I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1387 

To amend title 44, United States Code, to require preservation of certain 

electronic records by Federal agencies, to require a certification and 

reports relating to Presidential records, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2009 

Mr. HODES (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, and Mr. CLAY) introduced the following 

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

Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 44, United States Code, to require preservation of certain electronic records by Federal agencies, 

to require a certification and reports relating to Presidential records, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Electronic Message 

5 Preservation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF ELECTRONIC MESSAGES. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PRESERVATION OF ELEC8 TRONIC MESSAGES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 29 of title 44, 

2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

3 end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘§ 2911. Electronic messages 

5 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 18 

6 months after the date of the enactment of this section, 

7 the Archivist shall promulgate regulations governing agen8 cy preservation of electronic messages that are records. 

9 Such regulations shall, at a minimum— 

10 ‘‘(1) require the electronic capture, manage11 ment, and preservation of such electronic records in 

12 accordance with the records disposition requirements 

13 of chapter 33 of this title; 

14 ‘‘(2) require that such electronic records are 

15 readily accessible for retrieval through electronic 

16 searches; 

17 ‘‘(3) establish mandatory minimum functional 

18 requirements for electronic records management sys19 tems to ensure compliance with the requirements in 

20 paragraphs (1) and (2); 

21 ‘‘(4) establish a process to certify that Federal 

22 agencies’ electronic records management systems 

23 meet the functional requirements established under 

24 paragraph (3); and 


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1 ‘‘(5) include timelines for agency compliance 

2 with the regulations that ensure compliance as expe3 ditiously as practicable but not later than four years 

4 after the date of the enactment of this section. 

5 ‘‘(b) COVERAGE OF OTHER ELECTRONIC

6 RECORDS.—To the extent practicable, the regulations pro7 mulgated under subsection (a) shall also include require8 ments for the capture, management, and preservation of 

9 other electronic records. 

10 ‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Each 

11 Federal agency shall comply with the regulations promul12 gated under subsection (a). 

13 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The 

14 Archivist shall periodically review and, as necessary, 

15 amend the regulations promulgated under this section. 

16 ‘‘(e) REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF REGULA17 TIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) AGENCY REPORT TO ARCHIVIST.—Not 

19 later than four years after the date of the enactment 

20 of this section, the head of each Federal agency shall 

21 submit to the Archivist a report on the agency’s 

22 compliance with the regulations promulgated under 

23 this section. 

24 ‘‘(2) ARCHIVIST REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not 

25 later than 90 days after receipt of all reports reVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:32 Mar 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1387.IH H1387

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1 quired by paragraph (1), the Archivist shall submit 

2 to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov3 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

4 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

5 of Representatives a report on Federal agency com6 pliance with the regulations promulgated under this 

7 section.’’. 

8 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec9 tions for chapter 29 of title 44, United States Code, 

10 is amended by adding after the item relating to sec11 tion 2910 the following new item: 

‘‘2911. Electronic messages.’’. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2901 of title 44, United 

13 States Code, is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

15 (14); 

16 (2) by striking the period at the end of para17 graph (15) and inserting a semicolon; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

19 paragraphs: 

20 ‘‘(16) the term ‘electronic messages’ means 

21 electronic mail and other electronic messaging sys22 tems that are used for purposes of communicating 

23 between individuals; and 

24 ‘‘(17) the term ‘electronic records management 

25 system’ means a software system designed to manVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:32 Mar 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1387.IH H1387

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1 age electronic records within an information tech2 nology system, including by— 

3 ‘‘(A) categorizing and locating records; 

4 ‘‘(B) ensuring that records are retained as 

5 long as necessary; 

6 ‘‘(C) identifying records that are due for 

7 disposition; and 

8 ‘‘(D) the storage, retrieval, and disposition 

9 of records.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS. 

11 (a) ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS RELATING TO PRESI12 DENTIAL RECORDS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2206 of title 44, 

14 United States Code, is amended— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para16 graph (3); 

17 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

18 paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(5) provisions for establishing standards nec21 essary for the economical and efficient management 

22 of Presidential records during the President’s term 

23 of office, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) records management controls nec2 essary for the capture, management, and pres3 ervation of electronic messages; 

4 ‘‘(B) records management controls nec5 essary to ensure that electronic messages are 

6 readily accessible for retrieval through elec7 tronic searches; and 

8 ‘‘(C) a process to certify the electronic 

9 records management system to be used by the 

10 President for the purposes of complying with 

11 the requirements in subparagraphs (A) and 

12 (B).’’. 

13 (2) DEFINITION.—Section 2201 of title 44, 

14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following new paragraphs: 

16 ‘‘(5) The term ‘electronic messages’ has the 

17 meaning provided in section 2901(16) of this title. 

18 ‘‘(6) The term ‘electronic records management 

19 system’ has the meaning provided in section 

20 2901(17) of this title.’’. 

21 (b) CERTIFICATION OF PRESIDENT’S MANAGEMENT

22 OF PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS.— 

23 (1) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Chapter 22 of 

24 title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding 

25 at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 2208. Certification of the President’s management 

2 of Presidential records 

3 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION.—The Archivist shall 

4 annually certify whether the records management controls 

5 established by the President meet requirements under sec6 tions 2203(a) and 2206(5) of this title. 

7 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Archivist shall re8 port annually to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

9 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

10 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 

11 Representatives on the status of the certification.’’. 

12 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec13 tions for chapter 22 of title 44, United States Code, 

14 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

15 item: 

‘‘2208. Certification of the President’s management of Presidential records.’’. 

16 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Section 2203(f) of title 

17 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(4) One year following the conclusion of a Presi20 dent’s term of office, or if a President serves consecutive 

21 terms one year following the conclusion of the last term, 

22 the Archivist shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

23 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

24 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

25 House of Representatives a report on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the volume and format of Presidential 

2 records deposited into that President’s Presidential 

3 archival depository; and 

4 ‘‘(B) whether the records management controls 

5 of that President met the requirements under sec6 tions 2203(a) and 2206(5) of this title.’’. 

7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall take effect one year after the date of 

9 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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