II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3227 

To authorize the Archivist of the United States to make grants to States 

for the preservation and dissemination of historical records. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2010 

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. BENNETT, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. 

KERRY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the Archivist of the United States to make 

grants to States for the preservation and dissemination 

of historical records. 

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 ‘‘Preserving the Amer5 ican Historical Record Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Much of the American historical record, 

9 such as evidence of births, education, marriage, diVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:52 Apr 19, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3227.IS S3227

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1 vorce, property owned, obligations satisfied, and 

2 criminal conduct, is held at the State and local level 

3 by organizations that preserve the records that pro4 tect the rights of the Nation. 

5 (2) The United States has recognized the im6 portance of history by its support of national institu7 tions such as the National Archives, the Library of 

8 Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution. Yet, this 

9 support is not adequate to reach the rest of the Na10 tion’s archives being held in State and local histor11 ical societies, archives, and library history collec12 tions. 

13 (3) More resources need to be directed to State 

14 and local organizations to ensure essential care of 

15 documents and archival records in their many forms 

16 so that they can be readily used by the people of this 

17 Nation. 

18 (4) History connects people to community— 

19 whether the community is a family, a neighborhood, 

20 a city, a State, or a Nation. Connections to the past 

21 are essential to sustaining democracy, educating stu22 dents, creating a sense of place in family and com23 munity, supporting information needs in business 

24 and legal affairs, and making reasoned decisions 

25 about the Nation’s future direction. 


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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are— 

3 (1) to protect historical records from harm, to 

4 prolong their life, and to preserve them for public 

5 use, through the use of electronic records initiatives 

6 and plans for disaster preparedness, recovery, and 

7 other preservation activities; 

8 (2) to use historical records in new and creative 

9 ways to convey the importance of State, territorial, 

10 and community history, including the development of 

11 teaching materials for elementary, secondary, and 

12 postsecondary teachers, active participation in Na13 tional History Day, and support for lifelong learning 

14 opportunities; 

15 (3) to provide education and training to archi16 vists and others who care for historical records, en17 suring that they have the necessary knowledge and 

18 skills to fulfill their important responsibilities; and 

19 (4) to create a wide variety of access tools, in20 cluding archival finding aids, documentary editions, 

21 indexes, and images of key records maintained on 

22 Internet websites of State and local organizations. 

23 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS. 

24 The Archivist shall make grants under this Act to 

25 States to carry out programs consistent with the purposes 

26 of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—The Archivist may not award 

3 grants to any State under this Act unless— 

4 (1) the State agrees to use grant amounts only 

5 to carry out programs consistent with the purposes 

6 of this Act; 

7 (2) the State certifies the availability of State 

8 or private funds, or an in-kind equivalent, equal to 

9 half the amount of the grant to be awarded to the 

10 State; and 

11 (3) the State ensures that grant amounts are 

12 used to supplement, and not supplant, non-Federal 

13 funds that would otherwise be available for those 

14 purposes. 

15 (b) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS.—The Archivist may 

16 require additional terms and conditions in connection with 

17 the use of grant amounts provided under this Act as the 

18 Archivist considers appropriate. 

19 SEC. 6. STATE ALLOCATIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Archivist shall award grant 

21 amounts under this Act in accordance with this section. 

22 (b) CALCULATION OF ALLOCATIONS.—The Archivist 

23 shall allocate funds made available to carry out this Act 

24 to the States as follows: 

25 (1) 10 percent of the total available funds di26 vided equally among the States. 


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1 (2) 82 percent of such funds allotted to the 

2 States on the basis of their relative total population, 

3 adjusted every decade based on the United States 

4 Census. 

5 (3) 8 percent of such funds allotted to the 

6 States by geographic size. 

7 (c) STATE GRANTS.—From funds allocated under 

8 subsection (b), the Archivist shall make grants to the 

9 State archival administrative agency of each State. 

10 (d) REALLOCATION.—The State archival administra11 tive agency shall return any funds received under sub12 section (c) that the State archival administrative agency 

13 does not obligate within one year of receiving a grant, and 

14 the Archivist shall reallocate such funds to the remaining 

15 States in accordance with subsection (b). 

16 (e) CONSULTATION WITH STATE ARCHIVISTS AND

17 SECRETARIES OF STATE.—In carrying out this section, 

18 the Archivist shall consult with State archivists, State sec19 retaries of state, or other appropriate State and local offi20 cials who have administrative responsibilities for archival 

21 functions. 

22 SEC. 7. APPLICATION. 

23 The Archivist may award grant amounts under this 

24 Act only to a State that has submitted an application to 


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1 the Archivist at such time, in such manner, and containing 

2 such information as the Archivist may require. 

3 SEC. 8. REVIEW AND SANCTIONS. 

4 (a) ANNUAL REPORT BY STATE.—Each State receiv5 ing funds under this Act during a calendar year shall pro6 vide to the Archivist, no later than January 31 of the fol7 lowing year, a report on activities supported by such funds 

8 during the previous calendar year. 

9 (b) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Archivist shall review an10 nually the report provided by each State under subsection 

11 (a) to determine the extent to which the State has com12 plied with the provisions of this Act. 

13 (c) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The Archivist may 

14 impose sanctions on any State for any failure to comply 

15 substantially with the provisions of this Act. The Archivist 

16 shall establish the sanctions to be imposed for a failure 

17 to comply substantially with the provisions of this Act. 

18 SEC. 9. ANNUAL REPORT. 

19 Not later than April 1 of each year, the Archivist 

20 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

21 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

22 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 

23 Representatives a report describing the activities carried 

24 out under this Act and containing any related information 

25 that the Archivist considers appropriate. 


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1 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 

4 State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the 

5 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

6 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

7 (2) ARCHIVIST.—The term ‘‘Archivist’’ means 

8 the Archivist of the United States appointed under 

9 section 2103 of title 44, United States Code. 

10 (3) HISTORICAL RECORD.—The term ‘‘histor11 ical record’’ means unpublished materials created or 

12 received by a person, family, or organization, public 

13 or private, in the conduct of their affairs that are 

14 preserved because of the enduring value contained in 

15 the information they contain or as evidence of the 

16 functions and responsibilities of their creator. 

17 (4) STATE ARCHIVIST.—The term ‘‘State Archi18 vist’’ means the individual mandated by law within 

19 each State with responsibility for managing the ar20 chival records of State government. 

21 (5) STATE ARCHIVAL ADMINISTRATIVE AGEN22 CY.—The term ‘‘State archival administrative agen23 cy’’ means the agency mandated by law within each 

24 State with the responsibility for managing the archi25 val records of State government. 


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1 SEC. 11. REGULATIONS. 

2 The Archivist shall prescribe any regulations nec3 essary to carry out this Act. 

4 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Archi6 vist $50,000,000 each fiscal year for 5 fiscal years, begin7 ning with the first fiscal year beginning after the date of 

8 the enactment of this Act, to make grants under this Act. 

Æ 


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