What Exactly Will Go Into the Bush Presidential Library?

What Exactly Will Go Into the Bush Presidential Library?

What Exactly Will Go Into the Bush Presidential Library?

When George W. Bush’s presidential library opens in Dallas at Southern Methodist University (officials announced the site on Friday), expect Bush to do his best to keep his papers shrouded.

While in 1978, the Presidential Records Act made presidential records the property of American people, according to Bush’s Executive Order 13233 (signed less than a month after September 11th), current and previous presidents are empowered to withhold their records–indefinitely.

Last March, an act to undo Bush’s Executive Order cleared the House by a 333-93 margin. Though the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs favorably reported a companion resolution this June, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) continues to stonewall its Senate passage. (Take action with Public Citizen to pressure Sessions here.)

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When George W. Bush’s presidential library opens in Dallas at Southern Methodist University (officials announced the site on Friday), expect Bush to do his best to keep his papers shrouded.

While in 1978, the Presidential Records Act made presidential records the property of American people, according to Bush’s Executive Order 13233 (signed less than a month after September 11th), current and previous presidents are empowered to withhold their records–indefinitely.

Last March, an act to undo Bush’s Executive Order cleared the House by a 333-93 margin. Though the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs favorably reported a companion resolution this June, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) continues to stonewall its Senate passage. (Take action with Public Citizen to pressure Sessions here.)

According to the Dallas Morning News, a “significant portion” of SMU faculty members objected to the potential construction of the Bush library last year, citing concerns about the library’s partisanship. Others were more hopeful: As theater professor Rhonda Blair put it, the library would give Americans a chance to figure out “what the heck has happened during the eight years of [the Bush] administration.” But unless the Senate steps up to the plate, such an outcome looks unlikely.

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Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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