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Press Release · Friday, June 25, 1999

Press Release
June 25, 1999
Senate Committee Approves Budget for National Archives and Records Administration

College Park, MD. . .The Appropriations Committee of the U.S. Senate has approved a budget totaling $229,506,000 for Fiscal Year 2000 for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The appropriation is slightly higher ($1,536,000 more) than the amount requested by the Administration. If approved by the Congress as a whole, the appropriation would enable NARA to carry forward such major initiatives as the following:

  • preparing for renovation of the 63-year-old original National Archives Building;
  • expansion of the electronic catalog through which NARA is making descriptions of its holdings available via the Internet;
  • preparation for opening in 2002 the 1930 Census records;
  • increased preservation work on veterans' records and improved processes for meeting veterans' records requests;
  • expansion of records management assistance from NARA to Federal agencies;
  • advancement of research and development on technologies for enabling NARA to preserve and provide public access to records in electronic forms.

In the Operating Expense category of NARA's budget, the Committee did not include funds requested for increased work on records declassification, funds for developing an agency-wide system for collecting performance data, and funds for an electronic system covering phases of preparing documents for the Federal Register, which NARA publishes.

However, in the Repairs and Restoration category of NARA's budget, the Committee increased requested funds by $8,000,000 "for the repair, alteration, and improvements of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California."

Also, the Committee provided an increase to $6,250,000 from the $6,000,000 requested for the grant program of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, administered within NARA. The Committee directed that the additional $250,000 be used "to provide for planning and design of the reconstruction" of Fort Buford, "an important Lewis and Clark ‘Corps of Discovery' site." The Committee rescinded $3,800,000 of funds appropriated last year to the NHPRC for the Center for Jewish History.

The NARA appropriation is part of the Senate's Treasury and General Government Appropriation Bill for Fiscal Year 2000. As yet there has been no action on FY 2000 appropriations for NARA in the House of Representatives.

For additional PRESS information, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (301) 837-1700 or by e-mail.

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