I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3710 

To direct the Archivist of the United States to address certain record request 

backlogs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2021 

Mr. KELLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To direct the Archivist of the United States to address 

certain record request backlogs, 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 ‘‘Reopening to address 

5 Every COmplete Record request for Devoted 

6 Servicemembers Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘RECORDS Act of 

7 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER BACK2 LOG REDUCTION. 

3 (a) STAFFING LEVELS.—Not later than 30 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Archivist of the 

5 United States shall take such actions as are necessary to 

6 ensure— 

7 (1) the number of individuals employed by the 

8 National Personnel Records Center is equal to or ex9 ceeds the number of such individuals employed on 

10 March 2, 2020; and 

11 (2) the percentage of such individuals regularly 

12 reporting to work in person is equal to or exceeds 

13 the percentage of such individuals regularly report14 ing to work in person on March 2, 2020. 

15 (b) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Archivist 

18 of the United States shall submit to the appropriate 

19 congressional committees a report that— 

20 (A) provides a comprehensive plan to ad21 dress the record request backlog of the National 

22 Personnel Records Center and improve the effi23 ciency and responsiveness of operations at the 

24 Center; 


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1 (B) identifies measurable goals with re2 spect to the comprehensive plan and metrics for 

3 tracking progress toward such goals; and 

4 (C) describes strategies to prevent future 

5 record request backlogs, including backlogs 

6 caused by an event that prevents employees of 

7 the Center from reporting to work in person. 

8 (2) UPDATES.—Not later than 90 days after 

9 submission of the report required under paragraph 

10 (1) and quarterly thereafter, the Archivist of the 

11 United States shall submit to the appropriate con12 gressional committees an update of such report 

13 that— 

14 (A) describes progress made by the Na15 tional Personnel Records Center during the pre16 ceding 90-day period with respect to record re17 quest backlog reduction and efficiency and re18 sponsiveness improvement; 

19 (B) provides data on progress made to20 ward the goals identified in such report; and 

21 (C) describes any changes made to the 

22 comprehensive plan provided in such report. 

23 (3) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.—In car24 rying out this subsection, the Archivist of the United 

25 States shall consult with the Secretary of Veterans 


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1 Affairs on best practices for reducing record request 

2 backlogs. 

3 (4) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘ap5 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 

6 (A) in the House of Representatives— 

7 (i) the Committee on Oversight and 

8 Reform; and 

9 (ii) the Committee on Veterans’ Af10 fairs; and 

11 (B) in the Senate— 

12 (i) the Committee on Homeland Secu13 rity and Governmental Affairs; and 

14 (ii) the Committee on Veterans’ Af15 fairs. 

Æ 


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