Once a location for a presidential library has been determined, and the facility is deeded or otherwise placed into the custody of the United States, the former President's records are to be deposited there. The provisions of the PRA have remained relatively unchanged since the law's 1978 enactment, except for several technical amendments. The increasing volume of records created by incumbent Presidents may prompt further concerns about incumbent Presidents' abilities to appropriately collect and retain records. Congress has the authority to revise or enhance recordkeeping requirements for incumbent Presidents, including requiring more systematic methods for collecting and maintaining email or Internet records. 113-187 also prevents the President and his immediate staff from use of a "non-official electronic messaging account" to create federal records, unless that record is forwarded to an "official" email address within five days. The Presidential Records Act

As noted above, the Presidential Records Act (PRA) was enacted in 1978, and the statute, as amended, instructs the collection and retention of—as well as codifies public access to—presidential records. Pursuant to the PRA, presidential records are collected and maintained by the incumbent President until he leaves office. Presidential Interpretations of the PRA

Successive presidential Administrations have interpreted the PRA's meaning differently. Executive Order 13489

During his first full day in office, President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13489, which explicitly revoked E.O. 13233. Under E.O. According to the executive order, the incumbent President could have instructed the Archivist whether to release the records of a former President, and the Archivist is to "abide by" the President's determination—unless directed otherwise by a court order. E.O. The law, among other things, amended the PRA to explicitly provide a 60-day presidential record review period to the incumbent or applicable former President any time the Archivist intended to release previously unreleased presidential records. In many cases, only the .gov email addresses of the President and his immediate staff are equipped with automated email archiving technologies. Maintaining Electronic Records

		Capturing Records Across Multiple Platforms

Although the PRA was written prior to the use of electronic platforms to create records, the law appears to require collection and maintenance of—and accessibility to—the records of former Presidents, which today are largely created electronically. According to NARA, the ERA is currently used to preserve the electronic records from the George W. Bush Administration, including the electronic records of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and it is used by archivists to review these records to make them available to the public. The Growth of Presidential Records

Pursuant to the PRA, presidential records are provided to NARA at the end of each presidential administration. Appendix A describes legislative proposals to amend the PRA that were introduced in recent Congresses. It is not clear, however, that existing technologies are capturing all Presidential records in every medium of creation. Additionally, it is unclear whether the records captured and retained will be accessible to the public in perpetuity. In the report to accompany H.R. 44 U.S.C.
Presidential documents are historical resources that capture each incumbent's conduct in presidential office. Pursuant to the Presidential Records Act ((PRA) 44 U.S.C. §§2201-2207), the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) collects most records of Presidents and Vice Presidents at the end of each Administration. They are then disclosed to the public—unless the Archivist of the United States, the incumbent President, or the appropriate former President requests the records be kept private.
The PRA is the primary law governing the collection and preservation of, and access to, records of a former President. Although the PRA has remained relatively unchanged since enactment in 1978, successive presidential Administrations have interpreted its meaning differently. Additionally, it is unclear whether the PRA accounts for presidential recordkeeping issues associated with increasing and heavy use of new and potentially ephemeral technologies—like email, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube—by the President and his immediate staff.
Presidential records are captured and maintained by the incumbent President and provided to NARA upon departure from office. The records are then placed in the appropriate presidential repository—usually a presidential library created by a private foundation, which is subsequently deeded or otherwise provided to the federal government. According to data from NARA, the volume of records created by Presidents has been growing exponentially, and the platforms used to create records are also expanding.
On his first full day in office, President Barack H. Obama issued an executive order that grants the incumbent President and relevant former Presidents 30 days to review records prior to their release to the public. E.O. 13489 changed the presidential record preservation policies promulgated by the George W. Bush Administration through E.O. 13233.
During the 113th Congress (2013-2014), a law was enacted to require a 60-day period of review for the incumbent or applicable former President to determine whether to protest the release of particular presidential records. The law appears to supersede E.O. 13489. The law also prevents the President and his immediate staff from using a "non-official electronic messaging account" to create federal records, unless that record was forwarded to an "official" email address.
Congress has the authority to revise or enhance recordkeeping requirements for the incumbent President, including requiring a more systematic method of collecting and maintaining email or Internet records. Congress might also act to examine whether the incumbent President is appropriately capturing all records in every available medium and whether NARA can appropriately retain these records and make them available to researchers and the general public in perpetuity.
This report examines the newly amended provisions of the PRA, reviews the two most recent presidential interpretations of the PRA, and analyzes potential legislative amendments and oversight considerations. The report also explores the complexities of capturing all presidential records in a digital environment, providing potential policy options for Congress. The appendixes provide a review of proposed amendments to the PRA that were introduced, but not enacted, during recent Congresses as well as background on vice presidential records.