I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1376 

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 7, 2017 

Mr. CUMMINGS 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 of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF ELECTRONIC MESSAGES AND 

2 OTHER RECORDS. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PRESERVATION OF ELEC4 TRONIC MESSAGES.—Chapter 29 of title 44, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 2912. Preservation of electronic messages and 

8 other records 

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

10 promulgate regulations governing Federal agency preser11 vation of electronic messages that are determined to be 

12 records. Such regulations shall, at a minimum— 

13 ‘‘(1) require the electronic capture, manage14 ment, and preservation of such electronic records in 

15 accordance with the records disposition requirements 

16 of chapter 33; 

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

18 readily accessible for retrieval through electronic 

19 searches; and 

20 ‘‘(3) include timelines for Federal agency imple21 mentation of the regulations that ensure compliance 

22 as expeditiously as practicable. 

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

24 promulgate regulations that— 

25 ‘‘(1) establish mandatory minimum functional 

26 requirements for electronic records management sysVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1376.IH H1376

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1 tems to ensure compliance with the requirements in 

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

3 ‘‘(2) establish a process to ensure that the elec4 tronic records management system of each Federal 

5 agency meets the functional requirements estab6 lished under paragraph (1). 

7 ‘‘(c) COVERAGE OF OTHER ELECTRONIC

8 RECORDS.—To the extent practicable, the regulations pro9 mulgated under subsections (a) and (b) shall also include 

10 requirements for the capture, management, and preserva11 tion of other electronic records. 

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

13 Federal agency shall comply with the regulations promul14 gated under subsections (a) and (b). 

15 ‘‘(e) REVIEW OF REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Ar16 chivist shall periodically review and, as necessary, amend 

17 the regulations promulgated under subsections (a) and 

18 (b).’’. 

19 (b) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.— 

20 (1) PRESERVATION OF ELECTRONIC MES21 SAGES.—Not later than 120 days after the date of 

22 the enactment of this Act, the Archivist shall pro23 mulgate the regulations required under section 

24 2912(a) of title 44, United States Code, as added by 

25 subsection (a). 


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

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

3 Archivist shall promulgate the regulations required 

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

5 Code, as added by subsection (a). 

6 (c) REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF REGULA7 TIONS.— 

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

9 than one year after the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act, the head of each Federal agency shall submit 

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

12 with the regulations promulgated under section 2912 

13 of title 44, United States Code, as added by sub14 section (a), and shall make the report publicly avail15 able on the website of the agency. 

16 (2) ARCHIVIST REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not 

17 later than 90 days after receipt of all reports re18 quired by paragraph (1), the Archivist shall submit 

19 to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov20 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

21 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

22 of Representatives a report on Federal agency com23 pliance with the regulations promulgated under sec24 tion 2912(a) of title 44, United States Code, as 


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

2 publicly available on the website of the agency. 

3 (3) FEDERAL AGENCY DEFINED.—In this sub4 section, the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ has the meaning 

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

6 States Code. 

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

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

9 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec10 tion 2911 the following new item: 

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

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

12 States Code, is amended— 

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

14 (14); and 

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

16 the following new paragraphs: 

17 ‘‘(15) the term ‘electronic messages’ means 

18 electronic mail and other electronic messaging sys19 tems that are used for purposes of communicating 

20 between individuals; and 

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

22 system’ means software designed to manage elec23 tronic records, including by— 

24 ‘‘(A) categorizing and locating records; 


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

2 long as necessary; 

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

4 disposition; and 

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

6 disposition of records.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS. 

8 (a) ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS RELATING TO PRESI9 DENTIAL RECORDS.— 

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

11 United States Code, is amended— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para13 graph (3); 

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

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

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

17 ‘‘(5) provisions for establishing standards nec18 essary for the economical and efficient management 

19 of electronic Presidential records during the Presi20 dent’s term of office, including— 

21 ‘‘(A) records management controls nec22 essary for the capture, management, and pres23 ervation of electronic messages; 

24 ‘‘(B) records management controls nec25 essary to ensure that electronic messages are 


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1 readily accessible for retrieval through elec2 tronic searches; and 

3 ‘‘(C) a process to ensure the electronic 

4 records management system to be used by the 

5 President for the purposes of complying with 

6 the requirements in subparagraphs (A) and 

7 (B).’’. 

8 (2) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2201 of title 44, 

9 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following new paragraphs: 

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

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

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

14 system’ has the meaning given that term under sec15 tion 2901(16).’’. 

16 (b) CERTIFICATION OF PRESIDENT’S MANAGEMENT

17 OF PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS.— 

18 (1) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Chapter 22 of 

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

20 at the end the following new section: 

21 ‘‘§ 2210. Certification of the President’s management 

22 of Presidential records 

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

24 annually certify whether the electronic records manageVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Mar 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1376.IH H1376

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1 ment controls established by the President meet require2 ments under sections 2203(a) and 2206(5). 

3 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Archivist shall re4 port annually to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

5 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

6 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 

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

8 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec9 tions at the beginning of chapter 22 of title 44, 

10 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following new item: 

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

records.’’. 

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

13 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

14 the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(5) One year following the conclusion of a Presi16 dent’s term of office, or if a President serves consecutive 

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

18 the Archivist shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

19 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

20 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

21 House of Representatives a report on— 

22 ‘‘(A) the volume and format of electronic Presi23 dential records deposited into that President’s Presi24 dential archival depository; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) whether the electronic records manage2 ment controls of that President met the require3 ments under sections 2203(a) and 2206(5).’’. 

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

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

6 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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