Letter
to Senators John Warner and Daniel Patrick Moynihan
The Society
sent the following letter to Senators John Warner and Daniel Patrick Moynihan:
September
5, 1998
Senator
John Warner
Chair, Senate Armed Forces Committee
225 Russell Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator
Warner:
On behalf
of the Society of American Archivists, we wish to bring to your attention
an urgent matter of utmost concern to the public interest. Your
committee will soon be considering an amendment to PL 1-4-106, Section
3146 HR 3616 (the Kyl amendment). We solicit your help in turning
this amendment aside.
The Society
of American Archivists is the oldest and largest association of archivists
in the United States, representing more than 3,300 individuals and 400
institutions. It is the authoritative voice in the United States
on issues that affect the identification, preservation, and use of the
historical record.
The pending
Department of Defense appropriations bill includes an amendment regarding
the process of declassifying records of historical value that will, if
passed, virtually put a stop to the positive progress that has been made
in opening the historical record under the 1995 Executive Order 12958.
We believe that this attempt to delay -- and possibly to stop completely
-- the declassification and release of 25 year old historical records
by requiring a "visual inspection" of all pages prior to their
release is contrary to the spirit of openness embodied in the President's
Executive Order. In the past two years alone, over 600,000 pages
have been declassified by the Executive Branch agencies under the existing
Executive Order -- nearly one quarter of the total number of pages expected
to be released by the year 2000.
Please
understand that the Society supports a rational policy for identifying
a tiny portion of records that contain "Restricted Data" or
"Formerly Restricted Data" and we share the concern of the Department
of Energy for protection of that information. However, the overwhelming
majority of records that would be subject to release under E.O. 12958
are known not to contain this type of information. They
should therefore not be subject to the procedures recommended in the Kyl
amendment, which would be overly time-consuming, costly and unnecessary.
This proposed
amendment is clearly not in the public's interest. We are appealing
to you because of your extensive knowledge of military issues and your
desire to serve the best interests of the American people by encouraging
openness in government information policy.
We urge
you to give this matter your immediate attention and help provide a balanced
and rational approach to this vitally important issue. The Society
would welcome an opportunity to provide you with further information or
to discuss this with you at any time.
Sincerely,
Luciana
Duranti
President
The Society of American Archivists
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