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Long title | An Act to provide for the safe-keeping of the Acts, Records and Seal of the United States, and for other purposes. |
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Enacted by | the 1st United States Congress |
Effective | September 15, 1789 |
Citations | |
Public law | Pub. L. 1–14 |
Statutes at Large | 1 Stat. 68 (1789) |
Legislative history | |
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The Records Act, also known as an Act to provide for the safe-keeping of the Acts, Records and Seal of the United States, and for other purposes, was the fourteenth law passed by the United States Congress.
The first section of the bill renamed the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Department of State. [6] The next section charged the Secretary of State with receiving legislation from the president for safekeeping. Five subsequent provisions governed the creation, custody and use of the Seal of the United States.
The act also directed the Secretary of State to ensure that every bill enacted or vetoed was published in at least three newspapers, making it the nation's first freedom of information law, though its provisions would later be used to justify the withholding of information from the public. [7]
In 1875 by accordance of the Revised Statutes of the United States, the law was codified into 5 U.S.C. section 301, the Housekeeping Statute. [8] [9] [10]
Housekeeping Statute
The head of an Executive department or military department may prescribe regulations for the government of his department, the conduct of its employees, the distribution and performance of its business, and the custody, use, and preservation of its records, papers, and property. This section does not authorize withholding information from the public or limiting the availability of records to the public. [11] [12]
The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George Washington's presidency, first at Federal Hall in New York City and later at Congress Hall in Philadelphia. With the initial meeting of the First Congress, the United States federal government officially began operations under the new frame of government established by the 1787 Constitution. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the provisions of Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, of the Constitution. Both chambers had a Pro-Administration majority. Twelve articles of amendment to the Constitution were passed by this Congress and sent to the states for ratification; the ten ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, are collectively known as the Bill of Rights, with an additional amendment ratified more than two centuries later to become the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The 3rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from March 4, 1793, to March 4, 1795, during the fifth and sixth years of George Washington's presidency.
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