3 1 Administrator of General Services shall obtain any objects 2 or materials of that elected official which the Administrator 3 determines to be public documents within the meaning of 4 section 3901 (2) of this title, and such elected official shall 5 transmit such documents to the Administrator. 6 "§ 3903. Preservation of public documents 7 "The Administrator of General Services shall deposit in 8 the National Archives of the United States the public docu9 ments of each elected official of the United States obtained 10 under section 3902 of this title. Sections 2101-2113 of this 11 title shall apply to all public documents accepted under this 12 section. 13 " 3904. Judicial review 14 "A decision by the Administrator of General Services 15 that any object or material is a public document of an elected 16 official of the United States within the meaning of section 17 3901 (2) of this title shall be a final agency decision within 18 the meaning of section 702 of title 5.". 19 (b) The table of chapters, preceding chapter 1 of such 20 title 44, is amended by adding at the end thereof the 21 following: "39. Public Documents of Elected Officials__. 3901". 41-660 O-74-2 93D CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 16954 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 30, 1974 Mr. SEIBERLING introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To provide for the preservation of public records received, held, prepared, or originated by or for the President or Vice President of the United States. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That this Act may be cited as the "Public Records Act of 4 1974". 5 SEC. 2. (a) Title 44, United States Code, is amended 6 by adding at the end thereof the following new chapter: 7 "Chapter 39-PUBLIC RECORDS OF PRESIDENT AND 2 1 "83901. Definitions For purposes of this chapter "(1) the term 'Administrator' means the Adminis trator of General Services; "(2) the term 'National Archives' means the National Archives of the United States; "(3) the term 'President or Vice President' means the President or Vice President of the United States; "(4) the term 'Presidential archival depository' has the meaning given that term in section 2101 of this title; and "(5) the term 'public record' means historical materials (as defined in section 2101 of this title), logs, journals, letters, memoranda, drawings, graphs, charts, reproductions, recorded communications, transcripts, printouts, data compilations, and other records which are received, held, prepared, or originated by or for any individual in the performance of his duties, and not transferred by him in the performance of his duties, during the period of his holding the office of President or Vice President. 22 "§ 3902. Retention of public records 23 "(a) Every public record is the property of the United 24 States and, except as provided in subsection (b), it shall 3 1 be retained for transmission and preservation pursuant to 2 sections 3903 and 3904 of this title. 3 "(b) Except as otherwise provided by law, the Presi4 dent or Vice President may destroy or cause to be destroyed 5 any public record in his custody within thirty days after he 6 prepares or receives it, if such record was received, held, 7 prepared, or originated by or for him. 8 "§ 3903. Transmission of public records 9 "After an individual ceases to hold the office of Presi10 dent or Vice President, the Administrator shall take custody 11 of the existing public records received, held, prepared, or 12 originated during the period when such individual held 13 office, except that the successor to the office held by the 14 individual shall retain temporary custody of such records as the successor certifies to be necessary in the performance 16 of his duties. 15 17 18 " 3904. Preservation of public records "(a) The Administrator shall deposit in the National 19 Archives the public records obtained under section 903 20 of this title. 21 "(b) The Administrator may transfer any public record 22 obtained under section 3903 of this title to any Presidential 23 archival depository. 24 "(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 4 1 President or Vice President may impose restrictions on pub2 lic access to any public record obtained from him by the 3 Administrator under section 3903 of this title for a period 4 of not more than five years from the date on which the 5 President or Vice President, as the case may be, ceases to 6 hold such office. 7 "(2) Any restriction imposed under paragraph (1) 8 shall not be effective to deny access to any public record 9 pursuant to any legally authorized demand or order of any 10 court or any duly constituted body of Congress. 11 "(d) Any former President or Vice President shall 12 have access to any public record obtained from him under 13 section 3903 of this title, and shall be entitled to make, retain, and use copies of such records. 14 15 "(e) Sections 2105, 2106, 2110, 2112, and 2113 of 16 this title shall apply to any records deposited in the National 17 Archives under subsection (a).". 18 (b) The table of chapters for title 44, United States 19 Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 20 225 "39. Public records of President and Vice President.. 3901". SEC. 3. (a) The amendments made by section 2 of 21 this Act apply to public records received, held, prepared, 22 or originated on or after January 20, 1969. 23 (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or 24 any agreement entered into by the United States, the |
