IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1376 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 17, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electronic Message 

3 Preservation Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF ELECTRONIC MESSAGES AND 

5 OTHER RECORDS. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PRESERVATION OF ELEC7 TRONIC MESSAGES.—Chapter 29 of title 44, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 2912. Preservation of electronic messages and 

11 other records 

12 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Archivist shall 

13 promulgate regulations governing Federal agency preser14 vation of electronic messages that are determined to be 

15 records. Such regulations shall, at a minimum— 

16 ‘‘(1) require the electronic capture, manage17 ment, and preservation of such electronic records in 

18 accordance with the records disposition requirements 

19 of chapter 33; 

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

21 readily accessible for retrieval through electronic 

22 searches; and 

23 ‘‘(3) include timelines for Federal agency imple24 mentation of the regulations that ensure compliance 

25 as expeditiously as practicable. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ENSURING COMPLIANCE.—The Archivist shall 

2 promulgate regulations that— 

3 ‘‘(1) establish mandatory minimum functional 

4 requirements for electronic records management sys5 tems to ensure compliance with the requirements in 

6 paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a); and 

7 ‘‘(2) establish a process to ensure that the elec8 tronic records management system of each Federal 

9 agency meets the functional requirements estab10 lished under paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(c) COVERAGE OF OTHER ELECTRONIC

12 RECORDS.—To the extent practicable, the regulations pro13 mulgated under subsections (a) and (b) shall also include 

14 requirements for the capture, management, and preserva15 tion of other electronic records. 

16 ‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Each 

17 Federal agency shall comply with the regulations promul18 gated under subsections (a) and (b). 

19 ‘‘(e) REVIEW OF REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Ar20 chivist shall periodically review and, as necessary, amend 

21 the regulations promulgated under subsections (a) and 

22 (b).’’. 

23 (b) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.— 

24 (1) PRESERVATION OF ELECTRONIC MES25 SAGES.—Not later than 120 days after the date of 


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1 the enactment of this Act, the Archivist shall pro2 mulgate the regulations required under section 

3 2912(a) of title 44, United States Code, as added by 

4 subsection (a). 

5 (2) ENSURING COMPLIANCE.—Not later than 2 

6 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

7 Archivist shall promulgate the regulations required 

8 under section 2912(b) of title 44, United States 

9 Code, as added by subsection (a). 

10 (c) REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF REGULA11 TIONS.— 

12 (1) AGENCY REPORT TO ARCHIVIST.—Not later 

13 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

14 Act, the head of each Federal agency shall submit 

15 to the Archivist a report on the agency’s compliance 

16 with the regulations promulgated under section 2912 

17 of title 44, United States Code, as added by sub18 section (a), and shall make the report publicly avail19 able on the website of the agency. 

20 (2) ARCHIVIST REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not 

21 later than 90 days after receipt of all reports re22 quired by paragraph (1), the Archivist shall submit 

23 to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov24 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

25 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 


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1 of Representatives a report on Federal agency com2 pliance with the regulations promulgated under sec3 tion 2912(a) of title 44, United States Code, as 

4 added by subsection (a), and shall make the report 

5 publicly available on the website of the agency. 

6 (3) FEDERAL AGENCY DEFINED.—In this sub7 section, the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ has the meaning 

8 given that term in section 2901 of title 44, United 

9 States Code. 

10 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

11 at the beginning of chapter 29 of title 44, United States 

12 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec13 tion 2911 the following new item: 

‘‘2912. Preservation of electronic messages and other records.’’. 

14 (e) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2901 of title 44, United 

15 States Code, is amended— 

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

17 (14); and 

18 (2) by striking paragraph (15) and inserting 

19 the following new paragraphs: 

20 ‘‘(15) 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 


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1 ‘‘(16) the term ‘electronic records management 

2 system’ means software designed to manage elec3 tronic records, including by— 

4 ‘‘(A) categorizing and locating records; 

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

6 long as necessary; 

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

8 disposition; and 

9 ‘‘(D) ensuring the storage, retrieval, and 

10 disposition of records.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS. 

12 (a) ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS RELATING TO PRESI13 DENTIAL RECORDS.— 

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

15 United States Code, is amended— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para17 graph (3); 

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

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

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

21 ‘‘(5) provisions for establishing standards nec22 essary for the economical and efficient management 

23 of electronic Presidential records during the Presi24 dent’s term 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 ensure 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) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2201 of title 44, 

14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following new paragraphs: 

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

17 meaning given that term under section 2901(15). 

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

19 system’ has the meaning given that term under sec20 tion 2901(16).’’. 

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 ‘‘§ 2210. Certification of the President’s management 

2 of Presidential records 

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

4 annually certify whether the electronic records manage5 ment controls established by the President meet require6 ments under sections 2203(a) and 2206(5). 

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 at the beginning of chapter 22 of title 44, 

14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following new item: 

‘‘2210. Certification of the President’s management of Presidential 

records.’’. 

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

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

18 the following new paragraph: 

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

21 terms 1 year following the conclusion of the last term, the 

22 Archivist shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Se23 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 


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1 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

2 House of Representatives a report on— 

3 ‘‘(A) the volume and format of electronic Presi4 dential records deposited into that President’s Presi5 dential archival depository; and 

6 ‘‘(B) whether the electronic records manage7 ment controls of that President met the require8 ments under sections 2203(a) and 2206(5).’’. 

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

10 this section shall take effect 1 year after the date of the 

11 enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 16, 2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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