Passed the Senate on September 7, 1789 (Passed[4]) with amendment
House agreed to Senate amendment on September 8, 1789 (Agreed[5])
Signed into law by President
George Washington on September 15, 1789
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]
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]
^Grant de Pauw, Linda (1986). Documentary History of the First Federal Congress of the United States of America, March 4, 1789-March 3, 1791: House of Representatives Journal. The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1753–1766.
ISBN978-0801818196.
^"Records Act Bill ~ U.S. Senate Concurrence by Unanimous Consent". Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, 1st U.S. Congress, 1st Session. City of New York ~ March 4, 1789. I (Monday, September 7, 1789). United States Library of Congress: 104. September 7, 1789.