Call to Action on Executive Order 13233
A Message from President Steve Hensen
On behalf of the Council and Executive Committee of the Society of American
Archivists, I want to urge all archivists, whether SAA members or not, to communicate
to their representatives in the House and Senate, their concern over the implications
of Executive Order 13233, entitled "Further Implementation of the Presidential
Records Act." This order, far from being a "further implementation," is more
like a complete abnegation of the original 1978 Presidential Records Act. Links
to the text of the orders and background information are provided below.
The archival and public information implications aspects of this order are
profound, being contrary to established archival principles and standards,
being inconsistent with existing statutory law, and, most important, being
at odds with the principles of open access to information upon which our country
is founded.
Meanwhile, letters to your representatives should be sent as soon as possible
(I would suggest faxing them as the mails are understandably slow and unreliable
these days). I would also urge you to copy Rep. Stephen Horn, who chairs the
House Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, which held hearings on this matter
last Friday. His fax number is 202-225-2373. In addition, a fax to Judge Alberto
Gonzales (White House Council) at: 202-456-6279 wouldn't hurt either. While
all of these letters will be important in building awareness in Congress and
the White House, letters received by tomorrow will go into the Subcommittee's
files to be consulted as part of the next step in the hearings process. Thank
you for your efforts in this important matter.
Posted on Archives and Archivists, 15 November 2001.
Background Information
The following links provide context and background to better understand this
complex issue.
Presidential Records
Act (USC, Title 44, Section 2201).
From the Cornell Law School Web site.
The term ''Presidential records'' means documentary materials, or any reasonably
segregable portion thereof, created or received by the President, his immediate
staff, or a unit or individual of the Executive Office of the President whose
function is to advise and assist the President, in the course of conducting
activities which relate to or have an effect upon the carrying out of the
constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the
President . . . .
The term ''personal records'' means all documentary materials, or any reasonably
segregable portion therof, of a purely private or nonpublic character which
do not relate to or have an effect upon the carrying out of the constitutional,
statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President . . . . .
Executive Order
13233 rescinding EO 12667, 1 November 2001.
From Federation of American Scientists' Web page, Secrecy
and Security News, which contains related articles on the suppression
of other public information.
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish policies
and procedures
implementing section 2204 of title 44 of the United States Code with respect
to constitutionally based privileges, including those that apply to Presidential
records reflecting military, diplomatic, or national security secrets, Presidential
communications, legal advice, legal work, or the deliberative processes of
the President and the President's advisors, and to do so in a manner consistent
with the Supreme Court's decisions in Nixon v. Administrator of General Services,
433 U.S. 425 (1977), and other cases, it is hereby ordered . . . .
National
Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History. NCC Washington
Update, Vol. 7, #45, November 1, 2001.
As distributed on the Archives and Archivists Listserv.
1. DRAFT PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS ACT EXECUTIVE ORDER: A "DISASTER" FOR
HISTORY
In recent months, this publication has carried numerous updates on the Bush
White House's actions that have served to delay the release of some 68,000
pages of White House papers dating back to the Reagan Administration which
ought to be released under provisions of the Presidential Records Act of
1978 (PRA; for the most recent posting, see NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7,
#38,
September 20, 2001). On several occasions, the White House has stated that
the delays were required, "to review the many constitutional and legal questions
raised by potential release of sensitive and confidential Presidential records
and to decide upon the proper legal framework and process to employ in reviewing
such records on an ongoing basis" . . . .
The proposed EO is characterized by Vanderbilt University historian Hugh
Graham as "a real monster. . . far worse than the 1989 Executive Order it would replace." According
to the consensus opinion of historians and FOIA experts who have reviewed
the document for the NCC, the new EO violates the spirit if not the legislative
language embodied in the Presidential Records Act and will usher in a new
era
of secrecy for presidential records.
Ari
Fleischer's Press Conference. 1 November 2001.
From the Whitehouse's Web page for November
press releases.
Q Ari, is there any change in the administration's position since this morning
with this executive order on the presidential records? And also, what do you
plan to do, if anything, to counter what seems to be, if you listen to talk
radio, anyway, a relatively quick response from some folks who seem to think
that you have something to hide by doing this?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President will soon be issuing an executive order, which
is a recognition of a new law that has just gone into effect this year for
the first time, that changes the way presidential papers are provided to the
public and to historians, to academicians, and of course to the press.
Under the existing procedures, existing law, a former President has the right
to withhold anything for any reason, if they don't want to make it public.
So if a historian were to ask somebody at a presidential library to provide
a certain document, they could if they wanted to; they didn't have to if
they didn't want to . . . .
New White House
Order on Secrecy of Historical Presidential Records Is Unlawful : Bush Administration
Officials Should Be Made to Explain Actions to Congress, Public Citizen Says.
5 November 2001
From Public Citizen's Web page of press
releases.
When Bush administration officials testify before lawmakers tomorrow, they
should be made to explain how an executive order issued last week extending
the secrecy of presidential documents is legal, Public Citizen said today.
Public Citizen contends that the order is not legal.
In a letter sent to Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Calif.), Public Citizen cited judicial
decisions apparently ignored by the White House when it promulgated the order.
The order will be the subject of oversight hearings to be held Tuesday by the
House Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management and Intergovernmental
Relations, which Horn chairs.
Issued last week by the Bush White House, the executive order violates applicable
provisions of federal law by extending the secrecy of presidential documents
from past administrations. The order applies to records of presidents from
Ronald Reagan forward, which are governed by the Presidential Records Act,
a 1978 law passed in the wake of Watergate to assure public control over
and access to presidential documents. The executive order attempts to give
both
the sitting president and former presidents the power to prevent the National
Archives from releasing documents that the act requires to be made public . . . .
Letter
from Scott Nelson of the Public Citizen Litigation Group to Rep. Stephen
Horn. 5 November 2001.
From Public Citizen's Web page on FOIA
and Government Secrecy.
Dear Representative Horn:
I understand that the Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management
and Intergovernmental Relations of the House Committee on Government Reform
intends to hold oversight hearings on the Presidential Records Act this coming
Tuesday, November 6, 2001. On behalf of Public Citizen, a public advocacy group
with a longstanding interest in openness of presidential historical records,
I urge you to press any administration officials who appear at that hearing
to provide an explanation of how the recent Executive Order on presidential
records conforms to the Act and to governing principles of constitutional law.
The new Executive Order, signed by President Bush on November 1, 2001, provides
that in the absence of "compelling circumstances," the incumbent president
will concur in any assertion of executive privilege by a former president who
seeks to block public access to presidential materials. In addition, the Order
provides that even if the sitting president finds that "compelling circumstances" require
him to disagree with a former presidentĘs assertion of executive privilege,
the Archivist still may not release materials to the public without the former
presidentĘs agreement unless required to do so by a final court order . . . .
President Steve Hensen's Letter of
Concern to Rep. Stephen Horn, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government
Efficiency. 6 November 2001.
From SAA's Web site.
I write to express the grave concern of the Society of American Archivists
with respect to the PresidentĘs recent Executive Order 13233 on Presidential
Papers. Founded in 1936, the Society of American Archivists (SAA) is North
America's oldest and largest national archival professional association.
SAA's mission is to serve the educational and informational needs of more
than 3,400
individual and institutional members and to provide leadership to ensure
the identification, preservation, and use of records of historical value.
Our apprehension over this Executive Order is on several levels. First, it
violates both the spirit and letter of existing U.S. law on access to presidential
papers as clearly laid down in 44 U.S.C. 2201-2207. This law establishes the
principle that presidential records are the property of the United States government
and that the management and custody of, as well as access to, such records
should be governed by the Archivist of the United States and established archival
principles all within the statutory framework of the act itself. The Executive
Order puts the responsibility for these decisions with the President, and indeed
with any sitting President into the future. Access to the vital
historical records of this nation should not be governed by executive decree;
this is
why the existing law was created . . . .
Los
Angeles Times Editorial: A Dark Oval Office. 6 November 2001.
From the Los Angeles
Times' Web site.
A five-page executive order signed by President Bush on Thursday would nudge
the nation's highest office back toward democracy's dark ages, when history
could effectively be kept from the public. The decree permits an incumbent
president to veto the release of a former president's papers even if the
former president has agreed to make them public. It rolls back historians'
and journalists'
timely access to historical documents, giving even members of a former president's
family veto power over the release of material . . . .
Letter from Rep.
Henry A. Waxman of the Committee on Government Reform and Janice D. Schakowsky
of the Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and Intergovernmental
Relations to President Bush. 6 November 2001.
From the Federation of American Scientists' Web page on Secrecy
and Security News.
Dear Mr. President:
We were dismayed to learn that you changed the Executive Order governing the
release of Presidential records in a manner that will decrease public access
to these records. We urge you to rescind that order. If your Administration
believes that the Presidential Records Act needs clarification, we urge you
to consult with Congress and the public before taking such action.
The new Executive Order contains provisions that could drastically restrict
public access to important records. It allows the sitting President to withhold
the records of a former President, even if that President wants those records
released. In addition, the order requires the public to show a specific need
for a document before it is released.
These provisions clearly violate the intent of the law. The Presidential
Records Act was passed by Congress to assure full public access to Presidential
records
after a reasonable interval of time. The goal of the law is the orderly and
systematic release of records - not the indefinite suppression of these historically
important documents . . . .
National
Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History. NCC Washington
Update, Vol. 7, #46, 9 November 2001.
As distributed on the Archives and Archivists Listserv. Provides a length
discussion of the topic.
1. BUSH SIGNS PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS ACT EXECUTIVE ORDER: LEGAL
SUITS SURE TO FOLLOW
On November 1, 2001 President Bush issued Executive Order 13233 entitled, "Further
Implementation of the Presidential Records Act." The order replaces President
Reagan's Executive Order 12667 (issued January 18, 1989) and reinterprets the
Presidential Records Act of 1978 (PRA) . . . .
The order, which closely resembles the draft version secured by the NCC last
week (see NCC
WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #45, November 1, 2001), allows a sitting president
to keep secret the papers of a previous president, even if that previous
president desires to have his papers made public. In essence, the order provides
for
the release of certain types of presidential papers only when the former
and sitting president both agree to release the papers. The order reverses
the
very premise of public access built into PRA which provides for the systematic
release of presidential records after 12 years or by way of a Freedom of
Information (FOIA) request; the new E.O. requires that the materials can
be released only
when a FOIA request shows a "demonstrable, specific need" . . . .
2. REAGAN PAPERS/ EXECUTIVE ORDER IS TOPIC OF CONGRESSIONAL HEARING
On November 6, 2001 the House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee
on Government Efficiency, Financial Management and Intergovernmental Relations
conducted a hearing on the Presidential Records Act (PRA). Scheduled several
weeks ago, the hearing was postponed several times due to anthrax threats
on Capitol Hill. Originally, Congressional interest focused on the White
House's
delay in releasing some 68,000 pages of presidential papers from the Reagan
Presidential Library, but with the issuance of Executive Order 13223 on November
1 by President Bush (see related story above), Representative Stephen Horn
(R-CA) quickly rescheduled the hearing and announced that his subcommittee
would examine the totality of the Presidential Records Act of 1978 . . . .
Bruce Shapiro, "Information
Lockdown". 29 October 2001.
From Alternet.org. Useful for understanding
the climate of secrecy in which this executive order was issued.
Viewers of the old spy spoof Get Smart will remember the Cone of Silence
-- that giant plastic hair-salon dryer that descended over Maxwell Smart
and Control when they held a sensitive conversation. Today, a Cone of Silence
has
descended over all of Washington: From four-star generals to lowly webmasters,
the town is in information lockdown. Never in the nation's history has the
flow of information from government to press and public been shut off so
comprehensively and quickly as in the weeks following September 11. Much
of the shutdown seems
to have little to do with preventing future terrorism and everything to do
with the Administration's laying down a new across-the-board standard for
centralized control of the public's right to know . . . .
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