    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 117th Congress]
    [117th Congress]
    [House Document 116-177]
    [Rules of the House of Representatives]
    [Pages 425-429]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 425]]

                                    Rule VII

    Archiving
                              records of the house

    695. Duties of Clerk and committees as to custody of
    papers before committees.

      1. (a)  At the end of each Congress, the chair 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 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.

    [[Page 426]]

    (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.
      (2) An investigative record that contains personal data relating to a
    specific living person

      (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.

      (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 chair and ranking
    minority member of the Committee on House Administration of any such
    determination.

    [[Page 427]]

      (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.
    Definition of record

      6. (a) 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 as described in paragraph (b)),
    including--

          (1) 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

          (2) 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.

    [[Page 428]]

    or the Resident Commissioner in the performance of official duties are
    exclusively the personal property of the individual Member, Delegate, or
    the Resident Commissioner and such Member, Delegate, or Resident
    Commissioner has control over such records.

      (b) Records created, generated, or received by the congressional
    office of a Member, Delegate,

      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.
    47). 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. 47). Clerical corrections were effected
    in the 107th Congress to correct cross references (sec. 2(x), H. Res. 5,
    Jan. 3, 2001, p. 24). Gender-based references were eliminated in the
    111th Congress (sec. 2(l), H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 2009, p. 7). Clause 6(b)
    was added in the 115th Congress (sec. 2(j), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2017, p.
    _).

    Withdrawal of papers
      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 not covered
    by clause 3 of this rule (Mar. 22, 1991, p. 7549).

    [[Page 429]]

    may transmit to the officer charged with the settlement thereof the
    papers on file in the Office of the Clerk relating to such claim. The
    Clerk may lend temporarily to an officer or bureau of the executive
    departments any papers on file in the Office of the Clerk relating to
    any matter pending before such officer or bureau, taking proper receipt
    therefor.

    696. Custody of papers in the files of the House.

      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

      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.
    47). It was adopted initially in 1873 and amended in 1880 (V, 7256). It
    was renumbered January 3, 1953 (p. 24). Gender-based references were
    eliminated in the 111th Congress (sec. 2(l), H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 2009, p.
    7).

      The House usually allows the withdrawal of papers only in cases in
    which 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 for procedure for response to subpoenas for papers of
    the House.