Title 44 › Chapter CHAPTER 25— - NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDS COMMISSION › § 2504
The Commission must make plans and advice about historical projects it thinks the government should pay for to save, publish, or record important documents. The Commission’s chair must send those plans and recommendations to the President and Congress at least every two years. The Commission must work with federal, state, local, and private groups and people to collect, preserve, edit, and publish papers of important Americans. It may run training and educational programs, suggest people for fellowships, and publish guides about historical records. The Commission can recommend using government or donated money for collecting, preserving, describing, and publishing documentary sources, including copying them by microfilm or other means. The Archivist of the United States may make grants, using available funds and following the Commission’s advice, to state and local agencies and nonprofits for those activities. The Archivist may also make competitive grants to tax-exempt nonprofits (501(c)(3)) or to state or local governments to preserve and give the public access to records about any former President who does not have a Federal Presidential archival depository. Grant money must be used for preservation and public access and may not pay for upkeep, day-to-day operating costs, or building a facility to house those records. Applicants must show they have appropriate collections and space, will provide free public access, run educational programs, have a plan, coordinate with relevant programs, and raise non-Federal matching funds equal to the grant they seek. The law authorizes the following amounts to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission: $6,000,000 for fiscal year 1989; $8,000,000 for fiscal year 1990; $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1991, 1992, and 1993; $6,000,000 for fiscal year 1994; $7,000,000 for fiscal year 1995; $8,000,000 for fiscal year 1996; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1997; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1998; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1999; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2000; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2001; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2002; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. These appropriated amounts may be made available until they are spent when the appropriation Acts say so.
Full Legal Text
Public Printing and Documents — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
44 U.S.C. § 2504
Title 44 — Public Printing and Documents
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73