I apologize for the cross posting, however this is a very important issue for genealogists. The following message was distributed to those attending last week's Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Boston. The federal budget for next year reduced NARA's funding by $22 million. This budget cut is forcing NARA to consider reducing their hours. The proposed hours are 9 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday, which eliminates all evening and weekend hours. This change affects genealogical and historical researchers, especially those who cannot visit the Archives during normal business hours. If you are not interested in signing the petition, please consider writing to your Congressman and the Senators. You can contact Congressmen at http://www.house.gov/writerep/ and find contact information for Senators at http://www.senate.gov. *** Dear Conference Attendee: We were honored to have Dr. Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States attend the FGS/NEHGS 2006 Conference in Boston and to address us in the Opening Session on Thursday, August 31, 2006. Following his remarks, he was presented with a letter by the Chair of the Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC) addressing concerns about the proposed changes in the hours of operation for the Research Rooms at the National Archives. It has come to our attention that very few of our constituencies are making their voices heard on this issue. This lack of response sends a loud signal to the Archives that this is not a serious issue and that closing the Archives on evenings and Saturdays is irrelevant. The RPAC has recommended the following suggestions for the Archives to consider: 1) To accommodate the needs of those who need access on Saturdays, we propose that you close one other day per week. This would be at your discretion. Other archives often close Sunday and Monday. 2) Users who need evening hour access could be accommodated by opening the archives later in the day, again at your discretion. If you agree with the recommendations stated above, we are asking your support by immediately going on-line and adding your "signature" to our petition to substitute the hours of access and still help the archives to meet their need to consolidate their hours of operation. Before 8 September 2006, please go to: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FGS2006/petition.html (Case sensitive) If you would like to send your own personal letter, send it prior to 8 September 2006 and address it to: Regulations Comments Desk (NPOL) Room 4100, Policy and Planning Staff National Archives and Records Administration 8601 Adelphi Road College Park, MD 20740-6001