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"All
Legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the
United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." |
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Fourth Annual Meeting of the
Association of Centers for the Study of Congress May 10-11, 2006 Thomas J. Dodd
Research Center
Agenda
Tuesday, May 9, 2005 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm : Reception and
Tours of Dodd Research Center Wednesday, May 10 8:00 am - 9:00 am: Registration 9:00 am - 10:15 am: Keynote Address and Discussion Documenting Democracy
10:15 am - 10:30 am: Break 10:30 am - 12:00
pm:
Overcoming Government Secrecy: Using Congressional Papers to Understand CIA’s History
A Window on the Homefront: The Value of Constituent Correspondence in Understanding American Response to Foreign Policy
12:00 pm - 1:15 pm: Lunch 1:15 pm - 2:45 pm: Creative Synergy: New Ways of Delivering Congressional Collections Never Having to Darken the Door: Delivering Exhibits Online
Online Finding Aids: Unleashing the Power of Google
What I Learned About My Own Collection as I Processed It
2:45 pm - 3:00 pm: Break 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm: Panel Discussion Mixed Metaphors: Establishing Congress Center Focus and Institutional Relationships
6:30 pm - 7:15 pm: Cocktail Reception 7:15 pm - 9:00 pm: Dinner, Nathan Hale Inn Thursday, May 11 9:00 am - 10:30 am: Open Membership Discussion Association for the Centers for the Study of Congress:
Report on dues structure for the ACSC Open discussion of all members on topics of ACSC services and programs, collaborative projects, grant opportunities, and similar issues. 10:30 am - 10:45 am: Break 10:45 am - 12:15 pm: The Polls, The Public and Congress Information on Public Opinion and Congress: The Roper Center’s Resources
The People’s Branch: Current Issues in Congressional Representation of Constituent Interests
12:15 pm - 1:15 pm: Lunch 1:15 pm - 2:15 pm: Business Meeting Election of Officers & Board, Approval of the ACSC Dues Structure 2:15 pm: Meeting Adjourns Video
Greeting to the Annual Conference of Thomas J.
Dodd Research Center, May 10, 2006
My thanks to all of you gathered there at the Dodd Center at UCONN for inviting me to welcome you to this important conference. I regret that I’m not able to join you in person, since the Senate is in session and voting today. Under current leadership, the Senate usually only votes Tuesday afternoon through Thursday night, so in the Senate Wednesday is considered a real full-time workday! But seriously, this audience more than most will appreciate the need for me to be here in the Senate to do the work of the people of Connecticut. I do regret missing your discussions, since the agenda your members have developed looks fascinating. Your gathering reminds me of a true story told by a University of MN archivist about Hubert Humphrey. She was proudly showing off the seemingly endless rows of shelves of his Senatorial and Vice-Presidential papers to the senator, arranged in special acid-free boxes carefully embossed with the Senate or Vice-Presidential seal. Humphrey looked at the vast array stretched out in front of him and said "Lord, they always complained that I talked too much. I guess they weren’t kidding.” The Association and the Congressional Centers you represent can play a key part in renewing our democracy, in shaping our grand national democratic experiment. In an era when anger, cynicism, extremism and polarization too often hold sway, your voices of reason are essential. And believe me, with Congressional approval ratings hovering in the low 20’s, driven in part by recent Congressional scandals centered in the people’s House… with national voter turnout rates still among the lowest in the western world...with too many Americans taking our democratic system for granted, assuming it will work as well as it has for over 200 years without their active civic engagement….and with Americans’ increasing distrust of our government institutions … it’s clear that the Congress needs your help now more than ever. Help to better explain to Americans what we in Congress do, help to describe how the legislative process works -- and help to discern ways to improve the democratic process, making it more open, accountable and responsive. From combating government secrecy and promoting openness to preserving Congressional collections and archives; from promoting scholarship on Congress and representative government to explaining to Americans more clearly how Congress works, the mission of the Association is enormously important. As I look back on the last few decades, it’s clear we have come a long way on all these fronts. But we still have a ways to go. Your contributions to assessing what we in Congress do and how we do it, and your recommendations to make Congress more effective and more accountable to those whom we serve are important to all of us. We are partners in these efforts. I’m delighted the Dodd Center is hosting this important gathering, and want to acknowledge the important work of Tom Wilsted, the Director of the Center, and his staff; Ray Smock, the distinguished former historian of the House and now your President; the staff of the Association, and all those who worked hard to make this conference a success. I also want to welcome my former colleague Congressman Glen Browder, whose many contributions in the area of national security, and thinking about how we might renew our democratic system, still resonates. And all those other conference presenters who have prepared so thoughtfully for these discussions. Laboring in the vineyard of Congressional studies and records collections can be a solitary calling, and I want you to know how much those of us who serve in the House and Senate appreciate your work. I know that my father would be deeply proud of the work of the Center, and especially of its sponsorship of this conference and the work you are doing there together. I grew up in and around Congress, trailing my father to committee hearings and mark-ups, and have worked within it much of my adult life, so have a special and profound personal investment in the institution and its work. I learned early on that Congressional service is a high honor, accompanied by a profound responsibility. You help us discharge that responsibility. As in so many other areas of life, we sit in the shade of trees planted long ago, by those who recognized the importance of work like yours. We’ve arrived at this moment because of countless gestures of hope made by generations that have preceded us: Congressional Centers started and sustained, Members’ personal and office archives donated and preserved, scholars nurtured and encouraged to study Congress, our unique democratic system, and our hope for a vibrant, healthy democratic future together. Your work more than most brings to mind that hope, as you consider how best to preserve, protect and strengthen the finest traditions of the Congress and, looking forward, how to help us as an institution better serve all Americans. In just a few short years, the ACSC has developed an excellent program which draws on the talents and resources of its members to promote a wide range of programs and research opportunities related to Congress. Many of you bring unique expertise and perspectives developed over decades of working in Congress, in the academy, in think tanks and centers of excellence which focus on Congress. Distinguished centers like the Woodrow Wilson Center here in Washington are an enormously important resource for those of us who work in Congress. Its scholars and practitioners contribute in so many ways to our ongoing work here, regularly interacting with Members of Congress and their staff in a mutually beneficial relationship. But I know most of you labor in the nearly 50 independent historical societies, congressional archives and collections, and university-based study centers that compose the association outside of Washington, and that you may not often have the chance to gather and share your work and ideas and best practices with one another. That’s why I was so pleased to see the Association start its work several years ago, with able and energetic leadership, and why these kinds of conferences are so important. I welcome you to the Dodd Center, and wish you all the best in your deliberations and discussions in the next two days.
Association of Centers for the Study of Congress
Preliminary Business Meeting and Regular Business An open membership discussion/business meeting began at 9 a.m. with President Raymond Smock introducing Dues Committee Chair, Kate Cruikshank who reviewed the procedures and recommendations of the Dues Committee Report. (A copy of this report had been sent to the membership well before the annual meeting.) Ray thanked Kate and members of her committee and commented on what a splendid and thorough job she had done. Members then proceeded to discuss the report. Recommendations of the Dues Committee-as submitted to the Executive Committee on March 14, 2006.
ACSC members at the business meeting approved of the recommendations for having both institutional and individual memberships. During the discussion, however, a number of members pointed out difficulties with trying to determine a sliding-scale approach to the dues levels. A suggestion was made to allow institutions simply to choose a category. Ray Smock pointed out that it would be appropriate to specify criteria or benefits at different levels because members and potential members would need this information to get their institution's approval for the expenditure. The question of institutional membership levels was put aside temporarily to deal with the recommendation regarding conference registration fees - $200 for members and $250 for non-members. Following additional discussion, a consensus was reached on the issue of registration. With a quorum present, President Ray Smock called for a vote on the matter of registration fees for future annual meetings. It was seconded. The members voted unanimously in favor of registration fees of $200 for members and $250 for non-members, to become effective with the next annual meeting (2007). Discussion resumed on the recommendation for membership dues. Benefits of the ACSC were enumerated and prioritized to provide information to justify payment of institutional membership fees. Among the benefits identified were the important network of centers that the ACSC represented, the opportunities for individual member organizations to enhance their educational and outreach mission, the development of an electronic newsletter, and in particular, the ACSC website, which should be expanded to contain electronic documents, carry news about centers, and publish documents from annual meetings. In order to begin planning for the next phase of development of the ACSC website, Ray Smock asked for volunteers to form a Website committee. The following persons were named to be on the committee:
The committee was asked to select its own chair and to begin work as soon as possible. Discussion continued on the recommendation regarding dues. It was suggested that a flat institutional membership fee of $500 be instituted to avoid the difficulties of trying to spell out the two different categories for such a diverse group of institutions. This dues structure would allow one individual from the institution to attend the annual meeting without paying the registration fee. And, it was suggested that a second sponsoring institution level of $1000 be made available for those institutions desiring to be sponsors. A sponsoring institution could send two people to the annual meeting with no registration fee. All institutions would have one vote. In addition, individual memberships would be available for $50 and would not include a vote. This dues structure was moved, seconded, and unanimously adopted with an effective date of July 1, 2006.* The first part of the business committee meeting concluded at 10:30 a.m. *[Note: A subsequent procedure, initiated by the Executive Committee, followed several days after the annual business meeting and was not recorded as part of the business meeting minutes. The ACSC by-laws require a vote of the "full membership" on the matter of adopting a dues structure. To comply with this provision, the Executive Committee directed Secretary Karen Paul to conduct an email election to ratify the adoption of the dues structure that was approved at the annual business meeting. All member organizations listed on the ACSC website were mailed an explanation and a ballot. The balloting on the dues structure will remain open until June 7, 2006, at which time the results will be announced to the membership.] The business meeting resumed at 12:45 pm with President Ray Smock calling the meeting to order. The minutes of the annual business meeting 2005 were approved unanimously. Ray Smock announced that the current officers have served their allotted 2-year term as specified in the by-laws and called for a new election of officers. He proposed that unless there was objection, or a desire for nominees from the floor, that the current officers be re-elected for an additional two-year term. There was no objection. On the motion to re-elect the current officers for a two-year term the voice vote was unanimous. The officers re-elected are: President Raymond Smock, Secretary Karen Paul, and Treasurer Phil Duncan. Smock called for nominations for the vacant slot on the Executive Committee formerly held by Rose Diaz. Kate Cruikshank was nominated and elected unanimously. The location of future annual meetings was discussed. Ray Smock reminded the members of the ACSC's preference to hold annual meetings in Washington, DC at least every other year. He announced that the ACSC had received an invitation from member Mike Ballard of the Congressional and Political Research Center at Mississippi State University in Mississippi State, MS, to hold the 2008 meeting there, where two ACSC member organizations reside, the other being the Stennis Center for Public Policy. The Executive Committee will examine venues for future meetings, including the 2008 offer, and announce the decision to the members. Outreach Committee chair Beth Bower reported that everyone had received a survey form in the registration packet to complete and send in to her. The purpose of the survey is to discover what products member organizations have for use in public outreach. The survey will also be sent to member organizations via e-mail. She urged everyone to submit what items they have for listing on the ACSC website. Collaboration is a top priority of ACSC and this is one way we can share and learn from each other. She gave, as an example, a DVD that the Moakley Center has produced using documents, interviews, and footage from the Moakley archive. Rebecca Johnson Melvin brought up the ARL (Association of Research Libraries) survey of hidden collections, for which minimal catalog records are being entered and was wondering if we couldn't add similar minimal records for our collections into OCLC, using Betsy Pittman's "minimal EAD" approach. These would be cross-searchable and would support at least some access for scholars. Patrick Cox and Glen Browder raised the idea of ACSC collaboration with the Former Members of Congress Association. Browder suggested that we have an ACSC member attend their meetings. The members agreed that this would be an important contact to make and Ray Smock said he would follow up on this suggestion. The meeting was adjourned at 1:15 pm. Minutes prepared by Karen Paul, Secretary. |
| Association
of Centers for the Study of Congress Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies Shepherd University Shepherdstown, WV 25443 |
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