Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1582, the Electronic Message Preservation Act. The American people, Madam Speaker, as you know, have the right to know what is going on in their government. Preservation of Federal records is essential to that right. The Federal Government must preserve Federal records, regardless of the form or technology used to create those records in order to remain accountable to the American people. Over the last two decades, technology has advanced. Electronic communication has permeated all parts of the Federal Government. The Electronic Message Preservation Act requires the Federal Government to preserve those electronic records in electronic format. It just makes sense. For decades, many Federal agencies have used what we call the print- to-file method of electronic record preservation. That is right; Federal employees were actually encouraged to print out emails to archive the paper copies instead of just archiving them electronically. Paper-based records, as you know, Madam Speaker, really are inefficient, prone to record loss, and difficult to manage. A poorly managed, paper-based system can also increase the costs of recordkeeping for the Federal Government and the American taxpayers. The Office of Management and Budget and my good friends over at the National Archives, under the leadership of David Ferriero, have been working to modernize Federal recordkeeping.…”