CHAPTER VIII:

This chapter provides information on WHEN, WHERE, and HOW to transfer committee records to the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives when they are no longer needed for the current work of the committee.

WHEN

Records normally are transferred at the end of a Congress, and at other times during the year when they become noncurrent. This might be when a staff member departs, when an investigation is completed, or if the material is referred to only occasionally, usually no more than once a month per file drawer. For specific retention and disposition recommendations, see individual entries in Chapter III: Disposition Schedule. Setting up regular archival transfers is strongly recommended. Among the many benefits are: • adherence to Senate Rules XI and XXVI(10)(a) governing the ownership and disposition of committee records

• enhancement of the Senate's institutional memory; committee records are retained to document fully staff work on legislation, oversight, nominations, treaties, and the budget process

improved protection and control of permanent records; such files will be protected against loss or damage likely to occur in temporary storage sites and they can be easily retrieved for future reference

• improved committee operations; clutter and backlog is eliminated

savings in space and equipment costs; more records can be stored in less space and at lower cost in the archives than in office space

WHERE

The Senate's records remain the legal property of the Senate and physically are transferred to the National Archives for preservation and reference service. Established in 1934, the National Archives and Records Administration is the repository for the historical records of the United States federal government, including the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the executive agencies. The enabling legislation for the National Archives reads in part, "When it appears to the Archivist to be in the public interest he may . . . (1) accept for deposit with the National Archives

of the United States the records of... the Congress determined by the Archivist to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the United States government (44 U.S.C. 2107)."

Senate holdings are stored at the Center for Legislative Archives which is located in the main National Archives Building on Pennsylvania Avenue at Eighth Street. These records date from the First Congress in 1789. They amount to more than fifty thousand cubic feet, or nearly fourteen million pages, and include items such as George Washington's first inaugural address, the text of the Monroe Doctrine message, antislavery petitions, and election certificates for all senators. In addition, there are records of all significant standing and select committees including files dating back to 1816 for the current committees on Foreign Relations, Judiciary, Finance, and Commerce. In 1936, a National Archives appraiser examined the entire Senate collection and concluded that "from the standpoint of historical as well as intrinsic interest, this is perhaps the most valuable collection of records in the entire United States government."

HOW

The following procedures should be observed in preparing records for transfer to the archives:

To initiate a transfer and to obtain instructions, boxes, labels, and transfer sheets, contact the Senate archivist at 224-3351.

With assistance from the archivist, identify permanent records and determine appropriate disposition of nonpermanent records.

• Identify the record series that you wish to transfer, and determine the basic pattern of arrangement and the inclusive dates of the material.

• Review records stored on electronic media and determine the most appropriate archival transfer medium.

REMOVING UNNEEDED ITEMS

The following materials generally are not included in the Senate's archival collections. They should be removed before records are transferred.

• duplicate copies of reports, bills, speeches

• orchestrated pressure mail-save an example together with an estimate of the total volume • printed congressional documents normally found in federal depository libraries—an exception to this are publications marked "Committee Print"

⚫ unsolicited publications received by the committee ⚫ witness statements filed with the committee and included in the published hearing record

⚫ thank you letters

⚫ routine requests for information about hearing dates or for publications, for example

• job applications and resumes

• general reference material normally found in libraries

PACKING

Permanent records must be packed in special acidfree archives boxes that are obtained from the archivist (4-3351). The files should be packed carefully and the original arrangement of the folders should be preserved as much as possible. Each box should be filled to near capacity, permitting easy withdrawal of individual folders. Records should not be jammed into boxes so that the lids cannot be closed properly. At this stage, rubber bands should be removed from the textual records as they will eventually harden and deface the files to which they are attached. Loose newspaper and Congressional Record clippings should be photocopied as the originals will quickly deteriorate. "Thermofax" copies should also be recopied on conventional paper as the image on the thermofax paper will eventually disappear and the chemicals within the paper itself will react with and destroy adjoining papers.

Audiotapes, videotapes, and computer disks and tapes should be boxed separately from textual records because they require special preservation techniques. They should be checked for proper labeling. Computer media should include the name of the software and any other necessary system documentation.

LABELING-See Exhibit 8-1

Specially printed box labels are provided by the Senate Archivist. The following information must ap

pear on these labels. In addition, all labels within a single record series must contain identical information, (except for the box number.) Information about specific box contents is recorded on the transfer form. • Congress or Inclusive Congresses

• Name of Full Committee

• Name of Subcommittee

• "Republican" or "Democrat"

• Name of the File Series

• Box Number

PREPARING TRANSFER FORMS-See
Exhibit 8-2.

All records transferred to the Senate's archives must be described on the United States Senate Records Transfer Form. This form is provided by the archivist and serves as a detailed inventory of committee files. A list of folder titles for each box must be attached to it.

Depending upon the size of the shipment, the box inventory may include many pages. The folder list should be on plain white paper, of which the original and two copies are forwarded to the Senate archivist.

Security classified files must be described on a separate transfer form. For further discussion see Chapter V: Sensitive and Classified Information.

REQUESTING INFORMATION OR
RECORDS

The Center for Legislative Archives provides reference service to senators and committees when they require access to their older files. The service includes searching for specific factual information, returning individual records, and preparing authenticated reproductions of documents. For general information or for first time assistance with access to recent records, contact the Senate archivist (224–3351). For further research assistance, to borrow records, and to return borrowed records, call the Center for Legislative Archives at 501-5350, and ask for the reference chief. If the research requires looking through a large number of boxes, committee staff may view the records in the Congressional Search Room at the Center.