Maarja,

I'm having to rely on my memory a week after the hearing, so I report this 
with the caveat that I may get something wrong.  As I tell people, I'm an 
archivist because if I don't create a record, I'm going to forget it <g>.

Archivist Weinstein did refer to possible reductions in force (RIFs).  I 
was very pleased that he stressed that, as far as was possible, no one 
would be forced out of federal service against their will.  He stressed 
that NARA staff was looking for creative ways to balance competing demands 
on the budget.

In many ways, the issue at hand is a symptom of a larger problem: the lack 
of support for the National Archives.  At the Joint SAA, NAGARA, COSA 
meeting, Archivist Weinstein commented "How many archivists does it take to 
change a policy?  All of them." 

We need to work together to get NARA the resources it needs to do its job, 
a job that benefits us as citizens and that I believe is good for the 
profession as a whole.  A stronger NARA can take a stronger leadership 
position.  Part of that advocacy must be for the Partnership for the 
American Historical Record (PAHR), a significantly expanded grant program 
that will provide archives throughout the nation with funds to ensure that 
all of the nation's records are properly preserved. (For more on PAHR, see 
http://www.statearchivists.org/issues/NHPRC2007/pahr.htm.)

-- Richard Pearce-Moses

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