The National Archives and Records Administration's annual assessments to determine whether Federal agencies were compliant with statutory and regulatory recordkeeping requirements rated the State Department #1 among its peers, four years in a row from 2009-2012. The results show that the Department performed its federal recordkeeping responsibilities well during the years when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.
In its capacity as the oversight entity for Federal records management, NARA used self-assessments, inspections and evaluations, to score each federal department and agency. NARA considered each organization's records management program including the archiving of electronic documents. Particular attention was paid to the preservation of email records. In 2012, the State Department achieved a perfect score of 100 out of 100.
Department
|
2012
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
State
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Education
|
2
|
12
|
16
|
5
|
Veterans Affairs
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
14
|
Labor
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
7
|
Treasury
|
5
|
2
|
14
|
3
|
Interior
|
6
|
5
|
2
|
4
|
Health and Human Services
|
7
|
4
|
10
|
6
|
Agriculture
|
8
|
14
|
15
|
2
|
Energy
|
9
|
9
|
6
|
9
|
Defense
|
10
|
10
|
12
|
16
|
Commerce
|
11
|
13
|
11
|
11
|
Transportation
|
12
|
11
|
9
|
13
|
Homeland Security
|
13
|
8
|
7
|
12
|
Justice
|
14
|
7
|
13
|
8
|
Executive Office of the President
|
15
|
16
|
5
|
15
|
Housing and Urban Development
|
16
|
15
|
8
|
10
|
The assessments document compliance with recordkeeping rules at the State Department under Clinton's leadership. Earlier in the week, the New York Times risked what remains of its reputation with a series of muddled gossip items suggesting that Clinton prioritized secrecy over the law in the handling of her own email. Could it be time for 1990s nostalgia already? We have the job growth, 60th month in a row, 5 solid years, and we have the vast rightwing conspirators with their hallucinations. What's driving them over the edge? The thought of a Clinton in the White House.
The jackweasels in Congress must have forgotten that they held a hearing about federal recordkeeping issues 2 years ago, and they found their remedy.
Congressional Research Service
Retaining and Preserving Federal Records in a Digital Environment: Background and Issues for Congress
July 26, 2013
"In recent years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) reported records management deficiencies at federal agencies.
NARA, which has government-wide records management responsibilities, found 45% of agencies were at high risk of mismanaging their records. Agencies’ inabilities to comply with federal recordkeeping laws and responsibilities may make it difficult for NARA to predict future federal archiving needs because officials may not anticipate the true volume of records, nor will they know the variety of platforms used to create those records.
- Are agencies appropriately collecting and retaining records in compliance with federal law?
- Will digital and electronic records created today be accessible in the future?
- What policies or actions might be needed to ensure that digital federal records are authentic, authoritative expressions of government deliberation or action?
- What are the costs to the federal government if agencies are not appropriately preserving records?
Some challenges related to the federal government’s management of electronic records have been identified. In 2008, for example, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) determined that “e-mail records were not being appropriately identified and preserved” at certain federal agencies.
In June 2010, according to testimony from GAO officials, federal records management “has received low priority within the federal government,” and that the creation of “[h]uge volumes of electronic information” posed a “major challenge” in agency record management. GAO noted that poor federal records management could leave the government “exposed to legal liabilities, and historical records of vital interest could be lost forever.” GAO added that “poorly managed records risk increased costs” for agencies when they search for records to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests or “litigation-related discovery actions.”
In May 2011, NARA published a report on agencies’ self-assessments of their recordkeeping that found 90% of agencies had a moderate to high risk of records mismanagement. More specifically, the report found that 45% of agencies had records management programs with “moderate risk” and another 45% had records management programs with “high risk” of records mismanagement.
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Congress knew there was a problem, and it was remedied. They didn't have any issues with Clinton at the time, but they do now. Not about the recordkeeping, though.