President Requests $460M for National Archives FY11 Budget

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President Barack Obama today sent to Congress a proposed Fiscal Year 2011 budget request for the Federal Government that calls for $460,287,000 for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  

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The requested amount for NARA is a two percent decrease from the FY 2010 appropriated funding levels of $469,870,000.

"Given the tight fiscal constraints the Federal Government is under, we are pleased that the President recognizes our vital mission to preserve the nation's most important records and to make them accessible to the public as soon as possible," said Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero.

"This funding will allow us to hire additional personnel to monitor the security of our holdings, speed the processing of classified and other sensitive records, help ensure a new generation of archivists for the future, and improve the research environment and the visitor experience for those who come to the National Archives Building to view the Charters of Freedom and related exhibits," he added.

Although the President is requesting decreased overall funding for NARA, he is seeking increased Operating Expenses (OE) funding of $348,689,000, up from this year's appropriated level of $339,770,000, or a 2.6 percent increase.  The OE base increase will fund the increased costs for staff, energy, security, building operations, and information technology requirements.

The OE increase will also allow NARA to hire 57 new full-time staff members to support a variety of programs. Resources have been provided to staff and operate the new National Declassification Center (NDC).  The President established the NDC within NARA to overhaul the government's system of  declassifying material.  A new "holdings protection team" has been created to protect NARA holdings from internal and external threats.  This team will develop loss prevention training and conduct compliance inspections.  Staff resources under the Information Security Oversight Office have been increased for the Controlled Unclassified Information Office to support expanded mission requirements.  Finally, this increase in OE funding will support 12 new entry-level staff archivists, which will enable NARA to continue building a cadre of new archivists to address the agency's growing records management workload.

The President also recommends a 3.7 percent increase in the budget for NARA's Inspector General to hire one additional auditor.

For continued development and deployment of the Electronic Records Archives (ERA), the President is seeking $85,500,000, the same amount appropriated for the current fiscal year. The ERA is NARA's response to the rapidly increasing numbers of electronic records being created by the  Federal Government, and will preserve these important records so that they can be viewed by anyone, anywhere, at any time.

For Repairs and Restoration (R&R) to NARA-owned buildings, the President is seeking $11,848,000, a decrease of 57 percent from the current year's level. Of this, $6,848,000 is for base R&R requirements for NARA owned buildings, and $5,000,000 is for the top priority project on NARA's Capital Improvements Plan, which calls for changes to the infrastructure on the ground floor of the National Archives Building in Washington.  These changes at the National Archives Building will   enable the eventual creation of an orientation plaza to improve visitors' ability to find their way to the Charters of Freedom, Public Vaults, Theatre, and temporary exhibit gallery.  It will also create space for a new Freedom Hall gallery, expand the gift shop and create a MyArchives gallery area that will allow visitors a glimpse into the research side of the Archives.  The Foundation for the National Archives has committed to raising funds for this project as well.

Additionally, the budget requests to remove restrictions on $3,198,000 in prior year project funding to cover base repairs and restoration requirements.  (The current year's R&R appropriation included $17,500,000 for the last funding installment for renovations at the Roosevelt Presidential Library.)  

For the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grant-making arm of the National Archives, we are pleased to report that the President is seeking $10,000,000 for this important program.

SOURCE National Archives

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