On 21 January 2009, on his first full day in office, President Obama revoked Executive Order 13233, which limited access to the records of former United States presidents. This is, however, only a temporary fix to the absence permanent procedures that are not subject to an executive order. As long as no bill is passed by the U.S. Congress on access to Presidential Records, any future president may issue a new order to take the place of the revoked order, just as Executive Order 13233, issued by George W. Bush on 1 November 2001, revoked Executive Order 12667, which was issued by Ronald Regan on 18 January 1989. A permanent fix may soon arrive.
On 7 January 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 35, the “Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2009,” by an strong bi-partsan vote. This was the first bill passed by the new House of Representatives.The bill would establish procedures for the prompt release of presidential records and limit the ability of current and former presidents to block release of documents. The U.S. Senate is expected to move swiftly to pass the bill in time for President Obama to sign it soon as soon as possible. SLA supports the passage of the H.R. 35.
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