Congress
Lawmakers Push Back Against Planned Closures of Chicago, San Francisco National Archives Facilities
PN Team • 1 month ago
Illinois and California lawmakers have introduced legislation to block the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) from closing its Chicago and San Francisco/San Bruno facilities, a plan first disclosed to staff in a June email. The Chicago site, many of whose records are undigitized and accessible only in person, holds documents including Pullman Strike court cases, Bureau of Indian Affairs files, and naturalization and census records used by researchers, genealogists and citizenship applicants.
Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García sent a letter to the Archivist of the United States demanding the closure be halted, signed by 20 members of Congress including Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and backed by California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff. Durbin and Duckworth also introduced the National Archives Protection Act, which would require congressional approval before NARA can close or restrict access to regional facilities; a companion House bill was filed by Rep. Kevin Mullin. NARA has said records would be redistributed to facilities in Kansas City, Boston and Seattle. NARA did not respond to requests for comment. Archivists' advocates say the closures would harm access to records regardless of political affiliation.
Sources:
Sentiment
- United States Senate Senators are shown proactively introducing protective legislation, reflecting positively on the institution's responsiveness.
- United States House of Representatives The House is shown taking action via a companion bill to block the closures, a favorable legislative response.
- California California is mentioned as a location affected by the closures, a neutral factual reference.
- Illinois Illinois lawmakers are noted as leading the pushback, a neutral factual reference.
- San Francisco San Francisco is cited as a site of the threatened archive facility, a neutral mention.