Bill Requiring Disclosure of Donors to Presidential Libraries

On February 28, 2007, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on changing the presidential library funding disclosure process. Sharon K. Fawcett, Assistant Archivist for Presidential Libraries, testified on behalf of NARA. Also testifying were Celia Viggo Wexler of Common Cause and Sheila Krumholz of the Center for Responsive Politics.

On March 1, Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced legislation (H.R. 1254) to require presidential library foundations to disclose the identity of their donors to Congress and the National Archives while the President is in office and up to such time as the foundation officially turns the facility over to the National Archives. The minimum reporting period would be four years after the end of a president’s term, and requires the amount and date of each contribution in excess of $200 to be disclosed. If the contributor is an individual, the occupation of the contributor must also be disclosed. Chairman Waxman stated that he plans to markup the bill next week.

Ms. Fawcett, stated that the Administration had no official comment to make on Waxman’s proposal. She said the Archives appreciated Waxman’s requirement to end disclosure at the point when the facility is turned over to the government as opposed to a longer period of time. Ms. Fawcett questioned whether NARA was the proper agency to police the disclosure requirement since it would require additional financial resources and the agency lacks the expertise in this regard. She also expressed concerns about possible conflicts of interest since the presidential libraries are a partnership between NARA and the foundations that support them.

A link to the testimony presented at the hearing, and the legislation, is available at the Committee’s website at: http://oversight.house.gov