Esta ley establece la política pública de Puerto Rico para la digitalización de los documentos producidos por la Asamblea Legislativa, con el fin de preservar y hacer accesible este legado histórico y social. Designa a las Secretarías de cada cuerpo legislativo la responsabilidad de remitir copias de los documentos a la Biblioteca Legislativa para su digitalización y conservación, y establece el deber ministerial de la Legislatura de asignar fondos anualmente para este propósito. La Oficina de Servicios Legislativos deberá rendir un informe anual sobre el progreso de la digitalización.
(Approved January 8, 2004)
To establish the "Act for the Digitalization of Documents produced by the Legislative Assembly;" establish the pertinent public policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in this respect; among other things.
The history of a people is always the result of cultural and social processes of enormous complexity. Knowledge thereof becomes a legal requirement in the life of man with regard to his history; the footsteps of the past allow proximity to his roots, confer cultural identity and reaffirm a sense of belonging to a specific society.
History, as a sequence of chronological acts and events, is generally understood as the result that these acts leave in the life of these men and the people. History has been perceived as an intangible process, without material checkpoints denoting its passage. The creation of national museums and libraries, as a concept, came to remedy this shortcoming to present the passage of humans through the different stages of his trajectory in visible and concrete way. This concept of presenting history has been evolving until it had become at present, a place where the man look at the footsteps of man is not regarded as static but, to the contrary, is projected into the future, building on what man will become, on what he has been.
Since the emergence of writing, humanity has recorded experiences, to transmit knowledge to future generations. The availability of documents has been the basis for the development and advancement of civilizations. As civilizations advance, vast amounts of information are accumulated that become a part of the history of the people. Losing this history means losing a part of the national identity of the country. Without history, the essence of all that forms our culture is diluted. The Legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as the most representative Branch of Government in the country, has not established the needed mechanisms to spread its way throughout our history as a people.
The digitalization of the documents produced by the Legislature is the most adequate and effective mechanism to make this rich legacy generally available. This process involves the use of digital camera technology that converts traditional paper documents into electronic documents, capable of being accessed, sent and stored in computers. Digitalization allows expediting the search of information and enables on-line consultation by several users simultaneously.
This Legislature has the ministerial duty of ensuring the availability of the documents that are thus generated for the benefit of our people.
Section 1.- Title This Act shall be known as the "Act for the Digitalization of Documents produced by the Legislature".
Section 2.- Public Policy The most intense debates that have generated the laws ruling our destiny, have been produced in the Legislature. The documents produced during Legislative Sessions are legacies that are most helpful in understanding our
historic and social reality. Making this asset known is an unquestionable duty.
It is hereby established, that the digitalization of documents produced in the Regular and Special Sessions of the Legislature is the public policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Section 3.- Ministerial Duty Within ninety (90) days following the close of every Regular or Special Session of the Legislature of Puerto Rico, the Secretariats of each of the Legislative Bodies shall be responsible for remitting a copy of all the documents produced during the session, related to the legislative process of the sessions of the House of Representatives, of the Senate of Puerto Rico and their respective Committees to the Legislative Library,, for their digitalization, preservation, and conservation for present and future generations.
The ministerial duty of the Legislature as of fiscal year 2004-2005, to identify and appropriate annually from its operating budget, the appropriations provided herein, in order to grant the Legislative Library of the Office of Legislative Services, the resources needed to comply with the provisions of this Act, is hereby established.
Section 4.- Reports The Office of Legislative Services shall draft and render an annual report to the Legislature, with indicate the documents that have been, or are in the process of being microfilmed or digitalized; as well as any other pertinent information, in order to achieve the purposes of this Act.
Section 5.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 21 (H.B. 3594) of the $6^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to establish the "Act for the Digitalization of Documents produced by the Legislative Assembly;" establish the pertinent public policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in this respect; among other things, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $11^{ ext {th }}$ of April of 2005.
Luis E. Fusté-Lacourt Director