[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 118th Congress]
[118th Congress]
[House Document 117-161]
[Rules of the House of Representatives]
[Pages 429-433]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
                                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.

  (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.

  (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.

  (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.


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

  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. 
37).


[[Page 433]]

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).




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 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.


  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.