Today Is a Great Day for the National Archives

“Today’s Document from the National Archives”

The National Archives and Records Administration Act of 1984 became effective on April 1, 1985, when all archival authorities were transferred from the GSA Administrator to the Archivist of the United States.

“Today is a great day for the National Archives,” said Robert M. Warner, then Archivist of the United States. “The proper preservation of the unique and accurate historical records of a nation is an issue of public policy which concerns every citizen. To operate effectively, the national record keeper of any country must have both independence and integrity. This new law will enable the National Archives of the United States to function with the organizational and administrative tools essential to its mission.”

There is no doubt that Warner and the many others who fought for NARA’s independence changed this agency forever. For the first time in more than thirty-five years, NARA was able to set its own priorities, to justify its budget to Congress, to tell its own story to the American public, and to maintain accountability for its programs.

In the last twenty years, NARA has proven itself to be a vital, invaluable resource within the federal government. And today, thanks to the work of Warner and his supporters, we are able to develop and implement our own strategic plan, which lays out our goals as the nation’s record keeper. We work each day to preserve and provide access to the records that document the actions of our government, ensure the rights and entitlements of our citizens, and record our history as a nation. This is a mission that is integral to the democracy in which we live, and it cannot be accomplished under the auspices of a larger federal agency with its own separate mission and priorities.

In signing the legislation giving the National Archives independence in 1984, President Reagan underscored what we at NARA are reminded of daily in our work—that records matter. Whether they are presidential papers, or military service records, or naturalization papers, or electronic files, or constitutional amendments, they must be handled with the greatest of care and integrity.

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