[106th Congress House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 106-320]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrulest-64]
[Page 389-393]
Rule VII
records of the house
Archiving
1. (a) <> At the end of each Congress, the chairman of
each committee shall transfer to the Clerk any noncurrent records of
such committee, including the subcommittees thereof.
(b) At the end of each Congress, each officer of the House elected
under rule II shall transfer to the Clerk any noncurrent records made or
acquired in the course of the duties of such officer.
2. The Clerk shall deliver the records transferred under clause 1,
together with any other noncurrent records of the House, to the
Archivist of the United States for preservation at the National Archives
and Records Administration. Records so delivered are the permanent
property
[[Page 390]]
of the House and remain subject to this rule and any order of the House.
Public availability
3. (a) The Clerk shall authorize the Archivist to make records
delivered under clause 2 available for public use, subject to clause
4(b) and any order of the House.
(b)(1) A record shall immediately be made available if it was
previously made available for public use by the House or a committee or
a subcommittee.
(2) An investigative record that contains personal data relating to a
specific living person (the disclosure of which would be an unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy), an administrative record relating to
personnel, or a record relating to a hearing that was closed under
clause 2(g)(2) of rule XI shall be made available if it has been in
existence for 50 years.
(3) A record for which a time, schedule, or condition for availability
is specified by order of the House shall be made available in accordance
with that order. Except as otherwise provided by order of the House, a
record of a committee for which a time, schedule, or condition for
availability is specified by order of the committee (entered during the
Congress in which the record is made or acquired by the committee) shall
be made available in accordance with the order of the committee.
[[Page 391]]
(4) A record (other than a record referred to in subparagraph (1),
(2), or (3)) shall be made available if it has been in existence for 30
years.
4. (a) A record may not be made available for public use under clause
3 if the Clerk determines that such availability would be detrimental to
the public interest or inconsistent with the rights and privileges of
the House. The Clerk shall notify in writing the chairman and ranking
minority member of the Committee on House Administration of any such
determination.
(b) A determination of the Clerk under paragraph (a) is subject to
later orders of the House and, in the case of a record of a committee,
later orders of the committee.
5. (a) This rule does not supersede rule VIII or clause 11 of rule X
and does not authorize the public disclosure of any record if such
disclosure is prohibited by law or executive order of the President.
(b) The Committee on House Administration may prescribe guidelines and
regulations governing the applicability and implementation of this rule.
(c) A committee may withdraw from the National Archives and Records
Administration any record of the committee delivered to the Archivist
under this rule. Such a withdrawal shall be on a temporary basis and for
official use of the committee.
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Definition of record
6. In this rule the term ``record'' means any official, permanent
record of the House (other than a record of an individual Member,
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner), including--
(a) with respect to a committee, an official, permanent record of
the committee (including any record of a legislative, oversight, or
other activity of such committee or a subcommittee thereof); and
(b) with respect to an officer of the House elected under rule II,
an official, permanent record made or acquired in the course of the
duties of such officer.
Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, clauses 1
through 6 were found in former rule XXXVI (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p.
----). That rule was adopted initially in 1880 (V, 7260). Clause 2
(which derived from section 140(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act
of 1946 (60 Stat. 812)) was added in the 83d Congress when the rule was
also renumbered (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1953, p. 24). It was amended on
January 22, 1971 (p. 144). It was again amended in the 99th Congress to
change the reference from the General Services Administration to the
National Archives and Records Administration (H. Res. 114, Oct. 14,
1986, p. 30821). The rule was rewritten entirely in the 101st Congress
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1989, p. 73) to incorporate the provisions of H.
Res. 419 as reported from the Committee on Rules in the 100th Congress
(H. Rept. 100-1054). Clerical corrections were effected to reflect
changes in the name of the Committee on House Administration in the
104th and 106th Congresses (sec. 202(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p.
467; H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. ----). Clerical corrections were
effected in the 107th Congress to correct cross references (sec. 2(x),
H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. ----).
The Clerk has historically been authorized to permit the Administrator
of General Services (now Archivist) to make available for use certain
records of the House transferred to the National Archives (H. Res. 288,
June 16, 1953, p. 6641). Under this rule, an order of the House is
required for the release of noncurrent records of the House (Mar. 22,
1991, p. 7549).
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Withdrawal of papers
7. <> A
memorial or other paper presented to the House may not be withdrawn from
its files without its leave. If withdrawn certified copies thereof shall
be left in the office of the Clerk. When an act passes for the
settlement of a claim, the Clerk may transmit to the officer charged
with the settlement thereof the papers on file in his office relating to
such claim. The Clerk may lend temporarily to an officer or bureau of
the executive departments any papers on file in his office relating to
any matter pending before such officer or bureau, taking proper receipt
therefor.
Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this
provision was found in former rule XXXVII (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p.
----). It was adopted initially in 1873 and amended in 1880 (V, 7256).
It was renumbered January 3, 1953 (p. 24).
The House usually allows the withdrawal of papers only in cases where
there has been no adverse report. As the rules for the order of business
give no place to the motion to withdraw, it is made by unanimous consent
(V, 7259). The House formerly adopted a privileged resolution at the
beginning of each Congress authorizing the Clerk to furnish certified
copies of certain types of House papers subpoenaed by courts upon
determination of relevancy by the court, but not permitting production
of executive session papers or transfer of original papers (Jan. 3,
1973, p. 30).
See rule VIII, infra for current procedure for response to subpoenas
for papers of the House.