House Increases FY’08 Funding for National Archives

On June 28, 2007, the House of Representatives, by a vote of 240-179, approved the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill (H.R. 2829) . The bill includes $315 million ($2.1 million above the President’s request, and $35.7 million above fiscal year 2007) for operating expenses of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The Committee Report (H. Rept. 110-207) accompanying the bill directs that the $2.1 million in additional funding be used to restore evening and weekend hours for public research at the Archives that were eliminated last October.

The Committee also mandates the hiring of additional archivists to help process public requests for access to historic documents (the archivist workforce has been cut back over recent years). Funding is also included for additional space to house archival documents.

The Electronic Records Archive program will receive $58 million, the same as the President’s request and an increase of $12 million over FY ’07.

The Senate Financial Services and General Government Appropriations’ Subcommittee has yet to announce a markup of its version of the bill. We urge you to contact your Senators through our Humanities Advocacy Network to urge funding for the Archives at a level comparable to that approved by the House.