This is my first diary. I did not see that anyone had posted on this. I wanted to put something up because these small victories will add-up. I'm sorry but the Chronicle is password protected, that's where I have been following the story, so no good links. This was a big issue for academe, not for political reasons but rather historical. Raw Story covered it and I'm sure all of you know how to use the tubes to finde out more. I cannot stick around long for discussion, if there is any. Sorry about that too.
Yesterday the House overwhelmingly passed the Presidential Records Amendments of 2007 (HR1255).
The bill would overturn Bush's 2001 executive order that gives current and former presidents and/or their heirs broad authority to restrict access to presidential and vice-presidential records. Bush's 2001 executive order, no. 13233, applied to documents covered by the the Presidential Records Act of 1978 which provided that the official papers of all future presidents, starting with Reagan, were to become public property not later than 12 years after a president leaves office.
At the time the order was issued, the White House said the additional restrictions were necessary for national security, but some critics speculated that Mr. Bush might instead be seeking to shield his own records or his father's in the future, or to protect administration officials who had also served under President Reagan or under the senior Mr.Bush.
The Chronicle of Higher Education - Thursday, March 15, 2007
House Moves to Overturn Bush's 2001 Executive Order on Access to Presidential Records
By JENNIFER HOWARD
Can you say Iran-Contra?
White House officials have portrayed the order as a way to ensure that no information is released that may jeopardize national security. But historians and other scholars say that the 1978 law, which was spurred by a court fight over Richard M. Nixon's papers, provides sufficient protection for such documents. They believe that Mr. Bush probably has other motivations for issuing the order, such as shielding his own records in the future, or protecting current administration officials who also served under President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Reagan's papers are the first governed by the 1978 act, and some 68,000 records were supposed to be released in January 2001. The White House has delayed the release three times, and Thursday's order could add another 90 days to the delay.
The Chronicle of Higher Education -Monday, November 5, 2001
Historians Challenge Bush's Order Restricting the Release of Presidential Papers
By BEN GOSE
Rep. Waxman, a co-sponsor of the bill, chairs the Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform, which brought it to the House floor for the vote. At a March 1 hearing;
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the California Democrat who is chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said during opening remarks that Mr. Bush's changes, taken together, had "turned the Presidential Records Act into the Presidential Secrecy Act."
"There are those who would like to rewrite history, and to the extent we can keep that from happening, I think this bill goes a long way," Rep. Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, said during debate before the [Committee]vote.
The Chronicle of Higher Education - Friday, March 2, 2007
In Testimony and New Bills, Historians and Lawmakers Urge Protection of Access to Presidential Records
By JENNIFER HOWARD
Defieing Bush's threat of a veto the House went on to pass HR1255 by a veto proof vote of 333 to 93 with 104 Rebublicans crossing the aisle. It moves to the Senate where there is no companion bill. Hopefully it will be just as popular on that side.
And the future repository for Bush's papers.............
The House also passed a separate measure, the Presidential Library Donation Reform Act of 2007 (HR 1254), by a vote of 390 to 34. That bill requires that fund-raising organizations for presidential libraries make public the source of any donations greater than $200. The vote on that bill included 162 Republicans in the "yea" column.
The Chronicle of Higher Education - Thursday, March 15, 2007
House Moves to Overturn Bush's 2001 Executive Order on Access to Presidential Records
By JENNIFER HOWARD
SMU is gonna have it on their campus despite resistance from the faculty.