Duke Archivist Speaks Against Denying Access to Presidential Records

Steven Hensen, head of Technical Services for Duke's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library,  testified before the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives on 1 March. Hensen's statement is available at http://archivists.org/

While serving as president of the Society of American Archivists, Hensen testified against Executive Order 13233, which reversed the intent of the 1978 Presidential Records Act by giving a sitting president (and even ex-presidents and their families) the authority to withhold release of a previous president’s records. This issue has come to forefront again with discussion of placing President Bush's library at Southern Methodist University.

• ilene.nelson@duke.edu
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