Do you live in New York? No? Then there’s a pretty good chance you have work to do.

PAHR needs your help now. I know it was on your list of things to do. I know you had good intentions. But move it to the top your list because if they don’t get more sponsors, and soon, it could be sunk. Look at this list and see if you representative is here:

Arizona:
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7]
Rep Mitchell, Harry E. [AZ-5]

Florida:
Rep Mica, John L. [FL-7]

Georgia:
Rep Barrow, John [GA-12]
Rep Bishop, Sanford D., Jr. [GA-2]
Rep Johnson, Henry C. “Hank,” Jr. [GA-4]
Rep Marshall, Jim [GA-8]

Illinois:
Rep Davis, Danny K. [IL-7]
Rep Johnson, Timothy V. [IL-15]

Iowa:
Rep Loebsack, David [IA-2]

Kentucky:
Rep Chandler, Ben [KY-6]

Massachusetts:
Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3]

Nevada:
Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1]

New Jersey:
Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9]

New York:
Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5]
Rep Arcuri, Michael A. [NY-24]
Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7]
Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-17]
Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2]
Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18]
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14]
Rep McHugh, John M. [NY-23]
Rep Meeks, Gregory W. [NY-6]
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8]
Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [NY-28]
Rep Tonko, Paul D. [NY-21]

Ohio:
Rep Boccieri, John A. [OH-16]
Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10]
Rep Ryan, Tim [OH-17]
Rep Turner, Michael R. [OH-3]
Rep Wilson, Charles A. [OH-6]

Pennsylvania:
Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2]
Rep Gerlach, Jim [PA-6]
Rep Platts, Todd Russell [PA-19]

Tennessee:
Rep Gordon, Bart [TN-6]

Texas:
Rep Culberson, John Abney [TX-7]
Rep Gonzalez, Charles A. [TX-20]
Rep Poe, Ted [TX-2]

Virginia:
Rep Connolly, Gerald E. “Gerry” [VA-11]
Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8]

Wisconsin:
Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2]
Rep Kind, Ron [WI-3]

Do you notice some pretty big gaps in that list? Yeah, me too. Again, if your representative is not on that list, you need to do something–and get other people to help–now. Here’s part of a message from that tireless PAHR pusher, Kathleen Roe:

Here’s the situation: We have 42 sponsors in the House, but we need to have at least 50, better 60-70, for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to be willing to take it up on their agenda as a serious piece of legislation. Only four more sponsors came in after the SAA/CoSA annual meeting, although we plugged, pushed, and pleaded with many, many people.

We can help change that by uniting in a strong advocacy effort to urge Congress to support the “Preserving the American Historical Record” Act. On October 30, please join us in a national day of Advocacy by contacting your member of Congress and informing him or her of the frightening conditions in your repository, your region, or your state. Do one or more of the following:

* Fax a letter to your member of the House of Representatives urging him or her to sign on as a co-sponsor of HR 2256, the Preserving the American Historical Record Act.
* Call the regional office or Washington DC office of your Representative and urge him or her to sign on as a co-sponsor of the legislation.
* Make an appointment and visit your Representative’s regional office. Talk with the regional office director about the importance of your Representative signing on to HR 2256.
* Ask five friends to contact their Representative on October 30. Offer to draft the letter for them.

Please work with your State Historical Records Advisory Board, your friends group, your researchers, or any other groups and individuals on whom you can call to help us with this effort. Called or written before? Do it again! If you can’t get letters–and particularly calls and visits–done on that day, please do so within one to two weeks. Members will be in the holiday season rush-to-get-done mode soon after–we have to do this now. Your Representative needs a reminder of the importance of this bill. Has your Representative already signed on? Fax him or her a note of thanks for being a sponsor. If we can’t get the additional sponsors we need by December, our ability to move this bill during this Congressional session will truly be in jeopardy.

What more can I say? Is there more we can do to help you or your constituents? Please contact me or any members of the PAHR Task Force if you have questions or need help.

They’ve got all the information you need on the PAHR site. In one the many pitches Kathleen gave for PAHR at SAA I remember her quoting someone she talked to on Capitol Hill saying that the only reason this bill wouldn’t pass would be if our own community didn’t support it. Now is the time to turn all that love for archives we hear so much about into action–contact your representative and pass the word along.

3 Comments

• 

  By Alison Stankrauff, October 27, 2009 @ 3:44 pm

  I’m embarrassed that Indiana isn’t in the list of supporters… I just sent off my second letter (sent one a few months ago too) to my Representative…

  I’m also going to pass this on to the Society of Indiana Archivists – our current President, my colleague Kate Cruikshank at IU Bloomington, is a great voice for PAHR…

  I have my breath held!

  My Best,

  Alison Stankrauff
  Archivist and Assistant Librarian
  Franklin D. Schurz Library
  Indiana University South Bend
  P.O. Box 7111
  South Bend, Indiana 46634
  (574) 520-4392
  astankra@iusb.edu

• 

  By S, October 27, 2009 @ 5:41 pm

  I live in New York but my particular rep isn’t a sponsor so I emailed him about it telling him he should join all the other NY reps with his support.

• 

  By Gordon, October 28, 2009 @ 6:33 am

  Thanks for putting the call out on PAHR, Kate. I hope folks in my home state of Tennessee are listening…

  http://posterityproject.blogspot.com/2009/10/pahr-needs-your-help.html

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