IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 25 

Recognizing the necessity of preserving official and unofficial records of meetings between the President of the United States and foreign leaders, 

for the purposes of promoting transparency and the national security 

of the United States of America. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2019 

Mr. ROUDA submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the necessity of preserving official and unofficial 

records of meetings between the President of the United 

States and foreign leaders, for the purposes of promoting 

transparency and the national security of the United 

States of America. 

Whereas chapter 22 of title 44, United States Code (commonly known as the Presidential Records Act of 1978), 

states that the records of the President and the President’s staff belong to the American people, not the President; 

Whereas the Presidential Records Act of 1978 requires the 

President to document official activities and preserve all 

documentary materials produced or received by the PresiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC25.IH HC25

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•HCON 25 IH 

dent, the President’s staff, or units or individuals in the 

Executive Office of the President; 

Whereas the Act defines the term ‘‘documentary material’’ as 

‘‘all books, correspondence, memoranda, documents, papers, pamphlets, works of art, models, pictures, photographs, plats, maps, films, and motion pictures, including, but not limited to, audio and visual records, or other 

electronic or mechanical recordations, whether in analog, 

digital, or any other form’’; 

Whereas the Act was passed in response to President Nixon’s 

claim that he owned the tape recordings in his office, an 

assertion rejected by the Supreme Court; the Act consequently states that all files of the President must be 

preserved; 

Whereas, according to numerous reports, President Trump 

has torn up or otherwise destroyed records; 

Whereas President Trump reportedly seized the notes of an 

interpreter following a 2017 meeting with President 

Vladimir Putin of Russia; and 

Whereas, consequently, senior Administration officials and 

Congress do not have knowledge of what President 

Trump told Mr. Putin: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) the President must preserve all records re4 lating to the foreign meetings of the President in 

5 order to ensure that the advisors of the President, 

6 Congress, and the American people may have access 

7 to information regarding what transpired in those 


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•HCON 25 IH 

1 meetings, especially in meetings with adversaries of 

2 the United States; and 

3 (2) the term ‘‘documentary material’’ under the 

4 Presidential Records Act of 1978 includes notes 

5 taken during or documenting the content of presi6 dential meetings with foreign leaders. 

Æ 


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