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65–446 PDF 2011

AMERICA’S PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES: 

THEIR MISSION AND THEIR FUTURE 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

Serial No. 112–3 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

Serial No. 112–15 

JOINT HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON 

TRANSPORTATION AND 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

AND THE

COMMITTEE ON 

OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

FEBRUARY 28, 2011 

Printed for the use of the 

Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and 

Oversight and Government Reform 

( 

Available online at: http://www.fdsys.gov/ 

COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE 

JOHN L. MICA, Florida, Chairman 

DON YOUNG, Alaska 

THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin 

HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina 

JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee 

FRANK A. LOBIONDO, New Jersey 

GARY G. MILLER, California 

TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois 

SAM GRAVES, Missouri 

BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania 

SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia 

JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio 

CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan 

DUNCAN HUNTER, California 

TOM REED, New York 

ANDY HARRIS, Maryland 

ERIC A. ‘‘RICK’’ CRAWFORD, Arkansas 

JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, Washington 

FRANK C. GUINTA, New Hampshire 

RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois 

LOU BARLETTA, Pennsylvania 

CHIP CRAVAACK, Minnesota 

BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas 

LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana 

BILLY LONG, Missouri 

BOB GIBBS, Ohio 

PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania 

RICHARD L. HANNA, New York 

STEPHEN LEE FINCHER, Tennessee 

JEFFREY M. LANDRY, Louisiana 

STEVE SOUTHERLAND II, Florida 

JEFF DENHAM, California 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

NICK J. RAHALL II, West Virginia 

PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon 

JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois 

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of 

Columbia 

JERROLD NADLER, New York 

CORRINE BROWN, Florida 

BOB FILNER, California 

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas 

ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland 

LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa 

TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania 

RICK LARSEN, Washington 

MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts 

TIMOTHY H. BISHOP, New York 

MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California 

DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois 

MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii 

JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania 

TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota 

HEATH SHULER, North Carolina 

STEVE COHEN, Tennessee 

LAURA RICHARDSON, California 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California, Chairman 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

JOHN L. MICA, Florida 

TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania 

MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio 

PATRICK T. MCHENRY, North Carolina 

JIM JORDAN, Ohio 

JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah 

CONNIE MACK, Florida 

TIM WALBERG, Michigan 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

JUSTIN AMASH, Michigan 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

PAUL A. GOSAR, Arizona 

RAU ́ L R. LABRADOR, Idaho 

PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania 

SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee 

JOE WALSH, Illinois 

TREY GOWDY, South Carolina 

DENNIS A. ROSS, Florida 

FRANK C. GUINTA, New Hampshire 

BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas 

MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania 

ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland 

EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York 

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of 

Columbia 

DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio 

JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts 

WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri 

STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts 

JIM COOPER, Tennessee 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois 

DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois 

BRUCE L. BRALEY, Iowa 

PETER WELCH, Vermont 

JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky 

CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut 

JACKIE SPEIER, California 

(III) 

(V) 

CONTENTS Page 

Summary of Subject Matter .................................................................................... vi 

TESTIMONY 

Blackwood, Duke, Director, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library ....................... 28 

Ferriero, Hon. David S., Archivist of the United States, National Archives 

and Records Administration ................................................................................ 28 

Kumar, Dr. Martha, Professor, Towson University .............................................. 28 

Putnam, Thomas, Director, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum ...................................................................................................................... 28 

Roosevelt, Anna Eleanor, Chair, Board of Directors, the Roosevelt Institute .... 28 

Schwartz, Dr. Thomas, Illinois State Historian, Abraham Lincoln Presidential 

Library and Museum ........................................................................................... 28 

PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

Norton, Hon. Eleanor Holmes, of the District of Columbia ................................. 56 

PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED BY WITNESSES 

Blackwood, Duke ..................................................................................................... 57 

Ferriero, Hon. David S. ........................................................................................... 64 

Kumar, Dr. Martha ................................................................................................. 68 

Putnam, Thomas ...................................................................................................... 76 

Roosevelt, Anna Eleanor ......................................................................................... 91 

Schwartz, Dr. Thomas ............................................................................................. 96 

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD 

Cummings, Hon. Elijah E., a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Maryland, request to include the GAO report ‘‘National Archives: Framework Governing Use of Presidential Library Facilities and Staff,’’ February 

2011 ....................................................................................................................... 6 

ADDITIONS TO THE RECORD 

Kennedy, Caroline, President, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, letter 

to Hon. John L. Mica, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

Florida ................................................................................................................... 99 

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(1) 

AMERICA’S PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES: 

THEIR MISSION AND THEIR FUTURE 

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2011 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON TRANSPOR- TATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE, JOINT WITH THE COM- MITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, DC. 

The committees met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a.m., in room 

2167, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John L. Mica (chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure) presiding. 

Mr. MICA. Good morning, I would like to call this joint hearing 

of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and also 

the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to order. 

Today the topic of the hearing is ‘‘America’s Presidential Libraries: Their Mission and Their Future.’’ The order of business today 

will be opening statements by Members and then we will turn to 

our panel. 

Let me say at the outset, this is probably one of the more unique 

hearings in Congress that is today going to focus on a unique subject and that is again the mission, the future of our Presidential 

libraries and we decided to do that jointly. Our committee has 

some responsibility, legislative responsibility under the Economic 

Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee. Also, the important Government Reform and Oversight 

Committee chaired by my colleague the gentleman from California 

has very important legislative and oversight responsibility over 

Presidential libraries so it is a rather unique subject and unique 

approach. 

I might say at the outset, this isn’t one of these hearings where 

we have a mission of some violation or some problems with the libraries. I think this is a very forward-looking hearing in trying to 

assess the current status of our Presidential libraries and also their 

important mission and also their future. It is impossible to have all 

of them in this panel and today’s formal hearing is a representation. We have got a good, I think, cross-section of some of those involved with the Presidential libraries that we will hear from shortly. 

I want to thank, again, Chairman Issa, Chairman Gowdy of the 

subcommittee who has say over this also in Government Reform. 

Ms. Norton, Mr. Rahall isn’t with us today, but we enjoyed his 

support in having this joint hearing. The other gentleman that has 

joined us, of course, is Mr. Cummings and I have had the great 

honor and privilege of working with him both as a chair and also 

2 

as a ranking member in the past, and appreciate his support on 

Government Reform and the relationship we have shared over the 

years. So that is a little bit about our mission. 

Let me say a couple of things. First of all, most folks don’t realize 

we have some publicly funded and sponsored Presidential libraries 

and we also have some private libraries. Many of them start out 

with private donations and end up in the public realm. I have had 

the opportunity to visit some of the libraries across the Nation and 

found it to be one of the most rewarding experiences that I could 

enjoy. I like a little bit of history like most folks, but it really gives 

the public, academia, and students—and people are interested in 

the history of the United States and our Presidents—great access, 

information, and are a tremendous resource and national treasure. 

The question of why we should have this hearing is because 

there are a whole host of the questions that need to be answered 

about how we proceed. Right now we are in tough economic times, 

especially the Federal Government. Sometimes some of the libraries that depend on private donations have also experienced some 

downturns both in terms of visitors and revenues. And then the important question again before us is their future mission, how that 

changes and evolves, and what the Federal role and participation 

are with these libraries. 

In talking with the Librarian of Congress, I did not realize this, 

but I believe he told me that Presidential papers from, I guess, 

Washington through Hoover are handled by the Library of Congress and I guess the National Archives and then we began the 

construction and creation of the Presidential libraries. There are a 

host of questions, as I said, that we hope to answer today. We probably won’t get to all of them in this formal hearing. 

One of the things I like to do in addition to formal hearings is 

have an informal session. And this afternoon, beginning, I believe 

it is around 2:30, we will begin over in the Cannon Caucus Room 

a symposium. And we hope that those other representatives of both 

the public and private Presidential libraries, we know they will be 

joining us and we won’t have quite as formal a discussion as we 

will have with the panel before us today. 

Again, the panel is only representative of all of you who have 

come today from across the country representing some of these 

great institutions. 

So in that symposium and forum—and it is open to Members of 

Congress, too, and any of the public, it is a public event. We will 

have an opportunity to ask some questions, hopefully get a good exchange and commentary on some of the questions that will be 

raised at the hearing today, and again, the important mission that 

these libraries have. 

We, again, thank all of those who have come today. I have had 

a chance to visit a few of the libraries, the Truman, the Roosevelt, 

the Nixon, the Reagan, the Kennedy, the Hoover, and I think most 

recently, the Lincoln, also a variety of public and private endeavors. And again, just an incredible opportunity for the public to walk 

through again and see, and review, and have access to the history 

of our leaders over the course of many generations. 

So again, that is the purpose of the formal hearing this morning, 

the symposium we will have this afternoon, a unique opportunity 

3 

in Congress to sit down and again look at where we are and where 

we are going with one of our important national treasures and assets that we are the custodians of as far as Members of Congress 

and leaders of, again, our respective libraries. 

So with that, let me turn, if I may, to the gentlelady from the 

District of Columbia, Ms. Norton for an opening statement. 

Ms. NORTON. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I will say 

just a few words and ask to submit my opening statement for the 

record. I look forward to learning more about the Presidential libraries. As a member of both committees, your own Transportation 

and Infrastructure Committee and the committee of jurisdiction, 

Oversight and Government Reform, I note that there are a large 

number of visitors to these libraries, over 2 million that President 

Roosevelt built the first, and ever since then, apparently every 

President has felt he must have a Presidential library. But it 

wasn’t until 1955 that the Federal Government understood it was 

dealing with Federal history, Federal papers, and of course, the 

Presidential Libraries Act was passed. 

The relationship of these libraries to their foundations creates 

something of a hybrid within the Federal system so oversight is 

certainly appropriate. They have their own foundations, which, of 

course, are responsible for building these libraries, for these are official documents of the people of the United States. And this committee or the Congress has a very appropriate role. I ask that my 

statement be submitted for the record. 

Mr. MICA. Without objection, and now let me yield to the cochair 

of this joint hearing, a gentleman who chairs the Government Reform and Oversight Committee of the House of Representatives, 

from California, Mr. Issa, thank you. 

Mr. ISSA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thanks for holding this 

joint hearing. As you said earlier, many of us on the dais serve on 

both hearings. So I have members of my committee who are sitting 

here in two roles just as Ms. Norton and Mr. Cummings are sitting 

here in two roles. 

There is a difference in the oversight that we will be looking at 

today. There is no question that for the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, they are looking at the economic impact, the 

Federal assets themselves, the non—if you will, paper, if you will, 

Federal assets, particularly the facilities. 

In the case of our committee, we are looking at a combination of 

highest and best use for the Federal dollar. The cost of paying 100 

percent of the costs of archivists at each of these facilities and the 

cost of basically about 45 percent being the Federal Government 

and State government’s contribution through to—because of tax deductibility for charities of the other side. So the truth is the taxpayers are paying for these facilities on both sides. 

I think all of us on the dais believe it is money well spent, but 

it is money that has to be looked at carefully. If there were no 

Presidential libraries, there is no question that there would be hundreds of thousands of entities involved in every nuance of maintaining those records pouring through them. 

On the other hand, it could be that they would be more available 

as a researcher would want to look through ancient records. There 

is no question that each of the libraries has a natural struggle, one 

4 

in which the followers and descendents of a President and the 

President himself, if he is still alive, wants to maintain a positive 

legacy, everything that happened on their watch was good. 

Well, in fact, history may show that there were gapping flaws 

from Jefferson to Nixon and then we will stay away from those beyond. There have been scandals and those scandals can, in fact, 

and may, in fact, be appropriate to have seen within a library. But 

let’s understand there is a balance. Our Presidents represent, for 

the most part, progress in many, many areas, even among the 

most, if you will, failed or least popular Presidents. 

Additionally, our committee has, over the last many years, under 

both Republican and Democratic leadership, had a particular interest in inventory control at the libraries, access to researchers of the 

libraries and specially protected records, which is a nice way to say 

classified. Presidents operate at the highest level of secrecy and as 

a result, a great part of what goes on during a President’s life is, 

in fact, classified for 50 years or more. We need to have that protected, both from premature release, but we also need to make sure 

that when the time is right, it can be released. 

Our committee has, over the years, had a number of legitimate 

concerns with information that is gone and will never be found, or 

at least it won’t be found in our lifetime. So today’s hearing is 

about hearing the good news and hearing from people who have a 

vested interest in their library doing well while meeting this challenge that Congress has given to primarily the private sector in 

support of their foundation. With that, I will put the rest in for the 

record and yield back. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you, Mr. Issa. 

Let me yield to the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Cummings. 

Mr. CUMMINGS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Chairman Issa, Ranking Member Norton. I appreciate you for holding 

this hearing today on Presidential libraries. This is an issue that 

is very important to the Oversight Committee, because we have jurisdiction over the National Archives and Records Administration 

and the laws that govern Presidential libraries. I look forward to 

working on these issues with Chairman Issa, Chairman Gowdy in 

his role as chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the 

National Archives, as well as with the ranking member of that subcommittee, Danny Davis. And Chairman Mica, this hearing and 

the other events you have planned today provide a great opportunity to highlight our Presidential libraries. 

Presidential libraries play a critical role in making Presidential 

papers and artifacts available to researchers. These libraries also 

bring history to life for thousands of visitors each year. Most of the 

libraries operated by the National Archives also have a private 

foundation that sponsors their own programs and activities. 

Representative Lacy Clay in his role last year as chairman of the 

Committee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives, 

requested that the Government Accountability Office examine the 

laws and policies related to the Presidential libraries and the private library foundations. GAO is issuing a report today that provides a helpful description of the three primary laws that address 

Presidential libraries and the regulations and policies covering the 

5 

relationships between libraries and private library foundations. I 

ask that this report be made a part of the hearing record. 

An interesting aspect of Presidential libraries is the relationship 

between libraries and the private library foundations. We are fortunate to have President Roosevelt’s granddaughter here today. It 

was President Roosevelt who first had the idea for a privately built 

but federally maintained library to house his Presidential papers. 

The Presidential Libraries Act of 1955 formally established the policy for privately built Presidential libraries to be transferred to the 

Federal Government. Subsequent laws establish reporting and design requirements and some limitations such as requiring and operating endowment for each library starting with the George H.W. 

Bush Library. 

Finally, Mr. Chairman, the relationship between libraries and 

private foundations provide many benefits, but also can raise potential issues. For example, the sharing of space within the same 

facilities create questions about the proper use of library facilities, 

especially for political activities. In addition, donations provided by 

the private sector to private foundations to fund the building of 

these libraries are private. 

GAO reports that each library has a written agreement with its 

associated foundation, but the detail and scope of these agreements 

vary from library to library. GAO found that over time, the agreements have become increasingly more detailed regarding staff, how 

library facilities can be used, and political activities with regard to 

political activities. Some recent agreements also address potential 

conflicts of interest between the library and the foundation. And so 

one of the things I would be interested to hear is the continuing 

resolution recently passed by the House provides $32 million less 

for the National Archives than was enacted for fiscal year 2010, 

and also $16 million less than the President’s request for fiscal 

year 2011. I would love to know how our witnesses believe that 

those cuts are going to effect, if at all, the activities in those libraries and just give us some information with regard to where you 

think our priorities may be. So often we spend a lot of time cutting 

and cutting and cutting, but we cut off our past and it is kind of 

difficult to know your future and deal with your future if you don’t 

have a history of your past. 

And so I consider these libraries very, very important. I appreciate the guests being here today. And with that, Mr. Chairman, 

I yield back. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you, and the request by the gentleman for a 

record he referred to to be made a part of the record without objection so ordered. Thank you. 

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Mr. MICA. Let me yield now to the chair of the Economic Development Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee, the gentleman from California, Mr. Denham, you are 

recognized. 

Mr. DENHAM. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for 

holding this hearing on this very important subject with the relationship between Federal Government and our Nation’s public and 

private Presidential libraries. As you know, in California, I have 

both the Nixon and Reagan Libraries. The public benefit provided 

by these institutions is invaluable to the history of this Nation and 

to the insight they provide to the decisions that help shape our 

country. 

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses testimony on not 

only the mission and future direction of the Presidential libraries, 

but also on the funding aspect. Thank you. 

Mr. MICA. Other Members seek recognition? 

The gentleman from—Mr. Gowdy, he chairs one of the subcommittees. 

Mr. GOWDY. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. I want to commend you and 

Chairman Issa for this extraordinary hearing and what is, I believe, going to be an extraordinary day, given the expertise, the 

amalgamation of experience that we have, I would rather hear 

from the witnesses and hear the questions than hear myself talk, 

so I would yield back. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you so much. Other Members seek recognition? 

No other Members seek recognition, then, again, what we will do 

is go to our panel of witnesses and ask Mr. Issa if he would introduce the first three witnesses and have them recognized. We don’t 

have to swear these folks in today, Mr. Issa, I guess normally you 

do that on your panel. 

Mr. ISSA. I think we can waive that since we are in your hearing 

room. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you. You are recognized to recognize the panelists. 

Mr. ISSA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Our first witness is Honorable David S. Ferriero, the archivist of 

the United States. And probably the most important part of today’s 

hearing really has a great deal to do with how the National Archives and Record Administration can, in fact, oversee all but one 

of the people here in their organizations. 

Our second witness is Thomas Putnam, director of the John F. 

Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. And our third, Mr. 

Duke Blackwood, director of the Ronald Reagan Library and a fairly constant host to me when I get up there. 

Mr. MICA. We will start out by recognizing—— 

Mr. ISSA. You have three more to introduce. 

Mr. MICA. I will catch those when we get to them. We will have 

the first three give their testimony. We try to limit you to 5 minutes. If you have a lengthy statement or anything you would like 

to have included in the record, that will be made a part of the proceedings today. First, we will recognize Mr. Ferriero. 

28 

TESTIMONY OF HON. DAVID S. FERRIERO, ARCHIVIST OF THE 

UNITED STATES, NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION; THOMAS PUTNAM, DIRECTOR, JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM; DUKE BLACKWOOD, DIRECTOR, RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY; THOMAS SCHWARTZ, ILLINOIS STATE HISTORIAN, 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM; 

ANNA ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, CHAIR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 

THE ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE; AND MARTHA KUMAR, PROFESSOR, TOWSON UNIVERSITY 

Mr. ISSA. By the way, if David asks to have something put in the 

record, make sure it is not all of his archives, that could be over 

our limit. 

Mr. MICA. We will make note of that, thank you. And you are 

recognized, welcome, sir. 

Mr. FERRIERO. Chairman Mica, Chairman Issa, and members of 

the committees, I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you 

today on the important role of the Presidential libraries, both to 

the Nation and to their local communities. Presidential libraries 

preserve, interpret and present the history of American democracy 

in the 20th and 21st centuries, through the words and deeds of our 

government. And these libraries are among the country’s finest examples of public archives offering research rooms, interactive museums and education centers to millions of researchers, students 

and visitors each year. 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s vision for his library created a 

process that has been followed by each succeeding President. He 

established a private foundation to raise funds for the construction 

of the library building that was then donated to the National Archives. 

Each library is supported by the Federal Government, and in 

part by a Presidential foundation. Situated around the country, 

Presidential libraries reflect and enrich their local communities. 

They offer exceptional research facilities that are hailed for the 

personal service they provide to students and scholars. Each museum tells a unique story concerning the life and times of a 20th 

century, and soon, a 21st century President in the pivotal moments 

in history they faced. 

The libraries’ extensive outreach to teachers and students is a 

powerful vehicle for civic engagement. As you know, 100 percent of 

all initial construction funding for the libraries, including the initial museum exhibit, comes from non-Federal sources, the majority 

of which are private donations through the Presidential foundations, or their predecessor organizations. 

The construction of Presidential libraries serves as an engine of 

economic growth in regional areas, revitalizing communities and 

guaranteeing continued revenue streams for millions of national 

and international tourists. Local Chambers of Commerce or State 

tourism boards estimate that each visitor to the library spends an 

additional $100 to $200 depending on the community, during the 

visit at local restaurants and hotels. Thus, with nearly 2 million 

visitors visiting our museums in 2010, the support to the community is significant; $15 million added to the economy in Abilene, 

Kansas; $43 million in Boston; $55 million in Austin, Texas. 

29 

Equally important is the educational and cultural impact Presidential libraries have on their communities. Over 500,000 people 

attended cultural programming conferences and various speaker 

series of the libraries in 2010, where the country’s first, finest historians, political leaders, journalists and biographers came to 

locales where they would not typically speak. 

Moreover, the libraries provided educational programs for 

350,000 students and 5,000 teachers. At a hearing last year at 

which I testified, there was some concern about the use of resources for educational and cultural programs. As I said at that 

hearing, the problem of civic literacy is real, access to public 

records is a part of the solution to that problem, and no one is better positioned to provide access to public records than institutions 

like the National Archives. I would add the 13 Presidential libraries and 12 regional archives programs across the country. 

One of the greatest challenges at the National Archives is the 

backlog we experience in processing many millions of pages of 

records so that those records can be accessible to the public. Several of our libraries have over 90 percent of their collections processed. Our most significant backlogs are in the Presidential 

Records Act Libraries, Reagan through Bush 43. In 2009, Congress 

approved funds for 25 new archival positions for the 4 libraries 

with records controlled by the Presidential Records Act. These 

newly hired archivists are a remarkably talented group trained on 

processing Presidential records, and along with other streamlining 

measures, are beginning to make a real difference in the volume 

of records processed. We expect this year to increase our processing 

by a least 1.3 million additional pages and more in future years as 

these new archivists complete their training. 

Presidential library foundations provide the funding for museum 

education and public programs, Web sites, archives support and 

digitization, marketing and other initiatives. These contributions 

have allowed the Presidential libraries to be leaders and innovators 

in the National Archives and beyond. Let me provide a few examples. The Presidential libraries were among the first public archives and the first of the National Archives to develop interactive 

Web sites and online document based educational programming. 

The Presidential decisionmaking classroom pioneered at the Truman Library is now a featured part of the education programs in 

several libraries and served as a model for our education programs 

here in Washington. 

The Presidential timeline created through support of the Johnson 

Foundation in a partnership with the University of Texas Learning 

Center and all of the Presidential libraries is an innovative teacher/students resource for digital assets reflecting the life and administration of each of the Presidents. 

Because of the foundation funding, the Clinton Presidential Library became the Federal Government’s first existing building to 

be certified at the LEED platinum level. The George W. Bush Library will be built to LEED platinum level as well. 

In addition to their ongoing annual support for the libraries, the 

foundations have contributed tens of millions of dollars to renovate 

our permanent museum exhibits; the Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, 

Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Carter, Reagan and both Bush Libraries 

30 

have recently completed new permanent exhibits or are in the 

planning stage for a new exhibit. 

I am supported in this partnership by my advisory committee on 

the Presidential Library Foundation Partnership. This committee 

is made up of representatives of the various Presidential library 

foundations. Through these meetings, the public private partnership can work to leverage our strengths and resources and resolve, 

or at least understand, how differences on our mission can sometimes strain our relationships. 

I meet with this committee at least twice a year to discuss and 

ask their advice on the activities of the National Archives, our strategic plans and vision, collaborative activities, funding and legal 

issues that can affect the public private partnership. 

The Presidency is the one office elected by all Americans. 

Through their geographic disbursements, the Presidential libraries 

are a positive force contributing to diverse communities, making 

history transparent and strengthening the civic fiber of our Nation. 

While I continue to believe in the importance of Presidential libraries, it is my belief that technology will impact future Presidential libraries. The size of digital collections at the Clinton and 

Bush 43 Libraries is far greater than the paper records. In the 

near future we can expect that a Presidential library’s collection 

will be mostly digital. Those documents acted on in a paper format 

will probably be digitized by the White House and only those documents of significant intrinsic value will be saved in their original 

format, such as documents annotated by the President, correspondence with world leaders and decision memoranda. 

Long-term preservation and storage of digital records is a delicate but worthwhile option. Nonetheless, I believe Presidents in the 

future should continue to establish a Presidential library if they 

wish to do so. Some collections may well be digital, but it is the 

curators, and archivists and educators who work in these libraries 

that make the collections accessible to all of our students and citizens. Thank you for this opportunity to testify, and I look forward 

to your questions. 

Mr. ISSA. Thank you. 

Mr. MICA. Mr. Putnam. 

Mr. PUTNAM. Chairman Mica, Chairman Issa and members of 

the committee, I am Tom Putnam, director of the John F. Kennedy 

Presidential Library and Museum. I appreciate the opportunity to 

testify on behalf of my fellow library directors. We are so pleased 

that you have called this hearing and are honored to appear before 

you, along with David Ferriero, fellow historians, and especially 

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. Those of us who work in the Presidential 

library system are indebted to her grandfather’s vision, which led 

to the creation of the first Presidential library. 

Franklin Roosevelt encouraged the country not to be fearful as 

he launched his Presidency. During which, over time, we became 

the leader of the free world. Reflective of his infectious self-confidence, he valued transparency as an essential of democratic government. Citizens must understand how their government works 

and have access to the documents that define their past. 

With the recent addition of the Nixon and George W. Bush Libraries, our Presidential library system, representing our 13 most 

31 

recent former Presidents, is made whole and has become a model 

for the world. 

Presidential libraries hold the memory of our Nation, they are 

unique repositories that allow researchers and museum visitors an 

opportunity to relive the events that have shaped us as a people. 

Their educational programs create a more active and informed citizenry. I believe the current model works well and provides immeasurable benefits to our Nation. 

We rest on four pillars: First, the private funds that are used to 

construct these buildings; second, the Federal funds that operate, 

maintain and administer them; third, the private support we receive from our respective library foundations; and finally, the revenue streams from our museums and related enterprises. 

One of the strengths of the present system is that it strikes the 

right balance between centralization and decentralization. Each library is built in a location determined by the President and his 

family. When visiting them, one is immersed in locales, like Independence, Abilene, Grand Rapids, in which our Presidents lived 

and matured politically. Yet we are also guided by standards set 

by the National Archives that ensure our holdings are protected, 

our museums objective and our access universal. 

Over the years, there have been calls to centralize the Presidential library system. In 1962, President Kennedy was asked if he 

would locate his library in Washington, DC. He made two points 

in his reply. First, he stated that through the use of technology, it 

would eventually not matter where a library was located. The Kennedy Library recently made JFK’s vision a reality by digitizing over 

300,000 of the most important documents and photographs of his 

Presidency, and audio and video recordings of all his speeches and 

press conferences, providing worldwide access to them via our Web 

site. 

Second, JFK replied in 1962, that by locating these institutions 

throughout the country, each could serve as a vital education center connecting the residence of that region to their national government. In addition to our robust local planning, Presidential libraries often collaborate on initiatives like national issue forums, global 

traveling exhibits, nationally televised conference and interactive 

Web-based timelines. 

Here, students can not only watch the iconic speeches of President Kennedy and Reagan at the Berlin Wall, they can also learn 

of the quiet diplomacy President George Herbert Walker Bush engaged in after the Wall fell in uniting that divided land. And view 

President Clinton reciting his favorite line from JFK’s speech in 

Berlin, ‘‘Freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect, but we never had to put up a wall to keep our people in.’’ 

I would not be honest, Mr. Chairman, if I did not admit that the 

Presidential library system, like our democracy, is not perfect. I 

would like to conclude with two examples of the difficulties we face. 

The first is the question of the sustainability of the current model 

and the need to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship as the 

Presidential library system ages and grows. 

The second is how we meet the need of releasing and opening 

materials as quickly as possible while also protecting national security interests. 

32 

Ours is a young country with fewer coliseums and cathedrals 

than our European forebears. Sites which, like others, I visited as 

a college student, trying to understand the world my generation inherited and how we might make our mark upon it. This is the potency of Presidential libraries in our land, serving as beacons to the 

world, shedding light on both the genius and shortcomings of our 

history during what has been called the American century. 

Today, young people from all corners of the globe come to the 

Kennedy Library in Boston. They have often already visited the 

battlefields of Lexington and Concord. In our museum they then 

listen to JFK’s inaugural address in which he states, ‘‘We are heirs 

of that first revolution and the belief for which our forebears fought 

are still at issue around the globe.’’ My colleagues and I feel privileged to share the story of John F. Kennedy in his 1,000 days as 

President, with students from Binghamton to Beijing, Daytona to 

Dakar, as they seek to understand the history of our Nation and 

our world and look to make their mark upon it. This is why we undertake to preserve and provide access to these priceless historical 

treasures, for their ability to unite us as a country and a people, 

and to serve as the foundation on which new generations will selfconfidently build our future. 

Mr. ISSA. Thank you. That is as close to a perfect finish as I have 

ever seen in a committee. 

Mr. Blackwood, next, you know the challenge, 5 minutes. 

Mr. BLACKWOOD. Tough act to follow. Chairman Mica, Chairman 

Issa, members of the committee, I appreciate the opportunity to be 

here today. When Franklin Roosevelt established the first Presidential library, I am not sure even he envisioned how transformational they would become. His library and 12 others that 

have followed have had unparalleled impact on tens of millions of 

people. What he did for our country, our citizens, and most importantly, our school children, continues to pay dividends. Today I will 

address the impact of Presidential libraries and why they should 

continue as they are. I will argue that our mission should be multifaceted. Ultimately, though, everything starts with access and the 

definition of access should be expanded. 

Over the years, Presidential libraries have grown, changed and 

adapted. This growth is due in good measure to the support we receive from our attendant foundations. Working closely with the 

Reagan Foundation, the current library is working well and is a 

successful public/private partnership. The Foundation support allows us to better serve the public. The Reagan Foundation provides 

hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual support and more than 

$50 million in capital improvements. This is on top of the $69 million that they provided to build the library. 

This support has had tremendous impact on three key areas: 

More than doubling our attendance, expansion of education programs, and heightened awareness of our facilities. The Federal 

Government’s involvement and support is also critical. NARA successfully leverages the Foundation’s support providing tremendous 

value for the government and the American people. With that support, we serve many constituencies broadly categorized into three 

groups: Citizens, students and scholars. Providing scholars access 

33 

to the collection is critical. If there is one criticism, it would be that 

they want more material sooner and I would concur. 

At the Reagan Library, our archives team has improved efficiencies, set new standards and even though we are processing 

more than 1.5 million documents with shorter queue times, the research community clamors for more. 

Let’s look at the impact of the use of our materials, a single 

scholar might publish multiple articles, books or blog entries that 

will reach hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of people. Should 

we just digitize everything then? Not so fast, there are practical 

concerns of funding, staffing and processing time. Access through 

technology is one critical area that needs serious attention and significant investment. 

Why not just centralize? Tom presented a very strong case why 

Presidential libraries should continue to grace different locations. 

I agree and would vigorously argue against centralization. While it 

is critical to move toward a goal of digitization, we cannot lose 

sight of working with the original materials. Historic documents 

can inspire, motivate and cause to you think differently. When you 

hold President Reagan’s personal diary and you read, ‘‘getting shot 

hurts,’’ or leaf through the Day in Infamy speech, it puts the researcher in a different frame of mind that can lead to new thinking. 

Access is more than just about the materials. Presidential libraries offer unique educational opportunities for hundreds of thousands of students across the country. So, is access important to 

them? Archival access is not necessarily a priority for my daughter 

Abby’s sixth grade class, but access to the museum, the curriculum 

and the amazing Air Force One Discovery Center certainly is. 

Abby’s class and thousands like hers want and deserve access to 

these opportunities. 

So, should education be a part of our mission? Absolutely. Students represent the future, and learning about our history, the 

Presidency, and civic engagement is critical for informed citizenry. 

Presidential libraries are often an important avenue to access 

learning. At the Reagan Library our approach is simple, the three 

E’s, excite, engage and you will educate, that is what Presidential 

libraries do. 

Out last constituency is the millions of citizens who visit us, they 

tour our museums, study our materials, attend our remarkable programs, and they too learn, all of which are different forms of access. 

So what is our mission? And what should the future bring? In 

summary, Presidential libraries are repositories of historical materials, tourist destinations, museum gathering places for civic literacy debate, and educational institutions and places where communities learn. Our mission should reflect this diversity. 

Let’s embrace President Roosevelt’s vision and broaden it to the 

multifaceted definition of access. Furthermore, we need to be 

proactive with the use of technology. Presidential libraries are a 

unique institution that cause us to think, offer to look at, and perhaps question our government, help educate and provide exciting 

opportunities for millions of people. I believe strongly they are 

vital. 

34 

Mr. MICA. Thank you. 

The three beginning witnesses. Let me now introduce the three 

remaining panelists. We have first Dr. Thomas Schwartz, and Dr. 

Schwartz is the Illinois State Historian, he is involved with the 

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and that is 

sort of a hybrid, it is not federally funded as far as its operation 

by but the State and private foundation, I believe. And he will explain their operations and their relationship with the Federal Government. And I think they get a little Federal money toward some 

of their recent projects. 

Then we are honored to have Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, and she 

chairs the Board of Directors of the Roosevelt Institute. It is quite 

fitting that we have one of the family members who has been actively engaged with the Presidential library, and that also being 

the first of our libraries. And then we have Dr. Martha Kumar. She 

is a professor at Towson University, and also a distinguished, recognized Presidential historian and author. She is going to sum it 

all up for us, we will hear from her in just a second. 

Let me recognize Dr. Thomas Schwartz again, the Illinois State 

Historian and with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and 

Museum. Welcome, sir, and you are recognized. 

Mr. SCHWARTZ. Thank you. Chairman Mica, Chairman Issa and 

members of the committee, I thank you for the opportunity to testify on the mission and future direction of Presidential libraries. 

My comments will focus on the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, its current relationship to the National Archives and Records Administration, Presidential Library Museum 

System and, possible areas for further collaborations. This mirrors 

Abraham Lincoln’s thinking when he declared, ‘‘if we could first 

know where we are and whether we are attending, we can then 

better judge what to do and how to do it.’’ 

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library was created in 1889 

as the Illinois State Historical Library. Its mission was to collect 

the written history of the State of Illinois, an effort that also lead 

to sizable holdings concerning its favorite son, Abraham Lincoln. 

Discussions since the 1980s on how to build a new facility for the 

library moved toward the larger concept of the library museum 

complex. 

A Federal, State, and local funding partnership was formed to finance a $167 million complex, most of that provided by the State 

of Illinois. The library with its new name, opened in October 2004 

and the museum opened on April 19, 2005. 

Of a fiscal year 2011 budget of $12 million, the State of Illinois 

provides the largest source of revenue, with additional revenue 

streams provided by admission sales, parking and facility rental 

and the support of the 501(c)(3) Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation. The ALPLM, has a staff of 66 full-time, 14 parttime, and more than 500 volunteers to maintain a 215,000 square 

foot complex under the administrative authority of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. 

With a total visitation of more than 2.5 million people from more 

than 100 nations since opening in 2005, the ALPLM has had annual attendance that surpasses any NARA Presidential museum. 

Our programs range from temporary exhibits that have explored 

35 

topics such as Lincoln’s assassination, his views on agriculture, his 

actions as President-Elect, to author talks, historically-based theater offerings, teacher workshops, activities for young children, and 

conferences and symposia on Lincoln, slavery, and his times. 

Perhaps our most ambitious project is the Papers of Abraham 

Lincoln. Begun in 1985, this project has compiled, and in 2009, 

placed online, all of Abraham Lincoln’s legal documents by case, 

and issued four-volume print edition of selections from his legal 

practice. Currently the project is scanning every letter sent to Lincoln and every document he wrote, with the goal of placing the entire corpus of Lincoln’s writings online. We hope to have the prePresidential materials up 2013 and the entire project completed by 

the end of this decade. 

Our interactions with the NARA libraries and museums have 

been few but friendly. Most requests are for the loan of Lincoln materials for special exhibits, several non-Federal Presidential museums are being contemplated and want to be added to the NARA 

system have sent planning teams to see the ALPLM and imagine 

how its elements might be incorporated into their facilities. 

The ALPLM is known for being different from traditional museums, with its emphasis on a compelling narrative of Lincoln’s life, 

supported by creative uses of technology, and immersive environments that actually place you within scenes of Lincoln’s life. All of 

the senses are engaged and the interactivity the visitor discovers 

is not that created by technology, but rather intellectual and emotional engagement he or she feels with the unfolding story of Lincoln’s life. 

These techniques inspired the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, 

for example, to incorporate many of them into their new orientation 

center and museum. 

Everyone in this room acknowledges the importance of Presidential libraries and museums as vital to preserving our national 

history while providing the general public with a broader and deeper understanding of our past. Moving forward, we see several areas 

of cooperation to consider. One, sharing resources through the traditional loan of materials, digitization of collections, and extending 

both to joint exhibits with one or more Presidential museum partners. 

Two, linking to one another’s Web site using satellite uplink to 

offer joint programs, and providing comparative study and curriculum materials to encourage the public to explore the entirety 

of our Presidential history and not simply that of one administration. 

Three, continuing the larger dialogue with Presidential museums 

outside the NARA systems on issues common to all. 

Finally, striving to be entrepreneurial in finding creative funding 

solutions to the long-term solvency issues facing all Presidential libraries and museums. As Lincoln aptly reminds us, ‘‘the struggle 

of today is not all together for today. It is for a vast future also.’’ 

Thank you. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you so much for your testimony and let me recognize now, welcome, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, welcome. 

Ms. ROOSEVELT. Chairman Mica, Chairman Issa. 

Mr. MICA. You may not be on there. Pull it up real close. 

36 

Ms. ROOSEVELT. OK. Chairman Mica, Chairman Issa, Ms. North, 

Mr. Cummings, members of the committees, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. My name is Anna Eleanor 

Roosevelt, and I am chair of the Board of the Directors of the Roosevelt Institute, which is the non profit partner to the FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York. 

I have been a member of the Roosevelt Institute Board for more 

than 30 years, and I have been board chair for a little more than 

a year now. In my professional life, I am the head of global corporate citizenship for the Boeing Company and serve as the company’s representative on the board of the National Archives Foundation. 

The FDR Presidential Library and Museum is the Nation’s first 

Presidential library. Prior to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s decision to 

build the library in Hyde Park, the final disposition of Presidential 

papers was left to chance, and much of that historical record has 

sadly been lost. 

President Roosevelt created an institution to preserve intact all 

his papers and related materials so that the Nation could make use 

of the knowledge and experience contained there. The library’s 

holdings include my grandfather’s personal and family papers, the 

papers covering his public career at the State and national level. 

My grandmother’s papers, as well as those of many of their friends 

and associates. It is a treasure trove of material that captures one 

of the most important eras in American history, the Great Depression, and World War II, from many perspectives and directions. 

My grandfather, as you may know, was a great collector of birds, 

ship models, stamps, books, documents and many other items. He 

once recounted, after being elected to be the librarian of the Hasty 

Pudding Club at Harvard, some advice he was given by an old book 

seller, never destroy anything. Much to my family’s chagrin, my 

grandfather heeded that advice and kept everything. The result, as 

he himself put it, is that we have a mind for which future historians will curse me as well as praise me. 

FDR wanted to give these materials to the people of the United 

States and house them in an archive and museum built with private funds, but maintained by the Federal Government. He felt it 

was important to keep all of his papers and artifacts together in 

a single collection. He also felt it was important that future generations who wish to understand him and his Presidency should come 

to Hyde Park, to the community and home that helped shape him 

and meant so much to him high on the bluff above the Hudson 

River. 

Fully expecting to retire in 1940, work on the library began in 

1938, but with the outbreak of World War II, my grandfather’s 

plans for retirement had to be cast aside. Work on the library nevertheless went ahead as planned and it was open to the public on 

June 30, 1941, at the very time when most of Europe was suffering 

under the cruel dictates of fascist oppressions. Taking note of this, 

my grandfather used the opening as an opportunity to remind the 

American people of how important history and the free access to 

information are to democracy. 

This latest addition to our Nation’s archives, he said, is being 

dedicated at a moment with the government by the people themVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:10 Aug 22, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 P:\HEARINGS\112\FULLCO~1\2-28-1~1\65446.TXT JEAN
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selves is being attacked everywhere. It is therefore proof, if any 

proof is needed, that our confidence in the future of democracy has 

not diminished in this Nation and will not diminish. 

And he went on, the dedication of a library is in itself an act of 

faith, to bring together the records of the past and preserve them 

for the use of men and women living in the future, a Nation must 

believe in three things: It must believe in the past; it must believe 

in the future; and it must, above all, believe in the capacity of its 

people so to learn from the past that they can gain in judgment for 

the creation of the future. 

As planned, the library was built with privately donated funds at the cost of $376,000, raised by a committee that was headed by 

a Republican, Waldo G. Leland. It was then turned over to the Federal Government on July 4, 1940, to be operated by the National 

Archives. By his actions, President Roosevelt ensured that his papers would become the property of the Nation, housed in a library 

on the grounds of his Hyde Park home also deeded to the Nation 

upon his death where they would be available to scholars. My 

grandfather’s creation served as a precedent. 

The Roosevelt Institute supports the library exhibits, its outreach 

and educational activities, and its special programs for its wideranging audiences. We understand our mission to preserve, celebrate and carry forward the legacy and values of my grandparents. 

An important part of that mission is our partnership with the FDR 

Presidential Library. In 2003, the Roosevelt Institute joined the 

National Archives and the National Park Service in opening the 

Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center, which served as 

a joint visitor center for the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, and the Roosevelt Presidential Library, and as a conference and education center. 

It is also a valuable community resource used by hundreds of 

nonprofit organizations for meetings and events. The Wallace Center was constructed through a unique public/private partnership 

between the National Archives and Records Administration, the 

National Park Service, and the Roosevelt Institute, which raised 

substantial private funding in support of this project. 

The Roosevelt Institute supports all four of the library’s main 

program areas on an ongoing basis. Archives, museum, education 

and public programs. The library’s research operations are consistently one the busiest in the entire Presidential library system. The 

library serves thousands of on-site researchers and more thousands 

of researchers who contact the library through written requests, 

mostly via e-mail. 

The Roosevelt Institute provides grants and aid to researchers 

demonstrating new scholarship in study of the Roosevelt era, as 

well as assisting the library purchasing new books for the collection. We are working with the library to secure the necessary funding to digitize and make available online some of the most important documents in the collection. 

Since the opening of the FDR Library, William J. vanden Huevel 

Special Exhibitions Gallery, in 2003, the Roosevelt Institute has 

provided more than $1 million to support changing exhibits in this 

Gallery, along with enhancements and improvements to the library’s permanent exhibits. This money made it possible for the liVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:10 Aug 22, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 P:\HEARINGS\112\FULLCO~1\2-28-1~1\65446.TXT JEAN
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brary to purchase high quality exhibit casework for the Special Exhibitions Gallery and to present many special exhibits. The Institute has also provided over $5 million to create an exciting new permanent exhibition at the FDR Library. This new exhibition, the first complete renovation of the museums permanent exhibition in the library’s history, will employ state-of-the-art technology to bring the story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt to new 

generations of Americans, it is scheduled to open in 2013. 

The Roosevelt Presidential Library offers document-based, curriculum-centered education programs for students ranging from the 

second grade to post graduate level, including the United States 

Military Academy at West Point. The library conducts teacher 

workshops each year attended by hundreds of teachers from across 

the United States, and from more than half a dozen countries. 

There is only one full-time education specialist who is provided by 

the government. The Roosevelt Institute provides the remaining 

support to the Roosevelt Presidential Library’s education department annually. This support is critical to the operation of the library’s education department as it provides the funds to hire four 

part-time New York State certified retired teachers, and one parttime education clerk, and to produce quality education materials 

that are used by students and teachers in the Hudson Valley, the 

Tri-State area, and across the United States. 

Public programs and community outreach are at the core of the 

library’s mission. The library offers a host of innovative programs 

and events to the general public each year. 

In sum, the work of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, 

and of Presidential libraries generally is critically important for retaining and advancing the public’s understanding of the Nation’s 

history, and for making that history available in communities 

across the country, communities from which our Presidents have 

come. The FDR Library and each of 12 other Presidential libraries 

tell the stories of the eras in which their President’s lived and the 

persons who rose to leadership within them. They make these stories available to thousands of Americans who do not have the opportunity to come to Washington, DC, and to the National Archives 

on a regular basis. 

It is important to remember, as my grandfather truly believed, 

that these investments are not support for memorializing specific 

individuals so much as they are investments that preserve, protect, 

and promote the broader scope of the history of this country, all of 

the dimensions of that history, the good and the bad, the successes 

and the challenges. 

As such, and with all that we can learn from the many generations of Americans who have gone before us, the support that the 

Federal Government provides the Presidential libraries represents 

an investment not in our past but in our future. 

I thank the committee for the opportunity to testify here today. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you again for your testimony; and now we will 

recognize our last witness, our historian and Presidential scholar, 

Dr. Kumar. 

Welcome, and you are recognized. 

Ms. KUMAR. Chairman Mica and Chairman Issa, Ranking Member Norton, Ranking Member Cummings, and members of the comVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:10 Aug 22, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 P:\HEARINGS\112\FULLCO~1\2-28-1~1\65446.TXT JEAN
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mittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss Presidential libraries and their importance to students, scholars, and government officials. 

As preparation for my testimony, I wrote political scientists who 

specialize in the Presidency and asked them how their students use 

Presidential libraries and in their work as Presidency scholars 

what difference Presidential libraries make to their research. The 

responses came from all over the country and even from Canada 

with a uniform refrain of how important Presidential libraries have 

become for those of us who examine executive leadership, as well 

as those studying individual Presidents. 

My informal survey established several points about the use and 

importance of Presidential libraries to students and scholars alike. 

First, Presidential libraries are a national and regional resource 

for those studying the operations of government and individual 

Presidents. Having the libraries located in nine States and most regions of the country has brought the Presidency to the public. The 

libraries have become a valuable part of many undergraduate and 

graduate programs and allowed students to open a window on the 

Presidency without traveling to Washington. 

Students nationwide can afford to travel to one or more of these 

libraries and have rich experiences. For one professor, a charter 

bus trip to the Truman Library means having his students consider 

the Berlin Airlift and the decision to drop the atomic bomb. 

Scholars depend on Presidential libraries as a key resource for 

their own writing. The Presidency section of the American Political 

Science Association has an annual award for the best book on the 

Presidency. In reviewing the winners for the 20 years that the 

prize has been given, at least 75 percent of the books draw heavily 

on Presidential library materials. 

Presidential libraries are a resource as well for those in government. The 9/11 Commission made heavy use of Presidential library 

materials. In recent Supreme Court nomination hearings, the Senate Judiciary Committee members and staff reviewed Presidential 

library files to see what actions and recommendations John Roberts 

and Elana Kagan had in their service in the Reagan and Clinton 

White Houses. White House staff in all recent administrations have 

called up materials from Presidential libraries. 

As successful as a library visit to the faculty I polled are, the professors singled out the archivist as the key to the success of their 

trips to the libraries. With millions of records in each library, sifting through for relevant material is a challenge for researchers. 

The archivists fill in this gap. 

Second, Presidential libraries are important to what we know 

about the Presidency as an institution and about individual Presidents. Materials in the library allow us to test common assumptions we have about the Presidency, how it operates, and what particular Presidents did while they were in office. 

The President’s daily diary, many of which are available online, 

track the minute-by-minute movements of a President from one 

room to another. The diary records who was in meetings and when 

they come and go. Through such careful tracking, we know who 

was with a President when he was considering particular policies, 

and we have the documentary records preserved as well. One proVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:10 Aug 22, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 P:\HEARINGS\112\FULLCO~1\2-28-1~1\65446.TXT JEAN
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fessor used the daily diaries to test the idea that President Reagan 

had relatively short workdays by comparing the length of the workday of several recent Presidents. It came out that President Reagan 

worked a similar workday to Presidents Johnson and Nixon and a 

longer one than Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower. 

Audio recordings of meetings are also valuable for understanding 

important decisions and how they played out, as one can see in the 

recordings of President Kennedy’s meetings on the Cuban missile 

crisis which are in audio. 

Third, cooperative ventures can be an aspect of the model for future libraries. There are many ways in which Presidential libraries 

can work together with those studying Presidential action. In some 

cases, there are groups beyond the library foundations that provide 

funds for researchers to travel to one or more libraries. Students, 

too, can work as interns or in work-study programs to provide 

needed work in appropriate areas in the library. 

An example of a cooperative venture between scholars and Presidential libraries is the White House Interview Program. The program is built around interviews with key former White House officials to help prepare those coming into the White House in 2001. 

The materials were also used in 2009. The interviews are housed 

at individual libraries, with many of them available online. The 

project demonstrates what is good for scholars can be also good for 

those coming into the government and for Presidential libraries. 

Everyone benefits when people—students, scholars, and the public—learn about their government and its leaders. 

Mr. MICA. Well, thank you for your testimony. I want to thank 

all of our witnesses. 

Again, I think this is a rather historic joint hearing between two 

committees and the first time that we have approached the subject 

in this manner, again, the important mission of our Presidential libraries and their current status. 

What we will do is start with a little round of questions, and I 

want to ask our Archivist a couple to start. 

Right now, a big question in Washington is spending and national finances. You don’t have a huge budget for the libraries, but 

I see approximately $77 million is the fiscal year 2010 estimated 

cost; is that correct? 

Mr. FERRIERO. $76.2 million. 

Mr. MICA. OK. And, of that, it looks like operational costs, operations, and maintenance is $27 million; programs, $35 million; and 

I guess some of the renovation costs were about $9 or $10 million. 

I had the opportunity to visit the Kennedy Library, and I don’t 

think this was planned for my visit, but they had a big bucket— 

and it is a beautiful atrium, but there is a big bucket and water 

coming down, and they assured me that they had renovation and 

repairs under way. Do we have a capital program for all of these 

libraries? And I guess the submission goes through you on initial 

approval; is that correct? 

Mr. FERRIERO. That is correct. 

Let me preface my answer by a story about the Kennedy library. 

I.M. Pei was the architect, and I was there at the opening, and 

that atrium sitting out there on the water, a visitor came up to 

41 

I.M. Pei and said, aren’t you afraid it is going to leak? And he said, 

of course, it is going to leak. An architect. 

We have a repair and renovation budget within the National Archives, and we have a master plan—space master plan that identifies all the needs across all 12 of the facilities, soon-to-be 13 facilities, with an estimate of expenditure each year. That will be severely reduced in the coming year. 

Mr. MICA. One of the other things I noticed, I was quite shocked 

to see that all the exhibits in all the libraries are remarkable, but 

I was really a bit surprised to see the condition—sort of an aged 

condition of the Kennedy exhibit. In fact, I mentioned to Caroline 

Kennedy and to our departing Representative, Patrick Kennedy, 

the need to update some of those. Do we have a schedule for updating some of those exhibits? 

Mr. FERRIERO. There is a big focus, especially at Kennedy, on 

digital activities, to get as much content out into people’s hands 

around the country first, but there is also planning around updating the current exhibit space. 

Mr. MICA. I heard Ms. Roosevelt talk about that, and I am not 

sure the staged—does anyone look at, again, the overall picture of 

putting some of this incredible information on digital or using the 

latest technology in all of these libraries? 

Mr. FERRIERO. Every one of the Presidential libraries has been 

investigating, has done something in the area of digitalization and 

long-term planning for as much content as we can afford. 

Mr. MICA. Back to the financing, I understand different libraries 

have foundations, and they are supported. Is there any estimate 

you could give to us as to what additional funds are provided or 

what percentage of additional programs are underwritten by the 

private sector? 

Mr. FERRIERO. I can get you that figure. I don’t have it off the 

top of my head. I think it is safe to say that each one of the Presidential libraries is pretty creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial 

in identifying private support for a number of their activities. 

Mr. MICA. I notice, too, that I was looking at the admissions and 

the activity from visitors for the different libraries. It seems to 

taper off, again, as the Presidents fade into history. That leaves, 

again, a bigger burden on the Federal Government to underwrite 

the operations. And, also, I notice that with some of the libraries 

that the Department of Interior is involved. Their costs and figures 

are not included in your budget. Again, do we look at the overall 

long-term mission, the reduction in admissions, and then contributions from other agencies? 

Mr. FERRIERO. That is certainly something that is in my consciousness. And you are right. There is a relationship between the 

date of the Presidency and the attendance. On the Park Service collaboration, those sites where we have the homestead, that is where 

there is a history of a Park Service involvement in the site. 

Mr. MICA. OK. Then we have Mr. Schwartz. I had an opportunity 

to visit there in Illinois, and that is a private State operation. I also 

was informed the Federal Government had promised some help on 

the capital side and only met about half of its contribution. Maybe 

you could tell us how you are funded and how Federal commitment, unkept, affects your operation and your budget. 

42 

Mr. SCHWARTZ. The original funding plan was at the State. The 

two structures came to a total cost of $115 million. That was the 

estimate. And the idea was the State would provide $50 million, 

the Federal Government would provide $50 million, and the city of 

Springfield would provide the property and the remaining amount. 

It ended up that the Federal Government came forward not with 

the grant fully funded but a matching plan; and so State regulations require, for a construction project, that all the money is to be 

in place before construction begins. The State actually had to then 

finance the full amount, and of that $50 million match over 5 years 

we were able to recoup about $35 million. 

Mr. MICA. Ms. Roosevelt, you had mentioned that you are in the 

process of digitizing some of the records. Is that also with Federal 

help or is that a private activity, and where do you see the Federal 

Government helping you in the future, again as far as protecting 

some of these national assets and treasures? 

Ms. ROOSEVELT. Well, that particular project I would have to 

refer to our librarian to make sure, but I know that whenever the 

library has a program need, we are partners with them and we 

work with them to discover what is the need to produce the result 

that is best for the library program. And so we often do co-funding 

on projects, and I would assume that that would be part of the 

digitizing project. 

Mr. MICA. Finally, have any of you worked with the Library of 

Congress or you have joint efforts going on with the Library of Congress? 

Yes, Mr. Schwartz, and maybe you could tell us that relationship. 

Mr. SCHWARTZ. The Papers of Abraham Lincoln right now, the 

last two major repositories of Lincoln’s papers that we need to 

scan, are those at the Library of Congress and the National Archives. We have finished the scanning of the collections out at Archives II, and we are now in the main Archives, and we are at the 

Library of Congress. I think we hope to wrap up both those scanning projects in the next few years. 

Mr. MICA. OK. At noontime or when we recess, we will hear from 

the Librarian of Congress; and this afternoon some of the questions 

that we can’t get to with the members of the panel and other directors and those active with some of the other Presidential libraries 

that have joined us today we will have an opportunity. So if you 

think of a question or we can get more to the answer, I saw from 

Ms. Roosevelt in that symposium that starts this afternoon. 

So, with that, let me yield to Ms. Norton. 

Ms. NORTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Ferriero, I have a question for you. You are, of course, aware 

as a Federal agency that we are in the midst of making large cuts 

in Federal agencies. We have to make many of them. 

In your testimony, you noted that the Clinton Library is platinum LEED and that the Bush Library is also expected to be platinum LEED; and, of course, in our committee we promote this because of the enormous savings that can be documented. In this 

case, the savings would be to the taxpayers. Have you advised or 

do you think it would be important to advise those who build these 

libraries, in light of the fact that the operations are paid by the 

43 

taxpayers of the United States, that these libraries should be built 

to the highest LEED standards available? 

Mr. FERRIERO. I certainly would agree to that, and I would suggest that any future library that we build will be built to those 

specifications. 

Ms. NORTON. Thank you very much. 

Again, a question going to the need to make savings, particularly 

in the year or two headed, there was great concern here about savings. However, even the deficit commission warned about doing 

cuts that were too stringent this year and advised to wait a couple 

of years lest we send the fragile economy back. So people like me 

are looking for things to cut that meet the necessity to cut but that 

may not have that effect. 

Now, I note in light of the fact that the taxpayers pay for the operations, in applying the cuts to the Archives—and let me preface 

this by saying I have sat through hearings where the Archivist had 

raised my very serious concern about the underfunding of the Archives and your ability to maintain the precious historical papers 

of the United States. Shouldn’t the cuts be applied as little as possible to your official work, your official documents with perhaps the 

libraries and their operations taking somewhat more of the cuts 

and so that is operations alone? 

If you had to distribute the cuts—and that is who is going to 

have to do it—you cry up here about the maintenance of—and well 

you might—we all should shed tears—about the maintenance of 

this repository. Then you have to decide where the money goes. 

Well, there is some powerful people in the library who want their 

operations just as they are. There are not so many powerful people 

speaking for the papers that you complain you don’t have the 

money to upkeep. So how would you distribute this funding? 

Mr. FERRIERO. Well, I would just remind you that those papers 

that are sitting in those 13 repositories that we call Presidential 

libraries are Federal records, and they are my responsibility. 

Ms. NORTON. I am asking about the papers sitting right in the 

National Archives. 

Mr. FERRIERO. They are part of those records, the Federal 

records and Presidential records. 

Ms. NORTON. I am asking about the operations, Mr. Ferriero. I 

want you to answer my question directly. I am not asking about 

the records. I am asking about when you have to apply funds to 

operations and make cuts in operations versus cuts in official documents, whether they are, as you say, in Presidential libraries or 

whether they are here in the District of Columbia. I would like an 

answer to my question. 

Mr. FERRIERO. And what I am trying to explain is that my approach to the cuts treated Presidential records and Federal records 

with the same level of—— 

Ms. NORTON. Except that wasn’t my question. My question was 

cuts in operations versus cuts in records. 

Mr. FERRIERO. Those cuts in operations were applied equally 

across Federal records and Presidential records. So the restrictions 

that—— 

Ms. NORTON. You can’t be serious. In the operations of the Archives or—well, let’s take your own operations. You would give as 

44 

much weight to whether or not there is going to be another security 

guard as you would to maintaining the records themselves? 

Mr. FERRIERO. Protection of records, whether they are Federal 

records or Presidential records, are equally important. 

Ms. NORTON. I am not talking about the difference between the 

two records. I am talking about the operations that the taxpayers 

pay for the Presidential libraries. 

Mr. FERRIERO. The taxpayers pay for that security in the Presidential libraries. 

Ms. NORTON. That is what I am talking about, and they pay for 

other operational matters in the Presidential libraries. 

Mr. FERRIERO. That is right. 

Ms. NORTON. So I am not talking about the records. I am talking 

about the operations. 

Mr. FERRIERO. And I am saying that my approach to security, in 

this particular case security of the collections, whether about security guards, would be the same in the Presidential library as it 

would be at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue. 

Ms. NORTON. All right. Mr. Ferriero, I see I am not going to get 

an answer to the question. I am not asking about security. Operations has to do a with a whole lot more than security. I gave you 

an example of if you had one more guard or one less guard, but 

I would be very concerned if you just were to find it as easy to 

apply funds to operational matters as to apply funds to the maintenance of these very important historic documents, and I will bear 

that in mind the next time you come before this committee. 

Mr. Blackwood, I note that you were at one time director of the 

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and were serving simultaneously as the executive director of the private Ronald Reagan 

Presidential Library Foundation. Now, there could be complications 

in simultaneously holding these two positions. You only hold the 

Federal position now; is that the case? 

Mr. BLACKWOOD. Correct. 

Ms. NORTON. Do you feel more comfortable holding only the Federal position inasmuch as you won’t have to resolve possible conflicts of interest? 

Mr. BLACKWOOD. Yes, I think the current model, the way it is 

with the director serving only in that capacity, is the best model. 

Ms. NORTON. Now, that is a matter of policy, isn’t it, Mr. 

Ferriero? 

Mr. FERRIERO. Yes. 

Ms. NORTON. Is it a policy that you made or is it a policy that 

a prior Archivist made? 

Mr. FERRIERO. It was made prior to my arrival, but it is one that 

I support. 

Ms. NORTON. Don’t you believe that that should be the policy of 

the government, not only the policy of the Archivist who may 

change from time to time and therefore change the policy? 

Mr. FERRIERO. It could very well be. 

Ms. NORTON. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you. 

Let me recognize the co-chair of this joint hearing, Mr. Issa. 

Mr. ISSA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

45 

Mr. Ferriero, following up on what the gentlelady from DC said, 

you do have one luxury, I am presuming, and that is, when there 

are cuts in your budget, some of those expenses, if you are not able 

to do them at the 13 Presidential libraries, are going to be taken 

on by the foundation side. So, in some cases, there will be no reduction in service, even if you had to trim some of your duties, right? 

Mr. FERRIERO. In some cases, where there are resources available, it is possible. 

Mr. ISSA. So that is an inherent benefit to the American people, 

that you can operate fairly austerely there while those records are 

maintained, protected, and, as Ms. Roosevelt said, digitized at 

somebody else’s expense, not the Federal Government’s? 

Mr. FERRIERO. The issue is the level of activity that can be sustained. We have backlogs in most of those Presidential libraries in 

terms of basic processing. 

Mr. ISSA. I am going to go to the luxury of riches for a moment. 

Mr. Blackwood, your library is expanding. I had the honor of 

being on the airplane that was delivered just before September 

11th to the Reagan Library, or at least to the airport, and I have 

now seen it repainted in all its glory, all of it basically at no government expense. I think we paid for the fuel to fly it out there. 

But my understanding is we saved money because we didn’t have 

to do an annual maintenance on it if we delivered it to you that 

day. 

The Reagan Library is a wealthy library. There is just a tremendous amount of support for foundation donations to the Reagan Library to continue his legacy. Should we be looking from a standpoint of government at spreading that wealth, at looking and saying, for the long-term sustainability, not when there is 13 but when 

there are 33 libraries, to have some sort of a scheme to make sure 

that the dollars are available from a common foundation or in some 

other way, a non-direct government appropriation, to help make 

sure these libraries are all maintained at a high level? 

And I am going to you first because you are sort of the richest 

library at this particular time, present here today perhaps. 

Mr. BLACKWOOD. I don’t know if we are the richest, but I am 

very fortunate in the support that the Reagan Foundation has provided the Reagan Library because I think it benefits all citizens. 

Whether you visit or come virtually, it is a benefit, and I do recall 

the trip because I was on the plane with you, and it is extraordinary. 

But that is a perfect example of what the foundation has done. 

It was $35 million that they support to build the Air Force One pavilion. In addition, they maintain it on a regular basis. So there is 

zero cost from the government standpoint on that. In addition, 

there was another $9 million that they raised and spent for the 

Discovery Center, $15 million they spent for the recent renovation. 

As it relates to an overall foundation, I think that is a concept 

that should be developed. You would have to go to each of the foundations to see what their support might be. Because I liken our organizations to a family. We have 13 kids and similar, same parents, but different needs and different wants and different expectations. So I think it is worthy of looking into. 

46 

Mr. ISSA. Ms. Roosevelt, perhaps you would be not the oldest but 

the longest standing of the libraries. Your grandfather’s legacy 

lives on; and, as a result, there is no doubt people who contribute. 

But do you believe that we have a likelihood that the poorer stepchildren of the Presidency will, over time, either end up as wards 

of Federal appropriated dollars or simply fall into disrepair? 

Ms. ROOSEVELT. Well, I can imagine such a situation. However, 

I think that there will always be interested private citizens who 

care about history and who care about its preservation. But I 

do—— 

Mr. ISSA. That is the reason for my question, ma’am, is if we 

have interested private citizens, what I was speculating on is, from 

this side of the dais, if we want to not rely on appropriated funds 

for X library—none of yours, but let’s just say X library—should we 

be looking at a national nonprofit entity as an umbrella for contributors who want to contribute to the maintenance of Presidential libraries so that stipend would be available to wherever it was needed? Recognizing that early after a President’s Presidency the funding tends to be good. In fact, it tends to be really great while he 

is still in office, as it turns out; and that is a separate subject of 

investigation. But then, as time goes on, often the people who were 

in the Cabinet and who were a part of that group that does the 

fund-raising, they pass on. Unless there is somebody like you in the 

family, it becomes very hard—or like Caroline Kennedy—to continue their level of fund-raising. 

So my question then would be a question really to everyone on 

the panel sort of sequentially—and it will be my last question—is 

should we on this side of the dais be looking at an umbrella organization, recognizing that we can’t force these contracts to be modified, but we certainly could create the equivalent of public broadcasting but public support that was a central one that would be 

available? Because I, for one, assume that taxpayers are not going 

to be any more willing in the future to appropriate than they are 

today, and yet your needs will continue to increase. 

So that is really the question for each of you that—starting actually with Martha, each of you that have looked at this problem that 

will go on for 200 more years of our history. Please, Doctor. 

Ms. KUMAR. For political scientists, we are politically interested 

in comparative research. So for us going to several libraries is important, and so whether it is a big library or, you know, whether 

it is Hoover in West Branch, all of them are important. 

How to fund them, that is beyond me. I am a user who wants 

to see all of them funded. But I do think, as I was saying in my 

testimony, that I think that there are ways in which academics can 

be involved in trying to do things like create oral history projects— 

because, often, libraries don’t have enough funds for that—and 

maybe do internships, work-study programs to train people to help 

archivists go through papers. 

Mr. ISSA. Thank you. 

Anyone else that wants to comment on this basic concept of 13 

foundations versus a 14th, if you will? David. 

Mr. FERRIERO. It is an interesting concept to contemplate. We 

now get with the amendment to the Presidential Records Act with 

the Bush 43 library, 60 percent of the endowment now will come 

47 

to support the libraries. It is interesting to contemplate a percentage of the endowments from across those libraries going to a common fund would accomplish what you suggest. 

We also should factor in the fact that we want to digitize as 

much as possible. So, in the future, is there a need for physical access to papers? Could papers be centrally stored somewhere, in 

Washington perhaps, because people have digital access? It is another option. 

Mr. ISSA. Anyone else? 

Thank you. I yield back. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you. 

Let me yield to the gentleman from Maryland and the ranking 

member, Mr. Cummings. 

Mr. CUMMINGS. I think I want to direct this question to Dr. 

Kumar and to you, Mr. Ferriero. 

You know, as I listen to this discussion, the thing that bothers 

me is that these are records of Presidents of the United States of 

America. These are records that it shouldn’t be a luxury to maintain them. This is part of our history. When we travel to Greece 

and places like that, although our country is far younger, we hear 

about, we learn about the history, and I guess that is why they 

have the recordings and so that people 5, 7, 800 years from now 

can appreciate this history. 

And I am just wondering do you have an opinion as to whether— 

you know, I understand how we set it up with the foundations and 

everything, but do we have an obligation, in your minds and particularly as an Archivist, to address these issues and these records 

as something that government must be about the business of doing 

and must be about the business of safeguarding as opposed to, let’s 

just say, for example, the foundations fell on hard times, they 

weren’t able to do it? I mean, I just wondered if you had an opinion 

on that. 

Yes, sir, and then I will to go to you. 

Mr. FERRIERO. As I was trying to explain earlier, I feel as responsible and as passionate about those Presidential libraries as I do 

about the records of the agencies that are also in my custody. We 

have an obligation to ensure that they are taken care of, processed, 

and made available to the American public. 

Mr. CUMMINGS. And Dr. Kumar. 

Ms. KUMAR. In my own research, it has made an enormous 

amount of difference to see what it is that Presidents were doing 

at a time, and bringing records together like working in the 

Reagan Library—I was working on some of his speeches—and to 

see—well, you could see his speech text, but then going through the 

notes that the President himself made on it, and the changes that 

he made, made a great deal of difference as to what he did, but— 

in the views that one had of his own work. And I think it takes 

multiple sources and also being there. 

Students, I think in particular, would be the ones who would suffer. Because you bring in people that go into—young people who 

come into the environment of a Presidency like in the White House 

Decision Center at the Truman Library and get to experience what 

kinds of decisions the President made using documents that were 

classified at one time. And it is through things like that that people 

48 

learn what a government does, the benefits of a government, and 

what Presidential leadership is all about. 

Mr. CUMMINGS. Let me cut you off right there, because I have 

a limited amount of time. 

But let me ask you this. My major concern—I have several concerns—one, that we guard these records, that we make them available. And tagging on to something you just said, Dr. Kumar, I want 

to make sure that the kids in my district have access to those 

records, and I want them to be able to—they may never be able to 

visit a Presidential library, not as a kid or even as a young researcher, but I want them to have access. Because that is where 

I think we take our dollars and we stretch them so that more people have the benefit of them. 

And I think it was Mr. Putnam who was talking about the Kennedy Library doing all these wonderful things to make access more 

available, and I was wondering, do the other libraries have similar 

kinds of plans or programs and that kind of thing? 

And, Dr. Ferriero, I am just wondering, I mean, when you are 

dealing with these folks, did you ever say—was there an avenue for 

you to say, look, how can we make these records more accessible 

so that—I mean, and with the Web and all these wonderful tools 

that we have now that I didn’t have as a kid and—but I will tell 

you, I mean, the idea that some kid in Mr. Gowdy’s district in 

South Carolina, which is where my mother and father were former 

sharecroppers, if that little kid could sit there and, you know, go 

on the Internet or whatever and access this library, well, he may 

not be able to make it as a kid but certainly to learn and perhaps 

he will be inspired to go later on. So I am just wondering how does 

that play, and I see Mr. Putnam seems to be anxious to say something. 

Mr. PUTNAM. Well, we did that just last week. All these efforts 

that we digitized were really meant more for the scholars like Dr. 

Kumar. What we developed was an interactive where students 

could actually sit behind President Kennedy’s desk—it is called the 

President’s desk—and Caroline Kennedy helped us to launch it. So 

that a student in your district or a student in South Carolina could 

literally feel what it would be like to sit behind the President’s 

desk. And then they can link on various interactives to tell the 

story of John F. Kennedy and our country’s history and literally listen in to the conversation. 

And as the Archivist mentioned, all of the libraries collaborate. 

We have this interactive Presidential timeline that every library is 

involved in to be sure that it is not just the libraries that have 

these additional resources to make these materials available. 

But one thing related to a question Congressman Issa mentioned, 

even though some of us have foundations that have more resources, 

really, as your question indicated, it is the Federal Government’s 

responsibility to preserve these records, to secure them, to process 

them, and declassify. None of us gets support from our foundations 

to do that. They recognize that that is a Federal responsibility. 

What they help us to do is some of these other interesting 

interactives. 

And the Archivist is a huge proponent of digitalization. My goal 

is to make as much as we have possible available in just the way 

49 

that you described it. Because I am firmly convinced, based on my 

own experience, that if it isn’t online, it doesn’t exist in the minds 

of those kids. 

Ms. KUMAR. And government itself benefits from the library materials and keeping them. Because you don’t want people to make 

the mistakes of the past, and the only way they are going to learn 

is to really find out what happened, and answers are in those 

records. And in every recent administration, they have called upon 

the Presidential library to give them materials that relates to particular instances that they are trying to figure out what happened 

in the past. As I said earlier, the 9/11 Commission relied heavily 

on materials from Presidential libraries. 

Mr. CUMMINGS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very 

much. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you. 

Let me yield now to the gentleman from California and subcommittee chair, Mr. Denham. 

Mr. DENHAM. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

First question I have is to Dr. Schwartz. The Lincoln Presidential 

Library is not part of the National Archives Presidential Library 

system. Can you describe what advantages, disadvantages that 

gives you and support that you would like to receive from the National Archives? 

Mr. SCHWARTZ. Well, obviously, our biggest obstacle is that Lincoln’s records are scattered. By doing the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, we literally went to hundreds of private-public repositories, as 

well as individual collectors in order to try to reassemble the 

record. 

The advantage that the current Presidential libraries system has 

is that those records remain intact, but Lincoln being a 19th century figure, you didn’t have the Records Act which mandated how 

these records were to be maintained and stored. And so we are 

having to actually do this process of reassembling something that 

has been fractured and scattered to the four winds. 

As I indicated, we began as a research facility (research library), 

which had a broader mandate to collect the written history of the 

State of Illinois. When we were in search of getting funding for a 

larger facility for the library, it was also clear to us that the public 

had this great desire. They were seeing these records not as research materials but really as items for inspiration: for example, 

the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th 

Amendment. And so in order to satisfy that need of the public, seeing these items more as artifacts, historical artifacts for inspiration, that is where the museum component came in. 

What we do, though, is in the museum we have a specific effects 

theater called Ghosts of the Library, which makes the connection 

between what the research library does and the historical content 

that they find in the museum; and being a public institution, supported by the State of Illinois, we encourage people on the museum 

side to go visit the library side and to examine some of these 

records for themselves. 

So our biggest problem, obviously, is Lincoln has been dead for 

almost 150 years, and there is no group of wealthy donors that 

typically funds Presidential libraries and museums while the PresiVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:10 Aug 22, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 P:\HEARINGS\112\FULLCO~1\2-28-1~1\65446.TXT JEAN
50 

dent remains alive. However, Lincoln still has such an iconic position within the leadership of this country that we do have a strong 

donor base, and we are constantly looking for ways to expand that. 

Mr. DENHAM. So advantages or disadvantages compared to, say, 

the system that Mr. Blackwood enjoys in California. 

Mr. SCHWARTZ. He has the advantage that many of President 

Reagan’s close associates and donors remain alive and supportive 

of the institution, and he also has an advantage of having one of 

the most popular modern Presidents, and that is a great advantage. 

Our advantage is that Lincoln still is popular within the broad 

general audience, but it is more difficult for us to take that popularity and to translate it into actual donations and membership 

support. 

Mr. DENHAM. And how about receiving funds locally from State 

and local organizations versus being part of the Federal system? 

Mr. SCHWARTZ. Being in the capital city of Illinois, which is 

maybe 118,000 people, it does not have a broad corporate base to 

draw upon, and we are in constant competition with trying to go 

to Chicago, which has that kind of corporate donor base, to compete 

with other cultural institutions located in Chicago. And so it is a 

challenge. But, again, we are not only reaching out to funding 

sources within Illinois but nationally, and I think that is the only 

way that any cultural institution can hope to survive. 

Mr. DENHAM. Thank you. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you. 

Pleased to recognize the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. 

Altmire. 

Mr. ALTMIRE. Thank you. 

I very much appreciate all of you being here, even those in the 

audience from other libraries and museums around the country. 

And, Ms. Roosevelt, it struck me when you were speaking that 

we all, as the chairman said, feel a personal interest in this as 

Americans, but you, of course, have a very personal interest in that 

particular library. You said in your very eloquent remarks that one 

of the purposes of the museum and the library is to carry on the 

legacy and values of your grandparents. And it struck me, in the 

context of what we are looking at today with regard to the funding 

of libraries and the ongoing support, there is the initial construction, but then there is the ongoing maintenance and operational expense, and it led me to think the different roles that these libraries 

and museums play. 

There is the library, the research component which we are focused on today which, thankfully, because of technology, more people are going to have access over the years. But there is the museum side, which is the library themselves making a determination, this is how we are going to present this former President, this 

is the light in which we are going to cast upon that President. 

And then there is the programming side, and museums have different missions with regard to programming. The Carter Center, 

for example, has a very specific programming mission and reason 

for carrying on that mission. 

And I wanted to ask the Archivist, in that context, under the current Presidential records law, there is no ability to edit documents 

51 

or prioritize them or in any way politically one way or the other 

manage them; is that correct? 

Mr. FERRIERO. That is correct, and one of the great things about 

having the records is that we let the records speak for themselves. 

So attempts at—whether it is a user or other people trying to twist 

history, we have the documentation to back it up. 

Mr. ALTMIRE. And there have been very recent examples of libraries that have opened up their doors to researchers who have 

written very decorated books, Pulitzer Prize winners that were not 

entirely flattering to the subject, but that document is actually 

there, and you can interpret it however you want. 

Mr. FERRIERO. Exactly. 

Mr. ALTMIRE. However, on the museum and programming side, 

the concern—not a concern but I think it is worth discussing in the 

context of today—is when donors give money, especially when the 

individual may still be President or very recently had been President, what is the motivation of the donor, rhetorically? 

But something we are concerned about, the difference between 

public money, taxpayer money, and private money, and I understand foundations versus, you know, corporate or individual giving. 

But I would ask Mr. Putnam and Mr. Blackwood especially, how 

do you see the difference between the mission of libraries and your 

responsibility to portray the President fairly and in a very public 

way, but what is the expectation when private money comes in 

versus public money, and what would be the difference in the way 

libraries in the future would carry out their museum function? 

Mr. PUTNAM. Well, I very much appreciate the support that we 

receive from our foundation, but it always comes with the understanding that it is the Federal employees who make the final decisions. So, for instance, in our museum, it is a Federal employee 

who is the curator. She writes the text that gets approved by me. 

There is no influence at all from the foundation. Similarly, our 

foundation helps support our digitalization project, but it is clear 

that it is the chief archivist who decides which collection gets 

digitized and the priorities. 

So I think that should be the model, that the foundation can receive funds, but the Federal employees, again, are the ones who 

protect these records, help interpret them, and are in charge of how 

we portray those stories to the public. 

Mr. BLACKWOOD. I would agree with my colleague, Mr. Putnam; 

and we are similar at the Reagan Library. While the support that 

the foundation provides us is extraordinary, we work hand in hand 

for that balance, and we are very much a part of that process. 

Mr. ALTMIRE. Thank you. 

I would ask Dr. Kumar, with regard to the funding issue, there 

have been some Presidents—well, all Presidents, they are human 

and they have things that they would like to see portrayed and 

things they would like to see perhaps not shown to the public, at 

least not emphasized. Do you have a concern as a historian of the 

ability for libraries to water over or gloss over issues that perhaps 

might be something that the former President would want to see? 

So some of them have had very public failings. Do you think that 

public versus private money can in any way lead to influencing the 

way that the museum operates and the programming operates? 

52 

Ms. KUMAR. Well, I think that the Presidents understand there 

are going to be a lot of warts in their administration, and everything that they have done is not perfect, and they accept that and 

they probably accept it a little more than some of their relatives 

do. 

But I think there is probably a real difference among families, 

for example, and their support for opening things up. For example, 

in the Johnson Library, Lady Bird Johnson and the two daughters 

were very much behind opening up all the tape recordings before 

President Johnson even had wanted them to be released. And I 

think, you know, that the Archives knows what its mission is and 

the people that are the directors of the library. 

Now, sometimes there will be conflicts like, say, in the Nixon Library, but you are going to find, for example, there is going to be 

an exhibit on Watergate that is going to look at Watergate in a fair 

manner. And so I think in the long run the documents do speak 

for themselves and that the people who are the archivists are very 

interested in protecting documents, and then they know well which 

ones are important to decisionmaking and I think those ultimately 

win out. 

Mr. ALTMIRE. Thank you. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. MICA. Thank you. 

Let me yield now to the chair of another subcommittee of jurisdiction, the gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Gowdy. 

Mr. GOWDY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Blackwood, Ms. Roosevelt was very eloquent in noting that 

libraries are repositories for information that is both good and bad. 

Dr. Kumar just used the word ‘‘fair.’’ Those phrases are inherently 

subjective. So how do we reconcile advocacy with history in determining what is historically significant, what is good, bad, and fair? 

Mr. BLACKWOOD. First of all, historically significant, I think 

there is the obvious ones that you can point to in each of our administrations, but there is going to be those that are interpretive, 

just like what is fair and what is right and what should be. I think 

it needs to be a collaborative effort; and I think that is what each 

of us, all the Presidential libraries, work toward, is working with 

the foundation, working with the documents, the realities of the administration to put that forth. 

But because we are humans, you are always going to have that 

variance, but I feel very proud with what we have been able to accomplish and, quite frankly, with my colleagues, and we are very 

fortunate to be able to have that support to be able to do that. 

Mr. GOWDY. Dr. Schwartz, is fund-raising during the term in office problematic? And regardless of whether you think it is or not, 

do you advocate public disclosure of donors? 

Mr. SCHWARTZ. Obviously, that is not an issue that we have a 

problem with. 

Mr. GOWDY. That is why I asked you. 

Mr. SCHWARTZ. But in terms of, you know, the current system, 

I think more transparency is better than less. 

Mr. GOWDY. And the current system, for those who may not be 

familiar with it, is what? 

53 

Mr. SCHWARTZ. I believe that it is up to the individual foundation 

of whether those names are released or not. 

Mr. GOWDY. Mr. Ferriero, I was privileged to go to the Archives 

recently and was thoroughly impressed with your staff and your 

hospitality; and I, given my background, was particularly interested in the safety and what you have done with respect to theft 

and vandalism. Can you speak to that and whether or not you 

think the safeguards are sufficient as is? 

Mr. FERRIERO. A culture of vigilance is something that I bring to 

the Archives from my previous lives in research and libraries. This 

is not something that you can say that you have done everything 

that you possibly can to protect the collection. It is something that 

I worry about all the time, and I will continue to worry about and 

ensure that we do everything possible to walk this fine line between protecting what we have and making it available to the 

American public. It is a challenge every day because anyone who 

wants to either steal or destroy or alter a document and is really 

serious about it, there are ways of accomplishing that, and our job 

is to ensure that they don’t have those opportunities. 

Mr. GOWDY. Yes, sir. 

Dr. Kumar, would you be willing to weigh in on the funding, 

whether or not the database of donors should be public, whether 

or not there should be any Chinese wall, so to speak, between the 

donors and the officeholder? What system would you advocate? 

Ms. KUMAR. Well, as a scholar, I am certainly a believer in transparency, but I think it ends up depending upon what the agreements were that people made earlier, and so to make records available now I think is difficult for various libraries. I mean, you can 

start a pattern for the future about what you expect in terms of 

transparency. 

Mr. GOWDY. Would you advocate a pattern that did not allow 

fund-raising during the term in office? 

Ms. KUMAR. I think that is a difficult one. I am not convinced 

that the kinds of efforts that have been made at this point in the 

last administrations has made any difference. I don’t see where donors got anything, you know, whether they got appointments or 

something like that. I would have to be convinced, because I don’t 

see that that has been the case. I see the concern that you have, 

but it may be that transparency would be the answer during the 

period of the administration. 

Mr. GOWDY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. MICA. Very good questions, Mr. Gowdy. I had a couple of 

those on my mind. 

Back to the Archivist, just to assure everyone, you know, we did 

have a situation—I think Mr. Altmire talked about twisting history—but the question of access that a President would have, as we 

had with the Berger case when some of his aides—and I think you 

said you have put in place as many protections as you can, but you 

can’t absolutely guarantee. Is that the case? 

Mr. FERRIERO. That one was actually relatively easy to address 

in that those kinds of records, Presidential records, when they are 

being reviewed or used by a member of an administration, will be 

done in a SCIF, a protected area, and with someone watching. 

That is—— 

54 

Mr. MICA. Well, again, we need to make certain that we have as 

many protections in place as Representatives Gowdy and Altmire 

have brought attention to. 

I think the other question of the donors is a lot of popularity for 

a President when they are in office and as they are leaving office 

they have a lot of supporters, and it dramatically drops off. It is 

a lot harder. But I think the conclusion reached by everyone was, 

again, to encourage transparency in that process. We may have 

more discussions about that this afternoon. 

Just a couple of quick things again to the Archivist. Again, we 

have—in time and space, we have a dozen libraries, Presidential libraries and others; and they are now looking at maintaining their 

records and files and digitizing them. Is there a standard format 

that has been developed for all of that information? 

And the other thing, too, for those that may be watching the 

hearing, can they access it through the National Archives or do 

they have to go to each independent library? Maybe you could explain the setup we have, again, for a coordinated effort to make 

that information and those digitized records available. 

Mr. FERRIERO. The user has options to go to the individual library or to go to the National Archives or the first line of defense 

for most folks is Google. And these records are searchable, retrievable through Google, so they have lots of different options. 

Mr. MICA. About the coordination with the Library of Congress, 

we will be meeting with the Librarian in a few minutes. That is 

also coordinated as far as format, access? 

Mr. FERRIERO. There are national standards that we are using 

in the Archives, the same national standards that we actually 

helped develop with the Library of Congress. We do a lot of 

digitization, preservation work with the Library of Congress. 

Mr. MICA. OK. Ms. Roosevelt, in closing, I had a great opportunity when I was in high school. I attended a debate tournament 

at Emory University, and I heard your grandmother speak. It had 

to be about 1959, I believe, at Emory University. I will never forget 

that experience, which seeing you today makes me reflect on that 

experience. 

Here is a question I don’t know the answer to. We cover the 

Presidents, but what about the First Ladies and their records? Are 

they adequately covered? And some of I guess your grandmother’s 

records and documents, are they also covered adequately? 

Ms. ROOSEVELT. Well, I believe that the records of my grandmother’s activities are the most complete at the Roosevelt Presidential Library. I am not sure that the First Ladies are covered as 

extensively, perhaps some of the more recent libraries have. But 

surely as these wives of our Presidents have acted on behalf of the 

government their papers are important for the understanding of 

how we operate. 

Mr. MICA. And maybe the Archivist and Mr. Putnam had his 

hand up. 

Mr. PUTNAM. I can just speak for the deed of gifts library. So we 

recently negotiated a deed with Caroline Kennedy for all of her 

mother’s papers. We are in the process of processing those, and 

they will be open next fall. So it was contingent, though, on Caroline Kennedy giving us those papers in the same way that the KenVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:10 Aug 22, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 P:\HEARINGS\112\FULLCO~1\2-28-1~1\65446.TXT JEAN
55 

nedy family gave us the records of President Kennedy. But, again, 

that is because I operate a deed of gift library. 

Mr. MICA. Any standardization of that, Mr. Archivist? 

Mr. FERRIERO. I think across the Presidential library system the 

goal is to acquire and make available in the same way we do the 

Presidents’ papers. It is a very timely question. Tomorrow, at 

American University, is an all-day conference on the First Ladies. 

Mr. MICA. Great timing. 

Any Members have any other questions? 

Well, we are going adjourn in just a second this hearing, our formal hearing. We will reconvene at 2:30, and we have many distinguished leaders of some of the various Presidential libraries. We 

couldn’t get everyone on the panel. We would be here until midnight. But we will have an opportunity for everyone to participate 

at 2:30 in the Cannon Caucus Room. We will reconvene in a more 

informal setting and hopefully a productive setting, too, both for 

Members of Congress and also those who are engaged on a daily 

basis with operating, maintaining, and looking at the future of our 

Presidential libraries. 

We hope in our discussions this afternoon to continue focus on 

the relationship between the Federal Government and our Presidential libraries, both the public and private. We also want to discuss strengthening partnerships among the libraries, both Federal 

and non-Federal. 

And then again I think it is important that we look at facilitating 

the relationships that we have, various connections, technology, 

working with academia, other libraries, and again both the National Archives and the Library of Congress and each of the individual institutions. So I think we could have a good discussion this 

afternoon, an informal setting. Everyone is invited to participate in 

that. 

There being no further business before the joint committees, 

Transportation and Infrastructure and Oversight and Government 

Reform, this hearing is adjourned. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 12:38 p.m., the committees were adjourned.] 

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