Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein and Librarian of Congress James H. Billington recently announced that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has become a founding partner in the World Digital Library (WDL).
The Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation will meet at the Department of State, 2201 “C'” Street, NW., Washington, DC, September 8 & 9, 2008, in Conference Room 1498. The Committee will meet in open session from 1:30 p.m. through 3 p.m. on Monday, September 8, 2008, to discuss declassification and transfer of Department of State records to the National Archives and Records Administration and the status of the Foreign Relations series.
On July 10, 2008, the Senate Appropriations Committee cleared the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) fiscal year 2009 appropriations bill that includes funding for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). NARA received $441.6 million, a significant $41.6 million increase over the FY ’08 enacted amount. The NHPRC would receive $8.5 million for grants and $2 million for administrative expenses, a $1 million increase over the current year’s budget.
On July 9, 2008, the House of Representatives passed the “Electronic Message Preservation Act” (H.R. 5811) by a vote of 286-137, despite a threatened veto by the White House. The bill would direct the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to establish standards for the capture, management, preservation and retrieval of federal agency and presidential electronic messages that are records in an electronic format.
On July 9, 2008, the House of Representatives, by vote of 360-23, passed legislation (H.R. 3981) to permanently authorize the Preserve America and Save America’s Treasures historic preservation programs. The bill would cap the authorization for the two programs at $75 million annually through fiscal year 2013, with the Save America’s Treasure’s program receiving $50 million and the Preserve America program getting $25 million.
The National Council on the Humanities will meet in Washington, DC on July 24-25,
2008. The meeting will be held in the Old Post Office Building, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. A portion of the morning and afternoon sessions on both days will not be open to the public. For a detailed agenda and further information, click here.
On July 10, 2008, the Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to markup the Financial Services and General Government fiscal year 2009 bill that includes funding for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Recently, the House Appropriations Committee approved a funding bill that provides the NHPRC with its highest funding level in five years. We want to ensure that the Senate follows suit and provides the NHPRC with $10 million for grants and $2 million for administrative expenses in FY ’09.
On June 27, 2008, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein announced the launch of the initial phase of the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) Project.
The National Park Service recently announced the award of 32 grants totaling $1,367,144 to assist in the preservation and protection of America’s significant battlefield lands. With an increase in funding this year, the grant program was able to support a dozen more projects than in 2007, projects that will help preserve more than 100 battlefields nationwide.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) published a final rule in the Federal Register on June 30, 2008, to amend its regulations on public use of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, and Archives II in College Park, Maryland for meetings or special events.
