Recognizing the necessity of preserving official and unofficial records of meetings between the President of the United States and foreign leaders, for the purposes of promoting transparency and the national security of the United States of America.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 25 Recognizing the necessity of preserving official and unofficial records of meet- ings between the President of the United States and foreign leaders, for the purposes of promoting transparency and the national security of the United States of America. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. ROUDA submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Recognizing the necessity of preserving official and unofficial records of meetings between the President of the United States and foreign leaders, for the purposes of promoting transparency and the national security of the United States of America. Whereas chapter 22 of title 44, United States Code (com- monly known as the Presidential Records Act of 1978), states that the records of the President and the Presi- dent’s staff belong to the American people, not the Presi- dent; Whereas the Presidential Records Act of 1978 requires the President to document official activities and preserve all documentary materials produced or received by the Presi- VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC25.IH HC25 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HCON 25 IH dent, the President’s staff, or units or individuals in the Executive Office of the President; Whereas the Act defines the term ‘‘documentary material’’ as ‘‘all books, correspondence, memoranda, documents, pa- pers, pamphlets, works of art, models, pictures, photo- graphs, plats, maps, films, and motion pictures, includ- ing, but not limited to, audio and visual records, or other electronic or mechanical recordations, whether in analog, digital, or any other form’’; Whereas the Act was passed in response to President Nixon’s claim that he owned the tape recordings in his office, an assertion rejected by the Supreme Court; the Act con- sequently states that all files of the President must be preserved; Whereas, according to numerous reports, President Trump has torn up or otherwise destroyed records; Whereas President Trump reportedly seized the notes of an interpreter following a 2017 meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia; and Whereas, consequently, senior Administration officials and Congress do not have knowledge of what President Trump told Mr. Putin: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 1 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 2 (1) the President must preserve all records re- 3 lating to the foreign meetings of the President in 4 order to ensure that the advisors of the President, 5 Congress, and the American people may have access 6 to information regarding what transpired in those 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC25.IH HC25 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HCON 25 IH meetings, especially in meetings with adversaries of 1 the United States; and 2 (2) the term ‘‘documentary material’’ under the 3 Presidential Records Act of 1978 includes notes 4 taken during or documenting the content of presi- 5 dential meetings with foreign leaders. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HC25.IH HC25 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS