I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2256 

To authorize the Archivist of the United States to make grants to States 

for the preservation and dissemination of historical records. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2009 

Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. 

SLAUGHTER, Mr. BARROW, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. LOEBSACK, 

Mr. GERLACH, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. ARCURI, Mr. 

ACKERMAN, Mr. ISRAEL, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. NADLER

of New York, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. LOWEY, and Mr. CROWLEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform 

A BILL 

To authorize the Archivist of the United States to make 

grants to States for the preservation and dissemination 

of historical records. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving the Amer5 ican Historical Record Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Much of the American historical record, 

2 such as evidence of births, education, marriage, di3 vorce, property owned, obligations satisfied, and 

4 criminal conduct, is held at the State and local level 

5 by organizations that preserve the records that pro6 tect the rights of the Nation. 

7 (2) The United States has recognized the im8 portance of history by its support of national institu9 tions such as the National Archives, the Library of 

10 Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution. Yet, this 

11 support is not adequate to reach the rest of the Na12 tion’s archives being held in State and local histor13 ical societies, archives, and library history collec14 tions. 

15 (3) More resources need to be directed to State 

16 and local organizations to ensure essential care of 

17 documents and archival records in their many forms 

18 so that they can be readily used by the people of this 

19 Nation. 

20 (4) History connects people to community— 

21 whether the community is a family, a neighborhood, 

22 a city, a State, or a Nation. Connections to the past 

23 are essential to sustaining democracy, educating stu24 dents, creating a sense of place in family and com25 munity, supporting information needs in business 


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1 and legal affairs, and making reasoned decisions 

2 about the Nation’s future direction. 

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

4 The purposes of this Act are— 

5 (1) to protect historical records from harm, to 

6 prolong their life, and to preserve them for public 

7 use, through the use of electronic records initiatives 

8 and plans for disaster preparedness, recovery, and 

9 other preservation activities; 

10 (2) to use historical records in new and creative 

11 ways to convey the importance of State, territorial, 

12 and community history, including the development of 

13 teaching materials for elementary, secondary, and 

14 postsecondary teachers, active participation in Na15 tional History Day, and support for lifelong learning 

16 opportunities; 

17 (3) to provide education and training to archi18 vists and others who care for historical records, en19 suring that they have the necessary knowledge and 

20 skills to fulfill their important responsibilities; and 

21 (4) to create a wide variety of access tools, in22 cluding archival finding aids, documentary editions, 

23 indexes, and images of key records maintained on 

24 Internet websites of State and local organizations. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS. 

2 The Archivist shall make grants under this Act to 

3 States to carry out programs consistent with the purposes 

4 of this Act. 

5 SEC. 5. USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—The Archivist may not award 

7 grants to any State under this Act unless— 

8 (1) the State agrees to use grant amounts only 

9 to carry out programs consistent with the purposes 

10 of this Act; 

11 (2) the State certifies the availability of State 

12 or private funds, or an in-kind equivalent, equal to 

13 half the amount of the grant to be awarded to the 

14 State; and 

15 (3) the State ensures that grant amounts are 

16 used to supplement, and not supplant, non-Federal 

17 funds that would otherwise be available for those 

18 purposes. 

19 (b) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS.—The Archivist may 

20 require additional terms and conditions in connection with 

21 the use of grant amounts provided under this Act as the 

22 Archivist considers appropriate. 

23 SEC. 6. STATE ALLOCATIONS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Archivist shall award grant 

25 amounts under this Act in accordance with this section. 


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1 (b) CALCULATION OF ALLOCATIONS.—The Archivist 

2 shall allocate funds made available to carry out this Act 

3 to the States as follows: 

4 (1) 10 percent of the total available funds di5 vided equally among the States. 

6 (2) 82 percent of such funds allotted to the 

7 States on the basis of their relative total population, 

8 adjusted every decade based on the United States 

9 Census. 

10 (3) 8 percent of such funds allotted to the 

11 States by geographic size. 

12 (c) STATE GRANTS.—From funds allocated under 

13 subsection (b), the Archivist shall make grants to the 

14 State archival administrative agency of each State. 

15 (d) REALLOCATION.—The State archival administra16 tive agency shall return any funds received under sub17 section (c) that the State archival administrative agency 

18 does not obligate within one year of receiving a grant, and 

19 the Archivist shall reallocate such funds to the remaining 

20 States in accordance with subsection (b). 

21 (e) CONSULTATION WITH STATE ARCHIVISTS AND

22 SECRETARIES OF STATE.—In carrying out this section, 

23 the Archivist shall consult with State archivists, State sec24 retaries of state, or other appropriate State and local offiVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:56 May 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2256.IH H2256

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1 cials who have administrative responsibilities for archival 

2 functions. 

3 SEC. 7. APPLICATION. 

4 The Archivist may award grant amounts under this 

5 Act only to a State that has submitted an application to 

6 the Archivist at such time, in such manner, and containing 

7 such information as the Archivist may require. 

8 SEC. 8. REVIEW AND SANCTIONS. 

9 (a) ANNUAL REPORT BY STATE.—Each State receiv10 ing funds under this Act during a calendar year shall pro11 vide to the Archivist, no later than January 31 of the fol12 lowing year, a report on activities supported by such funds 

13 during the previous calendar year. 

14 (b) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Archivist shall review an15 nually the report provided by each State under subsection 

16 (a) to determine the extent to which the State has com17 plied with the provisions of this Act. 

18 (c) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The Archivist may 

19 impose sanctions on any State for any failure to comply 

20 substantially with the provisions of this Act. The Archivist 

21 shall establish the sanctions to be imposed for a failure 

22 to comply substantially with the provisions of this Act. 

23 SEC. 9. ANNUAL REPORT. 

24 Not later than April 1 of each year, the Archivist 

25 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 


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1 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

2 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 

3 Representatives a report describing the activities carried 

4 out under this Act and containing any related information 

5 that the Archivist considers appropriate. 

6 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 

9 State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the 

10 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

11 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

12 (2) ARCHIVIST.—The term ‘‘Archivist’’ means 

13 the Archivist of the United States appointed under 

14 section 2103 of title 44, United States Code. 

15 (3) HISTORICAL RECORD.—The term ‘‘histor16 ical record’’ means unpublished materials created or 

17 received by a person, family, or organization, public 

18 or private, in the conduct of their affairs that are 

19 preserved because of the enduring value contained in 

20 the information they contain or as evidence of the 

21 functions and responsibilities of their creator. 

22 (4) STATE ARCHIVIST.—The term ‘‘State Archi23 vist’’ means the individual mandated by law within 

24 each State with responsibility for managing the ar25 chival records of State government. 


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1 (5) STATE ARCHIVAL ADMINISTRATIVE AGEN2 CY.—The term ‘‘State archival administrative agen3 cy’’ means the agency mandated by law within each 

4 State with the responsibility for managing the archi5 val records of State government. 

6 SEC. 11. REGULATIONS. 

7 The Archivist shall prescribe any regulations nec8 essary to carry out this Act. 

9 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Archi11 vist $50,000,000 each fiscal year for five fiscal years, be12 ginning with the first fiscal year beginning after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, to make grants under this 

14 Act. 

Æ 


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