HR 5157 IH

To amend title 44, United States Code, to ensure preservation of the records of the Freedmen's Bureau.

September 12, 2000

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD (for herself and Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

To amend title 44, United States Code, to ensure preservation of the records of the Freedmen's Bureau.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Freedmen's Bureau Records Preservation Act of 2000'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) From 1619 to 1800 more than 660,000 African men, women, and children were torn from their homelands in west Africa and herded onto ships for transport to North America as slaves.

(2) Between 10 and 15 percent of these Africans died during the journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

(3) The institution of slavery robbed Africans of their natural rights and divided this Nation over the meaning of freedom, the principle upon which this Nation was founded.

(4) Paraphrasing President Abraham Lincoln, the Government could not endure permanently half slave and half free.

(5) The United States waged the Civil War to free the Nation's slaves, preserve the Nation, and embrace all people as citizens regardless of race in a system of inclusive freedom for all.

(6) On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that individuals held as slaves within the rebellious States `are, and henceforward shall be free'.

(7) On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army to General Ulysses S. Grant, thereby ending the Civil War.

(8) In 1865, the Congress established in the War Department the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly referred to as the `Freedmen's Bureau', to supervise and manage all matters relating to refugees and freedmen, and to supervise abandoned and confiscated property.

(9) The records of the Freedmen's Bureau are a vital source of information for historians and genealogists.

(10) These records contain a wide range of data about the African-American experience during slavery and freedom, including in marriage records, labor contracts, Government rations and back pay records, and indentured contracts for minors.

(11) These records are maintained in Alabama, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Delaware, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

(12) All of these records are originals and, because they are deteriorating, require immediate attention.

(13) These records are an important link for African-Americans to their slave and African ancestors.

(14) Preserving the records of the Freedmen's Bureau is a high priority for millions of Americans interested in Civil War and post-Civil War era history.

SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF FREEDMEN'S BUREAU RECORDS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Chapter 29 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

`Sec. 2910. Preservation of Freedmen's Bureau Records

`The Archivist shall preserve the records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly referred to as the `Freedmen's Bureau', by using--

`(1) available technology for restoration of the documents comprising these records so that they can be maintained for future generations; and

`(2) innovative imaging and indexing technologies to make these records easily accessible to the public, including historians, genealogists, novice genealogy enthusiasts, and students.'.

(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT- The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 29 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

`2910. Preservation of freedmen's bureau records.'.

END