Yesterday, there was a hearing on the problems of access to Presidential records: "The Presidential Records Act of 1978: A Review of Executive Branch Implementation and Compliance," held by the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The Chronicle of Higher Education says,

Public access to presidential records came under scrutiny in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday as a panel of archivists, historians, and lawyers told a subcommittee about threats to access, and lawmakers introduced two bipartisan bills that would reform key aspects of how presidential documents are preserved and controlled.

• In Testimony and New Bills, Historians and Lawmakers Urge Protection of Access to Presidential Records, by Jennifer Howard, The Chronicle of Higher Education (March 2, 2007) [subscription required] (Available without subscription for a few days here)

According to Thomas Blanton, the Executive Director of the National Security Archive, the government has added five years of delay into the process of releasing presidential records.

• The Presidential Records Act in Crisis National Security Archive (March 1, 2007)