[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 78 (Tuesday, June 14, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6493-S6494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. Levin, and Mr. Schumer):
  S. 1248. A bill to establish a servitude and emancipation archival 
research clearinghouse in the National Archives; to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

[[Page S6494]]

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate the 140th 
anniversary on this upcoming Sunday of Major General Gordon Granger and 
his Union soldiers' arrival in Galveston, TX. On that day in 1865, 
these troops brought with them the news that the war had ended and that 
the enslaved peoples were henceforth free. Since its origin in 1865, 
the observance of June 19 as African American Emancipation Day, or 
Juneteenth, is the oldest known celebration of slavery's end.
  It took two and a half years from the time that President Lincoln's 
Emancipation Proclamation went into effect for the news of freedom to 
arrive in Texas. That it took 2 years for African Americans to learn 
that the war was over, and that they were now free seems absurd in our 
information age. Yet, despite the transformation made in our society by 
computers, networks and the internet, there are still gaps in the 
information accessible to African Americans around this country. The 
bill that I introduce today attempts to address one of them.
  Mr. President, it is a very human instinct for people to want to 
understand who they are from the lense of who are their ancestors and 
where they are from. The very commercially successful, and critically 
acclaimed television series ``Roots'' was a seminal event in this 
nation's interest in genealogy. Yet while people across the nation were 
inspired by Alex Haley's tale to understand their own family history, 
African Americans trying to do the same confronted unique challenges. 
Unfortunately, African Americans who attempt to trace their genealogy 
encounter huge hurdles in reclaiming the usual documentary history that 
allows most Americans to piece together their heritage. For this 
reason, I am proposing the Servitude and Emancipation Archival Research 
Clearing House, SEARCH, Act of 2005. This bill establishes a national 
database within the National Archives and Records Administration, NARA, 
housing various documents that would assist those in search of a 
history that, because of slavery, is almost impossible to find in the 
most ordinary registers and census records.
  Traditionally, someone researching their genealogy would try looking 
up wills and land deeds; however, enslaved African Americans were 
prohibited from owning property. In fact, African Americans, must 
frequently rely on the records of slave owners--most of which are in 
private hands--in hope that they had kept records containing birth and 
death information. Even if records do exist, many African Americans in 
the past did not have formal last names, thus compounding the 
difficulty of tracing their lives. The omission of surnames also 
precludes use of the most popular and major source of genealogical 
research, the United States Census. Furthermore, letters, diaries, and 
other first-person records used by most genealogical researchers are 
scarcely available for slaves, owing to the fact that they could not 
legally learn to read or write.
  We may think that after 1865, African Americans could begin using 
traditional genealogical records like voter registrations and school 
records. However, African Americans did not immediately begin to 
participate in many of the privileges of citizenship, including voting 
and attending school. Discrimination meant that African Americans were 
barred from sitting on juries or owning businesses. Segregation meant 
segregated neighborhoods, schools, churches, clubs, and fraternal 
organizations, and thus segregated societies maintained segregated 
records. For example, some telephone directories in South Carolina did 
not include African Americans in the regular alphabetical listing, but 
rather at the end of the book. An African American must maneuver these 
distinctive nuances in order to conduct proper genealogical research. 
In my own State of Louisiana, descendants of the 9th Cavalry Regiment 
and 25th Infantry Regiment, known as the Buffalo Soldiers, would have 
to know to look in the index of United States Colored Troops since 
there is no mention of them in the index of State Military Regiments.
  Abraham Lincoln said, ``A man who cares nothing about his past can 
care little about his future.'' By providing $5 million for the 
National Historical Publications and Records Commission to establish 
and maintain a national database, the SEARCH Act has the potential to 
significantly reduce the time and painstaking efforts of those African 
Americans who truly care about their American past to contribute to the 
American future. This bill also seeks to authorize $5 million for 
States, colleges, and universities to preserve, catalogue, and index 
records locally.
  In a democracy, records matter. The mission of NARA is to ensure that 
anyone can have access to the records that matter to them. The SEARCH 
Act of 2005 seeks to fulfill that mission by helping African Americans 
navigate genealogical research sources and negotiate the unique 
challenges that confront them in this process. No longer should any 
American have to wait to learn information, which in itself can offer 
such freedom.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in celebrating the 140th 
anniversary of Juneteenth by passing this measure. I ask unanimous 
consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1248

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Servitude and Emancipation 
     Archival Research ClearingHouse Act of 2005'' or the ``SEARCH 
     Act of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF DATABASE.

       (a) In General.--The Archivist of the United States shall 
     establish, as a part of the National Archives, a national 
     database consisting of historic records of servitude and 
     emancipation in the United States to assist African Americans 
     in researching their genealogy.
       (b) Maintenance.--The database established by this Act 
     shall be maintained by the National Historical Publications 
     and Records Commission.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated--
       (1) $5,000,000 to establish the national database 
     authorized by this Act; and''
       (2) $5,000,000 to provide grants to States and colleges and 
     universities to preserve local records of servitude and 
     emancipation.

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