III 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 197 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 19, 2009 Mr. Carper (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Burris, Mr. Levin, Mr. Webb, Mr. Warner, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Akaka) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Congratulating the men and women of the National Archives and Records Administration on the occasion of its 75th anniversary.

Whereas the National Archives was established by Congress in 1934 to centralize Federal recordkeeping; Whereas the National Archives, now called the National Archives and Records Administration (in this resolution referred to as NARA), serves democracy in the United States by ensuring that United States citizens can discover, use, and trust the records of the United States Government; Whereas NARA has grown from one building along the National Mall to 38 facilities nationwide, from Atlanta to Anchorage; Whereas NARA administers regional archives, Federal records centers, Presidential libraries, the Federal Register, and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission; Whereas the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom serves as the permanent home of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights and makes these founding documents available to more than 1,000,000 visitors each year; Whereas the first issue of the Federal Register was published on March 16, 1936, and the Federal Register has not missed a publication date since, providing orderly publication of the official actions of the Federal Government; Whereas the Electronic Records Archives is laying the foundation for preserving and providing public access to historically valuable electronic records, ranging from vast, complex databases to documents that detail the making of foreign and domestic policies; Whereas the Presidential libraries are great treasures of the United States, serving as repositories and preserving and making accessible the papers, records, and other historical materials of Presidents of the United States; Whereas the National Personnel Records Center serves as the official repository for records of military personnel, responding to 2,000,000 requests a year by veterans and their families for documents to verify military service; Whereas the Information Security and Oversight Office is responsible to the President for policy and oversight of the Government-wide security classification system and the National Industrial Security Program; Whereas the National Historical Publications and Records Commission promotes the preservation and use of the documentary heritage of the United States, which is essential to understanding the democracy, history, and culture of the United States, by providing grants in support of the archives of the United States and for projects to edit and publish non-Federal historical records of national importance; Whereas NARA holds records, in the National Archives Building and its regional facilities across the country, that allow naturalized citizens to claim their rights of citizenship; Whereas NARA works with Federal agencies, researchers, genealogists, lawyers, scholars, and authors to respond to their evolving needs, requirements, and methods; Whereas NARA provides records management training, enhances reference services, works with partners to digitize its holdings, and improves access to the records of the United States; Whereas NARA provides, through its Internet site, easy and convenient public access to many of the most important and most requested historic documents and valuable databases of the United States; and Whereas inscribed on the facade of the National Archives Building are Shakespeare’s words, What is past is prologue, which aptly describe the records of the past preserved by NARA as the groundwork for the future: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1)congratulates the men and women of the National Archives and Records Administration on the occasion of its 75th anniversary; (2)understands the vital role that records play in a democracy; (3)recognizes the service that NARA has given to the democracy of the United States by protecting and preserving the records of the United States Government; and (4)commends the efforts by NARA to support democracy, promote civic education, and facilitate historical understanding of the national experience.