I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1234 

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 18, 2013 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RECORDS MANAGEMENT. 

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. Preservation of electronic messages and 

5 other records 

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

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

8 the Archivist shall promulgate regulations governing Fed9 eral agency preservation of electronic messages that are 

10 determined to be records (as such term is defined under 

11 section 3301 of this title). Such regulations shall, at a 

12 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 of this title; 

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

18 readily accessible for retrieval through electronic 

19 searches; 

20 ‘‘(3) establish mandatory minimum functional 

21 requirements for electronic records management sys22 tems to ensure compliance with the requirements in 

23 paragraphs (1) and (2); 

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

25 agencies’ electronic records management systems 


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1 meet the functional requirements established under 

2 paragraph (3); and 

3 ‘‘(5) include timelines for Federal agency com4 pliance with the regulations that ensure compliance 

5 as expeditiously as practicable but not later than 

6 four years after the date of the enactment of this 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(b) COVERAGE OF OTHER ELECTRONIC

9 RECORDS.—To the extent practicable, the regulations pro10 mulgated under subsection (a) shall also include require11 ments for the capture, management, and preservation of 

12 other electronic records. 

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

14 Federal agency shall comply with the regulations promul15 gated under subsection (a). 

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

17 Archivist shall periodically review and, as necessary, 

18 amend the regulations promulgated under subsection (a). 

19 ‘‘(e) REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF REGULA20 TIONS.— 

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

22 later than four years after the date of the enactment 

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

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


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1 compliance with the regulations promulgated under 

2 this section. 

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

4 later than 90 days after receipt of all reports re5 quired by paragraph (1), the Archivist shall submit 

6 to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov7 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

8 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

9 of Representatives a report on Federal agency com10 pliance with the regulations promulgated under sub11 section (a).’’. 

12 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec13 tions at the beginning of chapter 29 of title 44, 

14 United States Code, is amended by adding after the 

15 item relating to section 2910 the following new item: 

‘‘2911. Preservation of electronic messages and other records.’’. 

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

17 States Code, is amended— 

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

19 (14); and 

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

21 the following new paragraphs: 

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

23 electronic mail and other electronic messaging sys24 tems that are used for purposes of communicating 

25 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 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) 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) of 

18 this title. 

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

20 system’ has the meaning given that term under sec21 tion 2901(16) of this title.’’. 

22 (b) CERTIFICATION OF PRESIDENT’S MANAGEMENT

23 OF PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS.— 


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1 (1) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Chapter 22 of 

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

3 at the end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘§ 2208. Certification of the President’s management 

5 of Presidential records 

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

7 annually certify whether the electronic records manage8 ment controls established by the President meet require9 ments under sections 2203(a) and 2206(5) of this title. 

10 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Archivist shall re11 port annually to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

12 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

13 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 

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

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec16 tions at the beginning of chapter 22 of title 44, 

17 United States Code, as amended by subsection 

18 (a)(4), is further amended by adding at the end the 

19 following new item: 

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

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

21 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(4) One year following the conclusion of a Presi24 dent’s term of office, or if a President serves consecutive 

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


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1 the Archivist shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

2 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

3 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

4 House of Representatives a report on— 

5 ‘‘(A) the volume and format of electronic Presi6 dential records deposited into that President’s Presi7 dential archival depository; and 

8 ‘‘(B) whether the electronic records manage9 ment controls of that President met the require10 ments under sections 2203(a) and 2206(5) of this 

11 title.’’. 

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

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

14 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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