the publishing industry as the most 
practicable guidelines for ensuring book longevity. Last year 
the Commission awarded $152,000 in grants to 10 publishers in 
10 different states to assist in the publication of 19 volumes.
    NHPRC has also expended funds to address one of the newer 
challenges of the archival community requiring research and 
development, which is working out techniques to help 
documentary editors prepare for electronic publication, and 
help archivists at every level learn to cope with the special 
problems of preserving and providing access to electronic 
records.
    As head of NARA, the Archivist of the United States is 
authorized to prescribe regulations necessary to administer the 
agency and its programs. Specific regulations for the NHPRC 
have been developed and can be found in the Code of Federal 
Regulations (36 CFR Part 1206). S. 1577 authorizes funds only 
for the Commission grant program. The Commission staff are 
employees of NARA, and the administrative costs of the 
Commission are allocated as part of the NARA budget. The annual 
authorization level of $10 million is the amount currently 
authorized for fiscal year 1997. In recognition of budget 
constraints, the level is held constant through the fiscal year 
2001 and is subject to appropriation.
    The membership of the Commission is fixed by law at fifteen 
to include representation as follows: one member of the Federal 
Judiciary, one member each from the House of Representatives 
and the Senate, two Presidential appointees, the Librarian of 
Congress or an alternate, the Secretary of State or an 
alternate, the Secretary of Defense or an alternate, and one 
representative each from the American Historical Association, 
the Organization of American Historians, the Society of 
American Archivists, the American Association for State and 
Local History, the Association for Documentary Editing, the 
National Association of Government Archives and Records 
Administrators; and the Archivist of the United States serves 
as chairman of the Commission.
    The Commission's grant program provides support for a wide 
spectrum of activities relating to historical records as 
outlined. This program is administered in accordance with 
Federal grant regulations promulgated by the Office of 
Management and Budget. In addition, the Commission has defined 
goals and priorities in a strategic plan.

                       III. NHPRC Strategic Plan

    In 1993 the NHPRC spent considerable time and energy 
developing an ambitious five-year strategic plan. The plan 
detailed how the NHPRC intended to carry out its mission and 
improve service to its customers. The plan identified five 
goals with seventeen objectives in four levels of priority. To 
simplify the plan for grant applicants, and recognizing the 
limited appropriated funds, the Commission recently 
consolidated the plan into four grant-making categories, with 
just two prioritized objectives under each as summarized below.

         1. grants for state collaborative documentary efforts

Priority level one

    To produce state plans through which state historical 
records coordinators and boards identify their documentary 
priorities, meet needs, and inform the Commission about them, 
individually and through NHPRC cooperative agreements with the 
Council of State Historical Records Coordinators.

Priority level two

    To meet local documentary needs identified in state plans 
by providing grants to state historical records advisory boards 
for regrants within their states and territories.

     2. grants for improvement of conditions in documentary fields

Priority level one

    To enable archivists, documentary editors, and related 
professionals to manage documentation in appropriate electronic 
forms and to utilize electronic technologies for disseminating 
documentary materials.

Priority level two

    To advance documentary work in general by creating 
appropriate publications, techniques, tools, and training 
opportunities for archival administration, documentary editing, 
and such related professional activities as records management, 
and documentary dissemination through libraries.

        3. grants for documentary preservation, access, and use

Priority level one

    To increase the preservation and accessibility of a wide 
range of important documentary materials.

Priority level two

    To increase understanding and use of documentary materials 
by teachers, students, scholars, and the general public.

                 4. grants for documentary publication

Priority level one

    To disseminate documentation of the formation of basic 
American political institutions by publishing editions of the 
papers of Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, and Washington 
and papers on the ratification of the Constitution, the First 
Federal Congress, the early Supreme Court, and the beginning of 
U.S. foreign relations.

Priority level two

    To disseminate documentation of other aspects of American 
history by publishing on-going and new editions of papers and 
other materials documenting a wide range of subjects.

                        IV. Legislative History

    On June 19, 1934, Congress established the National 
Historical Publications Commission in the same act that created 
the National Archives (Public Law 73-432) for the purpose of 
promoting the collection and publication of ``the papers of 
outstanding citizens of the United States and other documents 
as may be important for an understanding and appreciation of 
the history of the United States.''
    On September 5, 1950, the Federal Records Act of 1950 
(Public Law 81-754) authorized Commission staff, meetings, and 
a membership of 11 members. The Commission began a more active 
role in complying and preserving documentary source materials 
in 1964 when Public Law 84-383 first authorized annual 
appropriations for grants to Federal, State, and local agencies 
and to nonprofit organizations and institutions for collecting, 
describing, preserving and publishing documentary sources 
significant to the history of the United States.
    President Gerald R. Ford created the records program in 
1974, by signing Public Law 93-536. In addition, the NHPRC 
established a Historical Records Advisory Board in each State, 
a gubernatorially appointed group of archivists, historians, 
records managers, librarians, elected and appointed government 
officials, and other professionals. Since the role of the NHPRC 
is to foster awareness and preservation of historical records 
outside the confines of the Federal bureaucracy, this national 
network of state advisory boards represents an important 
Federal-State partnership.
    The NHPRC programs have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan 
support and the grant program has been consistently 
reauthorized since 1964 with the exception of a two-year period 
1981 to 1983. Despite the absence of authorizing legislation in 
those two years, Congress continued to fund the program by 
earmarking funds from the National Archives budget for the 
NHPRC.
    On February 27, 1996, Senator Hatfield, for himself and 
Senator Sarbanes, introduced S. 1577. The legislation is a 
straight four-year reauthorization with no substantive 
statutory changes in law. No hearing was held. On April 18, 
1996, the Governmental Affairs Committee by unanimous voice 
vote ordered the bill favorably reported.

                              V. Analysis

    This legislation authorizes appropriations to the National 
Historical Publications and Records Commission for the fiscal 
years 1998 through 2001 at $10,000,000 each year.

                  VI. Changes to Existing Legislation

                      TITLE 44, UNITED STATES CODE

Section 2504. Duties; authorization of grants for historical 
          publications and records programs; authorization for 
          appropriations

    (a) * * *
          * * * * * * *
    (f)(1) For the purposes specified in this section, there is 
hereby authorized to be appropriated to the National Historical 
Publications and Records Commission--
          (F) * * * 1996; [and]
          (G) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1997[.];
          (H) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;
          (I) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1999
          (J) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2000; and
          (K) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2001.

                 VII. Regulatory Impact of Legislation

    Paragraph 11(b)(1) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of 
the Senate requires that each report accompanying a bill 
evaluate ``the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out the bill.''
    The enactment of this reauthorization legislation would not 
have a significant regulatory impact on the public, nor would 
it constitute an undue regulatory burden on the National 
Archives and Records Administration. The legislation is 
submitted to maintain an existing program by extending the 
authorization of appropriations for four years.

                        VIII. CBO Cost Estimate

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                       Washington, DC, May 1, 1996.
Hon. Ted Stevens,
Chairman, Committee on Governmental Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1577, a bill to 
authorize appropriations for the National Historical 
Publications and Records Commission for fiscal years 1998, 
1999, 2000, and 2001.
    Because enacting this legislation would not affect direct 
spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them.
            Sincerely,
                                              James L. Blum
                                   (For June E. O'Neill, Director).
    Enclosure.

               CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

    1. Bill number: S. 1577.
    2. Bill title: A bill to authorize appropriations for the 
National Historical Publications and Records Commission for 
fiscal years 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.
    3. Bill status: As ordered reported by the Senate Committee 
on Governmental Affairs on April 18, 1996.
    4. Bill purpose: S. 1577 would authorize the appropriation 
of $10 million--the amount authorized for fiscal year 1997--for 
each of fiscal years 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. The commission 
received an appropriation of $5 million in 1996, and the 
President's budget request is $4 million for 1997.
    5. Estimated Cost to the Federal Government: Enacting S. 
1577 would affect discretionary spending, subject to 
appropriations of the authorized funds, as shown in the 
following table.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     1996     1997     1998     1999     2000     2001     2002 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soending under current law:                                                                                     
    Authorization level \1\......................        5       10  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......
    Estimated outlays............................        6        8        5  .......  .......  .......  .......
Proposed changes:                                                                                               
    Estimated authorization level................  .......  .......       10       10       10       10  .......
    Estimaed outlays.............................  .......  .......        5       10       10       10        6
Projected spending under S. 1577:                                                                               
    Estimated authorization level \1\............        5       10       10       10       10       10  .......
    Estimated outlays............................        6        8       10       10       10       10        6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The 1996 level is the amount appropriated for that year.                                                    

    The costs of this bill fall within budget function 800.
    6. Basis of estimate: This estimate assumes that the 
amounts authorized will be appropriated and that spending will 
occur at historical rates.
    7. Pay-as-you-go considerations: None.
    8. Estimated impact on State, local, and tribal 
governments: S. 1577 contains no intergovernmental mandates as 
defined in Public Law 104-4 and would impose no direct costs on 
state, local, or tribal governments. By extending the 
authorization of appropriations for grants provided by the 
National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the 
bill would allow grants totaling up to $10 million annually to 
continue to be distributed to states and localities for a 
variety of activities related to archives and the management of 
historical records.
    9. Estimated impact on the private sector: The bill would 
impose no new private sector mandates, as defined in Public Law 
104-4.
    10. Previous CBO estimate: None.
    11. Estimate prepared by: Federal Cost Estimate: John R. 
Righter; State and Local Government Impact: Theresa Gullo; and 
Private Sector Impact: Matthew Eyles.
    12. Estimate approved by: Robert A. Sunshine, for Paul N. 
Van de Water, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                                
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