Raymond A. Mosley,
Director of the Federal Register.
Allen Weinstein,
Archivist of the United States.
On the cover: Marking 70 years of providing ready access to essential Federal
Government records, the cover displays an image of the National Archives Building
during the Red, White, and Blue Nighttime Illumination Event on September 17,
2003, and a montage of covers from the 70-year history of the Federal Register.
The records preserved by the National Archives and Records Administration
(National Archives) and the documents published in the Federal Register are essential
to understanding and protecting our democratic system of government. Those records
and documents form the tangible thread linking the power exercised by Federal
agencies to its source in "We the People." Providing access to these records and
documents-be they the oldest Charters of Freedom enshrined in the Rotunda of the
National Archives Building or the newest Federal regulations published in today's
Federal Register ensures that our government remains one of laws, not of whims.
Recognizing the urgent need to modernize the physical means of preserving those
records, Congress appropriated more than $96 million in 1999 for extensive
renovation of the National Archives Building. The renovation included re-encasing
the Charters-the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of
Rights; improving public outreach and exhibit space; completing replacement of
deteriorated building systems; making the building compliant with the Americans
with Disabilities Act; and improving storage conditions for archival records and
security and safety features. In addition, private donations funded the new William
G. McGowan Theater and the restoration of historic murals in the Rotunda. Seventy
years after first opening, the National Archives Building is once again a state-of-the-
art facility where the archives of the United States are explained through a wide
variety of public events, samples of the Nation's documentary history are exhibited,
and in-depth research and ongoing discovery of the treasures within the National
Archives are promoted.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800
Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001