USTRANSCOM leads the movement of records for presidential library

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (USTCNS) --- U.S. Transportation Command is leading the effort to move President Bill Clinton's official records from Washington D.C. to Little Rock, Ark. over the next several months.

Army Maj. Rob Goodrich, USTRANSCOM's action officer spearheading the effort, must coordinate with numerous agencies as the records are moved in preparation of the building of Clinton's presidential library.

"We are ultimately responsible for planning, coordinating and executing the movement of all the materials," said Goodrich.

This multi-agency effort will include intra-government cooperation with the National Archive and Records Administration and the White House.

Other military commands involved in the movement include, Joint Forces Command, USTRANSCOM's Military Traffic Management Command and Air Mobility Command, the Army's Forces Command, the U.S. Army Reserve, Little Rock Air Force Base, the Military District of Washington, National Guard Bureau and Andrews Air Force Base.

The first of three phases began in November. The initial phase includes packing materials and moving items from various NARA sites to storage facilities at Andrews AFB.

The second phase of the operation will consist of configuring materials for air shipment and moving the items to Little Rock, Ark.

At Little Rock, Ark., the final phase of the operation, the papers will ultimately be moved by commercial trucks to a temporary storage site.

"The items are being temporarily housed in the Clinton Materials Project in downtown Little Rock, AR. The items will be stored here until the Clinton Library is officially opened in downtown Little Rock," said Goodrich. "TRANSCOM will not be involved in the movement of the materials from the temporary storage facility to the library itself sometime in 2004."

Work on the papers will continue when at their temporary location.

"While it is stored in the warehouse, the archivist will go about the business of cataloguing the gifts and preparing the paperwork for release," said Goodrich. "Some papers may not be opened for an extended period of time…others are already released for public display under the Freedom of Information Act."

The president is personally involved in the process and will ultimately oversee the construction of the presidential library.

"(The president) visited the Little Rock site in early November," said Goodrich. "He also has two future visits scheduled."

The governing law lists documentary materials for inclusion as being "books, correspondence, memorandums, documents, papers, pamphlets, works of art, models, pictures, photographs, plats, maps, films, and motion pictures..."