On May 21, 2009, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and the National Archives held a hearing to consider the policy issues facing a new Archivist of the United States. Among those testifying was Lee White, the Executive Director of the National Coalition for History (NCH).

On May 29, 2009, the National Archives and Records Administration announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the recovery of an external hard drive containing copies of backup tapes from the Executive Office of the President (EOP) of the Clinton Administration. NARA learned in late March 2009 that the hard drive was missing from a processing room at NARA’s College Park, Maryland facility.

The National Coalition for History (NCH) recently submitted testimony to the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees on Financial Services and General Government on the fiscal year (FY) 2010 budgets for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

On May 27, 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum directing an internal executive branch review of federal declassification policies and procedures for handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).

On May 27, 2009, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) recommended to the Archivist of the United States 82 grants of $5.9 million for projects in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

President Obama’s January 21, 2009, memorandum Transparency and Open Government, directed the Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA), to develop an Open Government Directive that will provide executive departments and agencies with specific policies to implement the President’s memorandum. The White House is inviting members of the public to participate in the process of developing the policy recommendations.

On May 21, 2009, Dr. Leon R. Kass, a widely published author and award-winning humanities teacher, delivered the 2009 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) sponsored Jefferson Lecture is the most prestigious honor the federal government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities.

Under the Obama administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 budget request, funding for the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) would increase by $7 million from the current fiscal year’s $447 million to $454 million.

The Teaching American History (TAH) Grants program at the U.S. Department of Education would see no increase under the Obama administration’s proposed fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget released this week. The budget for the program would stay at the FY 2009 level of $119 million. Funding for the program has remained relatively constant since FY 2004, fluctuating annually between $120 million and $118 million.

Under the Obama administration’s budget request, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) would receive $10 million in fiscal year (FY) 2010 for grants. The NHPRC received $9.25 million for grants (plus $2 million for administrative costs) for a total of $11.25 million in FY ’09.