  Independent of the normal solar cycle, a decrease in the sunspot magnetic
field strength has been observed using the Zeeman-split 1564.8nm Fe I spectral
line at the NSO Kitt Peak McMath-Pierce telescope. Corresponding changes in
sunspot brightness and the strength of molecular absorption lines were also
seen. This trend was seen to continue in observations of the first sunspots of
the new solar Cycle 24, and extrapolating a linear fit to this trend would lead
to only half the number of spots in Cycle 24 compared to Cycle 23, and imply
virtually no sunspots in Cycle 25.
  We examined synoptic observations from the NSO Kitt Peak Vacuum Telescope and
initially (with 4000 spots) found a change in sunspot brightness which roughly
agreed with the infrared observations. A more detailed examination (with 13,000
spots) of both spot brightness and line-of-sight magnetic flux reveals that the
relationship of the sunspot magnetic fields with spot brightness and size
remain constant during the solar cycle. There are only small temporal
variations in the spot brightness, size, and line-of-sight flux seen in this
larger sample. Because of the apparent disagreement between the two data sets,
we discuss how the infrared spectral line provides a uniquely direct
measurement of the magnetic fields in sunspots.
