National Archives and Records Administration Efficiency Act of 2004

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3478. This bill makes several changes to Title 44 of the U.S. Code that will improve the efficiency of the National Archives and Record Administration. My colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Putnam), has done a terrific job of detailing those changes.

In addition, this bill reauthorizes the National Historic Publications and Records Commission, NHPRC, for 4 years at the current level of $10 million.

I strongly support the reauthorization of the NHPRC. However, I am disappointed that we did not increase the authorization for this program. It is even more tragic that the administration has not fully funded the commission for 2005. The failure to fund this commission will result in the loss of important parts of the history of every State and local government in our country. Much of the good work funded by the commission will have to be put on hold because the administration cut $7 million from the NHPRC budget.

My colleague on the other side of the aisle detailed how we need to preserve the documents in Florida even when we have catastrophes and hurricanes, and so forth. Let me describe just a few of the programs that have been supported by NHPRC in New York over the past several years.

The New York State archives in Albany was given assistance by the NHPRC to organize and make available materials of the effect of the World Trade Center disaster on the lives of New Yorkers. Channel 13, the local education station, was given funds to preserve shows of particular historical significance from the 1970s onward.

The American Foundation For the Blind was provided funds to archive the records of Helen Keller. Hunter College received funds to arrange 15 collections of materials documenting the history and culture of Puerto Ricans.

In addition, NHPRC had provided funds to assist in preserving the papers of Alexander Hamilton; Aaron Burr; Samuel Gompers; John Jay; the slave diary of Elizabeth Drinker; Florence Kelley, the letters of this great settlement leader; and the writer and activist Harriet Jacobs, just to name a few. The list goes on and on.

NHPRC has also been at the forefront of research on preserving electronic documents. Long before most agencies knew they even had a problem, NHPRC was funding research on this important issue.

Electronic records present historical organizations with two quite distinct problems. First, the technological issues of preserving our electronic documents across time are extremely complex. The methods for creating these documents multiply yearly, as does the way in which these documents are stored. However, very little has been done to assure these documents can be read 10 years later. Secondly, electronic records have resulted in increasing both the volume of records created and the volume of records that historians want to keep.

Electronic records confront State and local archives and historical societies with the very same challenges as they do the Federal Government. The National Archives has spent millions of dollars on the Electronic Records Initiative, and real progress has been made in developing a system for preserving the electronic records of the Federal Government. NHPRC has been one of the few places these State and local organizations could go to get help confronting this complex technological and historical problem. It should also be noted that NHPRC was one of the first Federal organizations to recognize the need for research on preserving electronic documents.

Mr. Speaker, absolutely every day in Washington, D.C., as we go about our business, we are reminded of our Nation's history. Buildings and documents are preserved and displayed for all to see. Every citizen deserves that opportunity, not just when they visit their Nation's Capital, but as they walk about the towns in which they live. NHPRC makes it possible for State and local governments to develop the tools and expertise to maintain their own history.

Even if NHPRC was fully funded at $10 million, that would only be about $200,000 per State. That does not go very far. As I have said at the outset, Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the passage of this bill, and I hope that the chairman of the subcommittee will work with me and the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Putnam) to raise awareness of the many valuable programs sponsored by NHPRC so that we can increase the authorization level the next time that it comes around.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to conclude by saying that if we do not learn from our past, we may repeat the mistakes of those who went before us. If we do not preserve our past, we cannot learn from it, and each locality has their own unique circumstances and their own unique history. Maintaining our time capsule of government words and deeds is a fundamental responsibility of our government. This legislation is committed to that responsibility, and I urge my colleagues to join me and the chairman in supporting this.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3478) to amend title 44, United States Code, to improve the efficiency of operations by the National Archives and Records Administration, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3478, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, we have witnessed over the last several weeks in Florida just how quickly lives and property and years of work can be taken from us. Many are left with only memories in the wake of these storms, and I would like to thank President Bush and the Members of this House for the outpouring of assistance that we have received.

Our memories and the collective memory of our national life is what in part inspire us to move ahead and to rebuild in the face of tragedy. The custodian of our collective national memory is the National Archives, and I rise today to offer an amendment in the form of a substitute to H.R. 3478 to reauthorize an important part of that agency.

This legislation will reauthorize appropriations through fiscal year 2009 for the National Historic Publications to Records Commission, the eighth passage of this legislation since 1964. The NHPRC's mandate is to look outward, to provide assistance to non-Federal agencies, institutions and individuals committed to the preservation and use of American documentary resources.

The NHPRC remains today the only grant making organization, public or private, in the Nation whose only focus is the preservation of and increased access to American historical documentation in its myriad forms and formats, be it the quill pen or the computer.

Through its competitive grants, the NHPRC provides a kind of venture capital for the historical world, through which solutions to electronic records questions can be discovered and begin to be tested, and new initiatives and new projects in State and local government records, private archival institutions and documentary editions, can be launched and given vital support.

American history did not all happen in Washington. It has unfolded in every State and every locality, through private actions as well as those of the government, and unless we safeguard historical records wisely, there will be gaping holes in our Nation's history.

Records created and maintained within each State are important to individuals and institutions in a democracy, not just national institutions, but government institutions at every level, as well as organizations in the private sector that have a great impact on American life.

The NHPRC safeguards holdings of the State and local archives, the university archival and manuscript collections and the documentary collections of libraries, historical societies and other cultural repositories, private and public.

They have revolutionized the study of American history. One of the Nation's leading historians has called this work the most important and lasting work of the 20th century, the most important work in the American history of the 20th century.

The NHPRC exists to stimulate the care and use of records that are beyond the NARA's jurisdiction. It does that by encouraging documentary work outside the Federal Government, with small grants to archival, historical and cultural organizations throughout our country. It is the only national funding agency that is directly addressing the challenges posed for recordkeeping and records preservation.

Among the types of grants that the commission makes are those designed to assist State and local governments with disaster preparedness to protect the vital records that document the rights and privileges of citizenship. We can attest to the need for that type of readiness in Florida.

Through grants, through working with State advisory boards and through contributing to funding partnerships, the NHPRC plays a critical role in promoting work to ensure that records of many kinds in many parts of the country will be safe and accessible for the scholars who need them.

As chairman of the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census, which has jurisdiction over the National Archives, and as a citizen concerned about rights, accountability and history, I request that NHPRC be reauthorized to carry on its important work.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I appreciate the support of the distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and the hard work that the ranking member of this subcommittee, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay), has put into this legislation; and I urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3478 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.