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Something's missing What You See Here, Stays Here. More or Less.By Rick Horowitz
Former Clinton national-security adviser Sandy Berger under investigation for removing Clinton-era anti-terror documents from National Archives. Ripped from the headlines RULES FOR VISITORS Welcome to the reading and research rooms of the National Archives. The National Archives is the repository for many of the most important documents in American history. This secure reading room is provided for the use of former government officials, scholars and others engaged in serious research activities and possessing the necessary clearances to view classified archival materials. To ensure the safety of our collections, and to provide a comfortable work environment for our visitors, the National Archives asks that you comply at all times with the following rules. Failure to comply may result in immediate removal from the Archives, criminal prosecution, or other penalties. Thank you for your cooperation. 1. Smoking is not permitted in any part of the National Archives facility. All smoking materials and related items (matches, pipes, etc.) must be surrendered to security guards upon entering the building. 2. No food or drink may be brought into the National Archives facility. Water fountains may be accessed in designated locations throughout the building; visitors wishing to use these water fountains must be accompanied at all times by a member of the Archives staff. 3. Handwritten notes may not be removed from the reading room. Do not stuff them into your jacket when you think no one is looking. 4. Do not stuff them into your pants either. (Unexplained bulges may be subject to search.) 5. Don't even think about removing any actual documents. What do you think this is, a yard sale? 6. That goes double for classified documents. 7. Do not take us for morons. When one copy of a highly classified document turns up missing after you have had access to it, and we provide you with a second copy of the document and it turns up missing, too, we are fully capable of putting two and two together. 8. Do not expect us to believe for a moment the old I-put-the-documents-into-my-portfolio-"inadvertently" dodge. We've heard it all. 9. Should we have reason, following your visits to the Archives, to contact you regarding the whereabouts of missing documents, do not expect to escape responsibility by returning everything "except for a few documents that I apparently had accidentally discarded." We're talking classified materials, not McDonald's wrappers. 10. So you have a "messy" desk -- do you think we care? Do not think we care. 11. You are perfectly free to "deeply regret the sloppiness involved" in removing, and then failing to return, sensitive materials from the Archives collections. We are perfectly free to consider other words to describe these actions. 12. When you behave as if you have something to hide, expect to be treated as if you have something to hide. Thank you for following these simple rules. We hope your visit to the National Archives will be a pleasant and productive one. P.S. We're watching you. Posted 7/20/04. Keep
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Rick Horowitz
