HR6952-119

What This Bill Does

The January 6th Oral History Project Act creates an archival program inside the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The Director must collect video and audio personal histories from people present at or affected by the January 6, 2021 Capitol events, including Members of Congress, congressional staff, Capitol Police officers, other law enforcement personnel, journalists, and witnesses. The Center must build a cataloged and indexed collection available for public use through the National Digital Library and other feasible methods. It must also solicit and catalog written materials such as contemporaneous notes, text messages, emails, social media posts, photographs, and other documentation. The Director may partner with government or private entities, consult interested persons, and prioritize accounts most at risk of being lost to time. The Librarian may solicit private donations, place January 6 oral-history donations into a dedicated gift account, and use that account only for the project. Congress authorizes $500,000 for fiscal year 2027 and such sums as necessary afterward.

Who Benefits and How

Researchers, teachers, students, journalists, and the public benefit from a centralized Library of Congress collection with cataloged firsthand accounts and written material. Capitol Police officers, congressional staff, Members of Congress, journalists, and other witnesses benefit from a formal venue to preserve their testimony. Donors who want to support the project benefit from a dedicated gift account restricted to the oral-history program.

Who Bears the Burden and How

American Folklife Center staff must solicit interviews, reproduce written materials, catalog and index recordings, manage public access, prioritize vulnerable accounts, and coordinate partnerships. Library of Congress finance staff must administer a restricted gift account and prevent unrelated donations from entering it. Federal taxpayers fund the $500,000 authorization and later appropriations, while interviewees may face time, privacy, or reputational costs from participating in a public archive.

Key Provisions

• Establishes a January 6 oral-history program at the American Folklife Center.
• Requires collection of video and audio histories from Members, staff, Capitol Police, journalists, law enforcement personnel, and witnesses.
• Requires cataloged public access through the National Digital Library where feasible.
• Authorizes collection of notes, texts, emails, social media posts, photographs, and related documentation.
• Creates a restricted gift account for private donations and authorizes $500,000 for fiscal year 2027.