This came in via the South Central Kentucky list. I discussed it with Gracie and we decided that it was important because even though there is no Bowles material in it, there may be Bowles material in what we might be denied seeing. Read it, then make your own decision about signing the petition. Linne From Bill Utterback [a regular contributor on the S. Central KY list]: I was made aware a few days ago of budgetary cuts recommended for FY 2006 that will directly affect our ability to continue to see further advancements in digital conversion of all types of records(including those related to genealogy and history). This will affect the National Archives & Records Administration, as well as the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, both of which are mainstays in the efforts to preserve and make available our national, state and local records. Below is the news release on this matter. You can see that some very influential groups, including the American Society of Archivists, of which I was a member for a number of years, are reacting to this budget cut proposal. While I rarely suggest on any list which I host that our subscribers become involved through the petition route or by other means, this situation is one that must be corrected before it occurs. The means and sites to express your opinion, if you care to do so, is included in the message below. The President's budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2006 slash or eliminate more than 150 federal programs. In that budget, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) has been targeted to receive NO funding. This includes no funds for the grants program and no funds for staffing to support the NHPRC programs. It effectively eliminates NHPRC. The Council of State Historical Records Coordinators, the Society of American Archivists, and the National Association for Government Archivists and Records Administrators are working collaboratively to address this threat to NHPRC and NARA. Archivists across the U.S. are rallying to save NHPRC while also ensuring that NARA has sufficient funding to sustain its current programs and continue to advance in areas that benefit all archival repositories and every citizen of the United States As part of our efforts to continue to express to Congress interest in restoration of funding for NHPRC, we have created an online petition. Please consider signing this petition, and please forward it to any listservs, e-mail groups, or organizations and people you feel would be interested in helping with this effort. It is a quick and easy way for many people to assist. The petition will be forwarded to the House Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee on Treasury, Transportation, HUD and the Judiciary in late May. The petition can be access at: www.savearchives.org Click on the "petition" button. If you have not received a previous action alert on this issue, we encourage you to also write a letter to your members of Congress. For information on writing letters of support, see any of the following websites: www.savearchives.org www.coshrc.org www.archivists.org Thanks for your efforts to save this important program for archives! Members of the NHPRC Joint Advocacy Task Force Council of State Historical Records Coordinators: David Carmicheal, Sandra Clark, Kathleen Roe Society of American Archivists: Nancy Beaumont, Peter Gottlieb, Rand Jimerson, Joan Krizack, Richard Pearce-Moses National Association of Government Archivists and Records Administrators: Timothy Slavin