[H.R. 8910] AN ACT To establish a National Archives of the United States Government, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby created the Office of Archivist of the United States, the Archivist to be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. SEC. 2. The salary of the Archivist shall be $10,000 annually. All persons to be employed in the National Archives Establishment shall be appointed by the Archivist solely with reference to their fitness for their particular duties and without regard to civil-service law; and the Archivist shall make rules and regulations for the government of the National Archives; but any official or employee with salary of $5,000 or over shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. SEC. 3. All archives or records belonging to the Government of the United States (legislative, executive, judicial, and other) shall be under the charge and superintendence of the Archivist to this extent: He shall have full power to inspect personally or by deputy the records of any agency of the United States Government whatsoever and wheresoever located, and shall have the full cooperation of any and all persons in charge of such records in such inspections, and to requisition for transfer to the National Archives Establishment such archives, or records as the National Archives Council, hereafter provided shall approve for such transfer, and he shall have authority to make regulations for the arrangement, custody, use, and withdrawal of material deposited in the National Archives Building: Provided, That any head of an executive department, independent office, or other agency of the Government may, for limited periods, not exceeding in duration his tenure of that office, exempt from examination and consultation by officials, private individuals, or any other persons such confidential matter transferred from his department or office, as he may deem wise. SEC. 4. The immediate custody and control of the National Archives Building and such other buildings, grounds, and equipment as may from time to time become a part of the National Archives Establishment (except as the same is vested by law in the Director of National Buildings, Parks, and Reservations) and their contents shall be vested in the Archivist of the United States. SEC. 5. That there is hereby created also a National Historical Publications Commission which shall make plans, estimates, and recommendations for such historical works and collections of sources as seem appropriate for publication and/or otherwise recording at the public expense, said Commission to consist of the Archivist of the United States, who shall be its chairman; the his torical adviser of the Department of State; the chief of the historical section of the War Department, General Staff; the superintendent of naval records in the Navy Department; the Chief of the Division of Manuscripts in the Library of Congress; and two members of the American Historical Association appointed by the president thereof from among those persons who are or have been members of the executive council of the said association: Provided, That the preparation and publication of annual and special reports on the archives and records of the Government, guides, inventory lists, catalogs, and other instruments facilitating the use of the collections shall have precedence over detailed calendars and textual reproductions. This Commission shall meet at least once a year, and the members shall serve without compensation except repayment of expenses actually incurred in attending meetings of the Commission. SEC. 6. That there is hereby further created a National Archives Council composed of the Secretaries of each of the executive departments of the Government (or an alternate from each department to be named by the Secretary thereof), the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Library, the Chairman of the House Committee on the Library, the Librarian of Congress, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and the Archivist of the United States. The said Council shall define the classes of material which shall be transferred to the National Archives Building and establish regulations governing such transfer; and shall have power to advise the Archivist in respect to regulations governing the disposition and use of the archives and records transferred to his custody. SEC. 7. The National Archives may also accept, store, and preserve motion-picture films and sound recordings pertaining to and illustrative of historical activities of the United States, and in connection therewith maintain a projecting room for showing such films and reproducing such sound recordings for historical purposes and study. SEC. 8. That the National Archives shall have an official seal which will be judicially noticed. SEC. 9. That the Archivist shall make to Congress, at the beginning of each regular session, a report for the preceding fiscal year as to the National Archives, the said report including a detailed statement of all accessions and of all receipts and expenditures on account of the said establishment. He shall also transmit to Congress the recommendations of the Commission on National Historical Publications, and, on January 1 of each year, with the approval of the Council, a list or description of the papers, documents, and so forth (among the archives and records of the Government), which appear to have no permanent value or historical interest, and which, with the concurrence of the Government agency concerned, and subject to the approval of Congress, shall be destroyed or otherwise effectively disposed of. SEC. 10. That there are hereby authorized such appropriations as may be necessary for the maintenance of the National Archives Building and the administration of the collections, the expenses, and work of the Commission on National Historical Publications, the supply of necessary equipment and expenses incidental to the operations aforesaid, including transfer of records to the Archives Build ing; printing and binding; personal services in the District of Columbia and elsewhere; travel and subsistence and per diem in lieu of subsistence, notwithstanding the provisions of any other Acts; stenographic services by contract or otherwise as may be deemed necessary; purchases and exchange of books and maps; purchase, exchange, and operation of motor vehicles; and all absolutely necessary contingent expenses, all to be expended under the direction of the Archivist, who shall annually submit to Congress estimates therefor in the manner prescribed by law. SEC. 11. All Acts or parts of Acts relating to the charge and superintendency, custody, preservation, and disposition of official papers and documents of executive departments and other governmental agencies inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed. Approved, June 19, 1934. |