IB 

Union Calendar No. 450 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5811 

[Report No. 110–709] 

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 

JUNE 11, 2008 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 15, 2008] 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electronic Message Pres3 ervation Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF ELECTRONIC MESSAGES. 

5 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PRESERVATION OF ELEC6 TRONIC MESSAGES.— 

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

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

10 ‘‘§ 2911. Electronic messages 

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

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

13 Archivist shall promulgate regulations governing agency 

14 preservation of electronic messages that are records. Such 

15 regulations shall, at a minimum— 

16 ‘‘(1) require the electronic capture, management, 

17 and preservation of such electronic records in accord18 ance with the records disposition requirements of 

19 chapter 33 of this title; 

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

21 readily accessible for retrieval through electronic 

22 searches; 

23 ‘‘(3) establish mandatory minimum functional 

24 requirements for electronic records management sys25 tems to ensure compliance with the requirements in 

26 paragraphs (1) and (2); 


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

2 agencies’ electronic records management systems meet 

3 the functional requirements established under para4 graph (3); and 

5 ‘‘(5) include timelines for agency compliance 

6 with the regulations that ensure compliance as expe7 ditiously as practicable but not later than four years 

8 after the date of the enactment of this section. 

9 ‘‘(b) COVERAGE OF OTHER ELECTRONIC RECORDS.— 

10 To the extent practicable, the regulations promulgated 

11 under subsection (a) shall also include requirements for the 

12 capture, management, and preservation of other electronic 

13 records. 

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

15 Federal agency shall comply with the regulations promul16 gated under subsection (a). 

17 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Ar18 chivist shall periodically review and, as necessary, amend 

19 the regulations promulgated under this section. 

20 ‘‘(e) REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF REGULA21 TIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) AGENCY REPORT TO ARCHIVIST.—Not later 

23 than four years after the date of the enactment of this 

24 section, the head of each Federal agency shall submit 


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

2 with the regulations promulgated under this section. 

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

4 later than 90 days after receipt of all reports required 

5 by paragraph (1), the Archivist shall submit to the 

6 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

7 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight 

8 and Government Reform of the House of Representa9 tives a report on Federal agency compliance with the 

10 regulations promulgated under this section.’’. 

11 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec12 tions for chapter 29 of title 44, United States Code, 

13 is amended by adding after the item relating to sec14 tion 2910 the following new item: 

‘‘2911. Electronic messages.’’. 

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

16 States Code, is amended— 

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

18 (14); 

19 (2) by striking the period at the end of para20 graph (15) and inserting a semicolon; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following new para22 graphs: 

23 ‘‘(16) the term ‘electronic messages’ means elec24 tronic mail and other electronic messaging systems 


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1 that are used for purposes of communicating between 

2 individuals; and 

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

4 system’ means a software system designed to manage 

5 electronic records within an information technology 

6 system, including by— 

7 ‘‘(A) categorizing and locating records; 

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

9 long as necessary; 

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

11 disposition; and 

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

13 of records.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS. 

15 (a) ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS RELATING TO PRESI16 DENTIAL RECORDS.— 

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

18 United States Code, is amended— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para20 graph (3); 

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

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

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

24 ‘‘(5) provisions for establishing standards nec25 essary for the economical and efficient management of 


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1 Presidential records during the President’s term of of2 fice, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) records management controls necessary 

4 for the capture, management, and preservation 

5 of electronic messages; 

6 ‘‘(B) records management controls necessary 

7 to ensure that electronic messages are readily ac8 cessible for retrieval through electronic searches; 

9 and 

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

11 records management system to be used by the 

12 President for the purposes of complying with the 

13 requirements in subparagraphs (A) and (B).’’. 

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

15 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following new paragraphs: 

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

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

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

20 system’ has the meaning provided in section 2901(17) 

21 of this title.’’. 

22 (b) CERTIFICATION OF PRESIDENT’S MANAGEMENT OF

23 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 records management controls 

8 established by the President meet requirements under sec9 tions 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 on 

13 Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Rep14 resentatives on the status of the certification.’’. 

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec16 tions for chapter 22 of title 44, United States Code, 

17 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

18 item: 

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

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

20 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(4) One year following the conclusion of a President’s 

23 term of office, or if a President serves consecutive terms one 

24 year following the conclusion of the last term, the Archivist 

25 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 


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1 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

2 Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Rep3 resentatives a report on— 

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

5 records deposited into that President’s Presidential 

6 archival depository; and 

7 ‘‘(B) whether the records management controls of 

8 that President met the requirements under sections 

9 2203(a) and 2206(5) of this title.’’. 

10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this 

11 section shall take effect one year after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 450 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5811 

[Report No. 110

–709] 

A BILL 

To amend title 44, United States Code, to require 

other purposes. ports relating to Presidential records, and for eral agencies, to require a certification and represervation of certain electronic records by FedJUNE 11, 2008 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS