[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 192 (Monday, December 12, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H9658-H9659]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION (NARA) MODERNIZATION ACT

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 8665) ``to amend title 44, United States Code, to remove 
pronouns from such title that reference the Archivist, and for other 
purposes.''
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 8665

       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 ``National Archives and 
     Records Administration (NARA) Modernization Act''.

     SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.

       Title 44, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in section 710, by striking ``his approval'' and 
     inserting ``approval by the President'';
       (2) in section 711, by striking ``he shall'' and inserting 
     ``the Director shall'';
       (3) in section 2108--
       (A) by striking ``transferred to him'' and inserting 
     ``transferred to the Archivist'';
       (B) by striking ``appear to him'' and inserting ``appear to 
     the head of the Federal agency'';
       (C) by striking ``his custody'' and inserting ``the custody 
     of the head of the Federal agency'';
       (D) by striking ``he concurs,'' and inserting ``the 
     Archivist concurs'';
       (E) by striking ``his successor in function'', each place 
     it appears, and inserting ``the successor in function of the 
     head of the agency''; and
       (F) by striking ``he determines'' and inserting ``the 
     Archivist determines'';
       (4) in section 2109--
       (A) by striking ``to him'' and inserting ``to the 
     Archivist''; and
       (B) by striking ``He may'' and inserting ``The Archivist 
     may'';
       (5) in section 2110--
       (A) by striking ``he considers'' and inserting ``the 
     Archivist considers''; and
       (B) by striking ``his custody'' and inserting ``the custody 
     of the Archivist'';
       (6) in section 2112--
       (A) by striking ``he may'', each place it appears, and 
     inserting ``the Archivist may'';
       (B) by striking ``in him'' and inserting ``in the 
     Archivist'';
       (C) by striking ``his custody'' and inserting ``the custody 
     of the Archivist''; and
       (D) by striking ``his control'' and inserting ``the control 
     of the Archivist'';
       (7) in section 2307, by striking ``his designee'' and 
     inserting ``the designee of the Archivist'';
       (8) in section 2903, by striking ``by him'' and inserting 
     ``by the Archivist'';
       (9) in section 3308, by striking ``he may'' and inserting 
     ``the Archivist may'';
       (10) in section 3310, by striking ``he considers'' and 
     inserting ``the Archivist considers''; and
       (11) in section 3311--
       (A) by striking ``his legal custody'' and inserting ``the 
     legal custody of the head of the agency of the United States 
     Government'';
       (B) by striking ``his opinion'' and inserting ``the opinion 
     of such head of such agency'';
       (C) by striking ``he shall'' and inserting ``such official 
     shall''; and
       (D) by striking ``he disposed'' and inserting ``such 
     official disposed''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the gentlewoman from New 
Mexico (Ms. Herrell) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia.


                             General Leave

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

[[Page H9659]]

  Madam Speaker, H.R. 8665, the National Archives and Records 
Modernization Act would make a small, yet important update to the U.S. 
Code. This bipartisan bill would remove references to the pronoun 
``he'' when referring to the Archivist and other senior officials of 
the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA.
  I thank Representative Ro Khanna, chairman of the Subcommittee on the 
Environment on the Oversight Committee for his leadership on this 
incredibly important bill. I would also like to recognize 
Representatives Yvette Herrell, Katie Porter, Byron Donalds, and   
Danny Davis, who are all original cosponsors.
  As the Nation's recordkeeper, NARA plays a critical role in the 
preservation of the government's most important documents and 
materials.
  NARA's mission is to provide equitable public access to the records 
of the Federal Government because public access to records strengthens 
democracy and allows all Americans to understand their history so they 
can fully participate in government.
  Currently, the NARA is being led by Debra Steidel Wall who is serving 
as Acting Archivist of the United States, and has been a public servant 
at NARA for more than 30 years.
  However, the United States Code does not reflect in its text that 
women can hold this important position. The code is outdated in its 
references to the Nation's Archivist and other senior officials as men. 
It is long overdue that we update title 44 to remove reference to 
pronouns in the law that wrongly assume that only a man can hold this 
important role.
  Madam Speaker, I strongly support this bill, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. HERRELL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 8665, the National Archives 
and Records Administration Modernization Act, offered by Mr. Khanna and 
myself.
  The National Archives and Records Administration plays an important 
role in securing our Nation's history for future generations.
  This simple legislation updates Archive's authoring law to ensure 
that the Archivist is not referred to solely as a male.
  This makes sense, since our current Acting Archivist, Debra Wall, is 
a female.
  To date, there have been three female Archivists, yet there are 
several instances where title 44 still refers to the Archivist as a 
man.
  Although the code, as written, does not preclude a woman from serving 
as the Archivist, these changes would update outdated language in title 
44 and modernize our Federal code to make it more uniform across the 
board.
  Replacing this outdated language in our Federal code is the very 
least we can do to acknowledge the valuable contributions of thousands 
who have worked at NARA since its creation in 1934--and the thousands 
more who will work there in the years to come.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan, 
straightforward correction of the law, and I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 8665, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 8665.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ROSENDALE. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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