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House Passes Bills on Presidential Records and LibrariesBy lopsided bipartisan majorities, the House passed bills March 14 to reverse an executive order issued by President Bush allowing presidents to withhold their records from the public and to require donors to presidential libraries to identify themselves.The Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 (H.R. 1255) would rescind an executive order issued by President Bush in 2001 allowing incumbent or former presidents to prevent the release of their presidential papers. At that time, critics said the order reversed the premise of the Presidential Records Act of 1978, which called for the release of presidential papers 12 years after a president leaves office. The White House issued a statement saying that the bill was “misguided, and would improperly impinge on the President’s constitutional authority, in violation of settled separation of powers principles,” the Washington Post reported March 14. It warned that if the Senate passed the presidential records bill, Bush would veto it. The Presidential Library Donation Reform Act (H.R. 1254) would require organizations raising funds for presidential libraries to disclose the source and amount of any donations over $200, the Chicago Tribune reported March 15. Late last year, the Democratic leadership announced its intention to introduce the measure after taking majority control of Congress. Among the bill’s sponsors was House Oversight Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who said, “Whether it’s real or perceived, we shouldn’t have special interest groups making contributions to a presidential library with the expectation that they would receive something in return.” The votes were 333–93 on the presidential records bill and 390–34 on the presidential library bill. Both were part of a legislation package—which also featured expanded safeguards for government whistle-blowers and enhancements to the Freedom of Information Act—passed by the House during Sunshine Week, an annual event led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors to promote open government and freedom of information. Posted March 16, 2007. |
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