National Council of Women's Organizations Calls for Congressional Inquiry into National Archives' Social Security Action

April 5, 2005

The National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO), the oldest and largest coalition of the nation's largest women's groups, representing 200 groups and 10 million women, called on the U.S. House of Representatives to investigate the decision by the National Archives and Records Administration to cancel a forum on Social Security. The event was to be held on Saturday, April 9, 2005, at the Wallace Center of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York.

Sponsored by OWL, the Voice of Midlife and Older Women (OWL); the American Association of University Women (AAUW); and the League of Women Voters (LWV)-all nonprofit and nonpartisan organizations-the public event was to feature a discussion of Social Security's importance to women and the potential impact of proposals to create individual accounts on women.

In a March 31, 2005, letter to the Executive Director of OWL, FDR Library Director Cynthia M. Koch wrote: "If you cannot provide at least one speaker who will speak on the features and merits of the Administration's plan for Social Security, then I must ask that you find another venue for your program" and cited compliance with the federal Hatch Act.

In addition to the scheduled speakers, the sponsoring organizations had previously invited two Republican Members of Congress from New York who declined to participate in the event. OWL hosted a similar education forum at the same location about a year ago without incident. Koch's letter further stated, "When your event was reserved in the Wallace Center it was clearly understood by OWL that it could not be political in nature. What may not have been political in nature at the time of the booking is certainly political now."

"The National Archives has overstepped its authority in canceling a nonpartisan policy forum on an important issue facing the nation," said Heidi Hartmann, Co-Chair of NCWO's Task Force on Women and Social Security and President of the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR). "Discouraging free speech on public property, property which is owned by all the citizens of the United States, is totally inappropriate."

"In keeping with the Bush Administration's determination to quash anyone who disagrees with them, Federal Agencies now consider it 'partisan' to hold any opinion that is not identical to the President's. A quick check of the Merriam-Webster dictionary would show them an apt definition of partisan: one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance,' said Kim Gandy, Co-Chair of NCWO's Task Force on Women and Social Security and President of the National Organization for Women (NOW). "Does this mean that members of the administration can't discuss Social Security on federal property without airing the opposing viewpoint?" asked Gandy.

President Bush has yet to propose a specific plan for the future of the Social Security system, nor has his administration backed a specific piece of legislation in Congress. He is currently traveling the country at tax-payer expense promoting the benefits of private accounts. Government agencies should not be in the business of censoring free speech, labeling events "political," by which they presumably mean "partisan," and invoking the Hatch Act without justification.

NCWO is sending a letter to the House of Representative's Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) and Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-CA) urging them to investigate the matter.

###

Sign up to receive press releases by email.