FDR Documents Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I present H.R. 1506 for consideration. This legislation will facilitate the donation of the Grace Tully archive to the National Archives and Records Administration. H.R. 1506 was introduced by my friend and colleague, Representative Louise Slaughter of New York, on March 12, 2009, and favorably reported out of the Oversight Committee by voice vote on October 29, 2009. In addition, the Senate companion bill to H.R. 1506, Senate bill 692, introduced by Senator Charles Schumer of New York, was passed by the United States Senate on October 14, 2009, by unanimous consent.

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Grace Tully served as the personal secretary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from June of 1941 to April of 1945. In her capacity as personal secretary to the President, Ms. Tully preserved an assortment of personal papers and other historical items related to President Roosevelt that have come to form a historically significant collection.

While the private owner of the Grace Tully collection would like to donate the materials to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, the National Archives and Records Administration, which administers the Roosevelt Library, has asserted a claim to a portion of the collection. Notably, the claim asserted by the National Archives impacts whether the private owner may claim a tax deduction for the donation.

In order to facilitate the donation of the Grace Tully archive, H.R. 1506 waives the government's claim to the records and will thereby allow the collection to be gifted to the Roosevelt Library.

Mr. Speaker, the Grace Tully archive represents an important part of American history. Through the passage of H.R. 1506, we will ensure that this collection will be properly preserved and made publicly available through the Roosevelt Library. I would also like to note that this legislation enjoys the support of the National Archives.

As noted by former Acting Archivist Adrienne Thomas in a letter sent to the Oversight Committee last month: ``I write to express my strong support for the ongoing legislative effort to facilitate the donation to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library of the Tully archive through House bill H.R. 1506 and its Senate companion, Senate 692.''

Ms. Thomas went on to say that ``it is very important to the National Archives and Records Administration, and for future historians that might want to study these papers, for the Tully archive to be kept intact and made fully accessible to the American people in a public government archive.''

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1506.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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