HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
Your September 7, 1979, letter requested our views on the
estimated and actual costs of Presidential libraries, whether
and how trust fund and appropriated moneys are used in support
of the libraries, and whether the libraries are meeting the
expectation of the Congress.
The information on Presidential libraries you requested,
with the exception of the trust fund activities, was the
subject of an earlier request made on August 6, 1979, by the
Chairman, Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, and General
Government, Senate Committee on Appropriations. As the Sub-
committee requested, we provided a fact summary in October.
On November 6, 1979, we testified at oversight hearings
co-chaired by the Chairman of the above Subcommittee and the
Chairman, Subcommittee on Civil Service and General Services,
Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs.
Our study showed that the cost of operating and maintain-
ing a Presidential library has increased from an estimated
$150,000 in 1955 (which would be equivalent to $412,500 in
current dollars after adjustment for inflation since that time)
to an estimated $1 million in fiscal year 1979. We concluded
that the sizes and uses, and thus the costs, of most Presiden-
tial libraries exceed what was envisioned when the Presidential
Libraries Act was being considered. In view of the increasing
costs and the inevitable growth in the number and sizes of
Presidential archival depositories since the act was passed,
it seems highly advisable to carefully consider alternative
methods of establishing depositories.
&C 79/CI (990515)
robT](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.gao/gaobaazzt0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)