Subject: Fw: About NARA. Please Read this Carefully Just received this and thought I would share it with the list. We all need to take action. > Get Congress on our side!! > I know that many of you have ordered documents from the National Achives and > Records Administration called NARA for short. This is the federal agency > which has *our* pension records, bounty land records, military records, > passenger lists as well as other records of importance to a genealogist. > > NARA is proposing a rate increase. Not a small one to cover the cost of > living but a VERY LARGE increase! The records most often sought, the pension > records of our ancestors, will have a 400% increase in Sept. unless we make > our voices heard. > > Several years ago, when NARA was threatened with a dramatic funding cut, they > appealed to genealogist to write and express our opinions and > dissatisfaction. We did and basically *saved* them. Now it is our turn to > speak out on this issue too. > > First visit this site, it is the NARA site that tells you about the proposed > fee increases. Some of you can hyperlink and others will need to copy and > paste the page. Either way, read it carefully. Yes, it is your typical > government document full of mumble jumble and you have to wade through all of > that. But the new fees are listed. All increases are far more than a modest > increase! > > Now is the time we can act together. We can write an email, send a fax or > better yet, a snail mail letter to NARA. In addition, notify you congressman > and any other official you know to express your dissatisfaction in this most > unfair rate increase. > > The time is NOW. The cut off date for getting your opinions in is June 26, > 2000. Although the increase is not scheduled until Sept., we must act now to > get them to rethink this gigantic increase. > > Thank you for reading this. Please take the time to write a similar message > to each of the mailing list you receive, and send to them as well as to each > genealogist that you personally correspond with and encourage them to do the > same. Together we can be a Million Genealogist On Line Against Fee > Increases!! > > With elections not far away, I do not think congress wants to make a VERY > Large group of constituents upset!! So go below and click or copy and see > for yourselves what is proposed and then write your letter now, not tomorrow, > not next week. NOW. > > <A HREF="http://www.nara.gov/nara/fees-pro.html">Proposed Rule NARA Fee > Schedule-36 CFR Part 1258</A> or > > http://www.nara.gov/nara/fees-pro.html > > Thanks. Gale >