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Mr. MOORHEAD. Thank you. The next witness is Mr. Richmond.
STATEMENT OF EDWARD RICHMOND, PRESffiENT, ASSOCIATION OF MOVING IMAGE ARCHIVISTS
Mr. Richmond. Thank you, Chairman Moorhead and members of the subcommittee. I am going to change the pace and talk about H.R. 1734, the National Film Preservation Act of 1995. And I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak in support of it.
I am here today representing the Association of Moving Image Archivists. AMIA is a professional association established in 1991 to provide a means for cooperation among individuals concerned with preservation and use of moving image materials. It currently represents nearly 250 professional archivists working at more than 100 institutions in both the public and private sectors.
In commenting today, I will confine my remarks to title II of the proposed legislation, which seeks to establish a federally chartered foundation dedicated to the preservation of America's film heritage.
I would like to say, however, that I also fully support title I, which seeks to reauthorize the National Film Preservation Board. The Film Board is an indispensable element in ensuring that the progress made to date in dealing with the real crisis in film preservation can be continued and expanded.
In 1992 Congress asked the Film Board to prepare a comprehensive report on the nationwide efforts to preserve American motion pictures. The Board, with the invaluable assistance of the Library of Congress, accomplished this task in two stages.
First, it undertook an extensive 1-year study to determine the current state of film preservation throughout the United States. This study entitled, "Film Preservation 1993," persuasively demonstrated that America's film heritage is at serious risk.
And Chairman Moorhead has already mentioned some of the findings of this study. Fewer than 20 percent of feature films from the 1920's survive in complete form. Of the films made from 1895 to 1950, less than half survive. Films made after 1950 continued to be endangered by many threats including color fading, the socalled vinegar syndrome, and sound track deterioration. And perhaps most alarmingly, funding for film preservation, which has never been adequate, has fallen to less than half its 1980 level when adjusted for inflation.
As a second stage the Board oversaw the creation of a national plan to address these issues. The process of arriving at this plan was unprecedented. For the first time archivists, educators, filmmakers, technical specialists, entertainment industry executives and others came together to find solutions to film preservation problems.
The resulting plan entitled, "Redefining Film Preservation," represents the consensus, which emerged from this process. And, Chairman Moorhead, I would like to ask if a copy of the plan could be included as part of my written statement.
Mr. Moorhead. So ordered.
[See appendix, p. 423.]
Mr. Richmond. The centerpiece of this plan is the creation of a federally chartered foundation. Working with the film preservation