Access for Veterans to Records Act of 2022

Access for Veterans to Records Act of 2022

This bill directs the Office of the Archivist of the United States to submit to Congress a comprehensive plan for reducing the backlog of requests for records from, and improving the efficiency and responsiveness of operations at, the National Personnel Records Center.

Such plan must include

• an estimate of the number of backlogged record requests for veterans;
• target time frames to reduce the backlog;
• a detailed plan for using existing funds to improve technology infrastructure, including secure access to appropriate agency federal records, to prevent future backlogs;
• actions to improve customer service for requesters;
• measurable goals with respect to the comprehensive plan and metrics for tracking progress toward such goals; and
• strategies to prevent future record request backlogs, including backlogs caused by an event that prevents employees of the center from reporting to work in person.

The office must submit updates of such plan at specified intervals.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7337 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7337

   To require the Archivist of the United States to submit a plan to 
  Congress to eliminate the records backlog at the National Personnel 
                Records Center, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 31, 2022

   Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mr. Lynch, Mr. 
  Connolly, Ms. Bush, and Mr. Cooper) introduced the following bill; 
      which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Archivist of the United States to submit a plan to 
  Congress to eliminate the records backlog at the National Personnel 
                Records Center, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Access for Veterans to Records 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PLAN TO ELIMINATE RECORDS BACKLOG AT THE NATIONAL PERSONNEL 
              RECORDS CENTER.

    (a) Plan Required.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Archivist of the United States shall submit 
to the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of 
Representatives and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
Committee of the Senate a plan for reducing the backlog of requests for 
records from the National Personnel Records Center that includes, at a 
minimum, the following:
            (1) Target timeframes to reduce the backlog.
            (2) A detailed plan for improving the information 
        technology infrastructure to prevent future backlogs.
            (3) Actions to improve customer service for requesters.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to amounts 
otherwise available, there is authorized to be appropriated to the 
National Archives and Records Administration, $60,000,000 to address 
backlogs in responding to requests from veterans for military personnel 
records, improve cybersecurity, improve digital preservation and access 
to archival Federal records, and address backlogs in requests made 
under section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to 
as the Freedom of Information Act). Such amounts may also be used for 
the Federal Records Center Program.
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