University under pressure on Bush secrecy

DALLAS, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Southern Methodist University in Dallas is under pressure to scrap plans for the Bush presidential library because of the president's secrecy policy.

Seven weeks after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President George Bush signed an executive order that allowed all presidents within the last 12 years to withhold presidential documents. Various archivists, historical and library groups filed a lawsuit, which is still pending, the Dallas Morning News reported.

However, a renewed pitch to Congress by the Society of American Archivists to abolish the order has put SMU back in the spotlight to cancel plans for the library, the report said.

Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, told the newspaper it was an ethical issue.

"If the Bush folks are going to play games with the records, no self-respecting academic institution should cooperate," Aftergood said.

SMU Vice President Brad Cheves said the university does not want to enter into the legal fray.

"It's not realistic to expect one university to get an executive order signed. ... Public policy should be debated in the public square and the halls of Congress," he said.