1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i VA, HHS to Vaccinate NARA National Personnel Records Center Staff May 12, 2021 The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) reached an agreement with the Department of V eterans Affairs (V A) and the Department
2、of Health and Human Services for supply and administration of coronavirus vaccine to protect NARA employees involved in the processing of military personnel records. This agreement is designed to help NARA staff enter the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) and retrieve physical documents invol
3、ved in verifying veteran and military benefits claims. As of March 8, 2021, the NPRC reports that its backlog of records requests was more than 480,000. This Insight explains the COVID-19 pandemics impact on records access from the NPRC; the typical means of servicemember and constituent access to r
4、ecords; and efforts at NARA, the Department of Defense (DOD), and V A to digitize records to improve remote accessibility to information. It concludes with policy options for Congress to address the records request backlog. Impact of Coronavirus Pandemic on Records Access The NPRC, which is part of
