The NARA has a proposal to increase the fees for a
Civil War Pension file from $37 (which I always
thought was too much) to $125! The proposal will be
voted on April 27th. Please take a few moments to let
them know that this fee increase is exorbitant. These
records should be available to the public and at $125
a pop they won't be available to the public anymore.
Instructions for Writing to NARA
By Sue Axton
The 7 March 2007 issue of the Review discusses the
US National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA) proposal
to increase its
fees for photocopying records; notably, it mentions
their proposal to
increase fees for copies of Civil War pension files
from $37 to $125.
I went to the NARA site to find a place to make a
comment on the fee
increase, but the site is almost impossible to
figure out. Maybe you
could give step-by-step instructions in a future
newsletter. Also,
maybe you could encourage people to write their
representatives. I am
not against a reasonable fee to cover the cost of
paper and ink, but
$125 for Civil War pension records is way out of
line. That puts the
cost out of reach for most researchers.
I would pay an extra fee if the records I request
would be put online
for everyone to access. As long as they are going to
the trouble of
copying them once, how hard would it be to put them
on the website?
[Editor's Note: Comments on the NARA proposal for a
photocopying fee
increase must be made by 27 April, so if you have
comments submit them soon.
The following are step-by-step instructions for
submitting your comments:
1. Go to
www.regulations.gov.
2. Under "Search for," select "Documents Open for
Public Comment."
3. Under "Agency," select "National Archives and
Records
Administration*."
4. Under "Document Type," select "All Document
Types."
5. In the "Keyword or ID" field, type
"NARA-07-0001-0001."
6. Select "Exact Phrase."
7. Click the "Submit" button.
You can read the proposed rule by clicking the PDF
icon in the "Views"
column. You can add your comments by clicking the
yellow balloon icon in the "Comments" column.
Also, you can e-mail comments to your government
representative at:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/.]
To view the 7 March 2007 Review announcement about
the proposed NARA fee increase, visit:
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0307.txt
PLEASE, PLEASE WRITE TO THEM TODAY!!!!!!
Liz Stookesberry Myers
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