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Subject: Order hides papers from researchers Author: No name [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 16:07:30 12/03/01 Mon from Erth...thanks! Editorial Order hides papers from researchers By The Journal editorial board http://www.rapidcityjournal.com History and open government were dealt a blow earlier this month when President George W. Bush issued an executive order that allows presidents and former presidents to prevent public access to presidential papers. The executive order turns the 1978 Presidential Records Act on its head by making it easier to hide presidential records from public scrutiny. The 1978 law required presidential libraries to make presidential records available to the public after a period of 12 years. A former president could seek to block disclosure of confidential papers with the decision left to the archivist of the United States. If the archivist ruled against the confidentiality claim, the former president could take the matter to court. Bush's order lets sitting presidents, former presidents and their heirs block access to documents from researchers. With the order, the archivist's role has been removed altogether, and the burden of proving their claim in court has now been shifted to the historian or researcher. The administration argues that the order makes the release of presidential papers "more orderly and sympathetic," but that argument is without merit. The order makes it more difficult, not easier, to gain access to presidential records. The suspicion in Washington is that Bush signed the order to avoid embarrassing many of his senior advisers who also served in the Reagan and Bush senior administrations. The 1978 law had ample safeguards to prevent disclosure of confidential or national security matters from reaching the public. Bush's executive order increases secrecy and makes the job of writing history more difficult. Bush should rescind his order, and if he fails to do so, Congress should override it. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]