I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5811 

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 

APRIL 15, 2008 

Mr. WAXMAN (for himself, Mr. CLAY, and Mr. HODES) 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 Communica5 tions Preservation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICA2 TIONS. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PRESERVATION OF ELEC4 TRONIC COMMUNICATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 31 of title 44, 

6 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 3108. Electronic communications 

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

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

11 the Archivist shall promulgate regulations governing agen12 cy preservation of electronic communications that are 

13 records. Such regulations shall, at a minimum— 

14 ‘‘(1) require the electronic capture, manage15 ment, and preservation of such electronic records; 

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

17 readily accessible for retrieval through electronic 

18 searches; 

19 ‘‘(3) establish mandatory minimum functional 

20 requirements and a software certification testing 

21 process to certify electronic records management ap22 plications to be used by Federal agencies for pur23 poses of complying with the requirements in para24 graphs (1) and (2); and 

25 ‘‘(4) include timelines for agency compliance 

26 with the regulations that ensure compliance as expeVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:41 Apr 19, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5811.IH H5811

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1 ditiously as practicable but not later than four years 

2 after the date of the enactment of this section. 

3 ‘‘(b) COVERAGE OF OTHER ELECTRONIC

4 RECORDS.—To the extent practicable, the regulations pro5 mulgated under subsection (a) shall also include require6 ments for the capture, management, and preservation of 

7 other electronic records. 

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

9 Federal agency shall comply with the regulations promul10 gated under subsection (a). 

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

12 Archivist shall periodically review and, as necessary, 

13 amend the regulations promulgated under this section. 

14 ‘‘(e) REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF REGULA15 TIONS.— 

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

17 later than four years after the date of the enactment 

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

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

20 compliance with the regulations promulgated under 

21 this section. 

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

23 later than 90 days after receipt of all reports re24 quired by paragraph (1), the Archivist shall submit 

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1 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

2 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

3 of Representatives a report on Federal agency com4 pliance with the regulations promulgated under this 

5 section.’’. 

6 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec7 tions for chapter 31 of title 44, United States Code, 

8 is amended by adding after the item relating to sec9 tion 3107 the following new item: 

‘‘3108. Electronic communications.’’. 

10 (b) DEFINITION OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGE11 MENT APPLICATION.—Section 2901 of title 44, United 

12 States Code, is amended— 

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

14 (14); 

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (15) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

18 paragraph: 

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

20 application’ means a software system designed to 

21 manage electronic records within an information 

22 technology system, including by categorizing and lo23 cating records, identifying records that are due for 

24 disposition, and storing, retrieving, and disposing of 

25 records stored in a repository.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS. 

2 (a) ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS RELATING TO PRESI3 DENTIAL RECORDS.— 

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

5 United States Code, is amended— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para7 graph (4); 

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

9 paragraph (5) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(5) provisions for establishing standards nec12 essary for the economical and efficient management 

13 of Presidential records during the President’s term 

14 of office, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) records management controls nec16 essary for the capture, management, and pres17 ervation of electronic communications; 

18 ‘‘(B) records management controls nec19 essary to ensure that electronic communications 

20 are readily accessible for retrieval through elec21 tronic searches; and 

22 ‘‘(C) a software certification testing proc23 ess to certify the electronic records management 

24 application to be used by the President for the 

25 purposes of complying with the requirements in 

26 subparagraphs (A) and (B).’’. 


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

2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

3 end the following new paragraph: 

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

5 application’ has the meaning provided in section 

6 2901(16) of this title.’’. 

7 (b) CERTIFICATION OF PRESIDENT’S MANAGEMENT

8 OF PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS.— 

9 (1) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Chapter 22 of 

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

11 at the end the following new section: 

12 ‘‘§ 2208. Certification of the President’s management 

13 of Presidential records 

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

15 annually certify whether the records management controls 

16 established by the President meet requirements under sec17 tions 2203(a) and 2206(5) of this title. 

18 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Archivist shall re19 port annually to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

20 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

21 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 

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

23 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec24 tions for chapter 22 of title 44, United States Code, 


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1 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 item: 

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

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

4 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) One year following the conclusion of a Presi7 dent’s term of office, or if a President serves consecutive 

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

9 the Archivist shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

10 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

11 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

12 House of Representatives a report on— 

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

14 records deposited into that President’s Presidential 

15 archival depository; and 

16 ‘‘(B) whether the records management controls 

17 of that President met the requirements under sec18 tions 2203(a) and 2206(5) of this title.’’. 

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

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

21 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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