[House Hearing, 112 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
AMERICA'S PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES:
THEIR MISSION AND THEIR FUTURE
=======================================================================
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Serial No. 112-3
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Serial No. 112-15
JOINT HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
AND THE
COMMITTEE ON
OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
FEBRUARY 28, 2011
__________
Printed for the use of the
Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and
Oversight and Government Reform
Available online at: http://www.fdsys.gov/
----------
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COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
JOHN L. MICA, Florida, Chairman
DON YOUNG, Alaska NICK J. RAHALL II, West Virginia
THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon
HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois
JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of
FRANK A. LoBIONDO, New Jersey Columbia
GARY G. MILLER, California JERROLD NADLER, New York
TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois CORRINE BROWN, Florida
SAM GRAVES, Missouri BOB FILNER, California
BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland
JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa
CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania
DUNCAN HUNTER, California RICK LARSEN, Washington
TOM REED, New York MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts
ANDY HARRIS, Maryland TIMOTHY H. BISHOP, New York
ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD, Arkansas MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine
JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, Washington RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
FRANK C. GUINTA, New Hampshire GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
LOU BARLETTA, Pennsylvania MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii
CHIP CRAVAACK, Minnesota JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania
BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota
LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana HEATH SHULER, North Carolina
BILLY LONG, Missouri STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
BOB GIBBS, Ohio LAURA RICHARDSON, California
PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
RICHARD L. HANNA, New York DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland
STEPHEN LEE FINCHER, Tennessee
JEFFREY M. LANDRY, Louisiana
STEVE SOUTHERLAND II, Florida
JEFF DENHAM, California
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
(ii)
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
DARRELL E. ISSA, California, Chairman
DAN BURTON, Indiana ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland
JOHN L. MICA, Florida EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York
TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York
MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of
PATRICK T. McHENRY, North Carolina Columbia
JIM JORDAN, Ohio DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio
JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts
CONNIE MACK, Florida WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri
TIM WALBERG, Michigan STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma JIM COOPER, Tennessee
JUSTIN AMASH, Michigan GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois
PAUL A. GOSAR, Arizona DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois
RAUL R. LABRADOR, Idaho BRUCE L. BRALEY, Iowa
PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania PETER WELCH, Vermont
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky
JOE WALSH, Illinois CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut
TREY GOWDY, South Carolina JACKIE SPEIER, California
DENNIS A. ROSS, Florida
FRANK C. GUINTA, New Hampshire
BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas
MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania
(iii)
CONTENTS
Page
Summary of Subject Matter........................................ vi
TESTIMONY
Blackwood, Duke, Director, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.... 28
Ferriero, Hon. David S., Archivist of the United States, National
Archives and Records Administration............................ 28
Kumar, Dr. Martha, Professor, Towson University.................. 28
Putnam, Thomas, Director, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
and Museum..................................................... 28
Roosevelt, Anna Eleanor, Chair, Board of Directors, the Roosevelt
Institute...................................................... 28
Schwartz, Dr. Thomas, Illinois State Historian, Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library and Museum................................ 28
PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Norton, Hon. Eleanor Holmes, of the District of Columbia......... 56
PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED BY WITNESSES
Blackwood, Duke.................................................. 57
Ferriero, Hon. David S........................................... 64
Kumar, Dr. Martha................................................ 68
Putnam, Thomas................................................... 76
Roosevelt, Anna Eleanor.......................................... 91
Schwartz, Dr. Thomas............................................. 96
SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD
Cummings, Hon. Elijah E., a Representative in Congress from the
State of Maryland, request to include the GAO report ``National
Archives: Framework Governing Use of Presidential Library
Facilities and Staff,'' February 2011.......................... 6
ADDITIONS TO THE RECORD
Kennedy, Caroline, President, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation,
letter to Hon. John L. Mica, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Florida........................................... 99
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
AMERICA'S PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES:
THEIR MISSION AND THEIR FUTURE
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2011
House of Representatives, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, Joint with
the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform,
Washington, DC.
The committees met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a.m., in
room 2167, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John L. Mica
(chairman of the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure) presiding.
Mr. Mica. Good morning, I would like to call this joint
hearing of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
and also the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to
order.
Today the topic of the hearing is ``America's Presidential
Libraries: Their Mission and Their Future.'' The order of
business today will be opening statements by Members and then
we will turn to our panel.
Let me say at the outset, this is probably one of the more
unique hearings in Congress that is today going to focus on a
unique subject and that is again the mission, the future of our
Presidential libraries and we decided to do that jointly. Our
committee has some responsibility, legislative responsibility
under the Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency
Management Subcommittee. Also, the important Government Reform
and Oversight Committee chaired by my colleague the gentleman
from California has very important legislative and oversight
responsibility over Presidential libraries so it is a rather
unique subject and unique approach.
I might say at the outset, this isn't one of these hearings
where we have a mission of some violation or some problems with
the libraries. I think this is a very forward-looking hearing
in trying to assess the current status of our Presidential
libraries and also their important mission and also their
future. It is impossible to have all of them in this panel and
today's formal hearing is a representation. We have got a good,
I think, cross-section of some of those involved with the
Presidential libraries that we will hear from shortly.
I want to thank, again, Chairman Issa, Chairman Gowdy of
the subcommittee who has say over this also in Government
Reform.
Ms. Norton, Mr. Rahall isn't with us today, but we enjoyed
his support in having this joint hearing. The other gentleman
that has joined us, of course, is Mr. Cummings and I have had
the great honor and privilege of working with him both as a
chair and also as a ranking member in the past, and appreciate
his support on Government Reform and the relationship we have
shared over the years. So that is a little bit about our
mission.
Let me say a couple of things. First of all, most folks
don't realize we have some publicly funded and sponsored
Presidential libraries and we also have some private libraries.
Many of them start out with private donations and end up in the
public realm. I have had the opportunity to visit some of the
libraries across the Nation and found it to be one of the most
rewarding experiences that I could enjoy. I like a little bit
of history like most folks, but it really gives the public,
academia, and students--and people are interested in the
history of the United States and our Presidents--great access,
information, and are a tremendous resource and national
treasure.
The question of why we should have this hearing is because
there are a whole host of the questions that need to be
answered about how we proceed. Right now we are in tough
economic times, especially the Federal Government. Sometimes
some of the libraries that depend on private donations have
also experienced some downturns both in terms of visitors and
revenues. And then the important question again before us is
their future mission, how that changes and evolves, and what
the Federal role and participation are with these libraries.
In talking with the Librarian of Congress, I did not
realize this, but I believe he told me that Presidential papers
from, I guess, Washington through Hoover are handled by the
Library of Congress and I guess the National Archives and then
we began the construction and creation of the Presidential
libraries. There are a host of questions, as I said, that we
hope to answer today. We probably won't get to all of them in
this formal hearing.
One of the things I like to do in addition to formal
hearings is have an informal session. And this afternoon,
beginning, I believe it is around 2:30, we will begin over in
the Cannon Caucus Room a symposium. And we hope that those
other representatives of both the public and private
Presidential libraries, we know they will be joining us and we
won't have quite as formal a discussion as we will have with
the panel before us today.
Again, the panel is only representative of all of you who
have come today from across the country representing some of
these great institutions.
So in that symposium and forum--and it is open to Members
of Congress, too, and any of the public, it is a public event.
We will have an opportunity to ask some questions, hopefully
get a good exchange and commentary on some of the questions
that will be raised at the hearing today, and again, the
important mission that these libraries have.
We, again, thank all of those who have come today. I have
had a chance to visit a few of the libraries, the Truman, the
Roosevelt, the Nixon, the Reagan, the Kennedy, the Hoover, and
I think most recently, the Lincoln, also a variety of public
and private endeavors. And again, just an incredible
opportunity for the public to walk through again and see, and
review, and have access to the history of our leaders over the
course of many generations.
So again, that is the purpose of the formal hearing this
morning, the symposium we will have this afternoon, a unique
opportunity in Congress to sit down and again look at where we
are and where we are going with one of our important national
treasures and assets that we are the custodians of as far as
Members of Congress and leaders of, again, our respective
libraries.
So with that, let me turn, if I may, to the gentlelady from
the District of Columbia, Ms. Norton for an opening statement.
Ms. Norton. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I will say
just a few words and ask to submit my opening statement for the
record. I look forward to learning more about the Presidential
libraries. As a member of both committees, your own
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the committee
of jurisdiction, Oversight and Government Reform, I note that
there are a large number of visitors to these libraries, over 2
million that President Roosevelt built the first, and ever
since then, apparently every President has felt he must have a
Presidential library. But it wasn't until 1955 that the Federal
Government understood it was dealing with Federal history,
Federal papers, and of course, the Presidential Libraries Act
was passed.
The relationship of these libraries to their foundations
creates something of a hybrid within the Federal system so
oversight is certainly appropriate. They have their own
foundations, which, of course, are responsible for building
these libraries, for these are official documents of the people
of the United States. And this committee or the Congress has a
very appropriate role. I ask that my statement be submitted for
the record.
Mr. Mica. Without objection, and now let me yield to the
cochair of this joint hearing, a gentleman who chairs the
Government Reform and Oversight Committee of the House of
Representatives, from California, Mr. Issa, thank you.
Mr. Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thanks for holding
this joint hearing. As you said earlier, many of us on the dais
serve on both hearings. So I have members of my committee who
are sitting here in two roles just as Ms. Norton and Mr.
Cummings are sitting here in two roles.
There is a difference in the oversight that we will be
looking at today. There is no question that for the
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, they are looking
at the economic impact, the Federal assets themselves, the
non--if you will, paper, if you will, Federal assets,
particularly the facilities.
In the case of our committee, we are looking at a
combination of highest and best use for the Federal dollar. The
cost of paying 100 percent of the costs of archivists at each
of these facilities and the cost of basically about 45 percent
being the Federal Government and State government's
contribution through to--because of tax deductibility for
charities of the other side. So the truth is the taxpayers are
paying for these facilities on both sides.
I think all of us on the dais believe it is money well
spent, but it is money that has to be looked at carefully. If
there were no Presidential libraries, there is no question that
there would be hundreds of thousands of entities involved in
every nuance of maintaining those records pouring through them.
On the other hand, it could be that they would be more
available as a researcher would want to look through ancient
records. There is no question that each of the libraries has a
natural struggle, one in which the followers and descendents of
a President and the President himself, if he is still alive,
wants to maintain a positive legacy, everything that happened
on their watch was good.
Well, in fact, history may show that there were gapping
flaws from Jefferson to Nixon and then we will stay away from
those beyond. There have been scandals and those scandals can,
in fact, and may, in fact, be appropriate to have seen within a
library. But let's understand there is a balance. Our
Presidents represent, for the most part, progress in many, many
areas, even among the most, if you will, failed or least
popular Presidents.
Additionally, our committee has, over the last many years,
under both Republican and Democratic leadership, had a
particular interest in inventory control at the libraries,
access to researchers of the libraries and specially protected
records, which is a nice way to say classified. Presidents
operate at the highest level of secrecy and as a result, a
great part of what goes on during a President's life is, in
fact, classified for 50 years or more. We need to have that
protected, both from premature release, but we also need to
make sure that when the time is right, it can be released.
Our committee has, over the years, had a number of
legitimate concerns with information that is gone and will
never be found, or at least it won't be found in our lifetime.
So today's hearing is about hearing the good news and hearing
from people who have a vested interest in their library doing
well while meeting this challenge that Congress has given to
primarily the private sector in support of their foundation.
With that, I will put the rest in for the record and yield
back.
Mr. Mica. Thank you, Mr. Issa.
Let me yield to the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Cummings.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and
Chairman Issa, Ranking Member Norton. I appreciate you for
holding this hearing today on Presidential libraries. This is
an issue that is very important to the Oversight Committee,
because we have jurisdiction over the National Archives and
Records Administration and the laws that govern Presidential
libraries. I look forward to working on these issues with
Chairman Issa, Chairman Gowdy in his role as chairman of the
subcommittee with jurisdiction over the National Archives, as
well as with the ranking member of that subcommittee, Danny
Davis. And Chairman Mica, this hearing and the other events you
have planned today provide a great opportunity to highlight our
Presidential libraries.
Presidential libraries play a critical role in making
Presidential papers and artifacts available to researchers.
These libraries also bring history to life for thousands of
visitors each year. Most of the libraries operated by the
National Archives also have a private foundation that sponsors
their own programs and activities.
Representative Lacy Clay in his role last year as chairman
of the Committee on Information Policy, Census and National
Archives, requested that the Government Accountability Office
examine the laws and policies related to the Presidential
libraries and the private library foundations. GAO is issuing a
report today that provides a helpful description of the three
primary laws that address Presidential libraries and the
regulations and policies covering the relationships between
libraries and private library foundations. I ask that this
report be made a part of the hearing record.
An interesting aspect of Presidential libraries is the
relationship between libraries and the private library
foundations. We are fortunate to have President Roosevelt's
granddaughter here today. It was President Roosevelt who first
had the idea for a privately built but federally maintained
library to house his Presidential papers. The Presidential
Libraries Act of 1955 formally established the policy for
privately built Presidential libraries to be transferred to the
Federal Government. Subsequent laws establish reporting and
design requirements and some limitations such as requiring and
operating endowment for each library starting with the George
H.W. Bush Library.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, the relationship between libraries
and private foundations provide many benefits, but also can
raise potential issues. For example, the sharing of space
within the same facilities create questions about the proper
use of library facilities, especially for political activities.
In addition, donations provided by the private sector to
private foundations to fund the building of these libraries are
private.
GAO reports that each library has a written agreement with
its associated foundation, but the detail and scope of these
agreements vary from library to library. GAO found that over
time, the agreements have become increasingly more detailed
regarding staff, how library facilities can be used, and
political activities with regard to political activities. Some
recent agreements also address potential conflicts of interest
between the library and the foundation. And so one of the
things I would be interested to hear is the continuing
resolution recently passed by the House provides $32 million
less for the National Archives than was enacted for fiscal year
2010, and also $16 million less than the President's request
for fiscal year 2011. I would love to know how our witnesses
believe that those cuts are going to effect, if at all, the
activities in those libraries and just give us some information
with regard to where you think our priorities may be. So often
we spend a lot of time cutting and cutting and cutting, but we
cut off our past and it is kind of difficult to know your
future and deal with your future if you don't have a history of
your past.
And so I consider these libraries very, very important. I
appreciate the guests being here today. And with that, Mr.
Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Mica. Thank you, and the request by the gentleman for a
record he referred to to be made a part of the record without
objection so ordered. Thank you.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Mica. Let me yield now to the chair of the Economic
Development Public Buildings and Emergency Management
Subcommittee, the gentleman from California, Mr. Denham, you
are recognized.
Mr. Denham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you
for holding this hearing on this very important subject with
the relationship between Federal Government and our Nation's
public and private Presidential libraries. As you know, in
California, I have both the Nixon and Reagan Libraries. The
public benefit provided by these institutions is invaluable to
the history of this Nation and to the insight they provide to
the decisions that help shape our country.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses testimony on
not only the mission and future direction of the Presidential
libraries, but also on the funding aspect. Thank you.
Mr. Mica. Other Members seek recognition?
The gentleman from--Mr. Gowdy, he chairs one of the
subcommittees.
Mr. Gowdy. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. I want to commend you
and Chairman Issa for this extraordinary hearing and what is, I
believe, going to be an extraordinary day, given the expertise,
the amalgamation of experience that we have, I would rather
hear from the witnesses and hear the questions than hear myself
talk, so I would yield back.
Mr. Mica. Thank you so much. Other Members seek
recognition?
No other Members seek recognition, then, again, what we
will do is go to our panel of witnesses and ask Mr. Issa if he
would introduce the first three witnesses and have them
recognized. We don't have to swear these folks in today, Mr.
Issa, I guess normally you do that on your panel.
Mr. Issa. I think we can waive that since we are in your
hearing room.
Mr. Mica. Thank you. You are recognized to recognize the
panelists.
Mr. Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Our first witness is Honorable David S. Ferriero, the
archivist of the United States. And probably the most important
part of today's hearing really has a great deal to do with how
the National Archives and Record Administration can, in fact,
oversee all but one of the people here in their organizations.
Our second witness is Thomas Putnam, director of the John
F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. And our third, Mr.
Duke Blackwood, director of the Ronald Reagan Library and a
fairly constant host to me when I get up there.
Mr. Mica. We will start out by recognizing----
Mr. Issa. You have three more to introduce.
Mr. Mica. I will catch those when we get to them. We will
have the first three give their testimony. We try to limit you
to 5 minutes. If you have a lengthy statement or anything you
would like to have included in the record, that will be made a
part of the proceedings today. First, we will recognize Mr.
Ferriero.
TESTIMONY OF HON. DAVID S. FERRIERO, ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED
STATES, NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION; THOMAS
PUTNAM, DIRECTOR, JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND
MUSEUM; DUKE BLACKWOOD, DIRECTOR, RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL
LIBRARY; THOMAS SCHWARTZ, ILLINOIS STATE HISTORIAN, ABRAHAM
LINCOLN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM; ANNA ELEANOR
ROOSEVELT, CHAIR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, THE ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE;
AND MARTHA KUMAR, PROFESSOR, TOWSON UNIVERSITY
Mr. Issa. By the way, if David asks to have something put
in the record, make sure it is not all of his archives, that
could be over our limit.
Mr. Mica. We will make note of that, thank you. And you are
recognized, welcome, sir.
Mr. Ferriero. Chairman Mica, Chairman Issa, and members of
the committees, I appreciate the opportunity to testify before
you today on the important role of the Presidential libraries,
both to the Nation and to their local communities. Presidential
libraries preserve, interpret and present the history of
American democracy in the 20th and 21st centuries, through the
words and deeds of our government. And these libraries are
among the country's finest examples of public archives offering
research rooms, interactive museums and education centers to
millions of researchers, students and visitors each year.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's vision for his library
created a process that has been followed by each succeeding
President. He established a private foundation to raise funds
for the construction of the library building that was then
donated to the National Archives.
Each library is supported by the Federal Government, and in
part by a Presidential foundation. Situated around the country,
Presidential libraries reflect and enrich their local
communities. They offer exceptional research facilities that
are hailed for the personal service they provide to students
and scholars. Each museum tells a unique story concerning the
life and times of a 20th century, and soon, a 21st century
President in the pivotal moments in history they faced.
The libraries' extensive outreach to teachers and students
is a powerful vehicle for civic engagement. As you know, 100
percent of all initial construction funding for the libraries,
including the initial museum exhibit, comes from non-Federal
sources, the majority of which are private donations through
the Presidential foundations, or their predecessor
organizations.
The construction of Presidential libraries serves as an
engine of economic growth in regional areas, revitalizing
communities and guaranteeing continued revenue streams for
millions of national and international tourists. Local Chambers
of Commerce or State tourism boards estimate that each visitor
to the library spends an additional $100 to $200 depending on
the community, during the visit at local restaurants and
hotels. Thus, with nearly 2 million visitors visiting our
museums in 2010, the support to the community is significant;
$15 million added to the economy in Abilene, Kansas; $43
million in Boston; $55 million in Austin, Texas.
Equally important is the educational and cultural impact
Presidential libraries have on their communities. Over 500,000
people attended cultural programming conferences and various
speaker series of the libraries in 2010, where the country's
first, finest historians, political leaders, journalists and
biographers came to locales where they would not typically
speak.
Moreover, the libraries provided educational programs for
350,000 students and 5,000 teachers. At a hearing last year at
which I testified, there was some concern about the use of
resources for educational and cultural programs. As I said at
that hearing, the problem of civic literacy is real, access to
public records is a part of the solution to that problem, and
no one is better positioned to provide access to public records
than institutions like the National Archives. I would add the
13 Presidential libraries and 12 regional archives programs
across the country.
One of the greatest challenges at the National Archives is
the backlog we experience in processing many millions of pages
of records so that those records can be accessible to the
public. Several of our libraries have over 90 percent of their
collections processed. Our most significant backlogs are in the
Presidential Records Act Libraries, Reagan through Bush 43. In
2009, Congress approved funds for 25 new archival positions for
the 4 libraries with records controlled by the Presidential
Records Act. These newly hired archivists are a remarkably
talented group trained on processing Presidential records, and
along with other streamlining measures, are beginning to make a
real difference in the volume of records processed. We expect
this year to increase our processing by a least 1.3 million
additional pages and more in future years as these new
archivists complete their training.
Presidential library foundations provide the funding for
museum education and public programs, Web sites, archives
support and digitization, marketing and other initiatives.
These contributions have allowed the Presidential libraries to
be leaders and innovators in the National Archives and beyond.
Let me provide a few examples. The Presidential libraries were
among the first public archives and the first of the National
Archives to develop interactive Web sites and online document
based educational programming. The Presidential decisionmaking
classroom pioneered at the Truman Library is now a featured
part of the education programs in several libraries and served
as a model for our education programs here in Washington.
The Presidential timeline created through support of the
Johnson Foundation in a partnership with the University of
Texas Learning Center and all of the Presidential libraries is
an innovative teacher/students resource for digital assets
reflecting the life and administration of each of the
Presidents.
Because of the foundation funding, the Clinton Presidential
Library became the Federal Government's first existing building
to be certified at the LEED platinum level. The George W. Bush
Library will be built to LEED platinum level as well.
In addition to their ongoing annual support for the
libraries, the foundations have contributed tens of millions of
dollars to renovate our permanent museum exhibits; the Hoover,
Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Carter, Reagan and
both Bush Libraries have recently completed new permanent
exhibits or are in the planning stage for a new exhibit.
I am supported in this partnership by my advisory committee
on the Presidential Library Foundation Partnership. This
committee is made up of representatives of the various
Presidential library foundations. Through these meetings, the
public private partnership can work to leverage our strengths
and resources and resolve, or at least understand, how
differences on our mission can sometimes strain our
relationships.
I meet with this committee at least twice a year to discuss
and ask their advice on the activities of the National
Archives, our strategic plans and vision, collaborative
activities, funding and legal issues that can affect the public
private partnership.
The Presidency is the one office elected by all Americans.
Through their geographic disbursements, the Presidential
libraries are a positive force contributing to diverse
communities, making history transparent and strengthening the
civic fiber of our Nation.
While I continue to believe in the importance of
Presidential libraries, it is my belief that technology will
impact future Presidential libraries. The size of digital
collections at the Clinton and Bush 43 Libraries is far greater
than the paper records. In the near future we can expect that a
Presidential library's collection will be mostly digital. Those
documents acted on in a paper format will probably be digitized
by the White House and only those documents of significant
intrinsic value will be saved in their original format, such as
documents annotated by the President, correspondence with world
leaders and decision memoranda.
Long-term preservation and storage of digital records is a
delicate but worthwhile option. Nonetheless, I believe
Presidents in the future should continue to establish a
Presidential library if they wish to do so. Some collections
may well be digital, but it is the curators, and archivists and
educators who work in these libraries that make the collections
accessible to all of our students and citizens. Thank you for
this opportunity to testify, and I look forward to your
questions.
Mr. Issa. Thank you.
Mr. Mica. Mr. Putnam.
Mr. Putnam. Chairman Mica, Chairman Issa and members of the
committee, I am Tom Putnam, director of the John F. Kennedy
Presidential Library and Museum. I appreciate the opportunity
to testify on behalf of my fellow library directors. We are so
pleased that you have called this hearing and are honored to
appear before you, along with David Ferriero, fellow
historians, and especially Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. Those of us
who work in the Presidential library system are indebted to her
grandfather's vision, which led to the creation of the first
Presidential library.
Franklin Roosevelt encouraged the country not to be fearful
as he launched his Presidency. During which, over time, we
became the leader of the free world. Reflective of his
infectious self-confidence, he valued transparency as an
essential of democratic government. Citizens must understand
how their government works and have access to the documents
that define their past.
With the recent addition of the Nixon and George W. Bush
Libraries, our Presidential library system, representing our 13
most recent former Presidents, is made whole and has become a
model for the world.
Presidential libraries hold the memory of our Nation, they
are unique repositories that allow researchers and museum
visitors an opportunity to relive the events that have shaped
us as a people. Their educational programs create a more active
and informed citizenry. I believe the current model works well
and provides immeasurable benefits to our Nation.
We rest on four pillars: First, the private funds that are
used to construct these buildings; second, the Federal funds
that operate, maintain and administer them; third, the private
support we receive from our respective library foundations; and
finally, the revenue streams from our museums and related
enterprises.
One of the strengths of the present system is that it
strikes the right balance between centralization and
decentralization. Each library is built in a location
determined by the President and his family. When visiting them,
one is immersed in locales, like Independence, Abilene, Grand
Rapids, in which our Presidents lived and matured politically.
Yet we are also guided by standards set by the National
Archives that ensure our holdings are protected, our museums
objective and our access universal.
Over the years, there have been calls to centralize the
Presidential library system. In 1962, President Kennedy was
asked if he would locate his library in Washington, DC. He made
two points in his reply. First, he stated that through the use
of technology, it would eventually not matter where a library
was located. The Kennedy Library recently made JFK's vision a
reality by digitizing over 300,000 of the most important
documents and photographs of his Presidency, and audio and
video recordings of all his speeches and press conferences,
providing worldwide access to them via our Web site.
Second, JFK replied in 1962, that by locating these
institutions throughout the country, each could serve as a
vital education center connecting the residence of that region
to their national government. In addition to our robust local
planning, Presidential libraries often collaborate on
initiatives like national issue forums, global traveling
exhibits, nationally televised conference and interactive Web-
based timelines.
Here, students can not only watch the iconic speeches of
President Kennedy and Reagan at the Berlin Wall, they can also
learn of the quiet diplomacy President George Herbert Walker
Bush engaged in after the Wall fell in uniting that divided
land. And view President Clinton reciting his favorite line
from JFK's speech in Berlin, ``Freedom has many difficulties,
and democracy is not perfect, but we never had to put up a wall
to keep our people in.''
I would not be honest, Mr. Chairman, if I did not admit
that the Presidential library system, like our democracy, is
not perfect. I would like to conclude with two examples of the
difficulties we face. The first is the question of the
sustainability of the current model and the need to encourage
innovation and entrepreneurship as the Presidential library
system ages and grows.
The second is how we meet the need of releasing and opening
materials as quickly as possible while also protecting national
security interests.
Ours is a young country with fewer coliseums and cathedrals
than our European forebears. Sites which, like others, I
visited as a college student, trying to understand the world my
generation inherited and how we might make our mark upon it.
This is the potency of Presidential libraries in our land,
serving as beacons to the world, shedding light on both the
genius and shortcomings of our history during what has been
called the American century.
Today, young people from all corners of the globe come to
the Kennedy Library in Boston. They have often already visited
the battlefields of Lexington and Concord. In our museum they
then listen to JFK's inaugural address in which he states, ``We
are heirs of that first revolution and the belief for which our
forebears fought are still at issue around the globe.'' My
colleagues and I feel privileged to share the story of John F.
Kennedy in his 1,000 days as President, with students from
Binghamton to Beijing, Daytona to Dakar, as they seek to
understand the history of our Nation and our world and look to
make their mark upon it. This is why we undertake to preserve
and provide access to these priceless historical treasures, for
their ability to unite us as a country and a people, and to
serve as the foundation on which new generations will self-
confidently build our future.
Mr. Issa. Thank you. That is as close to a perfect finish
as I have ever seen in a committee.
Mr. Blackwood, next, you know the challenge, 5 minutes.
Mr. Blackwood. Tough act to follow. Chairman Mica, Chairman
Issa, members of the committee, I appreciate the opportunity to
be here today. When Franklin Roosevelt established the first
Presidential library, I am not sure even he envisioned how
transformational they would become. His library and 12 others
that have followed have had unparalleled impact on tens of
millions of people. What he did for our country, our citizens,
and most importantly, our school children, continues to pay
dividends. Today I will address the impact of Presidential
libraries and why they should continue as they are. I will
argue that our mission should be multifaceted. Ultimately,
though, everything starts with access and the definition of
access should be expanded.
Over the years, Presidential libraries have grown, changed
and adapted. This growth is due in good measure to the support
we receive from our attendant foundations. Working closely with
the Reagan Foundation, the current library is working well and
is a successful public/private partnership. The Foundation
support allows us to better serve the public. The Reagan
Foundation provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual
support and more than $50 million in capital improvements. This
is on top of the $69 million that they provided to build the
library.
This support has had tremendous impact on three key areas:
More than doubling our attendance, expansion of education
programs, and heightened awareness of our facilities. The
Federal Government's involvement and support is also critical.
NARA successfully leverages the Foundation's support providing
tremendous value for the government and the American people.
With that support, we serve many constituencies broadly
categorized into three groups: Citizens, students and scholars.
Providing scholars access to the collection is critical. If
there is one criticism, it would be that they want more
material sooner and I would concur.
At the Reagan Library, our archives team has improved
efficiencies, set new standards and even though we are
processing more than 1.5 million documents with shorter queue
times, the research community clamors for more.
Let's look at the impact of the use of our materials, a
single scholar might publish multiple articles, books or blog
entries that will reach hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions
of people. Should we just digitize everything then? Not so
fast, there are practical concerns of funding, staffing and
processing time. Access through technology is one critical area
that needs serious attention and significant investment.
Why not just centralize? Tom presented a very strong case
why Presidential libraries should continue to grace different
locations. I agree and would vigorously argue against
centralization. While it is critical to move toward a goal of
digitization, we cannot lose sight of working with the original
materials. Historic documents can inspire, motivate and cause
to you think differently. When you hold President Reagan's
personal diary and you read, ``getting shot hurts,'' or leaf
through the Day in Infamy speech, it puts the researcher in a
different frame of mind that can lead to new thinking.
Access is more than just about the materials. Presidential
libraries offer unique educational opportunities for hundreds
of thousands of students across the country. So, is access
important to them? Archival access is not necessarily a
priority for my daughter Abby's sixth grade class, but access
to the museum, the curriculum and the amazing Air Force One
Discovery Center certainly is. Abby's class and thousands like
hers want and deserve access to these opportunities.
So, should education be a part of our mission? Absolutely.
Students represent the future, and learning about our history,
the Presidency, and civic engagement is critical for informed
citizenry. Presidential libraries are often an important avenue
to access learning. At the Reagan Library our approach is
simple, the three E's, excite, engage and you will educate,
that is what Presidential libraries do.
Out last constituency is the millions of citizens who visit
us, they tour our museums, study our materials, attend our
remarkable programs, and they too learn, all of which are
different forms of access.
So what is our mission? And what should the future bring?
In summary, Presidential libraries are repositories of
historical materials, tourist destinations, museum gathering
places for civic literacy debate, and educational institutions
and places where communities learn. Our mission should reflect
this diversity.
Let's embrace President Roosevelt's vision and broaden it
to the multifaceted definition of access. Furthermore, we need
to be proactive with the use of technology. Presidential
libraries are a unique institution that cause us to think,
offer to look at, and perhaps question our government, help
educate and provide exciting opportunities for millions of
people. I believe strongly they are vital.
Mr. Mica. Thank you.
The three beginning witnesses. Let me now introduce the
three remaining panelists. We have first Dr. Thomas Schwartz,
and Dr. Schwartz is the Illinois State Historian, he is
involved with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and
Museum, and that is sort of a hybrid, it is not federally
funded as far as its operation by but the State and private
foundation, I believe. And he will explain their operations and
their relationship with the Federal Government. And I think
they get a little Federal money toward some of their recent
projects.
Then we are honored to have Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, and she
chairs the Board of Directors of the Roosevelt Institute. It is
quite fitting that we have one of the family members who has
been actively engaged with the Presidential library, and that
also being the first of our libraries. And then we have Dr.
Martha Kumar. She is a professor at Towson University, and also
a distinguished, recognized Presidential historian and author.
She is going to sum it all up for us, we will hear from her in
just a second.
Let me recognize Dr. Thomas Schwartz again, the Illinois
State Historian and with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Library and Museum. Welcome, sir, and you are recognized.
Mr. Schwartz. Thank you. Chairman Mica, Chairman Issa and
members of the committee, I thank you for the opportunity to
testify on the mission and future direction of Presidential
libraries. My comments will focus on the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library and Museum, its current relationship to
the National Archives and Records Administration, Presidential
Library Museum System and, possible areas for further
collaborations. This mirrors Abraham Lincoln's thinking when he
declared, ``if we could first know where we are and whether we
are attending, we can then better judge what to do and how to
do it.''
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library was created in
1889 as the Illinois State Historical Library. Its mission was
to collect the written history of the State of Illinois, an
effort that also lead to sizable holdings concerning its
favorite son, Abraham Lincoln. Discussions since the 1980s on
how to build a new facility for the library moved toward the
larger concept of the library museum complex.
A Federal, State, and local funding partnership was formed
to finance a $167 million complex, most of that provided by the
State of Illinois. The library with its new name, opened in
October 2004 and the museum opened on April 19, 2005.
Of a fiscal year 2011 budget of $12 million, the State of
Illinois provides the largest source of revenue, with
additional revenue streams provided by admission sales, parking
and facility rental and the support of the 501(c)(3) Abraham
Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation. The ALPLM, has a staff
of 66 full-time, 14 part-time, and more than 500 volunteers to
maintain a 215,000 square foot complex under the administrative
authority of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
With a total visitation of more than 2.5 million people
from more than 100 nations since opening in 2005, the ALPLM has
had annual attendance that surpasses any NARA Presidential
museum. Our programs range from temporary exhibits that have
explored topics such as Lincoln's assassination, his views on
agriculture, his actions as President-Elect, to author talks,
historically-based theater offerings, teacher workshops,
activities for young children, and conferences and symposia on
Lincoln, slavery, and his times.
Perhaps our most ambitious project is the Papers of Abraham
Lincoln. Begun in 1985, this project has compiled, and in 2009,
placed online, all of Abraham Lincoln's legal documents by
case, and issued four-volume print edition of selections from
his legal practice. Currently the project is scanning every
letter sent to Lincoln and every document he wrote, with the
goal of placing the entire corpus of Lincoln's writings online.
We hope to have the pre-Presidential materials up 2013 and the
entire project completed by the end of this decade.
Our interactions with the NARA libraries and museums have
been few but friendly. Most requests are for the loan of
Lincoln materials for special exhibits, several non-Federal
Presidential museums are being contemplated and want to be
added to the NARA system have sent planning teams to see the
ALPLM and imagine how its elements might be incorporated into
their facilities.
The ALPLM is known for being different from traditional
museums, with its emphasis on a compelling narrative of
Lincoln's life, supported by creative uses of technology, and
immersive environments that actually place you within scenes of
Lincoln's life. All of the senses are engaged and the
interactivity the visitor discovers is not that created by
technology, but rather intellectual and emotional engagement he
or she feels with the unfolding story of Lincoln's life.
These techniques inspired the Mount Vernon Ladies
Association, for example, to incorporate many of them into
their new orientation center and museum.
Everyone in this room acknowledges the importance of
Presidential libraries and museums as vital to preserving our
national history while providing the general public with a
broader and deeper understanding of our past. Moving forward,
we see several areas of cooperation to consider. One, sharing
resources through the traditional loan of materials,
digitization of collections, and extending both to joint
exhibits with one or more Presidential museum partners.
Two, linking to one another's Web site using satellite
uplink to offer joint programs, and providing comparative study
and curriculum materials to encourage the public to explore the
entirety of our Presidential history and not simply that of one
administration.
Three, continuing the larger dialogue with Presidential
museums outside the NARA systems on issues common to all.
Finally, striving to be entrepreneurial in finding creative
funding solutions to the long-term solvency issues facing all
Presidential libraries and museums. As Lincoln aptly reminds
us, ``the struggle of today is not all together for today. It
is for a vast future also.'' Thank you.
Mr. Mica. Thank you so much for your testimony and let me
recognize now, welcome, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, welcome.
Ms. Roosevelt. Chairman Mica, Chairman Issa.
Mr. Mica. You may not be on there. Pull it up real close.
Ms. Roosevelt. OK. Chairman Mica, Chairman Issa, Ms. North,
Mr. Cummings, members of the committees, thank you for the
opportunity to testify before you today. My name is Anna
Eleanor Roosevelt, and I am chair of the Board of the Directors
of the Roosevelt Institute, which is the non profit partner to
the FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York.
I have been a member of the Roosevelt Institute Board for
more than 30 years, and I have been board chair for a little
more than a year now. In my professional life, I am the head of
global corporate citizenship for the Boeing Company and serve
as the company's representative on the board of the National
Archives Foundation.
The FDR Presidential Library and Museum is the Nation's
first Presidential library. Prior to Franklin D. Roosevelt's
decision to build the library in Hyde Park, the final
disposition of Presidential papers was left to chance, and much
of that historical record has sadly been lost.
President Roosevelt created an institution to preserve
intact all his papers and related materials so that the Nation
could make use of the knowledge and experience contained there.
The library's holdings include my grandfather's personal and
family papers, the papers covering his public career at the
State and national level. My grandmother's papers, as well as
those of many of their friends and associates. It is a treasure
trove of material that captures one of the most important eras
in American history, the Great Depression, and World War II,
from many perspectives and directions.
My grandfather, as you may know, was a great collector of
birds, ship models, stamps, books, documents and many other
items. He once recounted, after being elected to be the
librarian of the Hasty Pudding Club at Harvard, some advice he
was given by an old book seller, never destroy anything. Much
to my family's chagrin, my grandfather heeded that advice and
kept everything. The result, as he himself put it, is that we
have a mind for which future historians will curse me as well
as praise me.
FDR wanted to give these materials to the people of the
United States and house them in an archive and museum built
with private funds, but maintained by the Federal Government.
He felt it was important to keep all of his papers and
artifacts together in a single collection. He also felt it was
important that future generations who wish to understand him
and his Presidency should come to Hyde Park, to the community
and home that helped shape him and meant so much to him high on
the bluff above the Hudson River.
Fully expecting to retire in 1940, work on the library
began in 1938, but with the outbreak of World War II, my
grandfather's plans for retirement had to be cast aside. Work
on the library nevertheless went ahead as planned and it was
open to the public on June 30, 1941, at the very time when most
of Europe was suffering under the cruel dictates of fascist
oppressions. Taking note of this, my grandfather used the
opening as an opportunity to remind the American people of how
important history and the free access to information are to
democracy.
This latest addition to our Nation's archives, he said, is
being dedicated at a moment with the government by the people
themselves is being attacked everywhere. It is therefore proof,
if any proof is needed, that our confidence in the future of
democracy has not diminished in this Nation and will not
diminish.
And he went on, the dedication of a library is in itself an
act of faith, to bring together the records of the past and
preserve them for the use of men and women living in the
future, a Nation must believe in three things: It must believe
in the past; it must believe in the future; and it must, above
all, believe in the capacity of its people so to learn from the
past that they can gain in judgment for the creation of the
future.
As planned, the library was built with privately donated
funds at the cost of $376,000, raised by a committee that was
headed by a Republican, Waldo G. Leland. It was then turned
over to the Federal Government on July 4, 1940, to be operated
by the National Archives. By his actions, President Roosevelt
ensured that his papers would become the property of the
Nation, housed in a library on the grounds of his Hyde Park
home also deeded to the Nation upon his death where they would
be available to scholars. My grandfather's creation served as a
precedent.
The Roosevelt Institute supports the library exhibits, its
outreach and educational activities, and its special programs
for its wide-ranging audiences. We understand our mission to
preserve, celebrate and carry forward the legacy and values of
my grandparents. An important part of that mission is our
partnership with the FDR Presidential Library. In 2003, the
Roosevelt Institute joined the National Archives and the
National Park Service in opening the Henry A. Wallace Visitor
and Education Center, which served as a joint visitor center
for the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, and the
Roosevelt Presidential Library, and as a conference and
education center.
It is also a valuable community resource used by hundreds
of nonprofit organizations for meetings and events. The Wallace
Center was constructed through a unique public/private
partnership between the National Archives and Records
Administration, the National Park Service, and the Roosevelt
Institute, which raised substantial private funding in support
of this project.
The Roosevelt Institute supports all four of the library's
main program areas on an ongoing basis. Archives, museum,
education and public programs. The library's research
operations are consistently one the busiest in the entire
Presidential library system. The library serves thousands of
on-site researchers and more thousands of researchers who
contact the library through written requests, mostly via e-
mail.
The Roosevelt Institute provides grants and aid to
researchers demonstrating new scholarship in study of the
Roosevelt era, as well as assisting the library purchasing new
books for the collection. We are working with the library to
secure the necessary funding to digitize and make available
online some of the most important documents in the collection.
Since the opening of the FDR Library, William J. vanden
Huevel Special Exhibitions Gallery, in 2003, the Roosevelt
Institute has provided more than $1 million to support changing
exhibits in this Gallery, along with enhancements and
improvements to the library's permanent exhibits. This money
made it possible for the library to purchase high quality
exhibit casework for the Special Exhibitions Gallery and to
present many special exhibits.
The Institute has also provided over $5 million to create
an exciting new permanent exhibition at the FDR Library. This
new exhibition, the first complete renovation of the museums
permanent exhibition in the library's history, will employ
state-of-the-art technology to bring the story of Franklin and
Eleanor Roosevelt to new generations of Americans, it is
scheduled to open in 2013.
The Roosevelt Presidential Library offers document-based,
curriculum-centered education programs for students ranging
from the second grade to post graduate level, including the
United States Military Academy at West Point. The library
conducts teacher workshops each year attended by hundreds of
teachers from across the United States, and from more than half
a dozen countries. There is only one full-time education
specialist who is provided by the government. The Roosevelt
Institute provides the remaining support to the Roosevelt
Presidential Library's education department annually. This
support is critical to the operation of the library's education
department as it provides the funds to hire four part-time New
York State certified retired teachers, and one part-time
education clerk, and to produce quality education materials
that are used by students and teachers in the Hudson Valley,
the Tri-State area, and across the United States.
Public programs and community outreach are at the core of
the library's mission. The library offers a host of innovative
programs and events to the general public each year.
In sum, the work of the FDR Presidential Library and
Museum, and of Presidential libraries generally is critically
important for retaining and advancing the public's
understanding of the Nation's history, and for making that
history available in communities across the country,
communities from which our Presidents have come. The FDR
Library and each of 12 other Presidential libraries tell the
stories of the eras in which their President's lived and the
persons who rose to leadership within them. They make these
stories available to thousands of Americans who do not have the
opportunity to come to Washington, DC, and to the National
Archives on a regular basis.
It is important to remember, as my grandfather truly
believed, that these investments are not support for
memorializing specific individuals so much as they are
investments that preserve, protect, and promote the broader
scope of the history of this country, all of the dimensions of
that history, the good and the bad, the successes and the
challenges.
As such, and with all that we can learn from the many
generations of Americans who have gone before us, the support
that the Federal Government provides the Presidential libraries
represents an investment not in our past but in our future.
I thank the committee for the opportunity to testify here
today.
Mr. Mica. Thank you again for your testimony; and now we
will recognize our last witness, our historian and Presidential
scholar, Dr. Kumar.
Welcome, and you are recognized.
Ms. Kumar. Chairman Mica and Chairman Issa, Ranking Member
Norton, Ranking Member Cummings, and members of the committee,
thank you for the opportunity to discuss Presidential libraries
and their importance to students, scholars, and government
officials.
As preparation for my testimony, I wrote political
scientists who specialize in the Presidency and asked them how
their students use Presidential libraries and in their work as
Presidency scholars what difference Presidential libraries make
to their research. The responses came from all over the country
and even from Canada with a uniform refrain of how important
Presidential libraries have become for those of us who examine
executive leadership, as well as those studying individual
Presidents.
My informal survey established several points about the use
and importance of Presidential libraries to students and
scholars alike.
First, Presidential libraries are a national and regional
resource for those studying the operations of government and
individual Presidents. Having the libraries located in nine
States and most regions of the country has brought the
Presidency to the public. The libraries have become a valuable
part of many undergraduate and graduate programs and allowed
students to open a window on the Presidency without traveling
to Washington.
Students nationwide can afford to travel to one or more of
these libraries and have rich experiences. For one professor, a
charter bus trip to the Truman Library means having his
students consider the Berlin Airlift and the decision to drop
the atomic bomb.
Scholars depend on Presidential libraries as a key resource
for their own writing. The Presidency section of the American
Political Science Association has an annual award for the best
book on the Presidency. In reviewing the winners for the 20
years that the prize has been given, at least 75 percent of the
books draw heavily on Presidential library materials.
Presidential libraries are a resource as well for those in
government. The 9/11 Commission made heavy use of Presidential
library materials. In recent Supreme Court nomination hearings,
the Senate Judiciary Committee members and staff reviewed
Presidential library files to see what actions and
recommendations John Roberts and Elana Kagan had in their
service in the Reagan and Clinton White Houses. White House
staff in all recent administrations have called up materials
from Presidential libraries.
As successful as a library visit to the faculty I polled
are, the professors singled out the archivist as the key to the
success of their trips to the libraries. With millions of
records in each library, sifting through for relevant material
is a challenge for researchers. The archivists fill in this
gap.
Second, Presidential libraries are important to what we
know about the Presidency as an institution and about
individual Presidents. Materials in the library allow us to
test common assumptions we have about the Presidency, how it
operates, and what particular Presidents did while they were in
office.
The President's daily diary, many of which are available
online, track the minute-by-minute movements of a President
from one room to another. The diary records who was in meetings
and when they come and go. Through such careful tracking, we
know who was with a President when he was considering
particular policies, and we have the documentary records
preserved as well. One professor used the daily diaries to test
the idea that President Reagan had relatively short workdays by
comparing the length of the workday of several recent
Presidents. It came out that President Reagan worked a similar
workday to Presidents Johnson and Nixon and a longer one than
Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower.
Audio recordings of meetings are also valuable for
understanding important decisions and how they played out, as
one can see in the recordings of President Kennedy's meetings
on the Cuban missile crisis which are in audio.
Third, cooperative ventures can be an aspect of the model
for future libraries. There are many ways in which Presidential
libraries can work together with those studying Presidential
action. In some cases, there are groups beyond the library
foundations that provide funds for researchers to travel to one
or more libraries. Students, too, can work as interns or in
work-study programs to provide needed work in appropriate areas
in the library.
An example of a cooperative venture between scholars and
Presidential libraries is the White House Interview Program.
The program is built around interviews with key former White
House officials to help prepare those coming into the White
House in 2001. The materials were also used in 2009. The
interviews are housed at individual libraries, with many of
them available online. The project demonstrates what is good
for scholars can be also good for those coming into the
government and for Presidential libraries. Everyone benefits
when people--students, scholars, and the public--learn about
their government and its leaders.
Mr. Mica. Well, thank you for your testimony. I want to
thank all of our witnesses.
Again, I think this is a rather historic joint hearing
between two committees and the first time that we have
approached the subject in this manner, again, the important
mission of our Presidential libraries and their current status.
What we will do is start with a little round of questions,
and I want to ask our Archivist a couple to start.
Right now, a big question in Washington is spending and
national finances. You don't have a huge budget for the
libraries, but I see approximately $77 million is the fiscal
year 2010 estimated cost; is that correct?
Mr. Ferriero. $76.2 million.
Mr. Mica. OK. And, of that, it looks like operational
costs, operations, and maintenance is $27 million; programs,
$35 million; and I guess some of the renovation costs were
about $9 or $10 million.
I had the opportunity to visit the Kennedy Library, and I
don't think this was planned for my visit, but they had a big
bucket--and it is a beautiful atrium, but there is a big bucket
and water coming down, and they assured me that they had
renovation and repairs under way. Do we have a capital program
for all of these libraries? And I guess the submission goes
through you on initial approval; is that correct?
Mr. Ferriero. That is correct.
Let me preface my answer by a story about the Kennedy
library.
I.M. Pei was the architect, and I was there at the opening,
and that atrium sitting out there on the water, a visitor came
up to I.M. Pei and said, aren't you afraid it is going to leak?
And he said, of course, it is going to leak. An architect.
We have a repair and renovation budget within the National
Archives, and we have a master plan--space master plan that
identifies all the needs across all 12 of the facilities, soon-
to-be 13 facilities, with an estimate of expenditure each year.
That will be severely reduced in the coming year.
Mr. Mica. One of the other things I noticed, I was quite
shocked to see that all the exhibits in all the libraries are
remarkable, but I was really a bit surprised to see the
condition--sort of an aged condition of the Kennedy exhibit. In
fact, I mentioned to Caroline Kennedy and to our departing
Representative, Patrick Kennedy, the need to update some of
those. Do we have a schedule for updating some of those
exhibits?
Mr. Ferriero. There is a big focus, especially at Kennedy,
on digital activities, to get as much content out into people's
hands around the country first, but there is also planning
around updating the current exhibit space.
Mr. Mica. I heard Ms. Roosevelt talk about that, and I am
not sure the staged--does anyone look at, again, the overall
picture of putting some of this incredible information on
digital or using the latest technology in all of these
libraries?
Mr. Ferriero. Every one of the Presidential libraries has
been investigating, has done something in the area of
digitalization and long-term planning for as much content as we
can afford.
Mr. Mica. Back to the financing, I understand different
libraries have foundations, and they are supported. Is there
any estimate you could give to us as to what additional funds
are provided or what percentage of additional programs are
underwritten by the private sector?
Mr. Ferriero. I can get you that figure. I don't have it
off the top of my head. I think it is safe to say that each one
of the Presidential libraries is pretty creative, innovative,
and entrepreneurial in identifying private support for a number
of their activities.
Mr. Mica. I notice, too, that I was looking at the
admissions and the activity from visitors for the different
libraries. It seems to taper off, again, as the Presidents fade
into history. That leaves, again, a bigger burden on the
Federal Government to underwrite the operations. And, also, I
notice that with some of the libraries that the Department of
Interior is involved. Their costs and figures are not included
in your budget. Again, do we look at the overall long-term
mission, the reduction in admissions, and then contributions
from other agencies?
Mr. Ferriero. That is certainly something that is in my
consciousness. And you are right. There is a relationship
between the date of the Presidency and the attendance. On the
Park Service collaboration, those sites where we have the
homestead, that is where there is a history of a Park Service
involvement in the site.
Mr. Mica. OK. Then we have Mr. Schwartz. I had an
opportunity to visit there in Illinois, and that is a private
State operation. I also was informed the Federal Government had
promised some help on the capital side and only met about half
of its contribution. Maybe you could tell us how you are funded
and how Federal commitment, unkept, affects your operation and
your budget.
Mr. Schwartz. The original funding plan was at the State.
The two structures came to a total cost of $115 million. That
was the estimate. And the idea was the State would provide $50
million, the Federal Government would provide $50 million, and
the city of Springfield would provide the property and the
remaining amount. It ended up that the Federal Government came
forward not with the grant fully funded but a matching plan;
and so State regulations require, for a construction project,
that all the money is to be in place before construction
begins. The State actually had to then finance the full amount,
and of that $50 million match over 5 years we were able to
recoup about $35 million.
Mr. Mica. Ms. Roosevelt, you had mentioned that you are in
the process of digitizing some of the records. Is that also
with Federal help or is that a private activity, and where do
you see the Federal Government helping you in the future, again
as far as protecting some of these national assets and
treasures?
Ms. Roosevelt. Well, that particular project I would have
to refer to our librarian to make sure, but I know that
whenever the library has a program need, we are partners with
them and we work with them to discover what is the need to
produce the result that is best for the library program. And so
we often do co-funding on projects, and I would assume that
that would be part of the digitizing project.
Mr. Mica. Finally, have any of you worked with the Library
of Congress or you have joint efforts going on with the Library
of Congress?
Yes, Mr. Schwartz, and maybe you could tell us that
relationship.
Mr. Schwartz. The Papers of Abraham Lincoln right now, the
last two major repositories of Lincoln's papers that we need to
scan, are those at the Library of Congress and the National
Archives. We have finished the scanning of the collections out
at Archives II, and we are now in the main Archives, and we are
at the Library of Congress. I think we hope to wrap up both
those scanning projects in the next few years.
Mr. Mica. OK. At noontime or when we recess, we will hear
from the Librarian of Congress; and this afternoon some of the
questions that we can't get to with the members of the panel
and other directors and those active with some of the other
Presidential libraries that have joined us today we will have
an opportunity. So if you think of a question or we can get
more to the answer, I saw from Ms. Roosevelt in that symposium
that starts this afternoon.
So, with that, let me yield to Ms. Norton.
Ms. Norton. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Ferriero, I have a question for you. You are, of
course, aware as a Federal agency that we are in the midst of
making large cuts in Federal agencies. We have to make many of
them.
In your testimony, you noted that the Clinton Library is
platinum LEED and that the Bush Library is also expected to be
platinum LEED; and, of course, in our committee we promote this
because of the enormous savings that can be documented. In this
case, the savings would be to the taxpayers. Have you advised
or do you think it would be important to advise those who build
these libraries, in light of the fact that the operations are
paid by the taxpayers of the United States, that these
libraries should be built to the highest LEED standards
available?
Mr. Ferriero. I certainly would agree to that, and I would
suggest that any future library that we build will be built to
those specifications.
Ms. Norton. Thank you very much.
Again, a question going to the need to make savings,
particularly in the year or two headed, there was great concern
here about savings. However, even the deficit commission warned
about doing cuts that were too stringent this year and advised
to wait a couple of years lest we send the fragile economy
back. So people like me are looking for things to cut that meet
the necessity to cut but that may not have that effect.
Now, I note in light of the fact that the taxpayers pay for
the operations, in applying the cuts to the Archives--and let
me preface this by saying I have sat through hearings where the
Archivist had raised my very serious concern about the
underfunding of the Archives and your ability to maintain the
precious historical papers of the United States. Shouldn't the
cuts be applied as little as possible to your official work,
your official documents with perhaps the libraries and their
operations taking somewhat more of the cuts and so that is
operations alone?
If you had to distribute the cuts--and that is who is going
to have to do it--you cry up here about the maintenance of--and
well you might--we all should shed tears--about the maintenance
of this repository. Then you have to decide where the money
goes. Well, there is some powerful people in the library who
want their operations just as they are. There are not so many
powerful people speaking for the papers that you complain you
don't have the money to upkeep. So how would you distribute
this funding?
Mr. Ferriero. Well, I would just remind you that those
papers that are sitting in those 13 repositories that we call
Presidential libraries are Federal records, and they are my
responsibility.
Ms. Norton. I am asking about the papers sitting right in
the National Archives.
Mr. Ferriero. They are part of those records, the Federal
records and Presidential records.
Ms. Norton. I am asking about the operations, Mr. Ferriero.
I want you to answer my question directly. I am not asking
about the records. I am asking about when you have to apply
funds to operations and make cuts in operations versus cuts in
official documents, whether they are, as you say, in
Presidential libraries or whether they are here in the District
of Columbia. I would like an answer to my question.
Mr. Ferriero. And what I am trying to explain is that my
approach to the cuts treated Presidential records and Federal
records with the same level of----
Ms. Norton. Except that wasn't my question. My question was
cuts in operations versus cuts in records.
Mr. Ferriero. Those cuts in operations were applied equally
across Federal records and Presidential records. So the
restrictions that----
Ms. Norton. You can't be serious. In the operations of the
Archives or--well, let's take your own operations. You would
give as much weight to whether or not there is going to be
another security guard as you would to maintaining the records
themselves?
Mr. Ferriero. Protection of records, whether they are
Federal records or Presidential records, are equally important.
Ms. Norton. I am not talking about the difference between
the two records. I am talking about the operations that the
taxpayers pay for the Presidential libraries.
Mr. Ferriero. The taxpayers pay for that security in the
Presidential libraries.
Ms. Norton. That is what I am talking about, and they pay
for other operational matters in the Presidential libraries.
Mr. Ferriero. That is right.
Ms. Norton. So I am not talking about the records. I am
talking about the operations.
Mr. Ferriero. And I am saying that my approach to security,
in this particular case security of the collections, whether
about security guards, would be the same in the Presidential
library as it would be at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Ms. Norton. All right. Mr. Ferriero, I see I am not going
to get an answer to the question. I am not asking about
security. Operations has to do a with a whole lot more than
security. I gave you an example of if you had one more guard or
one less guard, but I would be very concerned if you just were
to find it as easy to apply funds to operational matters as to
apply funds to the maintenance of these very important historic
documents, and I will bear that in mind the next time you come
before this committee.
Mr. Blackwood, I note that you were at one time director of
the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and were serving
simultaneously as the executive director of the private Ronald
Reagan Presidential Library Foundation. Now, there could be
complications in simultaneously holding these two positions.
You only hold the Federal position now; is that the case?
Mr. Blackwood. Correct.
Ms. Norton. Do you feel more comfortable holding only the
Federal position inasmuch as you won't have to resolve possible
conflicts of interest?
Mr. Blackwood. Yes, I think the current model, the way it
is with the director serving only in that capacity, is the best
model.
Ms. Norton. Now, that is a matter of policy, isn't it, Mr.
Ferriero?
Mr. Ferriero. Yes.
Ms. Norton. Is it a policy that you made or is it a policy
that a prior Archivist made?
Mr. Ferriero. It was made prior to my arrival, but it is
one that I support.
Ms. Norton. Don't you believe that that should be the
policy of the government, not only the policy of the Archivist
who may change from time to time and therefore change the
policy?
Mr. Ferriero. It could very well be.
Ms. Norton. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Mica. Thank you.
Let me recognize the co-chair of this joint hearing, Mr.
Issa.
Mr. Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Ferriero, following up on what the gentlelady from DC
said, you do have one luxury, I am presuming, and that is, when
there are cuts in your budget, some of those expenses, if you
are not able to do them at the 13 Presidential libraries, are
going to be taken on by the foundation side. So, in some cases,
there will be no reduction in service, even if you had to trim
some of your duties, right?
Mr. Ferriero. In some cases, where there are resources
available, it is possible.
Mr. Issa. So that is an inherent benefit to the American
people, that you can operate fairly austerely there while those
records are maintained, protected, and, as Ms. Roosevelt said,
digitized at somebody else's expense, not the Federal
Government's?
Mr. Ferriero. The issue is the level of activity that can
be sustained. We have backlogs in most of those Presidential
libraries in terms of basic processing.
Mr. Issa. I am going to go to the luxury of riches for a
moment.
Mr. Blackwood, your library is expanding. I had the honor
of being on the airplane that was delivered just before
September 11th to the Reagan Library, or at least to the
airport, and I have now seen it repainted in all its glory, all
of it basically at no government expense. I think we paid for
the fuel to fly it out there. But my understanding is we saved
money because we didn't have to do an annual maintenance on it
if we delivered it to you that day.
The Reagan Library is a wealthy library. There is just a
tremendous amount of support for foundation donations to the
Reagan Library to continue his legacy. Should we be looking
from a standpoint of government at spreading that wealth, at
looking and saying, for the long-term sustainability, not when
there is 13 but when there are 33 libraries, to have some sort
of a scheme to make sure that the dollars are available from a
common foundation or in some other way, a non-direct government
appropriation, to help make sure these libraries are all
maintained at a high level?
And I am going to you first because you are sort of the
richest library at this particular time, present here today
perhaps.
Mr. Blackwood. I don't know if we are the richest, but I am
very fortunate in the support that the Reagan Foundation has
provided the Reagan Library because I think it benefits all
citizens. Whether you visit or come virtually, it is a benefit,
and I do recall the trip because I was on the plane with you,
and it is extraordinary.
But that is a perfect example of what the foundation has
done. It was $35 million that they support to build the Air
Force One pavilion. In addition, they maintain it on a regular
basis. So there is zero cost from the government standpoint on
that. In addition, there was another $9 million that they
raised and spent for the Discovery Center, $15 million they
spent for the recent renovation.
As it relates to an overall foundation, I think that is a
concept that should be developed. You would have to go to each
of the foundations to see what their support might be. Because
I liken our organizations to a family. We have 13 kids and
similar, same parents, but different needs and different wants
and different expectations. So I think it is worthy of looking
into.
Mr. Issa. Ms. Roosevelt, perhaps you would be not the
oldest but the longest standing of the libraries. Your
grandfather's legacy lives on; and, as a result, there is no
doubt people who contribute. But do you believe that we have a
likelihood that the poorer stepchildren of the Presidency will,
over time, either end up as wards of Federal appropriated
dollars or simply fall into disrepair?
Ms. Roosevelt. Well, I can imagine such a situation.
However, I think that there will always be interested private
citizens who care about history and who care about its
preservation. But I do----
Mr. Issa. That is the reason for my question, ma'am, is if
we have interested private citizens, what I was speculating on
is, from this side of the dais, if we want to not rely on
appropriated funds for X library--none of yours, but let's just
say X library--should we be looking at a national nonprofit
entity as an umbrella for contributors who want to contribute
to the maintenance of Presidential libraries so that stipend
would be available to wherever it was needed? Recognizing that
early after a President's Presidency the funding tends to be
good. In fact, it tends to be really great while he is still in
office, as it turns out; and that is a separate subject of
investigation. But then, as time goes on, often the people who
were in the Cabinet and who were a part of that group that does
the fund-raising, they pass on. Unless there is somebody like
you in the family, it becomes very hard--or like Caroline
Kennedy--to continue their level of fund-raising.
So my question then would be a question really to everyone
on the panel sort of sequentially--and it will be my last
question--is should we on this side of the dais be looking at
an umbrella organization, recognizing that we can't force these
contracts to be modified, but we certainly could create the
equivalent of public broadcasting but public support that was a
central one that would be available? Because I, for one, assume
that taxpayers are not going to be any more willing in the
future to appropriate than they are today, and yet your needs
will continue to increase.
So that is really the question for each of you that--
starting actually with Martha, each of you that have looked at
this problem that will go on for 200 more years of our history.
Please, Doctor.
Ms. Kumar. For political scientists, we are politically
interested in comparative research. So for us going to several
libraries is important, and so whether it is a big library or,
you know, whether it is Hoover in West Branch, all of them are
important.
How to fund them, that is beyond me. I am a user who wants
to see all of them funded. But I do think, as I was saying in
my testimony, that I think that there are ways in which
academics can be involved in trying to do things like create
oral history projects--because, often, libraries don't have
enough funds for that--and maybe do internships, work-study
programs to train people to help archivists go through papers.
Mr. Issa. Thank you.
Anyone else that wants to comment on this basic concept of
13 foundations versus a 14th, if you will? David.
Mr. Ferriero. It is an interesting concept to contemplate.
We now get with the amendment to the Presidential Records Act
with the Bush 43 library, 60 percent of the endowment now will
come to support the libraries. It is interesting to contemplate
a percentage of the endowments from across those libraries
going to a common fund would accomplish what you suggest.
We also should factor in the fact that we want to digitize
as much as possible. So, in the future, is there a need for
physical access to papers? Could papers be centrally stored
somewhere, in Washington perhaps, because people have digital
access? It is another option.
Mr. Issa. Anyone else?
Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Mica. Thank you.
Let me yield to the gentleman from Maryland and the ranking
member, Mr. Cummings.
Mr. Cummings. I think I want to direct this question to Dr.
Kumar and to you, Mr. Ferriero.
You know, as I listen to this discussion, the thing that
bothers me is that these are records of Presidents of the
United States of America. These are records that it shouldn't
be a luxury to maintain them. This is part of our history. When
we travel to Greece and places like that, although our country
is far younger, we hear about, we learn about the history, and
I guess that is why they have the recordings and so that people
5, 7, 800 years from now can appreciate this history.
And I am just wondering do you have an opinion as to
whether--you know, I understand how we set it up with the
foundations and everything, but do we have an obligation, in
your minds and particularly as an Archivist, to address these
issues and these records as something that government must be
about the business of doing and must be about the business of
safeguarding as opposed to, let's just say, for example, the
foundations fell on hard times, they weren't able to do it? I
mean, I just wondered if you had an opinion on that.
Yes, sir, and then I will to go to you.
Mr. Ferriero. As I was trying to explain earlier, I feel as
responsible and as passionate about those Presidential
libraries as I do about the records of the agencies that are
also in my custody. We have an obligation to ensure that they
are taken care of, processed, and made available to the
American public.
Mr. Cummings. And Dr. Kumar.
Ms. Kumar. In my own research, it has made an enormous
amount of difference to see what it is that Presidents were
doing at a time, and bringing records together like working in
the Reagan Library--I was working on some of his speeches--and
to see--well, you could see his speech text, but then going
through the notes that the President himself made on it, and
the changes that he made, made a great deal of difference as to
what he did, but--in the views that one had of his own work.
And I think it takes multiple sources and also being there.
Students, I think in particular, would be the ones who
would suffer. Because you bring in people that go into--young
people who come into the environment of a Presidency like in
the White House Decision Center at the Truman Library and get
to experience what kinds of decisions the President made using
documents that were classified at one time. And it is through
things like that that people learn what a government does, the
benefits of a government, and what Presidential leadership is
all about.
Mr. Cummings. Let me cut you off right there, because I
have a limited amount of time.
But let me ask you this. My major concern--I have several
concerns--one, that we guard these records, that we make them
available. And tagging on to something you just said, Dr.
Kumar, I want to make sure that the kids in my district have
access to those records, and I want them to be able to--they
may never be able to visit a Presidential library, not as a kid
or even as a young researcher, but I want them to have access.
Because that is where I think we take our dollars and we
stretch them so that more people have the benefit of them.
And I think it was Mr. Putnam who was talking about the
Kennedy Library doing all these wonderful things to make access
more available, and I was wondering, do the other libraries
have similar kinds of plans or programs and that kind of thing?
And, Dr. Ferriero, I am just wondering, I mean, when you
are dealing with these folks, did you ever say--was there an
avenue for you to say, look, how can we make these records more
accessible so that--I mean, and with the Web and all these
wonderful tools that we have now that I didn't have as a kid
and--but I will tell you, I mean, the idea that some kid in Mr.
Gowdy's district in South Carolina, which is where my mother
and father were former sharecroppers, if that little kid could
sit there and, you know, go on the Internet or whatever and
access this library, well, he may not be able to make it as a
kid but certainly to learn and perhaps he will be inspired to
go later on. So I am just wondering how does that play, and I
see Mr. Putnam seems to be anxious to say something.
Mr. Putnam. Well, we did that just last week. All these
efforts that we digitized were really meant more for the
scholars like Dr. Kumar. What we developed was an interactive
where students could actually sit behind President Kennedy's
desk--it is called the President's desk--and Caroline Kennedy
helped us to launch it. So that a student in your district or a
student in South Carolina could literally feel what it would be
like to sit behind the President's desk. And then they can link
on various interactives to tell the story of John F. Kennedy
and our country's history and literally listen in to the
conversation.
And as the Archivist mentioned, all of the libraries
collaborate. We have this interactive Presidential timeline
that every library is involved in to be sure that it is not
just the libraries that have these additional resources to make
these materials available.
But one thing related to a question Congressman Issa
mentioned, even though some of us have foundations that have
more resources, really, as your question indicated, it is the
Federal Government's responsibility to preserve these records,
to secure them, to process them, and declassify. None of us
gets support from our foundations to do that. They recognize
that that is a Federal responsibility. What they help us to do
is some of these other interesting interactives.
And the Archivist is a huge proponent of digitalization. My
goal is to make as much as we have possible available in just
the way that you described it. Because I am firmly convinced,
based on my own experience, that if it isn't online, it doesn't
exist in the minds of those kids.
Ms. Kumar. And government itself benefits from the library
materials and keeping them. Because you don't want people to
make the mistakes of the past, and the only way they are going
to learn is to really find out what happened, and answers are
in those records. And in every recent administration, they have
called upon the Presidential library to give them materials
that relates to particular instances that they are trying to
figure out what happened in the past. As I said earlier, the 9/
11 Commission relied heavily on materials from Presidential
libraries.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much.
Mr. Mica. Thank you.
Let me yield now to the gentleman from California and
subcommittee chair, Mr. Denham.
Mr. Denham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First question I have is to Dr. Schwartz. The Lincoln
Presidential Library is not part of the National Archives
Presidential Library system. Can you describe what advantages,
disadvantages that gives you and support that you would like to
receive from the National Archives?
Mr. Schwartz. Well, obviously, our biggest obstacle is that
Lincoln's records are scattered. By doing the Papers of Abraham
Lincoln, we literally went to hundreds of private-public
repositories, as well as individual collectors in order to try
to reassemble the record.
The advantage that the current Presidential libraries
system has is that those records remain intact, but Lincoln
being a 19th century figure, you didn't have the Records Act
which mandated how these records were to be maintained and
stored. And so we are having to actually do this process of
reassembling something that has been fractured and scattered to
the four winds.
As I indicated, we began as a research facility (research
library), which had a broader mandate to collect the written
history of the State of Illinois. When we were in search of
getting funding for a larger facility for the library, it was
also clear to us that the public had this great desire. They
were seeing these records not as research materials but really
as items for inspiration: for example, the Gettysburg Address,
the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment. And so in
order to satisfy that need of the public, seeing these items
more as artifacts, historical artifacts for inspiration, that
is where the museum component came in.
What we do, though, is in the museum we have a specific
effects theater called Ghosts of the Library, which makes the
connection between what the research library does and the
historical content that they find in the museum; and being a
public institution, supported by the State of Illinois, we
encourage people on the museum side to go visit the library
side and to examine some of these records for themselves.
So our biggest problem, obviously, is Lincoln has been dead
for almost 150 years, and there is no group of wealthy donors
that typically funds Presidential libraries and museums while
the President remains alive. However, Lincoln still has such an
iconic position within the leadership of this country that we
do have a strong donor base, and we are constantly looking for
ways to expand that.
Mr. Denham. So advantages or disadvantages compared to,
say, the system that Mr. Blackwood enjoys in California.
Mr. Schwartz. He has the advantage that many of President
Reagan's close associates and donors remain alive and
supportive of the institution, and he also has an advantage of
having one of the most popular modern Presidents, and that is a
great advantage.
Our advantage is that Lincoln still is popular within the
broad general audience, but it is more difficult for us to take
that popularity and to translate it into actual donations and
membership support.
Mr. Denham. And how about receiving funds locally from
State and local organizations versus being part of the Federal
system?
Mr. Schwartz. Being in the capital city of Illinois, which
is maybe 118,000 people, it does not have a broad corporate
base to draw upon, and we are in constant competition with
trying to go to Chicago, which has that kind of corporate donor
base, to compete with other cultural institutions located in
Chicago. And so it is a challenge. But, again, we are not only
reaching out to funding sources within Illinois but nationally,
and I think that is the only way that any cultural institution
can hope to survive.
Mr. Denham. Thank you.
Mr. Mica. Thank you.
Pleased to recognize the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr.
Altmire.
Mr. Altmire. Thank you.
I very much appreciate all of you being here, even those in
the audience from other libraries and museums around the
country.
And, Ms. Roosevelt, it struck me when you were speaking
that we all, as the chairman said, feel a personal interest in
this as Americans, but you, of course, have a very personal
interest in that particular library. You said in your very
eloquent remarks that one of the purposes of the museum and the
library is to carry on the legacy and values of your
grandparents. And it struck me, in the context of what we are
looking at today with regard to the funding of libraries and
the ongoing support, there is the initial construction, but
then there is the ongoing maintenance and operational expense,
and it led me to think the different roles that these libraries
and museums play.
There is the library, the research component which we are
focused on today which, thankfully, because of technology, more
people are going to have access over the years. But there is
the museum side, which is the library themselves making a
determination, this is how we are going to present this former
President, this is the light in which we are going to cast upon
that President.
And then there is the programming side, and museums have
different missions with regard to programming. The Carter
Center, for example, has a very specific programming mission
and reason for carrying on that mission.
And I wanted to ask the Archivist, in that context, under
the current Presidential records law, there is no ability to
edit documents or prioritize them or in any way politically one
way or the other manage them; is that correct?
Mr. Ferriero. That is correct, and one of the great things
about having the records is that we let the records speak for
themselves. So attempts at--whether it is a user or other
people trying to twist history, we have the documentation to
back it up.
Mr. Altmire. And there have been very recent examples of
libraries that have opened up their doors to researchers who
have written very decorated books, Pulitzer Prize winners that
were not entirely flattering to the subject, but that document
is actually there, and you can interpret it however you want.
Mr. Ferriero. Exactly.
Mr. Altmire. However, on the museum and programming side,
the concern--not a concern but I think it is worth discussing
in the context of today--is when donors give money, especially
when the individual may still be President or very recently had
been President, what is the motivation of the donor,
rhetorically?
But something we are concerned about, the difference
between public money, taxpayer money, and private money, and I
understand foundations versus, you know, corporate or
individual giving. But I would ask Mr. Putnam and Mr. Blackwood
especially, how do you see the difference between the mission
of libraries and your responsibility to portray the President
fairly and in a very public way, but what is the expectation
when private money comes in versus public money, and what would
be the difference in the way libraries in the future would
carry out their museum function?
Mr. Putnam. Well, I very much appreciate the support that
we receive from our foundation, but it always comes with the
understanding that it is the Federal employees who make the
final decisions. So, for instance, in our museum, it is a
Federal employee who is the curator. She writes the text that
gets approved by me. There is no influence at all from the
foundation. Similarly, our foundation helps support our
digitalization project, but it is clear that it is the chief
archivist who decides which collection gets digitized and the
priorities.
So I think that should be the model, that the foundation
can receive funds, but the Federal employees, again, are the
ones who protect these records, help interpret them, and are in
charge of how we portray those stories to the public.
Mr. Blackwood. I would agree with my colleague, Mr. Putnam;
and we are similar at the Reagan Library. While the support
that the foundation provides us is extraordinary, we work hand
in hand for that balance, and we are very much a part of that
process.
Mr. Altmire. Thank you.
I would ask Dr. Kumar, with regard to the funding issue,
there have been some Presidents--well, all Presidents, they are
human and they have things that they would like to see
portrayed and things they would like to see perhaps not shown
to the public, at least not emphasized. Do you have a concern
as a historian of the ability for libraries to water over or
gloss over issues that perhaps might be something that the
former President would want to see? So some of them have had
very public failings. Do you think that public versus private
money can in any way lead to influencing the way that the
museum operates and the programming operates?
Ms. Kumar. Well, I think that the Presidents understand
there are going to be a lot of warts in their administration,
and everything that they have done is not perfect, and they
accept that and they probably accept it a little more than some
of their relatives do.
But I think there is probably a real difference among
families, for example, and their support for opening things up.
For example, in the Johnson Library, Lady Bird Johnson and the
two daughters were very much behind opening up all the tape
recordings before President Johnson even had wanted them to be
released. And I think, you know, that the Archives knows what
its mission is and the people that are the directors of the
library.
Now, sometimes there will be conflicts like, say, in the
Nixon Library, but you are going to find, for example, there is
going to be an exhibit on Watergate that is going to look at
Watergate in a fair manner. And so I think in the long run the
documents do speak for themselves and that the people who are
the archivists are very interested in protecting documents, and
then they know well which ones are important to decisionmaking
and I think those ultimately win out.
Mr. Altmire. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Mica. Thank you.
Let me yield now to the chair of another subcommittee of
jurisdiction, the gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Gowdy.
Mr. Gowdy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Blackwood, Ms. Roosevelt was very eloquent in noting
that libraries are repositories for information that is both
good and bad. Dr. Kumar just used the word ``fair.'' Those
phrases are inherently subjective. So how do we reconcile
advocacy with history in determining what is historically
significant, what is good, bad, and fair?
Mr. Blackwood. First of all, historically significant, I
think there is the obvious ones that you can point to in each
of our administrations, but there is going to be those that are
interpretive, just like what is fair and what is right and what
should be. I think it needs to be a collaborative effort; and I
think that is what each of us, all the Presidential libraries,
work toward, is working with the foundation, working with the
documents, the realities of the administration to put that
forth.
But because we are humans, you are always going to have
that variance, but I feel very proud with what we have been
able to accomplish and, quite frankly, with my colleagues, and
we are very fortunate to be able to have that support to be
able to do that.
Mr. Gowdy. Dr. Schwartz, is fund-raising during the term in
office problematic? And regardless of whether you think it is
or not, do you advocate public disclosure of donors?
Mr. Schwartz. Obviously, that is not an issue that we have
a problem with.
Mr. Gowdy. That is why I asked you.
Mr. Schwartz. But in terms of, you know, the current
system, I think more transparency is better than less.
Mr. Gowdy. And the current system, for those who may not be
familiar with it, is what?
Mr. Schwartz. I believe that it is up to the individual
foundation of whether those names are released or not.
Mr. Gowdy. Mr. Ferriero, I was privileged to go to the
Archives recently and was thoroughly impressed with your staff
and your hospitality; and I, given my background, was
particularly interested in the safety and what you have done
with respect to theft and vandalism. Can you speak to that and
whether or not you think the safeguards are sufficient as is?
Mr. Ferriero. A culture of vigilance is something that I
bring to the Archives from my previous lives in research and
libraries. This is not something that you can say that you have
done everything that you possibly can to protect the
collection. It is something that I worry about all the time,
and I will continue to worry about and ensure that we do
everything possible to walk this fine line between protecting
what we have and making it available to the American public. It
is a challenge every day because anyone who wants to either
steal or destroy or alter a document and is really serious
about it, there are ways of accomplishing that, and our job is
to ensure that they don't have those opportunities.
Mr. Gowdy. Yes, sir.
Dr. Kumar, would you be willing to weigh in on the funding,
whether or not the database of donors should be public, whether
or not there should be any Chinese wall, so to speak, between
the donors and the officeholder? What system would you
advocate?
Ms. Kumar. Well, as a scholar, I am certainly a believer in
transparency, but I think it ends up depending upon what the
agreements were that people made earlier, and so to make
records available now I think is difficult for various
libraries. I mean, you can start a pattern for the future about
what you expect in terms of transparency.
Mr. Gowdy. Would you advocate a pattern that did not allow
fund-raising during the term in office?
Ms. Kumar. I think that is a difficult one. I am not
convinced that the kinds of efforts that have been made at this
point in the last administrations has made any difference. I
don't see where donors got anything, you know, whether they got
appointments or something like that. I would have to be
convinced, because I don't see that that has been the case. I
see the concern that you have, but it may be that transparency
would be the answer during the period of the administration.
Mr. Gowdy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Mica. Very good questions, Mr. Gowdy. I had a couple of
those on my mind.
Back to the Archivist, just to assure everyone, you know,
we did have a situation--I think Mr. Altmire talked about
twisting history--but the question of access that a President
would have, as we had with the Berger case when some of his
aides--and I think you said you have put in place as many
protections as you can, but you can't absolutely guarantee. Is
that the case?
Mr. Ferriero. That one was actually relatively easy to
address in that those kinds of records, Presidential records,
when they are being reviewed or used by a member of an
administration, will be done in a SCIF, a protected area, and
with someone watching.
That is----
Mr. Mica. Well, again, we need to make certain that we have
as many protections in place as Representatives Gowdy and
Altmire have brought attention to.
I think the other question of the donors is a lot of
popularity for a President when they are in office and as they
are leaving office they have a lot of supporters, and it
dramatically drops off. It is a lot harder. But I think the
conclusion reached by everyone was, again, to encourage
transparency in that process. We may have more discussions
about that this afternoon.
Just a couple of quick things again to the Archivist.
Again, we have--in time and space, we have a dozen libraries,
Presidential libraries and others; and they are now looking at
maintaining their records and files and digitizing them. Is
there a standard format that has been developed for all of that
information?
And the other thing, too, for those that may be watching
the hearing, can they access it through the National Archives
or do they have to go to each independent library? Maybe you
could explain the setup we have, again, for a coordinated
effort to make that information and those digitized records
available.
Mr. Ferriero. The user has options to go to the individual
library or to go to the National Archives or the first line of
defense for most folks is Google. And these records are
searchable, retrievable through Google, so they have lots of
different options.
Mr. Mica. About the coordination with the Library of
Congress, we will be meeting with the Librarian in a few
minutes. That is also coordinated as far as format, access?
Mr. Ferriero. There are national standards that we are
using in the Archives, the same national standards that we
actually helped develop with the Library of Congress. We do a
lot of digitization, preservation work with the Library of
Congress.
Mr. Mica. OK. Ms. Roosevelt, in closing, I had a great
opportunity when I was in high school. I attended a debate
tournament at Emory University, and I heard your grandmother
speak. It had to be about 1959, I believe, at Emory University.
I will never forget that experience, which seeing you today
makes me reflect on that experience.
Here is a question I don't know the answer to. We cover the
Presidents, but what about the First Ladies and their records?
Are they adequately covered? And some of I guess your
grandmother's records and documents, are they also covered
adequately?
Ms. Roosevelt. Well, I believe that the records of my
grandmother's activities are the most complete at the Roosevelt
Presidential Library. I am not sure that the First Ladies are
covered as extensively, perhaps some of the more recent
libraries have. But surely as these wives of our Presidents
have acted on behalf of the government their papers are
important for the understanding of how we operate.
Mr. Mica. And maybe the Archivist and Mr. Putnam had his
hand up.
Mr. Putnam. I can just speak for the deed of gifts library.
So we recently negotiated a deed with Caroline Kennedy for all
of her mother's papers. We are in the process of processing
those, and they will be open next fall. So it was contingent,
though, on Caroline Kennedy giving us those papers in the same
way that the Kennedy family gave us the records of President
Kennedy. But, again, that is because I operate a deed of gift
library.
Mr. Mica. Any standardization of that, Mr. Archivist?
Mr. Ferriero. I think across the Presidential library
system the goal is to acquire and make available in the same
way we do the Presidents' papers. It is a very timely question.
Tomorrow, at American University, is an all-day conference on
the First Ladies.
Mr. Mica. Great timing.
Any Members have any other questions?
Well, we are going adjourn in just a second this hearing,
our formal hearing. We will reconvene at 2:30, and we have many
distinguished leaders of some of the various Presidential
libraries. We couldn't get everyone on the panel. We would be
here until midnight. But we will have an opportunity for
everyone to participate at 2:30 in the Cannon Caucus Room. We
will reconvene in a more informal setting and hopefully a
productive setting, too, both for Members of Congress and also
those who are engaged on a daily basis with operating,
maintaining, and looking at the future of our Presidential
libraries.
We hope in our discussions this afternoon to continue focus
on the relationship between the Federal Government and our
Presidential libraries, both the public and private. We also
want to discuss strengthening partnerships among the libraries,
both Federal and non-Federal.
And then again I think it is important that we look at
facilitating the relationships that we have, various
connections, technology, working with academia, other
libraries, and again both the National Archives and the Library
of Congress and each of the individual institutions. So I think
we could have a good discussion this afternoon, an informal
setting. Everyone is invited to participate in that.
There being no further business before the joint
committees, Transportation and Infrastructure and Oversight and
Government Reform, this hearing is adjourned. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 12:38 p.m., the committees were adjourned.]