[SOA] FW: Tell the House Appropriations Subcommittee to Fund NHPRC at $5 million

[Carleton, Janet]

Action Alert:
Stop the Impending Fiscal Disaster for Historical Records in the United States!
Tell the House Appropriations Subcommittee to Fund NHPRC at $5 million

In a year in which natural disasters have rocked many parts of the United States, a fiscal disaster is brewing in Washington, D.C., for archives, manuscripts, and records organizations nationwide and for historical editing projects.  The President's FY13 appropriations budget proposes just $3 million in funding for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission grants program - a $2 million (40%) reduction from the current $5 million appropriation.  This is the third year of substantial reductions for a program that is authorized at a very modest $10 million.   

While most other federal agencies have been weathering hits of around 9% annually, NHPRC's cuts have been much heftier.  The result is a severe crippling of NHPRC's ability to carry out its legal mandate - which in turn seriously impedes the capacity of states and organizations nationwide to care for our nation's heritage and make it available for use by our citizens.

What can you do to help avert this crisis?

Submit testimony in support of restoring NHPRC funding to $ 5million.  The House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee (of the House Appropriations Committee) will hold a hearing on the NARA budget on March 20, 2012.   The Subcommittee will accept testimony submitted for the record, but it must be submitted by COB on Thursday, March 15, 2012, to go into the record prior to the hearing.   We encourage archives, libraries, and other historical organizations to submit testimony on behalf of their organization and users.  Send testimony that speaks directly to the positive benefits of NHPRC funding for your state or organization.  Specific instructions on testimony are at the end of this action alert.

Email your written testimony to: FS.Approp at mail.house.gov

House Appropriations Committee, Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee

Fax or email the chair of the Subcommittee to express your support for restoration of NHPRC funding (at $5 million) as part of the National Archives budget.  If your representative is a member of the Subcommittee, fax, email, or call him/her and ask for support of funding restoration for NHPRC.  In your letter or call, speak to the specific benefits of NHPRC for your state/organization/users.  The more your Congressperson understands that his/her constituents are affected directly, the more convincing your message will be.
 
Republicans: 	
JoAnn Emerson (Chair, MO)    	
Rodney Alexander (LA) 	
Jo Bonner (AL)
Mario Diaz-Balart (FL) 		
Tom Graves (GA)		
Kevin Yoder (KS)
Steve Womak (AR)

Democrats:	
Jose Serrano (NY, Ranking Minority)		
Barbara Lee (CA)
Peter Visclosky (IN)				
Ed Pastor (AZ)

****************************************************
Guidelines for written testimony:

*	Do not exceed 5 pages, double-spaced, single-sided, 12 point font, at least one inch margins
*	State in the first paragraph the agency, program, amount of money involved in the request (i.e. National Archives, National Historical Publications and Records Commission, $5 million)
*	Name title, institutional affiliation at the top of the page
*	Submit as a single pdf document
*	Email to:  FS.Approp at mail.house.gov


-----Original Message-----
From: - COSA-L - Council of State Archivists [mailto:COSA-L at LISTS.DIGITALARCHIVES.WA.GOV] On Behalf Of Kathleen Roe
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2012 4:21 PM
To: COSA-L at LISTS.DIGITALARCHIVES.WA.GOV
Subject: Action Alert: Tell the House Appropriations Subcommittee to Fund NHPRC at $5 million

Action Alert:
Stop the Impending Fiscal Disaster for Historical Records in the United
States!
Tell the House Appropriations Subcommittee to Fund NHPRC at $5 million
In a year in which natural disasters have rocked many parts of the
United States, a fiscal disaster is brewing in Washington, D.C., for
archives, manuscripts, and records organizations nationwide and for
historical editing projects.  The President's FY13 appropriations
budget proposes just $3 million in funding for the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission grants program - a $2 million
(40%) reduction from the current $5 million appropriation.  This is the
third year of substantial reductions for a program that is authorized at
a very modest $10 million.   
While most other federal agencies have been weathering hits of around
9% annually, NHPRC's cuts have been much heftier.  The result is a
severe crippling of NHPRC's ability to carry out its legal mandate -
which in turn seriously impedes the capacity of states and organizations
nationwide to care for our nation's heritage and make it available for
use by our citizens.

What can you do to help avert this crisis?

 Please see the attached action alert for further information.   Please
either submit testimony on behalf of your organization, or work with
your State Historical Records Advisory Board to do so.  And please send
me a copy of what you submit if possible--it would be really helpful now
and for the next steps with the Senate.

Thanks so much for all you do--without a viable NHPRC, our SNAP grants
and others are in real danger!

Kathleen 
on behalf of the Joint Task Force on Advocacy for Federal Funding (aka
PAHR, and maybe a few other names?)


______________________________
OHIO UNIVERSITY 
Libraries
 
Janet Carleton 
Digital Initiatives Coordinator 

Alden 322 
1 Ohio University 
Athens OH 45701-2979 
740.597.2527 
carleton at ohio.edu 
http://media.library.ohiou.edu 

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