Press release: “Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today called for the papers of the Founding Fathers Project [Pew Charitable Trusts: “The Project was established more than a half century ago to publish the complete, annotated writings of the countrys founding fathersincluding George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklinand to make these historical treasures available to the public.”] to be made available to all Americans through the Internet, at a hearing to examine the program. Established more than 50 years ago to catalogue, annotate and public the writings of some of the countrys Founders, the program has been criticized because of slow progress and high costs.”
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, Hearing on The Founding Fathers Papers: Ensuring Public Access to our National Treasures, February 7, 2008 – “The amount of federal taxpayer funds that has been spent on these projects is staggering. According to the NHPRC, nearly $30 million in federal taxpayer funds has been spent on the letter press projects since 1965. And, it is estimated that more than $60 million in combined public and private funds has been spent on these projects to date. Equally troubling is that the cost of these materials puts the Papers well out of reach for many institutions and for most Americans. Just one volume of the Hamilton Papers costs $180, and the price for the complete 26 volume set of these Papers is about $2,600. Not surprisingly, a recent poll found that only a few libraries had just one volume of the Papers and only six percent had more than one volume.”
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