From ALA's Action Alert:
The Presidential Records Act Amendments bill
(H.R.1255)
is currently being prevented from a vote in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY). He has not stated his reasons for doing so. H.R.1255 removes restrictions placed by President Bush's 2001 Executive Order 13233 and enhances the Presidential Records Act, one of the nation's most important open-government laws.
On March 14, 2007, by a vote of 333-93, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 1255.
More information is available at:
http://www.capwiz.com/ala/issues/alert/?alertid=10372136
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Further Background:
In November 2001, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13233, which gave current and former Presidents and Vice Presidents broad authority to withhold Presidential records or delay their release indefinitely. The Presidential Records Act Amendments (H.R.1255) would nullify the Bush executive order and restore the principle that the records of our highest elected public official belong to the people. This bill passed the House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support by a vote of 333-93 on March 14, 2007, but it is now held up in the Senate by a hold placed by Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky. ALA supports H.R.1255 and has issued an action alert seeking the release of Sen. Bunning's hold so the bill can move forward.
This National Action Alert Network (NAAN) release is intended to support that effort.

Action:
*****KENTUCKY RESIDENTS: Your participation is doubly critical. Your junior Senator, Jim Bunning, is responsible for the hold on the bill, and your senior Senator, Mitch McConnell, has a special responsibility as Minority Leader to help move the bill through the Senate. Please call Sen. Bunning's office and ask that he release his hold on the bill so it can be scheduled for a vote. His direct office number is 202-224-4343. Please ask Sen.
McConnell to urge Sen. Bunning to take these steps; his direct office number is 202-224-2541. Hearing from as many of *their* constituents as possible will be crucial. Talking points and a sample email/fax are below.


*****Other States: Please call, fax, or e-mail your Senators (do not use U.S.
mail). Their contact information is available from the U.S. Senate website:


<http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm>
http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
<http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm>

<http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm>
Talking Points:
I'm calling to ask Senator _____________ to urge his/her colleague, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to have Sen. Bunning release the hold on H.R. 1255, Presidential Records Act Amendments bill, so it can be brought to the senate floor. HR 1255 will nullify Executive Order 13233, signed by President Bush in 2001. E.O. 13233 amended the Presidential Records Act of 1978, restricting the public's access to presidential records after a president leaves office. H.R. 1255 will do the following to restore the public's
access:
- Establish a Deadline for restriction of release. Under EO 13233,
records are released when both the current and former president approve the
release. If neither approves the release, the records stay hidden from
public view. H.R. 1255 will set a time period of 40 business days to
raise objection to the release of the records. If no objections are raised,
the records are presented to the public.

- Limit the power of former presidents to withhold records. EO 13233
allows the former president to withhold his/her records from public view
unless a court ordered them released, placing the burden of proof on the
public. HR 1255 will reverse this process: the former president will need
to get a court order to prevent the records from being released, placing the
burden of proof on the president.

- Limit Vice Presidential Power. Under EO 13233, the vice president
may claim executive privilege and withhold presidential records, an
unprecedented step. H.R. 1255 will restore the long standing
precedent that executive privilege resides with the president, and not the
vice president.

- Only the President has the power to make privilege claims. EO 13233
allowed for the former president to bequeath executive privilege to
assistants, relatives or descendants, thus allowing the designate to keep
the records hidden from the public indefinitely. HR 1255 will nullify this
claim and allow only the current president to restrict access to records.


Email/Fax:

To the Honorable Senator ___________
I am writing to express my support for the Presidential Records Act Amendments (H.R. 1255) and to ask you to urge your colleague, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to have Sen. Bunning release the hold on this important bill. I support this bill because it will nullify Executive Order 13233, signed by President Bush in 2001, and re-establish procedures to ensure the timely release of Presidential records.
The records of the highest elected public office in the country, the President of the United States, belong to the people and are official evidence of government activities. Presidential records, preserved and made accessible by the National Archives, document the decisions and operation of the executive branch and contribute to cultural and historical understanding and scholarship.
Access to these records is a basic element of citizenship in a government by the people. I urge you to add your influential voice to those who are calling for this principle to be restored to our Nation's laws.
Sincerely,